“Give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food I need” is the prayer found in Proverbs 30. The world is filled with extremes, extremes of poverty and extremes of wealth. There are those who are extremely poor. Those who are happy to own the clothes on their back, and if they are fortunate enough, to know where their next meal will come from.
And then there are the very rich. Those who don't know any financial limitations, who are able to afford a lavish lifestyle and flaunt their wealth with exotic purchases. Cars, homes, vacations, parties, they have lots of money and lots of friends. Whether we are talking extremes of wealth or extremes of poverty, the world is filled with both.
In the prayer from Proverbs, neither one is to be desired. Whether it be poverty or wealth, we are better off without it. Either extreme provides Satan with an opportunity. Those who are poor are tempted to covet, and the covetousness tempts them to steal. Those who are rich are tempted to feel self satisfied and secure in their wealth to the extent that they forget how greatly they need God. And so the author prays, “feed my only with the food I need, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. “ Would that the Lord preserve us from both.
But while we might pray that prayer, God still deals with us according to his will. “The poor you will always have with you,” says Jesus. “There will always be the poor in the land.” writes Moses. And likewise, there are also those who are rich. Indeed, scripture acknowledges the fact that riches are a gift from God. After all, God gave wealth to Abraham, to Job, to David and to Solomon. There are times that God allows for his people to have plenty and times that God allows for his people to be in want. And this being the case, there are those of us who are could likely fit into either category. Here in our own little church family, there are those of us who are abundantly blessed with the world's goods and there are those of us who are very limited in these blessings. But it doesn't matter which category is yours, whether we are rich or poor, the word of God speaks to us all.
In our Gospel text for today, Jesus tells a parable that encompasses both extremes. Jesus tells the parable of two men, a man who is wealthy beyond measure and another man, a man named Lazarus, who is poverty stricken. The rich man would throw lavish parties, with tables filled with food. The poor man would watch from the outside and he would have been happy to have the food that they threw away. The rich man had plenty of friends, as it seems all rich people do. Lazarus was accompanied only by dogs. The rich man had the best that money could buy. Lazarus had nothing.
Well it turns out that while the rich man was well equipped with all of the world's goods there was one thing he lacked, one thing that Lazarus had in abundance, and that was the wealth of heaven. Lazarus possessed faith and by that faith he grabbed hold of God's goodness and grace and the promise of God's salvation. So when the two died, the rich man went to hell, where he was in torment and Lazarus was taken by the angels to the side of Abraham where he was comforted and at rest. The roles in life were reversed in death. The rich man could watch with longing while Lazarus received all the good things given by God in heaven. The rich man wished for a simple drop of water, while Lazarus was comforted even by heaven's dignitaries.
There are times when people have misunderstood this parable. There are times that people assume Jesus condemns the rich and favors the poor. That the rich man's crime was being rich and that Lazarus was righteous because he was poor. This isn't the case. Whether you are poor or rich we are all in the same boat. We are all equally impoverished when it comes to our relationship with God. Whether you are poor or whether you are rich, it doesn't make you any closer to God or further away from God. In the end, what matters is faith. In the end, what matters is the Word of God. It's like Abraham said in the parable. “They have Moses and the Prophets, let them listen to them.” And so do we. We have Moses, the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles. Let us hear them.
Today, our Old Testament text is written against the sins of the wealthy. It condemns those who have made an idol out of their wealth. They eat the finest and richest of foods, they drink their wine out of bowls instead of cups, they lounge around on fancy imported furniture and make up songs to sing about their wealth. It sounds like the subject of many a music video. It all amounts to idolatry. Diamonds and gold and mansions and luxury – the things of this world can lead one to fashioning a false god out of their wealth.
“You will be the first to go into exile.” says the prophet.
Worshiping wealth and holding on to money as your God is profoundly foolish. Money can't save you. Wealth can't provide for you. Possessions will not protect you. Only God can do these things. Only God can save us.
Our Amos text is written to those who cheated out the poor to make themselves rich. It's almost like he was writing to us in 21st century America. You only need to say, “Enron” or “Wall Street” and you will get the picture; the people at the top of the heap made themselves rich by taking everything they could get from the people at the bottom. Meanwhile, those people they stepped on as they were climbing up the ladder were suffering. And they didn't care. Just so long as they had their wealth and their riches, they didn't care.
This is wrong. It is sin. It's like we said, God allows some to be poor and he allows some to be rich. Neither one is more righteous and neither one is more sinful. Both are gifts from God. Both are opportunities for Christian faith and service.
Through poverty God teaches us faith. Those who are poor struggle to get by. They struggle to pay their bills and keep themselves fed and clothed and sheltered. It's not easy. But God provides. God knows what we need and while it might not be in abundance, God does take care of us.
As the Israelites were preparing to enter in to the promised land, Moses reminded them of how God provided for them in the wilderness. Even though they were living in the desert without the means to buy clothes and shoes and all those things, God took care of them. Their clothes didn't get wear out, their shoes didn't get holes in the bottom. God provided for them and they probably didn't even realize it. Consider that for just a moment, generally speaking, we don't stop to consider the condition of your clothes until they need to be replaced. We don't stop to consider the condition of the roof over your head until it starts to leak, or your car, until it breaks down. We have a way of taking these things for granted. Likewise with the Israelites, they probably didn't even realize it until Moses said it. But God had been providing for them and taking care of them all along and the same can be said for you. God is providing for you in ways you haven't even realized. Whatever bill you are worried about paying, God will provide for you.
That's the thing about being poor. You get to see God's providence. When you have to worry about covering your expense, you wind up having to depend on the goodness of God to provide for you. You have to pray about clothes for your kids and finding the money to cover the bills. You have to turn to God in faith with these things and then depend on him to provide. And then when he does you get to witness his providence. The rich don't have this blessing. They pay their bills out of their abundance and don't ever have to worry about it, they don't need to pray for God to provide. Depending on God is a blessing.
But there are also those of us who are rich. There are those of us to whom God has given an abundance of the World's goods. This too is a good thing. This too is a blessing from God. The danger lies in the temptation, to let that money become your god. To depend on your money to save you and to be your security. But wealth is also a gift and a blessing and an opportunity. God has given that wealth to you and that he wants you to enjoy it, but also that he wants you to use it to serve him and to serve your neighbor. He wants you to avoid the temptation to horde it like the rich man in the parable or to worship it like those mentioned in the passage from Amos.
When I was younger, there was a friend of my family who happened to have been blessed by God with wealth. He owned a lumber business that had done very well and that provided him an opportunity to get into real estate investments that also were very successful. As a result he had become quite well off. This man, rather than hording this money and keeping it all to himself and to his family, was very generous. He was in fact, very generous in his gifts to support education in general, but especially Lutheran education. He gave large sums of money to the Lutheran day school I attended. He gave to Concordia universities, he donated tremendous sums of money to the seminaries. He even gave support to me as I was making my way through the seminary. God had given to him a great abundance of wealth and he in turn used that wealth to help support the training and teaching of pastors and teachers and church workers, all for the building up of the kingdom of Christ.
In the end, what matters the most is the Word of God. God has given us Moses and the prophets. God has given us the Gospels and the Epistles. These things are the means by which he sends His Spirit to us to establish us and strengthen us in the faith. This word convicts us of our sin and points us to his salvation found in Jesus.
In his letter to Timothy Paul writes “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
To the Church in Philippi he writes “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Amen.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Pentecost 17. Luke 16
"It's not business. It's personal"
The Donald is at it again. His popular show The Apprentice aired its season premier this past Thursday with a new group of contestants set to take on the various challenges. Each week, viewers watch as the those contestants compete to earn the greatest amount of money at some assigned task. The winning team is safe, and the loosing team heads to the board room, where one member of the team will hear Mr Trump utter those dreaded words, “Your Fired.”
Donald Trump has made his fortune as a laser focused business man. He wants to earn a profit. Those who help him achieve that goal are rewarded. Those who cost him that goal are cut loose. And as the show says, “It's not personal. It's business.”
Not so with Jesus. As he illustrates for us here in our text through this parable what's good for business is not what's good for Jesus. It's not about the bottom line. It's not about making a buck. It's not about getting ahead. It is about love. It is about mercy. It is about the gospel. And the Gospel is about people.
In the end, Jesus is not impressed with money or wealth. And, in his mind, neither should we be impressed with money. Rather that money, that “unrighteous mammon” as he calls it, should be only and at its best a means to an end.
“And I tell you, says Jesus, make friends for yourself with that unrighteous mammon so that when it fails (and it will fail) they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
So money is a means to an end. What is that end?
In our text, Jesus offers a parable. He tells his disciples of the actions of an unrighteous steward, or manager. The man had performed poorly in his work and he was about to get fired. And when he discovered that his working days were through, he hit upon a plan to make things better for him when he was unemployed. He called in his master's debtors – his master was a business man, in real estate, not too different from Mr Trump in that regard. This master made his fortune renting out his fields to farmers who then brought some of the harvest to him as payment. It appears that this steward had not performed up to par for the master, and he was about to hear those dreaded words that Donald Trump has made famous, he was about to be told, “Your fired”. But the soon to be unemployed steward hit upon a plan. The steward gathered up the list of his master's debtors and he called these men into his office and gave each of them a discount. One owed 100 measures of oil, his bill was reduced to 50. Another owed 100 cores of wheat, his bill was reduced to 80. The renters went home happy with a reduced bill, and a favorable opinion of the steward. Perhaps he would find work with one of them.
Now this is a challenging parable. The seeming star of the show was a bit of a scoundrel. He was dishonest. Jesus calls him “unrighteous”. But it would appear that Jesus wants us to learn something from him. Does he want us to be dishonest? Does he want us to cheat? Does he want us to steal?
Obviously not. Jesus is not urging us to cut-throat business practices; nor is He commending the man's sin. The key to understanding the parable is to first understand what Jesus would have us know about the unrighteous man's master. In this parable, and really with any other parable, the main thing that Jesus wants us to learn, isn't what we do, isn't what we are supposed to do. Rather the thing that the parables are here to teach us is what God does. Instead of looking in the parable to see how God wants us to behave, Jesus wants us first to understand his character and the character of the Father. In that regard, this parable is less about the dishonest and unrighteous manager, rather it is about the merciful Lord.
The manager was dishonest. Not only that, he was also incompetent. That's why he lost his job. But he was shrewd. He was wise. He had the ability to size up the character or his master. He was able to predict how his master would react even when he was cheated. And this gave him an edge; he knew his master was kind and merciful and he hit upon a plan to take advantage of that kindness and mercy. The manager knew his master. He was a merciful man and the manager trapped him in his mercy.
The master had a reputation. The debtors didn't question or object when the steward gave them a break, they figured the master was being generous. And once the discount was given, the generous and merciful master wasn't going to take it back. You see, you understand, the master was more concerned to be merciful than he was to be rich. (Again, our tag line. “It isn't business, it's personal.”) So the steward, the manager, the first century apprentice, gave away his master's property, and then enjoyed the good fortune of being the hand that delivered the gift to the debtors, and reaped the benefits of their good will.
And there's the lesson. This is a parable about being faithful with those things that God has given to us. God gives us many things. And God is generous. And God would have us be generous. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for the bottom line. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for business. But God wants it to be personal. He wants it to be about the Gospel; the Gospel that is about His Mercy and His Generosity and His Kindness that he has set aside for people.
Now, certainly God gives us money. He gives us property. He gives us material things. But not so we can pile them all up and be impressed with how rich we are. Not so that we can build for ourselves a board room paneled with mahogany, furnished with a large table from which we can bark out orders and tell people they are fired. Rather He has given us that money as a means, as a tool, as an instrument for making friends with the world. “Money talks” people claim. The question is, what does your money say? Christ reminds us that the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
Consider the Starbucks Corporation. You go into a Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee and you will find little advertisements printed on their paper cups that tell you about their corporate responsibility. They purchase beans from struggling 3rd world countries and reinvest the profits to support the farmers. Proceeds from their Ethos bottled water helps to provide clean drinking water around the world. They make a profit, but they use their profit to “give back”. They use their profit to create a public perception that is favorable with their customers. And in turn, their customers feel good about spending $4.00 on a cup of coffee. Indeed the sons of this world are shrewd in dealing with their own generation.
So what does your money say? Does your money say, “I care about people.” “I care about mercy and kindness.” “I care about the gospel.” Or does your money say, “I care about me and what's mine”? My family, my house, my business, my bank account.
For the Christian, money is not about money. It's not our hope, it's not our salvation. It's not our safety or security. It is just a thing. A thing that God gives and that God takes away. It's just a means to an end. When we have it, God wants us to use, but not simply for ourselves. God wants us to use it for our neighbor. To show love and to show mercy. Because that is what Jesus has done for us.
Consider if you will the generosity of our Lord. He is generous in all things.
The Lord is generous in giving us possessions. Stop for a moment and think about your routine this morning. You woke up in a warm and dry bed. Got dressed, ate breakfast. Had a ride here to church. You had those things because God is generous with you. But those things are small things. Those are the unimportant, and worthless things. God has given you so much more.
Jesus asks the question, 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? And what is so very often lost on us is the fact that Jesus our heavenly father has set aside for us the gift of heaven. God is truly our heavenly father and he has given to us all the benefits of being his children.
In my own house, what's mine belongs to my children. They live under my roof and enjoy the fruits of my labors completely for free. I don't charge them. I don't send them a bill each month. I don't expect rent or compensation in any way. And someday, after I am dead and gone, everything I own will be left to them. My estate will be theirs.
God does this very thing for you. His estate. His heavenly mansion is yours. You stand to inherit heaven. Everything that is there. It's wealth. Its beauty. Its honor. Its glory. It will all be yours. You will walk through the kingdom of heaven, not as a bond servant. Not as an employee. As a son and a daughter of the King. God's servants will be your servants. Gods house will be your house. God's banquet table will be your banquet table. Gods celebration will be your celebration. And he gives it all to you for free.
It is so ironic that we spend so much time fretting and worrying and even arguing about something so simple and silly as money. God gives it. He knows you need it and he won't let you go without it so why worry about it? In the mean time you have neighbors who God has given to you and who you are able to help with that money and God wants you to do it. So do it. In the mean time, he will continue to give what you need. He will continue to provide what you need not only for this life, not only for your bills and expenses but also and especially for the next. He has paid for you with even his own blood. If you are worth all that to him, surely you can be confident that he will give exactly what you need.
And those neighbors, while they need your help and your assistance what they need more than anything is the gospel. The truth, the true riches. And just as God has given it to you, he would also give it to them. So share. Give. Be generous. Because God has been generous with you. And remember. It's not business. It is personal. It is about the Gospel.
Amen,
The Donald is at it again. His popular show The Apprentice aired its season premier this past Thursday with a new group of contestants set to take on the various challenges. Each week, viewers watch as the those contestants compete to earn the greatest amount of money at some assigned task. The winning team is safe, and the loosing team heads to the board room, where one member of the team will hear Mr Trump utter those dreaded words, “Your Fired.”
Donald Trump has made his fortune as a laser focused business man. He wants to earn a profit. Those who help him achieve that goal are rewarded. Those who cost him that goal are cut loose. And as the show says, “It's not personal. It's business.”
Not so with Jesus. As he illustrates for us here in our text through this parable what's good for business is not what's good for Jesus. It's not about the bottom line. It's not about making a buck. It's not about getting ahead. It is about love. It is about mercy. It is about the gospel. And the Gospel is about people.
In the end, Jesus is not impressed with money or wealth. And, in his mind, neither should we be impressed with money. Rather that money, that “unrighteous mammon” as he calls it, should be only and at its best a means to an end.
“And I tell you, says Jesus, make friends for yourself with that unrighteous mammon so that when it fails (and it will fail) they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
So money is a means to an end. What is that end?
In our text, Jesus offers a parable. He tells his disciples of the actions of an unrighteous steward, or manager. The man had performed poorly in his work and he was about to get fired. And when he discovered that his working days were through, he hit upon a plan to make things better for him when he was unemployed. He called in his master's debtors – his master was a business man, in real estate, not too different from Mr Trump in that regard. This master made his fortune renting out his fields to farmers who then brought some of the harvest to him as payment. It appears that this steward had not performed up to par for the master, and he was about to hear those dreaded words that Donald Trump has made famous, he was about to be told, “Your fired”. But the soon to be unemployed steward hit upon a plan. The steward gathered up the list of his master's debtors and he called these men into his office and gave each of them a discount. One owed 100 measures of oil, his bill was reduced to 50. Another owed 100 cores of wheat, his bill was reduced to 80. The renters went home happy with a reduced bill, and a favorable opinion of the steward. Perhaps he would find work with one of them.
Now this is a challenging parable. The seeming star of the show was a bit of a scoundrel. He was dishonest. Jesus calls him “unrighteous”. But it would appear that Jesus wants us to learn something from him. Does he want us to be dishonest? Does he want us to cheat? Does he want us to steal?
Obviously not. Jesus is not urging us to cut-throat business practices; nor is He commending the man's sin. The key to understanding the parable is to first understand what Jesus would have us know about the unrighteous man's master. In this parable, and really with any other parable, the main thing that Jesus wants us to learn, isn't what we do, isn't what we are supposed to do. Rather the thing that the parables are here to teach us is what God does. Instead of looking in the parable to see how God wants us to behave, Jesus wants us first to understand his character and the character of the Father. In that regard, this parable is less about the dishonest and unrighteous manager, rather it is about the merciful Lord.
The manager was dishonest. Not only that, he was also incompetent. That's why he lost his job. But he was shrewd. He was wise. He had the ability to size up the character or his master. He was able to predict how his master would react even when he was cheated. And this gave him an edge; he knew his master was kind and merciful and he hit upon a plan to take advantage of that kindness and mercy. The manager knew his master. He was a merciful man and the manager trapped him in his mercy.
The master had a reputation. The debtors didn't question or object when the steward gave them a break, they figured the master was being generous. And once the discount was given, the generous and merciful master wasn't going to take it back. You see, you understand, the master was more concerned to be merciful than he was to be rich. (Again, our tag line. “It isn't business, it's personal.”) So the steward, the manager, the first century apprentice, gave away his master's property, and then enjoyed the good fortune of being the hand that delivered the gift to the debtors, and reaped the benefits of their good will.
And there's the lesson. This is a parable about being faithful with those things that God has given to us. God gives us many things. And God is generous. And God would have us be generous. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for the bottom line. We are inclined to make decisions that are good for business. But God wants it to be personal. He wants it to be about the Gospel; the Gospel that is about His Mercy and His Generosity and His Kindness that he has set aside for people.
Now, certainly God gives us money. He gives us property. He gives us material things. But not so we can pile them all up and be impressed with how rich we are. Not so that we can build for ourselves a board room paneled with mahogany, furnished with a large table from which we can bark out orders and tell people they are fired. Rather He has given us that money as a means, as a tool, as an instrument for making friends with the world. “Money talks” people claim. The question is, what does your money say? Christ reminds us that the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
Consider the Starbucks Corporation. You go into a Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee and you will find little advertisements printed on their paper cups that tell you about their corporate responsibility. They purchase beans from struggling 3rd world countries and reinvest the profits to support the farmers. Proceeds from their Ethos bottled water helps to provide clean drinking water around the world. They make a profit, but they use their profit to “give back”. They use their profit to create a public perception that is favorable with their customers. And in turn, their customers feel good about spending $4.00 on a cup of coffee. Indeed the sons of this world are shrewd in dealing with their own generation.
So what does your money say? Does your money say, “I care about people.” “I care about mercy and kindness.” “I care about the gospel.” Or does your money say, “I care about me and what's mine”? My family, my house, my business, my bank account.
For the Christian, money is not about money. It's not our hope, it's not our salvation. It's not our safety or security. It is just a thing. A thing that God gives and that God takes away. It's just a means to an end. When we have it, God wants us to use, but not simply for ourselves. God wants us to use it for our neighbor. To show love and to show mercy. Because that is what Jesus has done for us.
Consider if you will the generosity of our Lord. He is generous in all things.
The Lord is generous in giving us possessions. Stop for a moment and think about your routine this morning. You woke up in a warm and dry bed. Got dressed, ate breakfast. Had a ride here to church. You had those things because God is generous with you. But those things are small things. Those are the unimportant, and worthless things. God has given you so much more.
Jesus asks the question, 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? And what is so very often lost on us is the fact that Jesus our heavenly father has set aside for us the gift of heaven. God is truly our heavenly father and he has given to us all the benefits of being his children.
In my own house, what's mine belongs to my children. They live under my roof and enjoy the fruits of my labors completely for free. I don't charge them. I don't send them a bill each month. I don't expect rent or compensation in any way. And someday, after I am dead and gone, everything I own will be left to them. My estate will be theirs.
God does this very thing for you. His estate. His heavenly mansion is yours. You stand to inherit heaven. Everything that is there. It's wealth. Its beauty. Its honor. Its glory. It will all be yours. You will walk through the kingdom of heaven, not as a bond servant. Not as an employee. As a son and a daughter of the King. God's servants will be your servants. Gods house will be your house. God's banquet table will be your banquet table. Gods celebration will be your celebration. And he gives it all to you for free.
It is so ironic that we spend so much time fretting and worrying and even arguing about something so simple and silly as money. God gives it. He knows you need it and he won't let you go without it so why worry about it? In the mean time you have neighbors who God has given to you and who you are able to help with that money and God wants you to do it. So do it. In the mean time, he will continue to give what you need. He will continue to provide what you need not only for this life, not only for your bills and expenses but also and especially for the next. He has paid for you with even his own blood. If you are worth all that to him, surely you can be confident that he will give exactly what you need.
And those neighbors, while they need your help and your assistance what they need more than anything is the gospel. The truth, the true riches. And just as God has given it to you, he would also give it to them. So share. Give. Be generous. Because God has been generous with you. And remember. It's not business. It is personal. It is about the Gospel.
Amen,
Sunday, September 5, 2010
September 5, 2010 - Luke 14:25-35
In 1975 the Main Technical Organization began construction on a high-rise office building in Krakow, Poland. The 300 foot tall structure was intended to be its headquarters and base of operations. After 6 years of construction the steel frame was in place, floors and levels were completed, but the parent corporation ran out of funds and construction was halted. They were never able to resume construction and costly obstacles have prevented the project from being completed by another investor. So today, 30 years later, the unfinished tower still stands; functioning only as a space for billboards and advertisements. Unofficially the locals refer to the bare framed high rise as Skeletor.
If only the Main Technical Organization in Krakow Poland had read Luke 14.
In our text this morning, Jesus uses this very sort of scenario as an example to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you want to build a tower, do your homework before you do your construction. Figure out if you have the funds to complete the project because if you don’t, you could find yourself half way through, out of cash and out your investment. And consider the result – if you can't finish the job, think of the wasted resources, not to mention the public humiliation of having erected a lasting monument to your own poor planning. What does that do for investor relations?
But in the end, Jesus isn't talking about business. Jesus isn't talking about earthly investments and earthly towers. Jesus isn't concerned with building earthly kingdoms. Jesus is talking about heavenly investments and heavenly kingdoms. In fact, elsewhere Jesus commands those who would be his followers to be shrewd with such “unrighteous wealth”, to be faithful with such “unrighteous wealth” so that our Lord will entrust them with the wealth that is eternal.
Jesus is not giving us advice for managing our business, rather he is using this business as a touch-point to teach us about His kingdom. If you would come after Jesus, if you would be his disciple and follow in his footsteps, be sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Be sure you know what it's going to cost. You'd better be sure you can afford to pay.
Luke reminds us that Jesus is travelling. In Chapter 9 Jesus told us where he was going. He was going to Jerusalem and when he got there he was going to die. Talk about a construction project, hammer and nails, beams and board were being hewn and shaped into a cross to be carried outside the city to a hill where the hammer blows would fall on his hands and feet and the sweat of construction would be laced with blood from the tears in the flesh of he forehead. Jesus was using wood and a few nails to construct, not a tower, but a Kingdom built with his broken body.
As Jesus was speaking the words of our text, he was playing the part of a general contractor assembling a work crew to assist with the construction. He didn’t want any “part timers”. He would take only those willing to go the distance, the whole entire distance.
The question is, are you ready to work on Jesus’ construction crew? Are you prepared to follow him to his work site, prepared to follow Jesus even to death? Are you prepared to “take up your cross and carry it” even when it means you must die? Are you prepared to renounce everything, your money, your possessions, your very self to follow your Leader? This is what Jesus requires. This is what Jesus commands. Don’t we forget just how high is the cost of following Jesus?
So let's suppose St Paul Chuckery is a tower. A steel framed construction that has been standing for years. Is the building complete? Is the construction finished? Or are we a work in progress? Are the windows installed and the wiring intact? Has the heating and cooling been put in place? Is the wallboard up? The ceiling tiles? The light fixtures? Or are we like that high rise in Krakow, Skeletor, tall and strong, we've been around for ages, but there's still work to do?
There is plenty of work still to be done. And Jesus our general contractor needs workers; architects, engineers, building planners, welders, electricians, finish carpenters, technicians, all different people with all different gifts. Jesus also needs raw materials. Lots and lots of raw materials. And this building, this high rise, this Kingdom of Christ among the kingdom of men can't be completed with anything you'd find on the shelves at Home Depot. The building materials are people, 1 Peter calls them the livings stones that are built up into a spiritual house, the temple of our Lord Jesus Christ, with He himself as the chief cornerstone. We need people. We need to go out and get them. Retrieve the from the quarry of the outside world, chisel and shape them with the Word of God, put them here in their place, fasten them in with the mortar of the Gospel and then go out and find more.
But the cost is high. It doesn't come cheap. Good constructions never do. The question is can you afford the cost? Are you “all in”? Committed to the project or only half way? Remember, Jesus says “consider the cost”. Before you sign on as one of his workers in building the Kingdom of God ask yourself if you’ve got what it takes to complete the task?
Jesus says the cost is high. “How high,” is the question we always want to ask? How much is it going to take? How far will it set me back? Jesus says it will take everything. Everything you've got and everything you are. Remember his words, renounce everything; your family, your mother and father, you son and your daughter, you husband or wife, even your very self. And not just your self, your possessions, everything that you own in this world. Your house, your car, your money, the family farm, your savings, your retirement. Lay it all aside, count it all as loss, give it all up, give it all away. If you don't, you're not worthy. You can't be Jesus' disciple. You are useless to God. You are like salt that has lost its saltiness. No flavor.no use on the compost, throw it out on the road and trample it under foot.
So here's the question, are you in? Are you in? Not just a little bit. Not just half way. Not just 10%. Not just a tithe. We're talking all in. Going for broke. Putting the whole thing down for the kingdom of heaven. Are you in? We think this is hyperbole, a literary trick. It’s not. Jesus doesn’t accept 1/2 time workers. He calls them lukewarm; people he would spit out of his mouth. Jesus wants the whole thing. And so again, are you in?
I didn't think so. You're not. I'm not. None of us are. Not even close. A few of us might get up near 10% and assume we are doing pretty good. Others of us hover around 5, a few others 1 or 2%. A bunch of us are probably good for a few dollars here and there. No one is in all the way. We can't. (we tell ourselves) We couldn't. We won't. But that is what Jesus commands. And those who don't aren't worthy to be his disciples.
Friends we have sins to confess. First of all, we have been busy building earthly kingdoms, tallying up earthly costs and we have forgotten the eternal. We have lost sight of the eternal kingdom that Christ is building and would have us build. We have lost sight of the fact that we must go and get stones to lay on the foundation in this construction project he has called us to complete and we have been okay to let the exposed beams turn to rust from the snow and the rain. We should be abandoned, good for a few billboard and perhaps even torn down.
But then comes Jesus. On his way to Jerusalem. On his way to his meeting with the High Priest, with Pontius Pilate. On his way to meet with the guards, the crowds, the executioner. On his way to condemnation and crucifixion. We should be thrown out of the spiritual house built up into Christ, but he is sent out - outside the city, near the city dump, near the Jerusalem dung pile, where they piled up the trash. Jesus was cast out of the city like salt that has lost its saltiness. He was nailed to the cross and he died. In your place, for your sin. He took your place in God's punishment.
History tells us that when Rome crucified their prisoners and law breakers, often, if there was no one to claim the body it would be taken down from the cross and thrown into that trash heap outside Jerusalem. But this is not what happened to Jesus. His dead body was honored, carried to a new tomb cut into the rock and a large stone was placed over the opening. And after three days in that tomb, and before it had a chance to rot or decay, the body of Jesus was restored to life. The death of sin and the punishment of hell that was released onto him as he hung on the cross was used up so that he was raised from death to life.
Jesus is alive. And his life isn't just the happy ending to an otherwise sad story. It isn't just his story. This is your story. This was your death that he died for you and now this is his life that he lives for you. You were dead. You were tasteless salt, you were fodder for the dung heap. But you are not any more. You were not taken down and thrown out into the trash. You were buried with him through Baptism into death. And if you were buried with him you were also raised with him. And now you are alive. You have been resurrected. You have been restored. You were not worthy to be his disciples. You were not worthy to be counted as his follower. But now you are. You are his disciple you have been to the cross, because he has been to the cross for you. Your cross has been carried because he has carried it for you.
And now the Grand and great Architect of the Church and the Kingdom of God has added you as a living stone to his eternal house that He is building. He has handed you the schematics and blueprints and he has told you the work that needs to be done. He has called you to help finish out the construction. He has sent you out into the highways and byways to round up the raw materials to finish the structure that stands as yet undone.
It is soon to be finished. It is soon to be complete. And more than a palace, more than a tower, more than the Taj Mahal, it will be the eternal temple, the heavenly city of God himself. Pick up your hammer, grab your nails, and lets get to work.
Which of desiring to build a tower
Amen.
If only the Main Technical Organization in Krakow Poland had read Luke 14.
In our text this morning, Jesus uses this very sort of scenario as an example to teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you want to build a tower, do your homework before you do your construction. Figure out if you have the funds to complete the project because if you don’t, you could find yourself half way through, out of cash and out your investment. And consider the result – if you can't finish the job, think of the wasted resources, not to mention the public humiliation of having erected a lasting monument to your own poor planning. What does that do for investor relations?
But in the end, Jesus isn't talking about business. Jesus isn't talking about earthly investments and earthly towers. Jesus isn't concerned with building earthly kingdoms. Jesus is talking about heavenly investments and heavenly kingdoms. In fact, elsewhere Jesus commands those who would be his followers to be shrewd with such “unrighteous wealth”, to be faithful with such “unrighteous wealth” so that our Lord will entrust them with the wealth that is eternal.
Jesus is not giving us advice for managing our business, rather he is using this business as a touch-point to teach us about His kingdom. If you would come after Jesus, if you would be his disciple and follow in his footsteps, be sure you know what you are getting yourself into. Be sure you know what it's going to cost. You'd better be sure you can afford to pay.
Luke reminds us that Jesus is travelling. In Chapter 9 Jesus told us where he was going. He was going to Jerusalem and when he got there he was going to die. Talk about a construction project, hammer and nails, beams and board were being hewn and shaped into a cross to be carried outside the city to a hill where the hammer blows would fall on his hands and feet and the sweat of construction would be laced with blood from the tears in the flesh of he forehead. Jesus was using wood and a few nails to construct, not a tower, but a Kingdom built with his broken body.
As Jesus was speaking the words of our text, he was playing the part of a general contractor assembling a work crew to assist with the construction. He didn’t want any “part timers”. He would take only those willing to go the distance, the whole entire distance.
The question is, are you ready to work on Jesus’ construction crew? Are you prepared to follow him to his work site, prepared to follow Jesus even to death? Are you prepared to “take up your cross and carry it” even when it means you must die? Are you prepared to renounce everything, your money, your possessions, your very self to follow your Leader? This is what Jesus requires. This is what Jesus commands. Don’t we forget just how high is the cost of following Jesus?
So let's suppose St Paul Chuckery is a tower. A steel framed construction that has been standing for years. Is the building complete? Is the construction finished? Or are we a work in progress? Are the windows installed and the wiring intact? Has the heating and cooling been put in place? Is the wallboard up? The ceiling tiles? The light fixtures? Or are we like that high rise in Krakow, Skeletor, tall and strong, we've been around for ages, but there's still work to do?
There is plenty of work still to be done. And Jesus our general contractor needs workers; architects, engineers, building planners, welders, electricians, finish carpenters, technicians, all different people with all different gifts. Jesus also needs raw materials. Lots and lots of raw materials. And this building, this high rise, this Kingdom of Christ among the kingdom of men can't be completed with anything you'd find on the shelves at Home Depot. The building materials are people, 1 Peter calls them the livings stones that are built up into a spiritual house, the temple of our Lord Jesus Christ, with He himself as the chief cornerstone. We need people. We need to go out and get them. Retrieve the from the quarry of the outside world, chisel and shape them with the Word of God, put them here in their place, fasten them in with the mortar of the Gospel and then go out and find more.
But the cost is high. It doesn't come cheap. Good constructions never do. The question is can you afford the cost? Are you “all in”? Committed to the project or only half way? Remember, Jesus says “consider the cost”. Before you sign on as one of his workers in building the Kingdom of God ask yourself if you’ve got what it takes to complete the task?
Jesus says the cost is high. “How high,” is the question we always want to ask? How much is it going to take? How far will it set me back? Jesus says it will take everything. Everything you've got and everything you are. Remember his words, renounce everything; your family, your mother and father, you son and your daughter, you husband or wife, even your very self. And not just your self, your possessions, everything that you own in this world. Your house, your car, your money, the family farm, your savings, your retirement. Lay it all aside, count it all as loss, give it all up, give it all away. If you don't, you're not worthy. You can't be Jesus' disciple. You are useless to God. You are like salt that has lost its saltiness. No flavor.no use on the compost, throw it out on the road and trample it under foot.
So here's the question, are you in? Are you in? Not just a little bit. Not just half way. Not just 10%. Not just a tithe. We're talking all in. Going for broke. Putting the whole thing down for the kingdom of heaven. Are you in? We think this is hyperbole, a literary trick. It’s not. Jesus doesn’t accept 1/2 time workers. He calls them lukewarm; people he would spit out of his mouth. Jesus wants the whole thing. And so again, are you in?
I didn't think so. You're not. I'm not. None of us are. Not even close. A few of us might get up near 10% and assume we are doing pretty good. Others of us hover around 5, a few others 1 or 2%. A bunch of us are probably good for a few dollars here and there. No one is in all the way. We can't. (we tell ourselves) We couldn't. We won't. But that is what Jesus commands. And those who don't aren't worthy to be his disciples.
Friends we have sins to confess. First of all, we have been busy building earthly kingdoms, tallying up earthly costs and we have forgotten the eternal. We have lost sight of the eternal kingdom that Christ is building and would have us build. We have lost sight of the fact that we must go and get stones to lay on the foundation in this construction project he has called us to complete and we have been okay to let the exposed beams turn to rust from the snow and the rain. We should be abandoned, good for a few billboard and perhaps even torn down.
But then comes Jesus. On his way to Jerusalem. On his way to his meeting with the High Priest, with Pontius Pilate. On his way to meet with the guards, the crowds, the executioner. On his way to condemnation and crucifixion. We should be thrown out of the spiritual house built up into Christ, but he is sent out - outside the city, near the city dump, near the Jerusalem dung pile, where they piled up the trash. Jesus was cast out of the city like salt that has lost its saltiness. He was nailed to the cross and he died. In your place, for your sin. He took your place in God's punishment.
History tells us that when Rome crucified their prisoners and law breakers, often, if there was no one to claim the body it would be taken down from the cross and thrown into that trash heap outside Jerusalem. But this is not what happened to Jesus. His dead body was honored, carried to a new tomb cut into the rock and a large stone was placed over the opening. And after three days in that tomb, and before it had a chance to rot or decay, the body of Jesus was restored to life. The death of sin and the punishment of hell that was released onto him as he hung on the cross was used up so that he was raised from death to life.
Jesus is alive. And his life isn't just the happy ending to an otherwise sad story. It isn't just his story. This is your story. This was your death that he died for you and now this is his life that he lives for you. You were dead. You were tasteless salt, you were fodder for the dung heap. But you are not any more. You were not taken down and thrown out into the trash. You were buried with him through Baptism into death. And if you were buried with him you were also raised with him. And now you are alive. You have been resurrected. You have been restored. You were not worthy to be his disciples. You were not worthy to be counted as his follower. But now you are. You are his disciple you have been to the cross, because he has been to the cross for you. Your cross has been carried because he has carried it for you.
And now the Grand and great Architect of the Church and the Kingdom of God has added you as a living stone to his eternal house that He is building. He has handed you the schematics and blueprints and he has told you the work that needs to be done. He has called you to help finish out the construction. He has sent you out into the highways and byways to round up the raw materials to finish the structure that stands as yet undone.
It is soon to be finished. It is soon to be complete. And more than a palace, more than a tower, more than the Taj Mahal, it will be the eternal temple, the heavenly city of God himself. Pick up your hammer, grab your nails, and lets get to work.
Which of desiring to build a tower
Amen.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
August 29 Sermon
“How to live the life of a believer in a world of unbelievers.”
“Suiting up for battle in the full armor of God.”
“A locker room pep talk for the Christian who is getting ready to take the field.”
Pick your favorite metaphor, but this is the nature of our text. It is instruction for Christians who are attempting to live the Christian life in an unchristian world. There are challenges, temptations, false teachers with false teachings, a whole host of enemies, and we are out numbered & out gunned; but we need to be ready. We need to be prepared. Our text is intended to do just that, to prepare us, to get us ready for the testing and temptation we are certain to face and point us to the source of our faith and salvation. The goal is that we be ready and well prepared.
Our text begins with how we treat each other. 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. We are a family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and as a family we aught to love one another. There should be no outstanding arguments or issues. In the spirit of brotherly love we should confess our sins to each other and seek reconciliation, because this is what Jesus has done for us.
Our text goes on. It exhorts us to sexual purity. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be un-defiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. That message was fitting then, it is fitting now. You and I are bombarded by sexual images and language everywhere we go. TV, magazines, the Internet. It is continually before us. And marriage itself is to be honored and revered as a good gift and creation of God..
5 Keep your life free from love of money, our text says and be content with what you have, for the Lord has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” The world has never seen such prosperity and wealth. The average person lives in greater comfort and luxury than the wealthiest of previous generations. Yet still we complain about what we have or what we do not have. Instead of coveting or worry our text reminds us that God is the one who provides for us and cares us for. There is nothing for us to fear.
Love one another, remain pure from sexual sins, be content with what God has given. Words written in the 1st century that could have just as easily been written in the 21st century. Timely, appropriate, culturally relevant, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Today is Christian education Sunday. Today we are officially recognizing the start of another school year. Our teachers are dedicating themselves to the task we have called them here to do for us. We are pledging our support to them as they are teaching and training our children. And today is a wonderful day to stop and remember the importance of the work that we are asking them to do, the importance of our Lutheran School.
The world our children will inherit is far and away different from the world the you and I grew up in. The world has become in many ways much smaller. It is possible to travel all around the world and get anywhere or see anything. In addition communication is constant and instantaneous. Those of you with twitter accounts and facebook pages can keep tabs on the random activities of your high school friends who are now spread out around the country or even around the world. We have cell phones and pocket computers. We have 24/7 access to a world of information. We have 24/7 access to one another's most intimate thought and plans and emotions. Truly the world has become smaller.
In some ways this is a blessing. Faithfully Lutheran and Christian information is available to you at a moments notice. If you missed a part of the sermon this morning you can read what you missed on line by the time you get home this afternoon. If you leave town on vacation, you can access our worship, sermon texts, and bible verses from any where in the world. You can carry the Bible on your smart phone in multiple translations and even languages .
But also we must admit, in many ways this is a curse. While Christian have used this technology for the spread of the gospel, the devil has moved evil men to use the same technology for evil and sin. There is Cyber sex, cyber bullying, cyber stalking – modern advancements and technology have in many ways provided an unhealthy and destructive outlet for human sinfulness. It has become easier, more prolific. These days, the average age of the first exposure to sexually explicit materials is getting younger and younger. Meanwhile the “kids will be kids” teasing that used to stay in the playground now follows them home. It winds up on facebook pages and cell phone text messages. Peddlers of pornography deliberately establish websites to be attractive and accessible to kids hoping to lure in future customers. It is an evil world out there.
Its not just the Internet. The challenge of being a Christian is just as real in our flesh and blood world as well as our cyber world. While our text tells us to keep the marriage bed pure, people these days have become uncertain as to what marriage even is. Is it true love? Is it a piece of paper? Is it two people of undefined gender and preference? Or is it a commitment between a man and a woman at the command of God for the nurture and growth of children. We seem to have forgotten.
Or what about faith and religion. Our text tells us of a God who loved us so that he died for us to save us, a god who called each of us to faith and keeps us in that faith by feeding us with his body and blood. But we live in a world where people will say, “I like Jesus but cant stand the church.” “I'm a Christian but I don't believe in God.” or “I am spiritual, but not religious.” these statements don't even make sense but still even Christian bookstores and publishers stock materials that cater to these people.
The world has lost its way and if we are not careful we will get lost right along with it.
Again, the words of our text, Don't be lead astray by strange and diverse teachings. “Strange and diverse” sums it up. More than anything people these days need a good solid dose, a steady diet of truth. In a world filled with false ideas and false identities not to mention false prophets and false religions, we need the truth. To that end, we need the Word of God.
Christians need to constantly and continually be fed with the Word of God. We need to know it inside and out. We need to study it, hear it preached, read mark learn and inwardly digest it. It needs to be in our hearts and on our minds. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In Psalms 119:105 we are taught to pray to the Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Verse 105 is one of the more familiar verses from the Psalms, especially chapter 119. But all of Chapter 119 teaches us about the value and the importance of this Word of God.
For example, verse 60 says, The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Verse 89 says Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
As we struggle with coveting and greed, the psalm teaches us to rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. (162)
As We desire to be made wise and to avoid the pitfalls of sin and the worlds destruction. Verse 67 says, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. Verse 101 says I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
We need help and desire God's comfort, the psalm says (114) You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
We desire to be taught and to be made wise to tricks and the lies of Satan, Verse 169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Verse 130 says The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to tie himself to God's promises that He has given in His Word. Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to be immersed in this Word. Clearly there is not greater weapon against the Devil and this evil world than the truth, the understanding, the hope, the comfort, the wealth, that is found in God's Word.
On this Christian education Sunday, on the Sunday that we begin another year of Lutheran Education at St Paul Chuckery, let us take note that the foundation of our education is that Word of God. It is a daily part of each child's routine, whether that be through memory work, chapel services, devotions, or class time, our students are daily receiving instruction in the truth of God's Word.
Psalm 119:81 says My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. This word of truth and hope and comfort and wealth is above all a Word of Salvation. It is a word that teaches us of the love of God revealed in Jesus, the Word made flesh, who came for the salvation of all people.
Let's face it, our children are sinners. Just as much as we are, our children are sinners. And this world is going to test them and try them, it is going to do its best to destroy them and through it all they are going to get dirty. Our own St Paul Chuckery kids will find themselves in all kinds of predicaments as they attempt to find their way through this evil world. More than anything, they need to know where to find salvation. They need to know that they can find redemption for their sins in the blood of Jesus that has been shed for them.
Our text gives to us the instruction that we need as believers in Christi to find our way in this unbelieving world. We need this instruction and we need to go back to this and be reminded of this each and every day because the wisdom and the truth of this word will keep us from the errors and the lies that are a part of this world. But more than that we need the word of God that is the power of God to salvation for those who believe.
Amen.
“Suiting up for battle in the full armor of God.”
“A locker room pep talk for the Christian who is getting ready to take the field.”
Pick your favorite metaphor, but this is the nature of our text. It is instruction for Christians who are attempting to live the Christian life in an unchristian world. There are challenges, temptations, false teachers with false teachings, a whole host of enemies, and we are out numbered & out gunned; but we need to be ready. We need to be prepared. Our text is intended to do just that, to prepare us, to get us ready for the testing and temptation we are certain to face and point us to the source of our faith and salvation. The goal is that we be ready and well prepared.
Our text begins with how we treat each other. 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. We are a family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and as a family we aught to love one another. There should be no outstanding arguments or issues. In the spirit of brotherly love we should confess our sins to each other and seek reconciliation, because this is what Jesus has done for us.
Our text goes on. It exhorts us to sexual purity. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be un-defiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. That message was fitting then, it is fitting now. You and I are bombarded by sexual images and language everywhere we go. TV, magazines, the Internet. It is continually before us. And marriage itself is to be honored and revered as a good gift and creation of God..
5 Keep your life free from love of money, our text says and be content with what you have, for the Lord has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” The world has never seen such prosperity and wealth. The average person lives in greater comfort and luxury than the wealthiest of previous generations. Yet still we complain about what we have or what we do not have. Instead of coveting or worry our text reminds us that God is the one who provides for us and cares us for. There is nothing for us to fear.
Love one another, remain pure from sexual sins, be content with what God has given. Words written in the 1st century that could have just as easily been written in the 21st century. Timely, appropriate, culturally relevant, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Today is Christian education Sunday. Today we are officially recognizing the start of another school year. Our teachers are dedicating themselves to the task we have called them here to do for us. We are pledging our support to them as they are teaching and training our children. And today is a wonderful day to stop and remember the importance of the work that we are asking them to do, the importance of our Lutheran School.
The world our children will inherit is far and away different from the world the you and I grew up in. The world has become in many ways much smaller. It is possible to travel all around the world and get anywhere or see anything. In addition communication is constant and instantaneous. Those of you with twitter accounts and facebook pages can keep tabs on the random activities of your high school friends who are now spread out around the country or even around the world. We have cell phones and pocket computers. We have 24/7 access to a world of information. We have 24/7 access to one another's most intimate thought and plans and emotions. Truly the world has become smaller.
In some ways this is a blessing. Faithfully Lutheran and Christian information is available to you at a moments notice. If you missed a part of the sermon this morning you can read what you missed on line by the time you get home this afternoon. If you leave town on vacation, you can access our worship, sermon texts, and bible verses from any where in the world. You can carry the Bible on your smart phone in multiple translations and even languages .
But also we must admit, in many ways this is a curse. While Christian have used this technology for the spread of the gospel, the devil has moved evil men to use the same technology for evil and sin. There is Cyber sex, cyber bullying, cyber stalking – modern advancements and technology have in many ways provided an unhealthy and destructive outlet for human sinfulness. It has become easier, more prolific. These days, the average age of the first exposure to sexually explicit materials is getting younger and younger. Meanwhile the “kids will be kids” teasing that used to stay in the playground now follows them home. It winds up on facebook pages and cell phone text messages. Peddlers of pornography deliberately establish websites to be attractive and accessible to kids hoping to lure in future customers. It is an evil world out there.
Its not just the Internet. The challenge of being a Christian is just as real in our flesh and blood world as well as our cyber world. While our text tells us to keep the marriage bed pure, people these days have become uncertain as to what marriage even is. Is it true love? Is it a piece of paper? Is it two people of undefined gender and preference? Or is it a commitment between a man and a woman at the command of God for the nurture and growth of children. We seem to have forgotten.
Or what about faith and religion. Our text tells us of a God who loved us so that he died for us to save us, a god who called each of us to faith and keeps us in that faith by feeding us with his body and blood. But we live in a world where people will say, “I like Jesus but cant stand the church.” “I'm a Christian but I don't believe in God.” or “I am spiritual, but not religious.” these statements don't even make sense but still even Christian bookstores and publishers stock materials that cater to these people.
The world has lost its way and if we are not careful we will get lost right along with it.
Again, the words of our text, Don't be lead astray by strange and diverse teachings. “Strange and diverse” sums it up. More than anything people these days need a good solid dose, a steady diet of truth. In a world filled with false ideas and false identities not to mention false prophets and false religions, we need the truth. To that end, we need the Word of God.
Christians need to constantly and continually be fed with the Word of God. We need to know it inside and out. We need to study it, hear it preached, read mark learn and inwardly digest it. It needs to be in our hearts and on our minds. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In Psalms 119:105 we are taught to pray to the Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Verse 105 is one of the more familiar verses from the Psalms, especially chapter 119. But all of Chapter 119 teaches us about the value and the importance of this Word of God.
For example, verse 60 says, The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Verse 89 says Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
As we struggle with coveting and greed, the psalm teaches us to rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil. (162)
As We desire to be made wise and to avoid the pitfalls of sin and the worlds destruction. Verse 67 says, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. Verse 101 says I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.
We need help and desire God's comfort, the psalm says (114) You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
We desire to be taught and to be made wise to tricks and the lies of Satan, Verse 169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Verse 130 says The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to tie himself to God's promises that He has given in His Word. Clearly there is nothing more valuable for the Christian than to be immersed in this Word. Clearly there is not greater weapon against the Devil and this evil world than the truth, the understanding, the hope, the comfort, the wealth, that is found in God's Word.
On this Christian education Sunday, on the Sunday that we begin another year of Lutheran Education at St Paul Chuckery, let us take note that the foundation of our education is that Word of God. It is a daily part of each child's routine, whether that be through memory work, chapel services, devotions, or class time, our students are daily receiving instruction in the truth of God's Word.
Psalm 119:81 says My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. This word of truth and hope and comfort and wealth is above all a Word of Salvation. It is a word that teaches us of the love of God revealed in Jesus, the Word made flesh, who came for the salvation of all people.
Let's face it, our children are sinners. Just as much as we are, our children are sinners. And this world is going to test them and try them, it is going to do its best to destroy them and through it all they are going to get dirty. Our own St Paul Chuckery kids will find themselves in all kinds of predicaments as they attempt to find their way through this evil world. More than anything, they need to know where to find salvation. They need to know that they can find redemption for their sins in the blood of Jesus that has been shed for them.
Our text gives to us the instruction that we need as believers in Christi to find our way in this unbelieving world. We need this instruction and we need to go back to this and be reminded of this each and every day because the wisdom and the truth of this word will keep us from the errors and the lies that are a part of this world. But more than that we need the word of God that is the power of God to salvation for those who believe.
Amen.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Pentecost 13
So are there just a few? When its all said and done and the numbers are tallied up and every person, every name is present and accounted for in the rolls of heaven, how many will there be?
This very question was asked of Jesus. Lord will number of those saved be few?
Our text provides us with the answer.
Turns out a lot of people will try to enter and not only that, a lot of people will assume they are already in, but in the end will not be able. That is what Jesus tells us. Many will seek to enter but will be left out.
It's like Noah and the Ark. Noah followed the Word of the Lord and built a big boat. Meanwhile, lots of people looked around, saw no water, and thought he had gone mad. But when the Lord commanded Noah to enter the Ark and the doors were shut, after the rain began to fall, every last one of them wanted to get in but it was too late and they perished. How many who were outside cried out to Noah, “Noah we were neighbors. Noah, I lent you my hammer. Noah we were friends.” But the Lord shut the doors and there was no opening them.
I a similar way, at the end many will say, “Lord open to us,” but Christ will respond “I do not know you.” Think of how terrible that will be when so many are shut out of heaven, when so many are resigned to destruction as God's judgment falls on them, not so much for their sin, which has been forgiven and paid for by Jesus, but because they have denied the Gospel, the ark of salvation and atonement built by Jesus himself.
What is frightening, is the fact that, according to the Lord's own words, there will be many who are locked out on the last day who thought they would be in.
Jesus warns us ahead of time. “They will begin to say”, he tells us, “Lord, we ate and drank at your table. And you taught in our streets.”
Couldn't that be you? You have eaten at the Lord's table, you have drunk from his cup of salvation. You have heard his teachings from your pulpit. Does that mean you believe it? Does that mean you have taken the way of the narrow door? There are many who sit in church on Sunday morning. And many of those will not be saved. What about you?
The truth of the matter is that there are so many things out in the world to distract us. Satan knows how foolish we are. Things of this world look so nice and inviting. Things of this world look like they are so much more fun. The flashing lights, the glitz and the glamor can all be so enticing.
Strive to enter through the narrow door, says Jesus. The narrow door. Wide is the way that leads to hell. Straight and smooth and popular and fun. There are lights and side shows and restaurants and coffee shops. There is entertainment and amusement and a delight for the senses. But that is not the door that leads to heaven. Strive to enter through the narrow door. That's where Jesus is heading.
Jesus in on the narrow path, headed toward the narrow door that leads to heaven. Our text reminds us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Not for glitz and glamor. Rather Jesus is on his way to the cross. The narrow road leads to the narrow door. That narrow door is the cross and Jesus commands us to follow.
This is St Paul “Chuckery”. After moving out here 4 years ago I asked where the name “Chuckery” came from. Someone told me “Chuckery” was the reference to all the “chuck holes” in the road. Our little town is named for a difficult journey, a bumpy ride. That kind of serves as a good reminder for us that the road of the Christian is the road to the cross.
God calls his Christians to follow him along the narrow path toward the narrow door. And in a sense, that road is “chuckery”. It's marked with all kinds of chuck holes. But still we bounce along. Life throws us left and right and up and down as we bounce along the path. Still we suffer through. We follow where our Lord leads. We don't have lots of the world's goods, we don't get lots of publicity and fame. But still we bounce along. Down the narrow road, toward the narrow door. It's the road to the cross. It's the road of suffering. It's the road of Jesus.
Maybe your life follows that road. You have found that suffering. You have been tormented by Satan. You have been tempted to jump off that narrow, that chuckery road. God calls you to follow. In spite of all the bouncing and trouncing still to follow our Lord.
And as we go along this narrow, this chuckery road, we do what our Lord does. This is the road that our Lord traveled. He was on this “chuckery” road to the cross. He was on this chuckery road to Jerusalem. And as he made his way to the cross, he would stop from time to time. He would stop because he found people lying in the road. He found cast aways and cast offs. He found the sick and the lame. The lepers and the sinners. He found the blind and demon possessed. And each time he stopped. As he made his way down that narrow road on his way to cross he would stop to find people. And he helped them. He reached out to them because they were lost, because they were suffering, because they were in need and in pain and he helped them. Those with weak knees regained the strength in their legs. Those who were blind regained their sight. Those who had leprosy were cleansed and made whole. Those who had sickness; cancers, tumors, infections – they were healed. And those who were helpless and harassed by Satan were set free. As Jesus bounced along that chuckery road to the cross he would stop to help those who had need.
And so we follow Jesus and we do what he did. As the road takes us by those who are sick, those who have fallen, those who grieve and mourn, those who are broken and distraught and possessed by Satan, we provide them with the healing of Jesus. We bind up their wounds, we set them free from the chains of sin and the devil, we apply the healing salve and ointment of the Gospel. As Jesus stopped along the way, so do we.
And those broken and cast away lives that Jesus stopped to heal and restore, they would join him on his journey. They would follow him and become his disciples. The would become members of his group of followers. Each time Jesus stopped, he would add one more as he traveled along the narrow road.
But there were other times that he would stop. Yes he stopped for the sick and disabled, but he would also stop to teach. As his followers looked to put the ways of the world behind them, as they had questions and needed answers, they would ask. He would answer. As he saw the need to warn them or inform them of the troubles ahead. Or as he looked to describe the kingdom he would build and the life he would create, he would tell them parables. Jesus and his followers would stop to rest along the road and during that rest he would refresh them with his word.
Jesus does the same with us. Just as his group of cast offs and misfits would pause to hear him teach, so do we pause on our Chuckery road every Sunday to hear the words of Jesus. We hear his teaching. We hear Christian preaching. We hear the law. We hear the Gospel. We bring our questions to Bible Class and we learn. Traveling along this chuckery road we pause for the Words of Jesus. And he teaches us. He helps us to learn and to grow. He feeds not just our bodies but he nourishes our souls.
And at the end of that road, when it was all said and done, the narrow path lead to the cross, where Jesus suffered and died, where he paid for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. The narrow road, the chuckery road, was the cross road.
Today, our church, St Paul Chuckery, also sits at a cross-road. Our road, is also a narrow road, a road that leads where Jesus has gone, a road that leads to the cross. We take up our cross as Jesus commands us to do and we hold it high. Here at ST Paul Chuckery we preach Christ and him crucified for sinners, for the blind and the lame and sick and the suffering who Jesus has stopped to heal along the way.
But there is a literal cross-roads. St Route 38 lies just out those doors, go south a quarter mile and you come to St Rt 161. We are quite literally at a cross roads. We are located where the roads cross. And so that is what we do; we carry the cross at the cross roads.
Guess where those roads lead. Rt 38 leads up past Fairbanks to Marysville through some farm land. You go south down 38 and you will find yourself in London. And then there's 161. You take that east you get to Plain City, to Dublin and Columbus, you take it west and you get to Irwin on your way down to Mechanicsburg or Urbana and all kinds of cities and towns in between. Those are your cities. And they are your towns. You live in them. You work in them. You go there to do your business. You have friends there. You buy your groceries, eat at their restaurants, purchase your farm implements, get your oil changed, and guess what? That guy who changes your oil, that girl who rings up your groceries, who sits in your adjacent cubicle, who brings you your coffee – that person is broken and bleeding. That person is bound up by Satan. That person needs you to stop and set her free, to bind up his wounds, introduce him to Jesus.
You have come to the cross. Now go out to the crossroads and bring back that girl, that man, that friend, that co-worker. Bring him to the cross. Bring her to cross. Because someone brought you.
The road to the cross is a narrow road. It is a chuckery road and it is not an easy road. It is a road that is lined with people who are suffering and in pain and in need of the help of Jesus. And so we follow Jesus. We follow him to the cross. We follow him on the crossroads. And as we make our way we stop to help and we receive from him the invitation to heaven.
Amen.
This very question was asked of Jesus. Lord will number of those saved be few?
Our text provides us with the answer.
Turns out a lot of people will try to enter and not only that, a lot of people will assume they are already in, but in the end will not be able. That is what Jesus tells us. Many will seek to enter but will be left out.
It's like Noah and the Ark. Noah followed the Word of the Lord and built a big boat. Meanwhile, lots of people looked around, saw no water, and thought he had gone mad. But when the Lord commanded Noah to enter the Ark and the doors were shut, after the rain began to fall, every last one of them wanted to get in but it was too late and they perished. How many who were outside cried out to Noah, “Noah we were neighbors. Noah, I lent you my hammer. Noah we were friends.” But the Lord shut the doors and there was no opening them.
I a similar way, at the end many will say, “Lord open to us,” but Christ will respond “I do not know you.” Think of how terrible that will be when so many are shut out of heaven, when so many are resigned to destruction as God's judgment falls on them, not so much for their sin, which has been forgiven and paid for by Jesus, but because they have denied the Gospel, the ark of salvation and atonement built by Jesus himself.
What is frightening, is the fact that, according to the Lord's own words, there will be many who are locked out on the last day who thought they would be in.
Jesus warns us ahead of time. “They will begin to say”, he tells us, “Lord, we ate and drank at your table. And you taught in our streets.”
Couldn't that be you? You have eaten at the Lord's table, you have drunk from his cup of salvation. You have heard his teachings from your pulpit. Does that mean you believe it? Does that mean you have taken the way of the narrow door? There are many who sit in church on Sunday morning. And many of those will not be saved. What about you?
The truth of the matter is that there are so many things out in the world to distract us. Satan knows how foolish we are. Things of this world look so nice and inviting. Things of this world look like they are so much more fun. The flashing lights, the glitz and the glamor can all be so enticing.
Strive to enter through the narrow door, says Jesus. The narrow door. Wide is the way that leads to hell. Straight and smooth and popular and fun. There are lights and side shows and restaurants and coffee shops. There is entertainment and amusement and a delight for the senses. But that is not the door that leads to heaven. Strive to enter through the narrow door. That's where Jesus is heading.
Jesus in on the narrow path, headed toward the narrow door that leads to heaven. Our text reminds us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Not for glitz and glamor. Rather Jesus is on his way to the cross. The narrow road leads to the narrow door. That narrow door is the cross and Jesus commands us to follow.
This is St Paul “Chuckery”. After moving out here 4 years ago I asked where the name “Chuckery” came from. Someone told me “Chuckery” was the reference to all the “chuck holes” in the road. Our little town is named for a difficult journey, a bumpy ride. That kind of serves as a good reminder for us that the road of the Christian is the road to the cross.
God calls his Christians to follow him along the narrow path toward the narrow door. And in a sense, that road is “chuckery”. It's marked with all kinds of chuck holes. But still we bounce along. Life throws us left and right and up and down as we bounce along the path. Still we suffer through. We follow where our Lord leads. We don't have lots of the world's goods, we don't get lots of publicity and fame. But still we bounce along. Down the narrow road, toward the narrow door. It's the road to the cross. It's the road of suffering. It's the road of Jesus.
Maybe your life follows that road. You have found that suffering. You have been tormented by Satan. You have been tempted to jump off that narrow, that chuckery road. God calls you to follow. In spite of all the bouncing and trouncing still to follow our Lord.
And as we go along this narrow, this chuckery road, we do what our Lord does. This is the road that our Lord traveled. He was on this “chuckery” road to the cross. He was on this chuckery road to Jerusalem. And as he made his way to the cross, he would stop from time to time. He would stop because he found people lying in the road. He found cast aways and cast offs. He found the sick and the lame. The lepers and the sinners. He found the blind and demon possessed. And each time he stopped. As he made his way down that narrow road on his way to cross he would stop to find people. And he helped them. He reached out to them because they were lost, because they were suffering, because they were in need and in pain and he helped them. Those with weak knees regained the strength in their legs. Those who were blind regained their sight. Those who had leprosy were cleansed and made whole. Those who had sickness; cancers, tumors, infections – they were healed. And those who were helpless and harassed by Satan were set free. As Jesus bounced along that chuckery road to the cross he would stop to help those who had need.
And so we follow Jesus and we do what he did. As the road takes us by those who are sick, those who have fallen, those who grieve and mourn, those who are broken and distraught and possessed by Satan, we provide them with the healing of Jesus. We bind up their wounds, we set them free from the chains of sin and the devil, we apply the healing salve and ointment of the Gospel. As Jesus stopped along the way, so do we.
And those broken and cast away lives that Jesus stopped to heal and restore, they would join him on his journey. They would follow him and become his disciples. The would become members of his group of followers. Each time Jesus stopped, he would add one more as he traveled along the narrow road.
But there were other times that he would stop. Yes he stopped for the sick and disabled, but he would also stop to teach. As his followers looked to put the ways of the world behind them, as they had questions and needed answers, they would ask. He would answer. As he saw the need to warn them or inform them of the troubles ahead. Or as he looked to describe the kingdom he would build and the life he would create, he would tell them parables. Jesus and his followers would stop to rest along the road and during that rest he would refresh them with his word.
Jesus does the same with us. Just as his group of cast offs and misfits would pause to hear him teach, so do we pause on our Chuckery road every Sunday to hear the words of Jesus. We hear his teaching. We hear Christian preaching. We hear the law. We hear the Gospel. We bring our questions to Bible Class and we learn. Traveling along this chuckery road we pause for the Words of Jesus. And he teaches us. He helps us to learn and to grow. He feeds not just our bodies but he nourishes our souls.
And at the end of that road, when it was all said and done, the narrow path lead to the cross, where Jesus suffered and died, where he paid for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. The narrow road, the chuckery road, was the cross road.
Today, our church, St Paul Chuckery, also sits at a cross-road. Our road, is also a narrow road, a road that leads where Jesus has gone, a road that leads to the cross. We take up our cross as Jesus commands us to do and we hold it high. Here at ST Paul Chuckery we preach Christ and him crucified for sinners, for the blind and the lame and sick and the suffering who Jesus has stopped to heal along the way.
But there is a literal cross-roads. St Route 38 lies just out those doors, go south a quarter mile and you come to St Rt 161. We are quite literally at a cross roads. We are located where the roads cross. And so that is what we do; we carry the cross at the cross roads.
Guess where those roads lead. Rt 38 leads up past Fairbanks to Marysville through some farm land. You go south down 38 and you will find yourself in London. And then there's 161. You take that east you get to Plain City, to Dublin and Columbus, you take it west and you get to Irwin on your way down to Mechanicsburg or Urbana and all kinds of cities and towns in between. Those are your cities. And they are your towns. You live in them. You work in them. You go there to do your business. You have friends there. You buy your groceries, eat at their restaurants, purchase your farm implements, get your oil changed, and guess what? That guy who changes your oil, that girl who rings up your groceries, who sits in your adjacent cubicle, who brings you your coffee – that person is broken and bleeding. That person is bound up by Satan. That person needs you to stop and set her free, to bind up his wounds, introduce him to Jesus.
You have come to the cross. Now go out to the crossroads and bring back that girl, that man, that friend, that co-worker. Bring him to the cross. Bring her to cross. Because someone brought you.
The road to the cross is a narrow road. It is a chuckery road and it is not an easy road. It is a road that is lined with people who are suffering and in pain and in need of the help of Jesus. And so we follow Jesus. We follow him to the cross. We follow him on the crossroads. And as we make our way we stop to help and we receive from him the invitation to heaven.
Amen.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sermon for August 15, 2010
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
These are God's Words. We pray them in worship. These are the words used by the faithful in scripture when they came to the Lord in need of Help.
In the Psalms, “Hear the voice of my cries for mercy” (Psalm 28.2)
In the Gospels, those who were sick, blind, demon possessed, and just generally in need, they would come find Jesus and cry out to him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Kyrie Eleison. Christe El eison, Kyrie Eleison.
Today, we pray this prayer. Jesus Son of David, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us because we need your help. We are suffering and we don't know what to do.
Our Lord tells us that we are the Body of Christ. And when one member of his body suffers, every member suffers along with it. As a body, as the Body of the Lord in this place we are suffering... because a member of our body is suffering... because a family from our family is suffering... and we suffer along with them.
This past Wednesday a member of our family was killed suddenly in a tragic accident . Debbie was a friend of ours, a classmate, maybe even a blood relative, but more than that she was our sister in Jesus. Jesus called her and us to be Christians together. Jesus called us all to be Christians here in this community. We knew her and loved her and cared for her. Likewise we know her husband, her children. We love them and care for them. To see them suffer with this horrible loss causes us to suffer. We are, after all, members together of Christ's Body.
It's just like your body. When you stub your little toe, you limp. Your whole body limps because even this smallest member of the body suffers. When any member of Christ's body here at St Paul Chuckery suffers, we all suffer together.
Yet our little community here is not alone in our suffering. We are not the only ones and this is not the only reason. Debbie was traveling with her friend, Lynn Whattly. And while Lynn might not have been a member our church she had many connections here, many friends and loved ones. Many who are grieving her loss, together with the loss of Debbie. This grief stretches far, into many homes and into many communities.
But let us remember that we are members of Christ's Body. And Christ says that when one member suffers the whole body suffers, and that means that Christ who is our head also suffers. Remember, we are not the only ones. Christ is a part of this body too. And he suffers with us. He is not far away, detached or removed and therefore not caring or understanding our grief. He is very much a part of it. He suffers right along side us, even with groans too deep for words to express. He knows our hearts are heavy. He knows our sorrow is great. He knows it because he feels it too. Our God, the God to whom we pray and in whom we place our hope feels this sorrow together with us.
And so Jesus, our same-suffering Head, invites us to pray to Him “Lord Have mercy” He invites us to call out to him for help. And he will answer that prayer.
He answers this prayer with faith. What a wonderful answer. What a comforting gift.
After all, our Lord tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the assurance of things not yet seen.” Faith is the assurance given by God that even when things seem at their worst, he is near and he has provided the help we need that will accomplish our salvation. This is a good gift.
Sometimes we think that having faith means being strong, being able to hold on and hold it together, even when things get tough. But sometimes our suffering and grief brings us to our knees and for those times, such a faith seems more like a task master and a bully than a friend or a comfort. We feel like God is commanding us to trust him, like he is daring us not to.
When we are faced with tragedies like this we are always faced with questions we can't answer. Why? Why her? Why now? Why not someone else? We don't know why. God hasn't given us the answers and we would drive ourselves crazy trying to find them.
And at times like this it often seems that faith can turn in to a bully, or a task master commanding us to believe, commanding us to trust, when believing and trusting seem so difficult. Sometimes faith doesn't seem like it's much help. After all, what kind of a faith is it, if it leaves you hollow and empty when you really need it? What kind of a God is the Lord if he abandons you when you need him most and only responds by saying “Trust me. That should be enough.” That doesn't help much, does it?
Suffering is real. Grief is real. And it challenges us and it causes us to struggle. But that does not mean that God has left us in the lurch. Faith is not blind. Faith does not hold on to nothing. Faith is assurance it is confidence in God, who is our Lord, who is our Savior, and who is our friend. Faith is being sure that the God who is nearby hears our prayers and responds to our prayers and that he has greater things in store for us.
Look at our Hebrews text. Abraham. Isaac. Moses. God didn't send any one of them off on their own and coldly require of them that they follow him blindly. He gave them his Word. And His Promise. God is a god of his Word. He is a God who always makes good on his promises.
We are used to people who don't keep their promises. We think of politicians who tell you what you want to hear, or shifty salesmen who shine up the good and hides away the bad so that you don't find out you bought a lemon until you are a few miles down the road. This is not how God works and this is not what God does.
When God gives us faith, he gives to us all of the promises of His Word. His word is filled with promises. And God always keeps his promises. God promises that He loves us. God promises never to leave us or forsake us. God promises that when we are suffering, when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death he will comfort us with his rod and his staff. He promises us that our sins have been forgiven. He promises that for the sake of His Son Jesus he will bring us to heaven. He promises us that even if we die, we shall live. He promises that on the last day he will raise up all those who have died in Christ to live with him in everlasting glory. God has given to us all of these promises. Faith means we can return to these promises and still hold on to them even in the face of tragedy and know that God has not reneged, he hasn't taken his promises away nor has he turned a blind eye to our suffering. Faith means we know these promises to be true and we can hold on to every one of them even in our grief.
Faith in God and in His Word also means that we know what God is up to. We don't know every detail and we don't have every explanation to everything that happens, but we know where things are headed.
We know this world is broken. Faith teaches us that this world is filled with sin so that it behaves like that lemon sold to you by the car salesman. In spite of all his promises of what great car she was supposed to be, she isn't. Her wheels don't turn just right. Her ignition key lets out a cloud of smoke. Her climate control system leaves something to be desired.
And our God and Lord wouldn't have us stuck here like this. He would have us with him in heaven where we will be before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple;
where he will shelter us with his presence. So that we never hunger or thirst any more, so that even the sun doesn't burn but only gives warmth and light. So that he can be our Good Shepherd who leads us to drink from cool streams. So that he can set before us a banquet table with an eternal feast.
A few moments ago we quoted that scripture passage from 1 Corinthians 12 where our Lord tells us that when one member of the body suffers the whole body suffers with it. We forgot the second half of that passage. It says, when one member rejoices, the whole body rejoices together with it. At this moment there are many who are suffering. Suffering with grief and sadness, from this situation, perhaps from another. But there are also those who are rejoicing. Two in fact, who are rejoicing right now. Their joy, the cause of their joy actually began at the same moment as our grief. Wednesday afternoon. They went to be with Jesus. They are before his throne, under his care, he has cleared their eyes of every tear and he has set for them a seat at his banquet table. They are rejoicing in heaven.
And, since when one member rejoices the whole body rejoices, Christ who is our head is rejoicing. Indeed, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. He is delighting to see them before his throne and seated at his table. He is delighted to see their joy. He himself is over joyed to be with them and speak with them face to face and to get them reacquainted with past friends, to introduce them to new ones. Heaven is abuzz with celebration.
The day is coming when we will join that celebration and our joy will be as full and complete as theirs.
In the mean time we pray. “Lord Have Mercy.” “Lord we need help.” These days are more for us than we can handle. But you have given us exactly what we need.
Amen.
Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.
These are God's Words. We pray them in worship. These are the words used by the faithful in scripture when they came to the Lord in need of Help.
In the Psalms, “Hear the voice of my cries for mercy” (Psalm 28.2)
In the Gospels, those who were sick, blind, demon possessed, and just generally in need, they would come find Jesus and cry out to him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Kyrie Eleison. Christe El eison, Kyrie Eleison.
Today, we pray this prayer. Jesus Son of David, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us because we need your help. We are suffering and we don't know what to do.
Our Lord tells us that we are the Body of Christ. And when one member of his body suffers, every member suffers along with it. As a body, as the Body of the Lord in this place we are suffering... because a member of our body is suffering... because a family from our family is suffering... and we suffer along with them.
This past Wednesday a member of our family was killed suddenly in a tragic accident . Debbie was a friend of ours, a classmate, maybe even a blood relative, but more than that she was our sister in Jesus. Jesus called her and us to be Christians together. Jesus called us all to be Christians here in this community. We knew her and loved her and cared for her. Likewise we know her husband, her children. We love them and care for them. To see them suffer with this horrible loss causes us to suffer. We are, after all, members together of Christ's Body.
It's just like your body. When you stub your little toe, you limp. Your whole body limps because even this smallest member of the body suffers. When any member of Christ's body here at St Paul Chuckery suffers, we all suffer together.
Yet our little community here is not alone in our suffering. We are not the only ones and this is not the only reason. Debbie was traveling with her friend, Lynn Whattly. And while Lynn might not have been a member our church she had many connections here, many friends and loved ones. Many who are grieving her loss, together with the loss of Debbie. This grief stretches far, into many homes and into many communities.
But let us remember that we are members of Christ's Body. And Christ says that when one member suffers the whole body suffers, and that means that Christ who is our head also suffers. Remember, we are not the only ones. Christ is a part of this body too. And he suffers with us. He is not far away, detached or removed and therefore not caring or understanding our grief. He is very much a part of it. He suffers right along side us, even with groans too deep for words to express. He knows our hearts are heavy. He knows our sorrow is great. He knows it because he feels it too. Our God, the God to whom we pray and in whom we place our hope feels this sorrow together with us.
And so Jesus, our same-suffering Head, invites us to pray to Him “Lord Have mercy” He invites us to call out to him for help. And he will answer that prayer.
He answers this prayer with faith. What a wonderful answer. What a comforting gift.
After all, our Lord tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the assurance of things not yet seen.” Faith is the assurance given by God that even when things seem at their worst, he is near and he has provided the help we need that will accomplish our salvation. This is a good gift.
Sometimes we think that having faith means being strong, being able to hold on and hold it together, even when things get tough. But sometimes our suffering and grief brings us to our knees and for those times, such a faith seems more like a task master and a bully than a friend or a comfort. We feel like God is commanding us to trust him, like he is daring us not to.
When we are faced with tragedies like this we are always faced with questions we can't answer. Why? Why her? Why now? Why not someone else? We don't know why. God hasn't given us the answers and we would drive ourselves crazy trying to find them.
And at times like this it often seems that faith can turn in to a bully, or a task master commanding us to believe, commanding us to trust, when believing and trusting seem so difficult. Sometimes faith doesn't seem like it's much help. After all, what kind of a faith is it, if it leaves you hollow and empty when you really need it? What kind of a God is the Lord if he abandons you when you need him most and only responds by saying “Trust me. That should be enough.” That doesn't help much, does it?
Suffering is real. Grief is real. And it challenges us and it causes us to struggle. But that does not mean that God has left us in the lurch. Faith is not blind. Faith does not hold on to nothing. Faith is assurance it is confidence in God, who is our Lord, who is our Savior, and who is our friend. Faith is being sure that the God who is nearby hears our prayers and responds to our prayers and that he has greater things in store for us.
Look at our Hebrews text. Abraham. Isaac. Moses. God didn't send any one of them off on their own and coldly require of them that they follow him blindly. He gave them his Word. And His Promise. God is a god of his Word. He is a God who always makes good on his promises.
We are used to people who don't keep their promises. We think of politicians who tell you what you want to hear, or shifty salesmen who shine up the good and hides away the bad so that you don't find out you bought a lemon until you are a few miles down the road. This is not how God works and this is not what God does.
When God gives us faith, he gives to us all of the promises of His Word. His word is filled with promises. And God always keeps his promises. God promises that He loves us. God promises never to leave us or forsake us. God promises that when we are suffering, when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death he will comfort us with his rod and his staff. He promises us that our sins have been forgiven. He promises that for the sake of His Son Jesus he will bring us to heaven. He promises us that even if we die, we shall live. He promises that on the last day he will raise up all those who have died in Christ to live with him in everlasting glory. God has given to us all of these promises. Faith means we can return to these promises and still hold on to them even in the face of tragedy and know that God has not reneged, he hasn't taken his promises away nor has he turned a blind eye to our suffering. Faith means we know these promises to be true and we can hold on to every one of them even in our grief.
Faith in God and in His Word also means that we know what God is up to. We don't know every detail and we don't have every explanation to everything that happens, but we know where things are headed.
We know this world is broken. Faith teaches us that this world is filled with sin so that it behaves like that lemon sold to you by the car salesman. In spite of all his promises of what great car she was supposed to be, she isn't. Her wheels don't turn just right. Her ignition key lets out a cloud of smoke. Her climate control system leaves something to be desired.
And our God and Lord wouldn't have us stuck here like this. He would have us with him in heaven where we will be before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple;
where he will shelter us with his presence. So that we never hunger or thirst any more, so that even the sun doesn't burn but only gives warmth and light. So that he can be our Good Shepherd who leads us to drink from cool streams. So that he can set before us a banquet table with an eternal feast.
A few moments ago we quoted that scripture passage from 1 Corinthians 12 where our Lord tells us that when one member of the body suffers the whole body suffers with it. We forgot the second half of that passage. It says, when one member rejoices, the whole body rejoices together with it. At this moment there are many who are suffering. Suffering with grief and sadness, from this situation, perhaps from another. But there are also those who are rejoicing. Two in fact, who are rejoicing right now. Their joy, the cause of their joy actually began at the same moment as our grief. Wednesday afternoon. They went to be with Jesus. They are before his throne, under his care, he has cleared their eyes of every tear and he has set for them a seat at his banquet table. They are rejoicing in heaven.
And, since when one member rejoices the whole body rejoices, Christ who is our head is rejoicing. Indeed, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. He is delighting to see them before his throne and seated at his table. He is delighted to see their joy. He himself is over joyed to be with them and speak with them face to face and to get them reacquainted with past friends, to introduce them to new ones. Heaven is abuzz with celebration.
The day is coming when we will join that celebration and our joy will be as full and complete as theirs.
In the mean time we pray. “Lord Have Mercy.” “Lord we need help.” These days are more for us than we can handle. But you have given us exactly what we need.
Amen.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Pentecost 11 - Hebrews 11
People love their heroes and Buckeye fans are certainly no exception. There are plenty of names that live on as significant parts of the local lore and history. Those who have significant contributions and sizable accomplishments, who have been key players during past seasons of success. Names like Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Chris Spielman and of course Woody Hayes. Without a doubt, my simple list is sorely lacking and each of you could fill it in with many more Buckeye Hall of Fame-ers.
Point is, these names stand out. There are, after all, lots of players on lots of teams. Some good, some great, and a lot who just go out and fill their roles. But those who make the hall of fame, the guys who get talked about for years to come, they have done something special. They are champions. And therefore, they are heroes.
Our Epistle text for today is from Hebrews 11. And many people think of this chapter in a similar sort of way. It is a list of famous names from the Old Testament. We have Abel, whose gave the more acceptable sacrifice. There's Enoch who was taken up to heaven without seeing death, Noah who built the ark, Abraham, who followed the call of the Lord. Sarah, who gave birth even in her old age.
People who know the bible know these names. We learned them here in School. We learned them in Sunday School. We have heard stories about them since before we can remember. We often think of these people as heroes of the faith. The Ohio State Buckeyes has its hall of fame with its heroes who accomplished a lot and stood out above the crowd. We think of this list in the same way. Heroes. A “who's who” list. People who we should all look up to and strive to be like.
And why do we think of them in this way?
Because we haven't read the text closely enough.
Way too often, we read these verses and come away thinking “I need to be more like these guys. They had their act together.” and when we do we have missed the point. Because each one of the names on this list is no hero. They are not noted for their own accomplishments. They are no better than you or me.
They are sinners. Just like we are. The more you read the Old Testament texts the more obvious this becomes. God's Word clearly demonstrates and records the many errors and failings of these people whom we have here on this list as examples of faith. So it isn't the people. It isn't who they are and what they have done. It isn't even their faith or their practice and exercise of it; how firmly or resolutely they believed. It's not them at all.
It is God! What He has done through Christ in them that sets them apart. But not from you and me. Faith sets them apart together with you and me. Just as they received faith and are numbered in heaven among the faithful because of God's grace and because of God's favor, in the exact same way, you are set apart to be numbered and named as a hero in Heaven's hall of fame together with them. All because of what God in Christ has done in you.
Our text tells us that faith “is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.”
Have we truly understood what these verses mean? Have we truly understood the nature of the faith that Hebrews has in mind? Often we do not. Often our understanding of faith is influenced by influences other than the Word of God.
Shortly after President Obama was elected into office I had a young man tell me that our new president would help fix the problems in our nation and that he had faith that this would happen. “You just gotta believe.” he told me. For him “faith” and “believe” were synonyms for having a positive attitude or outlook on life or on a particular situation.
Things will get better. You've just gotta believe.
You can handle it, you've just gotta believe.
You can do it, you've just gotta believe.
If that is all faith is, than it isn't worth anything.
Take for example my friend who had faith that the president would fix America. Faith is only as good as its object. Faith is only as good as the thing that it's holding on to. It doesn't matter who the president might be, and it doesn't matter how sincerely you believe, there is no one alive who could step into that office and fix the country simply because you or anyone else believed he could. Rock solid faith needs a rock solid object. The only thing in this world that fits that bill, the only thing that you can count on to come through for you 100% of the time, is the promise of God that he has hidden in His Word.
The same can be said for those who tell us that we've just got to believe in ourselves. It's one thing when a coach tells a softball-star-in-training to believe in herself so that she steps into the batters box with confidence. But what about when she steps into the doctors office with cancer? Will that same confidence do her any good? What about when she steps into a broken marriage? Or a lost income? Or worse, will that same confidence that helped her hit a softball help her to overcome sin? Will it help her when she stands before Christ on the last day?
No. Faith is only as good as it's object. And faith in yourself will only get you so far. In the end you need faith in Jesus. You need faith in the one who could do it and who did. You need faith in the one who was powerful to overcome sickness and disease and who healed people left and right. In the end you need someone who is powerful to forgive sinners and who offers that forgiveness to all who believe.
Faith is only as good as it's object. And when the object of faith is Jesus, it's a faith that can't miss.
Hebrews 11 is a record of those people who had faith in Jesus. Our text tells us they believed from afar. From a long distance. God had given them the promise that Jesus would come and they believed in that promise. They took that promise to the bank. They were willing to stake their life and their eternity on the work that would be done by the One God would send. They believed the promise, and God counted it to them as righteousness.
They are listed, not because of their own accomplishments, but because of the accomplishments of Jesus.
Look at Abraham. He was nobody special. He accomplished nothing great. Nothing noteworthy. He was a pagan man who worshiped pagan gods. Until the Lord gave him a new Lord to worship. Even then, he didn't behave any better or any different than he used to. He was just as big a sinner as he was before God called him. You find that out when you read Genesis.
God promised Abraham a son. Abraham had to wait. He got tired of waiting so he took Hagar, his wife's slave girl, as a concubine and had a child with her. Ishmael. But then after a few years, God fulfilled his promise and gave as son to Abraham and Sarah, so Abraham sent Hagar his concubine and Ishmael his son into the desert to fend for themselves.
Ask yourself, does a righteous man do that? Does a good man do that? Does a man who is living his life God's way and patterning his life after God's principles do that? No! Such a thing is unconscionable even for a pagan! Abraham was a sinner.
Or what about Noah. Sure he obeyed God's word and built an ark. Sure he built an altar to God when it was all said and done, but then went out and got so drunk that he stumbled around his tent naked and passed out. His son had to come in and cover up his shame. Noah was no better than Abraham. He was no better than Abel, no Better than Sarah, no better than Enoch, no better than me, no better than you. We are all sinners.
Faith is only as good as its object. It's only as good as the thing you have faith IN. We need faith in Jesus.
When we read Hebrews 11 the word faith is always the word that stands out. “By faith Abraham, by faith Sarah... By faith Enoch...” what we miss is another word that is tucked away in there. Here our text translates that word as “Commended”. “By faith the people of old received their commendation.” “Through faith Abel was commended as righteous.” “Before Enoch was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”
That word that shows up here as “commended” is that same word that elsewhere can be translated as witness or testimony. Again, usually when we think of witness, usually when we think of testimony, we think of it as something we do. But not here. Here it is something that God does for Abraham, that God does for Enoch, that God does for Abel. God testifies on their behalf that they are righteous. That they are pleasing to him. They were great because God said so.
Now, before we mentioned the heralded accomplishments of past Buckeye greats. Guys like Archie Griffin and Woody Hayes and Eddie George. Guys who proved that they were a cut above because of all their accomplishments. Now suppose in the Buckeye hall of fame, in the hallowed halls where they keep the trophies and photographs of past teams and players, suppose one of the coaches decided that he wanted to place a gigantic photograph of his own son who played pee wee football. The kid never played for the Buckeyes, let alone accomplished anything on the football field. In fact, even when he did play on his pee wee team he sat on the bench and never made it into a game. Would a kid like that deserve to have his picture there with all the greatest players ever to wear the uniform? Of course not. Everyone who walked by would know that he was there because his dad pulled a few strings. We might even find it offensive. We might feel that it would diminish the accomplishments of those who did deserve to be there. Yet that is exactly what God has done for us.
We are sinners. We haven't done anything great. Our faith is weak. Our sins are many. Our hearts falter. Our will fails. We just can't do it. So God does it for us. God for us in Christ Jesus has won a place of honor. He has made us to be heroes and saints and children and heirs. All of our weakness, every sin we have committed, every temptation we have succumbed to. Every last guilt and shame has all been taken away. It has been counted to Jesus and we have been counted righteous. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Noah believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Enoch believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Paul believed God and it is counted to him as righteousness. You believed God and it is counted to you as righteousness. God does it all. He does the work. He gives the credit to us. He testifies, he gives witness for us that our sins are forgiven. We are commended to God as pleasing and righteous.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)