January 13, 2019—You’re Mine

The other day Marcy and I were walking through Walmart and amazed that Valentines Decorations are not yet out, and we were even more amazed that Easter Decorations were!

What happened to Valentine’s Day?  I didn’t even get a chance to look for a decent card for Marcy…How will I ever tell her to be mine?

I suppose I could try the cave man way of knocking her on the head with a club and then dragging her around by the hair for everyone to see she belongs to me…naw, I don’t think that would be good with all the hashtag “Me Too” movement going on these days, they just might not approve.

I suppose I could go with the flowers route with a dozen red roses, but roses die, and I don’t want to suggest my love is dying just like those buds!

Maybe I should go the traditional high school rout by giving her my class ring, I think Elvis said it best…

“Won’t you wear my ring up around your neck?

To tell the world I’m yours by heck

Let them see your love for me

And let them see by the ring around your neck.”

Naw, then I’d have to buy a matching gold necklace, and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t wear it anyway.

How am I gonna ask her to be mine without the celebration of Valentine’s Day to help me do it properly?

Anyway, I don’t know how any well-meaning man could accomplish anything without the help of Hall Mark anyhow!

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law is an expression meaning that ownership is easier to maintain if one has possession of something, or difficult to enforce if one does not.”

https://www.quora.com/What-does-possession-is-9-10-of-the-law-mean

In other words, the clothes that you are wearing right now are presumed to be yours unless someone can prove that they are not.

So I guess having Marcy by my side is a pretty good indicator that she is not interested in anyone else, and for that I am grateful.

The Lord is making his feelings toward His people quite clear in our OT Testament Prophecy today.

“I have called you by name you are mine.”

Now, how He made them His, might not be entirely clear to you; but there are a few clues, that might have made it obvious; to them!

When they walked through water they did not get wet and when they walked through fire they didn’t so much as feel the heat!

Incredible images of Noah dry on his ark while the entire world was wet, and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on dry ground and the Jordan River as well are evoked by this remembrance for God’s people.

Then there are the images of the Burning bush and Moses, which did not go out, and the flames of the oven that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were thrown into, protected from any burning by the Angel of the Lord.

As they traveled across Egypt and into Canaan, as the lived in captivity in foreign lands, the native peoples had to be wondering whose God is theirs that does such powerful things for them?

Indeed, Yahweh is clear today, you people of Israel are MINE!

When the 1st Born Sons of Egypt lost their lives as the ransom payment for the Israelite freedom, God made it very clear to the fake God Pharaoh, these people are MINE.

When the people of God faithfully followed Him instead of false statues risking lion’s dens as well as burning ovens, God made their fantastic statues look like pathetic fake idols compared to His love for His humble people.

And most of the time, His people loved Him back, and showed it through their worship, their faith, and their loyalty to Him.

These days it’s easy to see were peoples loyalties lie with their favorite sports.

They brandish the maroon of their tide or the orange of their tigers.  Gaudy jerseys or colorful hats adorn their heads on their way to stadiums and parks where they cheer their beloved teams.

Depending on how successful they are their level of loyalty rises or falls in congruence with the rise and the fall on their teams ranking.

Little team Israel experienced the greatest victory of all time over the greatest nation on the earth, the ultimate Cinderella story if you will.

Then they went on to win battle after battle and took land into their possession that had been controlled by several other nations for almost 4 centuries.

Now you would think they would be loyal to and represent the glory of their winning team, but no sooner was peace achieved on the top of the heap, then they turned their loyalties to another and said to that God, instead of the one true God…BE MINE!

That’s like changing from a Red Sox Fan to being a Yankees Fan, That’s like changing from being a Capitalist to being a Communist, that’s like changing from a Lutheran to being a Muslim!

It never happens, never ever; ever! At least that’s what I thought, until I met a Muslim Chaplain in the Army; that used to be a Missouri Synod Lutheran!

“Why?” I asked him when I found out… “Because” he replied, “they seemed more faithful following their religion than the Lutherans did.”

And I realized right then, that he never understood grace at all.

This passage today, is all about what God does, and nothing about what we do.

That’s why our works don’t matter when we mess up and do the wrong thing…because we always do.

That’s why our short attention span when it comes to loyalty, makes little difference in our salvation, because we were never liberating ourselves to begin with.

And that’s why the quality of our kindness, the energy of our ethics, and the success of our service doesn’t determine our forgiveness.

Only God does.  Because only God can do the miracles we saw related today.

Only the Son of the Father can stand in the water and hear His Father proclaim, “…with you I am well pleased”

And only the Son could live the perfect life, die the perfect death, and resurrect the perfect body, to give everyone perfection forever.

Only Jesus can, only Jesus will, and only Jesus did.

You know there was another day, where Jesus did what I and Marcy could not.

It was our wedding day, and Jesus was there, binding us together, to show Jesus love as the Groom, and Churches response as the Bride of Christ.

And He will always be there for us no matter what.  Because it wasn’t Marcy saying I do, and it wasn’t me saying I will.

And whatever love we have isn’t Marcy being the perfect woman and we all know it has nothing to do with me being the perfect man.

And whatever friendship we’ve fostered isn’t because I think Marcy belongs to me or that She thinks I belong to her.

It’s because we belong to Christ, and because he died and rose from the dead to tell us, you’re Mine.  AMEN.