Sermon March 25-26, 2023

Title: Bound in sin Christ calls you … “Come out!”
Text: John 11:1-45

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43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Death is nothing new. It seems all too common. It invades your life and your family. As a pastor it invades my life too … even if at times it is not a loved one.

I’ve done many funerals. Many for Peace members, some family members, some not connected to a church or here at Peace … but for one who died.

When the call comes it usually sounds like this.

“Hi Pastor Russ; Are you available to do a funeral this Monday at 10 am? It’s for the family of a man who had been sick and now died and they requested a Lutheran pastor.”

I’m usually available.

Jesus got a call too.

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

Lazarus, the one Jesus loved was ill. In fact, he too would die, though Jesus says:

“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

At funerals the grief is real. Family and friends try to make sense out of a life now gone. It seems surreal. How could so much life in this beloved One now be gone?

It makes no sense. The tears flow.

11 [Jesus] said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.

We hear about where they worked. Their service to others and the things they loved - family and friends, cars or boats, golfing and even doing things for others they didn’t even know.

It amplifies the grief and sorrow.

Lazarus had a loving family too; Martha and Mary and friends but also Jesus … who was a dear friend and part of his extended family.

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 … and many of [their friends] the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them … Martha heard that Jesus was coming [too, so] she went and met him …

As many of those we know get older, they can’t take care of themselves anymore so they rely on others for their care for them or even make their home at a nearby care facility.

Pictures at funerals can bring back fond memories from Thanksgiving and Christmas past or seeing nieces and nephews, children and grandchildren sitting on a couch and bringing into view young and old times of a wonderful life now past.

Death is real though … and at the funeral home our loved one is not pretending to sleep.

Lazarus wasn’t pretending either.

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Visitation before the service brings the stories. Some tears and smiles emerge.

But when the service begins death is real and it is time for all to realize this and for me it is a times to bring peace in a time of sorrow.

For we, who are connected to Christ, this peace comes only from Jesus.

The joys of a wonderful life and loving relationships in a life well lived, pale in comparison to a relationship with the King of Kings. Death is no respecter of persons and comes anyway and at times when it is least expected.


Love is good, and family is good, and friends and coworkers bring joy to our lives in many and various ways but death still comes. It came for Lazarus and it comes for our loved ones and one day for us as well.

24 Martha said to him [about Lazarus], “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

At funerals, as the tears flow for our loved ones who are now departed, I speak of the resurrection and the life and the blessed comfort for we who cling to Jesus and the hope of the faith in Christ that those who have now departed held in him.

We cry and grieve but not without hope because we know that we too who believe in Christ Jesus will also spend eternity in heaven with him and with those we love, who believe and were baptized and marked by Christ as his redeemed children!

Tears are real.

33 When Jesus saw [Martha] weeping, and the [the friends] who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Jesus wept for Lazarus, but he weeps for all who struggle with sin in their lives - day in and day out – calling us to cast our cares on him and to receive the forgiveness he won for us at the cross.

No matter how good we are we all still need Jesus and his purifying life, death and resurrection.

Without Christ, all that remains are good memories and like Lazarus a body that remains dead too.

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”

Tombs and cemetery’s abound, whether local or in a place of our past.

Headstones are not rolled away but are there to mark the spot where the body of a life well lived rests.

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

Lazarus came out and so too will our loved ones who die in Christ because Jesus is the resurrection and the life. You and I and all who trust in Jesus will also rise.

We have been given this promise.

Lazarus was raised but also eventually died and waits.

He waits for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ and his return in Glory. Titus 2:13

The grave clothes will give way as we rise - as they did for Lazarus.

For St, Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:53:

53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Bound in sin Christ calls you … “Come out!”

Because, Death has been swallowed up in victory!

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

Amen

Sermon March 22, 2023 – Lent 5

Title: Small Catechism’s Six Chief Parts 5. Confession/Absolution
Text: Eph. 2:1-10

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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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The 5th part in our Six Chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism is Confession and Absolution or the Office of the Keys as it is known. This follows the Ten Commandments – God’s Law – how God desires us to live, the Apostles Creed – the Good News of who God is and what he has done for us and continues to do in us, and the Lord’s Prayer which leads us in to prayer and communication with God and how he sustains us.

These are the key teaching that Luther wanted all Christian’s to know but then he followed them up with more Gospel and God’s work as we learned last week in Baptism and how God makes us his child and marks us redeemed by Christ the crucified.

The 5th part, Confession and Absolution are also God’s work.

Inspirational writer William A. Ward has written:

We should be thankful for our tears: They prepare us for a clearer vision of God.

William A. Ward.

Repentance can certainly bring us all to tears at times because it is a daily struggle.

Martin Luther wrote in the first of his 95 theses:

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

– Martin Luther, the first of the 95 Theses

Apart from God’s work in us to bring us to the knowledge of the truth in his son Jesus Christ our Lord, true repentance is not possible. The thief may be sorry he got caught stealing or may even be forced through circumstances to confess that he is the one that stole the wrist watch, but true repentance is not worked in us simply over anxiety over sin.

The Law convicts us - and if left there like Judas we might see our brokenness and despair as overwhelming. It could lead - as it has for many - to see the only solution and escape left for them is to run away from God.

The level of terror for each of us is different. So God through the word convicts us in such a way that we look not to a hopeless end but confess our sins to God recognizing that hope must come not from within us but from outside us.

Once God convicts us he is quick to give comfort to the penitent so that despair is comforted and hope restored. By the Holy Spirit we look outside ourselves to Jesus Christ who saves and is able to restore us bringing comfort and peace.

For many though receiving forgiveness is hard. They see their sin; the Law convicts them, but forgiveness they can’t receive. Sometimes it is doubt or pride that gets in the way or it may be the feeling that God can’t forgive me because I can’t forgive myself. You and I can understand this type of guilt.

It is not about how good of a confession we give that counts but that God, seeing us through the veil of Christ, hears us confess our sins and forgives us on account of Jesus who took our sins upon himself.

Luther writes in his Exhortation to confession:

15] So notice then, that Confession, as I have often said, consists of two parts. The first is my own work and action, when I lament my sins and desire comfort and refreshment for my soul. The other part is a work that God does when He declares me free of my sin through His Word placed in the mouth of a man. It is this splendid, noble, thing that makes Confession so lovely, so comforting.

http://bookofconcord.org/exhortationConfession.php

While God’s Law brings us to repentance it is the work of the Gospel that God uses to comfort and forgive us. No less powerful than the work of God in Baptism - we hear the comfort of forgiveness that the gospel works from the mouth of God’s called and ordained servants and receive the same forgiveness as from the Lord himself.

It is also in the preached word from the pulpit when God’s Law and Gospel comes forth to our ears convicting and forgiving in each one of us as the Holy Spirit sees fit. Where ever the word of God is spoken the Holy Spirit can work for our good and the good of the whole church corporately or privately.

Luther also believed that confession and absolution should be voluntary and not an obligation. It is God’s work and there is no lack of sins in each of us and our world for the Holy Spirit to work. Private Confession and absolution is still available and used in our church for those who feel the need to confess specific sins that burden them as well as the form of Corporate Confession and Individual Absolution we’ve used these last number of years during Ash Wednesday services to bring the Lord’s forgiveness individually to all who confess their sins and come forward.

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

God gave the binding and loosing keys to his church and the church uses the keys in a public way to bring repentance and offer forgiveness to those burdened. We can also ask for forgiveness directly to those we’ve offended and receive forgiveness between brothers and sisters and share that comfort of forgiveness one with another.

In many situations in my own life as a disciple of Christ I’ve had the opportunity to offer the comfort of the gospel to those burdened by their sin. It might have been a coworker who shared his trial with me and by god’s word the comfort of forgiveness was received.

Or the time I visited with Lucy at the care facility as she wrestled with her sin as a child against her grandmother. Harsh words can stay with us as Lucy’s did you 80 plus years!

What a great blessing we all have in those time to share the good news where God has placed us for those in need. The gospel is always the gospel and the good news of Jesus work proclaimed brings comfort to those broken by sin.

It is also great comfort to know that when we corporately confess God hears and forgives through his called servants. The broken and repentant heart is comforted.

It is important that we share the Good News of forgiveness in Christ with those we encounter. It is also true that we need to forgive for our own benefit. As we continue with Jesus on the way this Lenten season as he goes to the cross let us all cast our burdens upon him. He came to stand in your place, to be your substitute and to take you sin upon himself. Know that what he accomplished at the cross he did for you. Forgiveness is not yours because of what you have done, but it is yours because of what Christ has done for you. Receive it and believe it!

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

Amen

Sermon March 18-19, 2023

Title: Christ brings sight to the blind!
Text: John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39

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35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

[Thoughts on blindness]

To receive sight after being blind is something we can’t really understand but we who have been in the dark … when the lights have come on … know the joy of seeing again.

9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Many see affliction as a result of personal sin … what we did to deserve this and the disciples thought this too.

But Jesus answers saying:

“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

His blindness had a purpose and God will display that purpose in him and in each one of us as he sees fit. It is not that he was blind, but through his blindness God will do with him and with each one of us as he sees fit.

Jesus says:

4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

What Jesus means here is that while it is still day or light out, it is time for work.

I know that feeling, don’t you?

We call it Daylight Savings Time. It stays light longer and we can get much done in the light. But, from our Christian perspective we might call it Jesus Saving Time.

The time for the work of Christ and the gospel to be made known … like a light going on in the midst of the darkness.

Recently many suffered a loss or power with the wind storms.

More than 700,000 lost power and some for 9 days. That is a lot of darkness to deal with. Everyone suffered a little while some suffered a lot. The lack of electric power can make you feel helpless.

Generators can help … but unless it is a whole house generator … you remain painfully aware of your need for power and light from the outside … or it may be the heat as well as the cold nights got colder.

So it is also with our spiritual condition.

We are born blind in sin and dead to Christ and the truth cannot be made known to us by our own reason, understanding, or efforts.

In the gospel for today, the man born blind could not see and intervention came from outside in the person of Jesus.
6 Having said these things, [Jesus] spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So, he went and washed and came back seeing.

The connection between Jesus, the word of God, and the water brings the blind man sight.

Water and word might bring to mind baptism … though this text is not a given pretext for baptism … there is much that can be brought to light by Jesus as the light of the world.

By Christ we receive access to the Father, by the word and water through the working of the Holy Spirit we have our spiritual blindness healed and receive sight to see Christ Jesus for who he is … the light of the world.

There are three responses from the world.

The neighbors

“Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So, I went and washed and received my sight.”

The Pharisees
15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews (Unbelievers)

“Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

How do you and I respond?

We too receive sight but for us it is the gift of spiritual sight. Questions may come from our friends, religious leaders, and those of the world or of unbelief who ask … “How do you see? How did you get your sight?”

The Pharisees denounce Jesus for his performing a miracle on the Sabbath. They look for the man to denounce him too setting Jesus up as a sinner.

His answer to those who try to entrap him is:

“Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

This template for you and me calls us to testify to the truth to those who ask so that God might by his word give faith and sight to the blind.

The truth at times will be rejected and like the blind man we too may be cast out. (The Christian witness in the world and the persecution that comes.)

Those who reject the word remain blind and dead in sin. Those who receive sight by the working of the Holy Spirit receive eternal life.
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Lord, I believe,”

Paul brings comfort to we who believe with these words of one who is Justified and made a child of God by the working of the Spirit.

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. Rom. 10:9-10

Christ Jesus brings sight to the blind!

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

Amen

 

Sermon March 15, 2023 - Lent 4

Title: Small Catechism’s Six Chief Parts 4. Baptism

Text: 1 Cor.1:18-31

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27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being[ might boast in the presence of God.

Baptism is the fourth in our Lenten Series on the six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism. This follows the Ten Commandments – God’s Law, the Apostles Creed – the Good News of who God is and what he has done for us and continues to do in us, and the Lord’s Prayer which leads us in to prayer and communication with God and Baptism how God marks us as his own.

Over the centuries Christians have debated what baptism is, [what it accomplishes], and to whom it should be administered, and how much water should be used.

Baptism is God’s Act.

Martin Luther makes it clear in the catechism’s question: What is Baptism?

Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.

For we who are born sinful and unclean always see ourselves as the active agent – the one who is doing something.

It must be my action. We believe, or as the common belief is held and sometimes expressed – an outward sign of an inward decision.

The sign being our work - we think.

The opposite thought though might be - that it is what the clergy does or in Luther’s day what the priest did that made one’s baptism valid.

And while we agree that baptism is God’s gift and means of bringing forgiveness to his church in a tangible way, it is not the priest or pastor that makes baptism valid but the word of God – both command and promise.

Jesus himself tells his disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The nature of the words used in Holy Baptism is in following the words and form of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28.

Though Jesus spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and not English the order of words are used in conformity to Jesus’ command in whatever language is spoken. Uniting the command and words of God with water - baptism does what God intends by uniting us with him and making us his disciples.

Along with what God commands he also promises … forgiveness … for you and me and all who receive this blesses gift.

Saint Peter in his sermon in Acts chapter 2 after his words of Law brought condemnation and caused his hearers to ask - “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 … said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

To be baptized into the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit is to be baptized into Jesus Christ so we follow the formula that Jesus gave but we see here too that repentance brings forgiveness and the promise for all.

Baptism does what God intends.

By the working of Holy Spirit connecting the water and the word, forgiveness is given. For the one being baptized it is a “pure passive” meaning we simply receive the gift God gives.

More importantly it achieves what God desires – making disciples of all nations.

10 And when [Jesus himself at his own baptism] came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

It is that same comfort for we who are baptized in God’s name - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - knowing that just as the Father is well, please with Christ Jesus his Son he is also well please with you and me.

Not because we merit anything from God but only because we are found marked as his children through this blessed gift given for our benefit.

God has not given baptism for his benefit but ours.

His gift in and through baptism reminds us that we can do nothing to appease God’s wrath and we deserve only eternal damnation. But because of the father’s great love for us he has sent his only son our Lord to be our substitute. Through Christ, God’s wrath has been appeased by his once for all sacrifice for sin, at the cross and through baptism we are united by faith with all the blessing that Christ has won for us.

As Luther says:

It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

Some might put the significance of baptism on the believer and our efforts or - what we do - that makes baptism valid.

Some might put the significance on the water and mode of baptism. How much water and how it must be applied for some is the important part of baptism.

Whether immersed, poured, or sprinkled God’s word united with the water and the formula Christ gave makes a baptism.

That brings to the one baptized all God promises; and because it is God’s gift we can always remember and be thankful for what God has in fact done in us and for us in Christ.

It is comforting to note that no matter how much the devil works to taunt us daily reminding us that we don’t measure up, the comforting knowledge of our baptism brings peace that we are God’s child whom he loves like his own beloved son.

The devils desire is to pull you away from Christ.

Luther saw the whole of his reformation theology through Jacob’s dream and ladder saying:

“The ladder connecting Heaven and Earth is the incarnation of God; it is what the devil hates most and is perpetually fighting against. The devil wants to tear the faithful away from Christ, their ladder to heaven.”

“Luther Man between God and the Devil” Heiko Oberman Pg.167

The devil wants to tear you from Christ and to do that he tries to tear you from your baptism - to give you doubt in God’s work and in God’s means of word and sacrament.

I remember my own questioning when my pastor at a nondenominational church I attended said. “If you’ve been baptized as an infant come and see me and I’ll tell you why you need to be baptized as an adult.”

I’m sure in reflection it was intended for me and my family as he knew of my own baptism as an infant, though he never approached me and I never asked him about it. I did though consult the word.

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (I have the Baptismal certificate and my parents’ reflections of the day)

39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Acts 2:39

“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Mark 10:14

Those baptized as infants receive a valid baptism.

Much of the Christian church around the world misuse baptism. They don’t see it doing anything and as a result many fail to baptized child and adult alike. It is also true for we who rightly understand baptism as God’s gift failing to have our children baptized until the child is older - placing the ceremony of baptism and family above the child and God’s gift.

We also misuse baptism when we fail to remember what God has done for us in and through baptism. The baptismal font’s placement at the back of the nave serves as a reminder that God himself has brought us into his family through this precious gift.

In the 1970s during the Jesus movement that happened for many youth as well. I attended a Christian concert with a friend. A girl that was there was talking about the date of her accepting Jesus and becoming a Christian. It was June 22, 1967, that she accepted Jesus as her Lord and savior.

I felt a bit out of place because I didn’t have a date that I could announce because as far back as I could remember I’ve always been a Christian.
Then I remembered … I was baptized on May 17, 1955.

God claimed me in baptism and he has claimed you too. God be praised!

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

Amen

Sermon March 11-12, 2023

Title: The water of life is found in Christ!
Text: John 4:5-26

Facebook live: The water of life is found in Christ!

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

When I was 13 or 14 a friend of my mother’s asked if I wanted to earn a little money. Her husband was replacing their driveway and he needed a helper. So, I walked a few blocks over for two days and helped break concrete and put the pieces in a truck. It was hard work. I was tired and worn out and I drank a ton of water, and at the end of two days the man told me that he was paying me a dollar an hour and he gave me 18 dollars.

Well, there was not a lot of grace in that pay day!

On his journey north with his disciples, Jesus came to the little city of Sychar, which was located almost in the center of Samaria.

Near this town there was a piece of land which the patriarch Jacob had given to his son Joseph in addition to his share of the country, Gen. 48, 22. It was on this piece of land that Joseph was buried. And here was also a well or cistern which Jacob had dug after his return from Mesopotamia. The well, which is now known as “Jacob's well,” is about a hundred feet deep and is protected by a wall. Jesus, being true man, had become very tired literally, tired out — by the long journey of the morning; for it was now high noon. So He sat down at the well.

P.E. Kretzmann NT vol. 1 pg 427

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

Those of you who have ever worked outside or had been on long walks during the summer might have an idea of just how thirsty you can get.

A few summers ago, I replaced the wood on my deck. It was four long days of hard work and not being as young as I was when I built it, I was exhausted.

As we all get older and with the advent of air conditioning in every room and space we live, we can tend to get a little spoiled … especially me, who spent my entire work life in a cool office during the summer and a warm office during the winter. But outside in the heat of the day you feel it!

There were a few things going on here. First Jesus was tired and thirsty but the one who approached the well was a Samaritan and it was of her that Jesus had asked for a drink.

Israel had been carried into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC and a small group of Israelites had remained behind who mingled with the pagan culture of Mesopotamia.

These are the people who became the Samaritans so there was a long and wide divide between the Jews and the Samaritans.

This explains her reaction to Jesus’ question:

9 …, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”

There had not been much love between these two peoples and if you’ve had tension in your family or witnessed it you might know how this might play out … when two people that have not spoken to each other for years suddenly find themselves face to face.

Tension, can cause families to break and peace can at times be, only for a little while.

Divisions can divide people, evident in the current tensions in our world, but reconciliation must be truly on an individual basis.

The median used is water which can quench our thirst for a little while. It is something everyone can relate to.

Jesus knows both the Samaritan woman’s thirst and that He is the cure.

She sees the old problem and looks not to a solution but only at the problem.

11 … “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with

The immediate need is for a drink. The well and bucket fill that need. Jesus though, looks to filling her greater need saying:

“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Dear friends, even thousands of gallons of water will only quench our earthly thirst for a time before you and I get thirsty again. But Jesus gives us living water through faith in him and that takes away our sins and brings us to eternal life in his finished work.

The woman takes the bait of what Jesus wishes to give her saying:

15 … “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

We all what our problem solved, whether water, food, money, the earthly needs continue.

Jesus tells her to “Go, call your husband, and come here.” Knowing full well that when she says “I have no husband,” he answers her that she has had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.

To this He adds: “What you have said is true.”

Boy, that would get my attention and I’m sure yours as well and though this was probably not a well-kept secret on her part, the fact that Jesus knew this detail of her complicated life causes her to pause.

She now understands that this man, this Jesus, is something special - even calling him a “prophet” and turning the question from herself, she deflects the question to the age-old problem of Jews and Samaritans saying:

20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

Jesus could have said, what does that have to do with your current situation and the five husbands? But instead, he desires something better. He desires her to know him in spirit and truth neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus tells her that not on the mountain and not in Jerusalem but true worship will be in spirit and truth.

Jesus is not looking to correct her living relationship until she has her eternal living relationship corrected.

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

This Messiah that she is expecting and is waiting for is right here with her!

This living Christ is right here for you!

This living Christ forgives your sin and cleanses you from all unrighteousness.

This living Christ call you to himself and by faith in him you are forgiven.

The living water himself, Jesus, who quenches our eternal thirst is the one, who by the Holy Spirit’s work in us, brings us to believe and trust in him.

Our spiritual thirst is never to return because in Christ we have been brought into his family by faith and daily we live in him.

As the story unfolds the woman goes to tell others and brings them to Jesus!

The Samaritan woman’s faith was found in the Jew, Jesus Christ, at the well and by the word of God through faith she believed.

The water of life is found in Christ!

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

Amen

Sermon March 8, 2023 - Lent 3

Title: Small Catechism’s Six Chief Parts 3. Lord’s Prayer
Text: Romans 5:1-11

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6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Lord’s Prayer is the third in our Lenten Series on the six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism. This follows the Ten Commandments – God’s Law and the Apostles Creed – the Good News of who God is and what he has done for us and leads us in prayer and communication with God.

Missionary E. Stanley Jones once wrote:

Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.

E. Stanley Jones, Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73.

Introduction: Our Father who art in heaven

The Lord’s Prayer begins with those simple words. By faith we know God and acknowledge him by calling him Our Father. As our father we have a relationship with him and as a result we can call on him and dialogue with him. It is first interesting to note who initiates prayer.

As Luther writes:

With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true father and that we are his true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask him as dear children ask a dear father.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

In prayer, by faith we acknowledge who God is, not dragging him down to where we are but drawing ourselves and our needs to him; conforming our desires to his will. Not my will … but thy will be done.

1. Hallowed be thy name

We might remember that in the Second Commandment we learned not to misuse the name of the Lord your God. Here again we recognize God’s name and that it is holy. Not as Luther says because we make it holy because it is holy (set apart) in of itself because it is God’s name; but that we pray that it might be holy among us also.

So how do we keep holy God’s name among us? We keep it holy by not using it in a cavalier way either crassly using God’s name (cursing and swearing) or using it with little or no respect. We rightly use it by calling upon him in, prayer, giving praise and thanksgiving for all he has done for us. We honor his name when his gospel is preached and we believe and trust him to meet are every need and live daily in the blessed hope and trust in this revealed God whom we call Our Father.

2. Thy kingdom come

The kingdom as Luther says comes without our prayer but we pray in this petition that it come among us also. It comes to us when we daily are reminded by God’s indwelling Spirit that we are indeed his children. As such we joy in the blessing God has given us – knowing that everything that we need God has and will provide.

The kingdom comes as we stay in communion with our loving father. Here he calls us to hear his word, giving us his wisdom, mercy, and blessing out of divine fatherly goodness - and we pray that in this relationship we too might live daily in his grace that his kingdom comes to us in the place we are in this world for our wellbeing.

3. Thy will be done

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

As Jesus pondered the cross and his crucifixion and impending death he called upon the father in prayer to remove what he had come to do. In his humanity death was real and the prospect of it brought him in prayer to ask the Father to remove it. But … he concluded his prayer in this way - not my will but yours be done. It is in this conforming our will to God’s that we truly rely on him.

It is not that God’s will relies on us to get it done because God’s will is always done because his judgments are always just and right.

[Thoughts]

4. Give us this day our daily bread

Dr. F.W. Boreham tells about his stay in a quaint old cottage in England occupied by a minister's widow.

She had given him her bedroom to use and in the morning when he pulled up the blind, he saw that into the glass of the windowpane had been cut the words: "This is the day!" He asked the elderly lady about it at breakfast. She explained that she had had a lot of trouble in her time and was always afraid of what was going to happen tomorrow. One day she read the words of the above text. It occurred to her that it meant any day, this day. "Why should I be afraid of the days if He makes them all?" She said. So the widow scratched the words in the windowpane, so that every time she drew her blind in the morning she was reminded that "This is the day!" Realizing the Lord made it, she was no longer afraid.

Dr. F. W. Boreham.

It is our heavenly Father that provides for our daily needs and for even the needs of those that don’t know him or trust him but Luther reminds us that we might lead a thankful life in remembrance of all that God gives and provides so that we might thank and praise him for his goodness.

5. Forgive us our trespasses

Being people born in sin and bound to sin we daily need the comforting balm of God’s forgiveness. Yes, as God’s forgiven children we need to have a life of faith connected to God and be in relationship with him. And we need to remember, as dear children ask their dear father … that we need to ask as we would a loving parent for forgiveness. I’m sorry father … please forgive me is real repentance and we know that in Christ God our loving Father forgives us. But it is much more. In this petition we are too reminded that as God has forgiven us so we too need to forgive one another.

I wrote this letter some years ago:

I wanted to send you a letter to see if all is well with you? You haven’t been in worship since before Christmas and I’m a bit concerned as you’ve always been regular in attendance. After calling you, another three Sunday’s have passed without seeing you in worship. If something is troubling you I would hope to help if I could, if you are attending another church, please let me know, if I have offended you in some way I apologize. Whatever the circumstance, it is my hope that our Lord continue to bless and keep you in his arms and faith. Feel free to call if you need to talk.

Asking forgiveness and being willing to forgive is a two-way street. Our forgiveness is base on our willingness to forgive. Don’t let pride keep you from that.

6. Lead us not into temptation

This was big news some time back when Pope Francis said we need to change the prayer saying,

"lead us not into temptation" is not a good translation because God does not lead humans to sin,” saying a better translation would be, "Do not let me fall into temptation because it is I who fall, it is not God who throws me into temptation and then sees how I fell,"

Of course: had the Pope read Luther’s Small Catechism he would see in the explanation where Luther makes clear,

What does this mean? God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.

Bear in mind that God allows us to remain in this broken world where evil and temptation is part of our everyday lives, but he also promises to never leave us nor forsake us. Even our Lord Jesus after his baptism by John in Mark chapter 1 it reads:

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Who drove him out into the wilderness? God the Holy Spirit did. He did not temp him and Christ by the power of the Spirit prevailed. God can and does use all things for his good purpose.

7. But deliver us from evil

In Christ God does deliver us all from every evil and bring us to our eternal home by faith. He tells us in the commandments what he expects, he tells us in the creed who he is, and he tells us in the Lord’s Prayer how we can commune with him and rely on him. In prayer he lets us call on him for every need promising to be our God and to answer our prayers in his time and in his way. May your prayer life be bless by god as you call on him in time of need knowing that he is your heavenly Father who loves you.

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

Amen

Sermon March 4-5, 2023

Title: Whoever believes in Him … has eternal life!
Text: John 3:1-17

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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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

[Thoughts at this time]

Martin Luther died on February 18, 1546 at around 3:00 AM in the morning. His last words and actions were recorded by his dear friend Justus Jonas. Luther was asked, “Reverend father, will you die steadfast in Christ and the doctrines you have preached?” To this Luther responded affirmatively … “Yes!” quoting John 3:16 and Psalm 31:5 which reads:

5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.

In his last prayer he said to God,

“Yet I know as a certainty that I shall live with you eternally and that no one shall be able to pluck me out of your hands.”

Because of the resurrection of Christ we are reminded that we need have no fear about death.

As the Epistle to the Romans tell us I chapter 4:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Whoever believes in Him … has eternal life!

The Nicodemus narrative is a foundational and interesting one, in which we hear from the Lord Himself as to what the working from God is, and how He redeems His fallen creation from the sin of Adam and Eve … restoring the relationship between God and man.

Mixed reactions to God and his word have been around since the serpent questioned, “Did God really say?” In our gospel lesson for today another questioning occurs.

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night …

In the grey and black of the night a leader - a man of the Pharisees – comes to see Jesus. It is as if in and through the blackness of sin he sees a light shining in the darkness in this person Jesus saying:

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus sees in the signs that Jesus had been doing, and probably his teaching as well - God’s work, and it is through this work that God had brought Nicodemus to this place, this night to be with Jesus.


Jesus’ reply that “… unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God …” comes as a bit of a surprise to him.

In a similar sense "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” also brings for some a questioning thinking,

“It’s just a fable, it can’t be real. No one really believes this is how things came into existence, do they?”

Even Nicodemus asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”

Just as God and his creative act brings many questions that we and others might wrestle with, God’s word points us to the source of truth and understanding … his son, our Lord Jesus.

Genesis’ beginning and the Gospel of John’s beginning have one thing in common and that is Jesus. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth or, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God,” have Jesus connected in a real way to creation and redemption.

The word of God spoken in the beginning, and the word of God [Jesus] speaking to Nicodemus, is the same word of God heard now by you.

The word is not only connected to your hearing now but it is also, as Jesus is making known to Nicodemus, connected to the washing away of sins in Holy Baptism. He asks Jesus: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”

In reality though, even if this were possible it would do Nicodemus, you and me no good; for being born in the natural way only brings forth one who is born in sin and brought forth in iniquity.

One needs rebirth as Jesus tells him … to be born again which is a new birth that is born from above, born anew, or born of the Spirit.

Paul writes to the Corinthian church about the need to see with new eyes born from the Spirit when he writes:

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14

You and I also needed to be spiritually reborn and this was delivered to us in our Baptisms. God’s word connected to simple water and his command by the working of the Holy Spirit:

“Works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”
As Jesus declared, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

And the Apostle Paul affirmed in 1 Corinthians 6 when he writes:

11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Jesus in John 3:17 brings the fullness of His desire and mission to Nicodemus:

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The “Him” to whom Jesus speaks of, in the discourse with Nicodemus and the person to whom we must believe and trust, is the very Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ who became man for our sake so that we might be redeemed by Him and trust in His name.

Whoever believes in Him … in Jesus … has eternal life!

[Nicodemus’ name means - Victory of the people!]

Martin Luther’s last words and actions when asked, “Will you die steadfast in Christ and the doctrines you have preached?” is the same question you and I will be asked and must also answer affirmatively … “Yes!”

5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. Psalm 31:5

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

Amen

Sermon March 1, 2023 - Lent 2

Title: Small Catechism’s Six Chief Parts 2. Apostles Creed
Text: Mark 1:9-15

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12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Missionary A.B. Simpson is reported to have said that the gospel or the good News:

 
Tells rebellious men that God is reconciled,
that justice is satisfied,
that sin has been atoned for,
that the judgment of the guilty may be revoked,
the condemnation of the sinner cancelled,
the curse of the Law blotted out,
the gates of hell closed,
the portals of heaven opened wide,
the power of sin subdued,
the guilty conscience healed,
the broken heart comforted,
[and] the sorrow and misery of the Fall undone.

M. Cocoris, Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, Moody, 1984, p. 29.

Last week we began our sermon series on the six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism with the Ten Commandments. Here we learned what God expects and how we all miss the mark … both in who we are, and what we do.

Today we will move on to the Creed.

In the Ten Commandments we heard the Law, and today in the Apostles Creed we will hear the Gospel. For Luther the arrangement of the Catechism’s six chief parts is important.

The Ten Commandments show our brokenness and need.

The Creed reveals who God is and his work.

The Lord’s Prayer teaches us how to pray and to commune with God.

Holy Baptism shows how God works through his gifts to mark us and make us his own.

In the Office of the Keys [confession and absolution] we learn of our life in Christ as we confess our sins and hear the good of that we are forgiven in Christ.

And finally in the Lord’s Supper we receive the true body and blood of Christ and the forgiveness he won at the cross for us while we receive comfort and have our faith strengthened in this blessed gift.

The Catechisms order is important. The distinction between Law and Gospel is important too.

In Luther’s day the Creed was divided into 12 articles and for the Roman Catholic Church it still is.

Luther writes:

In former times you heard preaching on twelve articles of the Creed. If anybody wants to divide it up, he could find even more. You, however, should divide the Creed into the main parts indicated by the fact that there are three persons: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;

LW Vol.51 Pg. 162

1. God is one

For Luther, God is one and this was most important. It was important in his teaching on the Creed to show the oneness of God and the uniqueness and distinction of persons. So there is a trinity and a unity that he taught in the Creed revealing the Father, Son + and Holy Spirit and their work.

In the Creed we lean of this triune God and his connection to Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. So in the gospel the whole Godhead is active. In the Creed we learn who God is, what has he done, and more importantly, we learn what he has done for me.

2. The First Article, Of Creation

The revelation to who God is begins in the first Article.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

We as Christians confess in the Creed I believe. Our belief is all gift revealed in the one God who has created all things - this Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth.

This faith and statement is only something we can confess - because of the full work of the triune God who has reconciled us and brought us to faith in him so that we can see who he is, what he has done, worship him in spirit and truth … and call him Father.

It is certainly true that all of these good created gifts came from God and that all people benefit from them but it is not possible to know this God, thank him, or to call him Father apart from his work in revealing himself to us.

It is the fullness of God’s love and grace that he has created us in his image and that he desires to have fellowship with us as creator and creation that in spite of sin and the fall God desired to save us from and eternity separated from him.

3. The Second Article, Of Redemption

In the second article we learn of God’s Son his work to rescue you and me requiring his full engagement on our behalf.

We also believe not only in God the Father Almighty creator of Heaven and Earth, but also in Jesus Christ his only Son [who is] our Lord.

This Jesus Christ is God’s Son and our Lord because he is God not only of our creation but of our recreation also.

Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary this Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried. Placed in history Jesus is human in a real sense and truly lived, died and rose from the dead. He is both God and man and did what he intended to do for the salvation of the world.

In this article we see Jesus’ work in redemption. We see the Christmas message – the incarnation of God becoming man and his life, death and suffering in our place.

In his humiliation God units himself with us in our humanity in the person and work of his son and restores the bridge between God and man that had been broken with the fall into sin.

The second article doesn’t end there though because Jesus descends into hell to proclaim victory, on the third day he rises from the dead ascends to heaven and is seated at God’s right hand – the seat of power – and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

All will see him and all will be judged. Death is no escape, unbelief does not negate this reality of God in the flesh descending, dying, rising, and coming again for all.

The sheep and the goats – some to eternal glory and some to eternal damnation; so how is this reality made known and who is the active agent?

4. The Third Article, Of Sanctification

Well, in the third article we learn of the Holy Spirit called the comforter by Jesus is John chapter 14 in the King James Version.

The word used – παρακλέτοσ parakletos - is translated in some bibles as advocate, intercessor, consoler, comforter, and helper. Our ESV translates it as helper. I’m not sure that I like that as much as the KJV and that is why I believe that you need to read a few translations. The word helper could give the impression that God and we work together in our salvation - that God does his part and that we do our part rather than God being the active agent and we who are the ones that receive the gift.

In the third article we see God at work by the Holy Spirit, through the Christian Church or as the Creed would say the – catholic Church (small c –catholic meaning universal church), the communion of saints the body of believers who will have forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body – real flesh and blood like our resurrected Lord and a life everlasting and eternity with him.

This is the good news the Gospel of our salvation made known to us by the Holy Spirit … God’s work, Father, Son+ and Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins for you and for me and for all whom the Lord our God will call to belief, life and salvation in him.

God shows his requirements in the Ten Commandments

God reveals his restoration in the Creed

In Luther’s own explanation of the Third Article he writes:

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

Our own reason and strength would lead us astray. Our own understanding would cause us to make idols of ourselves, our lives, and our loves. In God’s work and in him alone do we know the work of a loving God that has created us, redeemed us in Jesus Christ our Lord, and restores us by his Spirit of Truth working and pointing us outside of ourselves to this reality that in Christ Jesus salvation is ours - this is most certainly true!

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

Amen