Sermon: June 15-16, 2024

Title: God’s mighty fortress replaces the broken tent of this life!
Text: 2 Cor. 5:1-10 

 

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5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Today we acknowledge fathers.

Thinking of my dad and dads in general brings a smile to my face. I loved my dad and all he brought to my life. Dads are given a responsibility to serve and lead their families and in society as well, but not all measure up to the calling they are given, so you may or may not have the same joyful memories about your dad as I do. It is for us to remember fathers this day, and maybe this is my own disclaimer:

Fathers are human and fathers are sinners and fathers fall short, but in Christ fathers are forgiven and on this Father’s Day may we all have the blessings of forgiveness given and received!

We are to go about our daily tasks in whatever vocation God has placed us as faithful servants of the word and to serve our neighbor which is God’s desire for each one of us. God has done all things for us in restoring our relationship with him, but he uses us daily to serve the needs of others.

A mighty fortress is our God, a trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need that hath us now o’er taken.
The old evil foe now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.

Fathers are given the headship to care for their families and represent our heavenly father’s love and care in this life. But this life is temporal.

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Paul speaks here of the human body with the analogy of a tent. For those of you who enjoy camping, you may have experienced the fact that tents, don’t last forever.

Back in 1984 when my wife Monica was pregnant with Amy, we went camping with our friends Terry and Julie.

We had camped the summer before and even though Monica was pregnant and due in a few months, we went again. As we got to the campsite, we began to set up the tent. About half way through the process, the seams started pulling apart and before long the tent literally fell apart at the seams. Those around us were getting a pretty good laugh at our misfortune. As we pulled one side tighter ... the other side would pull apart.

Evidently after camping the previous year, Terry had put away the tent wet instead of setting it up and letting it dry and the thread of the seams had rotted. So, to continue to have our camping trip, we had to go to the store in town and another tent had to be purchased.

Not a great joy but we did finish our camping trip.

The hearers in Paul’s day would have been familiar with the wearing out of fabric of their own tents and here Paul connects it to the fabric of their own mortality.

2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.

Our lives are like the vulnerability of being naked and exposed.

This past week is the anniversary of what would have been my mother’s 94th birthday. June 13th 1930 seems so long ago, though my mom is ever on my mind. Eleanor Tkac passed away in 1988 at the age of 57 suffering the pains of cancer, and was called from this life to the life eternal in heaven way too soon.

At times the blessing of a long life is given. My Aunt Bev shares the same birthday with my mom but two years older and just turned 96; and it seems to me these days that many like Aunt Bev, are living into their 90’s, but for some, life is cut short.

Thake for example my classmate in Jr. High, Sylvia Kalaras, her life was cut short by a house fire in 1969 at the age of 14.

I still remember the details of her death in the basement of her home ... she couldn't get out.

As I heard it, the principal of the Jr. High School Mr. Migliore, lived next door to her and Sylvia – stuck in the basement as the fire raged - got as close as a foot away from his hand so he could pull her through the basement window, but fear caused her to back away from his hand for some reason into the smoke and he never saw her again. 55 years later and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—

We all can attest to the trials of this life and at times being burdened, worn out and spent - not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, by God’s miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit to clothe us with a building not made by human hands so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by the eternal.

Through the Spirit we are pointed to our mighty fortress which is Christ Jesus our Lord!

5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

And that guarantee, you can take to the bank!

The guarantee is this: that we receive the incorruptible when we put off the corruptible as our mortal bodies are clothed with immortality at Christ’s return.

Paul had told the Corinthians this in 1 Cor. 15:52

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.

But Paul adds in his second letter to the Corinthians that they are to be found clothed and not naked.

That they are to be clothed in this life with Christ – first at their baptism – as the righteousness of Christ is given and marked as their own.

And also, as they partake of the Lord’s body and blood in the sacrament of the altar, for the forgiveness of their sins which will strengthen their faith!

But at times, as sinners, we’d rather complain than joy in the gift of God’s forgiveness in Christ.

And so, we miss out on the faith building God desires to do in us and for us by his free gift.

But God, by his Spirit, won’t let us grumble long.

As his church we are fed and receive the blessing that he intends for us, so that we can have courage and confidence.

7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

It is a comfort to know that when we leave this life and this body of death we are to be with the Lord.

It is that confidence in Christ – our Mighty Fortress - that we hold on to.

While grace and faith are God’s gifts, and while we earn nothing by what we do, but simply receive the Lord’s favor; our neighbors, our children, and our friends need us to share God’s gifts with them, in word and deed.

Martin Luther says this in his Large Catechism to parents about the 4th commandment.

Parents should consider that they owe obedience to God, and that above all, they should earnestly and faithfully discharge the duties of their office, not only to provide for the material support of their children, servants, subjects, etc., but especially to bring them up to the praise and honor of God.

The Book of Concord, LC, Tappert Pg. 388

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

By Christ’s work we have peace with God. This is a blessed gift, but as Paul also wrote to the church at Philippi:

23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

God’s mighty fortress replaces the broken tent of this life!

We live in this tent and serve until the Lord calls us home whether at 14, 57 or in our 90’s. It is not our concern to dwell on death for Christ Jesus has overcome death at the cross for you and by faith in him you have an eternity that awaits all who believe

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

Amen.

Sermon June 8-9, 2024

Title: Your physician, Christ, has healed you!
Text: 2 Cor. 4:13-5:1

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16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Deborah A. Trosin Obituary

TROSIN, DEBORAH A. of Waterford; May 23, 2024; age 72; Loving wife of the late Tim; Dear mother of Jennifer (Chris) Lehti; Beloved grandmother of Justin Lehti; Cherished longtime friend of Marsha (Tracy) Oberleiter; Also survived by her grand dog Rex. Mrs. Trosin was a member of Peace Lutheran Church and worked as a medical assistant. Memorials may be made to the Humane Society.

The life of Debbie Trosin, member of this Peace Lutheran Church, summarized in 68 words - or not quite one word for each year of this beloved Christian’s life.

I think we can do a little better?

The text appointed for today from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is often used in funeral sermons. I’ve used it many times as I and those who come to mourn - grieve a loss and rejoice in a victory. We grieve the loss of a friend or family member, but also rejoice in the victory of child of Christ connected to this loss that in Jesus, gives us all hope.

Debbie’s family, for reasons of their own, and at this time have no plans for a funeral or memorial service.

Many families don’t. Some, not connected to the church, see death as the end and grieve personally, while others, celebrate the life of the deceased and remember the good times and move forward.

Other’s still, just don’t know what to do, how to do it and and simply do nothing, letting the funeral home guide them as best they can to a casket and vault, or the crematorium as may be the case.

I wanted to take this opportunity to do a little more.

I’ve known Debbie for the better part of 20 plus years, first meeting her at a Saturday evening service. Many who knew her have passed or don’t remember her from her time here. When she was able to come, she used crutches to get in and out of the church as she was quite heavy and had difficulty walking, and would struggle out of the service huffing and puffing as she went. I didn’t think much of it. Just a member of the church coming to hear the word of God and to receive his gifts in the sacrament. I didn’t know that I would get to know her in a personal way and be her pastor.

In 2010 when I began my time here as Vicar, I started going with Pastor Merrell on my day off from work to visit the shut-in members of the church.

Debbie at this time was, living in her home on Iris St, in Waterford, her home was on Maceday Lake and she loved her home and boating. Her husband Tim, passed away in 2005 at 56 years old and I never got to meet him. When I started visiting Debbie at home, she was by then confined to a motorized wheelchair. It was hard for her to do much of anything for herself or to take care of her home. At some point her daughters’ family moved in with her to help some.

Matt Rich once went over and helped organize a group to take care of some repairs that were needed and that was a big help to her.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Debbie’s day to day was not a joy for her. There was much struggle for her, but she was always happy to see me on our visits. Eventually she couldn’t care for herself anymore and became a long-term resident of the Regency care facility in Waterford. It was good for her and helpful. Those who brought care to her were very nice and friendly. She signed her home over to her daughter.

A bed in a room was now her home.

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

I visited her on a regular schedule which was usually once a month. And Debbie was really happy to see me. But as you might expect, it was not always an easy visit. Her mobility issues got worse and she had difficulty hearing which was a long-term problem which was compounded by the fact that she didn’t have hearing aids.

So, when we visited and I would answer her question … it became a bit difficult.
“Pastor, could you speak up? I can’t hear you!”
“Debbie, I’ll try. But I can’t stand here and yell at you.”

Sometimes she wasn’t at Regency when I came to visit, as she had gotten sick and was at the hospital, and those COVID times were especially difficult as you might imagine.

Debbie and I had a lot of discussions about faith. She, as most, was concerned about her salvation. She had devotion books, and Portals of Prayer I brought, and would join on line though Facebook to watch the service but I’m sure she couldn’t hear anything of what was being said.

Earlier this year as I visited, she was very conflicted and asked me:

“Pastor, how can I be sure that my sins our forgiven? I really struggle with this. I’ve not always been a good mother and I’ve hurt people and messed things up!”

This is a pretty common concern for many as we get closer to the time that we will depart this life and death looks to be closing in. For many in care facilities it is a daily concern.

Paul writes:

18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

In Christ we understand that death is not the end. There still though, remains judgement and an eternity with the Lord or separated from him.

The Sheep and the Goats. As Jesus relates in the final judgement in Matthew 25.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

Matt. 25:31-33

On this visit Debbie was concerned.
Where would she stand?
What side was she on?
Was she a Sheep or a Goat?
How could she know that her sins are forgiven?

So, I began to tell her again, as I did each month on our visits, the Good News.

That Jesus came to fulfill God’s promise.

That he humbled himself even unto death, death on a cross, so that he might restore the relationship between God and man or between the Creator and his creatures who have fallen away into sin.

And that by Christ’s death in our place we have been brought back to God the Father by faith given to us by the Holy Spirit.

“Do you believe Debbie, that Jesus died for you?”
“Yes, I do!”
“Well, then you have that forgiveness that has been promised.”

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

“Debbie, do you remember all of the visits I’ve had with you where we had communion?”
“Do you remember that after we confess our sins that I pronounced absolution and forgave you your sins as your pastor?”
“Yes, I do.”

Hear it again:

“Almighty God in his mercy has given his son to die for you and for his sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen”

“Did you hear that?”
“Yes.”
“Are you forgiven?”
“Yes.”

Remember:

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Paul concludes today in the Epistle reading with the comfort of an eternity in Christ, and this brings me comfort today as I didn’t get to see Debbie at the end of her life:

He speaks of our heavenly dwelling:

5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Rest in peace Debbie.
You are Jesus’ little lamb
You are forgiven.

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

Amen.

Sermon June 1-2, 2024

Title: The Sabbath rest in Christ is made for you!
Text: Mark 2:23-28

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27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

The past few weeks I began doing some landscaping around my deck. This deck has been a long time coming … like 40 years but we got it built out front to replace the broken steps outside our front door and it came out really nice. I needed though to clean up and plant some plants and turnover the grass and get down some mulch. So, I began and have worked at it over the last few weeks. Most of this happens on my day off and by the time the day comes to a close I’m tired and need rest. I’m no Erika!

I’m sure you’ve felt those times as well? Tired, burdened and wearied … and you just need to rest.

In our gospel reading for today Jesus and his disciples are walking on the Sabbath through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. Now God’s work of creation was completed in six days and on the seventh day God rested from all his work.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Gen 2:1-3

God made the Sabbath – Holy - or set apart - as a day of rest.

The religious leaders made rules to expand and explain what God intended. The Ten Commandments became more than 613 Jewish rabbinical laws and rules to explain and define them.

Take the Sabbath for instance:

Instead of a day of rest it became a day of Mitzvah and Gezeirah – laws and rules. Each with varying degrees of punishment.

From Religion facts about Rabbinic law:

A gezeirah is a rule instituted by the rabbis to prevent inadvertent violation of a mitzvah. For instance, it is a mitzvah to refrain from work on the Sabbath, but a gezeirah to avoid even the handling of any work instruments on the Sabbath.

http://www.religionfacts.com/rabbinic-law

So it’s bad and against religious law to turn over the ground around the deck, plant and put down mulch on the Sabbath, but to even take up the shovel which might lead to work breaks the law as well.

General Norman Schwarzkopf and General Colon Powell besides being generals both worked as Shabbas goys. A Shabbas goy was a non-Jew who was hired to do work on the Sabbath that was not permitted for the Jew himself to do. So even though the Rabbinic laws were being broken, and even though the intent of the Jewish homeowner was to break the law, because it was a Gentile worker that did the work and broke the law the Jewish homeowner might believe – no harm, no flow – I’m good!

The intent of the law was broken and the spirit of the law was broken. So I guess that there is no rest for the weary on the Sabbath.

24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they [your disciples Jesus] doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Even though it is not you Jesus that’s plucking the grain – they are your followers – what are you going to do about it!

What do you do with those that break the law?

You charge them!
You find them guilty!
You sentence them!
And you punish them!

3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Gen 2:3

As one commentator put it:

“Jesus lays his finger on the real trouble with these Pharisees: too much reading of rabbinical law and not enough of divine law.”

The interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel R.C.H. Lenski Pg 126

Or:

 
Too much trying to become righteous and not enough of being made righteous.

Too much Work and not enough rest. Or, as Lutherans we might say a confusion of Law and Gospel.

Keeping the law is good.

1. You shall have no other gods
2. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God
3. You shall remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy

The first table of the Law – the first three commandments - pertains to our relationship to God.

Have no other gods, do not misuse God’s name and keep his day Holy – or set apart.

Luther in his explanation to the Small Catechism and keeping the Sabbath day holy tells us that we should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

To hold it sacred - is to keep it holy or set apart.

To gather together as the community of faith, to hear the word of the Lord, to learn all that God would have us know and to … rest … in the mercy and work of God.

As a child growing up during in a Roman Catholic household during Lent eating no meat on Friday was a given. It was a Law it was a rule in my house. Friday … no meat!

The purpose of this was to give up meat, so that by fasting, and focusing on Christ and his walk to the cross, I might see his work in sacrificing his life for sins of the world, and most especially for me!

But all it did was to get me to focus on meat!

I wanted it and would do whatever I could to figure out what I needed to do to get it - without my mom knowing. Maybe there was a good intent to meatless Friday’s but it brought a wrong outcome for me.

25 And [Jesus] said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”

I don’t believe that it was Jesus’ intent here to point out a loophole. He is not saying “See, what David did! My disciples are not doing nearly as bad as they did.” If his intent was to make a point, Jesus, could have simply quoted Deuteronomy 23:25 which reads:

25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.

Jesus would have surely known this miscellaneous law from Deuteronomy 23 as I’m sure the Pharisees did as well. But the greater point that Jesus, I contend, is making - is with his conclusion:

7 ... “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

The day of rest is for us (you and me) - not we for the day. Our feeble attempt to keep the Law of God shows that we trust ourselves and our work as opposed to Christ and his finished work on our behalf.

We keep the Law when we rest in Christ and his word. As we hear God’s word by the power of the Holy Spirit we are either turned in repentance or comforted by God’s forgiveness.

In fact thinking that we are keeping the Law by our effort is a pretty sure sign that we have another god and another gospel made in our own image.

Not that the Law is bad mind you, but apart from Christ it is another idol made in our own self-serving image. The Pharisees did not love God, with all their heart, mind, soul and strength and they did not love their neighbor as their self. They were in fact loving themselves and justifying their own works of Law keeping while the very Lord of life who rested and instituted the day of rest for you and me walked with his disciples through the grain field.

The Sabbath rest is in Christ.
Our Sabbath rest is Christ!

It is no longer a specific day or time - though Sunday – the first day of the week – is marked as the day Christians gather together to hear the word of the Lord.

The Lord of the Sabbath gives you rest in him. The day, the time, and the Law are all fulfilled in Jesus and we rest in him whether we work on the weekends and worship during the week - or come together:

On the first day of the week.

16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here!” Mark 16:1-1-2;4b-6

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

Amen.

 

 

Sermon May 25-26, 2024

Title: God’s love for you, in Christ!
Text: John 3:1-17

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

The Medal of Honor was created in 1861, and it is awarded by the President of the United States, in the name of Congress at a ceremony attended by senior military personnel, members of Congress and other leaders.

It is, the highest honor for military valor and is awarded for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty" by a member of the U.S. Armed Forces during combat against an enemy.

On Sept. 29, 2006 in an extraordinary act of courage, Michael Anthony Monsoor 25, petty officer of the U.S. Navy's Special Operations Command, shielded three of his U.S colleagues and three other Iraqi soldiers from the imminent blast by throwing himself onto the grenade. The resultant blast killed him.

President Bush praised Monsoor for his valor and selfless service to the nation at the ceremony. "Michael had two options," said the president, "save his life or those who were with him, but he chose to lay down his life for them."

On this Memorial Day weekend we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice laying down their life for their fellow man and for the freedom we so cherish and enjoy.

I am reminded of what John says in his Gospel in chapter 15 verse 13:

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

And on this Trinity Sunday (Weekend) we look to our one true God who has revealed himself as one divine essence, but also as three unique and coequal persons … Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And to this divine essence Jesus claimed Sonship, for the work He came to do and was to accomplish, in only what God could do in Christ by taking on human flesh and laying down His life for the sins of the world, paying the price that you and I could never pay and to this work and revelation Jesus claimed:

Before Abraham was, “I AM”!

The name of God that Jesus proclaimed as the great I Am brought anger and the claim of blasphemy from the Jewish leaders.

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

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

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

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” V2

Nicodemus sees in the signs that Jesus has been doing, and probably his teaching as well - proclaiming; “Repentant for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” God’s work, and it is through this work that God had brought Nicodemus to this place this night to be with Jesus.

Jesus’ reply that “… unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God …” comes as a bit of a surprise to Nicodemus. In a similar sense the words of our Bible that proclaims, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” also brings for some a questioning which causes some to think:

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

Even Nicodemus asks,

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

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

Genesis’s beginning and the Gospel of John’s beginning have one thing in common - and that is Jesus.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,

The heavens and the earth continue to inspire many to question and look into this blessed creation of God.

NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars 20 years ago in 2004 with a hoped for, 90-day mission. Spirit lasted 6 years and Opportunity 15 years before succumbing to the Martian surface and climate.

The Curiosity and Perseverance rovers continue to operate on Mars giving us a continuous and vivid picture of this close planetary neighbor.

The heavens God created we still explore looking for answers …

in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

Jesus is connected in a real way to creation and to the answer.

“And God said,”

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

The word is not only connected to your hearing now, but it is also, as Jesus is making known to Nicodemus, connected to the washing away of sins in Holy Baptism.

Nicodemus asks Jesus,

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

In reality though, even if this were possible it would do Nicodemus and you or me no good;

- for being born again in the natural way only brings forth one who is born in sin and brought forth in iniquity.

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

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

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

You too needed to be spiritually born and this came for you and me in our Baptisms.

God’s word connected to simple water and his command and promise by the working of the Holy Spirit brings as Luther’s Small Catechism makes clear about the benefits baptism gives:

“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.”

As Jesus declared, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

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

… that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Saying:
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Dear friends, we have been given the Spirit of our God and have been called you to faith so that, the Kingdom of God is yours.

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The fullness of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, continues to work!

As one washed in the waters of Holy Baptism you have been born from above and born anew by God, and that same God who, from the beginning spoke God’s creation into existence has breathed new life in you, and because of him eternity is yours.

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

Amen.

Sermon May 18-19, 2024

Title: The witness of the Spirit is yours!
Text: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

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13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Second Stanza of our opening hymn for today really speaks about the gift of the Holy Spirit.

#913 O Holy Spirit, Enter In

Give to Your Word impressive power
That in our hearts from this good hour
As fire it may be glowing,
That in true Christian unity
We faithful witnesses may be
Your glory ever showing.
Hear us, cheer us
By Your teaching;
Let our preaching
And our labor
Praise You, Lord, and serve our neighbor.

Today we celebrate the sending of the Spirit which in the Book of Acts speaks of the Spirit coming as a mighty rushing wind and as tongues of fire, resting on the disciples and giving them utterance. This powerful speaking in other tongues gives the disciples the ability to be heard as Luke writes in the book of Acts:

“Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” (Acts 2:7b-8)

And the diversity of those that hear is large.

9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” (Acts 2:9-11)

The Spirit can certainly do marvelous things to reach all people! And that is what Jesus tells the disciples in the Gospel reading for today.

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

The Spirit of truth will point you to Jesus.

This light shining is to show the way to who is the way the truth and the life.

The Spirit of truth bears witness to you!

Saying:

Know this, I have seen the ones who masquerade as gods in this life. They are not he. Look to Jesus! Follow Jesus! Trust Jesus! Believe in Jesus!

Christ met unbelievers where they were. He realized what many Christians today still don't seem to understand. Cultivators have to get out in the field. According to one count, the gospels record 132 contacts that Jesus had with people. Six were in the Temple, four in the synagogues and 122 were out with the people in the mainstream of life.

J.K. Johnston, Why Christians Sin, Discovery House, 1992, p. 142.

God can use us all. God will use us all.

My friend Rob makes his living teaching guitar and banjo. He is very talented and those he teaches learn well. But his mission is to tell the world about Christ and through his gift of music he gets an opportunity to tell the world about Jesus and Christ himself says that it is to your advantage that he goes away:

But if I go, I will send him [the Spirit] to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:7b-11

Ugly truth or beautiful truth?

The ugly truth is that we are born sinful and unclean and are God's enemies and rightly deserve to be cast into Hell and separated from God for ever. But the beautiful truth is that God came to stand in your place and to suffer death for you so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you might know this and by faith trust all that Jesus did for you and receive the promise of an eternity in heaven with him.

Satan has been judged at the cross. He has been defeated and it is now through the working of the Spirit that Christ’s work is made known to the world so that sin might be repented of and people come to faith in Christ.

We know that we ourselves need repentance and forgiveness, so also those who will come to faith by the Spirit’s work through the word. God’s means of word and sacrament are found here in God’s house but the word is active and goes with each one of us as we in our vocations take Christ with us in our daily lives as father’s mothers, brothers, sisters, and workers and too.

The Spirit of truth bears witness to you!

As Jesus says:
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
God’s Spirit leads you into all truth! John16:13-15

Christ and his work are who the Helper, the Holy Spirit points to and it defines what is His work and what He works to accomplish.

Jesus sends the Helper and by His work you are His!

We have peace to with God too because of the Holy Spirit. He brings us to life from our spiritual death and give us the faith that points and holds to Christ.

And as was confessed today in the Nicene Creed:

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Lord and giver of life,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,
Who spoke through the prophets …

The Holy Spirit is God the sanctifier or the one who makes us Holy…

Jesus sends the Helper the Holy Spirit and by His work you are His!
To be comforted at times is good,

To be helped at times is also good,

But to be forgiven and to receive the gift of faith in Christ and His work - for you - is the work of the Holy Spirit who was sent to draw people not to himself but to Christ. This is truly Good News!

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

Amen.

Sermon May 11-12, 2024

Title: The King of Love My shepherd Is!

Text: John 17:11b-19

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Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me that they may be one, even as we are one. John 17:11b

Charles Spurgeon once wrote:

"To remain divided is sinful! Did not our Lord pray that they may be one, even as we are one"? (John 17:11b).

A chorus of ecumenical voices keep harping the unity tune. What they are saying is, "Christians of all doctrinal shades and beliefs must come together in one visible organization, regardless... Unite, unite!"

Such teaching is false, reckless and dangerous. Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Our Lord's prayer in John 17 must be read in its full context. Look at verse 17.

17 "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."

Only those sanctified through the Word can be one in Christ. To teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel.

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Essence of Separation, quoted in The Berean Call, July, 1992, p. 4.

Jesus too desired unity around the truth and his will was in accord with the will of his Father.

Jesus says:

“… I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost …

The Lord’s desire is to keep and protect those whom he leaves behind as he Ascends back to the Father, this we celebrated this past Thursday at St, Stephens at the Ascension service.

His desire is that they (his disciples) may be one in unity with each other just as Jesus and the Father are one in unity … though distinct in person. Christ says that he has guarded them and that not one has been lost …

except for Judas - the one who went the way of destruction – so that the scriptures may be filled.

And as Christ prepares to leave his beloved disciples, he prays for them that the Father would keep them, in your name, in the name of the one true God, so that they would be guarded and not lost.

As Christ leaves the world, he knows that his own will remain in the world just as you and I also remain, and though in the world are not of the world.

We remain but also, we represent the work of God in us,

to abide in Jesus,

to remain in him,

to be his and to show forth his will against the power of the evil one, who looks only to steal, kill and destroy.

By his word of truth God is yours!

When I was in Germany some years ago, I couldn’t help thinking as we were driving to the airport in Berlin how much Germany has changed in the years since the Nazis and Hitler were defeated.

Initially, many Germans supported Hitler. Some saw that it was better for them to get along rather than to fight what was happening and some turned a blind eye to the truth of the atrocities around them.

We see that happening today as the evil of the October 7th attack against Jewish families in Israel by HAMAS is denied by many protestors that refuse to believe that it actually happened.

Even when churches were told to unite by Hitler many did, finding that things went easier for them than those who stayed true to the word and came under harsher persecution.

We all have families in the world and this too can pull us apart as we wrestle with the changes in society and civic life.

With marriage redefinition and gender identity questions abounding, the truth we’re told is tolerance, but in reality the breakdown of the family as it has been defined on Biblical principles and God’s word is the real goal.

Jesus says:

17 Sanctify them [or make them holy which also is to be set apart] in the truth; [he then tells us that] your word is truth.

Apart from God’s word we live in a world where God is re-made in man’s image and that is how the devil wants it.

He wants to turn what God has said upside down into that first deceptive question of his:

“Did God really say?” It gives us all, like Adam and Eve, a high view of self and a low view of sin which is simply, missing the mark and coming up short, on what God expects.

So, what do we do?

We lower the bar of truth or change it altogether.

Jesus’ desire for you and me … in the world … is that we stay true to the word and that by it – by the word - may also be sanctified or made holy [set apart] by it.

God’s Spirit does that by pointing you and me to Jesus!

As Jesus returns to the Father he leaves his disciples with a promise.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Acts 1:8-9

Our first reading follows this as the disciples return to Jerusalem and the upper room where they were staying … where Jesus had appeared to them.

14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Unity around truth, that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

How do we know this? How can we know this?

… your word is truth.

God’s word … Jesus … is truth.

Like we discussed last week:

At Baptism we are marked as God’s own child, as one redeemed by Christ, as one who was crucified for you and me.

This Jesus upon his ascension gave the promise that we would not be left alone and that the comforter, [the Holy Spirit] who would come at Pentecost, would be with us to point us to the unity found only in Jesus the

word of God made flesh.

Dr. Scott Murray in his wonderful Memorial moment devotion reminds us of what happens when truth is compromised:

When the Word is lost everything is lost. Over the past twenty years, churches have begun to jettison the confession of faith in the Creeds of the church.

They are no longer recited as part of church services. When this trend began the clergy, who were so eager to get rid of the public confession of the faith by the faithful, were quick to reassure the skeptical that even though they no longer said the words that they certainly still affirmed the content of the Creeds. More recently the clergy who jettisoned the recitation of the Creed are now quite aggressively rejecting the content of the Creed, including its Christological [focus on Christ] content. Once we stop saying the words, it isn't very long until we stop believing the content of them.

Dr. Scott Murray: Unloving Love Wednesday of Easter 6 13 May 2015

The truth comes to us in the word of God and is made know through the work of the Spirit who points us to the truth of Christ’s word and work.

Luther reminds us in his Commentary on Galatians:

"In the issue of salvation, on the other hand, when fanatics teach lies and errors under the guise of truth and make an impression on many, there love must not be exercised and error must not be approved. For what is lost here is not merely a good deed done for someone who is ungrateful, but the Word, faith, Christ, and eternal life, etc. are lost. Therefore, if you deny God in one article of faith, you have denied Him in all; for God is not divided into many articles, but He is everything in each article and He is one in all the articles of the faith."

Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians, 5.9

17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Christ has made you his own and will keep you by his Spirit connected to him and his truth. This is his promise.

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

Amen.

Sermon May 4-5, 2024

Title: Baptized into Your Name Most Holy!
Text: 1 John 5:1-8

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4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Stanza 1

Baptized into your name most holy,
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
I claim a place, though weak and lowly,
Among your saints, your chosen host,
Buried with Christ and dead to sin.
Your Spirit now shall live within.

Our epistle in 1 John begins:

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,

For you and I and all who have been born a new, this work of God began when we were baptized. We were marked by Christ as his own, having been born again and adopted into his family - and having our sins washed away in the waters of Holy Baptism - we joy in God’s work and our new life as God’s child.

The work of God began for many of us as infants. God’s work was certainly greater than our ability to speak this truth as babies for ears to hear at our baptism - and so as we’ve grown up and have been taught what this work of God is – we continue to proclaim this truth and live as God’s adopted children to his glory.

Stanza 2

My loving Father, here you take me
To be henceforth your child and heir.
My faithful Savior, here you make me
The fruit of all your sorrows share.
O Holy Spirit, comfort me
When threat'ning clouds around I see.

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Our first reading in Act relates this truth:

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
This gift also comes by means of another gift – the Lord’s working in Baptism.

Through the means of grace we have received the Holy Spirit, and have overcome the world, conquering sin, death and the power of the devil through this baptismal washing uniting water with the word and Spirit and creating faith in we who were once dead to God.

God has united us to himself in a special way and we confess with our mouths this truth that Jesus is Lord, and that believing that God has raised him from the dead - we are saved - have been saved - and will continue to be saved!

Salvation is God’s promise and is delivered through his means.

The word of terror that the devil brings – that you aren’t good enough - has been defeated at the cross and Jesus has declared his victory for you, even to the gates of hell that sin, death and the devil have been defeated and overcome by our Lord and we who confess this faith receive all that Jesus won for us in this most blessed gift.

This is most certainly true.

Stanza 3

My faithful God, you fail me never;
Your promise surely will endure.
Oh, cast me not away forever
If words and deeds become impure.
Have mercy when I come defiled;
Forgive, lift up, restore your child.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

For you and I who have been brought to faith the keeping of the Law has been completed in Christ, and so as we stay connected to the true vine that is Jesus, and feed on his word, we are seen by the Father in perfect righteousness because Jesus has kept the Law perfectly on our behalf and we, in Christ, reflect that perfection.

In the world we reflect the brokenness of sin and continue to do so.

As a little boy I was too young to even remember this incident. But my mother told it to me relating her shock and embarrassment.

I was probably 2 years old and with my mother at a store. While she was shopping a lady, she knew came over to talk with my mom and while they were visiting, she looked at me and asked, “What is your name little boy?” To which I quickly replied, “Damn it, Russell!”

My mom was mortified. I had obviously heard that a lot from her because I didn’t know my name apart from that phrase.

What we reflect in the world has consequences.

Now, not to have my mom take all the blame for bad judgment while teaching her child.

When my daughter Amy was 2 years old, Monica and I were taking her and our dog for a walk. As we walked near the Nature Center in our sub, I saw a squirrel. Knowing that our dog Tawney, would get excited and want to chase the squirrel, I pulled the dog to a stop and had Monica and Amy stop to distract the dog until the squirrel was out of sight. While we waited, Amy looked up and said, “Damn squirrel.”

I lived my mom’s grief.

I too had let the word of sin taint my life.

But, the word of sin and the world has been overcome in Christ!

Stanza 4

All that I am and love most dearly -
Receive it all, O Lord, from me.
Let me confess my faith sincerely
And help me your own child to be!
Let nothing that I am or own
Serve any will but yours alone.

5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Belief, is God’s work!

The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

That is how the Apostle Paul comforts his first readers of this epistle. And for we who many years later hear his same voice proclaimed through the Gospel promise by the Holy Spirit believe and have the same gift of comfort and peace now and always through the assurance of simple water and word connected, received, and revealed.

What a blessed comfort!

Martin Luther writes in his Lecturing on the First Epistle of St. John:

Thus the water cannot be proclaimed without the blood. Nor is the blood of Christ given without the water of Baptism. Besides, the blood and the water do not come to us except at the insistence of the Holy Spirit, who is in the Word. Therefore, those three cannot be separated, but the three do one thing …

For these three constantly accompany one another, and through the word a daily immersion and a perpetual baptism takes place, a perpetual shedding of the blood of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, a continual cleansing of sins.

AE 30 pg 316 Lutheran Study Bible pg. 2180

We as God’s children and all God’s children who have been baptized have and receive God’s forgiveness and have salvation in his name.

We all fall short, sure – but the blood of Christ paid the price that overcame sin death and the devil and has opened the gates of heaven for we who believe. The waters of Holy Baptism, united with the word of God, washes away our sin and by the Holy Spirit we believe and have the assurance of God’s forgiveness now and into eternity.

The devil will continue to damn us. But God in Christ has rescued us from damnation to eternity.

Baptized into Your Name Most Holy! Remember that daily!

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

Amen.