May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends, family, and especially you, Confirmands: In the bulletin you can see that we are going to look at God's words through the Prophet Jeremiah with the central thought: STOP! Look! Listen! Live! Does anyone recognize that phrase, or at least the last three words of it-look, listen, live? These words are the safety motto of the Federal Railroad Administration. For decades the R.R. administration has been trying to make people aware of the danger of R.R. crossings and has been encouraging us to "look, listen and live." Somewhere back in the cobwebs of my mind I think I recall that the phrase originated out west, in Montana, where we used to live. The motto reminds us look-watch for the R.R. signs, the gates, and the flashing red lights; listen-be alert for the ding, ding, ding at the crossing and the loud blast of the engine's horn as it nears a crossing; live-be careful and you will avoid an accident and live.

Now, you might think, "How could anyone miss a R.R. crossing; it's so obvious! A train is so huge; who could miss it! The lights, the bells, the gate...how could anyone ever miss all these obvious warnings and be killed?" Yet, every 90 minutes there is a crash of train and auto somewhere in America; and when a car and locomotive collide, it's obvious who's the looser. Over half of the crashes are at crossings where there are gates, lights, and bells! How can that be? How can anyone miss the obvious? Well, it happens all the time! It happens because we weak and sinful beings can easily miss the obvious; we ignore the obvious. The safety motto will never outlive its usefulness for R.R. crossings-look, listen, live.

I'm going to borrow the phrase and amend it a bit, because it's wonderfully in line with what the Lord tells us in Jeremiah today. I just add another word that Jeremiah uses--"stop." I'm using the phrase because there are many similarities between a R.R. crossing and our lives as we journey toward heaven. Like a R.R. crossing, our lives are full of danger against body and soul; and the soul-danger is most hazardous. I walk in danger all the way, the though shall never leave me, that Satan who has marked his prey is plotting to deceive me, we sing in one of our hymns. Yet, like a R.R. crossing with gate, lights, and a dinging bell-the Lord has made it painfully obvious how to avoid the danger of the devil. So obvious has he made it that we'd have to say in disbelief, "How could anyone miss it?" But lots do. I can think through the lists of souls that sat here where you are sitting just a few years ago, and sadly some of them have collided headlong into Satan and lost. As Jesus taught in the parable of the Sower and the Seed, the good seed does not always produce a good crop. Not that God, the Sower, or the seed, his word, is to blame. The stubborn soil of the sinful heart-there's the cause. And if our reaction is merely, "Well, that was them; it won't happen to me," Satan is grinning, because he knows that's his best prey-the soul that thinks God is talking to "someone else" when he warns. Let's right now stop, look, and listen so that we too live and keep on living.

Stop, the Lord says by Jeremiah. Our translation says, "stand." It simply means don't proceed any further. Instead of walking on, stop; stand still, for a minute; pay attention. We're at a crossroads, a place where several paths merge. Which one is the right and safe one? The world may say, "All roads lead to heaven," but that's not what the creator of heaven and earth says. He says that his Son, Jesus Christ, is the way, the truth and the life (John 14). There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). You cannot just be inattentive and wonder through life and expect that you will live forever in heaven. This day for the confirmands, but every day for all of us, is a day of crossroads. Pay attention. Stop and be careful to Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13,14). Stop.

Look, the Lord says by Jeremiah. Our translation says, "look" and then explains that to look is to seek-asking for the ancient paths, asking where the good way is. It's obvious. You don't have to look very hard. It's as easy as seeing the red lights and the gate at the R.R. crossing. You cannot miss it...unless you're not paying attention or if you think the sign is for someone else. So Look. Be asking about the ancient path. It's as ancient as Adam and Eve. Sinful man who repeats the lie of evolution thinks that at first there were many religions and many gods and then man progressed and religion evolved to monotheism-one God. The exact opposite is true. At first everyone in the entire world knew there was only one God and then religion devolved. As man was unsatisfied with the one true God he began making up gods of his own. Look past those recent man-made gods and look back to the one true God, the Lord who created us, to whom we are responsible, who saved us through his Son. It's easy to see him if you look. He's in the readily accessible 66 books of Scripture, his Baptism, and his Holy Communion. The only way you can miss him is if you say, these are "for someone else." These aren't "for someone else." The Gospel says: These are written that you may have life (John 20:30,31). Look to that ancient path.

Listen, the Lord says by Jeremiah. Our translation says, "keep walking in it (the ancient, good way). The phrase implies not just letting God's word go in one ear and out the other; but it means to make the words about the one, good way such a part of our life that it effects every step of our life, our whole way of life. What makes this one way "good" is that it centers around the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Daily we sin. We can avoid "big" sins, but we are responsible for every ounce of failure to love God with all our hearts and each selfish act that puts ourselves ahead of neighbor. It would be a frightening life if all we had was our sins. Life would not be good; our guilty conscience would hound us until we stood before the Judge who would condemn us to hell. But we love to hear of the good way, the way of grace-that God sent his Son to suffer our punishment, that God justifies us and declares us not guilty of sin for the sake of Jesus Christ. We need to daily be confronted with our sin and to hear of our Savior. That's how God keeps us in faith. Listen to what you see in Scripture.

Live, the Lord says by Jeremiah. Our translation tells us "we will find rest for our souls." It's a promise that is certain. Stop, look, listen and you will have peace. I, the Lord, guarantee it! There is no real life unless we have the peace of sins forgiven. First, our life now without Christ's peace would be a nightmare. And second, without Christ's peace we go to everlasting condemnation after we die. But with his peace we have life now and forever.

I think we can see how this applies to us. It's frightening to recall how weak and oblivious we can be to miss the obvious. Sometimes people are inattentive or just plain old ignore all the warnings and run right into trains. What a tragedy. But worse is that souls sometimes ignore the obvious and stay away from the Savior. Let's recommit ourselves to staying near the word today. And let's recommit ourselves to helping each other to "Stop. Look. Listen."; then we will "live" forever. God make it happen.   Amen.