Sermon - Last Sunday of the Church Year - Luke 23:27-43

November 24th, 2013

Last Sunday of the Church Year

Luke 23:27-43

“Last Words”

It is the last Sunday in the church year, and as such the “last things” take center stage. Today, especially, the Gospel reading sets before us some “last words”.

I sometimes wonder what my last words will be. You know, will they be a fond farewell with my family gathered around my bedside, before I peacefully drift off in the sleep of death. Or will it be something far more mundane, like, “what's for dinner?” or “good night, love you too”?

People are often remembered for their last words – especially when they know they are going to be their last words. It's a last chance to say what is really, really important. Some words of wisdom. Some well-wish for those you care about.

I remember being at the deathbed of one of our elders, who was dying of cancer. He was fairly lucid up until the end. The doctors told him, “say your goodbyes. You have hours left, maybe a day.” Amazing. And I watched as his family came to say their goodbyes, and he gave his final words to them – words that encouraged them to remain in the faith. I thought to myself, that's how I'd like to go.

Last words. Moses speaks some last words in Deuteronomy. He had traveled with the Israelites for 40 years, and he knew the farewell was hastening. As he would not join them in Canaan. But he spoke last words to them, words to remember, before they parted. In fact the whole book of Deuteronomy is just that – Moses' farewell sermon. We might sum it up, “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” In other words – Moses' last words were a reminder to the keep hold of the Word of the Lord. We usually hear this reading on Thanksgiving Day, by the way.

Moses would direct us to follow the law. After all, it was Moses who received the ten commandments on Mt. Sinai – and wrote them in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. And these ten commandments leave us with no word of answer regarding our sin. They always have the last word. Do you think you don't covet? Do you think you haven't stolen? Do you really, really have no other gods?

We have no words of excuse. We have no words to free ourselves. We have nothing to say in the face of God's law, except to confess that what it says of us is true. Like David, we could say, “I have sinned against God and man.” No lie will stand, no mitigating circumstances will help our case. The soul that sins shall perish. The wages of sin – death.

But the law of God, while an important word, is not the last word. Even for Moses, he directed the people also to the works and promises of God. Remembering, in word, what he has done throughout their history to bring about their salvation. And looking forward, trusting in the promises, of the even greater salvation that was one day to come.

Then there's Jesus. His last words – well, his last words before death – are often a focus of Christian meditation. 7 Words from the cross, two of them in our reading from Luke today - “Father forgive them...” and “Today you'll be with me in paradise”. Whole sermons have been and should be preached on these last words of our Lord. But not just because they are some of his last – but because they are his words. And man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Speaking of bread, that might take us to some other last words of Jesus – the words of his last will and testament. The words of the Lord's Supper. Take, eat, this is my body... Take drink, this is my blood. Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me. Here, the last words of Jesus are established as an ongoing testament and a mysterious application of the forgiveness he won at the cross. These words, they continue to be spoken, in his stead and by his command – when his servants continue to administer his gifts to his people.

For Jesus, his word of forgiveness is the last word on our sin. There are no contingencies. There is no small print. And there's no taking back that word. There's no chance in hell or in heaven that he will ever throw your past sins in your face. For those sins are gone, and they have been, when he spoke the last word on them: “It is finished”. It is the end. Of sin, of guilt, of death.

Oh, no, death doesn't have the last word on Jesus either. In his resurrection he destroys the power death holds over us, too. He is the firstborn of the dead, as Colossians says, in whom we too are delivered from darkness.

And yet in another way, even that isn't the last word he has for us. For on this last Sunday of the church year we are reminded once again to look to the future. To look forward to a day when he comes again in glory, to judge the living and the dead. To look forward, trusting in his word, that he will come back to take us to be with him forever. Looking forward, to a resurrection like his, when we will see him as he is, yes in our flesh, with our own eyes, see God, our Redeemer.

How about that for having the last word.

I'm not one to usually quote John Lennon, but he once said, “Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.”

Well them man who imagined a world without religion got many things wrong. But here he was on to something, in spite of himself. Still he forgot the last words - “in Christ.”

In Christ, everything will be okay in the end. Some of the last words of the bible paint the picture beautifully. No more pain, no more suffering, God himself wiping every tear from our eyes. I'll take those last words. And know that no matter what the law says about my sins. And no matter what death does to me. And no matter what other words are spoken by or to or about me – Jesus Christ has the last word. A word of forgiveness, life and salvation. A word of peace and comfort. A word of hope. A word.. for you.

Believe it for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Sermon - Reformation Day (Observed) - Revelation 14:6-7

Reformation Day (Observed)

October 27th, 2013

Revelation 14:6-7

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke about the man who goes to heaven, and sees all the different doors, with each denomination of Christian worshipping in their own way.  But the door marked, “Lutheran” also bears a sign, “quiet please”.  And when the man asks why, St. Peter explains, “Shh.  They think they’re the only ones here!”

I can take a joke as well as anyone, but it’s just not true.  We recognize the universal church far transcends those of us who call ourselves “Lutheran”.  I fully expect to see Baptists and Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Methodists in Heaven.  All who call on the name of Jesus Christ, have true faith in him, will be saved.  We Lutherans are not the only Christians.  And we are certainly not the only ones who will go to heaven.  Lutherans have never taught this.

However, that’s not to say that the differences don’t matter.  It’s not to say that we should sweep disagreements aside, and act as if we are all united.  We live in a fallen world, where knowingly or unknowingly, God’s holy Word is twisted and worked over, even by those who profess to be Christians.  The Old Evil Foe has been doing it from the beginning, when he led men astray with his question, “did God really say...?”  And he continues to cast doubt wherever he can today.  It is a grievous situation that the church on earth is not united in the truth, as Jesus prayed in John 17.  Sin corrupts.  It even corrupts doctrine.

And yet despite all of this, the word of the Lord stands forever.  There is a universal and timeless truth to it.  Or as John puts it in our reading from Revelation, an “eternal gospel”.  

And this eternal gospel is a gospel to be proclaimed, “to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.”  Friends, we are all living proof of this, even today.  

The Gospel is timeless and eternal, but it is also concrete and time-bound.  It is universal - that is, it is for people of all places and tribes and nationalities.  But it is also particular, that is, it is for you.  You have come to faith by the proclamation of the eternal Gospel.  You are baptized into the eternal, triune name of God.  And you continue to live by that same eternal gospel which you hear again and again, and which continues to give life.

Just what is this eternal gospel?

It is the whole and sum of God’s word to you, the sinner.  It is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.  

It is the incarnation, the perfect law-keeping, the suffering, the death and the resurrection of Christ, for you.  

It is the fact of his promise that your sins are forgiven, that you belong to him, for you were bought with a price.  

It is the seal and certainty of our baptism, it is the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood for our forgiveness.  

It is justification, by grace, through faith, in Christ alone.  

It is the confession of Christ before the church and the world, before governors and kings.  The confession of the old and the young, even from the mouths of babes.

It is the work of Christ, and Christ alone - for you, on you, in you and given to you.  

The eternal gospel is Jesus, and all that is wrapped up in him; Christ, crucified for sinners, alive for sinners, who will come again to judge the living and the dead and make all things new.

To say we are “Lutheran”, is to say that we confess the eternal Gospel.  To say we are Lutheran means that we believe what God’s word teaches, and has always taught.  That sinners are saved by grace through faith in Christ.  That when God makes a promise, he keeps it, even when it doesn’t make sense to us.  That the heart and soul of our faith is not about what we do or don’t do, or should or shouldn’t do, but about what our Lord Jesus Christ objectively has done, and continues to do for us.

I believe, and I confess that the Evangelical Lutheran Church - the church which confesses the writings of the Book of Concord - confesses the eternal gospel with truth and purity.  And I hope you can say the same.

There was nothing special about the reformers, really.  There was nothing exceptional about Martin Luther.  What makes this confession worthy of our attention, is its crystal clear presentation of the eternal gospel.  No cooperation with God, no act of human will or reason.  No experience or heartfelt yearning is necessary, or even relevant.  Jesus Christ comes to save sinners, to heal the broken, and raise the dead.  Which we all were in our sins, completely beyond hope.  Lost eternally.

But the eternal gospel gives hope to the hopeless, righteousness to sinners, and breathes life into the walking dead.

In a way, all those who confess this gospel confess the same.  And all those who believe and teach it, could in a sense be called, “Lutheran”.  I’ll often make a joke of my own, about how Lutheran Abraham was, who believed in God and was credited as righteous.  Or how Lutheran David was, who when confronted by Nathan about his adultery and murder confessed, “I have sinned”.  Or how Lutheran were the prophets and patriarchs, and all the believers of old - who Hebrews says looked forward by faith to the salvation God would accomplish in Christ alone.  They were believers in the eternal Gospel.  They were Lutherans.  They just didn’t know it.

And that is why, also, there will only be Lutherans in heaven.  For when the dust settles, and we see all things clearly, and all falsehood and misunderstanding melts away - we will see Christ and his word clearly.  His eternal gospel will stand.  And we will all of us, together, believe and know that salvation is by Christ alone, for us, forever.

Being Lutheran, you see, isn’t about Luther at all.  It’s about Christ.  It’s not about me or you, and what we can bring to the table.  We have only wretched sin.  Instead, it’s about Christ, and what he brought to the cross - himself, and gave his body and blood there, for you.  Receive that same body and blood today, for the forgiveness of your sins, according to the promise of his eternal gospel.

And have a blessed Reformation day.

Sermon - Pentecost 20 - Habbakuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

Text:  Habbakuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

Theme:  “Waiting... in Faith”

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

LWML Sunday; St. John’s Lutheran Church, Racine, WI

October 6th, 2013

One of our common “first world problems” is having to wait.  Waiting for the green light at the intersection.  Waiting for the slow computer to load the web page.  Waiting for your toddler to get dressed so you can get to church on time.  And if you’re a naturally impatient person, the DMV can seem like your own special little purgatory.  Or maybe you are a missionary family waiting to get your visas and to move overseas...  Yes, I’ve been thinking about waiting a lot lately.  And our reading today reminds us there is a spiritual struggle for us when it comes to waiting... waiting on the promises of God.

Habbakuk knew something about this.  He was a sort of a missionary - not to Singapore, but to his own people, the people of Judah.  A prophet charged with calling out their sin, calling for their repentance, a mending of their ways.  He spoke, not his own word, but God’s holy Word.  And yet, he was frustrated.  He wasn’t seeing the results he wanted.  The people weren’t listening, and it seemed as if God was just letting them get away with it.  Wouldn’t he act?  Wouldn’t his judgment come?  How much longer do I have to wait, oh Lord?  The poor are victimized and the rich get richer by taking advantage.  It’s not fair.  When will God make things right?

Likewise, my own expectations for Singapore must be tempered.  A preacher bringing the Word of God to any place must know that not all have ears to hear.  That some will reject, even hate the message and the messenger.  And that success and growth and full pews and overflowing offering plates and shiny happy parishioners might not come so soon, or ever.  But God’s word never returns void.  It always accomplishes its purpose.  Though sometimes that purpose is so that those who reject it will be without excuse.  Nevertheless, we pray that God will bring good fruit from this message, and seeds sown will be watered, grow, and a harvest will multiply for Christ’s kingdom.  May God grant us the patience to see it.

And here at St. John’s, there is a new prophetic voice among you.  Pastor Gilbert is called to preach and proclaim the word to you, the people in his own (new) backyard.  And there may be times he will be frustrated, as will you, with the lack of outward results.  Or maybe it’s still the honeymoon period, and everyone’s still in awe of his vibrant preaching and poignant messages.  I don’t know.  I haven’t heard him preach.  But sooner or later, a time will come, when pastor or people, or both - will grow frustrated, and maybe a bit jaded.  Things might seem to stagnate.  It will become business as usual.  Patience in the promises of God, Pastor Gilbert.  Be faithful in your proclamation of law and gospel, and of Christ crucified for sinners.  And don’t force it, wait for the Lord to bring the results in his good time.  You may never even see the results.  No matter.  Be faithful.  Wait for the Lord.

And the people who hear such messages must also be patient.  Patient that God will bring good things to them in his good time.  The fervent prayers of the faithful are never ignored, but answered by our loving and gracious God.  But his ways are not our ways, his answer is not our answer, and his timing is not our timing.

Sometimes it seems like he never delivers.  That he’s forgotten us entirely.  Then faith steps in and points us back to the promises.  

The Lord who promised Adam and Eve and offspring that would crush the serpent’s head... remembered his promise and delivered, at the cross.  The Lord who promised old Abraham many descendants and even more blessings, is still fulfilling that promise when new Christians are born at the font.  And the Christ who promises forgiveness of sins in this bread and wine that is his body and blood - remembers his promise and delivers the goods, even as we do this in remembrance of him.

The same patient Lord who never forgets a promise answers the prophet Habbakuk:

“Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so he may run who reads it.

For still the vision awaits its appointed time;

it hastens to the end—it will not lie.

If it seems slow, wait for it;

it will surely come; it will not delay."

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,

but the righteous shall live by his faith."

Friends, this is faith.  That we cling to the promises.  That we trust that the promise-maker is a promise-keeper even when our eyes and ears say otherwise.  

When life dumps troubles and worries and problems galore, and it seems that if there is a God, he has forsaken you... have faith.  Wait for the Lord.  

When your sins seem so great and burdensome that you can almost feel their weight on your shoulders, have faith in the one who carried them all to the cross.  Wait for the Lord.  

When it seems like your prayers are falling on deaf ears, and you want to scream “is anyone listening?” then you are in the good company of Habbakuk, and the apostles and saints, and all we of little faith.  The sinful nature of man is impatient.  But the Lord is patient, merciful, and kind.  And he who knows and sees and hears all things certainly hears you, and he does not despise the cries of his own people.  Like a father that knows best, as indeed he is, he will bring his justice and mercy at the proper time.  Have faith.  Wait for the Lord.

Where better do we see God’s justice AND mercy, than at the cross?  Where better do we see God’s answer to prayer?  Where can you look and know for certain that God will go to any lengths, ANY lengths for you... even to the death of his own Son... And Christ, even to the shedding of his own blood.  For you.  It is done, and it is finished.  God keeps his promises.  His justice is satisfied.  Sin is paid for.  And you, the sinner, go free.

There is another appointed time, my friends, for which we wait.  Another hour in which God will act, once and for all.  Call it the last day, the judgment day, the consummation of all things.  Christ will come with all his angels, judge the living and the dead.  And all his enemies and ours will be no more.  Even death itself will be done for, and we will rise and live forever.  No more suffering, no more pain, God himself wiping every tear from our eyes.  It is this final promised land in which we hope.  It is Christ’s promise that he is preparing a place for us, and will come to take us there.  It is this sure and certain hope that gives us courage even in the face of our own death.  We can rest in peace, because we wait for the Lord.

And even in death, the righteous lives... by faith.  What a wonderful promise, “the righteous shall live by faith”.  It doesn’t say the righteous will live by our impressive resume of good deeds.  The righteous don’t live by making a commitment to Jesus, or by asking him into our hearts.  The righteous don’t live by lily white reputations and a spotless record of church attendance.  The righteous don’t live by anything other than faith - faith in Christ, faith in his promises, faith in his plan and purpose to prosper you now and always.  Even when it looks otherwise, faith sees it.  And faith knows it’s worth waiting for.

Sermon - St. Michael - Rev. 12:7-12

St. Michael and All Angels - Matins

Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven, MO

September 29th, 2013

Revelation 12:7-12

Grace, mercy and peace.... Introductions, etc...

Today we observe an unusual day in the church calendar, St. Michael and All Angels day. We are in some ways, perhaps well acquainted with angels. At least culturally speaking:

We have “Touched by an Angel” and “It's a wonderful life”, books and movies, and a song by Aerosmith. We have angelic precious moments figures, and a guardian angel motorist club. Angels are all around us, but just how biblical are these cultural images and uses?

Scripturally speaking, an angel is a heavenly being which speaks and acts as an agent of God. The good angels are numerous and powerful, and they are ministering servants sent to help God's people in various ways. They are not to be worshiped, nor do we become angels when we die.

In our reading from Revelation, there is pictured in John’s vision, the war in heaven... Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, that is Satan, and his angels.  The good angels of God are victorious, and win the day.  The enemy is strong, but the enemy is defeated.  Thanks be to God!  And though the devil still inhabits the earth, we know his time is short.

But perhaps the most important thing to know about angels, is simply what the word angel means – literally, “messenger”. It's the same word which makes up the ev-angel of evangelism – the good-message or good news. Angels are messengers. And as such, it's not so important who and what they are as it is what they do and especially what they say.

Especially in the New Testament, when God's plan of salvation in Christ takes a major step forward, angels make an appearance, as if by their very presence to highlight the importance of the message: “Glory to God in the highest, for born this day to you in the city of David is the savior, Christ the Lord.” Angels minister to Jesus in the toughest moments of his work for us, in wilderness and garden. Angels bookend the empty tomb and proclaim the Easter message, “He is not here. He is risen, as he said!” And the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God will announce Christ's second coming, when all his angels accompany him, and the final victory celebration is announced.

To be sure, there are false angels, with false messages. Satan himself, a fallen angel, is the father of lies. He wants nothing more than to distort and pervert the true word of God, and turn the good news into bad news. He would tell you that your salvation isn't sure. That it depends on your own good works. And that your sins are too terrible even for God to forgive. He would pollute the Christian message with all sorts of mixed messages to unfix our eyes from Jesus. And his goal is ultimately to drive you to despair and unbelief. Preserve us from the evil foe, oh Lord! Send your angels to strengthen us, and keep us steadfast in your word.

If an angel is a messenger, and what's important is not so much the messenger, but the message, then there's another way to think of angels.

Pastors, are God's angels – his messengers, to you, his people. In fact there is some good reason to think that when John writes, in the book of Revelation, to the angels of the seven churches – he is really addressing their pastors. Now, I've known Pastor Erhard long enough to tell you that he is certainly no angel, but I also know the message he preaches is Christ crucified for sinners like you and me. I know you will hear that message week in and week out, a message of Law and Gospel, sin and Grace. A message which keeps Christ always before you, and which points you to Christ's means of grace: word, baptism, supper. He is your minister, your servant, in this place, to bring you a crystal clear, life-saving, life-changing message of salvation in Christ alone.

But others need to hear this message, too. Some who live in far away places, other continents, even in Singapore. There God also sends messengers so that Christ's message can be proclaimed. The same message to people who have the same problem of sin and death. The same savior crucified and risen for all.

And you people of Trinity, like all of God's people, also bear the message. You do it in a different way than a pastor or missionary or heavenly angel – but you witness and give answer for the hope that is within you. You speak a message when you confess your faith with other Christians, kneel to receive Christ's body and blood (you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes). And your actions of Christian love and service speak sometimes louder than words about the love that you have first known in Jesus. God has called you to various stations and roles in life – parent, friend, worker, citizen, spouse. In all these callings you are God's agents and messengers to bring his message and his gifts to your neighbor. In this sense, you are angelic. Thanks be to God.

But there would be no angels were it not for Christ, the chief messenger of God. The agent of creation, the living word of God, the original (though uncreated) angel. He appears in the Old Testament as the “Angel of the Lord”, and accomplishes God's purposes. In Jesus Christ, the word, the message, is made flesh and dwells among us. Thus he is both the messenger and the message, the author and fulfiller of our faith, the content and the conveyer of our salvation. It's all about Jesus. And Jesus is all about procuring and proclaiming our salvation.

And both for angels, and for us, we can do nothing apart from Christ.  We can win no victory apart from him and his message.  Read again from Revelation 12, verse 11...  concerning that great war in heaven, “they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony”.  

They conquer Satan and his evil forces.  They conquer sin and death itself.  As do we... Not by strength of arms.  Not by cleverness.  Not by novel approaches and fancy programs.  Not by excusing sin or rationalizing it.  Not by living in denial.  Not by trusting in the princes of this world.  Not by intellectualism, nor by emotional experience.  Not by the will of man or by any decision we make.  Not by my own reason or strength in any possible way.

But only, and always, by the blood of the lamb.  Only, and always by the word of testimony - to what Jesus has done for us, in his death, in his resurrection, and what he will do when he comes again in glory, all his angels with him.  We are more than conquerors, as are the holy angels, always, and only, through Christ.

What a joy to share this message with you today. What a blessing to know we believe and proclaim the same message. That together with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven... with pastors and missionaries and all the people of God on earth.... and through the blood of the one who is both messenger and message, even Jesus Christ himself, we have heard, and we believe, and we will live and praise him forever. In Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Sermon - Pentecost 18 - Luke 16:1-15

St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Lexington, MI
September 22nd, 2013
18th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 16:1-15

Grace mercy and peace....

Today we come to a difficult Gospel reading.  I have to tell you that I have talked with at least 6 other pastors about this reading from Luke 16, the Parable of the Dishonest Manager, and it was unanimous that no one was looking forward to it.

And it’s not just because this is a passage about money.  Which is bad enough, by the way, for most faithful pastors.  Of course, it’s easy to go wrong when we touch on the topic of Christian stewardship.  But even worse, it’s not something most church people like to hear about either.  And why is that?

It could be, quite frankly, because the truth hurts.  It could be that we are more materialistic than we’d like to admit.  It could be that when Jesus tells the pharisees that no one can serve two masters - you cannot serve God and money - it could be that he’s hitting a little too close to home.

Just as it was in Jesus day, so it is with us today.  And so it is, by the way with many people where I am going, to Singapore.  There, the love of money is expressed in an handy little way - that every Singaporean is intent of acquiring the “5 C’s”.  Cash, Credit, Condo, Car and Country Club.  Of course, that’s a softball if a preacher ever heard one - there’s one more “C” that everyone needs, one that is our true need - Christ.

But to the extent that Jesus’ hard words about money apply to each of us this morning, and I suggest that is to a great extent - let us repent.  Repent of our idolatry of the dollar.  Repent of our putting things before God and our neighbor.  Repent of our unrighteous use of wealth, our poor stewardship of his riches, and of exalting in our lives what is an abomination to God.
And find in Christ our true riches.  There’s plenty of that in this parable, too, though it’s harder to see.

I think the other reason this text is so difficult a passage (aside from the fact that it talks about money), is that it may seem on its surface that Jesus is commending dishonesty.  Of course, he isn’t.  We don’t read scripture in a vacuum, and we know from other places that thou shalt not steal.  His point about the use of money is to use it shrewdly, yes, but is there something more here?

Take a close look at the master in the story - the rich man.  There are some clues here that something just isn’t right with this master.  Sure, he’s about to fire the dishonest steward for his wasteful management.  But even in doing so, he is merciful.  He asks for an account, but he gives the man time - time the steward uses to set himself up for the future.  The master asks for an account, but he never ends up demanding repayment (even from those who the steward gave a discount on their bill).  And strangest of all, the master commends the dishonest steward at the end of the story - even though he’s been dishonest and wasted and given away the wealth of the master!

Who would act like such a master?  Who would show such mercy, and forgive such malfeasance?  Who would show such patience, and commend even the dishonest, the wicked, the one who had stolen from him?  Our God and Father, that’s who.  On account of his Son, Jesus Christ.

For in Jesus Christ, God does things even more outrageous and surprising and nonsensical - at least to the judgment of this world.  The Father sends the Son, not to demand an accounting from us, who idolize things and money and fail to worship the true God as we should.  The Father sends the Son, not to collect on our debt of sin which we surely owe, a debt deeper than we could hope to repay.  The Father sends the Son, not to threaten us to shape up or else.  No.  He sends his own son that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life.

And Jesus, for his part, is just as surprising.  He does the work that we don’t do, and can’t do - the fulfilling of the law. The righteousness of Christ is accounted to you.  All the good he did and does - you get the credit.

 And he dies the death we deserve, in our place, for our sake. He accomplishes his mission by paying the debts we owe - not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and his innocent suffering and death. He takes what you have - only debt - and writes you far more than a 10% discount.  He gives you freely of his grace, all the riches of heaven.  And a promise of eternity in his presence, in the bejeweled heavenly Jerusalem, with gates of pearl and streets of gold.

Does that sound like a lot to promise?  Of course it is, but he who is faithful with little is faithful with much.  And he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

So maybe this parable isn’t so bad after all.  Maybe a periodic reminder to repent of our love of money is in order.  And certainly we can give thanks for the mercy of the master, shown to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory forever, amen.

Oaths

Total hat tip to Rob Olson (there are some who call him, "Tim") for this:

What are the oaths/vows you have taken in your life, and do you still consider them binding?
A short list of mine:

Baptismal (by proxy- sponsors and parents)
Confirmation
Marriage
Ordination

For me, the above, all completely binding and still in force.  I hold these to a higher standard than the rest, promises of a solemn and lifelong import.

And then there are pledges:
The American Flag
The Christian Flag
Boy Scouts?
Cub Scouts?
other societies/organizations?

I can't remember or think of all of these, though I am sure there have been more.   Rob, I would like to hear more about your thoughts on the history of the "pledge of allegiance" and the book you mentioned.  In any case, this whole exercise was good food for thought, and I would encourage others to think it through as well.

Sermon - Mission Festival - Luke 24:44-53

Mission Festival
Grace Lutheran Church, Strasburg, IL
Luke 24:44-53
September 8th, 2013
“Another Missions Sermon”

Grace and peace to you...  an honor to share the Word of God with you on this Sunday, your “Mission Festival”.

There’s a lot of talk about missions and being missional in the church today.  Everyone seems to agree that missions are good.  And everywhere I go people love to hear from a missionary, and learn about missions.  It seems appropriate to have a missionary as a guest preacher on a Sunday highlighting missions, and so here we are, and here I am.

But I have to be honest with you.  I don’t preach a lot of “missions” sermons.  I don’t have one canned sermon that I repeat everywhere I go, using the same Scriptures, telling the same stories.  I know some people told me that’s the way it should be done.  But I don’t.

And I also have to admit that I don’t have any special expertise on “doing missions” that I can impart to you today.  I don’t expect my visit will drastically change your congregation, what it does, or even how you all feel about “missions”.

What I will do, however, is proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And with the Gospel reading appointed for a “mission festival”, we can together give attention to Jesus’ teaching about missions.  His mission.  And the mission that he carries on through his apostles, and through his church.  The mission that he continues even today, even here, through you.

A missionary is one who is “sent”, especially having to do with the activity of the church in the world.  Or as Jesus puts it, “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed... to all nations” And while usually we think of pastors, there are others who are sent in many capacities, all in support of this central goal.  Usually we think of missionaries going to foreign countries, though some are sent right to our own back yard.

All pastors are missionaries, in a sense, sent to a particular corner of the world.  Sent, or called (really two sides of the same coin), to a local congregation or context, and given the authority to preach and teach in that place.  Sent and called to administer the sacraments and proclaim publicly the forgiveness of sins, exercising the keys of the kingdom on behalf of the congregation, in the stead and by the command of Christ.   So may I introduce you to the missionary to Strasburg, Pastor Michael Mohr.

Perhaps the important part is not so much the people who are sent, or to which location they are sent.  But why are they sent?  In the case of Christian missionaries, it is the message that is most important - and that message is always the message of Christ.

The words of Christ - the whole counsel of God, that is.  For we believe that the entirety of Holy Scripture is a testimony to Christ.  These things written about him “in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” which were fulfilled when he appeared in the flesh.  The same things that are written of him in the Gospels and the Epistles of the New Testament.  All Scripture which is profitable and trustworthy for the man of God to read, and learn, and understand.

There is a proclamation aspect, then, but also a teaching aspect of the message.  There is the public, formal, announcement of the Gospel, but also the patient teaching, and the individualized instruction of those who would learn of Christ.  As Christ opened the minds of his apostles, so do servants of the Gospel open the scriptures to his people today.

And these words, this message of Christ, is two-fold.  There is a polarity.  There is the preaching of repentance, but also the forgiveness of sins.  There is law, and there is Gospel.  We proclaim and teach both, for the scriptures do;  for Christ does.

The law has been preached to you, that you are a sinner.  Your faithful pastor reminds you regularly of your failure to fulfill God’s law.  The liturgy of the church helps us all to frame our confession in scriptural and comprehensive terms:  We have not loved God with our whole heart, nor our neighbor as ourselves.  We sin in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and left undone.  And therefore we deserve temporal and eternal punishment.

If the message of Christ was only about what we should do or must do, though we fail to do it - we would be in a sorry state, indeed.  If all we heard from those who are sent to preach is the harangues and how to’s and the “practical” an moral encouragement, it would lead us either to false pride or despair.  We’d either convince ourselves we are good enough for God, or we’d see clearly that we never can be.

But Christ’s word doesn’t stop with the law.  The Gospel, the good news, is really the point.  The message of forgiveness and salvation in Christ.  The proclamation that your sins are not counted against you.  They are washed away in the flood of your baptism.  They are paid off by the blood of Christ shed at the cross, and his body there broken - and distributed to you from His altar.

This is what was written, “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise again”, and this is what Jesus fulfilled.

He came not just to talk about salvation, nor even to simply promise it, but to accomplish it.  This was his mission.

And so Christ himself is the greatest of all missionaries.  Sent on a mission from God, to save the world.  To live and die and rise for all the sinners that ever sinned, to pay for each and every one.  His mission was and is for you.  You are why he came, and did everything that he did.

And the Christ who was sent, also sends.  “As the Father has sent me, so also I send you” he said to his apostles.  The mission is his, the work is his, the praise and honor for anything good that he does through us - belongs only to him.

And one last major point - not all are sent, or called.  At least not all are called or sent the same.  Yes, all Christians are called to repentance and faith in Christ.  But not all are missionaries - in the sense of public proclamation.  Not all are prophets, apostles, evangelists or pastors.  We understand that God gives us all various vocations, godly callings, in which we daily serve him.  Some are parents, some are children.  Some are workers, some employees.  Some citizens, friends, teachers, students -  some pastors, some hearers.

All are witnesses.  All can give answer when asked for the hope within us, when opportunity arises.  But not all are called to preach.  Most of us probably wouldn’t want to anyway.  But we thank God for the faithful proclamation of Christ we have heard, and we want all nations to share this treasure with us.

And this, friends, is why we do missions, and why we support missions, and why we host missionary visits and have mission festivals.  This is why Lutheran congregations do Lutheran missions, and why Lutheran missions lead to Lutheran congregations.  That we may honor the mission of Christ, beginning where we are called, and even to all nations, to the ends of the earth.
Notice throughout this passage, Christ is driving the verbs.  He speaks his words to them.  He opens their minds.  He suffers.  He dies.  He is proclaimed.  He leads.  He blesses.

And in joyful response, what do his disciples do?  They worship him continually.  They gather in his house.  And the bless God, who has blessed them in Christ.

So when you hear the sermon next week, or next month, you are really hearing another mission sermon.  When repentance of sins and forgiveness are preached here, week in and week out, his mission is advanced.  Thus receiving the blessings of Christ, in the word and in his sacraments, there is great joy for all his disciples, and for you.  In joyful response to his mission for us, and his message to us, we love God and serve our neighbor.

A blessed mission festival Sunday to you, and continual blessings in Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Sermon - Pentecost 15 - Luke 14:1-14

Luke 14:1-14

Pentecost 15

September 1st, 2013

Christ the King and Redeemer Lutheran Churches, Racine, WI

Sinful pride.  Selfish, sinful pride.  This is one way of describing what Jesus observed as he was invited to the pharisee’s dinner party.  Who knows what kind of subtle and not so subtle jockeying for position occurred as each pharisee sought the best seat in the house, the place of honor.  Because surely, each one thought, he deserved it.  I imagine Jesus shaking his head in disappointment as he watched this all play out.  How prideful, how arrogant, how full of themselves those pharisees must have been. 

“Oh Lord, I’m so glad I’m not like those pharisees” we might say to ourselves.  Just like the pharisee who prayed, “Oh Lord, I’m so glad I’m not like that tax collector, that sinner, over there”.

The truth is, we are no better.  The truth is, we are just as sinful.  The truth is, there is a prideful little pharisee inside of each of us, an Old Adam, a sinful nature, that really really thinks highly of himself.  But he’s a hypocrite and a liar.

Let’s put it this way.  Do you think you’re a good person?  Maybe you’ve been Lutheran long enough that you know better than to say yes.  But somewhere in your heart, you think you are, don’t you?  You’re a good citizen.  You pay your taxes, you mow your lawn.  You try not to treat people poorly - or at least you mind your own business.  And you come to church, which most people don’t even bother to do anymore.  Maybe you’re here every Sunday.  Maybe you give generously and serve willingly.  Maybe you’re even the pastor. Or even a missionary.  And I suppose each of us could pretty easily tally up all the reasons that we are pretty good.  

And it’s not too hard to look across the pew and think how that person over there is worse than I am.  Sure, nobody’s perfect, but that one’s a gossip.  That person is rude.  Oh her?  Her children are terrible, have you seen how they behave?  And that guy - he’s the laziest person I know.  Who’s this person darkening the door of the church?  Oh, another c&e Christian...  and don’t judge me, but I’m secretly judging you - not so much because I care about you but to reinforce my own notion that I am good and you are bad, and I may not be perfect but at least I’m not you.

The pharisees are alive and well today, and their sinful pride thrives in the sinful heart of all of us.  We must be honest.  The law of God silences us as it does them.  Jesus would kick the pedestal out from under us and have us see our sin.

Humble yourself.  Take the lowest seat.  It’s not Jesus as miss-manners.  This is a spiritual truth we do well to follow.  We need to compare ourselves, our lives, our works - not against others but against the standard of God’s holy law.  Do I love the Lord with all my heart, soul and strength?  Do I love my neighbor as I should?  Do I keep the 10 commandments?  Do I honor God, his name, his word?  Do I care for my neighbor’s possessions and life and good name?  Am I chase in everything I say and do?  If the law of God doesn’t humble you, sinner, you’re not listening too carefully.  If the commandments of God don’t show you your lowly, sorry, state, then your ears are plugged with rationalizations and lies.

The truth is we don’t even deserve the lowest seat at the table in God’s kingdom.  We deserve nothing but temporal and eternal punishment.  We deserve to be cast out of the banquet where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Christ should say to us, “depart from me, I never knew you!”

But Christ has come to humble proud, but also to elevate the humble.

He is a doctor for the sick, not the healthy.  He is a savior only for those who need saving.  But he is the savior.

And he knows humility.  He’s the only one who really knows what it is to humble himself.  To come down, to be made low.  We’re starting out from a position of already poor, crippled, lame, blind.  Dead, even, in our sins.  But Christ, the Son of God, left the highest seat of his heavenly throne, and humbled himself to be born of a virgin.  He lived a humble life, and died a humble, shameful death.  If you want to talk about the “lowest seat”, look to Christ on the cross.  He humbled himself thus, for you, and for all.

And God exalted him.  He raised him from the tomb, and glorified him in resurrection.  He proved his victory over death for 40 days, and then reclaimed his heavenly throne, ascending to the right hand of the Father, to reign over all things.  His rightful seat, once again.

And this too, for you.  Having paid for your sins, died your death, taken on your burdens and griefs and shame, paid the price for you fully - his resurrection paves the way for yours.  His Ascension leads the way for your own passage to heaven.  And his reign on heaven’s throne is also a foretaste of the glory to come for us.  In heavenly glory, the saints of God participate in his reign, are awarded the crown of righteousness, and yes, even thrones (Rev. 4:4).

So seek not the highest place, the honor and glory that your sinful nature desires.  Think none too highly of yourself, your merits, your works.  Don’t compare yourself to others, but to the standard of God’s holy law.  And repent, dear Christian.  Repent and confess your sins.  Humble yourself before the Lord.  

And he will lift you up.  For the sake of his Son who was lifted up on the cross, you will be lifted into righteousness.  Lifted up from the dust of death.  Lifted up from the grave, in the resurrection of the just, lifted up to heavenly glory forever.

And in Christ, we begin to learn humility.  Seeing our sin and our savior, and by his Spirit, we begin to humble ourselves not only before God, but before our neighbor.  Never perfectly, and never to earn favor or puff up our own pride, but always in joyful response to his humiliation and exaltation for us.

The Christian, for example, is not too proud to be corrected.  The Christian doesn’t say, “I know it all.  I went to Confirmation 50 years ago.  I don’t need to keep growing in the word”.  Rather, the Christian humbly learns from the word taught and preached in truth and purity.

The Christian, for example, is not too proud to serve a neighbor.  Even a neighbor that doesn’t “deserve” it.  For what do we deserve, after all?  And the Christian can, and does, humbly share the hope within him, not because he is so great, but because Christ is.  “Let me tell you why I need Christ, why I need to go to church - because I sin a lot and I need Christ’s forgiveness.”

So we come today, in humility, in confession of our sins, even to kneel... and Christ will lift us up.  As we receive his gifts here in bread and wine, body and blood, we depart in peace from the banquet.  We are lifted up in the forgiveness, life and salvation that we receive.  And we go in the hope of an even greater glory to come.  In Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Sermon - Pentecost 13 - Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

Luke 12:49–53

Pentecost 13

Good Shepherd, Two Rivers, WI

A pastor friend of mine was looking ahead to these upcoming readings from Luke’s Gospel, and jokingly lamented, “oh great, here comes ‘mean Jesus’!

Certainly there is much in today’s reading from Luke that strikes us as odd, at least goes against our typical conception of who Jesus is.  

We often think of Jesus from the paintings - welcoming the little children, lovingly caring for the sheep, maybe even smiling and laughing.  Or we think of Jesus humbly dying on the cross, praying the Father to forgive even his tormentors.  Or maybe Jesus all bright and shiny and seated at the right hand of the Father - watching out for us, hearing our prayers.  And of course, this isn’t all bad.  But there’s more to Jesus than all this.  Especially when we come across a reading like this.

It might even seem hard to find much good news in Jesus’ words this morning.  He’s certainly not sugar-coating the hard truths, or painting a rosy picture of what he is about.  “I come to bring not peace, but division.  Fire!  Family strife!”  This is the gospel of the Lord.  Thanks be to God?

But a closer look reveals that yes, even in what sounds harsh, Jesus is about the business of saving and cleansing and promising good things to those who have ears to hear.  And it’s ok for us to bring in other scriptures, to remind us that He is just but also the one that justifies.  He is holy, but he makes us holy.  He brings a fire that destroys but also purifies, a water that washes away the wicked, and also our wickedness.  And he does divide people, even families.  But promises those who believe in him will never be separated from him, or from the Father.

He begins, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!”

You know, there are different kinds of preachers.  Some tell lots of stories - like from Readers’ Digest.  Some like to share personal anecdotes about their kids.  There are dynamic preachers and expository preachers, and preachers that always seem to be talking right to you.  Some When you hear about someone who is a “fire and brimstone” preacher, it’s usually not a compliment.  It usually means they come off angry, and are harsh and perhaps even cruel, holier than thou - not a real pleasure to listen to. But here comes Jesus, cracking out the fire himself.

Any true student of scripture knows that Jesus is not all pillows and puppies, but that he can make a whip and overturn tables.  He can call out the pharisees just as harshly as John the Baptist.  He can preach the fire and brimstone.  But this is no ordinary fire, and certainly not an uncontrolled blaze.  When Jesus speaks in these harsh terms, he brings the fire of God’s wrath, his righteous wrath over sin.

We may want to believe in a God who is always nice, and never says or does anything unpleasant.  A God who is always, only, love, and never scolds or judges.  But the problem is there is no such God.  God is holy and righteous and hates sin and punishes sin.  And we don’t get to create a God to our liking.  Nor should we ignore what we says of himself and imagine him in a more palatable fashion.

And the thought of the righteous Son of God casting fire on earth should make us quake and tremble, for we are sinners, and deserve to be burnt up like stubble.  We are guilty as sin, and deserve the punishments of sin, death and hell.

But all is not lost.  Yes, our God is a consuming fire, but there is also a baptism.... there is cleansing.... Jesus continues:

“I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!”

Jesus had already been baptized by John in the Jordan.  So he’s not talking about that here.  But in that baptism by John, Jesus did do something important.  He identified with us sinners.  He who had no sin of his own, took on our sin, became the stand-in for all sinners.  And the baptism he was about to undergo - would be truly distressing.  It is the baptism of the cross.  The baptism of suffering and death.  The baptism of bearing God’s wrath for all sin, being consumed in his body to pay the debt for us all.

The same Jesus who will one day come to judge the living and the dead, who will destroy this corrupt creation in fire, and cast those who reject him into the eternal lake of fire....  is the same Jesus who stands between you and the fire of God’s wrath.  And instead of you, he is consumed.  He takes the heat, for you.

And so there is peace with God.  For in his resurrection from the dead, he proves stronger than death, and paves the way for your resurrection.  So baptized into his death, we are also raised in our baptism - raised to life in Christ who lives.  So our baptism is only distressing to the Old Adam, who there is drowned, and buried.  The New Man in us, the new creation in Christ, lives in Christ forever.

But that doesn’t mean that everything is all a bed of roses for us yet.

On this earth, in this time in-between, as we wait for the return of Christ, the day of judgment and victory...  in these end times, there will be trouble.  Especially for us who are in Christ.  And even, yes, in the family.

“Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

For the word of Christ, by which we live, is a dividing word.  It divides truth from falsehood.  And sometimes the truth hurts.  The letter- the law- kills.  But the Spirit gives life.  Those who reject the truth, reject the Spirit, reject the life Christ brings, and are divided from you who receive it in faith.  There are believers, and there are unbelievers.  There are sheep and goats.  Yes, sometimes even in our own family.

That doesn’t mean we don’t love our parents and children (and yes even our in-laws) who are outside the church.  It doesn’t mean we write them off or scream that they are going to hell.  Nor, by the way, does it mean we can adjust the uncomfortable truth of God’s holy word to make us more at peace about the whole situation.

But it does mean we have some praying to do.  That God would call the unbeliever to faith, as he’s called us.  It does mean that we have some loving to do - for if Christ tells us to love even our enemies, then certainly there’s room to love even the unbeliever under our roof, or at our Thanksgiving Day gathering, or 

And it also means we have an opportunity, so share the hope that is within us.  To point to Christ in our actions and words, when the time is right, with great humility. 

Invite ‘em to church.  Pray for them.  Tell them you pray for them.  And be an example of faith yourself.  Maybe even tell them what a big sinner you are, and yet how much bigger is Christ’s forgiveness.

That Christ was baptized into death for you, and raised from death for you, and lives and rules all things for you, and for all.

And he does not promise peace on earth, but does promise peace with God for all who believe.  So trust in him, dear Christians, for that peace is yours.  That peace not as the world gives, he gives to you.  The peace that trusts in him, and in his truth, in spite of all trouble and persecution, in joy and in suffering. A peace that flows only from faith.

And that peace that passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, amen.

Sermon - Hebrews 11:1-16 - Pentecost 12

Hebrews 11:1-16

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Cassopolis, MI

August 11th, 2013

Pentecost 12

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

“We hold that a man is justified by grace through faith.”

“Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”

Holy Scripture has a great deal to say about faith.  In our Old Testament reading we see Abraham, that great man of faith - whose faith has served as an example for some 4000 years.  We are children of Abraham, “by faith”.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus calls his people to trust God’s provision - and chides them for being “you of little faith.”

And here, Hebrews 11, sometimes called “The Great By Faith Chapter” of the bible.  We see this parade of Old Testament figures who lived by faith.  We hear this refrain about all their good deeds done “by faith”, and how they trusted in God despite what could be seen with worldly human eyes.

Perhaps here also the clearest scriptural definition of faith:  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The problem with believing in things we don’t see is that, well, we don’t see them.  And our Old Adam, our sinful nature, likes his eyeballs a little too much.

Of course I don’t mean just our sense of sight.  I mean our eyes and ears and all our senses, and our human reason, too.  When you have every earthly reason to believe something is one way, but someone points your nose to a passage of scripture that says just the opposite - here’s the rub.  Here’s where the devil works, to create doubt and despair.

Take creation - Hebrews says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”  Ah, but my eyes say differently.  My ears hear all these smart people saying otherwise.  My textbook at school says it was evolution, and a purposeless big bang, and a godless process of randomness that brought about this creation.  They write books about this and make convincing TV documentaries.  And frankly, I’m a little embarrassed to admit I believe in creation sometimes, and well, maybe I doubt it, myself.

But the word is clear.  Genesis leaves no doubt, “in the beginning, God created...”  And Hebrews agrees.  And so, for that matter, does Jesus Christ.  Sin and Satan would have us doubt, but God calls us to believe what is not seen.

And this just sets the stage.  For there is so much more that is unbelievable about our faith - so much more in which to hope, so much more which is unseen.  The fact that he is creator means he sets the rules.  And where God sets a rule, a sinner will break it.  This too, we need to see:

That there is a God who judges sin.  Hard to believe that sometimes, in a culture that (if it admits there’s a god), believes in a god who doesn’t judge (and you better not, either!).  A smiling, almost senile grandfather in the sky who is either oblivious to our misdeeds, or just laughs them off like the antics of a toddler.  

But the Word of God paints a different picture entirely - one of a righteous judge who is righetous-ly angry over sin, for he is holy - and you are wicked.  He will punish the wicked, and damn the unbeliever.  He will judge the goats and say, “depart from me”.  And there, outside of his presence, will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  

Do we believe in Hell?  Do we believe in punishment for sin?  Do we believe that we are sinners?  What do we see?  Will we believe?  And yet still, believing in God’s wrath and the reality of his punishment - this isn’t really what we mean by “faith”.

But faith is needed for entirely this reason - that it trusts in what is not seen.  For faith lays hold of the promises of God in Jesus Christ.  Faith is  what grabs onto all the good things God has said - and which yet our eyes do not see.  Faith sees beyond what is seen.  Faith, your faith, a gift from God in itself... this faith saves you.   It is by faith  in Christ that we live.

This faith is rooted in Christ and his promises, that when your sin seems oh-so-great, his forgiveness is greater.  It’s faith that when you just can’t shake the guilt, the shame, you are baptized into Christ’s righteousness.  Faith - in his gifts - that you can’t see or hear or taste or smell - that in bread and wine he gives Christ’s body and blood for your forgiveness.  Faith that the blood of Christ is sufficient to cover sin - even your sin - even your deepest, darkest sin.  Washed in the blood of the lamb, even if you can’t see a speck of red on you.

Faith is especially important when life in this sinful world dumps its troubles in your lap.  When you feel so buried with sorrow and worry and calamity and when enemies surround you at every turn.  When it seems to your eyes that if there is a God, he has surely forsaken you - or has a sick sense of humor.  When despair is lurking at your door and satanic doubt twists your self-pity into anger at the Lord himself...

Have faith.  Remember to trust in what is true - even if it is not seen.

God is love.  And his love is for you.  He so loved the world, including you, that he sent Christ.  And Christ has died for you.  And Christ has won for you the victory, even over death itself!  Have faith.  He will not leave you or forsake you.  He will not treat you as you deserve.  He who has spared not his own son, how will he not also, graciously, give us all good things?

In our troubles, it is faith that chomps down on the promises of God in Christ like a bulldog clamps his jaws on a meaty bone.  Never let go of those precious promises.  They will sustain you in the fights of life, through wilderness and calamity, in the solitude of your pain, and in the din of a life with little outward peace.  In all things, God works for the good of those he loves, and who love him, in Jesus Christ.  We see it, by faith.

And for those of you who feel like you don’t have enough faith, pray with the centurion, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”.  Remember that faith itself is unseen - a gift that is given by the Spirit (also unseen), through the Word and in the sacraments.

Be strengthened in your faith - as you hear his words and promises again and again.  Don’t be a stranger from this, his house.  Don’t ever let that baptismal water dry off for too long, but keep returning to those waters daily - in repentance, by faith.  By faith, gather at the rail, and receive the precious gifts of Christ - given and shed for you - to strengthen you in the true faith to life everlasting.

And stop looking inward to yourself.  For we do not have faith in faith.  But our faith is ultimately, and only, in Christ.  Look to Christ.  See him, by faith, in his word.  Hear him, by faith, in the words of his servant in this place - who stands in his stead and forgives your sins freely.

Those Old Testament heroes of faith - they died in that faith - never seeing the ultimate fulfillment of what was promised.  How great was their faith!  But we, too, though Christ has come, has died, has risen from the dead - we too, still look forward to a future day - a final hope, in faith.  That our Lord will return and grant us the promised homeland, that heavenly country, that city of eternal citizenship.

Live in that same faith, dear Christians.  For the hope of Abraham, and all the other men and women of faith - is the same hope we enjoy, the same one in whom we believe, and in whom we live, by faith.  In Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Sermon - Trinity 10 - Luke 19:41-48

Trinity 10

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Garfield, NJ

Luke 19:41-48

Jerusalem, 70 A.D.

Roman general Titus and his armies surround the walled city of Jerusalem and lay siege.  The Jewish historian Josephus tells us the details.  And it was brutal.

The city was overcrowded, as people had fled from the armies to the safety of its walls.  But now the city was surrounded by armies.  Food would no longer be brought in.  And the people could not escape. Josephus tells us the Jews became so desperate that they ate anything they could - leather, even straw - or resorted to cannibalism.

The Romans built a mound to encircle the city, and there they crucified attempted escapees - as many as 500 per day.  The siege lasted 5 months.

In the end, over 100,000 are said to have died of hunger and 600,000 total died in the siege, with another 97,000 taken captive.  Many of these were sold into slavery, sometimes sold for less than the price of an animal.  Many of those slaves were sent to Roman arenas around the empire to be killed in as spectacles by wild animals.

All of this suffering and misery.  All of this trouble and shame.  All of this, because they did not know the time of their visitation.  All of this, Jesus foresaw.  All of this, Jesus speaks of in our Gospel reading today.

But other than a shocking history lesson, what difference does this make to you and me?

For one, we need to realize that God’s judgment is real, and it is serious business.  And if you think that the judgment and wrath of 70 A.D. was bad - it’s child’s play compared to the final judgment day.  In fact the destruction of Jerusalem serves as a foreshadowing of the final judgment.  When Jesus speaks about one, he often weaves in talk of the other.  For on that day - which is yet to come - God will also deal with those who reject his Son.  He will separate sheep from goats, believers from unbelievers, the righteous from the wicked.  And woe to those on the receiving end of his punishment.

Jesus himself shows this aspect of God’s nature when he cleanses the temple in righteous anger.  A Jesus that some would be surprised to see - is he acting out of character?  Who is this Jesus making a whip and overturning tables?  But our loving God is also a just God.  He is merciful, but he is also the judge of all.  And his judgment is deadly serious.

Second, we must say of those who stand under God’s judgment - “there but for the grace of God go I”.  Indeed, apart from Christ, such judgment is our fate and future.  Apart from Christ - we would be wiped out with temporal and eternal punishment.  Apart from Christ, without Christ, were it not for Christ - we would be in ruin, destined for death and destruction and eternal separation from God.

But we are not apart from Christ.  And Christ has taken the punishment Jerusalem deserves, and then some.  He himself suffered and was crucified, but that wasn’t even the worst of it. In the midst of his dying agony, he cried out to God, “Why have you forsaken me?”  He bore the wrath of God, the punishments of Hell, and God the Father turned his back on his own son.  Whatever physical suffering Jesus endured, as terrible as it was, paled in comparison to this.

All this he does for you.  To save you from the wrath of God.  To save you from the punishment you deserve.  To rescue you from death and the devil, and win the victory over sin.  To purchase your place in paradise, and guarantee you mansions in heaven.

In fact there is another picture of Jerusalem we could consider.  It is the heavenly Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ in her glory.  It’s a picture that is described in the book of Revelation:

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall,with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb....

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Dear Christians, in this tale of two cities, thank God that he has recused us from the Jerusalem of Destruction, from the place of unbelief, from the suffering and shame and death we so deserve - and has made us a part of the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, glorious and holy.  

The difference is not in anything that you do, or anything you are in yourself - the difference is only Christ.  He who has died for you, whose Spirit calls you to faith, and who forgives your sins and clothes you in his own righteousness.  

So repent of your sins daily.  Give thanks and rejoice that he cleanses the temple of your body by baptism and absolution and in sacramental meal.  And live in the hope of that day when all nations who trust in Christ will gather in his presence forever.

Sermon - Pentecost 10 - Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13
Pentecost 10
Grace Chapel, Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO
July 28th, 2013

If you are like me, you don’t pray as you should.  You don’t pray as often.  You don’t pray as selflessly.  You don’t pray with as great a trust and faith as you ought.  You pray for things you probably shouldn’t.  You don’t pray for things you should.  You say you’ll pray for someone, keep them in your prayers, and then even though you mean well you forget.  Your prayers are mis-prioritized.  You pray “my will be done”.  Maybe you even pray, if you’ll admit it, that God would zing those enemies of yours, you know, those people who really deserve some wrath and punishment.

Surely we sin and fail in all things, even when it comes to our prayers.  But Jesus would teach us how to pray.  And in teaching us how to pray, he not only shows us where we are wrong and insufficient, and how to do better.  But even in this model prayer, this Lord’s Prayer, there is the comfort and hope of God’s grace in Christ.  There is his name, his kingdom, his will for us - there is the reminder of his provision, daily bread, full forgiveness, and all that he wants us to ask and receive.

By the way, the Lord’s Prayer appears twice in the Gospels - Jesus probably taught variations on it over and over.  Here in Luke we have the shorter version - which is different from the one that you and I have memorized.  Nonetheless, there is much to learn even here.  Let’s consider each portion in turn...

“Father” or “Our Father”.  Neither Judaism nor Islam teaches that we should approach God in prayer as Father.  But our God is the Father - not only our Father by virtue of creation, but also the Father of the Son.  And it is only by virtue of the Son that we come to the Father, as Jesus taught.  Let’s not pass over too quickly that our loving Father would have us wayward and disobedient children turn to him in prayer, and ask him as dear children ask their earthly fathers for good things.  He won’t give us scorpions and snakes.  He’ll give us far more than we could ask.  He gives us even his own Son, Jesus Christ.

“Hallowed be thy name”
We are reminded of the Second Commandment, and how often we dishonor and abuse God’s name, taking it in vain.  As people who bear his triune name in our baptism, everything we do reflects on him.  Every time we sin we sully the family name.  But nonetheless, God’s name is holy, and we pray here that we would keep it holy among us.  That we would devote ourselves to growing in his word, in our faith, that all things connected to him, his name, his identity, would be kept holy by us and be a blessing to us.  It is no small thing that God tells us his name, and invites us to call upon him.  A command, to be sure, but a blessing all the more.

“Thy Kingdom Come”
God is king over all, but not all know it, like it, believe it.  For us, we acknowledge him as our benevolent ruler who is not only a law-giver but protector and defender.  And he rules not with an iron fist, but through his word, even his gospel.  He would extend his reign of grace over the world, expanding the horizons of his kingdom through making of disciples, baptizing, teaching.  So we have been brought into the fold.  So we send missionaries, pastors, teachers and others to carry on the expansion of his kingdom.  And we pray that God’s reign would grow and strengthen, first in our lives, and from there... to all.

“Thy will be done”
Not mentioned in the shorter version here, but still worth mentioning - that God’s good and gracious will is that sinners like you and me would come to faith in Christ.  When we pray this petition, we’re not so much asking God to direct us in what to have for dinner or where to send our kids to school.  We’re praying the prayer of faith - that God would work repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ - in my life, and in the lives of others.  This is his good and gracious will.

and now... “Daily Bread”
All that we need to support this body and life.  And yet we turn our bread into an idol.  We twist the good things in life, food and drink, house and home, cars and clothes, computers and smartphones... and we make them into little golden calfs and put them on our pedestals of worship.  But still, God provides.  He gives graciously and lavishly, everything we need and more.  Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, for if God clothes the flowers and feeds the birds so well, won’t he care for you who are much more valuable.  And if he cares for these our lesser needs of earthly things, won’t he care also for our greatest need - the one we pray for next?

“Forgive us our sins” or “trespasses” or “debts”
And here is the heart of it, friends.  You and I are in a predicament.  We are poor, miserable, sinners.  We are wicked and rebellious by nature.  We are dead in our trespasses.  We are beyond help.  At least in ourselves.

We rebel against the Father.  We dishonor his name.  We trample his kingdom.  And we could care less about his will.  We abuse our daily bread.  And we rack up the sinful debt that is beyond count.  Oh and remember we don’t even pray as we ought.

But the Lord Jesus Christ who tells us to pray for forgiveness does so with good reason.  For he himself, on the cross, would procure that very thing.  “Father”, yes, Jesus prays to the Father, too, “Father, forgive them.  Father into your hands I commit my spirit.  For it is finished”.

The Father, our Father, has given his Son.  And the Son forgives.  And the Son lives.  And the Son gives us life.  And the Spirit is sent to us, also, to renew and strengthen our faith, and bring us always to the cross of Christ for even more forgiveness.  To remind us of our baptism, where our Father made us his own.

And then there is the Supper - for God provides not just daily bread, but here in this holy meal - heavenly bread, and festival wine - that is not just bread and wine, but his own Son’s body and blood.  Here he forgives our sins, strengthens us against temptation, delivers us from evil.

You see, the Lord’s Prayer, this wonderful teaching of Jesus, is not just for us to mumble together in a show of Christian unity.  It is not just a handy prayer to teach our kids should they ever get into real trouble.  Nor is it just a sentimental topic for a needlepoint pattern.

In this prayer Jesus teaches us.  And he teaches us not only how to pray, but why we need to pray - for we are sinners.  And not only that, but he also teaches us about himself, and his Father, our Father.  That our gracious God delights in our prayers.  And as a loving Father he wants to give us good things, for the sake of Jesus Christ.

So pray.  Pray without ceasing.  Pray freely and joyfully, in faith, to the Father who wants to hear you.  Who wants to give you good things.  Pray in humility, for Father knows best, and will give you what you need.  Pray confidently in the name of Jesus, who makes our prayers and our very selves acceptable to God, through his life and death for us all.  Pray in him, and live in him, even into the kingdom to come.

Now may the peace of God....

Sermon - Luke 10:25-37 - Pentecost 8

Sermon – St. John's Lutheran Church, Fredonia, WI
Pentecost 8c
July 14^th, 2013
Luke 10:25-37

“First.. we kill all the lawyers” The famous line from one of Shakespeare's plays has become a running joke about how to make a good start at fixing all the world's problems. But our Lord Jesus Christ, who deals with a lawyer in our text today, would surely disagree. Jesus' approach to this lawyer is to engage him, to teach him, and thereby to also teach us. And out of it, we get one of the greatest parables – that of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan, who might not be who you think he is.

First, the lawyer. Like many characters in the Bible, he suffers from a universally common disease – self-righteousness. Of course, it seems he's also testing Jesus here in this witty little exchange about what he needs to do to be saved. While he gets the answer right, intellectually, he gets in wrong in his own life – for he doesn't do what the law demands.

Notice the four – count 'em four – times “All” is used here. Love the Lord with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your strength, and ALL your mind. All is a pretty universal, word. It's a pretty extreme form of law that demands ALL of us – but that's God's law. An all-or-nothing, 100% holiness of life, heart, mind, every part of your being. The standard is perfect perfection – not just pretty good or even mostly good. All means all.

“Do this and you will live” Jesus says. And if anyone could, we would. Of course you know the problem is, even the holier-than-thou lawyer couldn't do it, and neither can you or I.

To put an even finer point on it, we don't really even get close. It's not that God's standard is unreasonably high or unfairly impossible – he's a just God and who are you to question his law anyway – but we don't really even come close to fulfilling it. We trample the law. If we're honest with ourselves, we're not just a little corrupt, but wholly unclean, throughly rebellious, and 100% polluted with sin. If we are ALL anything we are ALL sinner. The polar opposite extreme.

But like the lawyer, we would like to argue our case. Our pathetic attempt to wiggle out of the law's condemnation might follow his rhetoric: “well, just who is my neighbor, then?” (Notice how he sidesteps the question of loving GOD with his whole heart and just quibbles about the neighbor part).

The Old Adam likes to pick and choose neighbors. We say it's impossible to love all people. We come up with good reasons for loving some and not others. Usually it's the people we like, who are like us, who can do something for us, that we consider neighbors. And the different, the foolish, the bad people don't deserve our help. Thank God he doesn't use our standard for showing mercy, by the way. And to illustrate the point – Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Of course, Jews and Samaritans generally despised each other – different ethnic and religious backgrounds, rival states neighboring each other. So the parable surprises us that the man who is robbed gets help from the least likely person (so the lawyer would think). And without unpacking the parable's meaning too much – he tells the lawyer, “go and do likewise”. Be a good neighbor. And the lawyer, sadly, continues to miss the point.

What the lawyer should have said, and what we must also confess, is that I CAN'T and I DON'T, and my sinful nature doesn't even WANT to love God or my neighbor. Not with my whole heart, or any of it at all. I can't “Go and do likewise”. And therefore – I cannot be saved. I cannot justify myself. I cannot walk the perfect walk that is required. I'm no saint. I'm not even a very nice guy. I'm certainly no good samaritan.

But Jesus is. Here's the not-so-secret secret of this parable. Jesus is the Good Samaritan if there ever was one. He finds us beaten and bloodied (and worse really) by our own sins, by the devil, by the sinful world. He picks us up, cares for us. Has compassion on us (a common refrain in Luke's Gospel is Jesus having compassion). And Jesus gives of himself – but far more than his own oil and wine, his own donkey and silver coins. He gives his very self – his own life – his own body and blood for our healing and restoration, even for our justification.

Like the Samaritan, he also departs, leaving us in the good hands of his Holy Spirit and with the ongoing nurture of his word and his sacraments. And like the Samaritan he promises to return and settle accounts, and to make all things right.

Only by faith in the Good Samaritan who saved us do we begin to be one to others – to reflect and share the love of Christ for our neighbor. The lawyer never got this far with Jesus – he wanted to do it on his own. But in Christ, by his Spirit, his people are first saved and then empowered to “go and do likewise”.

But now it's different. Loving our neighbor is a joy not a burden. And it happens truly out of love, not out of obligation and fear. Sure, we never do it perfectly, even with Christ, but he perfects our imperfect love of neighbor. He makes our good deeds acceptable and pleasing to God. And this fine distinction is an important one. Jesus says, “apart from me you can do nothing”. But in Christ, in constant repentance and faith, he can do great things through us.

So. Christ, by his perfect life and perfect death and glorious resurrection – has made us like himself. He has made us holy and righteous, and won for us victory over death. So, too, by His sanctifying Spirit, does he promise to make us like himself in all things. That He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion.

As we grow in God's word and in our understanding of just how helpless we are, may we learn to rely on Christ all the more – who binds up our wounds and brings us to safety. And who bids us, in faith, to “go and do likewise”, for he has first loved us.

“First we kill all the lawyers” – how about instead, first the law must kill us. So that we see our sin, and our predicament. Confess. Repent. And then see the One who fulfills the law perfectly rescues us and resurrects us and pays for everything we need. Receive his love and mercy. And then, go and do likewise. For his sake, and in his name. Amen.