Sermon Feb 27-28, 2016

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

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

Floyd Collins was exploring Sand Cave on his family’s property to see if it might have tourist potential. Suddenly, his lantern failed. Crawling through the darkness, Collin's foot hit a seven-ton boulder. It fell on his leg, trapping him in the coffin-like narrowness of a dark cave. For days Collins was trapped 125 feet below ground in an ice-cold space 8 inches high and 12 feet long. Though working to reach him in the end, Floyd Collins died alone in the icy darkness where rescuers found his lifeless body.

Today in the Word, Sept 20, 1990.
While death is real it is wonderful to know that:

Christ is faithful and provides you a way!

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

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

Paul talks about those ancient Biblical texts and those being baptized into Moses through the cloud and sea which are types of our sacrament of Baptism; where God, through His means, washes us clean from the filth of sin, rescuing us from sin, death and the Devil and making us his children. God, just as he delivered them, delivers us today and transfers us from the power of Satan into His glorious kingdom, free and marked as redeemed by Christ the crucified. Last Sunday we saw, in the baptism of little Jack Matthews, the blessed freedom still at work by our loving God in the lives of his children as he washes away sin and covers His children with his righteousness.

But, Paul continues:

12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Now, some of the Israelites, who had been with Moses in the desert, Paul says that God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness:

… for in the desert they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

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

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

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

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

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

Paul continues:

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

Maybe you remember the story of the fiery serpents that came into the camp and their bite caused death. God provided a way out and instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole and lift it in the center of the camp for all to see … and all who looked upon the serpent on the pole would be healed and live. But, some didn’t believe and continued to look away …

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

But when temptation strikes like a fiery serpent we can trust that:

Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!

We too, give in even to temptation even after a seeing beautiful gift like the one we saw given to little Jack Matthews last week at his baptism. He will fall, as we all do, he will sin and he will be tempted to fall away just as we all are. But, God has by his mercy sent His Holy Spirit to be with us and in us and to point us to Christ Jesus and his finished work for all of us.

So how do we stay protected?

Ill.

Charles Francis Adams, 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted." His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!" The father thought he was wasting his time fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is your perspective.

Silas Shotwell, in Homemade, Sept, 1987.

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

God, on the other hand, will use this time to equip you, to sustain you, to keep you grounded when things go good and He will continue to build you up, at those times, when things go bad. Giving you the joy of the Spirit in all you do, trusting in Christ to provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

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

Paul cautions the Corinthians:

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

The Lottery can be a trial and a temptation. Money is called the root of all evil. But really it is the love of money that is the root of all evil.

Take the story of Mark and Cindy Hill for example. They are so far the exact opposite of what lottery winners are. They, you may remember, won $136.5 million dollars, take home, after taxes to do what they want.

Well, we all know too well the stories of those past lottery winners who got sucked into the temptation to lie and be of the world and all it has to offer.
To spend and to indulge and in the end to burn out, return to having no riches in the world, or even death as happened last year to Urooj Khan, who died just two months after winning $1 million in the Illinois lottery.

But, Mark and Cindy Hill, a Christian couple, are so far a bit different. They are building their little town a new fire station, and moving the ball field to a safer place for the teams to play and have given $50,000 to buy land so the town can build a new waste treatment plant so that all the residents can get off the old septic system. Mark was going to treat himself to a new Chevy Camaro but instead bought himself a new truck which was a more practical choice in his mind. The point is they are taking the opportunity to make a difference and to show Christian love to those that are in their community.
From what their friends say, it is right in line to the Christian beliefs that they live and practice. Love of God and neighbor.

They had said that they would take care of their children and give most of the rest away and they seem to be doing just that. But, if temptation does raise its ugly head, they will once again turn to into the word and to Jesus Christ the word made flesh for their strength and comfort.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/missouri-powerball
winner_n_2749795.html?1361825691&ncid=webmail17

Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!

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

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

Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!

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

Christ is faithful and will provide you a way!

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

Amen

Sermon Feb. 20-21, 2016 – Second Sunday in Lent

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

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

It is possible to live under a delusion. You think you are kind, considerate and gracious when you are really not. You think you are building positive stuff into your children when in reality, if you could check with them twenty years later, you really didn't. What if you could read your own obituary? How do people really see you? Here is the story of a man who did.

One morning in 1888 Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, awoke to read his own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of a simple journalistic error. You see, it was Alfred's brother that had died and the reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother. Any man would be disturbed under the circumstances, but to Alfred the shock was overwhelming because he saw himself as the world saw him.

“The "Dynamite King," the great industrialist who had made an immense fortune from explosives. This, as far as the general public was concerned, was the entire purpose of Alfred's life. None of his true intentions to break down the barriers that separated men and ideas for peace were recognized or given serious consideration. He was simply a merchant of death. And for that alone he would be remembered. As he read the obituary with horror, he resolved to make clear to the world the true meaning and purpose of his life. This could be done through the final disposition of his fortune. His last will and testament--an endowment of five annual prizes for outstanding contributions in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace (the sixth category of economics was added later)--would be the expression of his life's ideals and ultimately would be why we would remember him. The result was the most valuable of prizes given to those who had done the most for the cause of world peace. It is called today, the "Nobel Peace Prize."

We too have a prize but of significantly more value:

Though you die, yet in Christ you live!

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

Death is a reality of life and a reality of sin. Here the Pharisees of all people tell Jesus about the intentions of Herod.

Herod, you may remember, beheaded John the Baptist from prison in response to a dance that pleased him and his guests by the daughter of his wife, Herodias. Herod had bound John in prison because he had told him that it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s wife and now Herod, by the nagging of his conscience for the death of John, believes that Jesus is the voice of John, come back from the dead.

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

So Jesus tells them:

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

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

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

Ill.

This past weekend Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of an apparent heart attack while on vacation leaving a vacancy on the court. It didn’t take long for both parties to rise in support or opposition to who should be his replacement.

Last week, musician Glenn Frey of the Eagles who passed away in January had a street in Royal Oak renamed Glenn Frey Drive in his honor. No one spoke in opposition to that as the former Willis avenue had no addresses affected and is along one side of the school that Glenn attended making it a simply change with two signs, one at each end, and the schools and city councils approval.

Or, maybe it’s the many faceless people that are fighting cancer and the prospect of good or bad reports they all face wondering will we live or will we die.

The reality of death comes to both young and old alike. It is not a respecter of persons and no amount of money or status can hold it at bay or have it release its steel like grip. Death will come by and to whom it will. We will all get there. But where is hope and salvation?

Paul Kretzmann in his commentary poses this warning:

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

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

And even those that merely lived in a Christian Community, and occasionally permitted Christian influence to graze them, will come and try to state this fact as an argument. But all arguing will be too late. The fact remains that all such people did not [receive] Jesus and His Word, but stubbornly remained [bound] in their sins, and therefore will die and be condemned in their sins.”

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

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

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

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

He laments:

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

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

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

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

In Jesus, in his word and in his gifts!

Jesus is our hope! Jesus is our life! Jesus is our peace! He has called you and me by the Gospel having written your name in the lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world! Through baptism he makes us alive in Christ and gives us by his Spirit newness of life! We saw / or will see the working of God again through the gift of Holy Baptism in the life of a little child marked and redeemed by Christ and given faith in him so that he is truly Christ’s child.

In Him, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we all who believe will be forever in His presence. The wings of our blessed Lord have gathered you under the pavilion of His rest and you can truly rest from all your labors and grief trusting in His all sufficient sacrifice for sin so that we who name the name of Jesus will be with Him for eternity

Though you die, yet in Christ you live!

Though the Nobel Prize is now known for the expression of Albert Nobel’s life's ideals and ultimately is why and how we remember him. You too can be known, not for your value of who you are and what you do in this life but in the value that the Son of God has placed upon you by His death in your place.

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

Though you die, yet in Christ you live!

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

Amen

Sermon Feb. 17, 2016 Lent Service of Prayer and Preaching

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

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

In Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer attempts to reconcile the seemingly contradictory beliefs of God's sovereignty and man's free will:

"An ocean liner leaves New York bound for Liverpool. Its destination has been determined by proper authorities. Nothing can change it. This is at least a faint picture of sovereignty.

"On board the liner are scores of passengers. These are not in chains, neither are their activities determined for them by decree. They are completely free to move about as they will. They eat, sleep, play, lounge about on the deck, read, talk, altogether as they please; but all the while the great liner is carrying them steadily onward toward a predetermined port.

"Both freedom and sovereignty are present here, and they do not contradict. So it is, I believe, with man's freedom and the sovereignty of God. The mighty liner of God's sovereign design keeps its steady course over the sea of history."

Confession and belief are God’s gifts to you!

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

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

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

“Faith and confession are here mentioned as the two requisites for salvation. So near is the redemption of Jesus to every person in the world, in the Word of the Gospel-message, that it is necessary only to believe with the heart and to confess with the mouth in order to become a partaker of all its blessings. If any person believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus is the Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead, then he has the faith which will give him salvation.”

Kretzmann NT Vol. II Pg 55

Confession and belief are God’s gifts to you!

For you and me we must ask ourselves this question: Is Jesus the savior of the word or did he just make a path that we must choose?

Is Christ’s work sufficient?

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

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

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

The path to faith is closed except through the working of the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit works through the Gospel faith emerges in those apart from Christ … and they believe. To paraphrase Luther, the road that had been close has now been open by God’s Spirit and by the gift of faith in Christ’s work you now believe and are directed down the way to everlasting life that God has ordained from the foundation of the world.

Ill.

St. Augustine had this to say:

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

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

Why some and not others? We may ask. It is through our own sinful eyes that we at times determine who is saved and who is lost not knowing for sure.

Ill.

Recently, I was asked to do a funeral for a man I didn’t know. I talked with his wife and she was looking for a Lutheran pastor because he had been baptized and raised in a Missouri Synod church until he went into the service. He served in WWII and Korea and for the remainder of his life looked to those who knew him to be not a religious man. He was Baptized and raised in the faith and to you and me he may have looked to have departed from it. But, the promise of the Lord is that:

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

It is certainly within the realm of possibility that the Lord by his Spirit, as this man looked at the certainty of his death repented, asked for forgiveness and was saved. It is the blessed hope and sufficient working of our loving God by his Spirit that I proclaimed at his funeral the means of grace … word and sacrament, that at his baptism Richard was marked as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.

Earlier in Romans 9 Paul made this gift clear:

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

Confession and belief are God’s gifts to you!

God who in mercy has called you will now bring about the means to your belief.

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

God’s gift of grace in Christ is brought about by His gift of faith in this same Jesus so that you may believe. God is both the cause and the means by which belief is secured. So when you confess with the mouth and believe in the heart … God has brought about your conversion and has secured your salvation by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Confession and belief are God’s gifts to you!

Christ is the one who conquered sin, death and Devil for you. He took all the Devil could give and though tempted was without sin. This brings peace to you and me as we think about his sinless life and atoning death, given for the forgiveness of sins for the whole world.

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

Amen

Sermon Feb 13-14, 2016 First Sunday in Lent

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

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

John Piper says that sin [name your poison] “gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.”

Quoted in Putting Your Past Behind You, E. Lutzer, Here’s Life, 1990 p. 54

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

Christ was tempted and tested and you are forgiven!

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

Sin and temptation we all know it too well. Jesus knew temptation yet was without sin. You might think well He’s God, so He had His divine God-ness on his side. He’s all-powerful, all-knowing, and omnipresent. But, it wasn’t the God nature of the God/man that was being tempted. It was the human nature of the God/man that was put to the test.

The truth is that at the incarnation God and man became one in Jesus Christ. He is fully God and fully man. Not part God and part man or God and man mixed together into this Jesus.

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

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

About 40 days ago we celebrated the Epiphany of our Lord … his being made known. Over these past 40 days I've been tempted many times as have you with, unfortunately, sin being the result. I've done and said things that I shouldn't and not done things that I should. Like you, I fall short daily. Thank God, I eat … and I eat well, because I've never experienced true hunger, like the type of hunger that Jesus must have felt after 40 days being tempted in the wilderness. This was no little stomach growl, this was hunger that you and I can’t even imagine. Think of not eating since Epiphany.

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

Ill.

Pastor F.B. Meyer once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that [worked] on him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.

Stephen Brown, Christianity Today, April 5, 1993, p. 17.

The truth is though, that sin is not just thought, word and deed. It is not overcome by just trying harder not to sin. It is in fact who we are. Luther called it the Bondage of the Will. Sin is what we are born in. Now, this is not to excuse it, but to understand our human nature. You will fail and you will sin. At times it is blatant and at times you are unaware. Sin permeates our very being and that is why Satan so hounds you and me.

He knows that when presented with a little sin it will lead to a bigger sin and the bigger the sin the guiltier you and I will feel. You will feel shame, and at times guilt for your actions, even an unkind word or a word misplaced can cause hurt.

Ill.

Woodrow Wilson’s father was a minister [down] South. One day he joined a group of men caught up in a heated discussion. One of the men lost his temper and swore loudly. Only then did he see the Reverend Wilson in their midst. The man apologized profusely and said, “Sir, I had forgotten that you were present, please [forgive] me." Dr. Wilson replied, “[I forgive you,] but it is to God that you owe [the] apology.” [Paraphrased]

Larry Brook, The Quiet Hour, September-November, 1997, p. 54

Though you are forgiven you must die and rise daily. When you fall you must remember that Jesus stood the full test of the Devil’s temptation and though tempted in every way He was without sin. Perfection is not who we are but who He is … and we can all have joy because:

Christ was tempted and tested and because of that you are forgiven!

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

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

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

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

Or, as God’s word reads in Deut 8:3:

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

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

Lutheran study Bible Pg 291 Study Note

“Give us this day our daily bread.” We ask of the Lord in the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, which includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body; because Christ wants us to realize that our entire life … and that of everyone else depends of God.

Question/ Answer 219 Luther’s Small Catechism

But again, the temptation of the Devil continues:

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

And Jesus answers:

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

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

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

What does this mean - The Catechism asks?

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

Finally, Satan:

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

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,’

11 and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

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

Jesus here quotes Deut 6:16

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

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

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

Christ was tempted and tested and you are forgiven!

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

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

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

Amen

Feb. 10, 2016 Ash Wednesday

Title: Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

Text: 2 Cor. 5:20b-6:10

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

Dear Friends,

When we look at a new born baby we might have a difficult time recognizing the corruption of sin upon this beautiful creation of God. How, we might think, can this be a sin bearer and God’s enemy? The truth is that sin like life happens at conception.

You might also ask, “How does a worm get inside an apple?” Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from the outside. No, scientists have discovered that the worm comes from inside. But how does he get in there? Well it’s simple! An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out. Sin, like the worm, begins in the heart and works out through a person's thoughts, words, and actions.

Heaven and Home Hour Radio Bulletin. 

Jesus Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

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

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

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

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

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

Paul now pleads to the repentant sinner as workers together with Him … not to receive the grace of God in vain.2 For [God] says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

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

Jesus Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

Ill.

Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at a hospital that specialized in rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing, even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the platform and went to the rest room. A man followed him to give him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw him leaning against the wall, sobbing. He closed the door, and in a few minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before.

If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders and those who serve the church. 

At times people throughout the church cry: "We need angry leaders!" or "The time has come to practice militant Christianity!" Perhaps, but the epistle of James tells us: "The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20).

What is needed today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It's easy to get angry, especially at somebody else's sins; but it's not easy to look at sin, your own included, and weep over it. 

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, pp. 75-76.

The sin of the world, your sin and mine … God wept over. But do you? Do you feel the anguish of falling short daily? Are you in prayerful repentance sorry for your sin and asking for forgiveness? Or, is sin your master? 

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

Jesus Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

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

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

Friends, now is the time to receive forgiveness. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ill.

I saw Hilda Klein at her Autumn Ridge a few weeks ago. She’s had a problem with falling and needs a wheel chair to get around. I stopped by and Hilda was resting in her recliner. Our visit was comforting for us both. I sat with Hilda and held her hand and prayed with her and there was comfort for her and for me.

As I continue to visit those like Hilda or Joan Kitzman, who are unable to be at church or those Dorenne Ridge who are confused at times by dementia, I am constantly lifted up as together we pray and remember God’s, loving forgiveness in Christ. And though they at times may not remember me, they always remember Jesus who is the one who has freed them from sin and this broken world giving them the assurance that in Christ they have true forgiveness, peace and comfort and a place in the house of the Lord forever.

Jesus Christ reconciles the word unto himself!

It is interesting that the worm corrupts the apple from the inside out and that our first parents eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil separated us from our loving God who had to restore the broken relationship between God and man.

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

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

Amen

Sermon Feb 6-7, 2016 The Transfiguration of our Lord

Title: Jesus Christ is the chosen one, for you!

Text: Luke 9:35-36

35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

C.S. Lewis says: 

When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. And what he means is that God is going to invade [our world]; but what is the good of saying you are on God’s side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in?

This time it will be God without disguise; [no covering- no veil] something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. [It will be too late then. The time to believe will be over.]

It will be the time when we discover [whether eternal life or eternal damnation awaits]. [The sheep and goats, the wheat and tares] Now, today, this [very] moment, [is the time for faith and belief].

C.S. Lewis.

St. Peter writes in his second epistle about the destruction of the heavens and the earth by fire when he says:

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

But he also promises:

13 … a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him,

Jesus Christ who is the chosen one!

Our gospel reading begins:

28 Now about eight days after these sayings [Jesus] took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

The transfiguration account in Luke today brings about a change in how Christ is seen. Prior to our text today Jesus had made clear his mission to his disciples when he asked them “But who do you say that I am?” To which Peter answer’s “The Christ of God.” And then Jesus explains his mission and work, that the son of man must suffer, be rejected by the people, the elders and chief priests and be killed and on the third day be raised from the dead. Jesus speaks about denying self, following him and that anyone who loses his life for his will … save it.

And he concludes:

27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus Christ is the chosen one, for you!

Martin Luther once wrote:

And if [you are] not in the kingdom of Christ, it is certain that [you] belonged to the kingdom of Satan, which is this evil world.

Martin Luther - in Who Said That? by George Sweeting, p. 288

Demons, sickness and death Jesus had been casting out in our lessons these past two weeks. He is now ascending the mountain with his disciples to pray. The questions had been, “What is this word?” and “Where did he get this authority?” and “Isn’t this the carpenters son?” Now … the veil of his divinity is clearly seen in a transfigured Jesus – brilliant white - shown with Moses and Elijah the Law and the Prophets breaking forth on the top of the mountain and fulfilled in Jesus.

Life is real and death is real. We see the two realities separately. As one ends the other begins. There is either life or there is death but the truth of our existence is that life continues. We live fallen or redeemed and the moment of death is the transition, the point of revealing, and the point of understanding, what truth is our eternity?

In the incarnation, Christ was veiled – transfigured if you will – to hide the truth of his identity so that he might be revealed at the proper time. Even the demons exclaimed, “I know who you are Jesus of Nazareth – the Holy one of God!” To this Christ shuts their mouths. But here, on the mount of transfiguration, Jesus is seen by Peter, James and John, for who he is; the Christ, the son of the living God.

Jesus Christ is the chosen one, for you!

The glimpse of heaven, the glorified Jesus with Moses and Elijah, show for you and me the reality of bodily communion with the living God. Moses died and Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind but here they both are with Jesus and are known by those who, in their sinful flesh and with their own eyes see them together.

It is hard to understand this. Peter is confuse but senses that, “it is good that we are here.” He too wants to keep this glorified Jesus with Moses and Elijah in tents for themselves, much like the people in Capernaum wanted to keep this healing from Jesus for themselves, so that the reality of death might be removed.

But death is real. It is the means of transfiguration for you and for me and through it we are changed.

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. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

The reality is that,

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.

Jesus Christ is the chosen one, for you!

The glorified Christ is your Christ but so is the Christ who took on human flesh. He is the one who in humility became man and stood in your place and he is the one who exalted awaits your transfiguration from this life to the life eternal and an eternity with him

The voice of God testifies,

35 “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

But you dear friends are never alone, though the glimpse of heaven and Jesus transfigured was once again veiled by his humanity, your transfiguration is secured. Because Jesus came to finish his course for you … to go where you couldn’t go and to do what you couldn’t do so that, in him – in Jesus - the Father is well pleased … with you.

The glorified Christ is yours by grace through faith, and though we wait for a time, God has given you the means of word and sacrament to bring the reality of your transfiguration from death to life to you.

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

Amen

Sermon Jan 30-31, 2016

Title: The good news is preached in the name of Jesus,for you!
Text: Luke 4:31-44

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

C.S. Lewis once said:

Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me ill-tempered; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.

C.S. Lewis.

Our brokenness in sin is evident in many ways. We show fourth that brokenness at times in actions. The things we say and do say so much about who we are. But Christ and his work on our behalf are greater than the broken flesh we inhabit. It is through him and his work that we are made new.

The good news is preached in the name of Jesus, for you!

Our brokenness is nothing new. In the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus, who last week was compelled to do a miracle in his hometown goes to Capernaum casting out a demon of a man possessed.

34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

The truth is yes. Jesus came to destroy sin, death, the devil and brokenness in the world and to make peace with God and man and to restore our original righteousness lost in the fall into sin.

The one, whom the demon’s know by name, the Holy One of God, is in their midst.

Jesus commands the unclean spirits to come out and they obey. The people are amazed with this word saying:

“What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

What is this word? At times I’m not sure if we know or remember. The world sure gives us pause. What had been normal is now considered abnormal. Natural law has given way to the law of self.

At times it feels like the 10 righteous in Sodom are left to be destroyed by fire come down from heaven while the multitude of God’s enemies goes free.

37 [But] reports about [Jesus] went out into every place in the surrounding region.

What feels like brokenness in our day was with Christ and the people of our Gospel reading too. The taint of sin in the flesh we all inhabit was not only in the Synagogue but also in the fever of Simon’s
mother-n-law. The demon was cast out by the word of God and so too the fever which was rebuked by Christ healing her in an instant as she rose and began immediately to serve them. Not because it was her duty … but out of joyful thanks for the blessed gift of healing she received.

The Kingdom of God is present in Christ and it remains present for you.

“When Jesus laid His hands upon any sick person, it implied: [You are] a sinner, I am the Savior of sinners; I take the curse and consequence of sin from [you], [that is] an admonition [so that you] abstain from the service of sin.”

P.E. Kretzmann Popular Commentary of the Bible NT Vol.1 Pg 288

The good news is preached in the name of Jesus, for you!

40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

It is Christ’s desire to make you well … to heal you so that you will know him and know his love for you. In baptism you have been healed from sin, death and the devil and given new life in him and by his Spirit know him and love him.

41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

The Knowledge of Christ is not demonic and he is not made known through the demons whose mouths he shut - though they know who he is and they cower in fear.

The good news is preached in the name of Jesus, for you!

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose." 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

When we look to Christ it is God’s Spirit in us pointing you and me to the one who is the way the truth and the life. In spite of our fears, sin, death and the devil we have been redeemed and made new. And in Christ as his new creation born from above … we … as our epistle says rejoice in truth.

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

Amen