Sermon March 7, 2018 Lent 4

Title: Small Catechism’s Six Chief Parts 4. Baptism
Text: 1 Cor.1:18-31


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

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

Ill.

A story is told about the baptism of King Aengus by St. Patrick. 

About the year 445, Saint Patrick, after converting a great number of people, entered the kingdom of Munster. His destination was Cashel, from [where] King Aengus, came [forward] to meet him with the utmost reverence. 

This prince had already obtained some knowledge of Christianity, and demanded the grace of Holy Baptism. The saint willingly complied with his request. His courtiers assembled with royal state to assist at the ceremony. 

St. Patrick carried in his hand, as usual, the Bachall Isu; [the staff of Jesus] at the end of was a sharp iron spike, by which he could plant it firmly in the ground beside him while preaching, or exercising his Episcopal functions.

On this occasion, however, he stuck it down into the king's foot, and did not perceive his mistake until— "The royal foot transfixed, the gushing blood enrich'd the pavement with a noble flood."
The ceremony had concluded, and the prince had neither moved nor complained of the severe suffering he had endured. When the saint expressed his deep regret for such an occurrence, The King merely replied that he believed it to be a part of the ceremony, and did not appear to consider any suffering of consequence at such a moment. 

Moment.—Keating, vol. ii. p. 15

Over the centuries Christians have debated what baptism is, [what it accomplishes], and to whom it should be administered, and how much water should be used.
Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 158.

Baptism is God Act. Martin Luther makes it clear in the catechism’s question: What is Baptism?
Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.

For we who are born sinful and unclean always see ourselves as the active agent – the one who is doing something. It must be my action we believe, or as the common belief is held and sometimes expressed – an outward sign of an inward decision. The sign being we think our work.

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

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

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

The nature of the words used in Holy Baptism is in following the words and form of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28. Though Jesus spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and not English the order of words are used in conformity to Jesus’ command in whatever language is spoken. Uniting the command and word’s of God with water - baptism does what God intends by uniting us with him and making us his disciples.

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

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

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

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

By the working of Holy Spirit connecting the water and the word, forgiveness is given. For the one being baptized it is a “pure passive” meaning we simply receive the gift God gives. More importantly it achieves what God desires – making disciples of all nations.

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

It is that same comfort for we who are baptized in God’s name - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - knowing that just as the Father is well please with Christ Jesus his Son he is also well please with you and me. Not because we merit anything from God but only because we are found marked as his children through this blessed gift given for our benefit.

God has not given baptism for his benefit but ours. His gift in and through baptism reminds us that we can do nothing to appease God’s wrath and we deserve only eternal damnation. But because of the Father’s great love for us he has sent his only son our Lord to be our substitute. Through Christ, God’s wrath has been appeased by his once for all sacrifice for sin, at the cross and through baptism we are united by faith with all the blessing that Christ has won for us.

As Luther says:

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

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

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

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

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

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

The devils desire is to pull you away from Christ. Luther saw the whole of his reformation theology through Jacob’s dream and ladder saying: 

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

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

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

Ill.

I remember my own questioning when my pastor at a nondenominational church I attended said. “If you’ve been baptized as an infant come and see me and I’ll tell you why you need to be baptized as an adult.” I’m sure in reflection it was intended for me and my family as he knew of my own baptism as an infant, though he never approached me and I never asked him about it. I did though consult the word.

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

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

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

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

Those baptized as infants receive a valid baptism.

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

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

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

I felt a bit out of place because I didn’t have a date that I could announce because as far back as I could remember I’ve always been a Christian.

Then I remembered … I was baptized on May 17, 1955.

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

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

Amen

Sermon March 3-4, 2018

Title: The Father’s zeal for you is given in Christ!
Text: John 2:13-22; 1 Cor. 1:18-31

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

When President Donald Trump called for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem there was much joy for Jews and condemnation from those opposed to the move. Jerusalem is a hot bed for so much of the world’s religious as well as political turmoil but so is the Temple Mount.

The second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. For Jews today their activity is restricted on the Temple mount. The Dome on the Rock is there and is holy to Muslims and Jews are not allowed to pray there, though some do pray under their breath. For Jews in Jerusalem there is a growing need to rebuild the Temple, to resume the temple sacrifices and to wait for the coming of the messiah.

In our gospel reading for today we move to the book of John. As we looked at our gospel lesson in Mark last week, Jesus explained that he must suffer, be rejected by the Elders, Chief priests and the scribes, be killed and after three day, rise from the dead. Mark 8:31

Jesus was zealous both for his Father’s House in driving out those who had made it a house of trade selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, [along with] the money-changers [who were] sitting there, just as he was with Peter last week, rebuking him for “not setting his mind on the things of God.”

The Jewish leaders now ask Jesus – what is the evidence that you can give us as to your authority for doing such things, by casting those out of the temple?

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, Paul tells the Corinthians in our epistle lesson for today. 1 Cor. 1:22

So Jesus tells them,

19 … “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

As you can imagine, the Jews that Jesus is talking to believe he is talking about “The Temple” the building of the second Temple that had taken 46 years to build, where all the daily sacrifices had taken place.

This is the place where God dwells … where sin is atoned for.

You can see that not much has changed in the nearly 2000 years since the cross of our Lord. The Jews today are still rebuilding the Temple … and the cross as Paul says in our epistle is:

23 … a stumbling block to Jews and folly [or foolishness] to Gentiles,

But we who have been blessed to be brought to the foot of the cross see Jesus as our savior and trust in his work; where true temple worship is in the once and for all sacrifice for sin.

Jews look to rebuild the Temple and resume the sacrifices while Gentiles see foolishness in belief of a saving God. Their wisdom tells them to trust in self.

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

But many fall short. For some the stumbling … or the foolishness is just plain stubbornness.

Ill.

Pastor Terry Klaus told a story once at one of our circuit meetings about a member of his church who during the summer asked him this question.

“Pastor, is it better for me to be sitting in church thinking about fishing or sitting on the lake fishing and thinking about God?”

Well, Pastor Klaus said, he thought about this for a moment when he replied: “Well, it would be better for you to be in church hearing God’s word than sitting in a boat and having the Devil send all those fish your way … where you won’t be thinking about God at all!”

A stumbling block or foolishness, Christ body is the Temple that has been destroyed and has also, after three days, been raised.

It remains a problem for many still today. For the Jews the Temple remains something to be rebuilt and stumble while many who are [non Jews] the Cross of Christ remains [foolishness], something to be seen as weakness and not the power of God.

The cross is an offence, so much so that at times we shy away from it, especially in the midst of the world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book: Life together writes,

“Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God.

So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered [or monastic] life but in the thick of foes [and enemies].

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community

In the turmoil of the world the cross of Christ will be a stumbling block or foolishness.

My Co-worker Paul in the music business was both Jewish by birth and atheist in belief. So with the cross he had both a stumbling block and saw it also as foolish. We had a number of talks about Jesus. Paul listened and asked questions but most every time he would end our discussions by throwing up his hands and saying, “That’s enough!” 

One day when I came was walking by his office he called me over and said, “Russ, last night I had a dream that terrified me. In the dream I thought I say the face of pure evil!” I said, “Well Paul may be God has given you a glimpse of what awaits apart from being covered by the blood of Christ?”

The stumbling and foolishness of “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” was just too much for him.

21 But [Jesus] was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

In spite of our weakness and in spite of our failings God in Christ was focused on the cross for you. The Temple of his body that was destroyed for you is victory! It is victory because the full wrath of God was poured out on Jesus and as a result you have no fear of standing before our holy God.

Ill.

Dear member Dorenne Ridge is in hospice care as she at 93 prepares to depart and be with the Lord. Pastor Merrell and I took a ride to see her in Mayville about 55 miles north of here. She was alert and recognized me and saying when I told her Pastor Merrell was here, “I know that name!”

The comfort is that God knows Dorenne’s name too. He has died and for her and though she like we will one day die, she too by God’s working in her by faith rise too!

God in Christ has taken your sin and my sin upon himself and has given you and all who believe his righteousness in exchange for it – what wonderful good news – and as a result we are free of the bonds of sin, death, and the devil and are covered by Christ’s righteousness and made his child through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Christ is consumed with his zeal for you and just as he has been raised … you too will rise!

May our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you, and called you through the power of the Holy Spirit to faith, complete this blessed good work in you now and forever!

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

Amen

Sermon February 28, 2018 Lent 3

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


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

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

Ill.

Missionary E. Stanley Jones once wrote:

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

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

Our Father who art in heaven

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

As Luther writes:

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

15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51:15

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

Hallowed be thy name

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

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

Thy kingdom come

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

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

Thy will be done

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

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

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

It is like the little girl preparing to jump into her dad’s arm as he stands in the pool ready to catch her saying, “Don’t drop me dad!” To which dad replies, “I won’t!”

Or the little boy riding the bike while dad run along holding on to the seat saying, “Don’t let go dad!” Only to realize that dad had let go awhile ago and he had been riding on his own. At times God catches us and at time he lets us go but it is always in conformity to his will so that we might make his will ours.

Give us this day our daily bread

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

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

Dr. F. W. Boreham.

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

Forgive us our trespasses

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

I wrote this letter a year ago:

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

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

Lead us not into temptation

This was big news recently when Pope Francis said we need to change the prayer saying,
"lead us not into temptation" is not a good translation because God does not lead humans to sin,” saying a better translation would be, "Do not let me fall into temptation because it is I who fall, it is not God who throws me into temptation and then sees how I fell,"

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42279427

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

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

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

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

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

But deliver us from evil

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

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

Amen

Sermon February 24-25, 2018

Title: Who do you say that I am?
Text: Mark 8:27-38

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

Jesus asks the disciples:

“Who do people say that I am?” And then wants to know, “but who do you say that I am?”

And we know that the disciples say that the people think that Jesus is “John the Baptist; [some] say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

And this all climaxes with Peter speaking for the disciples when he says,

“You are the Christ.”

Following this confession by Peter of who Jesus is we see Jesus begin to teach them everything he is now prepared to do.

Jesus says that the Son of Man:

Must suffer
Must be rejected – by the elders, chief priests and scribes
Must be killed
And after three days must rise from the dead

As the one who made confession for the disciples, Peter, didn't really understand Jesus and his work for the salvation of the world at this time as his rebuke of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 16:22, makes clear:

“Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

This is met by Jesus’ full rebuke, which is focused not on Peter the man – just as his confession of faith was not revealed by flesh and blood but revealed by the Father in Heaven so too Jesus’ rebuke is not focused on Peter the man - but on Satan - the deceiver and the father of lies.

“Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

To be opposed to Christ … is to be in harmony with the devil.

To lose your life in Christ … is to save it!

Jesus says …

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

Ill.

When Pastor William Sangster was told he was dying of progressive muscular atrophy, he made four resolutions and faithfully kept them:

1. I will never complain;
2. I will keep the home bright;
3. I will count my blessings;
4. I will try to turn it to gain.

W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 215.

If we compare what Christ faced to these four resolutions we see that:

1. The Christ must suffer – but he never complained.
2. He was rejected by the many, but remained the light of the world.
3. He gave his life in death and for that we are all blessed.
4. He was raised from the dead, so that his sacrifice is our gain.

To lose your life in Christ is to save it!

Ill.

Many of you have probable been watching the Olympics. The Winter Games from South Korea- Skiing, Hockey, Snowboarding and figure skating. You might know of Scott Hamilton as he was the 1984 Gold Medalist is in the Olympics and World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and has been announcing the skating competition for the last 25 years. This year he was demoted as happens to TV personalities. He said he was disappointed and felt sorry for himself … for about 10 minutes.

What you might not know is that Scott is a cancer survivor and a Christian.
He has survived, testicular cancer and brain cancer. His mother died of brain cancer so he is and has been connected to the disease for many years. As a child he was sickly and had a problem that stunted his growth that couldn’t be diagnosed. He was in and out of hospitals and stumbled on skating as a fluke.

Ill.

[In 1997, at a career high, Hamilton was forced to leave the ice to undergo chemotherapy for testicular cancer."What was about to happen really changed my life forever," he shares. He survived cancer. “What's my purpose now? What do I need to do?"

It was at that moment in his life that he met his wife, Tracie, who brought him to church. "She took me to a minister, a man named Ken Durham. And the first thing he said to me, which was extraordinary was, he goes, 'You have to understand that Christianity is a faith of history. These things actually happened.' And I go, 'OK, that's a good starting-off point.'"

Hamilton and Tracie married and had a son. But another hardship came his way when he discovered he had a brain tumor. [He struggled with telling his wife but when he did,] she took his hands and started to pray. "And it was in that moment I knew where I was going to put everything... my trust, my faith, everything." Hamilton called it the most powerful moment in his life.

Hamilton learned that he was born with the brain tumor, which inhibited his growth as a young child. "That was the mysterious illness I had that they never diagnosed, that got me into skating. I choose to look at that brain tumor as the greatest gift I could've gotten because it made everything else possible."

Looking back, he adds, "I understand that through a strong relationship with Jesus you can endure anything. I just learned that the only true disability in life is a bad attitude."

"God is there to guide you through the tough spots. God was there every single time, every single time."]

https://www.christianpost.com/news/how-olympic-gold-medalist-scott-hamilton-found-jesus-68160/

For many, though, this is not a cross they wish to bear. We hope to avoid trial and conflict. Following Jesus as example is good but suffering or being hated and despised on account of Christ … we all would like to take a pass.

It is a common battle that pastors have to face too by remaining faithful to their call ... and this can be unpopular at times.

Jesus had given the disciples a summary of His work and he now gives a summary of the demands of true discipleship. He does not show here how one becomes a disciple - through the working of the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ and by the washing of regeneration in the word through baptism; but, here Jesus tells us how we show the evidence of this gift of faith in Christ by denying self; taking up the cross we must bear; and by following him.

It can be summarized as this.

“If anyone wants to save his life, have the full enjoyment of this life and all that it may offer in this world, he will lose the true life in Christ the Savior. But if anyone will regard this life, the world and all it has to offer, as nothing, give it all up for the sake of Jesus and His Gospel, he will find the true life, the true joy and [true] happiness in Him.”

Popular commentary of the Bible P.E. Kretzmann NT Vol. 1 pg. 209

To lose your life in Christ is to save it!

Ill.

Most recently Scott Hamilton’s brain tumor returned.

[Hamilton said he would never forget what his wife, Tracie, said to him during a pep talk: “Joy is not the lack of suffering or fear, it’s how you choose to handle the suffering and fear.” It finally hit him that it was true.

So when the tumor returned for an encore in 2016, Hamilton decided to react differently. There was no “why me?” anymore.

“I figured I needed to go through this with joy,” he said. “It was just a muscle I needed to build, like the muscles I built skating.”

The tumor was still relatively small, so Hamilton didn’t need to rush into surgery. He tried to tackle the problem differently: He stopped eating sugar, red meat and other things he considered bad for his body. He started eating organic food and drinking only coffee or water with high pH. He hit the treadmill and the weight room.

When Hamilton went back to the doctor several months later, he learned that his tumor hadn’t grown. During his next checkup, he heard even better news.

The tumor had shrunk, by about half. Hamilton choked up when describing what happened next.
“Have you ever had one shrink without treatment before?” he said he asked the doctor. “And the doctor said, ‘Nope, never.’”

Hamilton asked, “So how can you explain this?”

The doctor said, “God.”]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/sports/olympics/figure-skating-nbc-scott-hamilton-.html

As we faithfully serve as God has called us and shine the light of Christ in our vocations we lose our life for Christ’s sake and the gospel and ultimately save our lives for eternity.

May our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who has redeemed you, and called you through the power of the Holy Spirit to faith, complete this blessed good work in you now and forever!

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

Amen

Sermon February 21, 2018 Lent 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today we will move on to the Creed.

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

The Ten Commandments show our brokenness and need.

The Creed reveals who God is and his work.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luther writes:

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

LW Vol.51 Pg. 162

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The second article doesn’t end there though because Jesus descends into hell to proclaim victory, on the third day he rises from the dead ascends to heaven and is seated at God’s right hand – the seat of power – and will come again to judge the living and the dead. All will see him and all will be judged. Death is no escape, unbelief does not negate this reality of God in the flesh descending, dying, rising, and coming again for all.

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

Well, in the third article we learn of the Holy Spirit called the comforter by Jesus is John chapter 14 in the King James Version.
The word used – παρακλέτοσ parakletos - is translated in some bibles as advocate, intercessor, consoler, comforter, and helper. Our ESV translates it as helper. I’m not sure that I like that as much as the KJV and that is why I believe that you need to read a few translations. The word helper could give the impression that God and we work together in our salvation - that God does his part and that we do our part rather than God being the active agent and we who are the ones that receive the gift.

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

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

God shows his requirements in the Ten Commandments

God reveals his restoration in the Creed

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

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

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

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

Amen

Sermon February 17-18, 2018

Title: You are made new in Christ!
Text: James 1:12-18

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. "Captain, give me a gun!" he shouted,
"This fight ain't got any rear!" 

Daily Walk, July 10, 1993.

That is what it is like with trial and temptation. It feels like there is no end. Day in and day out we daily are confronted with trials. How is your health; or finances? Does your car or home need repair? Are your children having issues and you’re faced with how to help, can you help - or will they let you help?

Is life one trial after another?

We are so blessed.

James begins his epistle with these words.

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, James 1:2 NIV 1984

Joy really? Trials are not fun. We all know the struggle that it can entail. Up, down, joy, sorrow, struggle, anger - sin most often is the result - but hopefully so is repentance.

But here, in our epistle for today, James speaks of being blessed.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ESV

Blessed and steadfast - the riches of God come by standing firm and through these trials God promises the crown of life.

James here is echoing the words of Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

We talked last week about the light of Christ in each one of us. The good deposit of faith that began at our baptism as God himself washed away our sins and marked us as his child. That child, you and me, needs to be fed. We need Spiritual food so that we can remain healthy, vibrant and grow in our lives so that we can stand firm and not sway during the tempting and testing that comes and will come.

God is not the source of temptation.

Though God temps no one he does allow temptation. Why? What possible good can come from temptation?

Ill.

In October of 2015 trial and temptation came for Monica and me. I had just finished the LWML rally at Holy Cross in Oxford and was getting ready for service that evening at Peace when I got a call that Monica had to go into the emergence room for a procedure. Ultimately that turned out to be cancer and that turned into two surgeries, a long healings process, doubts, concerns, worries, and you name it. Thankfully, this week her CT scan and report came back good – no cancer - so we’re good for another 4 months!

And then in November of 2015 Thanksgiving evening to be sure I get a call from fellow member Sue Vogt that she is in the hospital having just been diagnosed with Leukemia. Chemo, blood draws and the like have gone on for her since. A broken foot and hip along the way and now she is home from rehab looking optimistically at the future and continued healing.

And there are so many others, health, finances, marriage issues, jobs and the tempting and trials never seem to end.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. James 1: 13

It is easy to look and ask - why me? But that is not what I heard from Monica or Sue and so many others. They were resigned to fight these illnesses and setbacks and though I’m sure concern and uncertainty came into play, the temptation is mediated by faith in Christ and this faith produces a steadfast resolve pointing outward to the hope that doesn’t fade and will not leave you nor forsake you.

We take our eyes off of Christ.

In life we lose sight of Jesus. It happens when things get bad or when things get good or too good. At times we run from those that most love and want to help us to those who lead away from Jesus and destroy lives. The devil is the source and tempter who points to joys and blessings that are temporal, and because of sin we can all fall victim to this enticing.

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14

As my friend Dan a musician in Nashville once told me when I asked him about the faith of another musician, “Well, he’s not interested in God right now things are going too well for him.”

If it is not trial and illness that point you to the brokenness of this world and a need for Christ, then it is in the sinful desires of a heart, content in the ways of the world who goes it alone or in a direction opposed to Christ.

How far off course can we go before we are truly lost we might ask?
How much sin is too much?
What does true repentance consist of?
Can we squander the gift of salvation?

Unrepentance dear friends brings death.

I was talking to a young man who was wrestling with the word of God as it is revealed as Law and Gospel in scripture. He said to me:

“Pastor, I don’t know if I buy this Law and Gospel stuff. I mean when we sin we can just go to God and say I’m sorry? I know that we’re forgiven but it sounds so cheap. Oh yeah – I’m sorry God forgive me - and then we go right back to doing the same sin!”

My response to his concern was do you think that God is fooled? I mean, do you really think God is fooled by false repentance? Maybe at times we think that? We’ve all probably said we were sorry for something we weren’t really sorry for but being sorry is only part of repentance.

Repentance requires being sorry for sin and then it requires a turning away from sin and a turning back to God. It doesn’t mean that we will be successful in walking in the right way before God - but only that we desire to walk with God and away from sin.

Ill.

Louis Berkhoff writes: Moreover, true repentance never exists except in conjunction with faith, while on the other hand, wherever there is true faith, there is also real repentance. The two are but different aspects of the same turning - a turning away from sin in the direction of God. The two cannot be separated; they are simply complementary parts of the same process. 

L Berkhoff, Systematic Theology, p. 487.

So, repentance requires faith.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:16-17

When thoughts words and deeds lead to sin, God by his Spirit comforts us with forgiveness. Through his gift of faith he turns you and me in repentance and comforts us with his forgiveness.

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

All things work together for good.

By God’s work he keeps us connected to him by faith.

By his work he turns us to see our failings and also to see our savior. 

By his work we keep our eyes upon Jesus so that no matter the trial and temptation we can turn in faith to repent of our sins and receive the gift of God’s love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ our Lord!

By his work we are forgiven and made new in Christ!

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

Amen

Sermon February 14, 2018 Corporate Confession and Absolution - Ash Wednesday

Title: Small Catechism’s Six Chief Parts 1. The Ten Commandments
Text: Mark 9:2-9

7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

According to a 3rd century rabbi, Moses gave 365 prohibitions and 248 positive commands. David reduced them to 11 in Psalm 15. Isaiah made them 6 (Isaiah 33:14, 15). Micah 6:8 binds them into 3 commands. Habbakuk reduces them all to one great statement: The just shall live by faith.

Source Unknown.

Today for Ash Wednesday and throughout our Midweek Lenten Services we will look at the Six Chief Parts of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. We’ve spent a bit of time over the last few years with the Catechism. First as a bulletin insert with a devotional reading that we began on Rally Day 2016 and ended in May of 2017. Then we had A Simple Explanation of Christianity booklet from CPH which we were to read and pray about and give to someone that we thought might be blessed with this outreach. And finally as we came to the end of last year a new Small Catechism with Explanations came out. It is the first revision in the explanations since the 1991 edition.

So why the Catechism, why now and why so much?

Well … we need it. Just as in Luther’s day the basic teachings of Christianity are important. For me as one not brought up in the Lutheran faith and without the Catechism I see the real value of its use daily and hopefully throughout Lent we will all come to understand its real blessing.

Luther based his Small and Large Catechisms on a series of sermons that he preached in 1528. After visiting the churches Luther found that the basic truths of the Christian faith were not understood by the laity and pastor’s alike.

In announcing these sermons Luther writes:

Because these matters are highly necessary, I faithfully admonish you to assemble at the designated time with your families. Do not allow yourself to be kept away by your work or trade and do not complain that you will suffer loss if for once you interrupt your work for an hour.

And besides, how much time do you spend drinking and swilling! You don’t count that, but when you are asked to spend time on God’s word you are disgusted.

LW Vol. 51 Pg. 135

So that we all don’t continue to reap the fire of Luther’s admonition let us now begin diligently with the Ten Commandments.

You shall have no other gods.

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Luther begins the Catechism with the law. What God demands and how we measure up. He divides the commandments into the two tables with the first three pertaining to how we should see God and the last seven with how we should deal with each other. The commandments tell us what perfection is and that God expects perfection – no spot, no blemish.

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8

In the commandments God shows us who we are. That though his requirements are just we all fall short daily in measuring up. God requires that we both fear and trust him. We are to fear him as in a reverent fear that honors who he is and his right to demand what he demands and in trust that if we keep all these commands … we will live.

25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Luke 10:25-28

To love God and neighbor is what the Law requires and we can’t. It also gives us a way to measure what the world says about what is good, what is right, and what is beneficial. Being legal in the eyes of the law doesn’t make it right in the eyes of God.

The law never rests. It doesn’t take a day off. Close is not good enough. The law is to curb who we are as sinners. It says … this far and no more. It functions as a mirror so that we might see who we truly are – dead in trespass and sin - and get our eyes off ourselves and look outward to one who has made a way where there was no way.

The Law also works when we as Christians know our failings. As we have been brought to faith God, through the Law, guides our behavior. Through the Law we understand who we are as sinners but also as Christians we understand that God desires us to daily die and rise with him in Christ remembering our Baptisms and living and conforming ourselves to his will. As we fail … we are brought by the Spirit to repentance, confessing our sins and turning outside ourselves to our God who forgives, redeems and makes us holy – set apart and sanctified.

As we daily are conformed into who God wants us to be, we gain no forgiveness for our sins by keeping the Law – for forgiveness is truly freely given us only by faith in Christ.

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. 2:8-9

While God tells us in the first table of the Law who he is, how we are to use his name, and that by keeping holy his day of rest we will remain connected to him and his word and through that word God, preached and proclaimed and he will bless and keep us connected to him in Christ.
We also find that in the second table of the Law that as we live our lives and keep his commands … we benefit our neighbor which is good and well pleasing to God.

The Law makes itself clear in what it demands and that we can find no peace and salvation in it.

For Luther it was important for the people to know that the keeping of God’s requirements will never save us. It is not what we do or must do … but always what Christ has done for us and is doing in us.

All of the commandments but two begin with Thou shall not! The Law primarily tells us what we shouldn’t do. When it tells us what we should do it falls to only two commandments: Keep Holy the Sabbath day - which Luther says refers to hearing God’s word and not despising the preaching of God’s word and the hearing of it because 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. and to Honor your father and mother which points to our headship and the true authority of those placed with responsibility over us that leads to and is only found in Christ.

Ill.

The law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean. 

Dr. Phil Williams, DTS, 1976.

In the Seventh Commandment Luther writes:

You shall not steal.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

For Luther the distinction of law and Gospel was vitally important. He even noted with regards to the seventh commandment about - Ill-gotten gains -Saying: 

“You farmers and townsmen are, almost all of you, thieves and skinflints! The same applies to tailors, brewers, and others. Don’t think that God established the market to be a den of thieves.” 

LW Vol. 51 Pg. 156

For Luther it was not just about the petty thief but every form of stealing that defrauds our neighbor. We are always to do what is best to help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

No matter how good we keep the law we fall short. In the law and its keeping is death because in it we see no savior. It is this distinction of Law and Gospel that Luther wanted the people and you and me to know. In teaching the Ten Commandments first Luther shows what God requires and our inability to keep it. As we begin Lent with this Ash Wednesday service may we all see in the Law God’s perfect requirements and the good that they teach, but as Christians may we also know that by the Law we come to the knowledge of sin which brings us to repentance by the work of the Holy Spirit so that we might look outside ourselves to the one who is the fulfillment of the Law - Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

Amen