September 14, 2025 – Christian Education Texts: Ex. 15:22-26, 1 John 4:1-6, Matt. 17:1-5
Dear Friends in Christ,
Communication. A couple of months ago Toni, Holden and I went down to Decatur to take my dad out to eat for his birthday. We then went and had his favorite dessert, and he opened his gifts. As we were enjoying the dessert my dad was gushing with thanks for everything we had done for him. Toni then piped up and said, “Doug, we want you to remember this when we have to take your keys away!” I just about choked on my strawberry shortcake I was laughing so hard.
Have you ever been in a situation like that where somebody says something that just totally surprises you? You may even ask, “What did you say?” Today is our Christian Education Sunday and we are focusing in on three texts that all have to do with listening. Are we hearing God’s Word? Are you ever surprised by it? Can the writers of Scripture catch you off guard?
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”
Listening is a skill. When it comes to listening, there are mainly two types of people. One is the person that is listening to what you have to say. They then follow up with a question and take an interest in you. The other person is the guy or gal who half hears you but as soon as you say something that relates to them, they have their own story, and they leave you behind. Many are a combination of the two.
In the Old Testament Book of Exodus, the Israelites had a lot of moments when they said to Moses, “What did you say?” They never really listened to him or the message he was bringing from the Lord. The grumbling in our text was the first of many. Their water was bitter, and they could not drink it. Similar to our Bloomington water this year.
Anyway, Moses took action and the Lord made the water sweet. The Lord then told them, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” (v. 26)
Isn’t the Lord’s timing, right on? What was big in the news this week? The health of our nation. Our life experiences lead to certain assumptions. Former generations thought first about priests and prayers when they got sick, we think of doctors and drugs. That our lives are in the hands of God seem remote – even irrelevant. Missing meds is a bigger problem than missing church. It seems that what I do, more than God, determines my present and future well-being. As this mindset grows across the globe, religion declines.
The Lord tells us he is our healer. What did you say? We look to Him for our health and sustenance, using the gifts He has provided. He sent the greatest healer ever into our lives. The one who could heal body and soul. It is right here in God’s Word. Jesus Christ.
The apostle John writes in our Epistle, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (v. 2-3a). To confess the man Jesus Christ as Lord and God in the flesh is the confession of the apostolic eyewitnesses. The apostles saw, heard, and touched the resurrected Christ. John then writes, “Whoever knows God listens to us.” We recognize and listen to the true teaching of Christ. In worship, in a bible study, in Sunday school, in a devotion. Instead of “what did you say?” we rejoice in what was said. How many times has the Lord of life comforted you with his Words? How many times has a verse spoken to you? How many times during your day do you recall the reminder that you are loved and saved by Jesus? Forgiven by grace. Heard through prayer.
In our Gospel not only were disciples thinking, “what did you say,” they must have also been thinking, “what is going on here.” But they heard this, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (v. 5b)
Moses had foretold that God would raise up a prophet to whom the people should listen. Jesus was that prophet. He alone knows the Father, who has handed over all things to His Son. Our Lutheran Confessions state, “All who want to be saved ought to listen to this preaching. For the preaching and hearing of God’s Word are the Holy Spirit’s instruments. By, with, and through these instruments the Spirit desires to work effectively, to convert people to God, and to work in them both to will and to do.”
So, how did you listen today? Was it “What did you say?” Or “I heard God’s Word through the Holy Spirit.”
Amen.