Ep 145 | Cover to Cover 24 | Pastor Ryan Clark | June 14, 2026

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

There's a, there's a hotel there.

Hey, look, kids.

There's Big Ben and there's Parliament There it is.

I know.

I can't seem to get over to the left, honey.

I'll try next time.

Sorry.

We'll get out of this jam in a minute.

Kids, Big Ben, Parliament again.

Kids, we know, Big Ben, Parliament Kids, forget it It's amazing.

I cannot get left There's Big Ben, kids.

Parliament.

This scene from European Vacation, released, if you can believe it, almost 40 years ago, was what I thought of as I began studying the first 12 chapters of the Book of Judges this week in our cover to cover Bible reading plan.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.

And around, and around, and around they went, over and over again.

As we jump into this gory, somewhat depressing, frustrating seventh book of the Bible, the Book of Judges, we're going to see this scenario just like Noah talked about a few minutes ago, playing out over, and over, and over, and over again The Book of Judges begins with these words: "Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110.

And they buried him in the land of his inheritance."

For the past about 75 years, the nation of Israel has been ruled by two central, very strong figures.

First of all, by Moses for the first 45 years out in the desert, and then Moses passes away, and Joshua, son of Nun, becomes their leader for the next 30-some years.

He was the one that led them into the Promised Land, and by the power of God, they were able to subdue all their enemies and take the Promised Land for themselves.

But now, as the Book of Judges begins, Joshua, that second great leader of the Israelites, has passed away.

In Judges 2 it says, "After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord, nor what He had done for Israel."

Now, there are questions in my mind of why that happened.

Did the parents, did the grandparents not pass on the message? I don't know.

The Bible doesn't tell us.

But for whatever reason, this new generation did not have the same intimate relationship with their heavenly Father as the generation before them, and that had dire consequences.

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and they served the Baals, the false gods.

They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt.

They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.

They aroused the Lord's anger because they forsook Him and served Baal and the Astaroths.

You know, God's people, when they entered into the Promised Land, they had the world by the tail because they had God with them, the only one true God, and His powerful hand was on them all the time.

And so they did miraculous things.

Every one of their enemies that they came into contact with, they defeated quickly and overtook all of their land.

Nothing could stop them because the hand of the Lord was upon them.

And God said, "You're gonna go into this land that I promised you, and you're gonna live in homes that you didn't build.

You're gonna live in cities that you didn't build.

You're gonna have, fields.

You're gonna have all of this stuff that you didn't plant, and it's all gonna be yours because of Me But God's people took these things for granted.

And very soon after Joshua passes away, God's people begin to turn away and actually worship other gods that are not gods at all, false gods, instead of following the one true God.

Instead of obeying the Lord and all that He had said to do and not to do, they forsook all of that.

They compromised and disobeyed Him.

In His anger against Israel, the Lord gave them into the hands of the raiders who plundered them.

He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.

Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as He had sworn to them, and they were in great distress.

So here we go around the circle.

They had the world by the tail, and then what do they do? They disobey the Lord.

They take those things for granted, and then the Lord pulls back His hand of blessing and protection.

And pretty soon, those supernatural things that had been happening aren't happening anymore.

And now the people of Israel are finding their enemies too strong for them.

Their enemies are defeating them, and they're actually going back into slavery in much the same way that they were all the way back in Egypt And then we see the same phrase played out over and over and over again.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.

They cried out to the Lord.

Again, the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

Israel was in great distress.

Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals."

They had the world by the tail.

They disobeyed God.

God pulls back His hand of blessing, leading to the people repenting and turning back to the Lord.

And then in Judges 2 it says, "Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived.

For the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them."

As I was reading this this week, I just saw the amazing love of God for His people.

Think about what these people had done.

All that the Lord had done for these people.

There had never in the history of the world been a people like this, that God had had His hand upon, and nobody or nothing could defeat them.

And they forsook Him.

They worshiped other gods.

They did what He told them not to do But when things got hard and they came back to the Lord and asked Him for forgiveness, it says the Lord relented because of their groaning.

In other words, God couldn't handle it.

He loved His people so much that even though they were disobedient, as soon as He heard their groaning, He just couldn't handle it.

And so He raised up these powerful figures, the judges, to come and to help them to be free once again And that completes the circle.

God forgives, and His blessings return.

Now, if that only happened one time, that would be pretty sad.

But just like we talked about, it happens over and over and over and over again throughout the Book of Judges.

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them.

They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

And so what happened? They started the circle over and over again.

Now hopefully you've been reading through this, throughout this past week.

But as we're reading through these chapters, I believe what the Holy Spirit wants us to be asking ourselves is, "Hey, do you see yourself in that pattern, that same pattern?" Because if so, there's something for us to learn.

There's something for us to gain here today You know, none of our lives are perfect.

We all have problems because we're not home yet to heaven.

But you better believe that just like those Israelites, we have the hand of God's blessing upon us, and there's not a person here today that doesn't have amazing blessings from the Lord.

We say this all the time, there's not a person here that doesn't have miracles in your past in answer to your prayers, because God hears your groaning and He can't stand it because just like His Old Testament people were His, you're His as well.

We all have all kinds of amazing blessings in our life.

But if we're gonna be honest, sometimes just like those Israelites, we begin to take those things for granted, don't we? And as we take those things for granted, we begin to forget who we are.

We begin to forget whose we are.

And we begin to compromise, and we say, "Well, it's not really that important that I follow God closely."

And pretty soon we start doing those things, saying those things, looking at those things that we shouldn't be doing.

And just like those Israelites, we begin that cycle of disobedience to the Lord.

God's people turn away.

What's next on the circle? God removes his hand of blessing.

Now, here's the question: We who are living in this new covenant through Jesus, does he do that? Does he remove his hand of blessing? Well, I'm not sure he does it in kind of the same way, but what we do have in the New Testament is this particular verse, these verses from Hebrews 12 where it says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.

Endure hardship as discipline.

God is treating you as his children.

For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined and everyone undergoes discipline, then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Moreover, we have had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.

How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good in order that we might share in his holiness.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Whether God removes his hand of blessing or not, we don't know exactly what it looks like in the heavenlies.

We do know this, that God loves you and me way too much to allow us to start that process of going around that circle in disobedience to him.

Everything the Lord tells us to do is for our good because he loves us, because he loves our family, because he's got a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives that is a good and fulfilling purpose, and he doesn't want us to get too far off.

And so whether it's him removing his hand or whether it's him disciplining us, whatever it is, he doesn't let it go.

And sometimes that discipline is not a whole lot of fun Now just a couple of things about discipline because there's always opportunity for misunderstanding whenever we come to this.

Number one is this: not everything bad we go through is God disciplining us.

Sometimes the bad that you and I go through is simply the result of living in a fallen, broken world.

Like I said before, we're not home yet.

When we get home to heaven, there won't be any bad things in our lives.

But for those of us that are sitting here or standing here today, we're still in a broken world where sometimes bad things happen.

But according to Hebrews 12, there are some times where we are getting way off base, we are disobeying, we are actively doing those things that He has told us not to do, and He disciplines us for our good.

Secondly, even when it is divine discipline taking place, it is not punishment.

This is really an important point.

It is loving discipline, and there's a difference between punishment and discipline.

The difference is this: punishment always looks back.

It's always saying, "Because you did this, I'm gonna do this to you."

It's always retribution for what you've done wrong.

As we're gonna see here in just a couple of minutes, there is no more retribution for you and for me that are baptized like little Brooklyn here today and have put our faith in Jesus Christ because all of that retribution went on somebody else, But there still is loving discipline.

Discipline doesn't look back like punishment does.

Discipline is always looking ahead.

Discipline is saying, God is saying, "I've got a great plan for your life.

I've got things that I want you to do before you come home to me that are gonna change this world for the good.

And that's why I've put all those gifts and talents in you.

That's why I've given you these experiences.

This is why I gave you that personality.

That's why I put you right here in this place and time to accomplish these things.

And when you get off base through sin, I gotta steer you back."

And so it's not that He's looking back.

He's looking ahead.

He's got good plans for you, and He's gotta steer you back sometimes through discipline.

But like I said, sometimes that is not a whole lot of fun But always remember those words.

Who does the Lord discipline? He disciplines those He loves, and He chastens everyone that He accepts as His son.

And so what is God's hope? What is God's prayer for when he chastens us? That we would be like those Israelites, that we would get down on our knees, that we would repent, that we would turn back to him.

If there's something in your life right now that God is speaking to you about something that isn't right, something that you've been doing that the Holy Spirit has been whispering to you, "Don't do that.

You know that's not the will of God for your life," then at some point here today, find a quiet place where you can just get down on your knees and go before the Lord and say, "I am so sorry Forgive me, and I give my life back to you for your purposes for my life.

You know, this is what King David did in scripture, and we're gonna be learning about David in the next few weeks of our study.

David was, quote, "A man after God's own heart," but David wasn't perfect.

In fact, he did two horrendous things.

He committed adultery with a woman that was married, and then to cover up his tracks, he killed her husband And when he realized the horrible things that he did, he got down on his knees and repented.

And the words are recorded for us in Psalm 51, where David says, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from all my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and you're justified when you judge."

David is saying, "You're justified, Lord.

You should punish me both now and into eternity for what I've done.

But I'm asking you for your mercy and for your grace.

I'm asking you for your forgiveness."

In Psalm 30 it says, "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says, 'In repentance and rest is your salvation.'"

You know where your rest and your salvation isn't? It isn't in continuing to go astray.

It isn't in continuing to fight against God.

And by the way, you won't win.

No matter how upset you are with God, no matter how much you wanna stick it in His eye, you're not gonna win by fighting against Him.

It reminds me of my roommate back at Iowa State.

My roommate was a big guy, Jeff.

And I remember he told me the story one day, he said that during his senior year, he and his father got into a heated argument, so much so that Jeff put up his hands, and his dad just stood there with his hands to his side and said, "You'll lose."

The same thing with God.

You can put up your dukes, you can try to fight Him, you can try to rebel against Him as much as you want, you'll lose.

That's not where your rest, that's not where your salvation is going to come from.

It comes from one place, and that is just getting down on your knees and saying, "Lord, I'm a sinner.

I'm sorry, and I ask you to forgive me and give me a fresh start.

I want to spend the rest of my life following you."

And like we said, whenever you do that, God will always, always, no matter what you've done, forgive you and His blessings return to your life.

Now, I'm sure there's a few people out here today that are asking this question, "Well, you don't understand, Pastor.

What I've done is horrendous.

I understand that God could forgive, you know, most sins, but you'd have no idea what I've done.

Could God ever forgive me for what I've done?" Well, in order to answer that question, let's go back to the Book of Judges again.

And these passages really speak the heart of God.

And from Judges 10 it says, "The Lord replied, 'When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, the Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me.

You have served other gods, so I will no longer save you.

Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen.

Let them save you when you're in trouble.'"

You can hear the heart of God, can't you? Of course I come to your rescue, but you're worshiping other gods, gods of wood and, and stone.

If you really think that they're worthy of worship, then let them save you.

But the Israelites said to the Lord, "We have sinned.

Do with us whatever you think best, Lord, but please rescue us now."

Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord, and listen to these words, "And He could bear Israel's misery no longer."

Once again, God just couldn't handle it.

He couldn't handle the misery of His disobedient kids because He loved them so much.

There is nothing that you've done in your life that is as bad as what the Israelites did.

They had completely forsaken their God, and they were worshiping false gods and doing everything that God had told them not to do.

But when they came back to the Lord and asked Him for forgiveness, He could bear their misery no longer, and He sent them judge after judge after judge to bring them out of slavery and back into freedom again.

In Isaiah 49, I love these words.

It says, "But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me.

The Lord has forgotten me.'"

And maybe you feel that way.

Because of the horrible thing that I've done, He's forsaken me.

He's left me.

But look at the Lord's reply: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

I will never forget you.

Why? Because the reminder of you is right there on the palms of my hands.

When did God engrave you and me on the palms of His hands? When His Son, Jesus Christ, came here to this earth, lived a perfect life, and then died on that cross for you and for me.

When He died on that cross, He was taking our punishment so that no matter what we did wrong, no matter how horrendous it may have been, we could always, always, always have that fresh start.

God forgives over and over and over again, and when He does, all of His blessings return to us.

In Lamentations 3, I love these words, it says, "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed.

For His compassions, they never fail.

They are new every morning.

Great is Your faithfulness."

Absolutely.

How great is His faithfulness that over and over and over again He would take us back? One last thing.

Knowing that this is our tendency, right? Not just to do it once and learn our lesson, but to go around and around and around the circle again.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.

Is there anything that we can do to stop that cycle or slow that cycle down a little bit so that we don't begin that cycle of turning away from Him again and again? Well, until we get home to heaven, we're gonna wrestle with this, but I think there is something that can help us.

In 1 Thessalonians 5 it says this, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Remember why those Israelites began to fall away? Because they had the world by the tail, and instead of thanking God for those things over and over and over again, and remembering who gave them those blessings and who they are and whose they are, they began to forget those things.

Instead, simply this: remember the good things that God has done for you Spend time with Him each and every day.

Spend time thinking about, writing down the good things that God has done for you.

And as you do that, it'll- you'll be slower to forget all of the good blessings that God has brought into your life, and hopefully won't continue going around that circle at the same pace that those Israelites did in our readings for today.

But when you do, you know where to go.

Go back to the Lord in repentance.

That is where your salvation is.

And may God grant it to each and every one of us for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.