Dear Friends in Christ,
Leprosy, famine and a foreign army equipped to the teeth. This trio of woe left little hope for four men at the entrance gate to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. There was only death in every direction. The men had nothing to lose so they decided to take their chances in the Aramean, or Syrian, camp. Maybe the soldiers would spare them, maybe not.
When the lepers arrived at the camp outside the city, they discovered the army had fled. They had left everything behind; food, drink, clothes, silver and gold. During the night, the Lord “had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, and horses and a great army…They left the camp and ran for their lives.”
Talk about news too good to keep to themselves. They considered keeping it a secret but realized that would not be right. They knew also that if people in the city found out that they had kept it from them they would punish them. They did the right thing, “Let us go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
I love this history lesson as a mission text because the comparison and application are so clear. What is mission work? What are we doing as a Christians gathered around Word and sacrament? Why are we here as a congregation and a synod? We are Spreading News Too Good to Keep to Ourselves. God has routed our enemies. God has provided great treasure for us to share.
Leprosy, famine and a foreign army were the three enemies facing the men at the gate. Inside the city, people were paying inflated prices for donkey heads and seedpods. Those were about the only things left to eat, not counting the cannibalism of children that was taking place. Camped outside besieging Samaria was the Syrian army. Things appeared hopeless. God would change that.
God delivered his people by routing the Syrians with the sounds of a large approaching army, although there was no army. The flour and barley now available as plunder was plentiful and sold for a small price.
The Lord has routed our enemies. We are spreading news too good to keep to ourselves. We would not be doing right to keep it a secret. Let us go at once and report to our friends, neighbors and the world that the Lord Jesus Christ by his life and death on the cross has routed sin with its power, death and the fear it brings, and the devil who now is powerless.
Jesus faced temptation from Satan in the wilderness, and Satan fled. Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, and the devil could not overcome him. Jesus came alive in the grave, descended into hell, and appeared to the spirits to show his victory.
In a way, we are like those four men. If we go the Law, death is there because the law condemns us for our daily sin. If we go to our conscience, death is there as that voice accuses us of our doubt, impatience, selfishness, and pettiness. If we go out into our daily lives, Satan is there lying and deceiving us so we follow him even though we are free from his hold.
Like those four men, the Lord has delivered us. Now we are sharing news too good to keep to ourselves. Jesus has kept the law. He has given us the pledge of a good conscience by our Holy Baptism. He has freed us so that in our new lives we can resist the devil so that he will flee from us.
God not only has routed our enemies. God has provided great treasure for us to share.
The four men and later some charioteers from the king found all the treasures the fleeing Aramaens had left behind. I mentioned the flour and grain, and gold and silver. They also left behind all their equipment before they fled across the Jordan River. Doesn’t that remind us of Israel earlier plundering the Egyptians after Pharaoh order them out of his country after the Plagues? God gave to his people the land of Canaan with all its milk and honey.
God has given us great treasures. The news is too good not to share. We have the forgiveness of all our sins, new spiritual life in Christ’s resurrection, and eternal salvation in heaven. The meek will inherit the earth. We are heirs off all things as the brothers and sisters of Christ. We are God’s children. We are the spiritual children of Abraham as we share his faith that God credits to us as righteousness. God has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ, along with all the material possessions we manage as his stewards.
We thank God for those we support with our Congregational Mission Offering who go out in our name; men and women and their families who serve our Savior in Africa, China, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and other areas of the world. We thank the Lord for Pastors like Pastor Stelljes in Greenwood and Pastor Schmoller in Lafayette for spreading the good news in their communities.
Through that CMO we participate in the work of the church at large to educate young people, some from our own congregation, to become pastors and teachers and staff ministers. Mission work we do as individuals, as Bethlehem, and as the Wisconsin Synod is sharing news too good to keep to ourselves, and giving our young men and women to do that for us.
We do not know what finally moved the four men to go back into the city with the news that the Lord had routed their enemy and provided all those treasure for Samaria. We do know why we do mission work. We do it because of our justification through faith. We do it under the Great Commission. We do it because we love the lost souls Jesus loved.
“This is a day of good news… Let us go at once and report this…” May God grant us that recognition and that attitude toward sharing news that is too good for us to keep to ourselves. Amen. <SDG>