Sermon May 27-28, 2023 - Pentecost

Title: You have received the water of life by the Spirit!
Text: John 7:37-39

Facebook live: You have received the water of life by the Spirit!

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

We as a country celebrate Memorial Day this coming Monday. For we the church, we are truly thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country that have come at great expense for so many who have given their lives to protect our freedoms.

It is right to remember and to honor those this Memorial Day on these National holidays.

As the church though, we stand on the Rock, who is the cornerstone of our faith - Jesus Christ and his work. On him alone do we trust.

It is my hope and prayer that all who today and, in the future, serve to defend the freedoms we enjoy, know and also receive the comfort that is found in Christ Jesus our savior and Lord.

Our freedom required cost and sacrifice. As I was out visiting a member last Tuesday, I went by our own Skip Bushart’s, Fallen Heroes Memorial at the Oakland County Courthouse, which honors those, like his son Damien who gave their life in service to our country - their motto states:

“Lest they be forgotten.”

Today we celebrate another blessing - The day of Pentecost and the sending of the Holy Spirit!

We begin with a short reading in the book of the Prophet Joel:

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:28

The Spirit has now been revealed as He that is sent to glorify Christ which is to make Him known.

We have a greater measure of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work in our day than the believers of the Old Testament had.

"At the time when Jesus preached, He promised the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Holy Spirit was not yet there - not that He was not in existence in His person, but that He was not fully made known - in His revelation and in His work.

For that is the special work and office of the Holy Spirit that He reveals and glorifies Christ, that He preaches and give testimony concerning Him.

That this office of the Holy Spirit was then not yet in active working and the office of glorifying Christ the Lord was not yet fully in use.

That is, the preaching of the forgiveness of sins, and how one may be delivered from the power of sin, death, and the devil, and have comfort and joy in Christ.

All this was at the time of Christ, unheard of and not mentioned; that deliverance, salvation, righteousness, joy, and life should be given us through that man, Christ, whom people did not know."

Popular Commentary of the Bible P.E. Kretzmann NT Vol. 1 Pg 452

Not so in the giving of the Holy Spirit.

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

It was on the last day of the feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, (booths) the "day of the great Hosanna,” which was a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in their current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years of Exodus they endured in the wilderness.
The leaves of the willows and the other branches that had been used for the building of the booths – or tabernacles - were shaken off and the palm branches were waved against the altar, when the priests went around the altar seven times in a procession of thankfulness, and when a priest was commissioned to get a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam and then pour it out at the side of the altar.

All these ceremonies had been introduced over time, and the Jewish teachers had explained some of them, especially the last, as a symbol which would find its fulfillment in the days of the Messiah.

The water of the pool of Siloam was considered living water, since it was replenished from time to time by means of a natural siphon from a spring in the rock. But, after all, it was only earthly water, which could quench the thirst for only a short while.

Here Jesus points to the work of the Holy Spirit and the revealing of the work of the Christ himself when He says:

38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

In a sense saying:

“Out of the rock of stone that is the human heart born in sin and dead to God will flow the living water of life by God’s holy Spirit!”

Not only will the Spirit bringing those to faith in Christ by His own working, but also by those who are brought to Christ and are used by God through the Spirit – others will be brought to Christ!

Separation is hard. Whether from family or friends. A few years ago, we were separated from each other and this church for many weeks during the pandemic. It seems like a distant memory now but then we had no real connection to each other.

It can be that way with the work of the Spirit too.

He can at times be forgotten … as though He were afar off and not part of our daily lives.

At the best of times, when things are going well, we have little need for Him. We can get consumed with things of this life that are going well and the abundance that we have that God provides.

But, there are other times, as we all know, where our world can come crashing down upon us. You can lose focus of Jesus, the one who redeemed you - who were lost.

The Spirit’s work can also be resisted, while things of the world draw you away demanding your attention, and just when all seems well and good - life can call your attention to all its frailties and trial.

Loss of life, loss of job, loss of security … or a time of aging.

We can’t know what God has in store for us as he calls each one of us to faith and in service for Him through the Spirit’s work … but we can know, as Jesus said:

“Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 Jesus said this, about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

I think of so many, who still need to hear the good news of the gospel and the joy of salvation found only in the name of Jesus!

Yes, and I feel, as my friends and I discussed many times, the urgency to allow God to work through us - to reach the lost in service to Him, now!

Christ Jesus has given you and me, by His Spirit, an appeal to His work to reach those who are lost with the word of the gospel. That appeal comes to you through the Spirit and through His working in you, so that you feed on the word of God and by faith cling to that blessed hope.

I think that Blessed Hope would be a wonderful name for a Lutheran Church. It comes from one of my favorite verses in scripture: Titus 2:13 which reads,

13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

The blessed Hope is Jesus!
We know him by the working of the Spirit!
God in his mercy has had mercy on you!

You have been washed clean of your sin and by faith in Christ through the waters of Holy Baptism you have peace with God.
The working of the Holy Spirit causes faith in you to believe the gospel message that, in Christ forgiveness of sins is offered and by faith received.

As you celebrate this Memorial day those who gave all for the freedoms we enjoy, think of the one who freed you from the bondage of sin, death and the devil by his sinless life and death for you and that by the Spirit, you know him and have eternal life in his name even Jesus Christ Our Lord!

May the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all now and forever!

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

Amen

Sermon May 20-21, 2023 - 7th Sunday of Easter

Title: Christ’s desire is that you remain in him!

Text: John 17:1-11

Facebook live: Christ’s desire is that you remain in him!

11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

This past Monday I remembered my father on what would have been his 97th birthday. It seems like yesterday that I officiated at his funeral which was now some 10 years ago!

Sometimes, I think of conversations we had, and the wisdom he gave me. Sometimes, I think of funny things my dad did of things I’d wish he hadn’t done. We are sinners in a broken world but the gift of my father has blessed me for the entirety of my 68 years.

In his High Priestly Prayer Jesus prays to his father:

17… “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
The gift of eternal life is given, not earned, and while heroes in this life deserve to be remembered … you don’t have to be a hero to receive the gift.

We receive all sorts of things in this life that we don’t deserve.

My parents and many of your parents sacrificed much to make sure that we had the very best they could give. We were fed and clothed, taught what was right and wrong and how to treat others.

My parents made sure that I received an education, even though I might have wanted to skip school and play, they knew this was important for me and would help me in the future.

At 48 when I went back to school to prepare for seminary I said to my dad when he asked me how my schooling was going, “It’s going well but all the other kids tell me their parents are paying for their schooling.”

My dad said,

“Well, that’s nice Russ … if you were still a kid I’d be paying too.”

As Christians my parents knew something else that was good for me too and Jesus makes it clear in his prayer.

3 that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

It was important for my parents that I knew Christ and that he knew me.

Why? Well Jesus says … this is eternal life … that we know the Father and Jesus who the Father has sent.

So, they brought me to the means that God gave and I was baptized and given new birth in baptism one month after being born. My parents knew this was good for me and knew that just as I needed their physical care around the clock, I also need the spiritual care that God could give me in his word and by his Spirit.

Most of us as children don’t know what we need. I didn’t know what I needed. But seeing my grandson Jackson, I understand now that when,

he’s hungry - he cries,
and when he needs changed - he cries,
and when he needs anything - he cries.
Maybe it is a sign of the death we are born into?

If children were born and left to make their own way … without their parent’s care … they would die.

So, God in his mercy has given parents and grandparents to care for the physical needs of those too young to care for themselves, and by his means of grace to his church, we as loving parents, bring God’s mercy and forgiveness to those in need … from the youngest to the oldest.

3 And this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

As Jesus said last week in our Gospel, he would not leave us as orphans to care for ourselves but that the Holy Spirit, the comforter who he was sending from the Father would bring true comfort.

This gift is given to you and me and all through the gifts of word and sacrament and it brings us all real peace.

Peace though in our world is fleeting. The war in Ukraine, and unrest at our southern border and in our cities - shows that our world is not at peace! Death too comes to those young and old in this life and we know not the day or hour.

Having laid to rest dear Peace member Jean Pilot last Thursday, the reality of death in our lives is real. It invades our comfort and security and is why it’s so important for us all to know him,

… who is the way the truth and the life – Jesus Christ – our Lord - the only way to the Father.

It’s comforting to know that in our text today, Jesus is praying for you and for me and for all far away, born in and struggling with sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus says:

9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

This past Thursday was the day of the Ascension.

6 So when [the disciples] had come together, they asked [Jesus], “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

So, we are here today as appointed witnesses of all that Jesus came to do and has done. We tell others by the working of his Spirit in us and Christ prays and interceded to the father on our behalf.

10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

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

Amen

Sermon May 13-14, 2023 - 6th Sunday of Easter

Title: The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!
Text: John 14:15-21

 
Facebook live: The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

When I was a little boy growing up, I attended kindergarten in Glassport Pennsylvania. We, had fire drills to prepare ourselves in case of an emergency.

When the fire bell rang, we were directed to exit the room orderly, row by row and as we entered the hall walking towards the door one of the older children from the upper grades would hold the hand of a kindergartener and walk with them out the door to the designated place of safety.

They became our guide and helper and would not leave us until the drill was over.

In the life of the Christian, the good news is that you will not be left alone either.

The Holy Spirit is your helper and guide and will remain with you and will comfort you no matter the circumstance. You do not have to hope that He will come and lead you to safety … for He dwells with you and is in you!

The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!

Jesus, in John 14 speaks of sending the comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be our comfort and our hope.

He had told the disciples about that hope and not to be troubled, to believe in God and also to believe in Him and that He would be going to prepare a place for them, that where He is they too may be also.

To Thomas’ question of how they could know the way Jesus replied that …

He is the way the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him

… and to Philip’s question to show us the father,

Jesus said, whoever has seen me, has seen the Father!

There is an inseparable connection between Jesus and the Father.

To see Christ is to see God and to know Christ is to know God the Father; one God in essence, uniqueness of persons.

The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father but the mystery of the Godhead in there for the first disciples and for us as well.

Today’s reading begins:

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Well that’s comforting. We poor sinners confess unto you that we are by nature sinful and unclean!

God’s Law we can’t keep, and his law shows us our sin, and that we fall short daily needing the comfort and forgiveness only given us by God himself - through His comforting absolution pronounced by His called and ordained servants, in the stead and by the command of Christ.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth.

The Disciples are being comforted that when Jesus leaves them and ascends back to the Father, the helper, the Spirit of truth, will be with them [and us] forever.

The Holy Spirit's role is to shine the light on our Lord Jesus Christ.

Some years ago we upgraded the building of our church here at Peace with new lights on the building. When lighting is done well, the lights make visible the building when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness. This illustrates also the Spirit's role and work. He is, the hidden light shining on the Savior.
It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit's message to us is never,

"Look at me; listen to me; come to me; get to know me", but always, "Look at him, and see his glory; listen to him and hear his word; go to him and have life in him; get to know him and taste his gift of joy and peace.”

The Spirits role is to bring you and Christ together and ensure that you and Jesus stay together.

James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.

But you don’t … and I don’t. We fall short, we miss the mark. It’s like having directions to our destination and always getting lost … always making the wrong turn!

In a similar way the Spirit shows you when you miss the mark, when you are going the wrong way and He, as the Helper who will be in you and with you forever, points you back to Jesus … so that you once again see the error of your sin and where you fall short, but also see the way the truth and the Life.

Jesus is our light and life, who kept the commandments – the Law - perfectly for you and me and who the Spirit continues to point you to, Jesus– the light of the world and Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His gracious forgiveness and love for you is what we see by the Spirit’s work!

Jesus said:

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

It is Jesus who gives us every good and perfect gift from above.
It is Jesus who will not leave you as orphans.
It is Jesus who took your sin upon himself at the cross burying it in the tomb and
It is Jesus, who asks the Father to send the Helper, the Spirit of truth, to you, so that you can continue to see Christ, the author and finisher of your faith Jesus.

Christ says:

Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my father and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and – make myself known - to him.”

The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!

Many of us learned about Jesus and the comfort found in him from our mothers and grandmothers.

On this Mother’s Day, we joy to celebrate the blessings that come to us through our mothers.

Many of you joy in the mothers you still have and some, I’m sure, long for the mother’s they once had. Some were blessed with godly step mothers and others had mothers that unfortunately missed the mark of what a good mothering should be.

As a pastor in my 11th year, I’ve done a number of funerals; some for mothers, and some for fathers, and some for uncles and dear friends.

Funerals are a place of grief. Death is not something any of us wants to think about or deal with, but it comes unexpectedly at times, as it did with my own mother’s death.

For us death is who we are. We are born dead in trespass and sin and the wages of sin, remind us of this daily.

On Ash Wednesday as the ashes are placed upon our forehead in the sign of the cross, we hear these words:

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Death at times pretends to be comforting. You may hear at a funeral, “He’s in a better place.” Or, “Well, she’s not suffering anymore.”

I assume it is how we who remain deal with the loss of a loved one.

But the reality is that death is not a good thing. It is the consequence of who we are as sinners.

Because of the work of the Spirit in the life of God’s children - you will know Him and His ways and you will be found acceptable because you will be clothed in the robes of the God/man Himself, Jesus Christ, the Righteous one.

Remember:

In the life of the Christian, the good news is that we will not be left alone.

The Holy Spirit will comfort you in all your trials because you do not have to worry if He will come to you - for He dwells with you and is in you!

The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!

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

Amen

Sermon May 6-7, 2023 - 5th Sunday of Easter

Title: The way of Jesus leads to life eternal!
Text: John 14:1-14

Facebook live: The way of Jesus leads to life eternal!

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

In our gospel today Jesus said to his disciples:

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

This text is often used at funerals. It is for comfort and hope. Death is real but so is Christ’s rescue.

What also is interesting is the context of the hope that Jesus gives here in the beginning of chapter 14, with the last line of verse that he says in Chapter 13, where he turns to St. Peter and says,

“I tell you the truth, [truly, truly] before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

Not only then but now as well. We too disown the savior daily and not just three times.

It is daily. It is willful, and it is often, day in and day out until we die.

It is in that context that Christ’s - Let not your hearts be troubled - is truly good news and why it is so important that it be shared at times of great grief and suffering.

Peter was standing tall … thinking he knew all:

When Jesus washed the disciple’s feet Peter asked:

“Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

Then Peter said:

“You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have [no part of] me.”

Jesus tells them:

14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

He tells them to love one another, to serve one another, to care for one another … because where he is going, they cannot come.

Not in their own strength at least.

And Peter in his own strength says:

“Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

But in reality, that’s you and that’s me.

We think we can stand.

In the midst of trial, in the midst of temptation, in the midst of sin - we fall, denying the Lord and the rooster crows that reality in our own lives.

If we think about our own confirmation, confirming what God did in our Baptism and living our lives connected to Christ and this truth - right in the middle of the Rite of confirmation - the question is asked:

“Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?

Do you intend to live according to the word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death?
And finally, it asks:

Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?

To all of this we answer, “I do.”
In a sense saying like St. Peter:
I’ll lay down my life for you!
But, the confirmation rite adds one more “I do.” To these words we confess:
“By the grace of God.”

That is what Peter missed. His strength and our strength, as it is connected to faith, life, and eternal life … is in God’s hands and by his grace.

It is why we can let not our hearts be troubled!

I wrestle with so many who are confirmed members here and no longer come to church regularly. I pray for all who have left the fold that the Lord would draw them back to regular attendance and fellowship as we talked about last week with the Apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer as we gather together here.

Last Sunday, I participated in the installation of Pastor Vergin in Grand Haven. When t time came for the laying on of hands from the many pastors who gathered to offer a verse and blessing came. We each got an opportunity to place our hands of Pastor Vergin and bring a scripture and comment.

I shared Proverbs 3:5-6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path.

Pastor Moyer, from Faith Highland shared from John Chapter 1 where John the Baptist confessed, “I am not the Christ!” and then added,

“Aaron, you are not the Christ! But he knows you and has called you to lead this flock to know and to confess Jesus.”

As pastor’s we all need to be reminded this truth that:

Jesus is God and I am not!

As we prepare for the Ascension of Christ this coming week we are left with this reality. God has given under shepherds and by the Holy Spirit the work of God continues.

In chapter 13 Peter is confused and asks Jesus,

“Lord where are you going?”

Thomas in chapter 14 asks:
5 … “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

To this Jesus answers:

6 … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

It is really good news to hear that God has washed you and me and marked us as his.

He gives us pastors, as under shepherds to lead, teach, and point us to Jesus so we too can confess who Jesus is and follow him.

We all have been made partakers of eternal life.

It is God who through the means he has provided of Word and Sacrament will keep us all in the one true faith.

14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

That is Good News for pastors;

Good News for you dear members;

And that is Good News for all the Lord will continue to call to himself through his word and gifts!

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

Sermon April 29-30, 2023 – 4th Sunday of Easter

Title: God gives life through his word and gifts!
Text: Acts 2:42-47

Facebook live: God gives life through his word and gifts!

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.


Teaching, Fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.

It sounds a bit like our weekend this past Easter! It sounds like a formula for success.

Easter breakfast gave us time to fellowship and gather as the body of Christ.

We heard the word of God and the proclamation of his resurrection and the work of Jesus by the Spirit in the life of the church.

We gathered together at the table of the Lord receiving his true body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins and strengthening of our faith.

And, we prayed for our needs and for the need of those we know and care for.

That is the joy and that is the goal with which we are brought to faith by our loving God that through His gifts and by communion and fellowship with Him we have a life, in Christ, by Christ, and through Christ.

God gives life through his word and gifts!!

St. Luke in his book of the Acts of the Apostles gives an account of the early church. Last week we heard of Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter 2 that cut to the heart of those who heard the Law of God’s condemnation bringing them to the point of asking, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37b

To which Peter replies:

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

Now coming to faith through the Gospel brought some 3000 souls into the church through Peter’s sermon but now we hear what the church did with and for those who repented and were baptized.

They heard the word of God proclaimed which is the Apostles teaching.

They had fellowship one with another both in community and in communion with that same doctrine of the word.

The breaking of bread in fellowship meals as well as with the Lord’s Supper that, as we heard last week, opened the eyes of their understanding so that they could see who Christ Jesus truly is and what he had done.

And finally, prayer, which is conversation and communion with that one and same word of God – Jesus Christ.

Our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has a mission focus called Witness, Mercy and Life together that fits this focus of the early church and our life together here at Peace as well.

The Apostle’s teaching, which is the word of God and what that word means, is the witness of who God is and what we have become in Christ.

As His children we are called by Christ to be in worship, to hear His word to know that, as sinners, we all fall short of God’s requirements, but we also know that God has made a way in the person and work of Jesus Christ to bring us back into fellowship with him.

This fellowship we now have with each other as His children, celebrating our life together in communion around the table of the Lord, as we together confess that the body and blood of Christ that was given and shed for you, is now truly received with the bread and wine bringing forgiveness of sins to those who receive this merciful gift by faith.

Apart from faith it is impossible to please God or to come to him because we all are judged as sinful and unclean and separated from the love of God found only in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God gives life through communion and the Apostle’s teaching and that is our Witness, Mercy and Life Together!

I’ve mentioned my friend’s daughter Michelle before:

This past week she received an award as she finished her service in the Pentagon over the last few years. She will be heading back to Colorado Springs to resume teaching at the Airforce Academy.

It caused me to reflect on her life and an Easter not far removed from this past one.

At times we find ourselves in tough situations and I remember an Easter past when Michelle was serving in Afghanistan as a pilot in the Air Force.

Her Easter was a bit different than yours and mine. For her - worship started on the roof of the hospital at her base … at sunrise … overlooking the mountains and the dawning of the Easter morn as the F-16s began taking off on their missions in the distance.

The second service was at 8:00 am and for this service she played guitar and sang hymns of praise.

Just before the Lord’s Supper in the service, the sirens went off as mortar and rocket fire came upon the base. Everyone hit the floor. One soldier chuckled in the midst of the attack as he saw Michelle put her guitar over her head. “What kind of rocket you plan of stopping with that.” He asked?

Michelle kind of chuckled too knowing that it wouldn’t do much good but was a natural reaction.
Soon the all clear was given and the service continued, the words of institution were said, the Lord’s body and blood was given and received, and appropriately they sang, “How Great Thou Art!”

That’s a bit different from our Easter service here and our regular Sunday services! But the elements of Word, Fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer continue here and wherever the Lord’s people are gathered.

Prayers, we pray them every week in our services and daily for many of us in the church - is conversation with God. We bring our prayers and petitions to the one who holds our life in His hands through the mediation of his son and this is truly a blessed communion for us all.

Prayer can be a powerful blessing and we all need to avail ourselves of it daily. As we celebrate today all the Lord’s blessings, we can’t forget prayer, especially the faithful prayers of those, who keep and have kept us united in him.

Life is a matter of building. Each of us has the opportunity to build something -- a secure family, a good reputation, a career, a relationship to God. But some of those things can disappear almost overnight due to financial losses, natural disasters and other unforeseen difficulties.

What are we to do?

Daniel Webster offered excellent advice, saying, “If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on men’s immortal minds, if we impress on them high principles, the just fear of God, and love for their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.”

DANIEL WEBSTER, secretary of state, speech to the City Council, Boston, Massachusetts, May 22, 1852.—The Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster, vol. 13, pp. 518–19 (1903). Morning Glory, July 3, 1993.

God gives us life together through communion and the Apostle’s teaching!

Jesus said:

10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

We know the Good Shepherd’s voice through his word, and by that word, communion, fellowship and prayer, which is communication with God continues. By that, you know him who is the way the truth and the life!

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

 

 

Sermon April 22-23, 2023 – 3rd Sunday of Easter

Title: God has opened the eyes of faith!
Text: Luke 24:13-35

Facebook live: God has opened the eyes of faith!

32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

It is interesting to me how life has changed.

Years ago, when I was young spending time with cousins and aunts that lived in other states was limited to a week or two vacation with the family and a trip to visit. There was then the longing and wishing that we could see each other more often. I tried writing letters and being a pen pal with a few cousins, but it didn’t work for very long.

Today though, I’ve reconnected with cousins, and other relatives that live out of state.

We do it through email but more and more frequently now through text, Facebook and messenger.

That can be a very wonderful medium.

It is nice to have instant connectivity with friends and loved ones. Much of what we do is to share memories, pictures and events in our lives and remember good times and celebrate special events like, graduations, weddings and retirements.

Facebook provides a place to connect, reconnect and stay in touch. We even use this technology now to connect ourselves and services so we can stay in touch.

In the Gospel today we read of two followers of Jesus on the Emmaus Road.

15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself … came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

Remember this:

Now what they were discussing was the very hope they had … that this Jesus … was the promised Messiah.

But he had just been tried, and was crucified, dead and buried, and they heard something about being raised from the dead? They were distraught as they walked away from Jerusalem towards village of Emmaus, all hope seemed lost.

If they had Facebook you can image, they might post of a sad death.
But they were kept from recognizing the resurrected Lord.
We all are kept from recognizing our Lord and savior too.

It is only by a gift of God’s grace, through faith, that we can see … who Jesus is and what he has done. It doesn’t come from our own reason and understanding, so that is why our children are taught from little children to hear God’s word and learn about Jesus and to be in worship … so they, like we, can recognize HIM!

It is also why the responsibility for their continued involvement in church is so important and is the responsibility of their … parents and grandparents, guardians and friends.

So, they too can know Jesus.
John’s gospel tells us so.

3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3

This Gospel truth gives faith to those who hear by the working of the Holy Spirit.

This faith points back to Jesus, and tells us who he is as both God and man and what He came to do – for you and me.

So that our eyes are opened and so we see and recognize Christ!
As the disciples continued walking:

25 Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Much like Jesus, those who bring God’s word to those who need to be taught, do the very same thing. They explain in the scriptures the work of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and how through the entire word of God, both Old and New Testaments, all that Jesus came to do.

Social media also, is a way for the message to be shared both individually as Christians and by our church as we share our faith and proclaim God’s blessings in Christ.

It is a way for the cloud of unbelief to be lifted by God’s word and working.

10 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 1 Cor. 10:1-4

The reality of Jesus as both God and man is not one way of many ways to the Father, but he is THE only way. He is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus, scripture teaches.

Social media is one place to shine the light of Christ in your life.

When I worked in the piano business, I had my Confirmation cross on my wall behind me as a silent witness to who I am and what I believe for all to see. It is important that we don’t hide who we are in Christ but share that truth in the way the Lord has given us. These live services on Facebook give us also a way to proclaim who we are in Christ.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So, he went in to stay with them.

Now pay close attention to this:

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

In communion we are fed in a miraculous way the same body and blood of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ when we receive the bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins.

Jesus and his forgiveness come to each of us through this same blessed gift and though we are confined at this time, we look to the joy of gathering and receiving - once again - this bread and wine along with the very body and blood of Jesus, for the forgiveness of our sins, and the strengthening of their faith.

32 They asked each other; “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

It is so wonderful that God, by his grace, has given this sacrament to us all and that we partake in this gift weekly and by it we grow in faith through the word proclaimed and the knowledge of being marked as his child in the waters of Holy Baptism, one faith, one hope, one Lord, one God and father of all. Eph 4:4-6

33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

This is the good news that we too can tell!

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

Amen

Sermon April 15-16, 2023 – 2nd Sunday of Easter

Title: In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!
Text: John 20:19-31

Facebook live: In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

People refuse to believe that which they don't want to believe, in spite of evidence. 

Apologetics, is the work of a Christian to defend what seems to some - especially those who don’t believe - as silly and not something one can prove in a reasonable way …

… that the evidence of a God who took on human form, died for the sins of the world by crucifixion and then rose from the dead three days later is just not believable.

Apologetics cannot prove that Jesus rose from the dead but it can help to show that what we as Christians believe as truth - is reasonable and trustworthy - and that a God who created a wonderful world and a humanity in his image … can also in love redeem those who have fallen into sin and have broken what God created perfect.

Richard Dawkins, an atheist, in a letter to his 10 year old daughter writes:

"And, how do we know that Earth is a small ball whirling round one of those stars, the sun?

The answer to these questions is "evidence." Sometimes evidence means actually seeing (or hearing, feeling, smelling ....) that something is true. Astronauts have traveled far enough from earth to see with their own eyes that it is round."

What I find interesting with this is that scripture knew and had made known what Dawkins needed astronauts to tell him.

In Isaiah 40:22 the prophet writes speaking of God:

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; Isa 40:22

The word here proclaims what astronauts later confirmed by seeing. What I think Dawkins misses is that science has made wrong observations over the years that have had to be changed as new evidence became available.

Thomas in the Gospel reading too needed proof. He demanded evidence.

Many times doubt conflicts us all. We hear the word but find our own reason at war with God’s word. We hear about Easter and the resurrection and unbelief clouds our own understanding.

How can a dead man rise?
How does God take on flesh and become man … and why?
Some believe the flesh is bad and is the cause of all our problems?

Even Luther thought that if he beat into submission his own sinful flesh … hiding as it were in a monastery, that his sinful thoughts and actions could be controlled but he quickly found that his own sin went in to the monastery with him.

Many of those who come to church occasionally or only on the High Holy Days of Christmas and Easter … wrestle with unbelief.

They may say that their lack of attendance is not unbelief really, but only other pressing things in life that get in the way.

Some never come at all and are absent altogether … choosing to do something else or nothing at all rather than to come and hear God’s word which gives full acknowledgment that the path from the cross is downhill and quickly getting farther away from the truth of the resurrection.

How about you? Have you doubted God and His word?

That question needs to be answered by us all … me included.

Our Gospel today gives one account:

24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

The Bible is silent on why Thomas wasn’t with them and if you remember the words of the angel that rolled the stone away from the tomb Easter morning when he said:

7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, (I’m assuming that this included Thomas too?) that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

So, it might have been just old-fashioned unbelief and distress in this Jesus who Thomas had placed his trust and hope … who was given over to Pilate, crucified and killed … dead and buried that now when the other:

25 … disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” … he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Full unbelief there; No wavering on his part; this disciple of Jesus’ now cries out:

SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE!

That is what Thomas wants, nothing more nothing less. So many in our day too just want the evidence, unless Jesus comes down to me and I can see, feel and taste … I won’t believe.

We all at times want to see the evidence. Those we love want to see it too.

We want to touch the holes in His hands and put our hand in his side or we won’t believe. Some unfortunately die in their sin never coming to faith or back to faith in the one who died in their place and then rose from the dead so that they too would rise.

But in spite and because of our sins:
In Christ’s wounds, peace is revealed!

Easter is a place and time for hope. I heard hope in a number of ways from children and adults alike. Some desiring to acolyte and some desiring to be confirmed. Hope is in Jesus and in his time and way all is made new.

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

Now, the irony here is amazing. Thomas, the one with unbelief, is now with those who have seen the risen Lord. They are all together and the doors are still locked! The other disciples have seen Jesus resurrected yet they also remember, very vividly the crucifixion, and all that may still come upon them. But in spite of the fear and unbelief, Jesus comes to them … in to this locked room of unbelief … and brings … peace.

Our Lord, through His word and sacraments, also comes to those who still live locked in unbelief.

Thomas, though locked in unbelief, is there with the others.

He is there when the Lord comes.
He is there where the Lord speaks.
He is there where the Spirit works.

“Peace be with you.”

By His Holy Spirit the lock of unbelief is opened and faith is given.

27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

The evidence is there but it is the word and the Spirit that work.

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Christ, promises that His word will achieve all that he intends, as also was proclaimed by Peter in the book of Acts in chapter 2 verse 39:
39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Invite them to church.
Bring them to church.
Feed them at church, both physically and spiritually.
Thank them for coming.

God can work and does to enliven faith and bring peace!

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

Amen