Sermon March 30, 2022 - Lent Midweek 5

Title: Jesus Christ desires all to be his child!
Text: 2 Cor. 5:18-21

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18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We had 14 children in church last Sunday! Yes, 14 children! What a blessing. It felt like Peace Lutheran church from 15 years ago. A baptism for twin girls, Allison and Madison Osentoski and so many others - some of whom I’ve had the pleasure to baptize over the last 10 years. Children are a blessing.

Regardless of the number of children we have in church or we may or may not have in our families we can all have comfort and true peace because:

Jesus Christ desires all to be his child!

Paul speaks in our Epistle lesson today about being a new creation.

The old has gone away and the new has emerged. No longer will they be regarded according to the flesh. Even though Jesus Christ was once regarded as the man, according to the flesh – His human nature – he has now been raised and is no longer in His state of humiliation but has been raised and is seated at the right hand of the father.

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

It is not always evident, is it?

Sin permeates our very being; which means to spread or flow throughout or to penetrate something.

Sin is not just an act of disobedience. It is not just the act of doing something or saying something wrong, or not doing what we should.

It is in fact who we are.

Paul speaks of Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. His once for all sacrifice for sin pays the price for the Corinthians and Paul explains that:

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

In the gospel reading last weekend we had the parable of the Prodigal son, but, it’s really the story of two sons, one who leaves and one who stays.

The one demanding the father’s life, which is really what’s happening when you want your inheritance before the father has died, and the other who has had everything the father has but still feels cheated.

‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, though the text only says, “reckless living” you killed the fattened calf for him!’ Luke 15:29-30

Essentially saying … “I’m good and he’s bad!”

Even in the worst of human endeavors reconciliation is possible.

[Oscar conflict]

Even at church separation can occur.

Sometimes conflicts within a family cause separation, and other times there is conflict between two families or people in the church … causing one or the other to leave.

20 Therefore, Paul says: we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, give up these petty arguments and whatever separates you from fellow believers and be reconciled to God.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
The Father’s forgiveness in the parable was both restoration for the wondering son …

‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

As well as comfort for the longing son.

‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Martin Luther reminds us in the 5th petition of the Lord’s Prayer from our Small Catechism.

We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, [inheritance or a party with our friends] nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.

So too we who have been separated from God by sin can be brought back to His loving arms through faith in Christ who desires that all will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

But do we? Are we?

The cost of peace between God and man required the life of Jesus. The very Son of God came to be your substitute and took the sin of the world, your sins upon Himself so that you might be his child by faith.

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The very Son of God, Paul tells the Corinthians, came down to live, suffer, die and rise again just for them.

So too we, who have been brought to faith by God’s Holy Spirit giving faith to both you and me in Christ’s finished work and reconciling us to God through this same faith in Him.

In this one sentence, Paul tells us that we have the entire essence of God’s work in Christ for the forgiveness of sins in the world.

Just as God’s great Gospel message from blessed John 3:16 tells us:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Paul tells us how that will happen, because:

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the eternal hope for you and for me.

That: Jesus Christ desires all to be his child!

The blessed joy in the midst of tears is what we are given even as we grieve the loss of loved ones who have gone to their eternal rest. Mom, dad, grandparent, children or dear friend … over time we have peace as we know that reunion will follow one day for all who believe.

This blessed joy is yours and mine that we will all be reunited in Him, in Christ, because by faith we hold to the blessed hope that is Jesus who was raised from the dead. And so too all who believe will be raised to an eternity in heaven with our Lord and all who by faith have been brought to this blessed reconciliation with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The joy of the birth of a child, pales in comparison to the blessed hope and rebirth that we are given in Christ.

God who has made Christ our substitute, brings us to faith in Him washing us clean in our baptisms and making us holy, by the once for all sacrifice for sin at the cross that Jesus won over sin, death and the Devil.

We who are in Christ are reconciled to Him by His all sufficient sacrifice for sin in our place. This is the joy that we all can have peace in. Christ has been raised and so will you be raised too.

May this blessed good news comfort you by his Spirit now and forever.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit

Amen

Sermon March 26-27, 2022 – Fourth Sunday in Lent

Title: In Christ the joyful water of salvation is given to you!
Text: Isaiah 12:1-6

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3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

4 And in that day you will say:

“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.

The Senate confirmation hearing are going on right now for a new Supreme Court Justice. Many times, senators can get pretty heated and angry with one another.

Many years ago, when Vice President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate, one Senator angrily told another to go "straight to hell".

The offended Senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer, and Cal looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate. "I've been looking through the rule book," he said. "You don't have to go."

Crossroads, Issue No. 7, p. 16.

12 And in that day, you will say,

“O LORD, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

In the day of salvation, praise will be heaped upon the Lord who has the keys of Heaven and Hell. You who have been given faith in Christ will sing praises to the Lord as well.

Though your sin had separated you from our heavenly father … your tears will be washed away and in Christ, the Father’s anger will be appeased and turned away and you will be comforted.
Once during Queen Victoria's reign, she heard that the wife of a common laborer had lost her baby. Having experienced deep sorrow herself, she felt moved to express her sympathy. So, she called on the bereaved woman one day and spent some time with her. After she left, the neighbors asked what the queen had said. "Nothing," replied the grieving mother. "She simply put her hands on mine, and we silently wept together."

Source Unknown.

The weeping for the Loss of a child we can all feel.

God the Father too knows the feeling of the loss of a child, His only begotten Son, at the hands of those he came to redeem.

2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”

God in Christ is your savior. Though you deserve death He has redeemed you. By faith you hold and trust in His finished work. Fear is swallowed up in the victory of God’s Son for you. He – Jesus Christ the righteous one – is the strength that you walk in and the song that you sing is of His redemption.

The book of Revelation speaks of this eternal joy in Chapter 5:

9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” Rev. 5:9-10

The eternal Son, who was and is and is to come is the King of Glory and the song that is sung, is the song of we who have been freed from sin, sing unto the Lamb who was slain.

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”
Rev 4:13b NIV

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say:
“Praise the LORD, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.

The desert of sin has been flooded for you by the waters of Baptism.

God brings you into His family and into relationship with Him through the redemptive and saving work of the son.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, causes you in that day, to sing praise unto Him.

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians says:
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The joyful waters of salvation have been given to you. As you live out your Christian lives the joy of Christ should be reflected in you but so often, we all fall short and miss the mark.

Sin continues to corrupt everything.

But, in spite of your failings God has called you to be His own.

He has made you His child and continues to shape you into His image.

By the Holy Spirit, you are pointed to and receive the blessed Good News that you are free of the sin and no longer have to live with the guilt of sin in your life.

As a result of this gift, you are able to sing.

5 Sing to the LORD,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.

Jesus Christ has lived suffered, died and rose again just for you. He has made a home for you in Heaven with him. This joy is the song we sing and it is the praise we can all know and be joyful in.

6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

We who are” Spiritual Israel” - the church of God in Christ - sing and shout for the joy we know, and we live out this joy that God has given us, bringing Christ to those who need to hear the same saving Gospel message that

we’ve heard and now proclaim.

In this life we at times will receive the blessings that life affords and at other times we feel consumed by the cares of life.

[Like the story of the Prodigal]

God though has made a way to Heaven for each one of us in Christ.

By Christ’s death on the cross for you, though we suffer through trials in this life we are free to joy in the salvation He has won for us at the cross.

Christ redeems us and delivers us to the Father who longs for our return home!

May the Love of God the blessings of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you now and forever.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen

Sermon March 23, 2022 - Midweek 4

Title: Christ is faithful and provides you a way!
Text: 1 Cor. 10:1-13

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12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

In the epistle to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of the reality of God’s work in the lives of the Israelites in the desert. Connecting the past working of God in the book of Exodus to those in the Corinthian New Testament church, Paul points to the reality that God was present and went before them in the pillar of cloud by day and also allowed them to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground.

God’s seal and pledge of his promises and care were evident to the Israelites and through the cloud and sea God saved his people from the evil bondage experienced under Pharaoh leading them to freedom.

Paul talks about those ancient Biblical texts and those being baptized into Moses through the cloud and sea which are types of our sacrament of Baptism; where God, through His means, washes us clean from the filth of sin, rescuing us from sin, death and the Devil and making us his children.

God, just as he delivered them, he delivers us and transfers us from the power of Satan into his glorious kingdom, free and marked as children redeemed by Christ.

But Paul continues:

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Now, most of the Israelites, who had been with Moses in the desert, Paul says, God was not pleased with, for they were overthrown in the wilderness

12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

These are examples Paul says, for the Corinthians and for us. Be on you guard because temptation will come upon you and me and Satan will find subtle ways to draw you back to his realm.

8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.

The call here is to honor what God has given for our own good in the 6th commandment:

Thou shall not commit adultery or as Luther says in the catechism:

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

Paul continues:

9 We must not put Chris to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents,

Maybe you remember the story of the fiery serpents that came into the Israelite camp and their bite caused death?

God provided a way out by instructing Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole and lift it in the center of the camp for all to see … and all who looked upon the serpent on the pole would be healed and live.

But some didn’t believe and continued to look away …

10 or grumbled, and some of them were destroyed by the Destroyer.

We in Baptism have all been marked as Christ’s beloved children.

Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted."

His son, Brooks Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brooks Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!"

The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is your perspective.

Silas Shotwell, in Homemade, Sept, 1987.

So, how do we see the right investment and perspective?

Stay in the word, stay in the church, stay in the faith, stay in Christ.

Satan wants you to believe that spending time in worship, praising God through the good times and the bad and fighting against the temptation of the world, which is to say, the temptation that points you away from Christ and His work and love for you is, as Charles Francis Adams said – a day wasted.

God, on the other hand, will use this time to equip you, to sustain you, to keep you grounded when things go well and He will continue to build you up, at those times, when things don’t go well.

Giving you the joy of the Spirit in all you do, trusting in Christ to provide the way of escape, that you may be able to stand and endure it.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

Paul cautions the Corinthians:

7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”

God’s provision is faith and it is that gift that He has given you through the Gospel. Both is word and sacrament God gives the Holy Spirit to draw you to faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for each one of us.

God, through those means that he has given, will keep those through those same means by hearing it proclaimed, reading and meditating on the word keep you in His blessed will which is to keep you, in Him, in Christ and to see that you have a way out of the temptations that plague us all and are common to us all.

Christ Jesus and his word are and will always be a way out of the temptations you face. He will comfort you in times of trouble when you feel stuck by sin and its consequences and can’t get away to safety; but also when the windfall of lottery winnings, so to speak, bring the temptation of joy and prosperity in this life God, through His word, will bring a word of caution and grounding at this time too. Be comforted with this blessed news that:

Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

 

 

Sermon March 19-20, 2022 - Third Sunday in Lent

Title: Jesus Christ reconciles the word unto himself!
Text: Luke 13:1-9

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6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

As I was standing in my dad’s hospital room waiting for him to be picked up for surgery, I noticed and thought how much he now looked like his dad. I said,

“Dad, do you know who you look like?” He replied: “An old man!”

The question or the degree of value that we put on human life differs depending on age and perspective. It seems that for many those who are least able to take care of themselves are the ones most marginalized.

The child in the womb or the elderly in the bed of a nursing home both rely on the care of someone else for their earthly existence. But what really is the difference?

In our gospel lesson in Luke we read:

13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?

Neither, the child waiting to be born or the elderly person, waiting to be called to the slumbers of death, can do much about the situation they are both in at this point. Both are at the mercy of God as they wait for either birth or death.

The truth of these two examples though is that both are under the curse of sin. Should the child be born to life and rise to great stature or die from a miscarriage or be aborted does not enhance or diminish their value in the eyes of the Lord.

In the same way the elderly who remains healthy and productive for their entire life or spends many years in the care of others has no greater or lesser significance in the eyes of the Lord.

You and I who are alive too have value to our loving God … but not because of whom we are or what we do.

The Gospel reading continues:
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

Both of these examples that are given by Luke, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, conclude with the same words.

5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

These words are meant to be frightening to the person, of any age, who remains comfortable in their sin. The reality of death, from womb to grave and all of life in between, is real and so is the reality of an eternity separated from God and His love for those who resist God’s call to repentance and continue on their own path covered in their own righteousness.

Jesus then tells a parable about a fig tree and a man who had planted it. The idea here is that this man had planted it to … bear fruit. He wanted figs and he had found none.

I had a silver Maple shade tree in my backyard which had provided great shade to my house in the summer. It stopped producing leaves and the shade that had kept us cool in the summer was gone. The tree had died and was of no value.

Prior to the tree’s death, we had had a few signs. One fall, the leaves became a beautiful deep red. We thought it was a good sign but later learned that this was a sign of distress. I took special food and tried to do what I could to help the tree survive. An arborist, who I had come and look at the tree, said that these trees - in a very common way - suffer from a girdled root syndrome which spins a root around itself, eventually choking itself and its food supply, leading to death. There isn’t much you can do about it.

But, I said: “Let’s leave it alone this year and I’ll feed and water around it and put fertilizer on it and if it doesn’t produce leaves and shade next year … I’ll cut it down.”

Trees that do not bear fruit are of little value to the owner of the property where they are planted.

The truth of this parable though is using only trees and fruit as an example to bring to mind the greater problem and the need of producing fruit in the lives of believers.

Jesus Christ has reconciled the word unto himself and has called you to faith. But faith that is not fed, nourished, and strengthened eventually dies and like the fig tree in the parable, without figs, the fig tree is of little value.

You though are of great value. So much so that our loving God has taken your sin to the cross so that what was broken by sin has now been restored in Christ!

He calls you to repentance by his word of Law that shows you your sin.

Have you sin which you live in daily? Is it great or small? The truth is as we read from our Lord’s lips:

“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?

Do you and I at times marginalize your sin? Do you at times, like me, see certain sins as grievous to the Lord but the sin we fall victim to as tolerable?

Christ will not give up on you. He will dig around you and metaphorically put the fertilizer of spiritual food around you so that you can feed and be filled and produce the fruit that leads to repentance and eternal life.

Alexander the Great, seeing the Greek Philosopher Diogenes looking attentively at a parcel of human bones, asked him what he was looking for. Diogenes' reply: "That which I cannot find--the difference between your father's bones and those of his slaves."

Plutarch.

By the wounds that Jesus took upon Himself at the cross he paid the price for sin for all flesh. Because of Christ and his sinless life and death in your place – by faith in his work you too are forgiven.

Though you die yet you will live. Whether productive or incapacitated, God has called you to faith and will sustain you through the trials of this world.

His love for you will continue to draw you by His Holy Spirit to look to his finished work producing faith that bears fruit in your life as God’s love in Christ produces fruit in you leading to your continued spiritual growth.

Christ will feed you through his word and sacraments to life eternal in Him.

Though our bones, like the bones of all born in sin remain the same we have been given eternal life and the true and blessed hope of resurrection one day.

We who believe will rise just as Jesus did on Easter Sunday and as Job has said, in chapter 19 vs 26:

And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

He is risen and so you too will rise in Him because:

Jesus Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Sermon March 16, 2022 - Midweek 3

Title: Be Imitators, by keeping your eyes upon Jesus!
Text: Phil. 3:17-4:1

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17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

4:1Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

When I first came to Peace, I had been feeling that the Lord was leading me into ministry. Things had changed at St. John where I had been worshiping and Pastor Moritz had taken a call to Illinois. I came looking for a church closer to my home but also looking for a church with a pastor that I could learn from. I thought, “If the Lord is calling me into ministry, I need to have a good example of what a good pastor is.”

Thankfully, Pastor Merrell was here and was that man to watch and follow.

The Apostle Paul writes:

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

This call of imitation from the Apostle Paul was a good word for the church in Philippi and for you and me as well. Look to those, he tells them, who have a life lived in the Spirit of Christ and keep your eyes on them. They are a good example for you and me and one that will make your walk with Christ better and more joyful.

Now you may think, who should I model myself after? Who would be a good example? Should I look to someone in the church who has the appearance of a faith life and model them? Well, I’m sure that there are a number of people here in church who would be good examples.

But Paul brings up a few things for the Philippians to consider:

18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Boy, that’s hard to hear. Many people in the Philippian church have become, because of their walk, enemies of Christ. Not walking in the ways of the Lord.

We see and know this as well.

19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

The question Paul, wants to know is why?

Why place your trust in things of this world and in things that will not endure when there is a gift in Christ that brings the joy of heaven and that reality to those who only deserve death and condemnation?

Matthew records in his gospel:

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Matt 20:17-19

Paul now reminds the Philippians and us:

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Their citizenship is in heaven. Why? - Because of Christ and His sacrifice, and the gift of faith in His all-sufficient death, for you.

Pastor Merrell was a great example, mentor and friend but he wasn’t Jesus. Sorry to break that bubble. He had his faults just like we all do. We at times disagreed but always the Love of Christ motivated our conversations, lives and service to the church. I am so thankful for him and his example as an under shepherd and Christian man.

But Paul here is calling those in the church to walk as imitators of him who is called by the Lord Himself to be Christ’s representative.

Now, Paul is speaking as he wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit so, his words are God’s words. In the same way, preaching today speaks forth God’s words to you in our day, so that you can hear from God and live out your faith according to God’s desires.

Now, what are those desires that God wishes for you and me? What is the work of God in the life of the believer? What is it that God wants for you and me and all whom the Lord our God will call to do?

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26[Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And [Jesus] said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Luke 10:25-28

To Love God and our neighbor as ourselves or to return the love our God gives us back towards him and in service to those around us is what we are called to do.

Belief, faith and trust are gifts to you and me from our heavenly Father.

His confession, and the confession of all who trust in Christ, is made possible, not because of our will, but because of his will in us by the working of the Spirit of Christ in the life of the believer.

Because:

… our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body (after death) to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Christ will glorify those [in him] … just as He was glorified. So, Paul is making the appeal to them and to us, to stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

Those who stand firm do so because:

We are Imitators of Christ by keeping our eyes upon Jesus!

Christ Jesus by His Spirit working in us makes us imitators of Him, though imperfectly. We fail and fall short, but by the Spirit of God working through the word we are being made into his image, being sanctified and being made Holy.

Christ, by His all sufficient sacrifice, has made peace with God for you and now will form you into His image by the Holy Spirit in you who points you to Christ and leads you through the word into Holy living.

Each day and each week as the ups and downs of life roll in upon you, God empowers you through word and sacrament to grow and act a bit more Christ like as we go through our daily lives, as godly people and imitators of Christ where we can have the fullness of his Spirit working in us.

Psalm 84:12 reminds us:

12 O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!

By the power of the Holy Spirit we who are his children trust in Him. God be praised for his glorious gifts to His children now and forever!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit

Amen

Sermon March 12-13, 2022 - 2nd Sunday in Lent

Title: Though you die, yet in Christ you live!
Text: Luke 13:31-35

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34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

It is possible to live under a delusion?

You think you are kind, considerate and gracious when you are really not.

You think you are building positive stuff into your children when in reality, if

you could check with them twenty years later, you really didn't.

What if you could read your own obituary? Would it say the things you hoped it would say about you and your life?

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”

Death is a reality of life and a reality of sin.

Here the Pharisees of all people tell Jesus about the intentions of Herod.

Herod, you may remember, beheaded John the Baptist from prison in response to a dance that pleased him and his guests by the daughter of his wife, Herodias.

Herod had bound John in prison because he had told him that it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s wife and now …

Herod, by the nagging of his conscience for the death of John, believes that Jesus is the voice of John, come back from the dead.

The conscience that tears at Herod concerning John’s death, Herod believes will not bother him if Jesus is killed. But we all know too well that the conscience is not controlled by the human will but is the Law of God written on the heart of man.

So Jesus tells them:

32 … “Go and tell that fox, (meaning one being crafty and sly) ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.

Jesus isn’t taking any of it from Herod. He has His work to do and has His sights set on Jerusalem or as He calls, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!

So it is for you and me and in our day as well. Death is the end of this worldly existence. We are battered in this life with sin and its results. At times there are successes but all too often the failures of our lives and the trials we all face seem to be overcome by the stories in the news.

Death in Ukraine … those fighting and those fleeing. Some standing up against invasion and others looking for a place of rescue and peace.

Or, maybe it’s the many faceless people that are fighting cancer and the prospect of good or bad reports.

They live daily wondering; will I live or will I die?

The reality of death comes to both young and old alike. It is not a respecter of persons and no amount of money or status can hold it at bay or have it release its steel like grip.

Death will come by and to whom it will. We will all get there. But where is hope and salvation?

Paul Kretzmann in his commentary poses this warning:

“On the last day those that were Christians in name only will try to frame similar excuses as those from the biblical text, reminding the Lord of the fact that they heard the Word of God in a church where the pure doctrine was proclaimed, that they were baptized, that they were instructed in the Christian doctrine.

‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ Luke 13:26-27

And even those that merely lived in a Christian Community, and occasionally permitted Christian influence to graze them, will come and try to state this fact as an argument.

But all arguing will be too late. The fact remains that all such people did not [receive] Jesus and His Word, but stubbornly remained [bound] in their sins, and therefore will die and be condemned in their sins.”

Popular commentary on the Bible NT Vol 1 Paul Kretzmann pg. 342

Yet … though you die, in Christ you are made alive and live!

34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!

This place, like many places we know, choose to cover their ears at the proclamation of the Gospel and desire to remain in bondage to sin, death and the Devil. However, it is not Christ’s intentions to leave you there!

He laments:

How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

The unwilling, those who cling to their unbelief and refuse the gift of the Holy Spirit and the faith He creates, will push off the saving gift of faith in Christ looking to the pleasures of this world and the joys they bring for a time.

35 Behold, your house is forsaken. (He continues) And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

So where is hope?
Where is life?
Where is peace?

In Jesus, in his word and in his gifts!

Jesus is our hope!
Jesus is our life!
Jesus is our peace!

He has called you and me by the Gospel having written your name in the lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world!

Through baptism he makes us alive in Christ and gives us by his Spirit newness of life!

We see the working of God through the gift of Baptism in the life of a little child and remember we too have been marked and redeemed by Christ and given faith in him. We remember daily that we are truly his children.

In Him, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we all who believe will be forever in His presence.

The wings of our blessed Lord have gathered you under the pavilion of His rest so that you can truly rest from all your labors and grief trusting in His all sufficient sacrifice for sin and knowing that we who name the name of Christ Jesus will be with Him for eternity

You too can be known, not for the value of who you are and what you do in this life, but in the value that the Son of God has placed upon you by His death in your place.

His love is shown by His sacrifice in your place so that you can be forever loved by him, redeemed, forgiven, forever, so that:

Though you die, yet in Christ you live!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit

Amen

Sermon March 9, 2022 - Midweek 2

Title: Confession and belief are God’s gifts to you!
Text: Romans 10:8b-13

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9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

March 9th is a special date in my memory.

In 1981 it happened to fall on a Monday. It was also the day that I began my job with Evola Music, a job that would last and that I would continue to hold on to until December 29, 2012 when I retired. I was recommended to Evola Music by Bob Brucker who was a rep for Midco corporation and he knew and sold small goods to many of the music stores in the area. I interviewed for the job but I didn’t hear anything for almost two weeks. I called Jim Evola back and asked if they had made a decision for the job and he told me that they had not. “Well,” I said, “I need to get a job so if you are still considering me you might want to act before I receive an offer from another company.” Jim called me back the next day with an offer.

It may sound like I was the active agent, or it might have been Bob Brucker, or Jim Evola who talked to his dad about my call and interest in the job. All were important but ultimately it was God. Certainly, my initiative was important but if God had other plans, I would be telling you a different story.

As I searched for work and filled out applications, I was exercising my free will to look for work and to make a decision on what might be the best company for me. God as well has a sovereign will that guides and directs according to his good pleasure. Both are always at work in our day to day lives.

As we think about freedom, most of you know what it is. Some of you here and many in our church fought for the freedom that we in the United States today enjoy. Most, I believe, would say that freedom isn’t free but came at a great cost. So, it is with salvation and our coming to faith, some believe that the cost of Christ’s death didn’t procure it but that the decision we make does.

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim;

Paul Asks this question to those who will read his letter and it is also applies to you and me as well.

“Faith and confession are here mentioned as the two requisites for salvation. So near is the redemption of Jesus to every person in the world, in the Word of the Gospel-message, that it is necessary only to believe with the heart and to confess with the mouth in order to become a partaker of all its blessings.

If any person believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus is the Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead, then he has the faith which will give him salvation.”

Kretzmann NT Vol. II Pg 55

For you and me we must ask ourselves this question:

Is Jesus the savior of the word or did he just make a path that we must choose?

Is Christ’s work sufficient?

Martin Luther in his book, The Bondage of the will, speaks of man’s free will and his ability to choose when he says:

—"It would be ridiculous to say to a man standing in a place where two ways met, [You see] two roads, go by which [ever road you choose], when one only way was open."—

http://www.truecovenanter.com/truelutheran/luther_bow.html (99 of 283) [12/12/2002 11:41:13 PM

The path to faith is closed except through the working of the Holy Spirit.

As the Spirit works through the Gospel faith emerges in those who are apart from Chris - and they believe. To paraphrase Luther, the road that had been closed has now been opened by God’s Spirit and by Christ’s work and the gift of faith you now believe and are receive the way to everlasting life that God has ordained in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

St. Augustine had this to say:

God's mercy ... goes before the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing to make his will effectual.

Augustine of Hippo, Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love.

For some God’s mercy remains hidden in their life even up to the point of death when faith is brought to life by the Spirit’s work and they believe. Other times we may not know for sure but we trust God’s mercy given in baptism that one who has been marked by Christ God will continue to keep in the faith through the Spirit’s work.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

I proclaim this good news to those at funerals.

It is the blessed hope and sufficient working of our loving God that by his Spirit, through his means of word and sacrament that he keeps us in our baptismal grace which he bestowed on us as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.

Earlier in Romans 9 Paul made this gift clear:

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
God who in mercy has called you will now bring about the means for your belief.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph. 2:8-9

This grace and faith that God gives is effectual. It works what God intends.

God is both the cause and the means by which belief is secured.

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

God has brought about your conversion and has secured your salvation by the power of his Holy Spirit.

That is really good news!

11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

No shame for you or me.

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

It is all God’s free gift!

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit

Amen

Sermon March 5-6, 2022

Title: Christ was tempted and tested and you are forgiven!
Text: Luke 4:1-13

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13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Temptation lulls you and me and sin results and we all fall victim and give in at times to it. But thankfully Christ Jesus didn’t give in and as a result we have that blessed Amazing Grace of life eternal in his name.

4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

Sin and temptation we all know it too well. Jesus knew temptation too, yet was without sin.

You might think well He’s God, so He had His divine God-ness on his side. He’s all-powerful, all-knowing, and omnipresent. But it wasn’t the God nature of the God/man that was being tempted. It was the human nature of the God/man that was put to the test.
The truth is that at the incarnation God and man became one in Jesus Christ. He is fully God and fully man. Not part God and part man - or God and man mixed together into this one Jesus.

4 … And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. (Luke 4:1-2)

When we speak of Jesus we need to speak of His humanity in real terms. We need to speak of things that are part of His human nature. Things like time, temptation, and hunger for example … all things we can all relate to.

Over these past 40 days I've been tempted many times as have you with unfortunately sin being the result.

I've done and said things that I shouldn't and not done things that I should. Like you, I fall short every day.

Thank God, I eat … and I eat well, because I've never experienced true hunger, like the type of hunger that Jesus must have felt after 40 days being tempted in the wilderness. This was no little stomach growl; this was hunger that you and I can’t even imagine.

Think of not eating since the end of January and you’d still have a week to go!

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” Luke 4:3-4

The truth is though, that sin is not just thought, word and deed.

It is not overcome by just trying harder not to sin.

It is in fact who we are.

Sin is what we are born in.

Now, this is not to excuse it, but to understand our human nature.

You will fail and you will sin. At times it is blatant and at times you are unaware. Sin permeates our very being and that is why Satan so hounds you and me. Temping you to fall away. Tempting you to give in. Tempting you with the bad and the good.

The sweet flavor of the Paczki was on our lips last week. It’s not always gloom and doom. The taste of sin can be very sweet as well. We forget the 400 calories so, we give in.

“Oh, I’ll only eat half.” we say … but soon the other half is gone too!

My friend used to tease his sister,

“A moment on the lips forever on the hips!’

The devil knows that when presented with a little sin it will lead to a bigger sin and the bigger the sin the guiltier you and I will feel. You will feel shame, and at times guilt for your actions, even an unkind word or a word misplaced can cause hurt. Or worse, you won’t care.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Satan here uses the most subtle of temptations; “Command this stone to become bread.” He simply desires Christ, to abuse the power which He possessed as God’s Son for the gratification of the desires of the body.

Jesus answers Satan’s temptation with the word of God:

4 … “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.”

Quoting Deut. 8:3:

3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deut. 8:3

God’s provision of Mana humbled the Israelites who quickly found that they could not provide for themselves. Instead, they had to trust in God for their daily bread.

Lutheran study Bible Pg 291 Study Note

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

We ask of the Lord in the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, which includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body; because Christ wants us to realize that our entire life … and that of everyone else depends of God.
Question/ Answer 219 Luther’s Small Catechism

But again, the temptation of the Devil continues:

“To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

And Jesus answers:

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”

This time Jesus brings God’s word to bear in Deut. 6:13

13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. Deut. 6:13

What does this mean - The Catechism asks?

We should fear, love and trust God above all things. Luther gives answer to the First Commandment. You shall have no other gods.

Finally, Satan:

9 … took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’
11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Quoting Deut. 6:16

16 “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. Deut. 6:16

In the close of the commandments God says:

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Ex. 20:5–6

13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

When will the opportune time come again for you or me?

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Cor 10:13

Christ is the one who conquered sin, death and Devil for you. He took all the Devil could give and though tempted was without sin. Christ gives this peace to you and me through the working of the Holy Spirit so that his righteousness is yours and your sin has been laid on him at the cross.

In the face of temptation God provides a way out in Christ and by his Spirit so that we can stand and if we fall, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous one, to whom we can turn, repent of our sin, and be forgiven in his name!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen

Sermon March 2, 2022 - Ash Wednesday

Title: Christ reconciles the word unto himself!
Text: 2 Cor. 5:20b-6:10

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20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When we look at a new born baby we might have a difficult time recognizing the corruption of sin upon this beautiful creation of God. How - we might think - can this be a sin bearer and God’s enemy? The truth is that sin brought forth in the fall clings to us all and like life is part of who we are from conception.

We inherit many things from our parents. Some things determine our looks, demeanor, walk, hair and eye color, intellect, intelligence, height and health concerns. One thing we also inherit is sin.

Paul writes:

We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

As a pastor to the congregation in Corinth, Paul’s words are passionate and direct. He implores those that are either apathetic, which means: (showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern) but living a mere outward type of holiness to be reconciled [or returned to right relationship] to God.

In his first Epistle to the Corinthians Paul had been strong in his rebuke of them in how they were dealing with sin in their midst. Paul had written them:

11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, (someone inside the church) who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

Paul’s rebuke is strong, as it should be. But after the Corinthian’s come to repentance, the sweet comfort of the gospel must be applied. For there is no joy for Paul in leaving a repentant sinner terrified of their sin, that Christ Jesus has carried upon Himself to the cross forever burying it in the grave by his all sufficient sacrifice.

Paul now pleads to the repentant sinner as workers together with Him … not to receive the grace of God in vain.

2 For [God] says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

The help for the sinner is our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus who became sin for us that we might be reconciled to God receiving again the original righteousness that had been lost and broken in the fall in to sin.

The sin of the world, your sin and mine … God wept over.

But do you? Do you feel the anguish of falling short daily? Are you in prayerful repentance sorry for your sin and asking for forgiveness? Or, is sin your master?

It could be indifference, greed, jealousy, cohabitation, adultery - which Paul speaks of as being sexually immoral; gossip, or simple unkindness … does it cause you to break down in guilt and repent of your sin which really is simply to ask for forgiveness and turn away from sin. Does it for me as well?

In the epistle reading Paul brings Good News to those who are broken and repentant.

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 6:2b)

Friends, now is the time to receive forgiveness.

Ash Wednesday is the name given to the first day of the season of Lent, in which ashes are applied to the foreheads of Christian’s signifying an inner repentance. This repentance continues throughout Lent as we remember the suffering that our Lord endured at the cross for the sins of the whole world – yours and mine - as we wait in anticipation of Christ’s glorious Easter resurrection.

The work of the ministry is to call sinners to repentance so that the work of God’s Law can bring about a true repentance for sin and the Gospel of salvation a glorious comfort that on account of Christ you are forgiven!

Paul tells the Corinthians and us what the true work of the ministry is commending ourselves as ministers of God:

in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,

8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Christ through his ministers today as then absolves the repentant. This gift He gives through his church, so that comfort is given to those broken by sin so that they might be renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit working in them to a newness of life over sin, death and the power of the Devil.

Visitation to those who are unable to come brings Christ and his forgiveness to those unable to come. Whether Don and Jean Pilot, Scott and Sue Regentin, Eleanor Brown, Sue Vogt, Cheryl Vandeweghe, Ruth and Charlie Dow or Bill and Marilyn Rappuhn and many others they all get the same forgiveness you receive in word and sacrament.

As I continue to visit those who are unable to be at church or those who are dealing with illness, I am constantly lifted up as together we pray and remember God’s, loving forgiveness in Christ. And though they can’t right now be with us they always remember Jesus who is the one who has freed them from sin and this broken world giving them the assurance that in Christ they have true forgiveness, peace and comfort and a place in the house of the Lord forever.

Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Please join me in prayer:

Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

As we begin this Lenten season, may we recognize our sin and be turned in repentance by the working of your Holy Spirit so that we might receive the comfort of your forgiveness in Christ Jesus who lived, suffered, died and rose again for our justification. Give us all peace and comfort in his work on our behalf.

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen

We can all be comforted to know that in Christ we are forgiven and that by His stripes we are truly healed!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit

Amen