Pentecost 8 - Ephesians 3.14-21

Recently within the halls of St Paul Chuckery discussions have been taking place as to the financial stability of our Church and School. Since it has been the topic of discussion in council meetings, at last Sunday's Voter's Meeting, in the news letter and in the bulletin, it is likely that you have caught wind of this already. According to our treasurer the congregation is currently about $30,000 behind in meeting our expenses. Or, to put it another way, we have spent $30,000 more than we have taken in.
If you do the tedious work of balancing your checkbook at home, you will know that it is not good to spend more than you earn. A prolonged stint of such behavior can ruin an entire national economy, let alone a small church and school in central Ohio. It has happened to others. It can happen to us.
The “how and why” of this predicament is mulct faceted. There are many sides to the issue, details to be discussed that have to do with how we fund the mission and ministry of our church and school. God has blessed St Paul with just the right people for this task. And it is a good and God pleasing thing to be wise stewards of the material gifts as God gives them. That is a discussion for a different day.
Today, what guides the proclamation of the Word of God is our Epistle text from Ephesians; God's promise through the Apostle Paul that God is able to do far more abundantly than we either can ask or can think. And this God is at work within us and among us. To Him is all glory in the church and in Christ forever. This text has something to say to us today.
Chances are, there are a number of contributing factors to our present predicament. Certainly the cost of maintaining a church and a school is not cheap. Factor in the general belt tightening that is common among most households around the nation and you begin to tap into at least one source of our congregational economic downturn. People either have less or are worried about having less money.
Our text speaks to this situation in a handful of ways. The first is to remind us as a congregation not to worry. Again, “To him who is able to do far more abundantly that we can ask or think.”
God is not worried about recessions. God is not worried about depressions, God will not loose sleep over even a full fledged economic collapse. God doesn't care about projections of economists. God is not waiting for His stimulus check. God doesn't care about tax breaks or tax hikes. God isn't up for a performance review in his current employment and he can't be fired or downsized or let go. There isn't even the option for a buy out. God is God. He sits in heaven and pulls the strings on our little recessions. And those things we refer to as “mine” or “yours” are simply just His. Therefore, when recessions effect budgets and bottom lines, they do not handicap God from accomplishing His work of preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Those things happen for free.
The money needed to pay the people who do them is God's gift. If he desires that these things occur, he is able to do far more than we can either ask or think. So don't worry. The Church as the people of God is secure. We are in God's hands and God will provide for us what we need, when we need it.
But there is more to our text and therefore there is more to be said about our congregational predicament.
Paul tells us that he gets down on his knees to pray to God our Father and that He prays for three things.
1.That according to the riches of His glory he grant to us to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.
2.That, being rooted and grounded in love we might have the strength to grasp the full breadth and length and height and depth of the Love of Christ
3.that we might be full with all the fullness of God.
So what does that have to do with the Chuckery budget?
It has everything to do with the Chuckery budget.
Usually when we think about what Christian churches have come to call “stewardship” we often make the mistake of associating that too closely with the term “fund raising” We need money. People have money. We have to figure out a way to separate people from their money. We come up with all kinds of rules and principals and assume that will do the trick.
That's not what the church does.
Here at church you give offerings. There are 2 reasons for that. First of all, you have hired help: a pastor, teachers, professional staff. These people serve you. You owe them their wage. Paul makes that point elsewhere. He tells the church that just as they owe their farm animals food for the work they do on the farm, churches owe their church workers a wage for the work they do in the church. That is your duty.
The second reason has to do with these three things Paul prays for in his prayer for the Ephesians: God's strength in the inner man, a full comprehension of the Love of Christ, and being filled up with the fullness of God.
With this prayer Paul was making the point that all Christians, both the Jews and the Gentiles were one big happy family. God is the Father, no matter who your daddy might be, no matter what the color of your skin – no matter if you can trace your family history back to Abraham or to the families who founded St Paul Chuckery. God is the Father of the One heavenly family that exist in heaven and here on earth. Through Christ we are brothers and sisters. God has filled us up with with faith. God has filled us up with the Holy Spirit. We are blessed in him with an eternal inheritance that is hidden away for us in heaven, it can't be taken away, it can't spoil, it doesn't have a shelf life or a rate of depreciation. All of heaven's glory in Christ is yours.
That is the fullness of God.
Now if God's fullness overwhelms you in His love and in his goodness and in his generosity, and if we are then connected to one another through sharing in His Gospel, how then do you suppose that will effect our attitude and our action toward one another? Paul was talking to Jews and Gentiles about being of the same identical family. There was in His time often some bad blood between the two groups. Paul called for fullness in the Gospel. Paul called for love between Christians and charity and works of mercy. Paul called for Christians to give even as they had been given to.
Again, as far as our Chuckery budget goes, there are lots of possible and plausible reasons for why we are behind in our budget. Each family must privately make their decision about what money they give and how much money they give. Each of you decides this in your own home.
As you make that decision test yourself. The human heart is above all things sinful. The human heart is plagued with stinginess. Drawing lines of “mine” and “yours”. Withholding gifts from those who we determine in our hearts are not worthy. God does not do that with us. We aught not do it with one another.
The human heart is also plagued by fear. The notion that “I can't afford to be generous because I have bill to pay.” The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God (Ps 50:10). God feeds the bird of the air so that they do not go hungry (Matthew 6:26). Why do you worry about such things? (Matthew 6:27)
Having experienced the fullness of God, we are set free to give according to what our conscience sets us free to give. There is no compulsion. There is no minimum requirement. There is no requirement at all. If your heart and your conscience leads you to give nothing at all, that is between you and God. If your heart is convicted of sin but you still struggle with fear, that is between you and a God who drives out all fear with his perfect love (1 John 4:18) but who is also patient and enduring in his love (1 Cor 13:4). If you feel compelled to offer greater gifts out of the joy and thanksgiving afforded to you through the fullness of the gospel, than God will bless your gift.
Know this: God is your heavenly Father. He loves you. He cares for you. He provides for you. He will not let you go without those things that He knows you need.
Through faith you are also joined to your fellow Christians as brothers and sisters. God also provides for their needs – sometimes he provides for them through you.
God is also the father of our Brother Jesus whom God loved so much, (John 3:16) yet in spite of this love he commanded him to go out from heaven to take upon himself our flesh and to suffer and die as less than a slave. Jesus did this gladly and willingly. Jesus shared His Father's love for you and was glad to give of himself everything that he had.
Because of God's love, because of God's generosity, because of God's grace, because of the fullness of God's love for you, He has provided for you, he has given to you, he has signed sealed and delivered to you the fullness of His love in Jesus through his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven. God has done all of this, through the fullness of His Love for you.
So here's Paul's prayer; for the Ephesians, but also for you. Be transformed in your inner man according to the Christian faith given to you by the Holy Spirit. With this as your foundation may you understand the full breadth and length and height and depth of the Love of God. And finally, may you be filled with all of God's fullness given in the Gospel.
Amen.

Pentecost 6 - Ephesians 1.3-14

God's will. What is God's will for my life?

Maybe you have asked yourself that very question at some time. Maybe you have wondered if God had some specific plan that he had laid out for you, some specific thing that you are supposed to do, that He wanted you to do. Maybe you have been waiting for him to show you what that plan might be.

If you have ever wondered about God's plan, about his purpose for your life, than I have some good news for you: today in our text Paul tells you what that plan is; he lays it out for you. No more searching. No more prayers are needed. No more late nights and early mornings wondering what God wants from you. The whole thing is revealed.

And here it is, God's will for your life. The one thing that he has set aside for you to do from the foundation of the world is this: salvation! God's plan, God's purpose, God's will for your life is that you come to salvation from your sin through faith in Jesus Christ.

That might not be quite what you were hoping for. Maybe you wanted something more. Or at least something more specific. Perhaps you were hoping that God had some great new career choice for you, a job that would be that one thing that is just perfect for you. Perhaps you were wanting to know if you should get married, quit your job, go back to school, start a family, all kinds of different things. Often people want a lightning bolt, something that falls from the sky that tells them what they are supposed to do. Is that what you were hoping for?

People search for their purpose and for God's plan, they look for that lightning bolt for the exact same reason that people read their horoscope, or go to see palm readers. People want some kind of assurance that if they make some drastic change in their life it will all come out okay. If I change my job, loose my job, quit my job, go to school, get married, have a child, adopt a child, move around the world, will it all turn out okay? Will God's favor follow me into this new adventure that I am considering? We say our prayers and wring our hands hoping that God will smile upon us. Hoping that whatever it is we do is within God's plan.

Oh you of little faith. Why do you test God so? Don't you know that he loves you? Don't you know that he cares for you? Don't you know that he has numbered even the hairs of your head? Why do you worry about these things? Your father in heaven knows what you need and He will provide it.

Yes, we say, but what is His will for me? What is His will for my life. I know God loves me. I know he provides for me. But isn't there more? Isn't there something more specific?

In fact there is. There are a whole list of specific things that are God's will for your life. There are 10 of them. We call them the Commandments. If you want to know what God wants you to do in your life, that's a good place to start. Read the commandments. Luther said that there was enough in the commandments to keep you busy your entire life. Given that everyone of us breaks them all each and every day, it's hard to disagree with him.

But what about all those other things? What about my job, my career? My education? My family? Where I live? That new house or new car that I want to buy? You have the commandments. Use them to evaluate your question:

Why do I want a new job? Am I coveting? Am I lusting? Am I tired of showing honor and respect to my boss? Or have I found a job that will bring me joy as I serve my neighbor and my family?

Or what about that young lady to whom you might “pop the question”, or that young man who has just presented you with a ring. Why are dating him? Her? Again, is it lust? Has that person become your god – the one you trust for your security? Or have you found one who truly encourages you in your faith and who directs you to a closer walk with God. Have you found someone to whom you will be faithful and who will be faithful to you? Have you found one to whom you will devote yourself as a servant for life?

What about your home or your car. Why do you want a new one? Maybe you are coveting. Or maybe you have a legitimate need to replace the one God has already given to you.

As we wring our hands worrying about God's plan what we loose sight of is the freedom that God gives to us in the gospel. Jesus died to set us free from the law. Therefore we are free. Therefore everything is a gift; God's good gift to you, for you to enjoy. So often our search for God's purpose turns every decision back into the threat of God's law.

God allows us great freedom in these things. He does not have one spouse, career, home or hometown that he wants you to have. God gives you the freedom to choose. Evaluate your motives according to the commandments. Confess your sin. And enjoy the blessings and the freedom that God gives in all of life's choices.

We often forget that God is a good God. He blesses us, no matter what we choose. Even when our choices are sinful God blesses us. If you change your job, get and education, get married, start a family; God will bless you. He is your Heavenly Father. He always provides for you. If you don't. God will bless you. He is your Heavenly Father. He always provides for you. Enjoy his many gifts. Obey the commandments, Confess your sins, and live in the freedom he has given to you.

Now to God's will. Because he does have a will, a very clear and specific will for you and your life. God does have a plan.

In the Lord's prayer we pray for that plan. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray.

The catechism teaches us what this means:

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

What does this mean?--Answer.

The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

How is this done?--Answer.

When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.

Luther borrows his understanding of God's will from our Epistle Text for today.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Can it be any clearer than that? God has a purpose. God has a plan. His plan and purpose involve Jesus on the cross for you to die for your sin. And not just for your sin but for the sin of the whole world.

And don't worry, it does get more specific than that. God, as we said, wants you to obey the commandments. You don't. You disobey them every day. You hate God and rebel against God and run away from God and do everything you can to remain your own god. So when God made his reservation list for heaven, a list that he composed long before he ever spoke those words “Let there be...” so that this world sprang to life, God wrote your name down. Your name is written in heaven in His book of life because he predestined it to be there.

God planned that you would be in heaven so he sent someone to baptize you. You needed that because otherwise you would fight against him. He moved you to faith. You needed that because otherwise you would continue to resist him. He preserved you in that faith. You needed that because otherwise you would jump overboard and swim back to your sin. God's plan and his purpose for the whole entire universe has your name written on it in a prominent place.

God has a plan for your life. Not just the little stuff. Not just jobs and spouses and families, these are God's gifts to you and he sets you free to enjoy them. God's plan is for eternity, for salvation, for a life that he wants to give to you when this life is dead and gone. He has made his plan a reality, sending his only son Jesus to die for you.

Amen.

Pentecost 5 - Mark 6:1-13

Everyone loves a hero. And what better weekend to talk about heroes than the anniversary of our Nation's Independence. The history of the United States is filled with tales of heroism from men and women who have fought valiantly and with great personal sacrifice to preserve the freedoms that we celebrated just yesterday. The many wars and conflicts that our nation has been involved in has proved time and again that the men and women who defend our nation are heroes in the truest sense of the word.
And it's a good thing, because there have been many an occasion when we have depended upon our heroes. It has often been the bravery of a few that has been the salvation of the many – it has often been the willingness of the few to risk personal harm and injury in the interest of protecting the rest of us. It is good that we show them respect and gratitude.
The fact of the matter is that the world needs its heroes. The reason we celebrate them, the reason we love to tell their stories, the reason that we honor them and revere them, the reason that we need them is quite simple. The world needs heroes because the world needs saving. Heroes step in when the world gets dangerous, when the world becomes treacherous. Heroes do that job that the rest of us cannot do. The world needs saving from itself.
With as much as we all love to recognize and honor our heroes, as much as we love to celebrate their heroism, it is ironic that when the hero of heroes came along, no one was able to recognize him. With all the hope, all the longing, all the desire for a hero, you would think that when the One True Hero actually does show up, that people would flock to him, get behind him, honor him and follow him.
Yet that is not what we find in our text. When Jesus, the Hero of heroes arrives, when he shows up at his home town no less, he isn't given a “Heroes welcome”, he isn't received with open arms, a ticker tape parade, and the key to the city. Instead people are scandalized by him. They are turned off. They turn up their noses. They turn their backs on the Hero that God sent to save the world from itself, that God sent to save the world from its sin. It is strange that this hero would be so un-reconizable to them. Then again, truth be told, this hero is often un-recognizable to us.
Take the account given in our text. The hero is Jesus. Jesus is the one sent by God to defeat Satan, to pay the debt of our sin, and to be the salvation of the entire Human Race. Yet here in our text he seems barely capable of even saving himself.
Often when we consider the work and the ministry of Jesus, the thing that stands our to us is the fact that He performed so many miracles. He healed the sick, he turned water into wine, he walked on water, and he fed thousand with only a few loaves of bread and fish. We know that he did these things because he was the God's son – God in the flesh, a miraculous joining of human and divine substance.
If Jesus is God and if God can do anything, than why in the world does our text tell us that Jesus couldn't do any miracles. Here he is at his home town, he didn't receive the warmest of receptions, people doubted him, rejected him, and refused to believe in him; and so the Gospel writer includes in his recounting of these events that Jesus was unable to do any miracles. Seems rather un-heroic, does it not? Aren't heroes supposed to be heroes regardless of what everybody else thinks? Aren't heroes supposed to be heroes by virtue of their own character and power? Jesus seems to be rather un-heroic, does he not?
Yes. But this exactly the kind of Hero that Jesus came to be. Jesus didn't come to win us through his power and strength. Jesus did not come to defeat our enemies through earthly power and might, by showing everyone all the really cool tricks he could do. Jesus came to be a man of sorrows. Jesus came to be stricken smitten and afflicted. Jesus came to die. Jesus was God in the flesh, But Jesus was God hidden behind human weakness, un-heroic, anti-heroic so that he could die in our place on the cross for our sin.
We have lots of heroes who will save us from each other. We need these heroes. We need police men, firemen, soldiers and warriors who will step in when a conflict arises, when a dangerous situation arises, when there is a need for the skill and the strength and the training to perform these tasks to preserve life. We need these men and women who will save sinners from other sinners. God gives these heroes in common everyday people. Any one of us could step into that role at any moment. That was not the kind of hero Jesus came to be. Jesus did not come to save sinners from each other. Jesus came to save sinners from themselves.
Our biggest enemy that any one of us faces is not somewhere out there in the world around us – the biggest enemy we face is the sinner that lives inside of us. We are our own worst enemy. We are sinners. We are weak. We are doomed to death and destruction because of the sin that lives within us. We need a hero who can save us from ourselves. Jesus is that hero.
When it comes right down to it, our ultimate need is not a hero who carries a gun or a sword or a shield, or even a fire hose. Our ultimate need is a hero who carries a cross. And that is exactly the kind of hero that Jesus is. Doesn't look very heroic on the outside, but hidden beneath the outer weakness and underneath the surface failures is the son of God who came to save the world from sin.
You see, most heroes win their victories by defeating their most bitter of enemies. The go into battle and they overpower the opposition. Had Jesus been that kind of a hero he would have been the death of you and me. We, after all, were his enemies. We were the ones who stood opposed to him. We were the ones who would have wanted to be rid of him. Take the account in our text. Jesus came to his hometown crowd to offer to them the forgiveness he came to bring and they rejected him, they were offended by him, they were scandalized by him. They wanted to be rid of him. We would treat him the same way. So instead of coming to defeat his enemies, he came to become his enemies. Jesus came to be one of us, the be one with us so that he could die in our place. Jesus was weak, he was offensive, he was scandalous because it was necessary so that he could die for us.
And die he did. Jesus stood in our place as his own enemy and he died our death. He died in our place as those who stand opposed to God, as those who hate God, as those who are God's enemies and he received from God the punishment that we deserved. He suffered at the hands of sinful men, but as our great hymn suggests, the deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke of justice – the stroke weighted down upon him by God himself.
The heroism of Jesus is a heroism that often goes largely un-recognized. Jesus didn't come with great earthly power and might, he didn't come with outward power and strength to defeat his enemies. Jesus came to become his enemies and then to be defeated for them on their behalf in their place so that they might be friends with God.
For you and for me there is peace with God. Our hero has been defeated for us. He has taken our weakness and he has taken our punishment so that we might live. It is in him that we have peace with God.

Amen.