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Can I Get a Witness? The Witness is the Same! a sermon on 1 Cor. 15:111
Can I Get A Witness?
“The” Witness is the Same!
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May the grace of God our Father, shown to you in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus, assure you of His love, as the same power is at work in your life!
Can I get a witness?
It’s been years since I heard the phrase, but I remember a church that I guess preached at once, where the pastor asked after the sermon, “Can I get a Witness?”
And person after person would talk about how God had redeemed them or reconciled a relationship that had been trashed by sin.
It’s been probably close to forty years since I was there… but I remember the people shouting and testifying to how good God was, and how he rescued them.
As our journey together changes from the weeks of Lent to the weeks of Easter, we go from looking at the broken people at the foot of the cross to the work God did and is doing.
That is the content of the witness and the impact of the witness.
It’s not about the witness but the witness.
Paul will state the witness clearly in verse 3 of our Corinthians reading this morning,
“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said
Christ died for our sins
He was buried
He was raised from the dead
Three short points – that change the world – that change our world….
And no matter who preaches Christ, that is their message.
Christ died for our sins,
He was buried
He was raised from the dead…
That is the witness we need today, for it is the only witness that will change those who are broken…
- I don’t want the witnesses; I want what their witness
In the epistle, Paul then proceeds to document the witnesses. Peter, the 12, 500! James, everybody, then Paul.
If you asked any of them, they would agree with Paul, that they weren’t worthy to see the risen Lord, never mind account themselves as worthy to witness the fact that He died, that he was buried and Alleluia! He is risen!
They are right in a way, because they didn’t deserve to witness the cross and the resurrection any more than we do. And the witness isn’t about them, though it will change them, though it will change us.
It is about the idea that Christ has died, Christ was buried. Christ has risen, and He is coming again!
Someone should make a song out of that… 😊
When I look at social media, most of the critique of the church and of Christianity has nothing to do with the witness that Christ has died, Christ was buried, Christ has risen. Often that is because the witnesses are talking about other things—usually the sinful behavior of others, or why that denomination’s not right, or that pastor or politician is evil.
Even yesterday while writing this – out of the first 25 posts were negative religious posts, and only one mentioned Good Friday or Easter. It wasn’t one side or the other; it was both sides.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – that’s a given – we don’t have to show everyone’s sin publicly. Or assume what someone else shared about someone’s sin is accurate?
What has happened to those who have the witness?
Can I get a witness? Can I know what the Lord has done?
- We all preach the same message – you believed.
We have to get back to following the example of the early church!
11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.
We have to get back to it, not because this is our duty. If I say you must go share your faith, I am robbing you. All I would be doing is making your work the focus, taking the attention and focus away from what Jesus has done.
That wasn’t how the early church worked…
They saw what God did—they told others about it!
They experienced His love and peace, and they shared it with others.
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 (NLT2)
Therefore, the witness is so important –not it is critical!
The witness reveals God’s love, our identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection changes everything.
That is the message we need to stand firm in the only message that will save us.
Christ has died!
Christ was Buried!
Christ is Risen! and
Christ will come again!
All for those who know this – who bear the witness…
Who answer the call, “Can I get a witness!”
And respond with Jesus! AMEN!
Cry out “Comfort my people!” An Advent sermon on Isaiah 40:1-11
Cry out “Comfort my People!”
Is 40:1-11
† I.H.S. †
The grace of God our Father is yours, as Christ comforts you and causes you to dwell in peace!
- The prophet’s Advent cry – you have to come and..
- Peace? Comfort – or in Hebrew – need to catch my breath!
As we meander through advent, hearing the cries of the prohetcs ofGod to pour out hope, peace, joy and love on His people, I really praise God for this cry fin Isaiah—for in it we see the heart of God,
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.”
What an incredible thing to know, that God wants you to be comforted! As we talk about the advent concept of peace – that Christ comes to bring peace, we have to realize this has been God’s desire for His people.
Comfort, peace…
And I love the word picture behind the Hebrew here, the word means “to let someone breathe deeply!”
Or maybe as we say it—God wants those ministering to God’s people to help them “catch their breath!”
What a concept!
To relax, knowing everything is taken care of, that everything is finished, and perfect!
Even for those who sin! Hear the full passage in context!
““Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned.”
Hmmm – part of that comfort is that the sad days are gone, and all our sins are pardoned—and that is part of the comfort.
- Without God – you fade with
That is what all the raising and lowering and straightening out the roads. It’s about making things easy, allowing us to breathe easily, to rest, to be at peace. Which is Christ’s goal, and it should be ours as well…
But the challenge is how we help people to catch our breath.
First, we have to deal with what stops us from breathing…
A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fade,
Again, there is a picture behind one of the words, that word “beauty.”
It is that favorite word of mine in Hebrew, “cHesed.” What is facing as quickly as flowers without water is the ability to love. What ability to love?
The ability to love God,
The ability to love our neighbor, including those who are enemies and adversaries.
That is not only the symptom of sin, but it is the root and because of it. It is what causes us to dry up. That is why we fade, why we die off when caught in sin, when we are in the midst of rebelling, when we don’t ask for mercy and forgiveness.
This dried out, unable to breath feeling, as if the life is sucked out of you…
To which the Lord of heaven tells Isaiah that He is crying out,
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned!”
- Who heard the cry?
So one question I ask Bob and others who work on sermons is where is Jesus in this passage. Simply because if you don’t see Jesus in a passage, you can’t preach on it. You can give a lecture, or a talk—but you can’t preach the gospel, the news that comforts the broken, that allows us to breath when we are crushed by the sin of the world, and even your own.
So where is Jesus in this passage? Simple –
He’s who the Father is crying out to—He’s the one that will comfort us, and allow us to breathe. The cry is to Jesus, and is a prophecy as much as a cry…
For on the cross, Jesus died so that we could breathe, just like the skeletons that were reassembled—and then the Spirit blew life into them.
He comforted them…
He comforted us…
He allows us to breathe, knowing He has saved us, knowing He has taken care of it, all of it, for us.
- The second cry
There is a second cry – and this one is not to Jesus, but to the people of God.
That means to us!
Here are those words,
9 O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!”
Our job is to take this message and shout it, shout it even louder, and not be afraid of doing it!
But what is the content of that message?
Those sinners, those who God longs to comfort – this is how He will comfort them…
Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” 10 Yes, the Sovereign LORD is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
Here is the part that blows my mind,
He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
What a picture of Jesus!
At those moments when life is crushing the breath out of us, Jesus is lifting us up, holding us to his heart, and guiding us along…and safe in His arms, cleansed and made whole… and now, there, you can breathe… as can all who you help come there! AMEN!
An Ancient Italian “Blessing” (I want to be true) – A sermon on Psalm 32:1-7
An Ancient Italian “Blessing” (I want to be true)
Psalm 32:1-7
† I.H.S. †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ create in you an eager repentant Spirit that rejoices in the God’s presence!
- We should be envied!
There is an old Italian “blessing”, which mommas used on their children when they are misbehaving! That “blessing” is this:
“I hope your children grow up to be …. JUST LIKE YOU!”
Oddly enough, the Psalmist would agree, but without the sarcasm.
You, according to the Psalmist, you are to be envied greatly! People should want to be just like you! Well, at least in one way!
Let me explain. Our translation reads:
“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! 2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!”
In looking up the word “joy”, I discovered it means “to be envied with great desire” So we could translate this
“Greatly envied (with a desire to be like them) are those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is forgiven. Yes, how we should envy (and wanna be like) those whose record the LORD has cleared from guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty”
So you are to be greatly envied, and people should want to be just like you!
- Our stupidity!
Well, except there is a problem—at least the writer of this Psalm had one, and I think some of us might as well. He describes the problem spiritually in verse 3:
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. 4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
That sounds like a bit of a problem!
I need to be clear here, not all physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering is caused by refusing to confess your sin. But there is a definite correlation between suffering from the guilt and shame sin causes and one’s well-being.
Sin can and does rip us apart.
We need relationships, and it destroys them. It can cause a type of paranoia—as we are afraid someone is going to find out. It creates all sorts of stresses, as it disconnects us from God and from those who love us and would have us live in peace. Even if we convince ourselves that our particular sin isn’t that bad, living a life based on that lie hollows it out until it collapses.
Sin drains us,
It wipes us out..
And makes our life hollow.
There is only one way to deal with this—though it is a joyful one.
- Our Joy!
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone!
I know how much courage this takes to stop trying to hide all the guilt. But as much courage as it takes, the reward of knowing those sins are completely lifted and tossed away…
All of it – forgiven!
All the guilt—gone!
Think about that for a moment…
Not one thing should haunt you.
Not one thing should you even regret!
As much as we contemplate our sin and brokenness during Lent, it is for this purpose–to know the relief of Psalmist–the absolute joy of the weight being lifted off of us!
We really need to take the time and think through what God has done to us… what He continues to do in our lives. …
Therefore, the psalmist says people should envy us, as we live forgiven lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit! For the burdens we no longer carry, or at least that we aren’t to carry,.. so many do! This is what Jesus came to do, to free us from the sin which stops us from being with God!
So many walk around, living with guilt and shame….so many people walk around without knowing God really loves them, without experiencing that love.
- What happens next
The change is so incredible for the psalmist – that feeling the relief inwards; he turns to those around him
Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. 7 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory!
This is an evangelistic spirit.
Wow, God, you did this for me! All of us need to know this – we all need to pray—we all need to experience this relief, especially before the waters rise, and judgment occurs.
The more you know God has done for you, the more you need to share it with others, to share with them how God heals and protects and hides us from trouble, the more we need to invite people into the safe place we have found.
This is Christianity at its simplest… to realize the incredible way God has called you to His side, cleaning you up along the way, as you invite others into a peace that is beyond explanation….as Jesus saves them, as the Holy Spirit takes us residence with them, as sin and satan the fear of death are tossed out like yesterday’s trash…
This is our hope, and it is the very reason people should be envious of us, why we want them to be just like us.
Amen!
Visions of Peace: An Advent Chidlren’s Sermon and regular sermon based on Romans 15:4-13
Children’s Sermon
Romans 15:4-13
† In Jesus Name †
So every Sunday, part of what I do is play my guitar in the service. Not all pastors do this, but I do. And before I do, I have to tune my guitar.
I have 6 strings here, and each is supposed to be a different note. Each has its own place, and its own sound.
But if they aren’t in tune, there is a problem.
For instance – this string is supposed to be an “A” string. But what if it decides to be something else? And this string, the “B” string, wants to be higher than it is supposed to be? It may sound nice on its own…. But what happens when I play all the strings together?
Does that sound good????
No!!!
That’s why each string has its own specific note. And the gut who plays guitar has the responsibility for making sure they sound like they are supposed to.
So I use my tuner – and I tune my guitar…..
So we are like the strings on my guitar. Each one of us has a special place in life, and a special role. But sometimes we want to be something different, we want to do things our own way. But what does that do to the entire group we are part of?
It messes everything up!
So who is responsible for getting us back in tune?
Jesus!
Except we don’t have pegs we are tied to, we are just always connected to Jesus, who fixes things and makes it right.
And then when we play, or sing, or just live with other people – it works out so much better.
Let’s pray!
Concordia Lutheran Church
December 4.2022
Visions of Peace II
Harmony-Concordia
Romans 15:4-15
† Jesus, Son and Savior †
May the grace f God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ convince you that you dwell securely in the peace of God, which is beyond anything we can understand!
A Vision of Concordia
I’ve been thinking about the changes I’ve seen in my lifetime recently. I mean, growing up, we had one phone in the house, and to call us you only dialed 4 numbers. We had a black and white television that was 13 inches in diagonal, later to be replaced by a massive 20 inch, color television which weighed about 80 pounds!
I wouldn’t say life was simpler or better back then, but it was certainly different.
But one thing is certain, parents then, and parents now want life to be better, more peaceful for their children, and for their grandchildren.
Let’s be honest, we haven’t been a peaceful world, a peaceful country, or even peaceful communities in the last 57 years. Heck, even the internet and social media isn’t all that peaceful!
It’s not a surprise to me then, that the readings for December, as we prepare for Christmas, all deal with peace, giving us a vision for peace, that like the harmony I talked to the children about—all comes down to Jesus.
What Peace Looks like
Paul explains what peace looks like in the church,
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we are back to the lesson on the children’s message – the idea that we should function in complete harmony with each other. We see what happens in the world when it doesn’t happen, when everyone determines what they are in tune with, and what note they want to play.
Paul gives the idea of being in harmony, each in tune, and played together.
When we aren’t tuned to and by God, we really can’t be in harmony with each other. We can “de-tune” our lives from God, rejecting His role in our life. That is the basis of what we call sin, when we think we know better than God
But when we de-tune ourselves, that also breaks the harmony we had with other people.
We need help… and Jesus is there to help us.
The Help to establish Peace
Paul gives one example of how Christ brings together people divided, addressing one of the most critical divides, still today. Hear again what Paul wrote,
Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them.
This divide – racial, cultural, ethnic, was huge in the day. It was violent, it still is, as it is the center of most of the middle east conflicts.
And Jesus, broke down the wall, by dying for all of them,
Paul wrote to another church, this one in Ephesus,
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Ephesians 2:14 (NLT2)
The cross is the answer to all sin, to all the times where we are out of tune with God, and therefore not capable to be in harmony with each other.
This works with any disharmony, with any dysfunction, where people are able to allow God to come and minister to them, to forgive their sin, to reconcile to God, tuning them, and then creating the harmony that exists, as we live with God together.
This is why we are here, why we have a school, to help people living broken lives to know God is working in those lives, brining healing and bringing peace.
A peace that unites us all, as we are united to Christ in our baptism, and at the communion rail. A peace that goes beyond understanding, and in which God keeps us, for this He has promised.
AMEN!
God is Making You… His People. A sermon for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper
God is Making you… His People
Jeremiah 31:31-33
† In Jesus’ Name †
May the grace and mercy of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ convince you that you are the people of God!
- Missing at the Feast…
It was a card table, probably purchased back in the 1950s. It came out for every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, with 4 folding chairs that were far sturdier than they looked.
At 18 to 19, just starting to date Kay, I understood that I would be sitting there with her 5 and 7-year-old nephews, Kay’s 14-year-old niece, and Kay.
It was the kiddie table, and we were the younger folk there.
I did think that there would be a time when I could move to the adult table; I just didn’t think it would take until I was in my fifties.
As we share in the Lord’s Supper, we are in the present moment, and yet we are also part of that great feast when Jesus returns. It is what we are looking towards, yet we are a part of it as well, as with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven, we praise God, our heavenly Father.
There is no kiddie table at that feast, for we all have matured and become complete in Christ.
And we see that promise in the passage read earlier from Jeremiah.
- The Difference Between the Covenants
Jeremiah describes how people related to God in the reading. “I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them…
It sounds more like Israel acted like a toddler rather than a partner of God’s. I picture Israel as a toddler having to be brought to the table, seated, then getting up to see what’s happening everywhere else. What’s on their plate? Is their chair better than mine? And, of course, causing all sorts of spills and breakage, left behind as something else catches their eye.
The world is not different today, and neither are many of us in the church. We want what we want when we want it! We often “unintentionally” redesign Christianity to be more consistent with what we wish… rather than allowing God to conform us to the image of Jesus.
It’s easy to throw a tantrum against God, demand what we want…that we cry and howl and tell Him to get lost. Heck, even at the last supper, the disciples fought over who was better…
And Jesus bows down… and takes a towel and washes their feet….
- Preparing them for the new covenant…
And in doing so, shows them a new way…
We often talk about foot-washing as an example – this is how we should serve others. But Peter had to learn something first – to let Jesus wash his feet, for boy, they needed to be cleaned….
We need to be drawn into this relationship, this covenant with God. We need God to do what He’s promised to do, the promises we’ve been looking at – God’s work.
And that is seen easily this night. Everything about the Passover points to his sacrifice in the morning – a sacrifice he looked forward to – because of the joy of Jeremiahs’s promise being fulfilled.
- How God puts His instructions inside us…
Here it again…
“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
That is why Jesus says this is His blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. The Body and Blood shed for you that all your sins, including those tantrums, are forgiven.
This is why we are here… this is what it is all about… God with us.
A new relationship that goes beyond anything we can think or imagine.
A relationship where God comes to us feeds us, and makes us know we are home… for we are His people.
So let’s celebrate – with the feast that is the foretaste of the feast to come…
Encounter God with Everyone: A Good Friday Sermon
Encounter God with Everyone
Isaiah 52:13-15
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ convince you that God desires all to be transformed because He loves you!
A Different Perspective
The Crowds stood there that day…. Looking upon Jesus, and they cried out for Him to die for Him to be crucified.
Isaiah’s description of it was all too accurate.
Beaten, whipped thirty-nine times, a crown of 1’inch thorns smashed on his head, beaten and slapped senseless.
Then carrying that beam, significantly over 100 pounds, out of the city, then up the mountain, to the peak of the hill, then spikes hammered through both wrists and through the ankles.
Is it any wonder that the prophet describes him as one so disfigured that he hardly looked human? That stomachs were upset as they looked upon what they had cried out for?
Sunday is undoubtedly coming, but we have to pause a moment here, on Friday, and consider the way Jesus looked?
We need to consider what our sin did to him,,,,
We need to see Him, and the pain our sin caused…
Beautiful
We need to be part of the group Isaiah describes, that looks upon Jesus on the cross and marvels. We need to join the leaders of the world, who are unable to speak.
We need to understand how this wretched sight is a most beautiful thing…
We need to see and understand…
(long pause.._)
We need to understand that it is love that drove him to this point.
We need to understand what the author of Hebrews wrote that Jesus did this for the joy set before Him. The shame he despised, the pain he dreaded, but He volunteered to take this beating.
Not just the physical torture.
Not just the agony of seeing his friends betray and abandon him or his mother look upon his broken body.
But he bore the spiritual trauma of taking every sin, the millions upon millions of sins committed by you and me.
He accepted that weight, that burden, all the guilt, and shame.
See Him them, crushed, almost inhuman,
And now we see and understand, absolutely, stunningly beautiful.
He took this on… for us. AMEN!
Washed by Water with the Word! A sermon based on Ephesians 5:21-33
A sermon from Concordia
Washed by Water with the Word:
Being placed in Christ’s care
Ephesians 5:21-33
† In Jesus Name †
May the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ result in your loving God, loving others, and letting yourself be loved by others.
Distracted by the object Lesson
I want you to look back at the epistle reading this morning.
I added the first verse, what is verse 21 of the chapter, to what the traditional reading is for today. I think it is necessary, as it sets the tone not just for what we have in today’s reading, but the relationships described in the next chapter. There the relationship between parents and children, and bosses and those who work for them are described in the same manner as the relationship between husband and wife in today’s reading.
I want us to read it together,
“And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
There is the key to every relationship you will ever be in, caring for one another to the extent that we care for them, and are cared for by them.
It’s quite a challenge!
Especially if you leave that verse out, and start the reading with, “For wives, this means submit to your husband as to the LORD!”
Without verse 21, the moment I read verse 22 I lose everyone. All the guys would remember is that I said women should submit, and nothing else. (And the stupid ones can’t wait to tell their wives what pastor said!) I lost the women because they are all thinking, “Oh my gosh, that is all my husband will have heard!” And both would spend the rest of the service thinking about that!
Okay, that’s a big generalization. Not all of you would be distracted and stop listening.
When we drop verse 21 is that we omit the reason we do these things.
Which is because first of all, we adore Christ, and how He has submitted in order to care for us. And until we are in awe of that, the rest of this stuff is meaningless.
But once we adore Him, as we realize what He has done for us. As we realize how He has loved us and calls us to love as we are loved.
Christ’s submission
Let’s look at how Christ submitted, which is described at the end of verse 25,
He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
What a concept. Submission as seen in doing what the other person needs, what the person needs in their lives. In this case, in our case, what Christ did was give up His life for us, that we could become holy and clean!
I have mentioned before what holiness Is, and what it isn’t. It isn’t perfection or being nicer and sinning less than other people. Though those who live holy lives as a side effect may indeed sin less, that is a side effect.
Holiness is best described as being set apart for a very specific purpose. Everything has its place and purpose in life and using something for something other than what it is intended for, well, that causes things to break, and be shattered. For example, I can’t use Missy’s guitar to stand on to change a lightbulb or use Kay’s violin for swatting a fly, could I?
How it affects us…
In the same way, we’ve been created, and in Christ, recreated for one specific purpose. To be in a special relationship with God, as we are created and recreated to be His people, and He is the God who loves us.
That is why the cleansing is needed, to ready us for the day when we stand before God, free of all guilt and shame, free of all things that stop us from being His glorious people.
Christ submits to cause this in us, as we are washed by the water and the word. As we are baptized, united to His death and His Resurrection as both Romans 6 and Colossians 2 describes.
That is why Jesus was born, and why He lived, teaching and healing, and died and rose again, so that we would be freed from all the problems that sin causes, free to be in that relationship just soaking in the love of God as we share in His glory (Col. 1:26-28)
This is what it is all about, assuring us of the work of Christ in our lives. Linking people to Christ’s death and resurrection as He promised when we are born again in baptism.
And our response…
As He washes us in water and the word, changing our lives so completely that we begin to live as He did, more concerned about those we love and are called to love than we are concerned for ourselves.
This submission in reverence to Christ becomes our new nature, our new life. Often in ways, we don’t see, it just happens.
As we walk with Jesus, as we see His love and are united to Him, as we become one with Him.
This is who we are, the people of God, who reflect the glory of His peace into this broken world.
So my friends, remain in Him, experience His love, and dwell in His peace which goes beyond all understanding, as He keeps our hearts and minds in Him! AMEN!
Prayers answer in Christ’s Wounds: Make Me Yours! ( The first sermon in a Lenten series at Concordia)
Prayers answered in Christ’s Wounds
Make Me Yours
Isaiah 53:7-11
† I.H.S. †
The Mark you bear….the passion it represents
A moment ago, you had some palm tree ash put on your forehead. Ash, the dirt that comes from burning something that was once alive, but now is dead and is burnt because the option is to let it take up room while it rots and smells up the place.
Fire leaves behind what’s left, what can’t decay, what can’t be broken down anymore.
As we go through Lent, we are going to look at some of the deepest prayers of our souls, the prayers that we should be aware were answered completely, even if that answer remains partly hidden. We can learn that it is answered, we can begin to see that revelation, and know that in time, we will see it completely answered.
Those prayers are seen, in part, in the hymn, O Sacred Head Now Wounded, and each week we will add a verse, as we see the prayer that is answered in Jesus wounds….
The prayer tonight? It is found in the last line of the first verse, “I joy to call Thee mine.”
An appropriate prayer, considering it is Valentine’s day… a prayer to God, “be mine”, a prayer to God as well, “make me yours!”
An answer that we see in the mark, the brand you are wearing tonight. A mark that symbolizes not only our grief and brokenness but a mark that shows us that God has made us His.
The Mark of Brokenness, of grief and shame of the cross
Ashes, all that is left after all that can rot and stink has been taken away… Little better than carbon-based dust…something that can be blown away, even by a gentle breeze.
Ashes have been used as a sigh of grief for a long time, and though we also see them as a sign of repentance, they are first a sign of grief, a recognition that without Christ, our lives, so dominated by sin, are but the ashes and dust we come from, and the ashes and dust we will return to someday.
We often see them as a sign of repentance, but repentance comes as a gift from God and develops out of a sorrow for our sin, a realization of our brokenness. To realize the effect and impact of our individual sin, of the havoc that sin wracks in our lives.
And so we wear the ash, in sorrow and grief and shame.
The grief and shame that wears down the head of Jesus, wounded for us, to answer our prayers, Be mine, make me yours!
The Mark of Bliss
As we journey through this life with Jesus, as we journey with Him from the cross, we begin to see that the ashes leave the same mark as our baptism.
The sign of the cross, the place where Jesus was bruised and battered, the place Isaiah described so clearly in our reading tonight,
10 But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. Isaiah 53:10-11 (NLT)
It is tempting to see in this God the Father crushing Jesus, the accomplishment of anguish. The idea that all this required anguish, the anguish of the weight of our sin which He bears. All that is necessary for a time. But it is not where it ends. What we need to see, what will rescue us from the appropriate grief is this,
The Good plan,
The having many descendants,
The accomplishment ( in Greek this would be the same as “it is finished!”
the fact that many, including us, will be counted righteous.
In lent we need a both and, a time to grieve our sin, and a time to dance over the fact we are forgiven, hence the ashes in the sign of the cross…
Make Me thine
And in that cross, we hear those words, that we are found righteous, that it has been accomplished, that we have become His, for He has given us life.
He has made us His own.
We can rejoice, for we know the joy of calling Him ours, and we can say with the bluntest honest the words of the psalm, “I joy to call the mine!”
Blessed to Be in His Presence: Free from Blame and made Partners: An Advent Sermon on 1 Cor 1
We Are Blessed to Be in His Presence
Free from Blame and Made His Partners!
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
† I.H.S †
As the Apostle Paul desired for the Corinthians, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace!
Thank God you belong to Jesus!
An observation I heard more times than I could count yesterday is one familiar.
“How do people get through this without Jesus?”
“How does the secular world deal with this?
And to be honest, I don’t know, but I have an answer to their problem, at the end of this message.
So when I got back to church yesterday, and I looked again at the passage, what caught my eye more than it did before was Paul giving thanks to God for his people and the grace He’s given, for they belong to Jesus.
And so memories of after the service came back, so many of your faces, resonating with these words of Paul.
I have to thank God that it the grace He has given so evident, as is that you belong to Jesus, you are His! All of the words of comfort you offer each other confirms it, as we seemingly do it month after month, year after year. The gospel I share with you from up here, or in the MPR, I get to see them lived out far more clearly, as the riches of God’s gifts is seen in you.
I don’t have to prove His presence is true, you know that, even if you are little hazy about all the details, we cannot deny that God carries us in times like these.
Look at what we do, this isn’t possibly without God’s work being true
I don’t know how often you think about Jesus coming back, never mind are eagerly waiting for His return. Most of the time for me, it is a prayer of desperation, a prayer because I don’t know how we are going to cope any longer, or dare I say, how much more of a challenging life we can endure.
That’s the same kind of feeling Isaiah had in the Old Testament, when he cried, Lord, just burst open the heavens and come down!!!!
We’re waiting Lord! Just rip open those skies and get down here!
I mean what are you waiting for Lord?
We’re not the first people to struggle, and we aren’t the only people who think the struggle’s gone on long enough. According to the Book of Revelation, even those in heaven, those who testified to God’s love cry out, “How long, O Holy and true Lord, how long until the suffering is dealt with?” (Rev. 6:10)
God’s answer to them is rest a little longer, the number of your brothers and sisters aren’t complete. Remember that please. That the number isn’t complete….
The church is like Maxwell house….
So how do we endure all the suffering? All the pain that sin causes in our lives? If God won’t come and take us all home right now, how will we get past tomorrow?
How can we endure to the end? How will we be strong and faithful from this moment until Christ returns?
While Jesus isn’t coming back for the final judgment yet, He promised that God would never abandon us, that He would never leave us alone. Here he promises it again,
“He will keep you strong to the end,”
But it doesn’t end there, there is more , “so you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus returns”
Hear that guys? All blame! By guys I was talking to the men who are to blame for everything! You know who you are!
Seriously, that promise is twofold. The first is that God will personally sustain us, and keep us strong until Jesus returns. The second is that we will be blameless – completely righteous, innocent of all sin, completely cleansed by God, our soul completely healed.
What we can’t do, He did already. For our strength comes from our being untied to Jesus’ death and resurrection in our baptism, in God claiming us as His, for it is when we were united to Jesus that we became His, new creatures, that He fully cares for and sustains.
Because of Him we were sinners, and now we are forgiven, righteous, holy, and this is how Jesus will find us, the very work He did on the cross made it possible, and made it happen
Partnership with Christ – from His death till He comes again
So let me bring back up the idea of how people get through this life without knowing God.
It’s not supposed to be that way, and in fact, even as God planned for us to be blameless and holy, and strong to the last drop, he planned for those people who didn’t know His comfort.
Just as the Father sent Jesus to us, Jesus sends us to them.
You heard me right, that’s what the idea the Apostle is getting to, when he says, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what He says, and he has invited you into partnership with His son, Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Our partnership, our communion, our fellowship with Jesus is so complete, we share in His vocation of Savior. Not that we are crucified for their sins, but they hear about that incredible act of love, and the resurrection through us. They hear of the love of God that will sustain us through this seemingly broken, shattered life.
And our words will confirm the work of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit draws them to Him, as we share the hope we have.
They don’t have to go through this life without Christ, and certainly, we know that God doesn’t desire that they go through life without hope, and for that reason, He isn’t come back yet…
You and I are Jesus partners, have been since our baptism, and through us, through the gospel, we share with family and friends, they will know that God is with them as well…
And then on the days when they like us are broken and exhausted, or tire of crying, and dealing with the guilt and shame of sin, they will know the power and beauty and strength and peace found in these words,
The Lord, who loves you, is with you!
AMEN!
Live in Harmony/Concordia: A sermon on Romans 12:9-21
Live in Harmony/Concordia
Romans 12:9-21
† Jesus, Son, Savior †
May you realize the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ enables and empowers you to live in harmony with each other, as God intended!
Live in Concord
When I originally put a title to this sermon, it was missing one of the words you see up on the screen right now.
Anyone want to guess?
The original title read this way, Live in Concordia.
But I was afraid that some people might start moving their bedroom furniture into the Multi-Purpose Room this week, and Hank and Loreen would sell the furniture at next week’s yard sale!
Seriously, Concordia was the Latin name of the goddess the ancient Greeks called Harmonia – the two words are interchangeable, one simply finds it roots in Latin, the other in Greek. So to live in harmony, as Paul tells us, is to live in Concordia.
We are to blend together, with one heart and mind. Not to be copies or clones of each other, but rather to have our lives be together working together as one, as beautiful as any symphony.
For that is who God is transforming us to be, a people who love other, who really love them, with genuine affection.
Even if it isn’t easy, even if we struggle to do so, for in that struggle we learn to depend on the God who changes us!
The challenges
Love each other, challenging at times.
Love the stranger – that’s what the word hospitality means – literally to love the alien like a brother.
Ask God to bless those who try to crush you.
This isn’t exactly easy stuff!
It’s going to be very difficult at times, it is going to take effort that we don’t want to put into it, that we are not sure is worth it.
It is very different from who society has tried to make us become.
This is love without bounds, being ready to help them at all times, without any hypocrisy, as we serve God by loving others.
It’s a lot of work, we can’t be slackers about it, it takes dedication, and hearing God and obeying Him, even when we don’t want to love them.
Let’s be honest, though they may be different for each of us, there are people that it is hard to love. Maybe it’s a neighbor, or a family member, or a person on the road that cut you off, or maybe even a pastor or deacon.
If this was simple and natural, Paul wouldn’t be writing it, covering every loophole he does.
We have to love each other, we have to love others, even those who aren’t like us… we have to love our enemies enough that we plead with God to bless them. As Jeremiah says, we have to influence them on God’s behalf, rather than let them influence us by their persecution, by their hatred.
We have to love our enemy!
To do otherwise, to not do so is sin….
The righteous anger of God….
Paul gives us a way to deal with our tension, our frustration with those who are our enemies, those who persecute us, and try to crush us.
He says not to take revenge, to not personally seek our own brand of justice.
Let God handle it, let God’s righteous anger work itself out. For God will do what is ultimately righteous, what sees sin paid for fully, which wreaks havoc on the guilty.
God promises this!
Even if the one who pays the price is Jesus.
Actually, that is His glorious preference, that all sinners would be united to Jesus at the cross. All sinners. All those others, all those strangers all those aliens and even you and I.
So rest assured, what we plead for if we hear God, is fully within His will.
And that changes everything, as God saves you and me, uniting us to Jesus, demonstrating His grace and mercy to us in that cross where His blood was spilled where hopefully they will be united as well, for Jesus paid the price for all our sin.
Which is why I find the greatest place for reconciling people to be here, at this altar, at this place where God’s love is poured out on us
Our confident Hope.
I want to back track from God’s wrath being poured out on Jesus for a moment, to verse 12,
Let’s read it together,
12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Rejoice in our confident hope, the hope we find at the cross, the hope we find in the resurrection, reaffirmed every time we unite with Christ’ in communion, even as we did in baptism.
Be patient and longsuffering. Don’t think a life lived loving others will be easy, but suffer through it, depending on God not only for the strength and power but to help you stand firm.
Which is why you keep on praying, pleading with God for them, and to help you remember His love for you. Prayer is more than just asking God, it’s talking to Him, realizing His love, letting Him take the weight off your shoulders. It is keeping your eyes on Him, knowing that enemies can’t crush you.
You see, that’s the key, to keep your eyes on God, to keep in His presence, to find yourself loved and safe in His peace. AMEN!
