11-01-2023

Good Morning All,

         Luke 22: 31-32a; “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

    “Sift you like wheat.”  This is a reference to how farmers at the time of Jesus would finish the harvest of wheat.  First the farmer would go out into the fields and with a scythe cut down the wheat and stack it into bundles which were then carried up to the thrashing floor.  Here the farmer would take the bundles and then beat them against the floor in order to loosen the kernels of wheat.  After they did this, they would then take a winnowing fork and throw the wheat, chaff, broken straw mixture into the air.  The wheat would fall to the floor as the chaff would blow away in the wind. 

    This was a rigorous process.  Yet, in the end, all you have is kernels of wheat, but it can be a very, very stressful event, especially on the wheat.  It gets thrown up into the air and then crashes to the floor only to be tossed up into the air again.  It is a trying and tumultuous event for the wheat but it is necessary to separate the wheat (the necessary part) from the chaff (the waste).  This also happens in our life, sometimes very painfully.

    Many of you have experienced being sifted.  There are times in our lives when our faith is shaken to the very core.  The death of a child will rock you like an earthquake.  Sometimes, the stress from our everyday life shakes us.  Health issues in our family, especially big ones, can really shake you.  Placing a parent or a spouse in a nursing home can make you shudder.  Having your job disappear can be devastating.  Having the company that you worked for all your life suddenly go bankrupt and take your retirement with them can really hurt.  Put two or three of these together and you are sifted.

    When being sifted our confidence can be shaken.  One thing that it does is that it can cause us to seek our god.  Luther defines a god as “That from which we seek our ultimate source of security, that which we cling to with all our heart.”  So, what is your god?  Is it your money, your intellect, your spouse, your parents, your government, just plain you?  What is your god?  Because when we get sifted, the chaff all the false gods, blow away in the wind.  Finally, we are left with only the kernels.  Only the true God, Yahweh the triune God, is left and that is all we can cling to.

    So, we cling to the God who died for us, we cling to the God that redeemed us, and we cling to the God that loves us and promises to never forget us.  So, if you are being sifted, pray for God’s grace, talk to your brothers and sisters in Christ and remember who your only source of hope and security is and that is Christ.  You will be sifted, maybe many times, but through them all God holds you close and protects you from the devil and his attacks.

Father, we often feel sifted.  Protect us from all that the devil throws at us and keep us safe.  Give us the certainty of your hope, the certainty of your grace and the wonder of your comforting Spirit.  Be with those who are currently being sifted.  Give them the consolation they need and the comfort of your saving grace.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret