Sermon November 25-26, 2023

Title: Come, inherit the Kingdom!
Text: Matthew 25:31-46

Facebook live: Come, inherit the Kingdom!

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

"For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" 2 Corinthians 1:20

The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related--in fact, almost identical--to the Hebrew word (aman), for "believe" or "faithful." Thus, it came to mean "sure" or truly," which is an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes God, he indicates his faith by an "amen." When God makes a promise, the believer's response is "amen"--"yes, let it be so!" In the New Testament, it is often translated "verily" or "truly."

When we pray according to His Word and His will, we know God will answer, so we close with an "amen," and so also do we conclude a great hymn or anthem of praise and faith.

The word is even a title of Christ Himself. The last of His letters to the seven churches begins with a remarkable salutation by the glorified Lord:

"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God" Revelation 3:14

We can be certain that the Word of God is always faithful and true, because He is none other than the Creator of all things, and thus He is our eternal "Amen."

As we come to the close of the church year it is, therefore, profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an "amen."

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" Revelation 22:21, assuring everyone who reads these words that the whole Book is absolutely true and trustworthy. Amen!

Source Unknown.

And as a result of this truth we can all be joyful.

Come; inherit the kingdom prepared for you!

When the son of man comes in all his glory, there will be a gathering of all the nations. Ever man and woman will stand before the Lord and there will be a separating. Just like a shepherd who separates sheep from the goats, those destined for eternal life will inherit the Kingdom prepared – for you - from the foundation of the world, and those who will be cast out will depart into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angles.

Here, Jesus tells in prophetic detail, not parable, the return of the son of man, the second coming of Christ in judgment. He is the King who will judge the righteous, those who will inherit eternal life, were worthy, and those cast out will go away to eternal punishment.

It is interesting that the two groups, the sheep and goats are both under the Lordship of Jesus, who comes to judge and both hear similar but opposite statements.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Contrasted with:

42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

Both the sheep and the goats reply, “When did we see you” and do this for you or not do this for you? And you and I might ask ourselves the same question.

To this the Lord replies that when you did it, or did not do it, to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Who has been the least of these that the Lord is speaking of the least of these my brothers?

Matthew Chapter 10 can give us a clue.

At the sending of the disciples Jesus warns those who would be Apostles,

7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.

9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

Jesus warns of the persecution to come saying:

17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

But also comforting,

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

Those who receive the message of the gospel receive the messenger and him whom he has sent, our Lord and savior Jesus Christ himself. It is the work of all who have given testimony to the word of God and the saving work found only in Christ Jesus our Lord, which are those who are the least who are hungry and fed, thirsty and given drink, a stranger that is welcomed, naked that is clothed, sick and visited and even comforted in prison.

It is also those, who being in need, are brought the comforting good news of the gospel so that the working of the Holy Spirit can bring to faith those who also will go forth to share this same good news with their neighbor.

Good news was proclaimed last Sunday at the baptism of Liam James Forrest.

At 10 years old I forget that our Baptismal right is written in a sometime difficult way.

As we address the candidate. The rite askes “How are you named?”

Knowing this might be confusing I asked Liam to please state your name.

Liam James Forrest! was the bold response.

When we got to the questions that are asked of the candidate, I had prepared to give the proper response for them, “Then answer, yes with the help of God” and so on.

The first question was: Liam do you renounce the devil?

Quickly I hear, No!

I say, Liam, the correct response is Yes, I renounce him.

No! and then he says, I don’t know what the word renounce means!

So, we quickly get him up to speed with the word renounce. Now, I get to the good responses for the Apostles Creed questions.

Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?

And as soon as I say, do you believe in God, I hear Yes! And as I continue maker … Yes! And then another Yes!

Friends, that is the Holy Trinity of Yeses!

Liam, do you desire to be baptized? Yes!

God the Holy Spirit enlivened the word of the Gospel that had been preached and taught to Liam so that he could not wait to have God claim him as his own.

Those who receive the Kingdom, to them Jesus says:

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Come; inherit the kingdom prepared for you!

Even though it is not your work of mine, not what you have done but what he, Jesus Christ has done, it a fruit of your faith.

Receiving the word of truth, the gift of God and those who are sent to proclaim that truth is a gift of our heavenly Father and by the working of the Holy Spirit - you believe, you feed, you welcome, you clothe, you visit, you comfort and you are blessed.

To this Jesus says to you:

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Come; inherit the kingdom prepared for you!

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

 

 

Sermon November 18-19, 2023

Title: Enter into the joy of your master!

Text: Matthew 25:14-30

Facebook live:  Enter into the joy of your master!

21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

As we prepare for Thanksgiving there is much to be thankful for. For me personally this past year has brought great joy with the birth of my grandson, Jackson. Seeing him grow and celebrating his first birthday last weekend was truly a joy! Also, Monica's good reports for continued healing has been a great blessing of which I am especially grateful.

For many though the Thanksgiving holiday is passed over and we are already in the Christmas season and all that come with it in giving and receiving gifts. The Hallmark Channel is going full tilt and if one wasn’t enough there are two for your viewing enjoyment. The shopping network is ready with deal on many of the needed items and – no use waiting for black Friday – it’s here, having died the death of bargain prices earlier and earlier in the season. Christmas has been commercialized but that happened a long time ago. Christmas is on full display yet we haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving, the end of days, or Advent, but gifts are being bought and thoughts of joy and the Christmas season are on our minds.

Giving is a wonderful thing but what if the gift is neglected or wasted? It certainly wouldn’t be looked upon as a good thing. We have all been gifted according to our own ability and God also wants to see that gift used in proportion to that ability. Whatever your gift is and whatever you have been given you have the joy of serving Christ because of his gift to you and his mission to reach the lost with the saving gospel.

With these last two weeks in the church year we hear the really good news that all believers long to hear:

Enter into the joy of your master and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you!

Both of these sayings are really good news for those who are prepared, with lamps full of oil just like the wise virgins from last week’s lesson. But just like last week, there too are those who are foolish and who are ill prepared for the coming of the master, and who also when Christ returns, will find themselves hearing words of rejection, terror and judgment.

Jesus in preparation for his passion and the time of his departing tells a parable about a man going on a journey. Who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. And then he gives them a portion of his property to manage according to their ability.

15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
According to New Nave's Topical Bible, one who possessed five talents of gold or silver was a multimillionaire by today's standards. Some calculate the talent in the parables to be equivalent to 20 years of wages for the common worker. Other scholars estimate more conservatively, valuing the New Testament talent somewhere between $5,000 to $30,000 dollars today.

None the less it represented a large sum of money to be entrusted with.

We also see that the one, who had been given the most, went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. He took what he had been given and with the ability given him went and doubled the master’s investment. He used what had been gifted to him in ability to grow his master’s kingdom.

The one who was given the two talents, made two talents more. He too did with what he had been given in ability to grow the master’s kingdom.

Finally the one who was given one talent, did with it what the master had not expected, 18 But he … went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

He took what had been entrusted to him and buried it.

In this parable we have to look at it on the surface and also at what greater biblical meaning is Jesus pointing at. First, the money given to the first two servants brought a return. In money matters this is always good. As my boss told me many years ago when I was first hired to work in his business, “When you work on commission you have to prepare for the times when you will have a bad month. You must first produce, then save and then invest.” His point was that once you receive your pay check you must invest some of it so that it produces a return that is greater than the investment you began with. Servant three didn't understand that, it wasn't even invested, so that it brought some interest on the investment from the bankers for the master. It was buried and brought no return.

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Remember we already said that 5 talents were a very large sum of money, but the master here refers to it as being faithful over a little and promises to set him over much. This too happens for servant two in much the same way.

In our Biblical understanding we all are made sons of our heavenly father and of the word himself, Jesus Christ. We have been given the gift of faith and made partakers of the Kingdom of God. We have all been gifted richly by our loving God through the working of the Holy Spirit and at the end times and upon Christ’s return will give an accounting of what we did with the gift of God in Christ Jesus that had been given to us.

Did we believe or did we reject?

For some it is using our gifts within the church for others it is in the world and for some it is in both places reaching the fullest return with what you have been gifted.

Now don’t get me wrong, the parable is not about money, it’s not about giving but it is about the word of God Jesus Christ which is the gift of God and what ultimately is done with it.

Upon Christ’s return you will either receive the joy of the master by his gift and his work alone, or you will shut the door of faith with unbelief, burying the word of God, which by the Spirit work brings that faith, and then, just like the servant who buried the master’s gift, there will be those who blame God for their own rejection of his free gift.

29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Those who believe that the gospel is hard fear the Lord’s return.

Those who think that a loving God would not judge those who reject the gift of grace and faith are also those who themselves reject the means of receiving eternal life, which is given by faith in Christ through word and sacrament.

27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Christ welcomes all who by faith trust his work and believe. He has gifted each one of us with the blessed gift of faith and by his working through the Holy Spirit we believe and serve our Lord Christ in blessedness and holiness.

We all have been gifted to serve the Lord and his kingdom. May we all find joy in his use of each one of us for his greater purpose so that you will:

Enter into the joy of your master!

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

Amen

Sermon November 11-12, 2023

Title: In the word and in Christ you are prepared!
Text: Matt. 25:1-13

Facebook live: In the word and in Christ you are prepared!

10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

I’m reading a book on a little know plot to kill Abraham Lincoln before he took office after having been elected President. It’s called The Lincoln Conspiracy and follows the plot to kill Lincoln that was foiled by Allen Pinkerton and his Detective Agency – and the signs of the times as they became known and the preparations and actions taken to keep the President-elect safe.

As we look to this gospel text and parable today let us begin with a few verses that precede this reading today from chapter 24. Here Jesus, is speaking with his disciples and says:

42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

And:

44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

And finally:

50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know

So the text today speaks of the end times and being prepared.

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

In the parables that we have studied previously, the kingdom of heaven and the joy that awaits those who believe had been described as a Wedding feast. There were those closed with wedding garments and those who were not. There was also a casting out and a weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And now the word continues, for the disciples and our benefit, with the foolish and wise virgins who took their lamps and while the wise had oil in their lamps and the foolish did not and while the bridegroom was a long time in coming, they were unprepared for the time of his arrival.

Being unprepared is not a good thing.

Michigan weather is unpredictable. At times in fall, it gets really cold and windy. Leaves get blown down all around. We even had snow on Halloween! It is a reminder of what’s around the corner … winter!

It would be easy to forget and be unprepared.

Thankfully we’ve made arrangements with our plow service here at church and hopefully as the weather turns cold and the snow flies, we will be prepared for what winter brings. Also, I’m very thankful for Ron Brewer who gets the job done for us!

Being prepared is a good thing but not all prepare for what is coming.

For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,

How much good is a lamp that has no oil in it? Not much, if it’s an oil lamp!

We know about oil here at church and at times the candles that have had no oil in them. They may have a dry wick and no fuel from which to draw. Thankfully Erika Hoffman keeps our candle oil in stock so we might relate to the wise who …

4 … took flasks of oil with their lamps.

As we know lamps with oil bring with them light and light the way. Or, in church, the candles light our service and symbolize God’s light and presence among us.

But in our parable the oil signifies something more. It signifies the work of God by the working of his Holy Spirit that brings faith … the gift of God for we who believe.

The Altar Guild fills the candles each week. I don’t think much about it. I just expect that they will do the work and we’ll have oil in the candles in church to light the service. But, one candle didn’t cooperate and the base broke. Not a big problem and it will be soon rectified.

During the first few months during the pandemic, it was my responsibility. I would do it during the week and then check it on the weekend to make sure that I did it and didn’t forget. I wouldn’t want to look foolish and have to hear,

“Pastor, the candles won’t light. Didn’t you fill them?”

Not that forgetting the candles is an unpardonable sin here at church.

But in the parable what did the foolish lose? They lost focus on the bridegroom’s coming. They lost focus on Jesus.

The faith of God in Christ by the Holy Spirit had dimmed to the point of flickering and had gone out.

What does this say to you and to me and to all who have been given this gift of faith? Should we ignore it or should we do all we can to make sure it is robust and full? Surly, it is God’s gift he brings us to faith and through that same word keeps us in the faith.

If God, through the means of parents and our family puts a plate full of food in front of us but we ignore it and don’t feed on it, we remain hungry and the gift and blessing gets wasted.

So to, if we ignore God’s word and don’t hear, read, or feed on it. Our faith in Christ dims and is replaced by other things of the world that cause us to focus on everything other than Jesus the bridegroom of the Wedding Feast.

To lose focus on Jesus can cause us all to fall away and to see our oil run dry. If we have no fuel for the wick of faith to draw and to see the light of Christ, it can flicker and go out.

But God has promised that where his word is, there the Holy Spirit is, to give faith in the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is only possible to believe in Christ by the gift of faith through the power by the Holy Spirit. The oil of God in your lamp is God in you and given you as a gift working faith to believe and to live as beacons of hope.

Over the next year many will place their hope in those who will be elected for various offices in the State and Country. National, State and local politics are important and dominate our lives but also our hopes. Someone is always let down.

One learned politician once wrote:

The learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned, but still 'tis nonsense.

B. Franklin.
At times we who have lamps are fools.

We fool ourselves into believing that we have measured up, that we are acceptable in the eyes of God, and that we will all stand before him in righteous acceptance.

While we,

Deny his word,
Deny his gifts,
Live contrary to his word

But by God’s working, Christ has made a way to give you a full lamp.
Christ has filled you with His Spirit who points you to him.
Christ has promised he would never leave you or forsake you.
Christ continues to feed you on word and sacrament so that the gift of faith continues to fill your lamp for you who trust in Him.

You too who have been filled by God’s blessed faith are wise and prepared and ready for the coming of him, who was and is and is to come, Jesus Christ our Lord!

Because of Jesus and God’s gift of faith you who believe are ready!

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

Amen

Sermon November 5-6, 2023 - All Saints Day

Title: From Tribulation to Triumph in Christ!

Text: 1 John 3:1-3 

Facebook live: From Tribulation to Triumph in Christ!

2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Behold a host, arrayed in white,

Like thousand snow-clad mountains bright!
With palms they stand;
Who is this band
Before the throne of light?

All Saints Day brings to mind the dearly beloved saints who’ve finished their course in this life and rest in the arms of their loving savior. Jesuses promised eternity with him is fulfilled in those who’ve received this grace and faith as a gift and having believed, depart this life for that promised eternity.

3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so, we.

As we think about the love of God, this love it is made known to us in the God man Christ Jesus our Lord, the perfect son, begotten of the Father from eternity. But it is not in the incarnation that our hope is found, though God becoming man put into history the perfection of God’s redemptive plan to restore all that had been lost and broken by the fall into sin.

Paul in writing to the church in Corinth laments:

22 For as in Adam all die, 

1 Cor. 15:22a

The world and all people are brought forth in Adam. We are all brought forth in sin and death awaits us all. The life we live for good or bad gives us only what this life in Adam gives – life - for a time.

So, the time over the last year has given us grief in the loss of so many dear saints here at Peace and in our extended family.

At times in life there is joy, and at times there is sorrow, and at times our hopes and dreams in this life culminate only in a death and separation from those we love and hold dear.

Those are the saints of glorious fame,
Who from the great affliction came
And in the flood
Of Jesus' blood
Are cleansed from guilt and shame.

In the last year fellow members: Charles Fox, John Carlson, Rose Skinner, Bill Rappuhn, Jean Pilot, Eleanor Brown, and Marilynn Wendt all join the heavenly throng! But Paul doesn’t leave his hearers or us in despair for he concludes this verse with these comforting words:

… so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

1 Cor. 15:22b

We are made alive in Christ, not in Adam.

In Adam the sin of the fall clings to us from birth. We live in Adam and see it throughout our lives. We die, not to receive heaven, but because –

… the wages of sin is death. 

Romans 6:23a

Paul loves to proclaim the life eternal because it is what we are all guaranteed.
In Adam though that guarantee is an eternal life separated from a loving God.

This is NOT good news!

To die apart from Christ means that you will never see or hear the great multitude, crying out with a loud voice,

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

Rev. 7:10

But in Christ, Paul comforts the burdened heart saying:

But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23b

That life eternal begins not upon our death - but upon our rebirth at our Baptism when we are born again from above!

In Baptism we are marked as God’s child and put on Christ through the washing of water and the word. Titus 3:5

By the working of the Holy Spirit in Baptism we believe in Jesus and our life in Adam is changed forever.

We are no longer dead in sin but are made alive in Christ!

As the Apostle John writes in our epistle for today:

2Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

We shall see him - this Jesus - not as a terrible and wrathful judge ready to condemn us for our sin, but as the only begotten son of the Father who sees us in Christ and is well pleased. The favor of God on account of Christ is yours – not because you have lived a good life, but because Christ Jesus has lived, suffered, died, and rose again from the dead – for you and me and for all who hold to this blessed hope.

All Saints Day brings to mind loss as well:

Dear friends and family from the distant and recent past.

We don’t have to look very far to see an empty space when a beloved member of Peace once sat. In life we are all destined to die and in death those who have gone before us leave a void in our own lives where they had been present.

I don’t need to remind you of that.

We also think of our loving friends and family members who have departed this life for eternity, returning to their resting place as we wait together for the Lord’s return.

In Adam we all die and we will all rise at the coming of the Lord but only in Christ are we to be with the Lord forever.

55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 15 55b-56

While we mourn the passing of our beloved friends and family members, we also joy that their promised eternity is in Christ!

We live to die

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

and die to live.

They now serve God both day and night;
They sing their songs in endless light.
Their anthems ring
As they all sing
With angels shining bright.

17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

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

Amen