The Lutheran Hour
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"From the Heart"
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Text: Romans 10:8-13
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Dear Father God, thank You for this day and the opportunity to share our faith with someone else. May Your Word radiate through our lives and live boldly in our hearts.
I pray that Your Holy Spirit take these words, words that You have given me to speak and in some listeners begin the work of faith, and in others, increase their faith.
In the holy and righteous name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Dear friends:
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, Amen!
We have recently celebrated Valentines Day; a day when love fills the air, a day when candies in the form of hearts are given to others, cards are sent – you know the ones I’m talking about with red hearts on the front or inside. This is a day for Cupid and when proposals are made, engagements happen, and I suppose several weddings took place. Valentines Day, a day in which the heart takes center stage.
Your heart. Ever think about it? The answer is probably yes. When visiting your doctor, one of the first things he or she does is listen to your heart. With all the radio and television commercials today promoting cholesterol-lowering medication, it is almost impossible to not to think about your heart.
It beats, and beats, and beats – and the more you exercise, the more and faster it beats. And you never have to tell it to beat. It just does.
But, when is the last time you thought of your heart as a home for God’s Word? The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome (and to us) states that very clearly the Word of God is “in your heart.” Wow! Think about that for just a minute that the very Word of God is to be in your heart. That’s amazing!
As the heart beats and pumps blood throughout our bodies so the heart is to be a permanent home for the very Word of God. The Bible says that the Word of God is to dwell in us richly. And what greater place to dwell than our hearts? The Word of God is to be such a part of our lives that we store it up in our hearts and treasure it. Jesus said to us in Matthew 6:21 that where our treasure is there your heart will be also. Friends, if God’s Word is in our hearts, then we will treasure it.
And what do we do with our treasure? We invest it. If you are a believer, that’s what God has done with you, He has invested His Word in you and expects you not to only honor it, but to live it.
Paul writes far more than that, actually he gives us the very essence of the Gospel and the highway to salvation in this text.
Paul says not only is the Word of God to be in our hearts, but as importantly, needs to be in our mouth. We need to speak God’s Word. We need to share it, to think about it throughout the day, to live it. God’s Word is not to be hung in the closet with our Sunday church clothes; it’s to be worn daily.
I am a die-hard Chicago Cubs baseball fan. I know; I can hear the laughter now. I suffered with them in 1969 and cried myself to sleep in 2003. The Cubs live in my heart. But imagine, if you will, that one day you and I go to the ball game in this town St. Louis and the Cubs are playing the Cardinals and I hoot and holler and cheer for the Cards. You would wonder if I really were a Cubs fan, wouldn’t you? That’s one of Paul’s points: if God’s Word truly lives in your heart, it should also be part of your vocabulary, part of your life. God’s Word should be reflected in your living. Faith, the Word of God may live in your heart, but is acted on through your mouth and life.
Salvation is quite simple for us really. The hard work was done by Christ on the cross. Salvation is free, yet it is expensive. It is free to us, yet it cost God the life of His Son, Jesus. We don’t have to go looking for Jesus, He came right here to earth. Imagine that Jesus gave up His home in heaven, among His Father and the Holy Spirit and all the angels and came here to earth. Try to imagine the great love that God has for you that He made salvation so simple.
You know in other religions there are all kinds of hoops to jump through; rites and rituals have to be kept, prayers that will only be heard on certain times of the day, foods that cannot be eaten, and services only on certain days. In many religions god is an angry and threatening god. Salvation is totally dependant on the actions of one’s self. And unless certain criteria are met, you’re doomed.
Yet the One True God is not an angry God, holding your feet to the fire and breathing fire and smoke. God is a loving, a caring God; one who is so full of love for you that despite your ineptness and disobedience, He can’t help but love you.
Verses 9 and 10 of our text are a true and accurate summary of the Gospel. It’s all very simple, God made it that way for you. The path to salvation is two fold…that if we confess with our mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Friends, how much simpler could God have made it?
Friends, we have been promised salvation. This gift of salvation is freedom from guilt and God’s judgment. Think about it; that as in other religions, if you had to earn your way to salvation you would probably wonder if you had really done enough to earn a smile from God. Was there something else I could have, or should have, or would have done to make God happy? What do I have to do tomorrow? Salvation through faith in Christ is freedom; yes, the freedom from placing the burden of a right relationship with God on our selves, and it places it on the cross. With each nail, and with each scourge of the rod, and with each lash of the whip, and with every drop of blood, Jesus was there earning salvation for you. The burden is off your shoulders, friends, it’s not up to you – it’s up to God and it’s already been done.
And the salvation earned for us is eternal salvation. This salvation is the salvation of our souls, the saving of our souls from eternal condemnation in hell. Salvation! What a gift! Here we see God’s heart, His great love for you and all people. A gift without strings attached.
So, what do we do now? Two things Paul says here:
One is that we are to confess the Lord Jesus openly. In public, out loud and wherever you may be. That’s right, no matter what the courts may say, we are to confess our Lord Jesus Christ out loud. Do you? Do those you live with; those you work with; those you go to school with; those you play golf with; those you shop with; those you hang out with – do they know of your faith? Is your faith kept a secret? Is it left up to others’ imagination? Is your faith kept in a cage? Is it taken out only for a walk on Sundays? A man much wiser than I once told me that I may be the only Bible that other people may read. How are others reading you?
The next point is that we believe with our hearts in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. When we believe that Christ Jesus was raised from the dead, then we share in this resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is shared with us when we believe in our hearts.
I think that most of us, sooner or later, become skeptics. We become skeptical of people’s promises to us. If you aren’t skeptical, then listen real hard to politicians and soon you’ll become a skeptic! I am sure that you have had people break promises to you or say that they will accomplish something and they never do. Sometimes you haven’t kept a promise and let someone down. If our mouths confess Christ as Lord, yet this confession is not from our hearts, then we are making a mockery out of God and His Word. We are insincere. And we must remember that God will not be mocked.
Have you ever noticed the link between your heart and your mouth? What lives in your heart sooner or later comes out of your mouth. You see, we believe with our hearts and confess with our lips. And Paul writes it in proper order here; note – we first believe, then we confess.
I love passionate people – people who are passionate in their beliefs and actually live them. Phonies don’t make it with me. People who may take a stand on an issue and I may with equal passion disagree; well, they impress me with their fervor and belief. That’s the type of people believers are called to be. So many times people of faith wimp out. Paul says that we are “ambassadors” for Christ. An ambassador represents his country and speaks for it and of it proudly. An ambassador doesn’t wimp out. Take a good look at Jesus, He confronted wrong, He didn’t turn away from it. There are too many believers today whose confession of faith is only in their hearts and never in their voice or life. Their need to be accepted is more important than their faith.
Paul then quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah in verse 11 (Romans 10:11), “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” Boy that gives me confidence. God will never be ashamed of me or deny me.
I have been ashamed of myself and my actions far too many times. Being a pastor is a new career for me. In my former life I did many things that I am ashamed of. I lost the trust of dear friends, my family, and those that I held close. At times I know some people did not want to be around me. I had said or done some things that deeply hurt them, angered them, or caused them to doubt my integrity. There were times when I thought I was getting away with something, but I could never fool them all, all the time. And when I was found out my first instinct was to lie. And lies really hurt the people you love and who love you. Eventually I owned up to my behavior and asked for their forgiveness. Friends, family, business associates were forgiving yet admitted that they had been ashamed of me. Who could blame them?
I know during this period of my life I deeply hurt God as well. My faith certainly didn’t show itself. I was a phony to God, and to others.
I cannot begin to think of the hurt that I have and continue to cause God. This person that I am is, first and foremost, a sinner. I am steeped in sin and though I may try to work my way out of it I just get deeper and deeper into it. You too, I imagine. Let’s face it; sin is a part of our lives.
And yet, God forgives. Because of Jesus, God forgives. After I confessed my sins to God , I then confessed them to my family and friends. I remember sitting in my car and all of a sudden feeling the forgiveness of God. It dawned on me that day that this Jesus had me in mind the day He went to the cross. He saw my face as He hung there on Calvary. As this great feeling of forgiveness swept over me, all I could do was cry. Stopped at a stop light in a left turn lane, with cars honking away, I sat like a baby and cried. And the cool thing, about God is that He is not ashamed. Can you believe it? It’s hard to, I know, but as Paul quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, God is not ashamed of those who trust in Him.
Trust. What does it mean to trust in God? We trust His Word, His promise, His Son. God will never let you down. As you have let others down and will continue to, and as others have let you down and will continue to, God never has and God never will let you down. You may not see Him and sometimes you may wonder where He is, but He has never left you or forsaken you. More than likely when you find yourself feeling far away from God, it is you who has left and forsaken Him. Why do we do that? I guess it’s because we have set ourselves up as gods. Sometimes I find myself saying that if God would only see things my way, well then things would be better. If God would only do my will and not His. But yet we pray “Thy Will be done”. I have come to understand very clearly that my way does not save, God’s way does.
And I’m comforted to know that God is not just for certain people. He’s the God for all people.
I remember being in the South close to 50 years ago and seeing a sign above a restroom that read “Whites only.” Being a Yankee from Chicago I had no idea what that sign meant, and was told by my mom that only white people could use that particular restroom. Black or African-American people were forbidden to use that bathroom and had to use another. As a seven-year-old I was totally confused. As I aged I learned first hand the sin of racism and bigotry.
Can you imagine if God were only the God of certain people? At one time God made a covenant with the Jews, God’s chosen people, and the people of Israel used this as a wedge to drive people away from them. They set themselves up as who they were and they forgot whose they were. The covenant was not about them but about God and His Word and His promise.
And Paul tells us in verse 12 that God is “the same Lord of all” be they Jew or Greek. Friends, God makes no distinction whether you’re black or white or Asian or Native American, if you’re Republican or Democrat, a Cubs fan or a Cardinals fan, tall, short, fat, or thin. You are not loved by God for who you are but whose you are. The blood of Jesus “cleanses us from all unrighteousness.” That’s right all people are welcome in God’s family. Remember what Jesus says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” This gift that God gave is for all people not just a particular group.
In keeping with the subject of inclusion, Joel, the Old Testament writer is referred to by Paul in the last verse of our text when he writes that “Everyone that calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” I certainly can’t say this any better than Joel and Paul already have. The word everyone means just that – everyone. God’s arms are so big and so wide that the entire world is invited to be part of His family.
And when was the last time you invited someone to be part of God’s family? Remember that Paul writes that we are to be confessing Christ with our mouths. An invitation to forgiveness and grace should be second nature to us, and we should always look for opportunities to share our glorious God with others.
As the saved people of God, let us go forth in Him energized and faithful.
So be it! Amen!
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for February 25, 2007
TOPIC: Comforting An Unbeliever?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: And hello, Mark. What is before us today?
ANNOUNCER: Pastor, this question was sent to us via mail. It comes to us from an individual who had been a friend of a certain family for many years. Recently one of those family members died. Sad to say, he apparently had no faith in Jesus. Our listener felt very uncomfortable then when he went to the funeral home and tried to think of something he could say to the rest of the family who were there in mourning. He writes, “While I know what I can say to comfort those who mourn the death of a Christian, what could, or should, I say when the deceased is an unbeliever?”
KLAUS: That’s an excellent question, Mark. You know, I think it’s one of the great many Christians have found themselves asking over the years. I think there are probably a few basic rules that might help.
ANNOUNCER: Rules?
KLAUS: Well, maybe guidelines would be more appropriate – some things that we would be wise to avoid:
For one thing, we don’t want to give the impression that everybody is going to heaven. We’re trying to give comfort but we can’t help anyone if we say things that are based on lies. For example, you don’t want to say, “He was a good man, and I’m sure the Lord took that into consideration.” You can’t say, “He had a hard life, and the Lord will understand why he was the way he was.”
ANNOUNCER: And exactly why do we not want to say things like that?
KLAUS: Because, while the deceased may have been very, very good, or even really very, very bad, it doesn’t make much difference on Judgment Day.
ANNOUNCER: What?
KLAUS: Well, we all are sinners – “The wages of sin is death.” Psalm 14:2-3 is pretty clear when it says, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
ANNOUNCER: So you’re saying, the person’s accomplishments or lack thereof are not the subject of our words to a mourning family.
KLAUS: No, and in most Lutheran funerals I’ve attended, the deceased – he or she – is not the center of attention. And I realize it may sound strange for people to hear me say that. The casket is right there in front of everybody; but in a Christian funeral, the real focus is always on someone else… on Christ. We’ve got to keep that point in mind.
ANNOUNCER: So, point #1 is: Don’t say things that are not true in order just to make the mourners feel better. What’s point #2?
KLAUS: Well, in presenting God’s truth, we don’t have to get brutally honest about the individual, either.
ANNOUNCER: What do you mean by that?
KLAUS: You really don’t want to go up to a family in mourning and say, “I always thought he was a jerk, and I’m glad he’s finally getting what’s coming to him.”
ANNOUNCER: I really can’t imagine anyone saying that.
KLAUS: Well, it’s an exaggeration, but people do say things like, “If only he had stopped beating his wife and children; if only he hadn’t been so caught up in himself; if only this… if only that.”
ANNOUNCER: So once again, the person becomes the center of the conversation.
KLAUS: Exactly. A Christian’s hope, and our words of comfort are never based on the goodness or badness of the individual. Our hope is based completely on what Christ has done for us. Now, we can’t do anything to help those who are already gone, deceased. But we can do something for those who are alive, for those who mourn.
ANNOUNCER: And what would that be?
KLAUS: We can center our words on Jesus and what He has done. We can say that we have a wonderful Lord who loves us. So that we could be forgiven of the sin which is the cause of death, God sent His Son. He sent His Son to carry our sins. He sent His Son to bear the punishment we deserved, to die on the cross, to rise again so that all who believe in Him might also live. That Savior comes to us in His Word and He will be with us through the pain and sadness of life. He can bear us up when we feel ourselves about to fall. He will strengthen us when we are weak. Trust in Him during dark and terrible days.
ANNOUNCER: So, in other words: center your talk on Jesus – that is what you are saying.
KLAUS: Jesus is the important one at such moments. And why not share that good news with your friends and neighbors now, rather than someday at the funeral home!
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage” arranged by Henry Gerike. From Jubilee by the Concordia Seminary Lutheran Hour Chorus (© 2000 International Lutheran Laymen’s League)
“A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth” by J.S. Bach. From Organist Frederick Hohman & Johann Sebastian Bach by Frederick Hohman (© 1988 Pro Organo)
“Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” by Jan Bender. From Cramer & Resch at Kramer Chapel (© 2001 Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne IN)