Sermon October 22-23, 2022

Title: Salvation in Christ is all gift!
Text: Luke 18:9-17

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17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

It has been said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those, who in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Source Unknown.

Robert Fulghum wrote in the Kansas City Times, "Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

"These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody . . . When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together." - Hugh Duncan.

17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

So, what is a child, what is faith, and - what is childlike faith?

Well, Webster says of a child: It is an unborn or recently born person; a young person especially between infancy and youth; a childlike or childish person; a person not yet of age; a son or daughter of human parents; one strongly influenced by another or by a place, or state of affairs.

And about faith Webster says: It’s a strong belief or trust in someone or something; belief in the existence of God; strong religious feelings or beliefs; a system of religious beliefs; fidelity to one's promises; sincerity of intentions; belief and trust in and loyalty to God; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust.

So, picture if you will a young child standing on the side of a pool; not yet of age to swim and having not been taught how, but being strongly influenced by dad’s call to jump and that he will catch them.

The child too has strong feelings and beliefs, that if dad misses or drops me, “I will hit the water and I’m going to sink as fast as the stones I’ve dropped in the pool at the deep end!”

But dad has promised to catch them and so they place their trust and intentions … complete trust and loyalty in dad … though there is no proof. As the child jumps, dad catches … confirming their faith in the object of their safety - the one who will not let them fall.
It is true as well with our heavenly father. As St. Paul writes in our epistle lesson for today:

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:18

It is his promise.

So, where do we today place our trust?

What or in whom is the object of faith for the Christian?

Is it in our self?
Is it in our parents?
Is it in the church or religion as a whole?
Is it society and political power?
Is it strong or weak like a child?

15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

For those of you who attended Pastor Keuning’s Bible study a few weeks ago, he taught on the faith of infants. He explained that the word child in Greek can have different words to address different ages and meanings.

Paidion: a child, normally below the age of puberty
Teknion: a little child (small, a child or offspring)
Brephos: a very small child; the meaning even extends to an as-yet-unborn child or fetus.

Infants or babies can’t come to Jesus so the “they” - probable refers to their parents or responsible adults who were bringing them to Jesus. Much like we continue to bring those gifts of God given to us, those little boys and girls, who are brought as infants to the waters of Holy Baptism … where God himself marks them as his child. Or, even as those children who are brought to God’s house in the womb of their mothers as they await the time of their birth, as we will soon await the Nativity of our Lord conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary.

As we compare this part of our reading with the earlier part dealing with the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. We see the strength of the Pharisee, who standing in his own strength, might, and faith brags:

12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

In a sense saying, “God! Are you not pleased with me and all that I do and have done for you?”

He stands proudly by himself, covered in his own righteousness and he calls out so that all can hear and see just how righteous he is:

“… thank you … that I am not like other men ... extortioners, [those who get things through any way or any means that they can] unjust, [the opposite of the truthful and fair are those who are unjust. Those who give you what you don’t deserve rather than what you do deserve, adulterers, [those who defile their marriage or live contrary to what God has commanded] or, even like this tax collector. [this poor tool of the government sent to extract all that is rightfully mine, we might suppose.]

Do we at times think the same? Are we at times not also, the Pharisee who looks at ourselves against the other Christian believers that we see, thinking how pleased God is with us and our good prayers, good works, and duty that we give to God? I know I have, and maybe you have too?

Well the truth is, like the Pharisee, we can have big faith in me, myself and I.

We can see our own wisdom, reason and understanding as a greater than that of the Lord and his word – especially for a child. To give value only to those children who have already been born, [teknion in the Greek], as opposed to the [brephos] the word the Lord uses in our text for infants or even those still in the womb – like my little grandson Jackson Albert Tkac who awaits his own nativity and coming forth – though we have his picture in unbelievable clarity through the technology of an enhanced ultrasound today.

In the account of the visit of Mary to Elizabeth in Luke chapter 1:

40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby [brephos] in my womb leaped for joy.

The song we sing that most clearly shows the childlike faith that Jesus is talking about was written in the mid 1700’s by:

Henrietta L. von Hays.

I am Jesus little lamb, Ever glad at heart I am;
For my Shepherd gently guides me,
Knows my needs and well provides me,
Loves me every day the same,
Even calls me by my name.

Childlike faith clings to the savior as a child to his mother; knowing that every need is provided for them by God daily, and that he lovingly calls each one of us by name – from eternity past, in the womb, in life, and as we await death we remain his little lambs.

Day by day, at home, away, Jesus is my staff and stay.
When I hunger, Jesus feeds me,
Into pleasant pastures feeds me;
When I thirst, he bids me go
where the quiet waters flow.

Every day our childlike faith is place in him. Whether hunger or thirst, we can find the pleasant pastures of rest in him as we daily remember the quiet waters of our own baptism of forgiveness where our sins have been washed away.

Who so happy as I am, Even now the shepherd’s lamb?
And when my short life is ended,
By his angel host attended,
He shall fold me to his breast,
There within his arms to rest.

Our joy with childlike faith is in the good shepherd Jesus who will, even as our life comes to a close [Bill Wilstermann] and we look to him through the eyes of old age, comfort us all in his loving arms where we will rest with him in eternity.

Jesus says:

“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Luke 18:16b-17

New verse  that I felt compelled to add.

I am Jesus little lamb, in my mother’s womb I am;
Christ my Shepherd knits and feeds me,
Sees me grow, he cares and leads me,
Loves me every day the same,
Always calls me by my name!

It is by God’s Grace, Mercy and Spirit that we too can receive his Kingdom with that blessed childlike [brephos] faith. May we, by that same Spirit, pray to always remain in the one true faith as a child who is Jesus’ little lamb.

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

Amen

 

 

 

Sermon October 16, 2022 Pastor Thomas Dunseth

Title: Special service Deaf ministry - Pastor Dunseth
Text: Psalm 51:15-19

Facebook live: Pastor Dunseth

 
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Sermon October 8-9, 2022 Pastor Jeffrey Keuning

Title: Pastor Jeffrey Keuning
Text: Luke 17:11-19

Facebook live: Pastor Jeffrey Keuning

17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Sermon October 1-2, 2022

Title: By faith in Christ, you are forgiven!
Text: Luke 17:1-20

Facebook live: By faith in Christ, you are forgiven!

3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

One of the most tragic events during the Reagan Presidency was the Sunday morning terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded as they slept. Many of us can still recall the terrible scenes as the dazed survivors worked to dig out their trapped brothers from beneath the rubble.

A few days after the tragedy, [there was an] an extraordinary story. Marine Corps Commandant Paul Kelly, visited some of the wounded survivors then in a Frankfurt, Germany, hospital. Among them was Corporal Jeffrey Lee Nashton, severely wounded in the incident. Nashton had so many tubes running in and out of his body that a witness said he looked more like a machine than a man; yet he survived.

As Kelly neared him, Nashton, struggling to move and racked with pain, motioned for a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a brief note and passed it back to the Commandant. On the slip of paper was but two words -- “Semper Fi” the Latin motto of the Marines meaning "forever faithful." With those two simple words Nashton spoke for the millions of Americans who have sacrificed body and limb and their lives for their country -- those who have remained faithful.

J. Dobson & Gary Bauer, Children at Risk, Word, 1990, pp. 187-188.

Being faithful as followers of Christ and his Gospel also has obstacles and enemies. As Jesus says:

“Temptations to sin are sure to come,”

We all fall short in thought, word and deed - even at times allowing things, and those that we love, to become a stumbling block – separating us from the love of God and getting in the way of the gift that is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Even the little ones, those who are new to the faith, child, teen, and adult alike can have those who lead them away through their own apathy for Christ or love for the world. Jesus gives a word picture of a millstone and sea as to what awaits those who lead away from him, becoming a stumbling block where unbelief results.

We too find temptation to sin and fall away all around us.

What are your stumbling blocks?

Is it the needs or wants we have in this life?
Is it the time we spend with and on the things, we love?
Is it how we feel about the issues of the day?
Is it politics?

Temptation to sin can be very strong and affect every aspect of our day-to-day lives. We can fall away from God or fall back into a right relationship to him as God calls and directs us through his word and by faith.

I’ve had these same problems in my life over the years.

Work demanded much of my time - even working nights and weekends. As I wrestled with life and faith issues, God drew me closer to him and as I read his word, prayed to know his will and to know him better and I saw the need to be in relationship with him. It was no longer, “My will, but thy will be done!”

“No way!” I thought initially, that’s hard!”

“I have enough to do! I work long hours! I have to care for the house and yard work, and besides being the spiritual head of the family is too much for me!

But Jesus kept pursuing me through the word.

“Russ … you need to do it!” – “YOU are the one who needs to be the spiritual head of the family so pick up the matt you are sleeping on and come and follow me!”

Semper Fi! Forever faithful, to Jesus and his words!

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

Even the apostle’s faith was struggling. They’re confused and until after the resurrection won’t really understand what Jesus is saying.

6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Faith is nothing without its object and the object of our faith must be Jesus!

So, if he needs to be the object how can we know him?

Last week from chapter 16 the cry was to send Lazarus back from the dead:

28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

In John chapter 5 Jesus says of Moses and the Prophets to the teachers of the Law:

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. John 5:39-40

Life has two aspects, that which is conceived and brought forth in this life by God’s gift of procreation, though corrupted and brought forth in sin.

And that which is recreated by God through the working of the Holy Spirit, so that the perfect original righteousness that God created us to dwell in would be recreated in us through Christ’s sacrificial work and by the working of the Holy Spirit point us to Christ unto salvation.

Because of sin and the fall some children conceived in this life are miscarried, some die of complications in pregnancy, some are born with birth defects, while others are born healthy and others - aborted at all stages of pregnancy and for any number of reasons.

What God had created perfect - has been corrupted.

In this life, we who are fortunate to have been born and live, deal with the wages of sin our whole lives. Sickness and death cover the life given to you and me by God - but a life that is broken and in bondage to sin has been corrupted.

That is where the word of God and the means of grace come in.

Through the word we hear the voice of our savior speak.

Through the means that God gives in Christ, we now come to him and are marked as his redeemed by grace through faith, washed in the waters of Holy Baptism and raised to newness of life we are his beloved children who listen to his voice.

In the Lord’s Supper, God feeds us the gift of eternal life in Christ’s true body and blood given under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith.

As we confess our sins together, God through his called and ordained servants absolves us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Life and life eternal are both gifts of God and in his control.

We cannot have life or life eternal apart from God and his word. It is why our church and synod hold up the Bible as the word of God and stand firmly on that word and our Lutheran confessions as they rightly expound the scriptures.

Jesus says:

3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins, against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Friends, God has forgiven you in Christ your sins and desires only one path forward for we who are in Christ.

To be in his word.
To follow his word.
To cling to his word.
To trust his word.

For to hold to his word is to hold to Jesus. And to hold to Jesus is life eternal and forgiveness in his name!

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

Amen

Sermon September 24-25, 2022

Title: The Kingdom gifts are in life eternal!
Text: Luke 16:19-31

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29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

The story that Jesus begins to tell picks up on the theme from last week that you can’t serve both God and money – where you will love the one and hate the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other.

Also, the week before where we learned that Jesus is the Good Shepherd that seeks the lost sheep leaving the 99 and that joy in heaven that is found when one sinner repents.

We see here a rich man, or one who has the blessings of this life and lives in an opulent manner - that Jesus says that this he does every day.

Contrasted with this we hear:

20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table.

Not a good life here as we compare his life with the Rich Man.

Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The contrast of wealth and opulence and the poor and lowly of the world is not lost on the Pharisees, Scribes and teachers of the Law as Jesus says:

15 … “are those who justify yourselves before men, [the rich man] but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

It is not in this life – wealth, riches and temporal gifts but it is given in this life.

Christ is made known by the power of the Holy Spirit in the word of the Gospel and connected to the waters of Holy Baptism where God washes away our sin marking us his child.

Jesus continues the story abruptly,

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment,

Both are dead but with two very different results; one carried to Abraham’s side the other in torment and a gulf (chasm) fixed between them.
A story is told of:

A pig who ate his fill of acorns under an oak tree and then started to root around the tree. A crow remarked, "You shouldn’t do this. If you lay bare the roots, the tree will wither and die."

"Let it die," said the pig. "Who cares as long as [I have] acorns?"

Bits & Pieces, February, 1990, p. 24.

We can all take a short-sighted view of the blessings of this life as well.

It is interesting that Lazarus is called by name and that God knows him personally - but a certain man neither knows God, nor is known by him, as a loving father knows a child.

We at times can’t see the tree and the blessings of God in the acorns that are given as a gift.

Just as the wealth and riches of this life which are given and received from God, who is the true giver of life. He gives all blessings in Christ, to us and we in service to our neighbor shine the light of Christ!

The call goes forth.

‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

The result of trusting in Christ versus trusting in riches is made clear.

The temporal blessings of this age are for … but a time … but God’s eternal blessings are given as a gift are forever.

The result of falling away for us all into trusting the “idols” which draw us away from Christ can blind us to the eternal consequences.

A few weeks ago Jesus said:

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

It is sobering to see that even those we love can and do draw us away from the savior.

Two weeks ago it was:

7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Repentant and forgiveness are God’s work through the Holy Spirit working through his word for you and me.

Last week it was Jesus speaking to the Pharisees who were lovers of money, saying:

14 … “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Today, it is the consequence of a life separated from God.

1. Eternal torment as opposed to eternal life: both are real and both are forever.

2. Good and bad: The good can at times draw us away from Christ, trusting in the things of this world where keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus can get us through the trials of this life with the focus of the blessings and riches in heaven.

3. A chasm [gulf] fixed: In some way the torment of hell is the knowledge of a life wasted not in service to God and neighbor but only to self. There is even the knowledge of those by name – Lazarus - who we could have helped but didn’t. Who is the Lazarus in your life or mine?

4. The reality of those left behind: The desire of the rich man here is to awaken his brothers to the reality and importance of repentance and faith in Christ given for the forgiveness of sins and time still for a turning to God.

5. Moses and the Prophets: The means to faith is given and revealed in God’s means of word and sacraments. Moses and the Prophets, Law and Gospel, heard and received by the Holy Spirit or connected to the waters of Holy Baptism by the power of the Holy Spirit!

6. Sending Lazarus back from the dead:

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:8-10

The good news is that Christ Jesus died for you!

Moses and the prophets testify to this [the fullness of scripture] so you and I are without excuse.

We heed the working of the Holy Spirit who calls us to repentance or we continue to live as if it doesn’t matter. There will be no excuses or second chances in the life to come - but there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as the reality of a life rejecting faith in Christ, rips the very fabric of those in eternal torment for eternity.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

For you dear friends Christ calls, comforts and brings to faith by his Spirit. Just as in baptism we were made his!

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

Amen

Sermon September 17-18, 2022

Title: The riches of faith are given in Christ!
Text: Luke 16:1-15

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13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

In our lesson today, Jesus brings to the ears of the disciples, and all his followers, a parable or story which illustrates serving God and money.

The previous parables, from the weeks leading up to this, had been directed to the Pharisees, the teachers of the law and the scribes, and now the disciples too would benefit from the Lord’s words.

How do you deal with a bad manager? Especially one, who has not been looking out for the owner’s best interest?

2 And [the owner] called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

It is not an uncommon situation for many who serve in positions of responsibility. As Pastor’s we are called stewards of the mysteries of God. We are called to faithfully divide the word of truth, to preach both the Law and the Gospel, and to administer God’s sacraments rightly.

As managers, in companies, you are given the responsibility of managing someone else’s money and possessions and you have to deal in a favorable way with it … or as the parable says … be replaced.

Or, as my brother-n-law Mark once said in speaking of a co-worker:

“He would make a great manager, if under constant supervision.”

So in the Gospel lesson much conniving and cooking of the books ensue.

Managers at time try to figure out a solution.

4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may [still think well of me] receive me into their houses.’

For managers and for us all, self-preservation is a strong motivator. What can we do in this life to better our situation or to preserve ourselves against bad business decisions or circumstances?

5 …, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 … ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ … sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 … ‘And how much do you owe?’ …, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

The object for the manager was to do damage control.

With this scheme the shortage would disappear, or the income would look to be much smaller than the owner thought. And if he is found out, the customers would still think well of him.

It has even been suggested that the manager had falsified the amounts in the original billings and pocketed the surplus.

Certainly this is not out of the realm of possibilities.

Popular Commentary on the Bible P.E. Kretzmann Pg. 354

At a meeting I attended many years ago it was made known that a co-worker had defrauded the company. He had sold instruments for the company but kept the trade-ins for himself and sold them for his own profit. The company was unaware of the trade-ins, as the manager’s paperwork showed only a cash transaction with no trade in information listed.

The manager personally picked the trade-in instruments, the customers thought they got value for their trades, and then he sold them out of his garage – to other customers - so the company lost the profit on the trades and future company business. He made some money being very shrewd.

Faced with a financial crisis many are clever though dishonest in solving problems.

Even the master in our lesson, when he received information concerning this latest trick of the manager, could not withhold a certain amount of praise. He praised him, not on account of his unfaithfulness and his fraud, but on account of the cleverness in handling the situation and getting himself out of a very unpleasant predicament in this life.

Popular Commentary on the Bible P.E. Kretzmann Pg. 354

There was a saying that my boss told me many years ago. It was said about those who had paper wealth by speculating in internet stocks. He would say:

“Money easily gotten is money easily lost.”

10 “One who is faithful in little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in little is also dishonest in much.

Now, the world makes provision for the future, that is, they look to put themselves and their families beyond care, as soon as possible, it is the focus of their life and they make use of every possible advantage through: retirement investments, pensions, savings accounts , homes, and 401K and IRA investments to name a few.

Maybe after hearing them on the radio, we’ve all thought to call on Ric Edelman, R.W. Paul and associates or Fischer Investments to look over our money to make sure we are cared for in retirement and to get the most out of our investments and social security.
God’s children, on the other hand, often are anything but energetic and diligent in the things that pertain to God and His kingdom.

They forget that death is real and the end is coming - Sometimes much sooner than we’ve planned still we’ll all give an account to the Lord in regard to our work with the gospel for Him – in this life.

Jesus here admonishes them that they should so conduct their lives, and the money entrusted to them and as Christians should use their money and time in the interest of the kingdom of God, in establishing and extending the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Kretzmann

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating when God calls us to give of our Time, Talent and Treasure he doesn’t mean to pick one and forget about the others but to use all of our means to his glory and we get to decide how much of each we’ll give.

12 [But] if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

continued …

Interestingly, my boss’ son who mediated the affair of our dishonest manager at a meeting with all the managers of the company had compassion on the worker and showing him mercy allowed him to remain with the company, though under supervision of another manager as he had a wife and two small children.

And the true blessing and gift that God gives you and me is faith in His son.
He has given us life through the death of His son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to live suffer and die and rise again for you and for me.

This bears fruit in service to our neighbor - not by works of righteousness that we do, but by true joy in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We can joy in the faith we are given as a gift as children of God knowing that all mercy falls under His control and that he uses you and me as his hands and feet in the world to reach the lost with the comfort of the Gospel message.

You are rich and truly bless because God has given you riches in Him and they will surpass and far exceed those promised by the world.

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

Amen

Sermon September 10-11, 2022

Title: Rejoice! God has found you!
Text: Luke 15:1-10

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6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Jesus came for sinners.

That is good news, because He has found you!

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

The charge against Jesus has always been harsh. “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” How might that reflect on you and me and those with whom we associate? Are you accused of being like those with whom you associate?

Interesting, is it not? Jesus came for sinners and that very fact has the Pharisees and scribes grumbling.

Father Mike Verschaeve retired as a Catholic Priest after 43 years of service the end of June 2020.

"I thank God for all of you, and you will ever be in my heart," he wrote in the bulletin.

Father Verschaeve was ordained in 1977 and I came to know him when he came to a club I was playing at. He was a new Priest at St. Francis Cabrini Catholic church and came with my friend Jeff to hear my band. As we talked during a break he remarked, “I wonder what my church would think of me hanging out in a bar and listening to a rock band?”

And then he added: “It is probably the place I should be and the place that I could do the most good.”

When you think about it … where did Jesus spend most of his time? And who did he spend that time with?

For sure He was among the people, but here and in many other places in scripture He was with the Pharisees, rulers, scribes and the Jewish leaders teaching … calling … and at times … rebuking.

Being among the people is a good thing, both in the church and in the world but what does that say about sinners? They’re everywhere; in the church and out of the church. Those who are piously leading religious lives … or so the impression seems and those who are far away from God … at a bar … hanging out … or so the impression seems.

For Jesus and in His day the perceptions were the same. Some who seemed religious were not, and those who were seen as sinners, as in the stories of tax collectors and adulterers, were those God called to faith and used as witnesses to the working of God, through the word, in their lives by His Spirit.

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

Father Mike followed sheep. Those sheep who wondered he looked for and called back to the father’s loving arms for 43 years.

Pastor Merrell served as Pastor for 42 years and then as Pastor Emeritus for another 8. They both served to seek and save the lost with the saving gospel and to call those in rebellion back to the safety of the sheepfold.

You were lost and have been found. Jesus came for you, the one lost sheep, just as each one of us are lost at birth, born dead in trespass and sin until God claims us as his own.

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those that were lost.” (Luke 19:10)

What sinners need is Jesus Christ and His Word and Spirit in their lives; all else is hopeless.

In Acts we read:

36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Acts 15:36-39

Here Martin Luther writes:

"Here it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely united. Indeed, the text indicates as much.

"Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that the great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort.

"Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death.

"No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again.

Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall.

If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again."

Martin Luther

5 And when [the shepherd finds the lost sheep], he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

The place of strength … the high Priest’s shoulders, is where the sheep is carried. In the Old Testament there is example of the making of the Ephod, which was an article of clothing worn by the High Priest of Israel:

6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together …

9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth …

12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance. (Ex. 28:6-7, 9-10,12)

Jesus carries the lost sheep that have been found upon his shoulders we find as the parable continues.

6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The joy of the Good Shepherd is … you!

The joy for sinners is that you are not so lost that Jesus can’t find you.

As He says in the parable of the lost coin:

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, Greek - ten drachmas; a drachma was a Greek coin approximately equal in value to a Roman denarius, worth about a day's wage for a laborer if she loses one coin, the lost sheep or you, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?

Jesus Christ by the working of His Holt Spirit will continue to seek you.

9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’

It is a joy to find what was important that was lost because as has been said:

Objects are lost because people look where they are not instead of where they are.

Or … as might be said:
People are lost because we preach the gospel where they are not instead of where they are.

10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Rejoice dear friends! God has found you!

So just as our lesson began today:

5 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Joy in the good news that Jesus is willing and able to meet sinners – you and me - where we are.

He comes to you through the word preached and through the sacraments rightly administered and that is exceedingly good and blessed news.

He also is with you when the gospel of promise is used by you to reach those friends or strangers as a comforting balm for the hurting and sinfulness of this life … that breaks us and others … saying that the only way out is death and despair.

The comfort of the gospel is there too because Jesus is the Gospel. He is the Good News. He is the comfort, and He is the Peace.

He will find the lost because He will never stop seeking you and those who need to hear this blessed joy that:

Christ came for sinners, and you dear friends … are found!

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

Amen