Category Archives: semons
Transformed Minds: The Effect of the Resurrection We see things differently! A sermon on Acts 4
Transformed Minds: The Effect of the Resurrection
We see things differently!
Acts 4:1-12
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help us to see all things from His perspective!
A Matter of Perspective
There are days my relationship to the world seems a lot like this picture.
I don’t quite understand what they see, and I am absolution sure they don’t see what I see.
And most of the time, that doesn’t bother me.
If we are talking about the gospel it does. It bothers me tremendously.
The same concern exists when we talk about the church, have to offer people, it does. Not just because my life is literally wrapped around the church, but because of what the church offers to us, as it reveals to us the very heart of God, His desire, His will… His love, for you and I.
His love for us..
A love that changes things, no, not really, it changes us.
This love transforms us so completely, it is as if everything was flipped over.
And while there are days I would willingly knock some people over, what we need is to build a desire that they would see what we see and treasure. We need to understand how critical it is for them to see the Jesus who loves them, who died for them, who lives with them.
As we look at the Pharisees we will understand what they see, and why they can’t see it.
What they saw… something to reject
As hard as it seems, let’s try to walk in the priests and Sadducees sandals for a moment. It’s now almost 2 months since the crucifixion of Jesus the Nazarene. They thought they had gotten risen of the pesky troublemaker, and most of his followers had scattered like cockroaches when the light turns on, and know His followers are back
And the ministry, as interesting as it is, isn’t happening the way it should. It wasn’t in conjunction with the appointed ministers of God in that place, And the ministry wasn’t happening to the best of people, it was to the rabble, like that lame guy who begged all his life.
They had lots of questions, and as we heard last week, they were ignorant. They were looking for logic and reason. They were looking for answers that could be put in a nice neat box.
That’s why they asked, “by what power, or on whose authority, have YOU done THIS?”
As if the answer would allow them to reject the miracle that was happening. As if the answer would allow them to discount what the reality they are facing.
But humanity does that all the time. We choose to be blinded to God, we choose to look at things upside down. We choose to call what is right wrong, and what is wrong right.
Even those of us who claim to follow Jesus do this, as we assume that our plans are God’s, that our beliefs about the world are equivalent to God’s plans. ( I could mention that I had pastor friends in the last week, one tell me God is happy with the Republicans, and another the Democrats, and that’s why they feel free to bash the opposition!)
Matter of fact, I think we confuse those who don’t know God when we seek to speak for God on things not found in scripture, or when we make the sins that upset us the most the unforgivable sin, or when we make the sins we personally struggle with not that big of a deal! When we say, thus spake the Lord, and we don’t have the authority or responsibility to do so.
What we are doing in that case is not standing opposite the world looking at what was written, but opposite God.
And we find ourselves there too often.
What we see – the basis of our hope
Last week, I said the ignorance the people had was not that they were stupid, nor was it that they didn’t have the data. They did, they just didn’t understand it.
This week the change is similar, they didn’t have the right perspective, even the apostles didn’t, and they heard Jesus prophecy about his death for three years.
The apostles didn’t understand the incredible message of salvation, until they put it together after the cross, until they saw the wounds in his hands and in His side, until He breathed on them, and they received the Holy Spirit, just as we received it in our baptism.
it was then that they realized what it meant for Jesus to be the cornerstone. That sets the perspective in stone, and we can’t say what Jesus says is a 6 is a 9, or what is wrong is right.
There is more to being the cornerstone than setting what is right and wrong though. The idea of the cornerstone is that every stone is connected to the cornerstone, everyone is linked, and the cornerstone or keystone keeps them connected.
Because Jesus is the cornerstone because He is our rock, we are connected to Him, and that changes everything. Paul talked about it this way,
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)
Because of Jesus, it is not only Jesus we see differently but ourselves… and each other.
And we need to! We need to see Jesus as our Savior, our Lord! We need to understand that we are connected to Him, that we are united to Him, and our lives are lived out in that connection.
You, me, him, her, each person here. Each person is a new creation, each is as new in their redeemed lives as the lame man who could not only walk- he could dance now! Everything in our lives is new, from our lives free of sin, to our lives lived in the presence and peace of God.
This is our hope, and peace, to know His peace… and love. Let’s pray
Walking with Jesus through the trials to the triumph! Part 7 The Mind for the Walk (on Easter)
Our Lenten Journey: Walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph
Part 7: The Mind for the Walk
Luke 24:13-35
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace, mercy, and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ cause your hearts to burn, as His love for you is revealed!
Do we walk unaware?
This morning we finish a journey we started some 46 days ago, on Valentines Day.
We’ve walked with Jesus through trials, we talked about the different things we’ve encountered, and today we cover the last bit. It is a hard journey, as we walk in the steps of men who are in a steep decline; both physically as they walk down the steep decline to their home in Emmaus, and spiritually, as they struggle with despair, as they lost their hope, and descend into depression, and despair, oblivious to God’s work.
But it is only from their that they can finish the journey,
It’s a journey each of us makes, that each of us endures, unaware of the fact we don’t make it alone…..
Even though we think we do…
The Struggle of our minds
As I look at the story of the two men, what amazes me is how oblivious they were.
First, they made the typical mistake that men make, they heard but didn’t listen to the women in their lives. They heard that they came back with an amazing report, that Jesus was gone. Did they listen?
Yes.
Did they really hear what was being said?
Nah.
Luke tells us as they were struggling with everything, as they tried to toss around answers to all the question ripping them apart they stopped and sadness and gloom were written across their face.
That gloom wouldn’t leave, even while Jesus took them through all of scripture, as Jesus explained to them every scripture that testified about Him.
We have days like that, when all the knowledge we have about Jesus, when all the information passed onto us doesn’t compute when we remain oblivious of God’s presence, and all the while there He is, teaching us, guiding us, walking with us.
Yet we remain oblivious, too worried about how we interpret what’s going on around us. Just like these two guys who followed Jesus were oblivious.
At least their minds were. Their hearts were a different story…. The hearts were on fire!
The Heart and Soul Knew Better.
Here’s a question to consider. If they were still struggling if they still didn’t understand, then why did they beg him to stay the night?
It wasn’t until a little later that their eyes would be open, so why was it so important to stay with this person they had just met? What made them want to do this?
Again, we go back to their hearts afire, the work of the Holy Spirit bringing them comfort and peace through the word of God that was being explained to them. They couldn’t let Him go, they needed Him there in their lives, they needed the Holy Spirit working through the word!
They couldn’t let God go, even though they didn’t know it was Him
And some days, we need to do that, and knowing this story, we see that God is still with us, that He still is guiding us, just as He promised. Even when we are struggling in a downward slide. The Lord who is Risen, is with you indeed!
As He broke the bread!
As they hit bottom, as they get to their home, something happens that changes their mind about where they belong. Enough so that they climb back up the mountain without thinking.
I mean, what kind of attitude do you have to have to run 8 miles, uphill, in less than an hour. I don’t know about you, but I can’t run that fast, anymore.!
He broke bread with them, He blessed it, he consecrated, just as He had in the upper room, and He gave it to them… and they recognized him the scripture tells us.
But recognized doesn’t tell us the entire picture. The word there is epiginosko – they knew Him. They deeply and completely knew Him. This is the word for the level of intimacy a couple has for each other, not just the physical stuff we think of as intimacy, but the level intimacy when people can finish each other’s sentences, where they can communicate with just looks, without words, where they know what each other is thinking.
This is what happens when God opens their minds, their hearts as He gave thanks to God and broke the bread. What they knew in their hearts becomes revealed in their mind, and the road they traveled in despair becomes somehow different, less challenging as they know He is with them, as they know they can trust Him, depend on Him
That’s why the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper means so much to so many of us, as we realize that God has not left us alone, that He who is risen, is risen indeed, Praise God!
And because He is… we are risen indeed, ALLELUIA!
And because we are risen, because He has opened our minds, we intimately and completely know Him, and we are loved. AMEN!
Walking With Jesus from Trials to the Triump: Part VI Finding Hope on the Walk
Our Lenten Journey:
Walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph
Finding Hope on the Walk
Zechariah 9:9-12
† I.H.S.†
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you the hope you need, as we endure this journey, depending on His faithfulness!
The Steps of the journey
Imagine being on the side of the road, leading up to Jerusalem. Jesus, the one some are claiming to be the Messiah starts the long climb up to Jerusalem on a small donkey. As it meanders up the pathway, the crowd is growing in size and in energy,
Expectations are building, even though the man is a mystery,
He does miracles, incredible miracles. He teaches like no one else, and those who’ve met him, are more aware of God’s love, of God’s presence in His life.
He’s coming! Everything is going to change!
It is no different today, as we journey through life, as we walk, guided by the Holy Spirit, and await Jesus coming into our lives.
The Prophet Zechariah told them what to be looking for when Jesus came, He told them what to expect, from how Jesus would arrive, to what He would do.
Understanding this prophecy, this promise gives us real hope,
First – He is coming
As we hear the words rejoice, as we hear that Jesus, our Lord is coming to us, he comes to us in a way that is a paradox.
He’s righteous and victorious, even before the cross there is no demon, no power that can withstand Him. Think about that for a moment, the prophet is using words that are present tense, righteous, victorious, and this is known before he goes into Jerusalem.
Before He goes to the cross, he is already described as victorious.
But then he doesn’t enter as the conquering hero, and that is where we see the paradox.
Maybe that is why he goes to the Jerusalem without the armies, without the majestic horse and the flashing sword. He comes not to conquer, but to provide for His people.
And so he comes, riding on a small donkey, simple and humbly, to be with His people. Just as He promised to back again, and we await Him….
Second – He’s here… working
The second thing we see God doing in this passage is very interesting. Hear it again
I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the warhorses from Jerusalem. I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations.
I want you to notice something very important, He’s not removing the ability of our enemies to do battle, but rather, he is removing our ability to do battle.
The coming of the Messiah doesn’t equip us to do warfare, it enables us to live knowing that our God is victorious. He is bringing peace into our lives, even as He prepared to the cross, so much more now should we be living in peace?
Yet you and struggle and fight, sometimes we try and fight the evil in the world, sometimes we fight the evil in each other, and sometimes, we fight the evil within ourselves. We know we should not sin, that we shouldn’t be so easy to give into temptation, and yet we do. Yet we don’t always turn this over to God, we might even swear we will do everything in our power to be good, rather than depend on Him, and on the work on the cross.
God has to remove our ability to fight, for as long as we do, we will not know His peace. For as long as we fight, we won’t depend on Jesus, we won’t depend on His work at the cross.
We have to let Jesus take over, it isn’t easy at times. Who am I kidding, it isn’t easy at all.
Yet Jesus took care of our need to prove ourselves right. Because of the cross, because of Jesus death paying for our sin, for our unrighteousness, we are now counted righteous. He strips from us not only the way to do battle but the desire to, for we begin to realize that God is taking care of us, that Jesus has made things right. That is His role, as He is our king,
Third Step, He frees us.
He describes that here, in verse 11:
11 Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon. 12 Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope!
Even as the prophet is speaking and writing for God, the plan is set, it is by the blood of Christ that all who were imprisoned by sin are freed from it. Even as Christ rides up the mountain to Jerusalem, the plan which was set in place from before the creation of the world is as good as done.
This was the promise to Abraham, this is the promise made to Moses,
He frees us from all that imprisons us, all that causes us to fight, to struggle. Our anxieties, our fears, our sin, our brokenness. He brings us to a place of safety, a place of security, a sanctuary where we dwell with Him. A place where we learn to trust Him more and more, as we begin to experience and see His love for us.
For we are safe with our King leading us, with our King, Jesus, providing for us.
This is what we hope for, understanding it better than the people in the prophets day, or even the disciples in Jesus day. But we still need to understand it better, this love of God, revealed to us in the cross of Christ. This is the hope we have, given to us as Christ died on the cross, yet sometimes hard to see,,,
That is why as I close, I pray for you as Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus,
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NLT)
AMEN!!
Walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph. Part 5 Love found on the walk
Walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph
Love Found on the Walk
Jeremiah 31:31-34
† I.H.S. †
May you find the gifts from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, the gifts of incredible love and peace, as you realize you spend every day in His presence.
Coming Attractions?
Time for some honesty.
How many of you find the Bible confusing at times?
Good, it looks like I am in good company. It might sound off to hear a pastor confess that the Bible can seem confusing at times, but it can, and today is one of those times.
God promises through the writing of Jeremiah that there is a day coming when a New Covenant and a new deal will be put in place. And my heart rejoices in that promise! But then I look at the description of how people acted towards God, and the promise of how they will look in the new testament, and I struggle.
Because I see people looking more like their Old Testament ancestors than like the prophecy of the New Covenant.
So I am confused, Didn’t the Old Testament fade away at the cross, and wasn’t the New Testament confirmed with the Resurrection of Jesus?
And if it was, what doesn’t it say if we don’t act like the prophecy? What does it say about the prophecy of God? What does it say about us?
Do we still need to be taught?
In the second paragraph of today’s Old Testament reading, there are some descriptions of the people in the new covenant.
We are supposed to have had God’s instructions, the entire description of the Covenant, placed deep within them, and they will be written on your heart.
We are supposed to not need someone to teach us, and we shouldn’t have to teach our families or our neighbors. And yet, that seems to be the bulk of what I do, either preparing to teach and preach or actually doing the teaching and preaching.
Too often we are like the people in the Old Covenant, the ones that God had to take by the hand and lead them out of Egypt, yet like little kids, they tried to escape from God and go to whatever false god promised us what we want..…
So what has happened? Why aren’t we living the way God promised we would? Why do we still have people who get caught up in their sin, who betray God, who hate their enemies rather than loving and praying for them? Why don’t we live in obedience to God?
Was scripture wrong, or is it not about us?
have to admit, this is and was a confusing passage, one that I struggled to write the sermon on, one I struggled to find the words that explained it well.
Do we know God?
But I am going to explain it this way, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are different because in one the people were dragged into it, they were drug out of Egypt, and they didn’t know God, barely beyond knowing that God was the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.
Not only did they not know about God, but they also didn’t know Him. So he had to grab them by the hand and lead them, and be constantly aware that they would wander off, that they would be unfaithful, because they didn’t know Him, even at their best, they only knew about Him.
Luther put it this way,
Although they believe in, and worship, only one true God, yet know not what His mind towards them is, and cannot expect any love or blessing from Him; therefore they abide in eternal wrath and damnation. For they have not the Lord Christ, and, besides, are not illumined and favored by any gifts of the Holy Ghost.
The Large Catechism of Martin Luther.
This is where it all boils down, in Christ we not only know about God, we know Him. We have something to expect from Him, love and the blessings of peace and forgiveness. In Christ God’s love isn’t just written on stone tablets, it is placed in our heart, ready to resonate with the message of the gospel.
That love, that mercy, that peace was unknown in the Old Testament, it was hidden. They knew God wants to be their God, but they didn’t get what that meant. They didn’t make the link between the covenant, and the requirement on God to do whatever it would take to fulfill the covenant, what is called cHesed.
We translate it love, or loving-kindness, and sometimes mercy, but it is a term form covenant. That is what is written on our hearts! This covenant of cHesed, this covenant of love and mercy. This word means you are bound to the other person to the extent that if they cannot fulfill their obligation, you will do it for them.
Not begrudgingly, but out of love, because you care. That is how God bound you to Himself. As He united you with Jesus death and resurrection! God cares for you so much, all that you have done, all that you cannot fix, He took care of at the cross.
And that is what we see up here, at the cross, the love and mercy of God doing for us, what we cannot do for ourselves.
That’s the God we know in the New Covenant, a God who is so dedicated to us, so willing to care for us, that He will take care of our sin, as He always has promised us. A God who helps us realize that He is our God and we are His people, and what that means, that He bears all of our burdens.
Which is something you cannot really teach, it is something like in our benediction for the yea.r
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT)
For that is the covenant of Jesus, the relationship and religion formed when we were united to the lamb of God, who was slain that we would be rescued, who was slain to grant us peace, to help us to know Him, and to know His love. AMEN!.
Our Lenten Journey: walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph: Finding mercy on the walk
Our Lenten Journey: Walking with Jesus through trials to the triumph
Mercy Found on the walk
Numbers 21:4-9
† I.H.S. †
May the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ help you to realize contentment and patience that comes from realizing you are God’s children!
Mercy Needed on the Walk
It’s been a while since the last one, so we are due for a Pastor Parker Parable.
In the Kingdom of God, Lent is like setting your clocks ahead.
I mean time change wrecks everything, it takes forever to get used to, it affects everything, and to be honest, we don’t always understand why we do it.
Lent is like that, it is a needed, but hard to welcome transition, It requires us to do things that are not easy, that take time to get used to, and that affects every part of our lives. Most of the time, we go through lent without thinking about why we do it.
Like time change, we just accept that its happening, grin, grunt, and struggle through it, often complaining as we go.
Really, lent is not only like dealing with the time change, but it is like the journey from the slavery of Egypt to the promised land.
And if we aren’t careful, if we don’t pay attention, if we don’t’ stay focused, we will get bit.
Then again, we might get bit anyway, so we need something more… we need mercy.
Mercy not seen on the walk
The problem is, we don’t often see the mercy, as we walk with Jesus
TO be honest, we do the same things that the people did in Moses day, we grow impatient with God’s plan, and we aren’t satisfied with what we perceive He is doing, and rather than wait for God’s actions to be seen, we start to complain, we start to doubt that God will provide.
Look at the words the first time the people of God open their mouths,
“Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
They were tired, they were frustrated, I get that. Especially this week! Especially these last couple of days, when trauma followed trauma like waves lined up at the beach. Or like the slow ticks of a click as the day seems last longer than it did last week.
The ironic thing is that the words “nothing to eat” and “Manna” are the same word in Hebrew.
Same word. We have not bread to eat and we hate what we do have to eat.
Sounds silly, doesn’t it?
They weren’t thankful for the manna, the quail, to water form a rock, being saved by a miracle. Nope, what have you done for us lately God, because we don’t like what You are giving us.
How often do we, struggling on our own with life, complain to God about what He is doing? Or simply forget He is here at all? We talk about the second commandment, about calling on the name of the Lord, not in vain, but using His name to pray and to praise God,
but do we?
Mercy found… in not getting rid of the snakes
Last week, when President Stoterau was preaching, he found a key to the passage in the pigeon cages that weren’t destroyed. There is a similar key in today’s Old Testament passage, something that helps us when we realize what God does.
When the people ask God to take away the snakes, what happens to the snakes?
Does God take them away?
Oddly enough, God leaves them there. Happily sinking their fangs into who every complains and moans. I mean, that’s what snakes do right?
God’s answer to the prayers is in bringing another on of them into the picture, one in the same image as the others, but this time fixed high upon a pole. And anyone, once bitten by a snake, can simply look up, and see hope and healing, trusting God to do exactly what He said he would.
Heal them,
Take care of them, the very thing they didn’t realize God was doing, in providing the manna, and the quail and the water. Providing proof of His presence with them, a proof they could see when they needed to be saved.
Friends, you and I are going to struggle through life. We can try with everything we are, and we should try with everything we are to please the God who loves and cares for us. But there are times, times when we forget He is with us, times where we forget how deep His love is.
But every time we get bit by sin, every time we have to deal with our own brokenness, we have an advocate who has been lifted up on the cross, who has since been lifted up into heaven, where Jesus still intercedes on our behalf. Still intercedes for us, still loves us, still cares for else, still forgives our sins. This is the mercy of God, the mercy that keeps us on the journey home, the mercy that continually brings us the healing we need to stay on the journey!
We just need to look to Him, we just need to trust Him, and know that as we do, we shall be healed of the damage sin causes and plagues us with.
God doesn’t always take care of this snake or that one because the temptations and trials will bother us, until we reach the promised land. Sometimes we will be victorious over them, sometimes we won’t.
Either way, He will be here, lifted up for us to look at and know how much God loves us, and that He promised to cleanse us of all sin and unrighteousness.
Which is why we are here at church, to look up to the Lord, lifted up for us, the Lord who will heal us, the Lord who will bring us peace.
AMEN?
Prayers answered in the wounds of Christ Part IV: Hold Me!
Prayers Answered in the Wounds of Christ
Hold Me!
Psalm 27:7-10
† I.H.S †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ convince you of this, that you will never, ever be completely abandoned! For The Lord loves you!
The Fear of Abandonment
It is among the greatest of fears, the greatest sources of anxiety. It’s symptoms include anxiety, chronic feelings of insecurity, depression, esteem issues,, a feeling of no control self-depreciation ( I am not worth it!) isolation, or behaviors which are negative to us, to appease those we feel we cannot lose.
It is the fear of abandonment, and it is becoming more and more prevalent.
Its cause is not rational, it is not even a conscious thought, but there is something within us that convinces us that we are not appreciated, that we are not cared for, that we are neither loved, or lovable.
Even though we know better, the anxiety, the fear is there, knowing away at us, paralyzing us, or driving us into sin, so that we can minimize the pain we except.
And our hope is seen in the background of the slides, in the scars and wounds of the man who was the loneliest in all of history, as he was laid out on the cross.
Separation
I think Abandonment is why we fear death, and why we fear to get older. Ultimately, we don’t want to be alone, we don’t want to be separated from those we love. That is why some people will stay in an abusive relationship, or fear to work on damaged ones, because of the risk of being abandoned. It is why we will willingly embrace sin, otherwise, people might reject us. So we join them in their sin, in their negative behaviors. We tell ourselves that the pain and consequences are okay… at least we aren’t alone. Or we numb ourselves with behaviors that distract us, that gives us a break from the loneliness. A warm body is better than nobody, right?
Sin does its damage as well driving a wedge deeper and deeper between us, trying to pry us even away from God. It’s pain causing us to believe we are broken beyond us, beyond meaning,
The answer
The Psalm Al read before had significant meaning to me. Especially this verse,
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close.
Even if the people who are supposed to care for you more than anyone else abandon you, God hasn’t. He holds you close. In other places, Jesus talks about gathering us to Himself, as a hen gathers her chicks un her arms. He talks about the Father running out to the prodigal joyously greeting Him with a bone-crushing hug. He talks of uniting us to Him in baptism, all of these examples to help us realize that He has us, that we are His, in death, and in heaven afterward.
As we’ve heard the wounds of Christ answer our prayers, our pleas for help, I want you to hear these words we sang of Jesus love again, this time brought into our language, where it becomes clear, this is not just our prayer, it is His answer
Here I will stand beside Thee,
From Thee I will not part!
O Savior, do not chide me!
When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish
In death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish,
Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.
Paul tells us we are united to Christ in His death, and as the power of God raised Him from the dead, we rose, united to Him. And He promises never, ever to abandon us. We are His, His beloved children, His beloved people, and He went to the extent of Christ’s death to make sure of this.
You will never be abandoned, you will never be alone Jesus promised! The Spirit dwells within you. This isn’t just theology, it is the reality, as you will be reminded when Jesus gives you His body and blood to eat, to drink, knowing it is for you, because He loves you.
You are His… therefore you will never be alone. So relax, look to Him, and know His peace. For you are safe in that peace, protected by our Lord Himself.
Walking with Jesus through Trials to The Triumph EnJOYing the Walk!
Walking with Jesus through Trials to The Triumph
EnJOYing the Walk!
Romans 5:1-11
† In Jesus Name †
As you walk with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, may the gift of their love and mercy sustain us, and bring us great joy!
Where is the joy?
Verse 11 in our epistle reading often leaves me wondering. Specifically, the part that says, “so NOW we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God.”
Did you guys get this memo? That because of your wonderful new relationship with God we should be rejoicing, that we should be overwhelmed with joy? I think somedays I need to be strongly reminded of that, and somehow, I don’t think I am the only one.
As we walk through this season of Lent, as we walk through these trials to The Triumph, we need to experience this joy, not just because it will prevent us from burning out, but rather because the joy is the basis for where we live..
We, who dwell in the presence and glory of God, are to live joy-filled lives. It is the fruit of the Spirit Paull will tell the church in Galatia, and the Thessalonian church will hear “rejoice always!’
What an odd paradox for Lent, to preach on the fact that we should rejoice, that we should live our lives full of joy, even as we grieve over our sin. To talk about the joy we should be experiencing is far greater than the joy experienced by winning a gold medal in the Olympics, yet which at times seems as unlikely as me winning said gold medal.
Then again, if we were all full of joy, why would I need to preach about it, or why would St. Paul need to write about it?
A Paradox indeed, this idea of joy!
Endurance leads to confident hope…. For we know
Then again, this passage is full of challenging things to understand, like the fact that when we encounter problems and trials, we can rejoice as well!
As if the problems and trials are the sources of that joy.
They aren’t, and it doesn’t say they are the source of the joy. They just say joy should be expected, that the result of problems and trials results eventually in our confident hope of salvation being strengthened, being made sure, as we realize the breadth and width, their height and depth of God’s love.
We need to get that, for I think most of us look at these problems trials and at points wonder where God is, or why He would allow such a thing to exist? We stagger in the doubt and anxiety that such problems and trials, these oppressive times, and at times fall into sin, looking for relief from how they dominate the landscape.
Luther noted this challenge in dealing with problems and trials when he discussed the first commandment and what a God was,
What does it mean to have a god? or, what is God? Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart; The Large Catechism of Martin Luther.
It is all too easy to take refuge in something, especially in those things that are powerfully addictive, from drugs and alcohol to work, sex, politics, technology, social media and even security. It moves from temptation to sin when those things become our primary refuge, the place we go to first always. Where do we run when life is challenged, when life is difficult? That is our god, and far too often, that is not Jesus. These refuges will draw us in, more and more until we realize them for the trap they are. By that time, we are helpless.
Then we need to be saved more from our refuge far more than we need to be saved from the problems and trials that assault us.
But when we were helpless!
We aren’t without hope though, and that is part of the process. For enduring these challenges can only be accomplished as we are drawn to Christ. When we realize that when we didn’t deserve the privilege of having peace with God, when we realize that when we were utterly helpless Christ came and died for us.
That is where the spiraling into the refuges of idolatry ends, when Jesus comes and rescues us, an unbelievable action, considering he is rescuing us from betraying him!
This is where the joy is found, in that while we were still in rebellion, while we didn’t give a rip about God, and sought out sin rather than depending and listening to Him, He still loved us, He still died for us. He still cleaned up the mess we’ve out of our lives.
That is amazing! That is something to be astounded by! That is something to be thankful for!
He loves us. God really loves us!
And even more, because Christ’s blood cleanses and paid for all our sins, we have the promise of sharing in the glory of God!
That is what we rejoice in, this incredible, mind-blowing idea that because of Jesus, because of His love, we have this relationship with God, where He calls us His friends.
A relationship that is revealed when we can’t make it through these problems and trials when we realize that relationship is called a friendship. A relationship that is full of peace, and in that peace, we can rejoice in what Jesus has done, and what God has prepared for us, a place for eternity, dwelling and sharing in His glory.
This is worth rejoicing in, even in Lent, Yes? AMEN
We MUST Go to Others! a sermon on Mark 1:29-39
We Must Go to Others
Mark 1:29-39
† In Jesus Name †
May the gifts of the love, the mercy and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ so accompany you in your life that you are aware of those who lack it, and may that lack inspire you to reach out to them with your greatest treasure!
Must?
As I tried to come up with a sermon title this week, knowing I was preaching on the gospel I tried to come up with something special, something that would inspire and catch on, a phrase you can’t get out of your mind, encouraging you to walk with Jesus, just as the apostles did,
I couldn’t come up with something, so I figured a great title is found in Jesus’s words,
“We must go on to other towns” or in these days, we can make it simple, “we must go to others.”
The problem using that as the title is that it sounds different than it really means. It sounds like work and obligation that is demanded of us by God. To use Lutheran-speak, it sounds like the law, and therefore it points out where we fall short, where we fail God and deserve to be punished.
But that isn’t at all what Jesus is telling the apostles when he says “We must go to others, and I will preach to them too, for that is why we came.”
We need to hear Jesus, and more than that, we need to understand Him. This isn’t about us being good children of God or good members of the church.
It’s about finding out for ourselves what Paul told the people in Athens, Repeat them with me.
‘In him we live and move and have our being,” Acts 17:28 (NAB)
What did “they” do?
Let’s go back a few verses, as Jesus and the apostles go to Simon Peter’s house. There, Jesus finds Peter’s mum sick, so sick that with a very important guest at her house, she is lying down, burning up with a fever. I mean, think about it, how sick would our ladies here be, if they didn’t get up and be hospitable?
So Jesus heals her, helps her up, and the word spreads.
Next thing you know, there is a crowd at the door and it looks busier that St Jude’s Hospital ER during flu season. People with every kind of illness and disease, people even possessed by demons, all being brought to Jesus.
Mark’s gospel tells you that the entire town turned out to watch these miracles….
But how did they know all this was happening?
Someone, more excited than someone winning the Superbowl had to have told them.
That’s what happens when we begin to realize the depth of God’s grace, the depth of His mercy. When we find out in Him we can live, really live. When we see our souls begin to be healed, we see others who need it, and then rejoicing even more that there is no limit. When the demons that torment us lose their grip. And we are freed from them and the guilt and shame that they try to plague us with disappears.
As we get used to that freedom, we never want to leave His side… so how will people know God’s love? How will they have the blessing of God’s love, the blessing of His mercy and forgiveness revealed to them?
Remember those words
In him we live and move and have our being!
Jesus doesn’t say, “I must” or “you must”
For that is why he came, to give us the knowledge that in Him is everything we are, our life, our breath, what we do, everything we are.
That is what the cross is all about, and all those church words, redemption, justification, reconciliation, renewal, revitalization, all those words picture that in Christ we have died to sin and all that isn’t of God, and our lives, our very being is found in Him. It is why he was born of a virgin, suffered and died, rose from the ascended and sent the Holy Spirit.
So that He could transform us so that He could give us life.
You see that as He doesn’t just say, “I must go to others,” and He doesn’t say “you must go to others.” What does He say, “we must go to others”
We must, Jesus and all those who are with Him must go to others. All those whom He has joined to Himself. We Must Go, We being Jesus and you all and me.
And then He is the one who reveals Himself to them, as He draws them here. And we don’t have to go all that far.
Why He Came
Maybe some of us are called to go to the next country, to go with Bernie to the Sudan, or with Christina to Turkey, but when Jesus says “we must go to others” it could be to our neighbor, who could be from the Sudan, or Guyana or Indonesia or France, or Germany or Switzerland or even someplace really strange – like Boston or Wisconsin.
We live in a transient age when people from every country on the planet save one or two have come to our neighborhoods! We must go, with Jesus, to them, so that He can show them His love. They even come to us sometimes, as they did yesterday. As I pulled up, 16 people were in the parking lot, playing a game called Pokemon go, a few hours later, I went to the bathroom and there were another dozen people. Both times, as we waited for the game to set, they asked me how I heard about the game being live on our campus. I said… uhm, I am the pastor here… and they asked questions about the church and about the school. People as young as a five-year-old, as old as all of us. came here to play a game on their phones,
At least that is why they think they came…
We, you, me and Jesus need to go to them and let Jesus reveal Himself, and the news of His love.
We, you and me and Jesus, need to go to others and let them know about the love and mercy and healing of their hearts and souls. Whether that means going across the parking lot, or across the street, state, country or world. We, Jesus, you and I must go..
Because this is why He came…
And as He goes to others, we simply go with Him, for in Him we live and move and have our being!
AMEN!
Repent Finally, and Let’s Go Fishing
Repent Finally and Let’s Go Fishing
Mark 1:14-21
† I.H.S †
May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you the confidence you need as God grants you repentance and then invites you to go fishing!
Two Invitations, two blessings
Have you ever been asked to go somewhere with someone, and dreaded it, only to find yourself really enjoying it?
I remember taking Kay one year for her birthday to see a musical at the Pantages. Like a lot of guys, I am not much into musicals. It’s not just the “guy” thing. I’ve been asked to play in the band/orchestra for a couple of them, and both times, I hated it. So taking Kay to a musical was something I did for her, dreading it, well prepared to hate every moment of sitting there, except enjoying the smile on Kay’ face.
I was greatly surprised when I actually found myself enjoying Phantom of the Opera. So much so I actually took her to see it a couple more times.
Life is like that sometimes. So is walking with God. Somethings we seem to dread….we find are incredible blessings.
In the gospel this morning, we see two incredible blessings of that kind.
We probably don’t see them as blessings, but that is the point of this sermon. To help us understand what Jeus was offering to people were life chaging blessings, incredible, mind-blowing blessings that we would enjoy, and rejoice in, and share with others.
Blessings we describe with a couple of words
Repent
Evangelize.
Don’t those things sound far more fun than going fishing, or going to a quilt show, or for me and William, hanging out in Best Buy or Fry’s?
So, let’s see how these things are blessings, blessings that provide joy beyond our ability to comprehend
Repentance – and invitation to be changed!
Hear Jesus’s words again,
15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
REPENT OF YOUR SINS!!!!
Don’t worry, not going to turn into Baptist and preach Hellfire and brimstone.
Because that is based on a faulty understanding of repentance, one that makes it sound like beating yourself up until you really feel sorry and then God will forgive you, maybe.
Hear how it is used in the Book of Acts,
17 If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” Acts 11:17-18 (NAB)
Life-giving repentance!
Life-giving repentance!
Does that sound like something to be afraid of?
But repentance isn’t something to be afraid of, it is an invitation of the greatest kind. Literally it means to change one’s mind, or one’s way of thinking. Another way to hear it described is to put on the mind of Christ.
This is what God does to us, as we hear of His love and experience its breadth and width, height and depth. He transforms our mind. When Jesus says the Kingdom of God is near, when He is explaining to them that God does care,
Yes, repentance means giving over to God our sin, but that is a gift. To walk away from our sin, from our shame and guilt, to live freely in God’s kingdom. To know that God has forgiven us and experience the love of God in every facet of our lives.
That is why Jesus talks of repentance as a parallel to “believe in the Good News!” Because repentance is something incredible, a blessing to change our lives, to be free of all of our failures, to know we are loved and cared for, because that is the change God makes in us, that change is repentance!
Fishing for people, (Or Knitting them together)
Repentance is a joy, but so is evangelism, or as Jesus told a bunch of fisherman, fishing for men. I suppose that if he was talking to quilters he would say sewing another square into the quilt, that square being….human..
That might work in the case of some human, others might not like being called a square!
But as fishing for men, and bring them in works, so does sewing someone into the family of God, creating for them home, a place where they know they are cared for, a place where they know they are loved.
That is what evangelism is, sharing the news, the good, great, wonderful news that God cares for us. Helping people become part of the family, because God our Father wants them to be part of the family.
That’s what evangelism is, reaching out to people and saying, God cares for you, and He died to remove all that would steal their life, just as He did for us.
That’s the amazing thing, the more we understand His grace, the more we experience His love, the more we want others to experience it that love, that immeasurable love, as well. A love that we experience as we celebrate that love at the altar, and share in the Body and blood of Jesus.
So repent, let God transform you – and then lets go fishing for men, or sewing them into the quilt of our church. So they can share in the love and peace of God our Father! AMEN?
AMEN!
The Visit of the Peace of Christmas Past
The Visit of Peace of Christmas Past
Isaiah 11:6-10
† I.H.S. †
May the peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ bring you great peace, as you bring the Christmas message of Immanuel to the World!
Whose Christmas Past?
As Ebenezer Scrooge met the ghost of Christmas Past, he had one question. He asked the shadowy ghost was whether it was there to talk about Christmas long past, or the Christmas of His past.
And as we look at the peace of Christmas past, that is still a good question, to begin with, are we talking about the peace of Christmas long past, or the peace of our Christmas past.
Some of you are saying, “What’s the difference!”
For tonight – we will answer the Lutheran way, that is, both the Christmas of long past and the Christmases of our past…
For Jesus brings peace to the past.
Was the Past that Peaceful?
Many need to bring to Jesus that peace to their past Christmas.
Maybe there were years when the world was at war, or maybe it was just their families that were divided and broken. Maybe It was broken hearts that couldn’t understand how everyone else could be joyous and happy. Maybe it was finances that challenged them, or addictions or their health or the health of those they love.
Many of us have some good memories, but also hard ones, and those steal away the peace, for the moment.
In Isaiah’s passage this evening, we heard a promise made to people that were challenged with many of the same challenges. Many of them dealt with broken families, broken finances, broken by sin and shame, with heartache. Which was why peace seemed impossible, as impossible as natural enemies that would forgo the violence, and instead find peace with each other.
Such a passage would mean nothing special, if there was peace at the time. For what division would be reconciled, what anger would be calmed, what relationships would need to be healed? Isaiah’s promise revealed that this would happen….that they could wait for it
And that is promise in which God’s people trusted. Because of that promise, and His Spirit confirming it, they could find peace in the mist of the chaos. They could wait for the cross which was to come, they could wait for the point when all would be reconciled together in the death of Christ, just as we wait for the day when all is reconciled in His resurrection. They knew the brokenness that they endured in their society would fade. God had promised it.
When our eyes are on God’s promise we can wait as well, Looking at the Christmas’s in our past, as we realize that the peace of God was with us, even in the middle of the fights, the anxiety, the frustrations and pain. He sustained us in our Christmas past, just as He sustained them.
We could look forward because of the promise
Each visit of the ghosts taught Scrooge something, in Dicken’s parable, and as we look at the visit of the peace of Christmas Past, we realize that the peace we knew then is the peace that we know now, a peace that looks forward, trusting in God to do finish what He has completed in us.
A peace that enables us to look forward to the day when lambs and wolves relax together, and nothing hurts or destroys anymore, to the day where we live with Him will be a glorious place.
It is the peace that hope gives us that we are sustained in now, as Jesus keeps us safe in that peace. AMEN!!
