Title: God brings belief and comfort through his means!
Text: Mark 9:14-29
21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Life and death and love and caring are human emotions that have been seen and felt in our own lives many times over the years. It may be a dear family friend who passes away, the sickness of an elderly parent or child or dear friends and their children who you’ve seen grow up and felt their celebration and joy as well as sorrow and pain.
At time we are brought into the lives of perfect strangers who we comfort or see their grief from afar. One such image that has recently come to mind is of a father who lost his two sons and wife that drowned. The image of the dad, holding his dead son regardless of the circumstances can cause us all to feel his pain and sorrow as if it was our own child.
As the father said to the reporters and to us:
“My kids were the most beautiful children in the world, wonderful. They wake me up every morning to play with them. They are all gone now."
http://theoslotimes.com/article/father-of-dead-boys-ask-the-world-to-see-plight-ofrefugees#sthash.MVylgKht.dpuf
Even if we’ve not lost a child we can know and feel his pain but for we who have received mercy and have been given faith:
God comforts and strengthens through his means!
Last week our text showed us the compassionate Christ as he opened the ears and mouth of a deaf mute who then “spoke plainly.” Not only having his ears and mouth healed but being given the gift of speech, immediately, as Mark so often says in his gospel account.
In today’s reading:
14 And when they [those that had been following Jesus] came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw [Jesus], were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
Jesus is known to the people as the one who brings peace, comfort, healing and the things that you and I also find of great value when things in our life need help. And here a voice from the crown answers Jesus’ question.
“Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
A father’s pleading for his son. “I brought him to you … but your disciples were not able.”
The disciples fell short! They missed the mark! What was needed … wasn’t given … to a man in distress.
I can relate, how about you? Have you missed the mark? I think we can all agree with St. Paul.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. … 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:18-24
At times we miss the mark by things we do and at times by things we don’t do.
Ill.
Some years ago my boss was going to Italy on a vacation with his family. And while he was gone I was left in charge. He had just hired a new lady to handle some advertising for the company but I had to sign the checks to suppliers as well as payroll and oversee the business during the thee weeks he was away.
One area of concern for me was the advertising. We had a big sale planned when the owner returned and I had to make sure all the advertising was in place. I had to make sure that it was right and that when he returned was pleased with what had been placed in the newspapers.
The new lady had designed some pretty ads that were nothing like what we had previously used. Ultimately, I made the decision to use adds similar to the ones we used in previous years that had been effective. Our new ad designer was not happy with me but after prayer and consideration and having the ultimate responsibility to make a decision, I felt if it didn’t work, it was on me.
The ads worked well, the sale was successful and the boss was happy! Had I made a different decision, or not prayed that God would give me the wisdom to discern the right way to go … the results could have been much different.
Jesus answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring [the boy] to me.”
What I didn’t want to hear from my boss, the disciples now hear from Jesus … pain and disappointment from the Lord of Glory at their falling short.
God brings belief and comfort through his means!
Jesus takes control, “Bring him to me.”
The solutions for the problems we face are always best helped when the focus is on Christ. Because the evil foe is Satan and the forces of demonic activity that perplex and attack us and those who remain lost in the world.
This father is grieving for his son as he has been plagued with this demon “From childhood.” We might reasonably look at our own sinful condition and malady as those brought forth in iniquity … conceived and born in sin. Psalm 51:5
But though we have been freed by Christ Jesus through the working of the Holy Spirit, we still remain in our sinful flesh … both Saint and Sinner.
On the one hand we are freed by the grace of God in Christ and have received all things being made new, but at the same time, we are bound to our sinful flesh and wrestle with faith and doubt, belief and unbelief!
The call … “I believe; help my unbelief!” is the call of a believing soul tormented by a demonic foe. We too call daily to God to lift the burden of sin we carry and to comfort us, and bring us peace … the peace … that passes all human understanding.
“You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”
We too are born into this world dead to God, and it is by God’s command:
“19 Go … make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” that we receive life eternal promised from the lips of our Lord.
Having done a number of baptisms of little children, it always reminds me of this passage when they are baptized because when baptized there is crying out and convulsing. The devil cannot remain but must flee. Where light is, darkness flees.
“He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Death, raised to life and caring, through the sacrificial love of the God man Jesus Christ are what God has given you.
The picture in the today’s lesson shows the condition we too are born and wrestle with. But it also shows god love and power to bring us both from death to life through the means he has provided of word and sacrament but also show the picture of the final gift of God when:
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Dear friends,
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. 15:52,56
God brings peace, comfort, victory and belief through his means!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Funeral Sermon for Carlene Constable
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Funeral Sermon for Carlene Constable
Title: Loved and Forgiven
1 Timothy 6:12 (English Standard Version)
12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Dear friends, family and loved ones of our beloved Carlene,
“You tell the people at Peace that I’m praying for them!” Those were the words Carlene shared with me a number of times on our visits where I would come, talk and bring her the Lord’s Supper. This wonderful mother, grandmother, sister and friend, was committed to those she loved. And that didn’t just stop with family. Carlene loved all of those she came in contact with. She cared for her pastors, Pastor Merrell and myself and little Mocha, better known as “Honey Bun!”
Carlene was transferred to Peace on April 30th, 1997 from Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Clarkston and was formally received at Peace that November, but she had been a Christian for many years before that.
She confirmed the faith that God bestowed on her at her own confirmation all the way back in 1944.
For me as a pastor, Confirmation is a joyful time. We get to see our students or Catechumens as they are called, confirm what the Lord had done for them in their Baptism, in front of the congregation. They had been taught, and instructed in the Christian faith, and now it was time for them to confess what they believed. For a pastor the Rite of Confirmation begins:
“You have been baptized and catechized in the Christian faith according to our Lord’s bidding. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Lift up your hearts, therefore, to the God of all grace and joyfully give answer to what I now ask you in the name of the Lord.
And then just before the student’s confirmation the pastor asks:
“Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all … even death … rather than to fall away from it?”
Sometime, all the way back in the spring on 1944, Carlene answered to that very same question: “Yes, with the help of God.”
Carlene was a wonderful testament to the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.
Jesus tells us in John chapter 15:
1"I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes … that it may bear more fruit.
Carlene loved to sew and made beautiful quilts for the children who were baptized at Peace. So many smiles I’ve seen on the faces of parents at this wonderful and beautiful gift! And you could see the work of Our Heavenly Father in her, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as she used her gift for his greater glory. One mom in fact said can I have her number so I can call and thank her for the beautiful quilt.
Jesus says:
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides (or lives) in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Carlene bore much fruit, as can be seen in the pictures of her life, especially the children and grandchildren that she was so proud of! But it didn’t stop there, her love was infectious for all she came in contact with and that too includes the members of her church family … but also the many friends she had and even the two pastors who had the pleasure to see her and visit her. I had the joy of seeing Carlene on August 13th. She as usual was in the chair and always would remind me to “Come in, ‘cause I don’t do stairs!”
God comforts us … as we go to comfort others.
This past December I visited a number of our shut-ins with gift baskets and Carlene was on the list. She at times would remind me, “I’m old! I don’t remember how old but in the 80’s somewhere!”
Christ tells us:
7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Carlene told me that she was ready to go to heaven and to be with the Lord. “But, she said, he must not be ready for me as he keeps leaving me here!”
I told Carlene that Jesus will take her to heaven in His time and in his way but for now we who love her need her more and maybe just a while longer he’ll keep her here. But on last Wednesday night … Carlene got her wish and Jesus called her home. Quietly and quickly Carlene went to heaven.
And even though to me Carlene had a good life and a loving family that cared for her she was called away from you … her loved ones, family, friends and this life that she loved very much.
Despite our grief Jesus’ words still can comfort us all:
7 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
I had an opportunity to bring the Lord’s Supper to Carlene on Thursday august 13th and anoint her with oil as a reminder of the Holy Spirit, who lives and works in and through her. She was a wonderful lady who loved life, sewing, her family, friends, and loved ones including Honey Bun the little dancing dog. As Carlene told me a number of times how blessed she truly was.
Today we honor her life, as we say our goodbyes. But, the grief that fills us all with loss and sorrow who knew her as beloved relative and friend will one day be replaced with our blessed reunion in heaven for all who believe. Our loving God in Christ Jesus will wipe away every tear of sadness that we have today and in that day replace them with tears of joy, as we together rejoice in Heaven with our resurrected Lord who has come to conquer sin, death and the power of the Devil – not only for Carlene - but for you and for me as well.
In Christ, death is not the end for we who cling to the blessed hope of reunion in Heaven one day. But, it is only a time of parting … for a while.
For the Apostle Paul brings great joy when he says in the Epistle to the Romans in chapter 8:
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)
Heaven is now Carlene’s home.
You too, who trust in Christ, have this home waiting for you. The blessed Good News that Jesus died for your sins - is the wonderful Gospel message Carlene trusted and you too can trust. He has forgiven your sin and has called you to faith by the Gospel and through the power of the Holy Spirit, and has given you faith to believe in Christ’s blessed saving work.
There is a place that has been prepared for Carlene that she has now taken possession of and there is a place waiting for you too and for all who believe by faith the Good News that in Christ, you are:
Loved and Forgiven and will be with Jesus Forever!
Amen.
Funeral Sermon for Carlene Constable
Title: Loved and Forgiven
1 Timothy 6:12 (English Standard Version)
12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Dear friends, family and loved ones of our beloved Carlene,
“You tell the people at Peace that I’m praying for them!” Those were the words Carlene shared with me a number of times on our visits where I would come, talk and bring her the Lord’s Supper. This wonderful mother, grandmother, sister and friend, was committed to those she loved. And that didn’t just stop with family. Carlene loved all of those she came in contact with. She cared for her pastors, Pastor Merrell and myself and little Mocha, better known as “Honey Bun!”
Carlene was transferred to Peace on April 30th, 1997 from Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Clarkston and was formally received at Peace that November, but she had been a Christian for many years before that.
She confirmed the faith that God bestowed on her at her own confirmation all the way back in 1944.
For me as a pastor, Confirmation is a joyful time. We get to see our students or Catechumens as they are called, confirm what the Lord had done for them in their Baptism, in front of the congregation. They had been taught, and instructed in the Christian faith, and now it was time for them to confess what they believed. For a pastor the Rite of Confirmation begins:
“You have been baptized and catechized in the Christian faith according to our Lord’s bidding. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Lift up your hearts, therefore, to the God of all grace and joyfully give answer to what I now ask you in the name of the Lord.
And then just before the student’s confirmation the pastor asks:
“Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all … even death … rather than to fall away from it?”
Sometime, all the way back in the spring on 1944, Carlene answered to that very same question: “Yes, with the help of God.”
Carlene was a wonderful testament to the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.
Jesus tells us in John chapter 15:
1"I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes … that it may bear more fruit.
Carlene loved to sew and made beautiful quilts for the children who were baptized at Peace. So many smiles I’ve seen on the faces of parents at this wonderful and beautiful gift! And you could see the work of Our Heavenly Father in her, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as she used her gift for his greater glory. One mom in fact said can I have her number so I can call and thank her for the beautiful quilt.
Jesus says:
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides (or lives) in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Carlene bore much fruit, as can be seen in the pictures of her life, especially the children and grandchildren that she was so proud of! But it didn’t stop there, her love was infectious for all she came in contact with and that too includes the members of her church family … but also the many friends she had and even the two pastors who had the pleasure to see her and visit her. I had the joy of seeing Carlene on August 13th. She as usual was in the chair and always would remind me to “Come in, ‘cause I don’t do stairs!”
God comforts us … as we go to comfort others.
This past December I visited a number of our shut-ins with gift baskets and Carlene was on the list. She at times would remind me, “I’m old! I don’t remember how old but in the 80’s somewhere!”
Christ tells us:
7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Carlene told me that she was ready to go to heaven and to be with the Lord. “But, she said, he must not be ready for me as he keeps leaving me here!”
I told Carlene that Jesus will take her to heaven in His time and in his way but for now we who love her need her more and maybe just a while longer he’ll keep her here. But on last Wednesday night … Carlene got her wish and Jesus called her home. Quietly and quickly Carlene went to heaven.
And even though to me Carlene had a good life and a loving family that cared for her she was called away from you … her loved ones, family, friends and this life that she loved very much.
Despite our grief Jesus’ words still can comfort us all:
7 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
I had an opportunity to bring the Lord’s Supper to Carlene on Thursday august 13th and anoint her with oil as a reminder of the Holy Spirit, who lives and works in and through her. She was a wonderful lady who loved life, sewing, her family, friends, and loved ones including Honey Bun the little dancing dog. As Carlene told me a number of times how blessed she truly was.
Today we honor her life, as we say our goodbyes. But, the grief that fills us all with loss and sorrow who knew her as beloved relative and friend will one day be replaced with our blessed reunion in heaven for all who believe. Our loving God in Christ Jesus will wipe away every tear of sadness that we have today and in that day replace them with tears of joy, as we together rejoice in Heaven with our resurrected Lord who has come to conquer sin, death and the power of the Devil – not only for Carlene - but for you and for me as well.
In Christ, death is not the end for we who cling to the blessed hope of reunion in Heaven one day. But, it is only a time of parting … for a while.
For the Apostle Paul brings great joy when he says in the Epistle to the Romans in chapter 8:
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38-39)
Heaven is now Carlene’s home.
You too, who trust in Christ, have this home waiting for you. The blessed Good News that Jesus died for your sins - is the wonderful Gospel message Carlene trusted and you too can trust. He has forgiven your sin and has called you to faith by the Gospel and through the power of the Holy Spirit, and has given you faith to believe in Christ’s blessed saving work.
There is a place that has been prepared for Carlene that she has now taken possession of and there is a place waiting for you too and for all who believe by faith the Good News that in Christ, you are:
Loved and Forgiven and will be with Jesus Forever!
Amen.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Sermon Sept. 5-6, 2015
Title: By Christ you are opened!
Text: Mark 7:31-37
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
The magazine Credenda Agenda quotes, C.S. Lewis who says:
An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or Practical reason is idiocy. If a man's mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut.
C.S. Lewis quoted in Credenda Agenda Vol. 4, No. 5 p. 16.
By Christ you are opened!
31 Then [Jesus] returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
Jesus was traveling south and east through Sidon along the Sea of Galilee. As we might remember from some weeks back, the disciples had crossed over the sea after the feeding of the five thousand, and Jesus came to them walking to them on the water.
The crowds had followed Jesus who had fed and healed them from illness and he cast out demons and they are now heading south once again in the region of the Decapolis – a region of 10 cities near the southeast corner of the Sea.
32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
The healings of Jesus are numerous in the gospel accounts. At times it is by faith in Christ that we see healing: “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” The old woman thought to herself who had been plagued by the flow of blood for many years in Mark 5:28.
Or, it is by the healing touch of Jesus and the words of Christ’s own command, “Little girl I say to you arise!” as Jairus’ daughter was raised from death to life in Mark 5:41.
In today’s reading a deaf mute is brought to Jesus. He neither knows nor understands what is going on. He can’t hear and his speech is muted and unintelligible to those who are around him.
… and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
The people knew of Jesus and his healing touch. They who brought him to Jesus begged him to lay his hands on him … as if the laying on of hands from Jesus was the magic formula of healing and required to make one well and whole again.
Jesus sees the problem … here is a man who is deaf and mute. He does him a kindness to make himself, and what he intends to do known.
Ill.
If you know someone who is deaf or have interacted with them before, you know that they communicate in ways their own. Many years ago I attended the installation of my friend Pastor Tom Dunseth as he was installed as staff missionary to the deaf for the Michigan District. As I entered Trinity Lutheran church in Utica, I immediately realized that something was wrong. The place was packed. There were people everywhere. Communication was going on and I heard nothing. People were talking with one another and listening to conversations, but no sound was being made.
Communication for the deaf is visual.
While the service went on there was the speaking of the liturgy as to accommodate those like me who can hear … and there was the signing of the liturgy for those who can’t. There was a deaf choir that signed along with the hymns pumped through a sound system so that those signing were able to feel the tempo and sing through sign language to those listening with their eyes. Some spoke across a distance to others and applause, [waving of the hands] was shared at appropriate moments.
Communicating with the deaf is special and unique.
Jesus understood that.
33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.
We can speculate, as many do, that there was something significant about Christ’s touch and fingers in the ears, or that the spit upon Christ’s fingers that touched the man’s tongue … brought about a miraculous healing. But what I believe Jesus is doing here is communicating. He is speaking in a way the man can understand.
Taking him aside privately … away from the crowd … Jesus now can have the man’s attention without distraction. How often have you or I who hear … needed to get away so we can speak to someone privately, so the noise of the crowd doesn’t distract us?
Jesus gets his attention.
The text says he put his fingers into his ears. Again not the healing but showing that he understands what the man’s problem is and that he intends to correct it. You can almost see Jesus show his fingers to the man and reach to his ears as if to say, “I understand your problem.”
And now we read: … after spitting touched his tongue. Again in the language of the deaf Jesus wants the man to focus on the problem of his tongue and lack of speech and that he desires to heal these problems. You can see in the depiction on our bulletin cover the man sees and understands what is about to happen. He is fixed on Jesus.
By Christ you are opened too!
Your maladies are greater than hearing loss and being unable to speak. You and I and the man who is deaf and mute in our lesson for today are born dead to God and as a result we are unable to come to Jesus and receive the spiritual healing we need and that Christ desires to give. It takes an act of God to satisfy God’s justice and in Christ, God’s wrath has been appeased. It also takes an act of God to bring you and me from death to life by God working in us through the power of the Holy Spirit … working through the word … opening our ears to hear … so that we believe in him “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Rev. 1:8
34 And looking up to heaven, [Jesus] sighed, not as a means to the healing, or a hope that God the Father would answer Christ’s prayer, but as a sign communicating the heavenly healing that he was about to perform, and a point of our own sighing in our own prayers mediated by God.
and said to him, “Ephphatha,” The common Aramaic language of the home intended by St. Mark to give us the very word Christ spoke … and what it means, “Be opened.”
Jesus has the man’s attention, privately; he shows what he intends to do with his ears and his mouth; that he understands his problem and he is willing and able to help; and he looks up to heaven, the place of all good and comfort, healing and peace and says “Ephphatha, … Be opened.”
By Christ you are opened!
35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
The healing of Jesus is complete, opening the ears and mouth of the man who was deaf and mute. And just as the man was healed and “spoke plainly,” as the gift of language was given him, you dear friends, too have had Heaven opened, the place of all good by Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God, and have received comfort, healing, and peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As Isaiah says of the suffering servant in chapter 53:5:
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
Interestingly, Jesus as he does at times tells them to “tell no one.” And what do they do? They tell everyone! [And] the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
You know that feeling too, don’t you? When we pray for good test results and they come back good what do you do?
You tell everyone! You joyfully proclaim that good news you have been given for all to hear!
There is even better news then the good test results you get and that is the good news that in Christ all things have been made new again. No more sin, death and the power of the devil to fear because Christ has opened heaven to you and me who were once closed to God as his enemies but now have access to him as his children, having been given faith freely in his son.
By Christ you are opened!
37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
And he brings we who were dead in trespass and sin back to life.
He has forgiven your sin and you have God’s favor on account of Christ!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Text: Mark 7:31-37
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
The magazine Credenda Agenda quotes, C.S. Lewis who says:
An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or Practical reason is idiocy. If a man's mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut.
C.S. Lewis quoted in Credenda Agenda Vol. 4, No. 5 p. 16.
By Christ you are opened!
31 Then [Jesus] returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.
Jesus was traveling south and east through Sidon along the Sea of Galilee. As we might remember from some weeks back, the disciples had crossed over the sea after the feeding of the five thousand, and Jesus came to them walking to them on the water.
The crowds had followed Jesus who had fed and healed them from illness and he cast out demons and they are now heading south once again in the region of the Decapolis – a region of 10 cities near the southeast corner of the Sea.
32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
The healings of Jesus are numerous in the gospel accounts. At times it is by faith in Christ that we see healing: “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” The old woman thought to herself who had been plagued by the flow of blood for many years in Mark 5:28.
Or, it is by the healing touch of Jesus and the words of Christ’s own command, “Little girl I say to you arise!” as Jairus’ daughter was raised from death to life in Mark 5:41.
In today’s reading a deaf mute is brought to Jesus. He neither knows nor understands what is going on. He can’t hear and his speech is muted and unintelligible to those who are around him.
… and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
The people knew of Jesus and his healing touch. They who brought him to Jesus begged him to lay his hands on him … as if the laying on of hands from Jesus was the magic formula of healing and required to make one well and whole again.
Jesus sees the problem … here is a man who is deaf and mute. He does him a kindness to make himself, and what he intends to do known.
Ill.
If you know someone who is deaf or have interacted with them before, you know that they communicate in ways their own. Many years ago I attended the installation of my friend Pastor Tom Dunseth as he was installed as staff missionary to the deaf for the Michigan District. As I entered Trinity Lutheran church in Utica, I immediately realized that something was wrong. The place was packed. There were people everywhere. Communication was going on and I heard nothing. People were talking with one another and listening to conversations, but no sound was being made.
Communication for the deaf is visual.
While the service went on there was the speaking of the liturgy as to accommodate those like me who can hear … and there was the signing of the liturgy for those who can’t. There was a deaf choir that signed along with the hymns pumped through a sound system so that those signing were able to feel the tempo and sing through sign language to those listening with their eyes. Some spoke across a distance to others and applause, [waving of the hands] was shared at appropriate moments.
Communicating with the deaf is special and unique.
Jesus understood that.
33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.
We can speculate, as many do, that there was something significant about Christ’s touch and fingers in the ears, or that the spit upon Christ’s fingers that touched the man’s tongue … brought about a miraculous healing. But what I believe Jesus is doing here is communicating. He is speaking in a way the man can understand.
Taking him aside privately … away from the crowd … Jesus now can have the man’s attention without distraction. How often have you or I who hear … needed to get away so we can speak to someone privately, so the noise of the crowd doesn’t distract us?
Jesus gets his attention.
The text says he put his fingers into his ears. Again not the healing but showing that he understands what the man’s problem is and that he intends to correct it. You can almost see Jesus show his fingers to the man and reach to his ears as if to say, “I understand your problem.”
And now we read: … after spitting touched his tongue. Again in the language of the deaf Jesus wants the man to focus on the problem of his tongue and lack of speech and that he desires to heal these problems. You can see in the depiction on our bulletin cover the man sees and understands what is about to happen. He is fixed on Jesus.
By Christ you are opened too!
Your maladies are greater than hearing loss and being unable to speak. You and I and the man who is deaf and mute in our lesson for today are born dead to God and as a result we are unable to come to Jesus and receive the spiritual healing we need and that Christ desires to give. It takes an act of God to satisfy God’s justice and in Christ, God’s wrath has been appeased. It also takes an act of God to bring you and me from death to life by God working in us through the power of the Holy Spirit … working through the word … opening our ears to hear … so that we believe in him “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Rev. 1:8
34 And looking up to heaven, [Jesus] sighed, not as a means to the healing, or a hope that God the Father would answer Christ’s prayer, but as a sign communicating the heavenly healing that he was about to perform, and a point of our own sighing in our own prayers mediated by God.
and said to him, “Ephphatha,” The common Aramaic language of the home intended by St. Mark to give us the very word Christ spoke … and what it means, “Be opened.”
Jesus has the man’s attention, privately; he shows what he intends to do with his ears and his mouth; that he understands his problem and he is willing and able to help; and he looks up to heaven, the place of all good and comfort, healing and peace and says “Ephphatha, … Be opened.”
By Christ you are opened!
35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
The healing of Jesus is complete, opening the ears and mouth of the man who was deaf and mute. And just as the man was healed and “spoke plainly,” as the gift of language was given him, you dear friends, too have had Heaven opened, the place of all good by Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God, and have received comfort, healing, and peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As Isaiah says of the suffering servant in chapter 53:5:
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
Interestingly, Jesus as he does at times tells them to “tell no one.” And what do they do? They tell everyone! [And] the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
You know that feeling too, don’t you? When we pray for good test results and they come back good what do you do?
You tell everyone! You joyfully proclaim that good news you have been given for all to hear!
There is even better news then the good test results you get and that is the good news that in Christ all things have been made new again. No more sin, death and the power of the devil to fear because Christ has opened heaven to you and me who were once closed to God as his enemies but now have access to him as his children, having been given faith freely in his son.
By Christ you are opened!
37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
And he brings we who were dead in trespass and sin back to life.
He has forgiven your sin and you have God’s favor on account of Christ!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sermon August 29-30, 2015
Title: You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
Text: Eph 6:10-20
11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
What you'd get if 99% were good enough:
No phone service for 15 minutes each day.
1.7 million pieces of first class mail lost each day.
35,000 newborn babies dropped by doctors or nurses each year
200,000 people getting the wrong drug prescriptions each year
Unsafe drinking water three days a year.
Three misspelled words on the average page of type.
2 million people would die from food poisoning each year.
Unknown.
We are thankful that it is not that which we do that makes us righteous but that which Christ has done which saves completely and makes us acceptable to God.
You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Songwriter: STILLS, STEPHEN, Published by Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. http://www.metrolyrics.com/for-what-its-worth-lyrics-buffalo-springfield.html
For What it’s Worth - the anthem of the unrest of the late 1960s, 1967 in fact … from the pen of Stephen Stills and the band Buffalo Springfield. The Vietnam War raged on, along with the draft and the draft dodgers who went to Canada; Kent State, and the students who died protesting at an Ohio University, an institution of higher learning. Richard Nixon and Watergate; the White House tapes and on and on … this was a hard and turbulent time in our nation’s history.
Today seems headed in a similar direction. Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland, and unrest in the streets fill the headlines. Black lives matter verses all lives matter, pro choice or pro life, politicians vying for Presidential nominations and protests going on around the country. Battle lines are certainly being drawn, politically … socially … and morally. Christianity and the church are being attacked on all sides. Young people are speaking their minds ... by their very absence from church.
In 1966 Time Magazine, on its cover asked the question: “Is God Dead?” 20 years ago Joan Osborn asked the question, in her hit song from 1995, “What if God was one of us” you might remember the chorus … What if God was one of us / Just a slob like one of us / Just a stranger on the bus / Trying to make His way home? Today many may wonder and ask this same question as they struggle with the brokenness of their lives, in a world that is spiraling out of control, with ... it seems like… little ... or no hope.
Paul tells the Ephesian church to, 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Many Christians today take this as their marching orders from God to get in the world being ready to battle the righteous fight for truth, justice and moral purity. And while we are told always [to] be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; (1 Peter 3:15) we are also told to do this, with gentleness and respect.
For Paul reminds us who the enemy really is.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, - not against those who appear to be the enemies we face - but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The darkness of the devil and his demons are the ones railing against Christ and the victory won at the cross. The target is on you too. To cause you to fall back into the darkness that you have been rescued once and for all from.
You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
Ill.
The soldier's first article of faith is summed up nowhere more eloquently than in an 1865 letter from General William Tecumseh Sherman to General Ulysses S. Grant, where he wrote: "I knew wherever I was, that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come--if alive." This is the unwritten, unspoken but unbreakable contract of the battlefield: You will leave no one, dead or alive, in the hands of the enemy.
U.S. News and World Report, July 29, 1991, p. 5.
God’s armor is for your protection. Paul tells the Ephesian church and us to:
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand [or stand firm] in the evil day, days just like today … not to battle but, to stand firm … not to fall again into darkness and the temptations of the devil … but to rise, being clothed with Christ daily!
With the image of battle lines being drawn and battle armor being put on … belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and sword Paul says that we are really armed and fitted with truth, with righteousness, with peace, and with faith through the Gospel, the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.
You dear friends are clothed in Christ with the armor of God and his saving gospel!
In the Joan Osborn song, Eric Bazilian the writer asks:
If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to His face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?
Songwriter Eric Bazilian, Published by HUMAN BOY MUSIC http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-if-god-was-one-of-us-lyrics-alanis-morissette.html
When the Joan Osborn song was climbing up the charts and I was still pretty active playing music with a few bands back in the mid 90s I wrote a song in answer to “What if God was one of us?” It was simply called, “God was one of us.”
As a Christian rescued by Christ and shown mercy in the face of my own depravity I could only sing God’s praise for what he had done for me. We are not called to faith to escape the trials of this world, for from the words of Jesus himself he says:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
But, in spite of these trials we are to sing the truth of God’s rescue in Christ. To call, by the power of the saving gospel, those to faith by the word of God through the working of the Holy Spirit, that in spite of the devils lies that questions “did God really say” from the Garden of Eden, to the lies of our own day which question the existence of the historical Jesus, our own sinfulness, or the working of the devil in the world, that yes … God was one of us and because of Jesus we live, move and have our being.
In the world of Paul’s day and 22 … standing in the midst of the Arieopagus, he said:
“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
You are God’s child because he desires you. You are God’s child because he died for you and freed you from the curse of the law that you and I could never keep … with even 99% being a failing grade. You are God’s child because by his Spirit he called you to believe the word of the gospel giving you faith and raising you from being dead in trespass and sin to newness of life in him, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The song asks the question:
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?
Jesus gives answer to questions in Matthew to the sheep and the goats when he says in Matthew 25:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Matt 25:31
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. Matt 25:34
But the questions the righteous will ask:
37 … ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King [Jesus in glory] will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matt 25:37-40
You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Text: Eph 6:10-20
11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
What you'd get if 99% were good enough:
No phone service for 15 minutes each day.
1.7 million pieces of first class mail lost each day.
35,000 newborn babies dropped by doctors or nurses each year
200,000 people getting the wrong drug prescriptions each year
Unsafe drinking water three days a year.
Three misspelled words on the average page of type.
2 million people would die from food poisoning each year.
Unknown.
We are thankful that it is not that which we do that makes us righteous but that which Christ has done which saves completely and makes us acceptable to God.
You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Songwriter: STILLS, STEPHEN, Published by Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. http://www.metrolyrics.com/for-what-its-worth-lyrics-buffalo-springfield.html
For What it’s Worth - the anthem of the unrest of the late 1960s, 1967 in fact … from the pen of Stephen Stills and the band Buffalo Springfield. The Vietnam War raged on, along with the draft and the draft dodgers who went to Canada; Kent State, and the students who died protesting at an Ohio University, an institution of higher learning. Richard Nixon and Watergate; the White House tapes and on and on … this was a hard and turbulent time in our nation’s history.
Today seems headed in a similar direction. Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland, and unrest in the streets fill the headlines. Black lives matter verses all lives matter, pro choice or pro life, politicians vying for Presidential nominations and protests going on around the country. Battle lines are certainly being drawn, politically … socially … and morally. Christianity and the church are being attacked on all sides. Young people are speaking their minds ... by their very absence from church.
In 1966 Time Magazine, on its cover asked the question: “Is God Dead?” 20 years ago Joan Osborn asked the question, in her hit song from 1995, “What if God was one of us” you might remember the chorus … What if God was one of us / Just a slob like one of us / Just a stranger on the bus / Trying to make His way home? Today many may wonder and ask this same question as they struggle with the brokenness of their lives, in a world that is spiraling out of control, with ... it seems like… little ... or no hope.
Paul tells the Ephesian church to, 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Many Christians today take this as their marching orders from God to get in the world being ready to battle the righteous fight for truth, justice and moral purity. And while we are told always [to] be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; (1 Peter 3:15) we are also told to do this, with gentleness and respect.
For Paul reminds us who the enemy really is.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, - not against those who appear to be the enemies we face - but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The darkness of the devil and his demons are the ones railing against Christ and the victory won at the cross. The target is on you too. To cause you to fall back into the darkness that you have been rescued once and for all from.
You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
Ill.
The soldier's first article of faith is summed up nowhere more eloquently than in an 1865 letter from General William Tecumseh Sherman to General Ulysses S. Grant, where he wrote: "I knew wherever I was, that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come--if alive." This is the unwritten, unspoken but unbreakable contract of the battlefield: You will leave no one, dead or alive, in the hands of the enemy.
U.S. News and World Report, July 29, 1991, p. 5.
God’s armor is for your protection. Paul tells the Ephesian church and us to:
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand [or stand firm] in the evil day, days just like today … not to battle but, to stand firm … not to fall again into darkness and the temptations of the devil … but to rise, being clothed with Christ daily!
With the image of battle lines being drawn and battle armor being put on … belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and sword Paul says that we are really armed and fitted with truth, with righteousness, with peace, and with faith through the Gospel, the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.
You dear friends are clothed in Christ with the armor of God and his saving gospel!
In the Joan Osborn song, Eric Bazilian the writer asks:
If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to His face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?
Songwriter Eric Bazilian, Published by HUMAN BOY MUSIC http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-if-god-was-one-of-us-lyrics-alanis-morissette.html
When the Joan Osborn song was climbing up the charts and I was still pretty active playing music with a few bands back in the mid 90s I wrote a song in answer to “What if God was one of us?” It was simply called, “God was one of us.”
As a Christian rescued by Christ and shown mercy in the face of my own depravity I could only sing God’s praise for what he had done for me. We are not called to faith to escape the trials of this world, for from the words of Jesus himself he says:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
But, in spite of these trials we are to sing the truth of God’s rescue in Christ. To call, by the power of the saving gospel, those to faith by the word of God through the working of the Holy Spirit, that in spite of the devils lies that questions “did God really say” from the Garden of Eden, to the lies of our own day which question the existence of the historical Jesus, our own sinfulness, or the working of the devil in the world, that yes … God was one of us and because of Jesus we live, move and have our being.
In the world of Paul’s day and 22 … standing in the midst of the Arieopagus, he said:
“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
You are God’s child because he desires you. You are God’s child because he died for you and freed you from the curse of the law that you and I could never keep … with even 99% being a failing grade. You are God’s child because by his Spirit he called you to believe the word of the gospel giving you faith and raising you from being dead in trespass and sin to newness of life in him, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The song asks the question:
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?
Jesus gives answer to questions in Matthew to the sheep and the goats when he says in Matthew 25:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Matt 25:31
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. Matt 25:34
But the questions the righteous will ask:
37 … ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King [Jesus in glory] will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matt 25:37-40
You are clothed in Christ with the armor of God!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Monday, August 24, 2015
Sermon August 22-23, 2015
Title: Love, as Christ loves the church!
Text: Eph 5:22-23
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
[Some years back], the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri made public 1,300 recently discovered letters that the late President wrote to his wife, Bess, over the course of a half-century. Mr. Truman had a lifelong rule of writing to his wife every day they were apart.
He followed this rule whenever he was away on official business or whenever Bess left Washington to visit her beloved Independence. Scholars are examining the letters for any new light they may throw on political and diplomatic history. For our part, we were most impressed by the simple fact that every day he was away, the President of the United States took time out from his dealing with the world's most powerful leaders to sit down and write a letter to his wife.
Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, pp. 15-16.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Gen2:24; Eph 5;31; Matt.19:5
Many today believe that the couple makes marriage and thus they can decide what their wedding and marriage should be like. In reality, the Word of the Lord teaches that God makes marriage. Psalm 127:1 testifies, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” And Jesus proclaimed in answer to those who sought to do with marriage whatever they wanted:
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (St. Matthew 19:4-6)
By becoming husband and wife and joining together in one family we find in a Christian marriage the importance of: Promise, Sacrifice and Joy.
Promise
As we pledge our love for one another in marriage and promise to hold that love for as long as we both shall live; we find in the Lutheran Service Book marriage rite three readings from Genesis, Matthew and our epistle reading for today in Ephesians 5 where this verse is present. “The husband will be joined to his wife and the two will become one flesh.”
As individuals the two now become one. As husband and wife there is the promise to be and think as one. Not that you lose yourself and simply parrot what the other says or desire what they desire, but that your joy as a couple will be to live your life for each other … to care for each other … to make decisions with each other in mind because formerly the two are now one.
The apostle Paul tells us that this is a mystery and that it is profound and that this marriage union of becoming one refers to Christ and His Church.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
To understand the love of husband and wife is to understand Christ’s love. Wives are called to love and respect their husbands who have been given the position of headship which reflects the order of creation in the family just as Christ is the head of the church but submits to the Father’s will. – Not my will by thy will be done. - And the husband is to love his wife and give himself fully to her as Christ gave himself up unto death for his bride … the church.
This is a difficult responsibility for both husbands and wives as we are not Christ and in fact we all fall short daily as sinners. It is not about the wife keeping her part of the marriage bargain, so that the husband will keep his … or about the husband doing his part, so that the wife will submit and do hers. It is in fact, that even though both will fail and fall short daily they are one … and called to be and remain one … in love and respect for one another.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
And Christ love was a sacrificial love!
Ill.
William Gladstone, in announcing the death of Princess Alice to the House of Commons, told a touching story. The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her own life by breathing the child's breath.
Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, and without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and some days thereafter went to be forever with the Lord.
Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn't count the cost. The Bible says, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." Song of Solomon 8:7
Source Unknown.
Sacrifice
Ill.
To sacrifice is to give of oneself for the benefit of the other.
When I was getting married, my dad took me aside and said, “Russ marriage is a big responsibility. You are making a commitment.” He then told me the secret to a long marriage, “Love is about total compromise.”
These next words from my dad bear keeping close attention to, and I believe are most importantly given for the benefit of we husbands, “When it feels like you’re giving 80% and your spouse is giving 20% it is probably 50-50%” Compromise always feels like we are giving more. It at times is a sacrifice for the benefit of the other and we know and understand that Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, and the sons of disobedience so that the sins of the whole world might be forgiven by Christ’s life given on the cross.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
I heard it said once that a husband and wife were trying to decide where to go on vacation. The husband wanted to go to New York, the Big Apple, and see the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty while the wife wanted to go to Florida and just relax at a resort, so they compromised … they went to Florida. A marriage built by God is a loving marriage of compromise and sacrifice.
Paul continues:
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
Joy
The blessings that are united in marriage are hard to explain; through the biblical model of love and respect, submission and sacrifice two unique individuals are joined together in the union of husband and wife. The resulting joy can sustain both in times of trial and suffering.
Christ’s suffering brought joy and peace to his church. His love for the church brought his sacrificial death on the cross for you and husbands are to model that sacrificial love for his wife as he gives himself for her and the care of his family. Wives also respect and love their husband as unto Christ who has saved and sanctified - which is to make holy - his bride the church.
Being saved is something the church knows quite a bit about. Sacrificial love as Christ gave for the life of the world is brought to His children by faith and is also modeled as we give ourselves to one another both in marriage and in service to others.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Paul says … 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
May each of us joy always in the union and oneness of our marriage vowels, connected to Jesus Christ who is the way the truth and the life. He is the one who carries you and me through the times of hardship in your marriage and family life together that all marriages will need to endure.
For those of you who have not, and are not united in marriage at this time: God may make a way … weather young and never married or older and not currently married or widowed … so that your life may be filled with Love … and respect, joy … and peace, submission … and yes sacrifice; for what God has joined together let no man separate.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Text: Eph 5:22-23
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
[Some years back], the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri made public 1,300 recently discovered letters that the late President wrote to his wife, Bess, over the course of a half-century. Mr. Truman had a lifelong rule of writing to his wife every day they were apart.
He followed this rule whenever he was away on official business or whenever Bess left Washington to visit her beloved Independence. Scholars are examining the letters for any new light they may throw on political and diplomatic history. For our part, we were most impressed by the simple fact that every day he was away, the President of the United States took time out from his dealing with the world's most powerful leaders to sit down and write a letter to his wife.
Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, pp. 15-16.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Gen2:24; Eph 5;31; Matt.19:5
Many today believe that the couple makes marriage and thus they can decide what their wedding and marriage should be like. In reality, the Word of the Lord teaches that God makes marriage. Psalm 127:1 testifies, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” And Jesus proclaimed in answer to those who sought to do with marriage whatever they wanted:
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (St. Matthew 19:4-6)
By becoming husband and wife and joining together in one family we find in a Christian marriage the importance of: Promise, Sacrifice and Joy.
Promise
As we pledge our love for one another in marriage and promise to hold that love for as long as we both shall live; we find in the Lutheran Service Book marriage rite three readings from Genesis, Matthew and our epistle reading for today in Ephesians 5 where this verse is present. “The husband will be joined to his wife and the two will become one flesh.”
As individuals the two now become one. As husband and wife there is the promise to be and think as one. Not that you lose yourself and simply parrot what the other says or desire what they desire, but that your joy as a couple will be to live your life for each other … to care for each other … to make decisions with each other in mind because formerly the two are now one.
The apostle Paul tells us that this is a mystery and that it is profound and that this marriage union of becoming one refers to Christ and His Church.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
To understand the love of husband and wife is to understand Christ’s love. Wives are called to love and respect their husbands who have been given the position of headship which reflects the order of creation in the family just as Christ is the head of the church but submits to the Father’s will. – Not my will by thy will be done. - And the husband is to love his wife and give himself fully to her as Christ gave himself up unto death for his bride … the church.
This is a difficult responsibility for both husbands and wives as we are not Christ and in fact we all fall short daily as sinners. It is not about the wife keeping her part of the marriage bargain, so that the husband will keep his … or about the husband doing his part, so that the wife will submit and do hers. It is in fact, that even though both will fail and fall short daily they are one … and called to be and remain one … in love and respect for one another.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
And Christ love was a sacrificial love!
Ill.
William Gladstone, in announcing the death of Princess Alice to the House of Commons, told a touching story. The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her own life by breathing the child's breath.
Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, and without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and some days thereafter went to be forever with the Lord.
Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn't count the cost. The Bible says, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." Song of Solomon 8:7
Source Unknown.
Sacrifice
Ill.
To sacrifice is to give of oneself for the benefit of the other.
When I was getting married, my dad took me aside and said, “Russ marriage is a big responsibility. You are making a commitment.” He then told me the secret to a long marriage, “Love is about total compromise.”
These next words from my dad bear keeping close attention to, and I believe are most importantly given for the benefit of we husbands, “When it feels like you’re giving 80% and your spouse is giving 20% it is probably 50-50%” Compromise always feels like we are giving more. It at times is a sacrifice for the benefit of the other and we know and understand that Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, and the sons of disobedience so that the sins of the whole world might be forgiven by Christ’s life given on the cross.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
I heard it said once that a husband and wife were trying to decide where to go on vacation. The husband wanted to go to New York, the Big Apple, and see the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty while the wife wanted to go to Florida and just relax at a resort, so they compromised … they went to Florida. A marriage built by God is a loving marriage of compromise and sacrifice.
Paul continues:
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
Joy
The blessings that are united in marriage are hard to explain; through the biblical model of love and respect, submission and sacrifice two unique individuals are joined together in the union of husband and wife. The resulting joy can sustain both in times of trial and suffering.
Christ’s suffering brought joy and peace to his church. His love for the church brought his sacrificial death on the cross for you and husbands are to model that sacrificial love for his wife as he gives himself for her and the care of his family. Wives also respect and love their husband as unto Christ who has saved and sanctified - which is to make holy - his bride the church.
Being saved is something the church knows quite a bit about. Sacrificial love as Christ gave for the life of the world is brought to His children by faith and is also modeled as we give ourselves to one another both in marriage and in service to others.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Paul says … 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
May each of us joy always in the union and oneness of our marriage vowels, connected to Jesus Christ who is the way the truth and the life. He is the one who carries you and me through the times of hardship in your marriage and family life together that all marriages will need to endure.
For those of you who have not, and are not united in marriage at this time: God may make a way … weather young and never married or older and not currently married or widowed … so that your life may be filled with Love … and respect, joy … and peace, submission … and yes sacrifice; for what God has joined together let no man separate.
Love, as Christ loves the church!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Monday, August 17, 2015
Sermon August 15-16, 2015
Title: Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
Text: Eph. 5:6-21
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Famous American lies
- The check is in the mail.
- I'll start my diet tomorrow.
- We service what we sell.
- Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.
- Money cheerfully refunded.
- One size fits all.
- Your luggage isn't lost, it's only misplaced.
- Leave your resume and we'll keep it on file.
- This hurts me more than it hurts you.
- I just need five minutes of your time.
- Your table will be ready in a few minutes.
- Open wide, it won't hurt a bit.
- It's not the money, it's the principle.
- It’s not a baby … until it’s born.
Bits & Pieces, December 9, 1993, pp. 12-13.
Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Empty words, we’ve all heard them. All those phrases that I read … that you and I have heard at one time or another in our lives … are words meant to deceive, to put off, or to fill one’s own agenda. The sons of disobedience hear and follow. Those opposed to Christ and his gospel continue to go the way of destruction, but we too who have been brought to faith by God’s gifts give way to the call of darkness and fall in sin.
7 Therefore do not become partners with them;
Don’t get sucked in, Paul tells the Ephesians. But what were the Ephesians getting sucked into … and does it apply to you and me?
Paul says in verse three and four that preceded our text:
3 [That] sexual immorality and all impurity or [coveting] must not even be named among you, and he concludes: 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking … but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who [covets], [which is to desire that which is not yours] … has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Harsh words indeed and the Ephesians were falling short then, and Christians today fall short too. When desires, feelings and societal norms go against God’s word and truth … the result is that darkness [the realm of Satan] reigns.
Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
You and I feel it too. Sin is a powerful force that in thought, word and deed we can all give in to … and its desires can lead us away from the truth that God intends.
When Paul speaks of sexual immorality and all impurity he is not just speaking of same sex attraction, (though homosexuality would be included in his rebuke) but of all sexual sins outside of God’s design of marriage or in the context of marriage that defiles that union.
Whether perpetrator or victim, there are no winners and the story in the news of the two freshmen congressional representatives in Lansing can attest to that. Here one man and one woman, with families of their own that have been harmed and broken by this affair have been affected. Spouses and children confused and hurt and while the information is still unfolding I’m sure, both public servants, had great intent in serving the needs of their communities and to do a good job making things better for the people they serve. But their adulterous relationship has jeopardized that service now with many calling for their resignation. Lies, innuendoes, supposed blackmail and cover up abound. It may be hard for either of these representatives to serve publicly, in any capacity again.
Paul cautions the Ephesians:
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
And here’s the key …
13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,
The light that exposes darkness is Jesus Christ and his word of truth. And it is not to use God as a means – claiming “I believe” - while denying him and living in sin using Christ as a cover. But through repentance it is God’s desire that you be restored freely by faith in Christ through his saving Gospel and working of the Holy Spirit. And also by the light of the gospel that your light shines in the midst of those in darkness so that they too might come to faith and believe.
Paul speaks of coveting as well, or desiring that which you don’t have … and this can also be things we desire or people.
As Luther says in his explanation for the 9th and 10th commandments:
We should fear and love God that we may not [find] seek to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, and obtain it by a show of [justice and] right, etc., but help and be of service to him in keeping it … (9th commandment)
… [nor covet], force, or entice away our neighbor's wife, servants, or cattle, but urge them to stay and [diligently] do their duty. (10th commandment)
http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php
Darkness and light … lies and truth … you can’t ride the fence.
Ill.
Fuller Warren, who was Florida's governor in the '50s, was running for office in a year that counties were voting their local option on permitting the sale of liquor. Asked for his position on wet-versus-dry, he would say:
"If by whiskey you mean the water of life that cheers men's souls, that smooths out the tensions of the day, that gives gentle perspective to one's view of life, then put my name on the list of the fervent wets. But if by whiskey you mean the devil's brew that rends families, destroys careers and ruins one's ability to work, then count me in the ranks of the dries.
William Safire in New York Times Magazine.
I’ll have it just as I want it and change the narrative, might have been his view.
Everything you do untimely says something about who you are. So … 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, Paul says, don’t let the world, your sinful flesh or the devil be your guide. And all too often we can fall silent in the face of evil.
Ill,
The illuminating light revealed in the resent videos and working of Planned Parenthood as life is pulled from the womb and sold much like parts from a junkyard … can even breakdown the staunchest defenders of abortion.
As one Worker who felt betrayed writes:
[I sat stunned watching the video. They swore that our affiliate didn’t do that. They hid it from me, and lied to me so that I would continue to protect them while they did it. And the worst part of the video? The announcement of “Hey, it’s another boy!”
Wait……it can’t be a boy. You told me it was nothing but a clump of cells. “A boy” is a determination you make about a baby ... A boy … is a child.]
http://archive.aweber.com/exposingthelie/EOPjj/h/_WorkersBetrayed.htm
Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Joel Fritsche a career missionary suggests that this might be a stanza from an early Christian hymn. It certainly could be with this image of dying and rising and awaking from death that you and I who have been brought to faith understand. Not only being buried with Christ in our baptism, but also the daily rising we do each day as we remember what Christ, our baptisms and the working of the holy Spirit.
God’s will is that you live in light and not in the darkness that Satan inhabits. For that very reason Jesus died for you, so that you might be free of sin, death and the power of the devil and by his Spirit live a life free of the darkness of sin. And while drifting back into the ways of darkness will always be there Paul also points to a means that God gives to keep you illumined to God’s love for you.
[being] filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Here in the Divine Service God calls us to come. To be fed on word and sacrament. To receive God’s favor on account of Christ, and to go fourth, in a world of darkness, with the light of the gospel of peace – the very word of God – and it is this word that brings those who are dead in sin and darkness to God’s marvelous light of forgiveness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Text: Eph. 5:6-21
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Famous American lies
- The check is in the mail.
- I'll start my diet tomorrow.
- We service what we sell.
- Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.
- Money cheerfully refunded.
- One size fits all.
- Your luggage isn't lost, it's only misplaced.
- Leave your resume and we'll keep it on file.
- This hurts me more than it hurts you.
- I just need five minutes of your time.
- Your table will be ready in a few minutes.
- Open wide, it won't hurt a bit.
- It's not the money, it's the principle.
- It’s not a baby … until it’s born.
Bits & Pieces, December 9, 1993, pp. 12-13.
Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Empty words, we’ve all heard them. All those phrases that I read … that you and I have heard at one time or another in our lives … are words meant to deceive, to put off, or to fill one’s own agenda. The sons of disobedience hear and follow. Those opposed to Christ and his gospel continue to go the way of destruction, but we too who have been brought to faith by God’s gifts give way to the call of darkness and fall in sin.
7 Therefore do not become partners with them;
Don’t get sucked in, Paul tells the Ephesians. But what were the Ephesians getting sucked into … and does it apply to you and me?
Paul says in verse three and four that preceded our text:
3 [That] sexual immorality and all impurity or [coveting] must not even be named among you, and he concludes: 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking … but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who [covets], [which is to desire that which is not yours] … has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Harsh words indeed and the Ephesians were falling short then, and Christians today fall short too. When desires, feelings and societal norms go against God’s word and truth … the result is that darkness [the realm of Satan] reigns.
Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
You and I feel it too. Sin is a powerful force that in thought, word and deed we can all give in to … and its desires can lead us away from the truth that God intends.
When Paul speaks of sexual immorality and all impurity he is not just speaking of same sex attraction, (though homosexuality would be included in his rebuke) but of all sexual sins outside of God’s design of marriage or in the context of marriage that defiles that union.
Whether perpetrator or victim, there are no winners and the story in the news of the two freshmen congressional representatives in Lansing can attest to that. Here one man and one woman, with families of their own that have been harmed and broken by this affair have been affected. Spouses and children confused and hurt and while the information is still unfolding I’m sure, both public servants, had great intent in serving the needs of their communities and to do a good job making things better for the people they serve. But their adulterous relationship has jeopardized that service now with many calling for their resignation. Lies, innuendoes, supposed blackmail and cover up abound. It may be hard for either of these representatives to serve publicly, in any capacity again.
Paul cautions the Ephesians:
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
And here’s the key …
13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,
The light that exposes darkness is Jesus Christ and his word of truth. And it is not to use God as a means – claiming “I believe” - while denying him and living in sin using Christ as a cover. But through repentance it is God’s desire that you be restored freely by faith in Christ through his saving Gospel and working of the Holy Spirit. And also by the light of the gospel that your light shines in the midst of those in darkness so that they too might come to faith and believe.
Paul speaks of coveting as well, or desiring that which you don’t have … and this can also be things we desire or people.
As Luther says in his explanation for the 9th and 10th commandments:
We should fear and love God that we may not [find] seek to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, and obtain it by a show of [justice and] right, etc., but help and be of service to him in keeping it … (9th commandment)
… [nor covet], force, or entice away our neighbor's wife, servants, or cattle, but urge them to stay and [diligently] do their duty. (10th commandment)
http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php
Darkness and light … lies and truth … you can’t ride the fence.
Ill.
Fuller Warren, who was Florida's governor in the '50s, was running for office in a year that counties were voting their local option on permitting the sale of liquor. Asked for his position on wet-versus-dry, he would say:
"If by whiskey you mean the water of life that cheers men's souls, that smooths out the tensions of the day, that gives gentle perspective to one's view of life, then put my name on the list of the fervent wets. But if by whiskey you mean the devil's brew that rends families, destroys careers and ruins one's ability to work, then count me in the ranks of the dries.
William Safire in New York Times Magazine.
I’ll have it just as I want it and change the narrative, might have been his view.
Everything you do untimely says something about who you are. So … 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, Paul says, don’t let the world, your sinful flesh or the devil be your guide. And all too often we can fall silent in the face of evil.
Ill,
The illuminating light revealed in the resent videos and working of Planned Parenthood as life is pulled from the womb and sold much like parts from a junkyard … can even breakdown the staunchest defenders of abortion.
As one Worker who felt betrayed writes:
[I sat stunned watching the video. They swore that our affiliate didn’t do that. They hid it from me, and lied to me so that I would continue to protect them while they did it. And the worst part of the video? The announcement of “Hey, it’s another boy!”
Wait……it can’t be a boy. You told me it was nothing but a clump of cells. “A boy” is a determination you make about a baby ... A boy … is a child.]
http://archive.aweber.com/exposingthelie/EOPjj/h/_WorkersBetrayed.htm
Awake and arise for Christ is with you!
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Joel Fritsche a career missionary suggests that this might be a stanza from an early Christian hymn. It certainly could be with this image of dying and rising and awaking from death that you and I who have been brought to faith understand. Not only being buried with Christ in our baptism, but also the daily rising we do each day as we remember what Christ, our baptisms and the working of the holy Spirit.
God’s will is that you live in light and not in the darkness that Satan inhabits. For that very reason Jesus died for you, so that you might be free of sin, death and the power of the devil and by his Spirit live a life free of the darkness of sin. And while drifting back into the ways of darkness will always be there Paul also points to a means that God gives to keep you illumined to God’s love for you.
[being] filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Here in the Divine Service God calls us to come. To be fed on word and sacrament. To receive God’s favor on account of Christ, and to go fourth, in a world of darkness, with the light of the gospel of peace – the very word of God – and it is this word that brings those who are dead in sin and darkness to God’s marvelous light of forgiveness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Sermon July 25-26, 2015
Title: Christ calms the storms of life!
Text: Mark 6:45-56
47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and [Jesus] was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night [Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
“The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock.”
These are the words of St. John Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, from a sermon preached around 400 AD. He was sent into exile for his faith … which led ultimately to his death.
He continues:
“Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the boat … of Jesus. What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile? ‘The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate therefore on the present situation, and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.”
https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/233/whom_shall_i_fear___john_chrysostom.html
Fear can consume us all. Whether it be financial, personal or medical. The Rock upon which our faith is built is Christ. He is the rock of refuge. He is the place of comfort. He is the pavilion of rest. He is the gift of mercy. Upon this rock …
Christ calms the storms of life!
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat [Luther sees the boat as a metaphor for the church] and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
Jesus compels the disciples to leave. Maybe there was unwillingness on their part but Jesus made them get into the boat. He dismisses the crowds and then as is consistent with Jesus, no matter the crowds or the work or the distractions … Jesus prays.
47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, [also seen as a metaphor for the chaos of the world broken in sin, death and the devil] and he was alone on the land.
By this time … the boat was a far way off. The wind and waves were against it and the disciples … as life at times can be.
Ill.
The storms can came through Waterford, with wind rain and hail. Tree limbs can break, homes and cars can be damaged, and power for some … can be lost.
You have experienced storms and so have I. Storms can come without warning and fear can be greatest … in the depth of the night.
And about the fourth watch of the night …
Jesus spent almost the entire night, after the disciples departed, in prayer. The fourth watch would be late, between 3 AM and 6 AM. It can be the darkest part of the night or just before the grayness of dawn gives way to morning, and the disciples were fighting against the waves of the sea and the wind which were against them.
[Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. Mark 6:48b
If you’ve ever been up most of the night you might understand the disciple’s distress. The wind, the waves … 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified.
Christ calms the storms of life!
Ill.
A 5-year old [boy] was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry [closet] and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." [Well, he] walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave [again] when all at once an idea came [him], and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"
Charles Allen, Victory in the Valleys.
As a pastor, I get to visit quite a few people at the hospital. Some are dealing with minor procedures while others have grave and serious concerns. It is always a joy to be asked to pray for those who need a comforting word at this time of great worry and fear. Christ brings that type of peace.
Especially when those who are expecting surgery or having tests done and are looking for good test results, concern can run high. But prayer can calm the troubled heart regardless of the result and Jesus Christ can bring true peace. In his hands our life is handled.
This week we celebrated with the children at Vacation Bible School. For some who are new to this, it can be a time of fear as they come to experience a new place and new people. This can be concerning. But just as we sing songs and learn about Jesus, his family and his home, peace can come at this hectic time …
For it is Jesus who says: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Apart from God’s word of forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit we all would be consumed with fear at the despair and weight of your sins.
Christ calms the storms of life!
The trials of life and the storms that attack us can’t diminish the Love of God for you his beloved redeemed children.
51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
Jesus is the peace beyond all understanding.
54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.
The needs of body and soul are always at peace in Christ because he loves you and has given his life so that you might live.
56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
You, dear friends are Christ children! Rejoice in the wonderful joys of standing on the Rock, which is Christ Jesus our Lord who called you to himself.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
Text: Mark 6:45-56
47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and [Jesus] was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night [Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
“The waters have risen and severe storms are upon us, but we do not fear drowning, for we stand firmly upon a rock.”
These are the words of St. John Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, from a sermon preached around 400 AD. He was sent into exile for his faith … which led ultimately to his death.
He continues:
“Let the sea rage, it cannot break the rock. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the boat … of Jesus. What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain. Exile? ‘The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable. I have no fear of poverty, no desire for wealth. I am not afraid of death nor do I long to live, except for your good. I concentrate therefore on the present situation, and I urge you, my friends, to have confidence.”
https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/233/whom_shall_i_fear___john_chrysostom.html
Fear can consume us all. Whether it be financial, personal or medical. The Rock upon which our faith is built is Christ. He is the rock of refuge. He is the place of comfort. He is the pavilion of rest. He is the gift of mercy. Upon this rock …
Christ calms the storms of life!
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat [Luther sees the boat as a metaphor for the church] and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
Jesus compels the disciples to leave. Maybe there was unwillingness on their part but Jesus made them get into the boat. He dismisses the crowds and then as is consistent with Jesus, no matter the crowds or the work or the distractions … Jesus prays.
47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, [also seen as a metaphor for the chaos of the world broken in sin, death and the devil] and he was alone on the land.
By this time … the boat was a far way off. The wind and waves were against it and the disciples … as life at times can be.
Ill.
The storms can came through Waterford, with wind rain and hail. Tree limbs can break, homes and cars can be damaged, and power for some … can be lost.
You have experienced storms and so have I. Storms can come without warning and fear can be greatest … in the depth of the night.
And about the fourth watch of the night …
Jesus spent almost the entire night, after the disciples departed, in prayer. The fourth watch would be late, between 3 AM and 6 AM. It can be the darkest part of the night or just before the grayness of dawn gives way to morning, and the disciples were fighting against the waves of the sea and the wind which were against them.
[Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea. Mark 6:48b
If you’ve ever been up most of the night you might understand the disciple’s distress. The wind, the waves … 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified.
Christ calms the storms of life!
Ill.
A 5-year old [boy] was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry [closet] and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." [Well, he] walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave [again] when all at once an idea came [him], and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"
Charles Allen, Victory in the Valleys.
As a pastor, I get to visit quite a few people at the hospital. Some are dealing with minor procedures while others have grave and serious concerns. It is always a joy to be asked to pray for those who need a comforting word at this time of great worry and fear. Christ brings that type of peace.
Especially when those who are expecting surgery or having tests done and are looking for good test results, concern can run high. But prayer can calm the troubled heart regardless of the result and Jesus Christ can bring true peace. In his hands our life is handled.
This week we celebrated with the children at Vacation Bible School. For some who are new to this, it can be a time of fear as they come to experience a new place and new people. This can be concerning. But just as we sing songs and learn about Jesus, his family and his home, peace can come at this hectic time …
For it is Jesus who says: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Apart from God’s word of forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit we all would be consumed with fear at the despair and weight of your sins.
Christ calms the storms of life!
The trials of life and the storms that attack us can’t diminish the Love of God for you his beloved redeemed children.
51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
Jesus is the peace beyond all understanding.
54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.
The needs of body and soul are always at peace in Christ because he loves you and has given his life so that you might live.
56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
You, dear friends are Christ children! Rejoice in the wonderful joys of standing on the Rock, which is Christ Jesus our Lord who called you to himself.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
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