Sermon August 27-28, 2022

Title: We will be exalted in Christ!
Text: Luke 14:1-14

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10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

An Admirer once asked Leonard Bernstein, celebrated orchestra conductor, what was the hardest instrument to play. He replied without hesitation:

“Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.” - Andy Cook

(Source: James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1988, p. 450, Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1999.) 

Humility, or pride and arrogance can drive who we are and the decisions that we make and though sin can cause you to try at times to reach places of honor for yourselves in this life. You can be comforted that:

The humble will be exalted in Christ!

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,

In our lesson today, Jesus was in the house of a Pharisee.

And as a guest Jesus had noticed just how those who had been invited, Pharisees and lawyers, were looking to have the seats of honor at this dinner. Ordinary, feasts of the Jews were usually attended to in a more casual and informal manner, but with this diner and in the wedding feast of Christ’s illustration, rank and status among the guests was important.

… do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, Jesus says.

I always found the irony in Jesus statement here, as an invited guest to this diner, as the only begotten Son the God … who could be more distinguished? Here, God in the flesh is among them, but as was read earlier in the Gospel, the ruler of the Pharisees and the lawyers who were in attendance had another agenda.

There just so happened to be a man with dropsy in attendance at this diner.

Now, I looked up this medical condition reference and dropsy could be understood as the equivalent of congestive heart failure today.

We've all seen this condition in many of our friends, neighbors and relatives and Jesus, knowing the Law better than the Pharisees and lawyers, knows that it is quite alright to show acts of mercy on the Sabbath, so He heals the man, saying to those whose intent was to trap Him as a violator of the Law:

“Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?”

6 And to this question, they could not reply to these things.

So the intent of their false feast is crushed by Christ’s healing of the man with dropsy, but He doesn't stop there. He now points out the true arrogant nature of their sitting in the place of honor when one truly more distinguished than they … has been invited … and is now sitting among them.

The arrogant sinner will stand before the throne of grace covered in their own righteousness but:

The humble will be exalted in Christ!

You and I also exalt ourselves at times; taking too much credit for things we’ve done in the world or in the church. You do … and I do. The sinner always minimizes sin and exaggerates virtue. It’s what sinners do. The sinner sees the sin of others clearly … in view … with no distractions. But their own sin remains masked in a veil of acceptance, false piety - which is nothing more than the quality of being religious or reverent - or indifferent.

Last weekend in the epistle we read of God’s chastening and discipline.

The Lord disciplines those he loves.

I don’t know about the Lord who is slow to anger, but I do know I have wearied people in my life. My boss of many years had a hard job.

When I began working with him, he was 23 and I was 25. We worked side by side for his dad. We were coworkers, piers and friends. This relationship lasted for over 20 years. Eventually he bought the company from his dad and became the boss. At one point he even asked me to be a signer on the company checking account placing his trust in me. But he was the boss and I the worker. We still had a great relationship and respect for each other.

But … he was the boss.

Each year we had job performance reviews and at one review, my boss was pointing out something I said or did that offended the customer. My perspective and memory of the incident was different than his because it was some time ago and he only had heard the customer’s side of the story.

It was minor and a misunderstanding and wanting to defend myself, I brought up a similar incident that had occurred where he was the offending party and the customer had come to me as the manager of the store to complain.

Here’s the point.

My boss said, “Russ, this is hard enough for me and you need to let me just be the boss and listen.” I did, and I apologized. The Lord humbled me to be mindful of his position as owner of the store and how he needed to run his business.

11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

The truth of sin taking a place of honor in your life is nothing new. Luther called it the Bondage of the Will. That our will is bound to sin and that is all it can do, but thanks be to God that because you have been raised to newness of life by God’s Holy Spirit, there is truly Good News that:

We will be exalted in Christ!

So, Jesus goes up to the host, the ruler of the Pharisees, who had invited him and He says:

12 “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Those who Christ came to redeem are the poor sinners, crippled from birth and lame, blind to God’s saving work in Christ if not drawn to believe through the invitation and working of God the Holy Spirit in them by faith.

You too, dear friends, have received this blessed invitation to His banquet feast and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb by faith. And you receive a foretaste of this feast when you receive Christ’s true body and blood in the blessed table of the Lord, the Sacrament of the Altar – given and shed for you!
It matters not which seat at the table you occupy because the host of this feast comes to where you are – bodily – in, with and under the bread and wine so that you truly receive Him, who is and was and is to come, in a real and tangible way – for the forgiveness of all your sins.

Even though these sins, sill at times work havoc in our lives, they are forgiven as far as east is from the west … not to be remembered by the Father ever again.

We will be exalted in Christ!

Christ humiliated himself so that you might be redeemed. At times we too are humbled so that another can be served, just as Booker T. Washington did in service to his neighbor.

You have a defense and a protection that will never fail because it is God Himself, not you, who will protect you because He came to live, suffer and die for each one of you and as a result you are his, the table is set, and you are invited, in fact you have already received all that is promised … rejoice!

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

Amen

Sermon August 20-21, 2022

Title: The table of the Lord is yours!
Text: Luke 13:22-30

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29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

When I was leaving my long-time job prior to my ordination my assistant manager and I went over some things to help in the transition. We discussed what being a good manager entailed and decided on two words: good decisions.

As we continued to talk about the importance of good decisions in our work and where they came from, we decided on one word: Experience. So how do you get experience we thought? Two words: Bad decisions!

Today In The Word, November, 1989, p.23. Adapted

When you think of the good or bad decisions you’ve made in your life it is comforting to know that our good works don’t get us in and our bad decisions don’t keep us out because Christ has made us alive by his Spirit and:
The table of the Lord is yours!

22 [Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

As we’ve discussed over the last few months, Jesus was resolute on His way towards Jerusalem. He was not running there but was diligently going on about His business to get there.

Along the way He did what He loved to do … teach!

As was the case with Jesus and His teaching and what happens often when teaching through the Bible, questions come to mind. Such was the case here. As Jesus went about His business someone in the crowd of followers who had been accompanying him says:

23 … “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”

Seems like a reasonable question.

Who will be saved and how will it be determined?

Again, as has been the case before, Jesus uses this question to answer and teach. The question might have been asked differently though, not so much, “will those saved be few”?

But, will I be among them?

This is how Jesus answers this important question.

And he said to them,

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

To those who see salvation as a cooperative act, it might seem to them that this work of striving is the work they do to enter in through this narrow door.

Christ is the door of entrance and we can know this from the epistle of St. John the 10th chapter, where Jesus says in verse 9:

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Those who enter in do so by faith in Christ. Those who cannot enter have been trying to make their own way and the key they’ve been trying to use to unlock the door will not open it because the key is faith in God’s only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.

So Jesus gives this example in illustration:

25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’

What a harsh reality. The door will not open. No pleading, no solution, a bad decision that has no happy ending - though the experience learned is written in the bible for our learning - at the time of judgment some will be excluded for lack of making use of it. The truth is that the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit have been active … but rejected.

Some who call Peace their church home reject God’s gift too. They make little attempt to hear God’s word or receive his gift of faith in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. How sad to think that they too might hear, “I do not know where you come from”

To all who reject the gift of faith might not the cry be:

26 … ‘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!’

The riches of temporal blessing and success, or mere apathy blind the way to the cross for many.

The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success its standard.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Don’t you see that whatever you do as a means to find the measure of your worth in the eyes of God - through work, acts of love and caring, success in life, charity – amounts to nothing that can open the door to eternal life.

Some years ago while I was visiting with Duane and Eleanor brown in their home. Their son Steve was there and he told of a funeral he recently attended. The gentleman who had passed Steve had great respect for. He was a mentor to Steve in his younger days when he had attended the Center for Creative studies, helped him with his art and was active with helping in the community. Steve saw him as a role model and person to emulate. As we visited, he turned to me and said, “Pastor I had no idea he was an atheist!”

Steve was heartbroken. The fact of an eternity separated from his friend brought sadness and tears to his eyes.

28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

Those who hear Jesus hear the words of eternal life. Faith is created and the Kingdom is theirs and they have a seat at the table.

Those who in their sinfulness look to other means to open the door to salvation, or good works apart from God’s means by faith, will find the door locked and they themselves cast out.

It’s sobering to think about?

Some come to church … but only go through the motions failing to trust the promises of God.

Some have even stopped coming at all, thinking life too short or their lives too busy for making time on Saturday or Sunday to be in worship.

Especially, in the summer when the weather is so nice, I too was even tempted to take a weekend off. But Monica and I went to Christ Lutheran in Milford for their 7:00 Pm service on Monday night to hear and receive God’s word of forgiveness.
All churches just like here at Peace seem to experience a drop off in attendance during the summer months. Some go to the cottage, some attend elsewhere if out of town, it’s part of summer in Michigan. But some get drawn away into other joys or just lose interest and don’t come at all.

Sad but true, and some, who’ve been given the gift of faith by the working of the Holy Spirit, will find no faith at all in that day, because it has died to the ways of the world.

But Christ still comforts:

29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

The truth is that some will not enter because of a lack of faith. Jesus tells the people that the door is opened by faith in Christ alone and Jesus is that door. Trust in him is the key and it is the gift of faith which you cannot earn but is freely by God’s Spirit so that you and I and all who believe can enter in.

Luther says that all of us come to church as poor, miserable sinners with an empty sack. We have nothing to give God. We confess our sins and receive forgiveness – in the blessed absolution, a gift from God, which we put in our sack. Over and over in the service we receive gifts: grace, mercy, love, the Word of God … A multitude of blessings! All of these gifts go in our sacks. We leave the service with a sack over-flowing with good gifts from God. We take our gifts home, and we share all the goodies we received with our neighbor!

God gives His gifts to you. He forgives you. He blesses you and you receive his gifts from his word and through His sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This he freely gives … to you. And He calls you to come, as you are to His house because you are his child and he wishes to bless … you.

God’s grace is nothing you deserve; it is nothing you can earn; and it is only received by faith in the finished work of Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit. And you have been given that gift of faith in Christ and you receive his forgiveness in Christ and you are his Child in Christ and you will enter through the door that is Christ Jesus … because of his call and work in you.

The table of the Lord is yours!

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

Amen

Sermon August 14, 2022 - Pastor Terry Nelson

Title: Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of Our Faith!

Text: Heb. 11: 17-31; 12: 1-3

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17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Sermon August 6-7, 2022

Title: Have no fear, Heaven is yours!
Text: Luke 12:22-34

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32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

22 And [Jesus] said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Following of Gospel from last week and the storing up in bigger barns the things of this life, Jesus now speaks to the anxiety that accompanies us during our life.

“What to do, what to eat, what to wear, where to go or not go – should I stay with my employer or find new work?”

Have you asked yourselves these questions? For those who are reaching or have reached retirement age the questions continue. “When should I retire? Should I go earlier or wait? Should I work after retirement, volunteer, or find a hobby?”
All are these are important decisions in life, but our Lord reminds us:

24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

I have a bird feeder in my front yard. In the back my dogs would run out to chase the birds and also the squirrels that eat the seed that falls to the ground from the feeder.

Out in the front the birds eat to their contentment. There are such a variety - blue jays and sparrows, cardinals and mourning doves, blackbirds and woodpeckers and all looking for food. Because my dogs are not involved and there is no disruption of the meal, they seem to clean me out in a day or two. Every last drop of food is consumed.

As I mentioned to Monica … “I can’t feed every bird in God’s creation every day so they them may have to look else ware and trust in God’s bountiful blessings and promises to feed them- because I’m only filling it once a week!”

But, it’s not about the birds or even the Lilies - who are clothed in greater glory we’re told than even Solomon in all his glory could have hoped to be bestowed with. The birds aren’t knocking on my door saying, “Where’s the food … we’re hungry!” They just find it somewhere else … for a time.

30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
In my former life as a manager and salesman I remember a time of great worry. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience:

I had worked for the company for over 20 years but my boss Jim had changed. He wasn’t talkative with me like he had been. He seemed distant and uninterested or even mad at me. I worried a bit about it.

“What had I done?” I thought I must have been the cause of the problem and maybe even that my job was in jeopardy.

What I found out years later was that this was during the time that he was trying to finalize the purchase of the business from his dad. There had been tensions and he was also doing all that he could to raise the capital to make it happen … remortgage his life if you will so that he could assume the business debt and inventory from his dad. The problem was not with me at all but with my boss and after the trial of this business change, life returned to a more normal feel. I just didn’t know the cause or solution. My worry caused my business and home life to suffer a bit and it was completely unnecessary. Had I just trusted in the Lord and not my own worry I might have had greater comfort.

I remember at times one of my, favorite versus from scripture:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Back in the 70’s I played on an album by James Isaac Elliot. He went on to become quite a songwriter in Nashville. At the time of my participation, he was just starting out. He took Proverbs 3:5-8 and wrote a song called Trust in the Lord.

Trust in the LORD James Isaac Elliot

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him
and he will direct your paths.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him
and he will direct your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes
fear the LORD, depart from evil.
It will bring healing to your body
and strength to your bones.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him
and he will direct your paths.

(Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV)

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

The stuff you’re storing up? Jesus says Sell it! Give to those in need and use the money or riches that doesn’t grow old or isn’t worthless as the day approaches for your departure.

Because, the treasure that will have real value is stored up for you in heaven and is accessed by the power of God in you by faith through the working of the Holy Spirit.

In baptism you were clothed by God with the royal robes of the God/man Jesus Christ himself. Nothing in this life compares to the perfect righteousness that is freely given through the proclamation of the gospel and this Good News is the treasure of the Kingdom of God given in Christ for the redemption of all who believe.

34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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

Amen

Sermon July 30-31, 2022

Title: In Christ, we leave it all behind!
Text: Text: Col.3:1-11

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3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Jesus says in our gospel reading for today:

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

In a sense Jesus is asking, “What is your focus, hope or trust?”

Paul in our epistle reading for today is asking his Colossian hearers their focus, hope, or trust and to put on the new self, to live in the new hope which is their life in Christ - to set their minds on things above and not on things that are on the earth.

Perspective is a wonderful thing. The further you get away from something the smaller the object appears.

The view from above can make the enticements vanish and problems seem not as consuming. But perspective can also be viewed from below, in the midst of turmoil and through the coveting of the flesh where the joy of Christ can be so far away and hidden from view that you can't see Jesus.

The Colossians, were losing their focus on Christ. They were being pulled in different directions.

Some wanted to pull them back to the Law and its requirements.

Col 2:4

Some wanted them captive to philosophy, empty deceit, and human tradition, according to the world. Col 2:8

Some wanted to pass judgment with questions of food and drink, a festival, new moon or a Sabbath. Col. 2:16

And some were feeling disqualified for not measuring up by those who were puffed up and self-righteous. Col 2:18

You might know how this might feel.

I do.

Death though is the universal equalizer.

Satan stamps us at birth as his children, Dead to God, as we discussed last weekend. He is our father and we are his offspring as Jesus reminded the unbelieving Pharisees in John Chapter 8 saying:

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

But for the Colossian believers and you and me we are now marked, Alive in Christ in baptism, by the working of the Holy Spirit for all who believe, as we have died to self and have now been buried in baptism and raised to newness of life by faith in Jesus.

Where is your focus and perspective?

Are you looking at self and the things of this life or are you looking to our hope in Christ? We like the Colossians can all fall victim to our sinful flesh and the working of the devil and have our perspective turned inward.

In this life - that which looks bad [loss of loved ones, jobs and the like] God can use for good and that which looks good [earthly pleasures] the devil can use for bad.

Paul says:

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:

That maybe easier said than done in this world where we live daily.
I’ve shared in the past some of my own failing in sermons – guitars and banjos, bikes – both the pedaled and motorized verities. Even riding mowers once captivated my focus. When you have to cut the grass a riding mower can become an idol too.

For some maybe it’s the cottage, the 401K, the good
life in retirement, sports, reunions, favorite restaurants, music and clubs, life on your terms and your way each and every day.

In our day that has all been upended.

For others it’s the phrase: “I’m spiritual not religious.”

“I believe,” they say, “I just don’t go to church.” Or, maybe it’s we who say for them, “They believe, they just don’t come to church.”

Church is not my thing for many.

Let me put it another way by analogy.

If I said, “I love football.”

But, I watch very little of it. I don’t like going to the game. I don’t like playing it. I don’t like participating in it. I don’t like reading about it. I really don’t follow it. But I say, “I love football.” You might question my love for the game.

Can God bring you to faith on your road to Damascus? Absolutely!

Can God open the eyes of the blind like he did with Paul by the sending of an Ananias to restore sight? Certainly!

Can God promise that thief on the cross – being close to death - that today you will be with me in paradise! We know he can!

But God also desires to work through the means he has provided, of word and sacrament, and he has promised to be where they are rightly preached and rightly administered.



Where Jesus is, his gifts are delivered to those in attendance and his gifts bring hope, forgiveness and life. That is his church gathered in worship.

Paul calls everything - apart from Christ - idolatry.

Name your poison he says, immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire or coveting. We are victims of it all, you and me, our children and grandchildren, friends and foes alike.

We all look to remove the spec from our brother’s eye while not seeing the log in our own eye. All earthly passions can point us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

6 On account of these Paul says, the wrath of God is coming.

If Christ is not your leader certainly another god / idol will fill his place and the wrath of God awaits all not covered in his righteousness.

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

In the world, but not of the world we might say.

I myself feel like Paul - Chief of sinners though I be - I have been given so much in Christ and yet I stumble and fall daily. Sin covers even my good works so that my own pride can negate the work of God.

Forgive me and all Lord, who in anger speak evil of a fellow believer.

Forgive me and all Lord, and help me pray that your wrath be lifted off those who think wrongfully of your church, so that they may also receive the full blessing of your care.

Forgive me and all Lord, so that the malice of thought and the slander of speech may be buried from our lives, and may you by your Spirit turn our coarse and obscene talk into voices of praise.

Let this life of faith become a new life in Christ daily, as we die to self and live to Christ remembering his work, restored in the image of the creator who desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Remember this, God has many children but no grandchildren.

All who come to faith become his child. We therefore must pray, witness, and encourage those in our life to desire and cherish what God has done for them and in them by his Spirit.

11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, [or] free; but Christ is all, and in all.

And I might add for all.

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

Amen