Sermons 2024

Text: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Theme: One like Moses

Outline: Hey! Listen
1.    One like Moses, proclaim the Word of God
2.    One Greater than Moses, Word made Flesh

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 

My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation is the Old Testament Lesson Deuteronomy chapter eighteen verses fifteen through twenty.

Boys and Girls, I pray that you are dong well today. When I was your age, I loved to play video games. One of my favorite is the Zelda series. In it, a helper appears to give you help. Whenever it appears it says, “Hey, Listen! Hey Lisen!” In our text for today, the Lord tells the people of Israel to listen. To listen to the prophet like Moses and the other prophets that He sends. Who is this prophet like Moses? How do we listen to God today? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

3.    One like Moses, Similar in Prophetic Role, proclaim the Word of God
 

In our text, Moses is talking to the new generation of Israel. Their parents have died in the many years wandering in the desert. Now their children are about the enter the Promised Land. Moses gives the people the Law again before he dies and before they enter the Promised Land. 

He reminds the people that their parents did not want to listen to the Lord at Mount Saini. There they saw the might and power of the Lord as He descended in a cloud and fire. The entire mountain shook in awe and terror as the Creator descended upon it. The people were terrified. They did not want to even approach the mountain. 

 They said, “Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die ” In Exodus we read, “when the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, … they stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die’ ” (Exodus 20:18, 19)  They no longer wanted to see the Lord. They no longer wanted to hear the powerful voice of the Lord. They told Moses to go, hear the words of the Lord, and, tell them to the people. This was a part of Moses’ role. To be the spokesman of the Lord and proclaim His Word to the people.

Yet, the people do not often listen. They act the same as their parents. They complain, “We have no food or water. Let’s go back to Egypt. It is better to be slaves.” They do not listen to what the Lord has done for them. They are afraid to enter the Promised Land. Only two, Joshua and Caleb, are faithful and survive. The rest die in the wilderness. Thus why the Lord raises up His prophets. To proclaim His word to the people again and again. To call them to repentance and to listen to Him.
 

1.    One Greater than Moses, Word made Flesh
 

Are we any more perfect than they? No, we still fall short of God’s perfection. We fall time and time again. We, like they did at Sinai, stand in terror before an Almighty God who abhors sin and law-breaking. We do not want to listen to the Word of God. How often have we not done private devotions because we have gotten too busy? How easy is it to deny being in worship because it is easier to sleep in or go to sporting events? How much have we shut our ears to God’s Word when it is too hard to understand or put into practice? How often do we go, ‘Pastor that is not the Word of God, that is merely your opinion on it. You have yours, I have mine. End of discussion’ We often shut our ears to God’s Word. Like Israel of old, we do not want to hear it. We put our fingers in our ears and go lalalala, I cannot hear you.
 

Thanks be to God that He promises, and sends One greater than Moses. One that we cannot deny because the Lord puts His words in His mouth. Who is this One? This is Jesus. 

Jesus as God in the flesh for you, stands between a sinful people and a Holy and Just God. Yet, He is greater than Moses. Moses merely speaks the Word of the Lord. Jesus is that very Word made flesh for you. As the Obedient Son of the Father, He perfectly says and does the will of the Lord. Everything He said would happen to Him happened. Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinful men. He was beaten, scourged, crucified, and died. The Word made flesh died that you might have new life. All your sins forgiven. 

Jesus gives to you His Holy Spirit that you can continually listen to Him. As His people, we strive to listen to Him. How does He speak to us today? In and through His holy Word. He comes to us in the readings, both publicly in worship, as well as when we read privately. That is why we rise in honor of the reading of the Holy Gospel. Through His Holy Spirit, we strive to be faithful to the Word He has given to us. Even if all the world is against us, we strive to hold onto and do what His Word commands. We listen to our Pastors and the counsel and comfort that they provide from His Word. We read His Word. We hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. As we pray in the Collect, we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it. 

Hey, Listen! Listen to the Word made flesh as He suffers and dies for you. Listen to the Pastors that He sends to proclaim His Word to you. Continue to hold to His Word, read it, listen to it! God grant that we continue to hold His word and gladly listen to it.

The Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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