Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Even though the world has already moved on (mark my words – you will see Valentine’s Day cards and candy in the stores by the end of this week, if you’ve not already), we in the Church are still “in Christmas.” In fact, we are still very much within the “12 Days of Christmas” – much more than just a sentimental song; the passage of time between Christmas and Epiphany. Because we in the Church are still “in Christmas,” I’d like to again remind you of one of those beautiful names bestowed upon Jesus, that Name Emmanuel, literally translated from Hebrew as “With-Us-God.”

But Emmanuel is much more than just a Christmas Name. In fact it’s a name that we’re going to hear over and over again this year as it’s a name that intimately ties together with our congregational theme or motto for 2011: “Open the Floodgates of Heaven in 2011.”

About 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, Samuel, the author of the Book of Judges, writes that during one of the many periods of time when the Children of Israel wandered away from God and began worshiping pagan idols, “the angel of the Lord” [Judges 11] appeared to a young man named Gideon who was simply going about his daily duties of threshing wheat in Ophrah.

Now, before we go any further, let me explain something amazing in the Hebrew Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, beginning already in the Book of Genesis, soon after the creation of the world and the fall of mankind into sin, there are times where the Hebrew wording uses the indefinite article and says “an angel of the Lord appeared” and there are many times where the Hebrew wording instead uses the definite article and says “the angel of the Lord appeared.” That difference, while it comes through into our English translations, often gets indistinguishable in our minds, but there is a huge difference. Whenever it says “the angel of the Lord appeared,” it is theologically understood that that appearance is none other than the Pre-Incarnate Christ, God Himself making an amazing visit to walk upon the earth and interact face-to-face with His people.

So, back to Judges. “The angel of the Lord” – also known as the Pre-Incarnate Christ – appeared to Gideon while he’s threshing wheat. The first words out of the angel’s mouth are “The Lord is with you,” the singular first person form of Emmanuel. When Gideon heard that greeting, he laughed and then he responded, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? Why has the Lord abandoned us?”

Do those words sound familiar, like maybe something that has even come out of your own mouth a time or two?

But back to Judges. “The Lord is with you.” Whether you believe it or not, “the Lord is with you (if only Gideon knew how true those very words really were) and because the Lord is with you and because the Lord is with His people, I am sending you to save Israel, to strike down all the Midianites who are oppressing you.

Now if a stranger had said that to you, how would you respond? Probably the same way that Gideon responded. He wanted a sign. He wanted proof. God, at times, likes to entertain our silliness. I think it proves that God has a sense of humor, so in response to Gideon’s request for a sign, for proof that what the angel of the Lord said was true, the angel of the Lord told Gideon to put some meat and bread on a rock. The angel of the Lord took a staff that was in his hand and simply touched the meat and bread and it was like an instant Hibachi grill. It was like an entire container of lighter fluid had been poured onto the rock and a match thrown at it. The rock and the meat and the bread exploded into flame. And the angel of the Lord got a big smile on his face and said “Peace! Don’t be afraid! You are not going to die!”

But that wasn’t good enough for Gideon. He said, “I’ll tell you what. If You, Sovereign Lord, are going to save Israel using my hand, do this. I’ll put a wool fleece on the ground overnight and if You are going to save Israel by my hand, in the morning I want to find the fleece wet and the surrounding ground dry.” Again, entertaining Gideon’s silliness, God made that happen. But even that wasn’t good enough for Gideon. Figuring that maybe because of the denseness of wool fleece, the surrounding ground had dried itself out in the early morning sun while the fleece retained the moisture longer, so Gideon switched the test. The next morning, he asked God to make the fleece dry and the surrounding ground wet. The next morning, the fleece was like it had just come out of a modern commercial dryer while the surrounding ground was covered with heavy morning dew. That was finally good enough for Gideon to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord was indeed with him and he allowed the Lord to use him in mighty ways as the Lord intended.

Now what does that have to do with us and what does it have to do with our theme or motto for 2011?

Well, today, on this first Sunday of 2011, I want each of us to face several realities. First of all, the reality of Emmanuel, the reality of “God-with-us.” Secondly, the reality, despite Emmanuel, of our own doubts and fears and hesitancies and silliness. Thirdly, the reality of God entertaining our doubts and fears and hesitancies and silliness. Fourthly, the reality of God wanting to obliterate our doubts and fears and hesitancies and silliness, replacing them with full confidence and faith in Him. And, finally, the reality that God has a plan for each of us, but that plan is only accomplished when we empty ourselves of ourselves and allow God to be God and to work in the way that God wants to work.

Taking all those realities into account, you will find an insert in your bulletin this morning. It’s a sheet of paper and an envelope. Both have a picture of Gideon involved in his fleece test. I encourage each of you to use that paper to tell God your fleece test for 2011, something that you need Him to do for you to move you from doubt to confidence. That fleece test should be something that only God can do. For example, if you have been told that someone has mailed you a check for $100., don’t make your fleece test that God would provide you $100. That’s not allowing God to obliterate your silliness. Your fleece test should be something that only God can do, something that will strengthen your faith in God’s plans for you, something that will prove Emmanuel, prove “God-with-you.”

When you anonymously write your fleece test on that sheet of paper, seal it in the attached envelope. Give it to me. Put it in the offering plate – the money counters will not open them. Hand it to me at the door. Mail it to me. You can do it today. You can do it next week. You can do it six months from now if you want. All our fleece tests will rest on the altar throughout 2011. We will pray for them regularly. We will pray for us regularly. We will leave those fleece tests on the altar until December 31, 2011, testing the Lord, as He encourages us to do, to open the flood gates of Heaven in our lives and in the life of this congregation and pour out upon us more blessing that we could have ever imagined.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena