The Fourth Sunday of Easter - Jubilate - May 15, 2011

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 4, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 15, 2011)

Readings:   
        Psalm 147:1-11   
        Isaiah 40:25-31   
        1 Peter 2:11-20
        John 16:16-22

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today’s message will be from the Gospel lesson as recorded in the 10th chapter of St. John, especially the following verses:

John 16:16-22 (NIV)

16 “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Just how long is 'a little while'?  Do you ever remember when you were young asking your parents a question of great importance?  Like...Mom, Dad, when can we go?  In a little while.  How long before we get home?  Just a little while.  When can I eat my candy, when will we stop for ice cream, when will it stop raining, can I ride my bicycle now?  The answer always seemed to be, "in a little while." But no matter how many times you asked and no matter how many times your parents answered, “a little while” always seemed to feel like an eternity.  But, you know, we are not the only ones who have had trouble with that answer “in a little while.”  The disciples did not understand it either.  In fact they admitted to each other that they didn’t know what Jesus was talking about. 

We all know that that little phrase, "A little while" can be and usually is, a deliberately ambiguous term used to refer to an unknown period of time.  It could be minutes, hours, days, months, or even years long.  And usually it also means that we’re going to have to suffer a bit before the coming time of great joy.  

When Jesus used this phrase, He was indeed speaking about the life of the Christian.  He expected, His disciples would understand that He was pointing to His death and resurrection.  So the words certainly fit.  The joy, the sorrow, the new joy that describes what they went through in that short period.  But the message was also about the life of every Christian. 

The life of every Christian has assorted sorrows.  Sorrow over sin, sorrow over being caught in sin, sorrow over the corruption of the world around us, sorrow due to the persecution, sorrow over loss, pain, conflicts, and just over the flat out evilness in the world.  At the same time every one of you also knows that this life is not a life of never ending sorrow.  We know there are common joys of life.  We have families and friends, good times, and the pleasures of life. But with every pleasure there also comes the potential for a sorrow.  There are times we feel only the joys, and we rejoice and thank God easily.  Then there are other times when we feel the sorrow and that’s when we want to blame God or wonder why we think He is absent from us.

Some of our sorrows are because of what we have done, and some of them come to us for what we have not done.  Perhaps we did something that, upon reflection, we regret.  Perhaps we did something enjoyable and realized later that we did something other that we ought to have done - or merely could have done.  These are the "guilty" pleasures.  Everyone feels them, to some extent. 

And sometimes our sorrow leads us to repentance.  That is the will of God, that we should know that we should not feel smug in our sin.  Reflection upon our lives brings sorrow for what we have done.  Such sorrow is the purpose of the preaching of the Law.  The Law always accuses, so that we may know our sins, repent, and eagerly look for a Savior who forgives us from our sins.  The goal is that we may realize we have the Savior that we need in Jesus Christ, who on the cross, paid for our sins and redeemed us. 

There is also sorrow of persecution even though we know there has always persecution, it doesn’t make it any easier.  But remember Jesus said, "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."  The people of this world persecuted Jesus, so why should we expect anything less? The only ones excepted from this hatred and persecution are hypocrites - you know, unbelievers who parade about as Christians but who are not.  True believers will suffer tribulation and persecution, that is to say, sorrow for being the disciple of Jesus Christ.

And when that persecution comes for you it will manifest itself into your lives in many forms.  Some will face social discrimination, some mocking, some will face gossip, and some will face vicious attacks for standing firmly on the Truth.  You may face criticism for speaking about morality and for an unwillingness to compromise the Word of God.  Some Christians have and will face physical assault, beatings, and even death.  Others may face financial ruin, and many face hardship in every phase of their daily lives.  Some of these tribulations you have experienced some you have not.  But when any of it happens it is painful. 

All these are examples are the sorrows of which Jesus spoke about, the ones that we would have for "a little while" in our lives.  That "little while" is our life here on earth.  While we live in this world of sin and pain and sorrow, we will have sorrows. 

But that little child in us still wants to ask the question, how long must we sorrow?  I don’t know, “just a little while.”  Some people have short lives, some live long lives.  But what I do know is what follows our sorrows and that is joy.

For Jesus died and lived that “little while.”  In His “little while” in our midst He preached and taught, He healed, He cried, He suffered on the cross died and was buried and rose again on the third day.  Our sins have the consequence of punishment and death, but Jesus has paid the price to erase our sorrows.  He died our death, the death that the Law of God demands for sin.  Now we are given the everlasting life that His holy life earned for us.  In Jesus Christ, we are given a life beyond pain and sorrow, without any further sickness or trouble, a life with no end and no death.  It is the gift of God in the Gospel, received and possessed by those that know about it, and take God at His Word and trust in Him with all their heart, and all their strength, and all their mind, and all their life.  In other words, it is freely given to those who believe.

This life in glory with Christ this is the joy of which Jesus spoke.  This is the joy that your present sorrow will be turned into.  You will close your eyes in death and open them in the presence of Jesus Christ with great joy!  It will be the joy of the transformation from death into life, and from this world into the world of glory with Jesus and life - and even resurrection of our old, tired bones - except in that resurrection they will no longer be old - or tired, but renewed and refreshed and transformed and outfitted for eternal life.

We cannot defeat these sorrows by our own works or efforts, and for that we rejoice for they have already been conquered.  The victory is ours, through Jesus Christ.  We cannot stop their present destructiveness, although we can refuse to participate in it or help it along.  We are called to bear the cross, faithfully and hopefully.  We are called to trust in Jesus Christ, that all that He has promised is true, and that He will not allow us to bear more than we are able to endure. 

One day, everything will be clear and plain and obvious to us.  On that day we will have and will understand the great joy of salvation.  Then all of this joy combined with sadness, happiness with challenge, will all make sense and be worth it!  That is the day of great joy toward which we look forward.

On that day, we will look back and see that it was just a little sorrow and a lot of joy!  In just a little while, we will see Jesus.  Jesus promised His disciples that their sorrow would turn to joy.  Like them, we too shall taste tears.  Because Jesus promises us that our tears in the end will become joy.  Jesus said, "Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you."  Therefore, do not sorrow for whatever makes you anxious about any “little while” that you must face.  Know that Jesus Christ gave up His life for you that His grace may endure in you for much, much more than a little while, in fact it won’t seem like an eternity, it will be an eternity, for you.  Amen.

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
 

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
 

+SDG+

The Third Sunday of Easter - Misericordis Domini - May 8, 2011

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 3, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 8, 2011)

Readings:  
        Psalm 23   
        Ezekiel 34:11-16   
        1 Peter 2:21-25
        John 10:11-16

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today’s message will be from the Gospel lesson as recorded in the 10th chapter of St. John, especially the following verses:

John 10:11-16 (ESV)

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The love of Jesus Christ for us, is not like a good shepherd, He is the good shepherd.  Jesus tells us of His love from the very first sentence of the reading, “I am”, with those very words God spoke to Moses from a burning bush, even as His people were still held captive in Egypt.  God called Moses from his vocation as a shepherd of sheep, to a shepherd of God’s people.  You’ll remember how that worked out for Moses, what could be called a rag-tag band of Israelites were led from captivity in Egypt to the promised land via a very winding path.  At times it was not the path they wanted nor they would have predicted. But the shepherd led them according to His way, not their way.  God would remind His people of His way through the words of the prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”(Is. 55:8)

But just how far will this shepherd The Shepherd of God go to protect His flock?  As it turns out, more than humanly possible.  A lot has been said about shepherds, you’ve heard most of it before.  The good shepherd,  “knows His own, and His own know Him”(v. 14)  He knows that left to their own devices, His flock would wander according to their own desires.  Oh look over there, something better to eat, oh look over there something better to drink, oh look over there greener pastures, it looks like the shepherd has His head turned now I can cross over to the other field.  And all that leading by ones own thoughts invariably leads to, oh wait a minute I’m lost, confused, I’m being attacked, where is that shepherd when you need Him, oh please come get me out of this mess, how in the world did this all happen to me.  We are all that lone sheep, we are indeed all the ones who have strayed.  We are the ones who have cast ourselves headlong into the challenges that attack and tear our lives apart.  And we did inflict this wound upon ourselves in looking for something better, in looking beyond what the Good Shepherd would have for us.

It was indeed Adam and Eve that looked beyond the wisdom of God in the garden.  While God had given them all the best more than they could ever imagine, they still somehow imagined that they wanted more, something different from what God had given them.  So they wandered away from God’s Word, and willingly trudged along the path of their own desires.  A new and better fruit, yes that’s what the serpent offered, so what if I try the fruit?  What does anyone care what I do?  It’s not hurting anybody so why can’t I make up my own mind?  No matter what the thought process was, the result was not good, straying from God’s Word by the first couple has given the world the result of death.  And to this day, the straying from God’s Word results in death for every person in the world.  For everyone who dies, dies because of sin, whether young or old, whether pious or perverse, whether dainty or diabolical, whether loving or lascivious, there is only one way to receive payment for sin, and that is, “the wages of sin is death.”(Rom. 6:23)  So then, who is this they who are the sheep who wander from Gods flock?  It is everyone of those who receive their wages, and since all die, it means we all have sinned in what we have done, and by what we have left undone.  Each and every one of us is a sheep who has gone astray, who has stretched their neck through the fence for the wild oats on the other side.  Each and every one of us is the sheep who has gone astray who has looked to the left and to the right, to sneak through the hole in the fence just to get a taste of something that looks better than what we think is given us.

Don’t see any fence, enclosure, or sheep pen?  It is indeed there, and you do know that it is there too.  For that boundary was given to you, and actually it is given into your memory whether you would heed it or not.  For that boundary is given to you by God and it is the Ten Commandments.  God has given you a seamless barrier in the words, “You shall have no other gods”, yet you strain through that fence by making trying to make yourself a god, thinking you are cute, wise, and knowledgeable.  And invariably you start out by creating an elusion of a gap in that fence by saying, “did God really say” or “I don’t know what the Bible says, but I think”  or “God didn’t really mean that” or “A loving god wouldn’t be so judgmental, therefore I think.”  And if all that weren’t bad enough, there are those sheep, who have fake shepherds who would not only cast a blind eye to those kinds of thoughts and words, but they would jump right through that hoop right ahead of their sheep.

And who are these fake shepherds of whom Jesus Christ speaks, these hired hands?  Well come on, it must be those Pharisee’s or Sadducee’s that were always attacking Christ, those so called Israel’s leaders who were motivated more by their own self-interest than the care for the sheep.  But Jesus said, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.” (v. 12)  The hired hand does not guard flock, but rather in times of trouble instead flees from them to save himself.  These actions too become reality by various means.  The hired hand can abandon the flock by not defending God’s Words.  The shepherd flees his flock by allowing the ideas and whims of the world to form his ideas.  The hired hand shepherd leaves the flock when they allow those to criticize God’s Word by calling it doctrine, by giving in so that we can all just get along.  The hired hand does not, “Preach the Word; [and is not] prepared in season and out of season; [to] correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”(2 Timothy 4:2) The hired hand casts a blind eye to sin, by not calling that which is evil, evil, by not calling that which is sin, sin.  By snickering at that off color joke.  By the use and misuse of God’s Name in vain.  By evil thoughts about those who are deemed not like us or with us.  By not preaching the full council of God.  By saying homosexuality is okay because it hurts no one.  By saying abortion is a woman’s choice, not against God’s choice.  By allowing some to say the Bible is not inerrant.  By not defending a six day creation.  By allowing the idea of evolution to seep into the creation account.  By defending the action of the world based in the idea of democracy rather than from the very Word of God.  And all these are given away by the hired hand Shepherd, whether by saying nothing, or by nodding in silence, or whether by actively agreeing. The hired hand flees his flock by His activity and inactivity and in the end, everywhere that evil shepherd went the sheep were sure to go.

Repent, for we are those sheep who would go astray and who would rather be led by likes of life’s hired hand shepherds.  Our own way always seems to be the best way, our reason seeks to justify the path through the fence of God’s commandments.  And once we have rejected the capstone in the fence’s gate left to our own devices, we do not look back.  We do not gauge our actions against scripture, we do not seek the Good Shepherd, we seek the wide path, and we seek the easy path.  That way no one is offended especially us.  But that path leads to destruction, both for the hired hand and those lost sheep.

But do no despair.  “There will be one flock, one shepherd.”(v. 16)  This flock will know their shepherd by Name and by His voice.  And the sheep hear the Good Shepherd, each time the scriptures are read.  The sheep know the Good Shepherd because they feast on His true body and His true blood.  The sheep know the Shepherd because He is with them in their baptism.  The Good Shepherd does not change His banner, nor His mission statement, nor His ideas of right and wrong because a breeze has turned the weather sock.  Nor does the Good Shepherd follow the flock by leading them by the latest fad to make Himself more like His fellow men, or just because that is the easiest path with the least resistance.

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who feeds His flock not by opinion, but by His forgiveness.  Jesus lays down His life so that all who would wound you His sheep, may be healed by the promise of everlasting life.  Jesus Christ will never leave you.  Jesus Christ will not be shaken, lost, shattered, nor will He allow you to be scattered by the forces of this world.  This Good Shepherd did not take the easy path, nor the popular path.  The Good Shepherd took the path to the Cross, where He was brutally crucified, He died, and on the third day He rose again, for you so that you would not be led by the ways of the world to everlasting death.  Rather Jesus  Christ, the Good Shepherd, lays down His life so that you will not be of this world, but rather have the promise of living eternally with Him in His heavenly kingdom, forever and ever.  Amen.

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
+SDG+

The Second Sunday of Easter - Quasimodo Geniti - May 1, 2011

Pastor away on vacation.  The Rev. Russell Zimmerman proclaimed the Word of God to the Congregation in pastor's absence.