Pentecost 20 - Philippians 2:1-18

“You are the light of the world.” Jesus says so. He would compare you to a city on a hill or a lamp that has been set up on a stand and placed as high as possible to give light to the house so that everyone inside can see. You are to shine bright and true with the light of faith that Christ has put inside you. This is your God given Christian duty – you are to shine like a star in the night sky, like a candle in the darkness that shows the way and that reveals the truth.
Sometimes it feels like you light is burning a bit dim. Like you are not quite as bright as you once were. The brightness of a lamp is measured in candle power – at times it feels like you are a few candles short. I know there are times that I feel that way.
But God has called us lights. Lights is a world that need the Light because the world is dark. The world is pitch dark in fact, dark as night, dark as death. The world of sin is so dark that it can’t see its nose in front of its face. It can’t see to find its way. It is like blindness. Eyes that don’t work, eyes that can’t see even when the light is shined on them.
God has given that light to you. This summer we were treated to the spectacle of the Summer Olympics. A traditional part of the Olympic ceremony is the running of the Olympic torch. Different athletes are given the opportunity to carry that torch through the cities and towns of the host country. In a similar way God has made his Christians to be his torch bearers who are to run through their own cities and towns, into the country side with the light of his truth. We are to share that light and show that light that he has given inside of us.
In our text, Paul tells us how to do that.
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
He outlines the things that we are to be doing.
Christians are to be of the same mind. Like minded. Together. One. Unified. Sometimes we mistake that unity to mean that everyone gets along. We talk about the things we agree on and never discuss the things we don’t agree on. That doesn’t cut it. As believers in Christ we need to know what we believe, we believe Christ but also what we do not believe. Christ calls us to obey all things that he has commanded. If we set aside some of those things in the interest of unity, we have not obeyed Christ. Christ calls us to be one, to be single minded – not to have everyone one of us make up our own minds, but to have every one of us conform to the mind of Christ – to hear His Word, to Cling to His Word, to believe His word.
We are to have the same love. In the way that Christ has loved us we are to love one another. He loved with compassion, with care for the needs of others. Jesus was always and continually motivated by compassion. Deep, heartfelt compassion. He saw the extreme human need of those he came to serve.
We can have that same love and compassion for each other in our own day and time. In fact, there are countless opportunities for such compassion. This summer we have seen devastation in the world from natural disasters – floods and hurricanes – that put a stress and a strain on families. We have seen cultural trends that stem from the sinfulness of our generation – sexual sins, teen pregnancy, divorce. We have seen personal tragedies within our own congregation. Often these things are out of sight out of mind. We feel badly when we first hear about it, but then soon forget. We ought to reach out in love, understanding the great hardship that these things cause in the lives of people whom Christ has called us to love.
Paul says in humility we are to see others as better than ourselves. Consider how quick we are to judge others for their situations and their difficulties. How often do we pretend that we are immune from such misfortune because we have had the insight to make better plans. We tell ourselves we wouldn’t have the same problems because we are not as foolish. This is pride. This is not the humility that Paul calls us to. Perhaps the pregnant teenager has sinned. We are called upon to forgive the sin, reach out and help. Perhaps the aids victim has sinned. We are called to forgive the sin and help. Perhaps the divorcée has sinned. We are called to forgive the sin and help.
All of this is aimed at blamelessness and innocence. All of this is aimed as sinlessness. All sin is born from self regard. All sin is motivated by a consideration of myself, what I want, what I need, what will preserve my own skin. Christ would not have us to live our lives with regard to ourselves. We are to live our lives in obedience to God and with regard to each other, we are to be servants.
While this is our call from God and while this is our aim and our goal, the fact remains that we live in a dark world. We live in a sin-filled world. We are called to be lights. We are called to be a torch, a shining star, a lamp on a stand, a city on a hill. But we live in a dark world.
And so often what happens as we live in this world of darkness and sin is that the darkness has a way of getting on us, staining us and tainting us.
There is a condition of the eyes known as macular degeneration. With this condition, the field of vision slowly becomes interrupted. Distortions and dark spots begin to occur in the field of vision and eventually you can barely see, and perhaps you even become totally blind.
In the life of a Christian, sin interrupts our “field of vision” known as faith. Through faith we see God and we know God. Sin creates dark spots or distortions so that we don’t see God clearly, and if the sin continues to grow, so that we don’t see God at all. We return to darkness, we return to unbelief. The clarity of faith becomes stained with sin.
But God has given to us an antidote for that blindness. He has given to us a cure for that sin.
All of these things that Paul calls us to be doing, here in our text – Jesus has done them all. Jesus knew and understood the word of God. His entire life was centered on and cirled around God’s Holy Word and therefore God’s holy Will. Jesus never compromised from that word.
Jesus counted us as better than himself. Jesus never overlooked sin, when he saw it he identified it but not because he wanted to condemn the sinner. He wanted to forgive the sinner. He wanted to restore the sinner. Therefore he didn’t simply make judgments, instead He counted himself as lower than the low, as the servant of the servants. And Jesus was God!
If ever there was one who could judge, who could condemn, it was Jesus. He after all was perfect, he was without sin and he was God. He was almighty and all powerful. He was the prince of heaven, yet it was not in his mind to hold on to this power at all costs. He set that aside and he became one of us. He set aside his power and his glory. He set aside his immunity to sin and temptation. He set aside his power over sin and Satan. He set aside his immunity to pain and to death so that he could come for us.
Not only did Jesus make himself nothing, not only did he set aside his power and consider himself to be lower than you and me. Jesus made himself our servant and our slave. He made himself lower than us so that he could die for our sin. He was obedient even to the point of his obedience costing him his life.
But now he has been raised from death. The one who made himself the servant of servants and the lowest of the low has been raised from death to life and He has been given all power in heaven and on earth. He has been given life so that his name is above every name and so that every knee will bow down to him and every mouth will confess that He is Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Each one of us has been living our lives out in that world that is sick with sin, that is filled with darkness, that is blindly careening toward hell. It is evil and twisted and it is crooked and perverse. And that evil has stained us and strained us and stressed us and we are suffering under its weight.
Jesus has brought us here to remove that weight. He has brought us here to give us relief from that stress and strain. He has brought us here to forgive that sin and to wash away that stain. He has called us here to absorb the darkness and to restore the light.
The call that we have receive from God is a wonderful call. We do our best to answer that call and fulfill that vocation. But we fail. We break down and give out. But He restores us. He refreshes us. He remakes us and strengthens us sends us out to do it all over again.
May you be refreshed this day by the light of Christ.

Holy Cross Day - 1Corinthians 1:18-25

It was more than 100 years ago (116 to be exact), the people of God living in the south end of Union County Ohio came up with a plan to build a school. Through hard work, dedication, commitment and follow through they established St Paul Lutheran School, which was dedicated on May 29, 1892. One year later, St Paul Lutheran Church was chartered into existence as a member congregation of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Over the years the school has seen its share of changes, and certainly many students have passed through the doors to receive their education, yet through it all St Paul’s has existed as it has been established, a place for the education of our children that is founded upon the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, St Paul’s is today as it was over 100 years ago, a school and a church that exists for the sake of lifting high the cross.

How appropriate then, that as the school year begins and as we officially commission our teachers for their work in our school for yet another year, that we do so on Holy Cross Day. Holy Cross Day is simply a day that the church remembers what Christ did for us on the cross: that it was on the cross that he died for us to pay for our sin as our perfect sacrifice so that we could be saved. This is why our school exists. The teachers at St Paul Lutheran School teach all of the academic subjects of math, science, reading & writing, social studies and the like. But all of these subjects are taught alongside the wonderful truth of the cross. This is a place that lifts high the cross of Jesus Christ to proclaim to our children, to teach them what Christ did for them as he paid for their sin on the cross. St Paul School is a place where we lift high the cross of Jesus Christ.

The need to proclaim the cross

Our epistle lesson for Holy Cross Day is taken from St Paul the apostle’s first letter to the Christian church in Corinth. He was writing his letter to a church that was largely affected by influences from outside the church.

The city of Corinth was a very cosmopolitan city with a great deal of power and wealth from the many merchants who lived in this important hub along ancient trade routes. It was also a very religious city, with some influence of Judaism, but Corinth was especially infamous for its idolatry worshipping Venus, the Roman goddess of love and fertility.

With all of the wealth and power that many Corinthians were accustomed to, not to mention the influence of idol worship and the sins of adultery and prostitution that were common with such idol worship, there were many challenges to the Christian church in Corinth. They struggled with these many temptations and sins. The letter of 1 Corinthians reflects these struggles, addressing sins of disunity, prostitution, sexual sins within the congregation, what to do about food that had been sacrificed to idols, and the rejection of the resurrection. It seems that any problem a Christian congregation could have, the Corinthians were struggling with it.

So Paul wrote to teach them. He wrote his letter to confront their sins, to instruct them in worship and in Christian living, and to encourage their appropriate use and understanding of the Word of God. Writing to Christians living in a pagan and unbelieving world there is a fundamental difference in the approach and understanding. In our text Paul points out the very kernel of that difference. The thing that sets the Christian apart from every other person of every other belief, the thing that makes Christian worship the one and only worship of the true God is the cross – Jesus Christ, the Son of God who has been crucified for sinners!

If the Corinthians lived in the midst of sin and temptation and struggled with the many sinful and evil influences that existed in their own culture, you and I have that same struggle in our own day and time. The Corinthians struggled with division and disunity in the ranks. Division is caused by false doctrine; someone in the church begins teaching something other than the pure message of the cross of Christ. People follow this new wind of teaching and suddenly the church is divided. With as many different churches today as there are pages in the phonebook, the church today struggles with false doctrine. The Corinthians struggled with pagan worship and idolatry. Our own world continues to reject any Christian teaching of the true God and the cross and instead is interested to acknowledge the false gods of Buddhism, eastern mysticism, not to mention Islam. The Corinthians struggled as they lived their daily lives in their pagan city, but they could go home and shut the door on this sin. For you and I, the temptations continue to abound – every false doctrine, every false god and every temptation known to man is but a click of the remote or a click of the mouse away. The sins that lived in Corinth are alive and well today.

There has never been a time in the history of the world when the proper education of our children has been of greater importance. With so many evil and sinful influences present in the world, our children need education, but they need the proper worldview that can only come from an education built on the foundation of the wisdom of God revealed in the death of His Son on the cross. They need a worldview that helps them to understand themselves as sinners.

This past week in the news we were all afraid that we were going to be sucked into a black hole when the scientists switched on the super hadron particle collider that was just built in Geneva Switzerland. They turned it on and we are all still here. The whole reason for building this expensive and technical piece of equipment is because scientists believe that they can recreate the circumstances that led to the big bang – the foundational theory behind the theory of evolution. If you and I are and every piece of matter in the universe are all no more than particles, than there is no such thing as sin and there is no need for salvation and there is no need for the cross.

Our children need to know the difference. They need to who they are as sinners under the cross. They need to be taught the essential educational building blocks of education, but they also need to learn to think. They need to learn how to stain out the truth from the lie. They need to know the Word of God. They need to know what it says and what it does not say. They need to have a firm hold on the truth so that when they are confronted with the lie they will not be deceived. They need to be immersed in the Word of God so that when the temptations to sin come to confront them they will have the strength to stand against them.

These days the truth is so fractured. It is so broken up into small parts. The truth of God’s word is not taken as one single unified body of doctrine and teaching, instead it is a smorgasbord of individual small little truths all strung together. The effect is that people feel like they can pick and choose. I heard this week that there is a woman who has made her fortune in the porn industry who has claimed to be a devout catholic. This is what happens. We believe that we can come to the altar of Christ on Sunday and claim to believe what the bible says there but then leave to live whatever life we choose and it doesn’t matter that the two don’t match. We break our lives into pieces, compartments that we think we can seal off from one another. It is almost like trying to take 1000 different pieces from 1000 different puzzles and trying to put them all together. The pieces don’t fit and even when we mash them all together the picture that we have created doesn’t make sense.

Paul says that the cross of Jesus Christ is power of God for the salvation of all who believe. There has never been a day, there has never been a time that the cross of Christ has been more important. With all of the many things that could, that would pull us away from the truth we need to hold ever so tightly to cross of Jesus Christ. We need to cling to the cross.

We need to see in the cross the wisdom of God. Our world is absolutely filled with men and women trained in the wisdom of the world. They sound Oh so smart and Oh so convincing. It is so easy to listen to the sages and the scribes and the debaters of our own age and to be led astray. Their words so often sound like the very things that we find ourselves thinking. We need the cross. We need Christ’s wisdom. We need to read and to study the bible.

As much as a Christian education can help students along as they study the Word of God and as they memorize portions of scripture, there is no failsafe. There is no foolproof method for bringing your children up to know the wisdom of God and to throw away the wisdom of man. As much as we want that for our children, we don’t even possess it for ourselves. You and I are so easily deceived and mislead and before you know it we hear thoughts in our head and words from our mouth that sound just like the sages and scribes and debaters that we have tried so hard to refute. If all we had to rely on was our own wisdom and our own strength we would most definitely be lost forever.

But God has not left us to ourselves. Yes God gives to us a school and teachers and religions classes and the catechism. All of these things will help us and will keep us going the right direction, but when we step away from that direction, which every one of us does every single day, we need the cross – not just for its wisdom, not just because it will help us to win debates and find the right answer to the question of our origins. We need the cross because it is in the cross that our sins are washed away and forgiven. It is in the cross that our sinful nature is crucified so that we die to be raised again to a brand new life.

As we raise our children to live their adult lives in a sinful, deranged and dangerous world more than anything they need to know where they can go to be cleaned. They need to know where they can go so that God will wash away the sins that have latched on to them as they went on their way through the world.

It happens every day. We wake up with the determination to do better than we did yesterday. We try our hardest and do our best but before you know our sinful nature has gotten the better of us and we find that we have fallen again. The sins that we hoped to leave behind us are once again at the forefront of our thought and activity. The muck and the slime of this sinful world has gotten splashed up on us again and we are corrupted and dirty. We need the cross.

The blood of Jesus is the soap that gets us clean. It washes off those sins. It penetrates to deepest reaches of our souls and lifts the stain of sin from our hearts so that once again we are clean. Your children and my children need to know Jesus. They need to know the cross. They need to know that Jesus died on that cross for them so that when they have fallen into sin and temptation they can be clean.

If all our children needed was an education they could receive that any number of places. We could send them to any number of schools that would give them the same skills of reading, writing and arithmetic that we provide for them here. What we give them here, however is something that is not permitted and often not tolerated in other educational institutions. We give them the cross of Christ. We give them the soap that washes off the scum of sin. We give them the blood of Jesus shed for them on the cross.

For over 100 years students have been coming to St Paul Chuckery and most of you sitting here today are the beneficiary of that education. But what has been of greatest benefit to you, isn’t the fact that you can read, it isn’t the fact that you can balance your checkbook, It is the blood of Jesus Christ that has washed you clean under the cross.

Pentecost 17 - Matthew 18:1-20

At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to himself a little child he put him in front of them and said “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like this little child you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
This is our Text.

Who is the greatest in the kingdom? Sounds an awful lot like the conversations we have been listening to in our own national political process lately. We are now about 57 days out from November 4, from Election Day and every time you turn on the television there are advertisements for the presidential candidates, and all the other offices that are up for election. Each one is arguing, is trying to convince you that he or she is the greatest in the kingdom and therefore is deserving of your vote.

We are used to that in our political process here. The speeches, the attack adds, the fierce competition; they are all a part of “politics as usual” here in our United States. It is the way things are.

But that is not the way it works in the kingdom of heaven. Greatness in the kingdom of heaven isn’t won with campaign slogans, super acts of Christian service, having the greatest and best attitude, or even being the most obedient. No, that doesn’t do it at all. God doesn’t look at performance, he doesn’t grade on achievements, he doesn’t vote based on who is the most fit to reign. Your place in heaven isn’t determined by you at all. Your place in heaven is determined by Jesus, by a God who is gracious, who is generous, who is merciful.

This whole question was brought about by the disciples. They were arguing among themselves as to who would be the greatest in Kingdom of Heaven. They were banking on Jesus the Son of David to ascend to the throne, and they were each secretly hoping that when He came into his kingdom they would have a seat of honor right next to him. And so they asked him “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

And couldn’t you just hear the debate? Couldn’t you hear Peter talking about his record as a fisherman – how he successfully managed his fishing operation and finished each year with a surplus. Or perhaps Simon the former Zealot could appeal to his military expertise as the expert on national security who knows, maybe he even spent time in a Roman prison and endured countless beatings without wavering on his convictions. Maybe John could appeal to his youthfulness as the impetus for change. Maybe Matthew the tax collector or Judas who kept the money could debate the economy. Each one wanted the position of honor, each one wanted to be the greatest.

In answer to their question, Jesus set about teaching them (and teaching us) that the kingdom of heaven is not like the kingdoms of the earth. God doesn’t make his selection based on our performance or upon our (perceived) worthiness for the position. Jesus responded to their silly and foolish question by doing something that surprised them all. Jesus found a child, brought the child right into the middle of the group, sat the child in front of them and he said. “Unless you all turn from your silly debates and one-up-manship and become like this little child you won’t even enter the kingdom.”

In our day and age, we love children. We idolilze children We see them as the epitome of innocence and virtue. We see them in their youth as unspoiled and full of potential . We wish we could be like children. There is a four year old girl on the talent variety show “America’s God Talent”, when she comes out to perform, even the mean judge melts and treats her with kindness and respect.

That was not Jesus’ point. He was not valuing childhood for the sake of childhood. When Jesus commanded that they be “humble like children” he was not referring to character of children. He was referring to their value, their worth, their position in society. Children had no power. They had no authority. They had no usefulness. Their innocence was seen as ignorance. Their playfulness was seen as wastefulness. Jesus was commanding the disciples to see themselves not as the greatest among the great but the least among the lowly. Not the worthiest among the worthy, but the least worthy among the unworthy. Not the strongest of the strong but the weakest of the weak. There is no place in the kingdom of heaven for powerbrokers and the power-hungry. There is room only for the lowly and weak, the servants and the sinners; the unfit and the ineligible; the losers and the lost.

What we so often fail to understand, is that while we can ascend to greatness in the kingdoms of the earth, while we can earn accolades and awards through our performance here on earth, those awards carry no weight in heaven. God is not impressed with our resumes and our listing of earthly accomplishments. Those count for nothing. In fact, the Apostle Paul refers to his own accomplishments as loss, as things that counted against him in the Kingdom of Heaven. We wear them as badges of pride and honor, we see them as indicators of our worth and worthiness, we think they are accomplishments. All those things have done is that they have distracted us from our sin and unworthiness.

The strong and mighty of this world only fool themselves when they believe that they have earned any thing before God. The only thing our deeds earn us before God is punishment. God sees beneath the outward actions to the most basic level of the human heart. He sees our motivations. He sees the reasons why we do what we do. He sees the pride, the resentfulness, the greed, the desire to simply promote ourselves over our neighbor. He sees the utter wickedness and sin. While we can cover these things up with a nice haircut, a shower, and nice clothes we can never hide them from God.

God has seen that sin. And that is exactly why he has come. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a kingdom for the worthy, it is a kingdom for the unworthy. It is a kingdom for sinners. It is a kingdom made for you and me. God takes the weak, the unworthy, the unfit and the foolish and he makes us worthy. He becomes our strength. He washes away all of our foolishness and all of our sin and he counts for us to our credit the good works and worthiness of Jesus. Our own works count against us. The works of Jesus count for us. We are made citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven only by the grace and mercy of God. We become great in the kingdom of heaven, not by earning that spot with our own righteousness – we are lowly and humble are given greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven only by the graciosness and generosity of Jesus.

We ought not be spending our time furthering our own careers and seeking the highest and best spots of heaven, Jesus gives us a different job to do. Ironically, what Jesus commands is the exact opposite of the thing that the disciples were doing, the exact opposite of what we often find ourselves doing. Instead of working to ensure their own place in heaven they were to be working to ensure the place of others in heaven.

Jesus begins with a warning. “It is necessary for stumbling blocks to come. But woe to that one through whom the stumbling blocks come. It would be better for that one if a millstone were to be tied around his neck and thrown into the sea.”

Our translation says that it is necessary for temptations to come – certainly the devils lures into sin are included in what Jesus has in mind. But at times the things that draw us away from faith go beyond an appeal to our sinful desires. There are times when the thing that proves to be an obstacle to faith is our own challenges or suffering or perhaps we become disillusioned and jaded due to the poor example of others. We see it in politics all the time – a formerly respected politician is outed for corruption or sin and his hypocrisy suddenly become evident to all. It is for that reason that so many people approach politics and politicians with such skepticism. The same things happens when there is scandal in the church. These things can cause Christians to stumble in their faith, to doubt and to question. Great damage can be done in the hearts and consciences of the weak when we secretly live the life of sin that we are so outspoken against. Jesus’ message to his disciples and to us is that we not be that stumbling block. The self-centered power hungry question that the disciples were debating as to who was the greatest was exactly the kind of thing that would lead to such scandals arising – faith that is self centered.

Instead of this self centered focus, Christ calls us to be his servants and to be servants of one another. Instead of weakening our brothers and sisters in Christ with self centered words and actions, we are to busy ourselves concerned for each other. We are to search out the weak search out the sinners, find them, bring them back, restore them. We are to live our own lives for the sake of each other, for our neighbor. Because that is what Jesus has done for us.

Every word that Jesus spoke, he spoke for us. Every action of Jesus was done for us. Every breath taken by Jesus was taken for us. Never once did Jesus put off or put away those who so desperately needed him. Never once did Jesus tell himself that he earned a break, a little time away. Never once did Jesus take advantage of the perks that we associate with leadership and power and position. Instead, Jesus used his power and his authority as the very thing that would save us from our sin.

In our own political process our candidates are given the opportunity to speak so that we can judge them by their words to determine their worthiness to rule. It is their trial by fire.. When it came time for Jesus’ trial he didn’t pull out his most polished rhetoric to refute his enemies, and he didn’t go on the attack. In fact, he didn’t say a thing. Instead he stood before them silent, taking their accusations and refusing to answer them.

When it came time for Jesus to be dressed for his coronation, he was not sent to see a tailor who fitted him for fine robes, no stately looking dark colored suit and tie, instead Jesus was sent to soldiers who were hungry for blood . Jesus was stripped of his garments and the only thing covering his naked body was his own blood.

When it came time for him to ascend to his throne, it was not gilded and gold. It was not a highbacked leather chair in the oval office with hisown presidential seal in the carpet. The throne of Jesus was a cross made of wood. Rough hewn.
Jesus did not sit on his throne, he was held there with nails.

As Jesus reigned from his throne as the King of heaven and earth he did not lash out against his enemies. He did not wage war or condemn his enemies. Instead, as he sat there on his cross shaped throne, robed in his own blood, he spoke words of pardon – “Father forgive them.”
To those who would rule in heaven, to those who were concerned about their place in heaven, when they had turned to become low and humble like a child, when they stopped seeking their own glory and instead turned their attention to seeking and saving the lost, he then gave to them the authority to do that very thing that he does.

" Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

When Christ gives authority on earth, it is authority to forgive, the authority to restore. Jesus has earned the power and the authority to forgive sinners. He wants that to be done, regularly. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if the president signed an order that any American could walk up into any prison and could set free any criminal that had committed a crime against them. Our streets would be filled with lawbreakers. But that is exactly what Jesus has done. He has given that executive authority to pardon sinners to his church. The kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom of grace of forgiveness and of pardon.

In this sinful and power hungry world, when men seek office and authority to rule and to reign it is always to exercise strength, to make laws, to set direction. To overcome enemies by a show of force. But in the kingdom of heaven, Christ rules with love and forgiveness. He rules by washing away sin, by forgiving sinners and by strengthening and restoring the weak.

Amen.