Keep Watch, Lest Ye Fall

[00:00:01] Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. [00:00:08] This hymn that we just sang uses the imagery of the tree like we're trees, which is really, really common. Actually, we have a line from Psalm 1 in the intro. It this morning doesn't talk about a tree, but Psalm 1 sure does, right? That the one who meditates on God's law, his word, day and night, he is like a tree planted by streams of water that's strong, yields its fruit in its season and isn't affected by the heat, keeps its leaves, things like that. [00:00:43] So we're trees. And in this hymn, it's the blessed spring where word and sign embrace us into Christ. The vine. [00:00:54] Christ is the vine. And from him and from the spirit of Christ we receive our life. It's one of the main lessons of the tree. If you don't water the tree, what's going to happen? It's pretty clear the tree is going to die. [00:01:10] All right, so here we have the tree in the epistle reading. This is what's going to kind of structure our meditation this morning. Especially if anyone thinks that he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. [00:01:26] If you think that the tree can survive without water, take heed lest the tree dry up and die. You could say, now how does that apply practically to what we're talking about? Because, well, we're talking about ourselves. [00:01:47] Let us take heed lest we fall. [00:01:51] We're talking about the life of faith in Christ. There is real danger that we fall away from Christ, constant danger that we fall away from Christ. And that is what lends such gravity to the Christian struggle, the struggle for faith in the wilderness in which we're engaged more intensely here in Lent, kind of as practice for any other time. [00:02:17] So let's talk about something else than a tree for a moment to help sort of bring out what we're talking about. Let's talk about a basketball team. It's been a while. I like talking about basketball teams. [00:02:32] So, okay, so a basketball team is successful not because one individual on the basketball team is so good or because five individuals on the basketball team are so good, but because they work together and because they pay attention to the word of their coach. [00:02:52] You could say, right, and if during a basketball team, one of the players forgets that and decides that they can stand on their own or that they can win by themselves. [00:03:08] Now there's probably some exception, like a really good team playing a really bad team, you know, maybe one player could beat them by himself. But typically if the competition is good, when one player gets it into his head that he's just going to go it alone, it's like, come on man, pass the ball. You know, he's going to get like stuck in a corner, double teamed and lose the ball. [00:03:34] It just doesn't work. [00:03:37] Likewise, you could say if the whole team decides not to pay attention to the coach who has better perspective and who is the one uniting them all together, then they're going to fall apart. The coach gave them a plan, but now they're maybe one of them decided instead of running the play, he's just gonna go to the basket and well, now what do we have a coach for? And you know, the team falls apart and loses hopefully. Or else this illustration doesn't work. Right. [00:04:12] Do you get what I'm saying? Right. Okay. So the team, the team is, well, it's something that works toward a higher goal than any of the, any of the team members by themselves. And how does it work? It works as they together look to their coach and unite around his word and listen to it. [00:04:40] This is sort of analogous to the life of faith. And I'm going to bring in the prayer, the collect of the day that we said a few minutes ago. [00:04:56] O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy. Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your word. [00:05:10] To what? [00:05:12] To embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your word. Just like a basketball team who finds that they're losing, losing their way. You know, what should they do? Listen to the coach together and unite around his word. Well, that's what we pray. That those who have fallen astray, who have gone astray, would hold fast the unchangeable truth of your word. [00:05:40] Okay, to listen to the word of God. See, we don't operate independently from God's word, at least not properly. God's word is our life is the watering the tree. [00:05:57] We turning aside from God's word like happened in the Garden of Eden. [00:06:03] Now we're on our own. Now we're independent and we're going the wrong direction. [00:06:10] The proper turn of repentance is a turn back toward God and his word. [00:06:17] See, God's word is what informs what we are. He created everything with his word. [00:06:22] So, like, what defines what we are? Say God's word. [00:06:28] If I, well, if I define something, I'm going to do it with words like, well, I just made this and here's what it's for. I'm going to describe it with words. God's word is what determines what we are and keeps us properly what we are. So if we turn astray from that, then we lose what we are. [00:06:54] If you build a house, you build it with a plan, with a blueprint. [00:07:00] You could say it's the word. [00:07:05] In Greek, word is also, like reason. It's logic, logos, it's logic. It's a plan, it's a pattern. [00:07:14] So you build a house according to a pattern, according to a word. [00:07:21] And, well, if anyone thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. [00:07:27] If you just let your house sit there for years and years and years and years thinking like, well, it is what it is, and it's always going to be that way. Well, then pretty soon, instead of the roof holding out water, it's going to be letting it in. And you're not going to have a sanctuary from the elements. You're going to have a habitat for other creatures. [00:07:54] It's not going to work anymore. [00:07:56] It takes maintenance and attention to the house in order to keep it what it's meant to be in order to keep it functioning according to the blueprint, according to the word of the builder. [00:08:07] And if you just forget that, then it'll fall. [00:08:13] You and I are God's workmanship. We're a new creation in Christ. But we're liable to forget what that means. [00:08:23] We're liable to forget our builder, our creator, the one who has made us new in Christ. And as soon as we think we stand on our own, not needing God's word, as soon as we think that we can operate according to our own ideas or in pride, lift ourselves up to, like the basketball player, go it alone apart from the word of the coach, then we're going to fall. Because we are not in some, you know, basketball game where the outcome is already determined. We do not face foes that are easily beaten. We face foes that are beyond our power to combat on our own power, on our own strength. [00:09:16] Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [00:09:29] Those words should instill fear in us. Fear of being outside of God's word and strength, fear of being found outside of Christ. [00:09:40] Because it's Christ's victory that holds those powers at bay. More. More than that, Christ's victory that sends the devil and his armies to flight. Right sends them running in Christ, we have nothing to fear. Christ is the one who went out in the wilderness and resisted temptation against the devil. Christ is the one who went to the cross and lost everything and, and remained faithful to God, even to death, horrific death, death. And rose from the dead and was given all power and authority in heaven and on earth, and sits at the right hand of God and has given you and me promises of protection from the evil one in himself, of resurrection from the dead in himself. [00:10:38] We don't have any of this by ourselves, all of it, in Christ. So if anyone thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. Because pride comes before the fall. That's just such a great, you know, great old saying that is so true. And watch for it in your own life. [00:10:59] Watch for it. Like if you find yourself, you know, stumbling in a relationship, like you said something that you normally maybe would realize, like, I should never say that or it's going to get me into a ton of trouble. [00:11:14] If you reflect on that experience, you might find that you had fallen into pride, like you had thought, I stand like, whatever, nothing's going to happen. Everything's fine. [00:11:27] You're not vigilant anymore. And in that moment, that's when you go and. And put your foot in your mouth. This is just the way that reality works, but it is the way that our spiritual battle works. It's the way that, well, it's the whole story of the Bible. Adam and Eve, they thought they could stand on their own apart from God's word. They turned away from him and they fell. [00:11:52] That battle ain't over. [00:11:55] It's still taking place every day. [00:11:59] And so it should make us take this seriously. Jesus says, you know those people who died from the tower falling on them? You think they were worse sinners because they died in this way? No. [00:12:15] And my first thought is like, oh, yeah, like I shouldn't interpret death as because of sin. And then he says, nope, none of us are exempt, right? He says, unless you repent, you too will perish. And it's like, oh, yeah, that's what we're all subject to. Apart from Christ, apart from repenting and turning from our foolish, rash independence, apart from repenting and turning back to Christ and looking to be found in Christ and giving all of his promises in him, apart from him, we perish. [00:12:55] So that should, again, that should ramp up the seriousness that we feel in this battle. We should recognize the great danger and the great danger that we've been rescued from in Christ and not take it lightly. [00:13:14] But remember where the power is. [00:13:17] It's not just a matter of saying, like, yeah, you're right. I've sinned a lot in this last week, and this week is going to be different. Like, that's not what we're talking about. [00:13:27] We're talking about remembering the source, remembering from where we have strength against the devil, from where we have life. Remembering our builder who's made us into a new creation in Christ and looking to be found in Christ. It's like, yeah, last week I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the faith. You know, like, there were lots of times when, yeah, I could have turned to God in prayer, and I didn't. [00:13:58] This week I'm gonna. I'm gonna remember God and his Word. I mean, that's a fine resolution to make. I'm gonna look to Christ, you know. Lord, give me strength to look to Christ, to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith and to be found in him. Just fold me into Christ and let me be found in him. In Jesus name, amen.