Sermon - Trinity XIV 2024 - Proverbs 4:10-23

The Broad and the Narrow Path, Charlotte Reihlen & Paul Beckmann, 1886

The Word is Life and Light

1. The Word has given much life and light to our christian forefathers

2. The incarnate Word is Jesus

3. He gives life and zeal through His Word

4. He gives light and a direction in life through His Word

How did our congregation get here? We are at an interesting stage of congregational life here in the midwest. Most congregations in the midwest have now been around for over a hundred years, including this congregation. This means that none of us founded this congregation, and those original founders died decades ago, so our personal knowledge of this congregation’s founding is quite distant; we can read about it, if we can speak German, but we didn’t experience it.

It is fascinating to consider everything which went into founding these midwest Lutheran congregations, and the incredible sacrifices which were made by the individual members. It was common that congregations didn’t collectively take out a loan to build the church, but individuals would take out loans. Members often literally built the building themselves and did all of the labor. These founding members were typically not rich or well-established, since they themselves had just moved onto the prairie and were homesteading virgin ground. They were busy and time was in short supply since they didn’t have the same modern time-saving technologies which we have. They were few in numbers, usually just a few families came together to establish a congregation. Yet, in spite of all these challenges, being poor, small, and busy, they still exerted the energy to found a congregation from scratch.

How did they do this? How did they have this kind of energy and zeal? We learn the secret from Proverbs. “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day… My son, be attentive to my words;...For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” The Word of God is life and light, and that Word gives Christians an abundance of energy and zeal for life. Those Christians who founded these congregations around here did all of this because they were attentive to the Word of God, and they knew that life came through Christ Jesus.

Some of my ancestors were among those Christians who helped found midwest Lutheran congregations. My great grandfather John Henry Koopmann, and my great great grandfather Heinrich Jacob Koopmann, helped found their local congregations up by Fulda, MN. I recently received my great grandpa’s bible, which as you can see was very well used. Although he was a dairy farmer and the father of ten kids, the Word of God gave him the zeal and the energy to help establish his local congregation. My great grandpa wasn’t exceptional, but he was just like all of the other founding members of these congregations, and the Word of God was planted into their hearts and thus from their hearts flowed springs of life.

This reality is beautifully illustrated for us in the story of the ten lepers. Ten lepers approach Jesus at a distance, calling out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” It’s evident they wanted to be healed of their leprosy, so Jesus instructed them to follow the law: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” This is what was necessary after a person’s leprosy was healed, so as they went they were cleansed before they reached the priests. 

But one of those lepers gets it! He understands the fuller reality of what has just happened and who Jesus is. So this man turns back, praises God loudly, falls at the feet of Jesus to worship Him, and gives thanks. Jesus asks a rhetorical question to emphasize what this man has done: “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” What this means is that Jesus is God, He is the word made flesh, He is the new temple, He is the great high priest! Instead of going to the priest to meet God in His Word, the Samaritan realized that Jesus is God, the Word made flesh, and He supersedes and fulfills the priests and the temple. Jesus is his light and his life!

Thus, the Proverbs reading, which says: “Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many,” is referring to Jesus. Jesus is that enfleshed Word which makes the years of your life many, or in more precise words He makes the years of your life eternal. Jesus is the Word which we are to listen to attentively, He is the one we are to keep with our heart, He is life to those who find Him, He is healing to all of our flesh, and when He dwells in our heart from it flows the springs of life. He is the Way, the path of righteousness, which shines brighter and brighter.

Jesus gives energy, life, and zeal through His Word! This is crucial for us Christians to understand today. I know we’re easily discouraged by Christianity declining over the past few decades. There are many questions Chrsitians have about the future, and perhaps many doubts as well. We’re in kind of a stressful situation, not too much unlike the Christians who founded this congregation. We are few in number, we are not rich, and we’re busy. But if our forefathers could build a congregation, then we can certainly maintain a congregation, and adapt to changing circumstances. How? Just like our forefathers did it: By attentiveness to the Word of God.

Don’t take it for granted that Jesus is the enfleshed Word of God, that He dwells in your heart, and that He gives you life, energy, and zeal to do the work set before you. He is the Lord of His church, and by His Word He shall give you the strength to endure. Maybe it seems counterproductive to spend more time reading the Bible when you’re already busy, but this Word gives you more energy to accomplish more than you could otherwise, because it is the Lord who works through you to accomplish His plans.

Pretend for a moment that I’m speaking as Solomon and you’re Solomon’s son: “Hear, my son, and accept my words… My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.” Be like the Berean Christians and receive the word with all eagerness, examine the scriptures daily to see if what you hear is true. This Word shall give you life, just as it gave life back to the leper, and you will run without stumbling.

His Word gives you not only energy and zeal, but Jesus through His Word gives you light and direction. Just as we sing in the Psalms, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Indeed, your path, the path of the righteous, is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked however is deep darkness, they don’t even understand what they’re stumbling over.

Christians, you know the way forward through the Word of God! You may not know exactly what’s going to happen in the future, but you do know the path upon which you must walk. Just as the Samaritan leper knew that his path meant he had to retrace his steps and return to Jesus, so does your path in life go through Christ. “Rise and go your way; your faith has saved you.” Your way is now marked by Christ’s way, and Jesus who is the light of the world illuminates your life.

All of this is meant to encourage you not to despair, but to find hope in the fact that you know where you’re going, because you follow Jesus. How did our congregation get here? By the power of the Word made flesh, Jesus, who has saved us from the darkness of sin and death. Where is our congregation, and Christianity in general, going over the course of the next few decades? I don’t know the specifics of what will happen, but I do know the way we must walk and the zeal of life we’ve received. Jesus, the Word, is the way forward, and no darkness can overcome His light. Cling fast to Him, fall on your face at His feet, keep hold of instruction, and whether you walk or run with Christ your step shall not be hampered and you shall not stumble over any obstacles in your way.