Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Faith to Obey with Ben Carruthers
What if the secret to experiencing an extraordinary life lies in the simple act of obedience? Join me, Ben Carruthers, as we uncover the profound impact of Christmas traditions and the timeless lessons embedded within the story of Joseph. Through a personal tradition of writing letters to my future self each Christmas, I capture the essence of the season and the way it inspires us to embrace faith and submission. Delve into the narrative of ordinary individuals achieving extraordinary feats through their unwavering trust in God's authority, and discover how these lessons can transform your own life.
In this episode, we explore the journey of living in obedience and grace, shedding light on how small daily choices can lead to monumental impacts. Using the metaphor of a canoe trip, we illustrate how God’s grace supports us when we falter, reminding us that our imperfections are met with His strength and encouragement. Drawing inspiration from C.S. Lewis and the story of Joseph, we discuss how acts of love and patience fulfill God’s commandments, empowering us to be part of a greater plan. Let the spirit of the Christmas season guide you towards acknowledging your imperfections and embracing the extraordinary possibilities that lie in obedience and grace.
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Hey, there we go. Well, good morning, all right. Yeah, I'm still going with Merry Christmas because it's still the Christmas season and I'm not ready to say goodbye to it yet. And I walk around. I love going after Christmas shopping, you know, but I get a little sad when I see how quickly people just get rid of Christmas. It hurts my heart. So there you go. It was confession hour.
Speaker 1:My name is Ben Carruthers. I'm the director of student and Family Ministry Great to be worshiping with you during this Christmas season. And one Christmas tradition that I want to share with you that I do is every year at the end when we do pack up all the Christmas stuff so sometime early January is I sit down at the kitchen counter with a Christmas card and I write myself a letter. I write myself a letter to the future Christmas Ben of the next year, and I keep these things. And every year when we unpack all the Christmas stuff, I open them up and reread them. And why I do this is for a couple reasons. One, because I always want to remember what happened. I'm really horrible at taking pictures and video. It's awful, so I don't do that. But I want to remember what happened.
Speaker 1:And there's a few things in here that I read every year. One is like some kind of funny highlight that happened with our family, right, there was one year that my oldest, isaiah, was just sick as a dog and he just came up out of Christmas morning. He was pretty young and he didn't look full of Christmas spirit. And I'm like, buddy, come on, man, get with it, let's go Put your temperature aside, let's have Christmas spirit. Or there's memories of my littlest Ezzie. This year he opened up a couple presents and they were clothes. And he looked at the other presents he had left and he just with awe and shock goes are these all clothes? Like, yeah, next year they will be buddy.
Speaker 1:Those are the kind of stories and I always write. I always write to remember what this season's about, right, I always write to myself remember to spend time with your family, remember to spend time with your friends, remember to do the small things. And it's a great reminder for me, because sometimes we get really busy with it. We get busy with the season, we forget those small things. Same thing is true, maybe, with the Christmas story Is in the Christmas story we come to church and we hear it each week. We light the candle and we are living in this incredible story where the God, the creator of everything, comes to us as a child, as a baby. It's an incredible story, but amongst that incredible story, are these everyday, ordinary people doing extraordinary things through God and because of God. They're doing these things because they are able to be obedient. They're obedient to God, and that's a word that we really don't like. We're not very good at, right?
Speaker 1:Just think about this morning. Right, did you obey the laws coming here? Right? Did you set your cruise at 55 and not go over a little bit? Right? Did you use your turn signal every time? Did you make a full stop? Maybe it's just me, okay, actually, I went under because the roads were horrible, but you know we really don't. Right? Think about that. Think about your work. Are you obeying the rules of your job? Right? Do you ever go on your phone and look at Facebook when you're on the clock? Do you go look at Instagram or whatever else is out there? Are we obedient to that? Are you always obedient to your parents? Of course not, right? Am I always obedient to my wife? Of course, because I'm not an idiot, right? Not that smart.
Speaker 1:Obedience is pretty difficult because it's about submitting to someone else's authority. And in this story, the Christmas story that we've been living in for over a month, we see everyday ordinary people submit to God's authority and because of that they do extraordinary things. And this morning we could have picked anyone from the story. If you were here on Christmas Eve and heard Pastor Ryan talk about the wise men and the gifts, you heard a little bit about it. But this morning I want to talk about Joseph. I want to talk about his story and I want to look at how he was obedient, even when he was thinking it was impossible, incredibly difficult, and I think, hopefully, his story sparks some hope, some courage in our own lives to live an obedient life to God. And I want to talk about what does that look like? So, before we dive into it, will you pray with me? So, before we dive into it, will you pray with me? Lord, god, we give you thanks and praise for this morning, for this Christmas season, for the ability to be here, to gather, to worship, to focus on your word, to once again look at this incredible story of you coming to us in the form of a baby. But this morning we want to talk about those people who were there that you used in amazing, incredible ways, ways and how they were obedient to you. So, lord, open up our hearts and our minds to receive your word this morning. It's in your name that we pray, amen.
Speaker 1:So we know the basics of the story, right, we know that Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit with this baby Jesus and has to go tell her husband Joseph. Right, and we know that Joseph at first, like the scripture said, is going to divorce her quietly. Right, he doesn't want to make a big scene out of it, but obviously something's going on here. He does love and care for her, but then this angel appears to him in a dream and says no, stay with Mary, raise this child, name him Emmanuel, name him Jesus. And he does. We know that part of the story, but there is so much more in the context of what's going on here, of what's really at stake. We're going to dive in a little bit about that, because when we don't understand exactly what Joseph is thinking and contemplating and the decisions that he has to make, we don't understand the gravity of this situation that he's in.
Speaker 1:So, according to Beckham, ancient Jewish weddings, or marriages, had two stages to it. If you read the scripture, it can be kind of confusing. It says Joseph was engaged to marry Mary that's fun to say. And then it goes on to say he was going to divorce her quietly. Well, that's interesting, right. If they're not even married yet, how can they divorce?
Speaker 1:Well, in ancient Jewish custom in marriage, there was two stages to a marriage. The first is the betrothal, or the engagement, which happened about a year beforehand. And really what happened here is two parents, two groups of parents, got together and said, hey, I think our son and our daughter would make a great match. Got together and said, hey, I think our son and our daughter would make a great match. What do you think? Sure, let's go through with this. And then the process would begin. Mary and Joseph maybe knew each other a little bit, but by the time their engagement started, their relationship was very new. When that would happen, the parents would engage in a contract that would say something along the lines there was a couple rules. That would say something along the lines there was a couple rules. One the bride or the groom's parents would have to start making payments to the bride's parents. Now, this is often looked at as if they were buying a bride, and that's not it at all. Back in ancient custom days, every member of the family contributed and eventually that member of the family was going to leave, and so the groom and his family were trying to help that family, support that missing person, and so over the year they would make payments to the family. There were other rules they had to obey by the bride and groom could not be in the same room with one another, and there was a bunch of other things that had to happen over this time frame of about a year, and after that time frame there would be a marriage ceremony, and that's when they'd come together and have the party and the groom would take the bride to their home.
Speaker 1:This part of the story takes place somewhere in between there, and in the passage, if you noticed, it said that he was a lawful, god-fearing man. So when somehow we don't know exactly how Joseph finds out that Mary's pregnant maybe they got together for some lefse, I don't know, but they came together he sees or he hears something of the nature that she is pregnant. The law, the Jewish law that he follows, he's obedient to, says that Mary should be stoned to death. That's what Jewish law says and he's a follower of the law. It also says that she should be put to death. And it also says that he gets all of his money back from his family. And it says a bunch of other things that obviously try to make him whole. And so scripture says, man, he's a good guy, joseph's a good man and doesn't want to do this, so he decides to divorce her quietly Also a major issue.
Speaker 1:Sure, he might divorce her quietly, but what about the perception of other people? What does he tell people? How do other people view him? Do they view him as weak because he's not fulfilling the law? Do they view him as not following the law and not a good Jew? All the perceptions of everybody.
Speaker 1:This was not an easy decision for Joseph to make. He even says that he says after thinking about it for a long time. Then he goes to sleep and it's in his sleep, in his dream, that an angel appears to him and says Joseph, trust God, take Mary as your wife, raise this child. And he wakes up. And this is the interesting part In the scriptures. We have no idea what Joseph says. There's nothing. It just says Joseph woke up and did as the angel told him to do. We have no discussion of Joseph going back and forth with the angel. We have nothing of him going to say Mary, I'm going to go through with this, but it's just, he woke up and was obedient. Even that decision.
Speaker 1:What will the perception of the world think of Joseph? By being obedient to God? Not only this but we don't really think about this very often either he is not only going to go into a situation that the world is going to view as wrong, but he's also told by the angel that you are going to raise the Son of God. I don't know if you have kids, but raising a normal kid is pretty hard. He's going to raise the Son of God and he's obedient. He follows God, as far as we know, without any questions, knowing that the path ahead of him is going to be incredibly difficult, knowing that the path ahead of him is going to lead to persecution from people around there, rumors from the town what will the town think? What will his life be like? He has no idea. All he knows is that God asked him to do this, and that's really important. God didn't tell him you do this. Joseph decided to be obedient. Joseph made the decision. God didn't force his hand. He made the choice to be obedient and follow God. When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded him to do. He made a choice. He made a choice Central. Today we are given a choice, an opportunity to be obedient to God in the decisions that we make in our lives.
Speaker 1:Joseph, now you might. This is kind of interesting. Joseph, you might say, listen, he had an angel appear to him in a dream. All right, he had an angel appear. If I went to bed and I had a giant angel appear to me in a dream and said, ben, you better have pancakes for breakfast and not cookie crisp, if he said that I'd probably follow A big, giant angel, big winds, fury, that's kind of scary. We don't have that. We don't have this giant angel that appears to us in dreams. Maybe, maybe you do. That's incredible, but a lot of us don't.
Speaker 1:I would go as far to say we have something better, because in order for there to be obedience, there first has to be trust. There has to be trust. There has to be trust that you are putting your decision, your life, whatever it might be, into the hands of someone else and you are trusting them that they have the best planned for you, that you're surrendering over something to them that you deeply care about, that your life, maybe someone else's, or decisions that you're making, that you're handing it over to them and they will do the absolute best they can with what you give. There has to be trust, and even one step further than that, there has to be trust, and even one step further than that, there has to be a relationship. There has to be some type of relationship, and so Joseph had. Scripture tells us that he was a law-fearing man, he had a relationship with God and he had that trust with God. So when this angel appears to him, he's obedient.
Speaker 1:I think we have something better. I think we have something better a symbol to us that shows us how much God loves us, that shows us that it's completely, 100% safe to put our trust, to put our obedience in him. We have the cross. We have Jesus sacrificed on the cross for us. Would God go through that? Would Jesus go through all of the trials that led up to that, the persecution that led up to that, the beatings, the hurt, the pain, the shame of being put to death on the cross? Would God go through all of that for you and for me.
Speaker 1:If he did not want the absolute best for you in your life, it makes no sense at all. If he doesn't, none, we can put our trust, we can put our faith, we can be obedient to God because he has shown us the lengths that he is going to go to for the love that he has for us. That's the trust that we can have, that's the relationship that we have, and that's why we, too, can be obedient to God. We don't need a giant angel to appear with big wings. We have the cross, we have the story of Jesus and what he went through for you and for me. We have that relationship. This is why it's safe to put our lives, our decisions, into the hands of God and surrender to him.
Speaker 1:So what does being obedient look like, then? Because we say that a lot right. We need to obey, we need to, to submit to god. Well, what does that look like, right? I think a lot of times. Another issue that we have with this is that we think it's some huge, grand, massive thing that we have to do. Oh man, god wants me to sell everything. I have, every single possession. Give it away and go be a missionary in china or something like that. Okay, awesome man. Maybe he is calling you to that. That's awesome, right, good on you. Maybe he's calling you to quit your job and start a non-profit and do all that Incredible, amazing Do that. But I don't think that's what's going on in this story.
Speaker 1:In this story, he uses everyday, normal people to do extraordinary things. In the daily decisions that you make in your life, in the daily decisions that you make in your life, we have the opportunity to be obedient to God. How do we do that? By listening to the teachings of Jesus and, even more than that, by observing the way he lived his life. He told us how to be obedient and he showed us how to be obedient, and it comes down to two things, and it's not going to shock you because we talk about it every single week.
Speaker 1:Here we talk about the two main things that we're supposed to do, the two things that Jesus commanded us to do before he left earth. He said what he said to love God with your whole heart and to love who Others Neighbors. That was good. That was a hard question. You guys did well To love God and to love others in your everyday decisions. This is what it looks like to obey God. To obey God means to love your neighbor, to have patience with your neighbor. That's what it means to obey God means to love your neighbor, to have patience with your neighbor. That's what it means to obey God. Obeying God comes down to loving God and loving others. And we do that in the daily, every single things that we decide to do, moments of our lives, and in those little things that don't seem like a lot, god does amazing, incredible, huge things.
Speaker 1:Cs Lewis, from Mere Christianity, wrote this good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smartest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. And apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridge headed from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible. The enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible. It's the little decisions that we make that may seem silly, that may seem inconsequential, but we can be obedient to God, and God can take those small moments and make incredible, huge impacts.
Speaker 1:I was meeting with a gentleman a couple months ago and he was dealing with this. He wanted to be obedient to God, he wanted to obey God and he wanted to do something big. He had it in his heart that he really wanted to get some guys together and dive into a study and do some teaching. And he had a heart for this and I could just see the look on his eyes how badly he wanted it. But but he said I just don't have time. I work full-time, I'm married, I have four kids, I have all this stuff going on. I just don't have time. And we talked about it for a while and before we left I just looked at him. I said you know what I think? I think you have your mission field. You have a wife and four kids at your house. This is what God has given you. I think that's your mission field. Go and love them. Go and show them what it means to love God. That's your mission field.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we overlook the people and the places and the things that God has put right now in front of you, that he wants you to be used as an instrument for him to make a difference. And maybe it's something big, man, god bless it. Maybe it's something huge and and it's going to radically transform your life, man, god does that. But I think for a lot of us it's in the small things, it's in the way that we love our neighbor, it's in the way we treat our enemy, it's the way that we obey God, in the little, day-to-day things. I think that's what it looks like to obey God for us, and we can do that because we have the cross, the other part of obedience. I think being obedient to God that we don't talk about a lot is part of obeying God means to live in the grace of God and rest in the grace of God Because, believe it or not, you and I aren't perfect. Believe it or not, we're going to make some mistakes. I'm going to wrap it up with this short story.
Speaker 1:Years ago, when I was in about 8th or 9th grade so many years ago I was in the Boy Scouts and I was a horrible Boy Scout. I am not an outdoorsy guy, I'm not a woodsy guy. Don't let the Cabela's vest and the beard fool you. This was a hand me down. I wasn't a good Boy Scout. I don't let the Cabela's vest and the beard. Fool you, this was a hand-me-down. Okay, I wasn't a good Boy Scout, I don't like the outdoors, I don't like camping. Why was I a Boy Scout? My friends did it and actually it was a cool opportunity for me and my dad. My dad was really into it and it was a cool way for me and my dad to connect, and so I was in the Boy Scouts and it was a horrible one and we went on a canoe trip on the St Croix River.
Speaker 1:I've never been in a canoe. I do not know how to canoe. I didn't want to canoe, okay. And so part of the whole trip is you get all your stuff, you pack it up, you protect it in all these tarps and stuff, so if the canoe falls over, all your stuff will be dry. I'm like we're not going to tip the canoe, right. So I threw my backpack in there which had all my snacks, which were the most important part to me on this canoe trip were my snacks. I threw it in there and I said let's go, dad, let's do this thing.
Speaker 1:Meanwhile, my dad is wrapping all of his stuff in tarps and tying it down in the canoe and doing all the appropriate things that you're supposed to do and I'm ready to go. So we put our canoe in and everyone sets sail or whatever you do in a canoe, and we're very far behind because I don't know what I'm doing and my dad is a pretty not or he's a pretty new Canoe as well. So it's just kind of like you know, dumb and dumber in a canoe, basically, and my dad's steering us and we come around a corner and I'm bored to all get up at this point and he turns the canoe and there is a tree that's overhanging the river and we get stuck up on this tree. I'm like what's happening, dad? He's like trust me, I will, I'll get you off the tree branch. I said okay, and the next thing I know he starts shaking the canoe. It's like this is horrible, this is a bad plan. You're, as a bad boy scout as I am, this is not what you're supposed to do. He's like just trust me. He's like this is horrible, this is a bad plan. You're, as a bad Boy Scout as I am, this is not what you're supposed to do. He's like just trust me. He's like whatever you do, don't stand up, just stay there, I'll get us out. I'm like dad, no, my snacks are in here, they're going to get wet. I was so concerned about my snacks and he's like just trust me.
Speaker 1:And I remember, as I was floating away in the river, that I had to swim to shore. My dad got the canoe back up. He got back in the canoe and he came and rescued me out in the middle of the St Croix River and I was expecting my dad to look at me in the eyes and say I told you so. I told you so. I expected to be pretty angry. I was crying, my goldfish were soaked, I had no snacks, all of my stuff was drenched. And I expected to hear I told you so from my dad, because I didn't listen, I wasn't obedient and he knew what was best for me and he knew what was best for me. But that's not what happened. My dad held me back in the canoe. Not only that, he gave me a dry shirt of his, and not only that, he shared his snacks and he said are you ready? I said yes, and we kept canoeing.
Speaker 1:I love that story. One, because it's a great story for me and my dad. But two, this is what it looks like to live in the grace of God when it comes to obedience Is that we're going to make mistakes, we're not going to listen all the time, we're going to flip the canoe and we have a God that does not come over and put his finger at us and say I told you so. We have a God that's going to lift you up, put you back in the canoe, give you a dry shirt and share his snacks and he's going to say let's keep going. And a little bit further down you might tip the canoe again and God's going to have the same response.
Speaker 1:You see, to be obedient to God means also to live in his grace and understand that we have a God that knows that we're not perfect, knows that we're going to go off on our own way from time to time, and he's ready for that. He's ready to pick you back up and he's ready to keep going with you. This is what it looks like to live in obedience to our God. So Central, we started off by saying man, god took everyday, normal people in this story and did extraordinary things. So my hope, our prayer this morning is that what God continues to do in our lives is that he gives us the strength to be obedient, even when it's not easy, even when it's difficult, the strength to live in the grace of God that is part of obedience, and for God to continue to use everyday ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Amen.
