Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Church Season of Trinity - The 17th Sunday after Trinity


The Church Season of Trinity
The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 30, 2012)

 Readings:        Psalm 2
                        Proverbs 25:6-14
                        Ephesians 4:1-6
                        Luke 14:1-11
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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 14th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verse:

Luke 14:1–11, ESV
One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

            The reason the Pharisees watch Jesus closely is because they are hypocrites. They want to catch Him doing something He shouldn’t do in order to get rid of Him. One Sabbath the Pharisees thought they had Jesus trapped in the ultimate Catch-22. Jesus is eating at a friend’s house. Remember, it’s the Sabbath. Suddenly a man appears before Christ who has dropsy. The modern name for dropsy is an edema. It’s an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin. The trap is set. If Jesus heals the man, He violates the Sabbath by “working”. If Jesus ignores the man, He is a hypocrite. Jesus tells others to love and care for each other, yet He does not care for a man who suffers before His face. No matter what Jesus does, the Pharisees have Him trapped.

            The Pharisees don’t care about what Jesus does or says. They want Him to make a mistake so they can yell “Gotcha!” Perhaps you have come to God’s house with the same attitude. Perhaps you have come here in order to catch the pastor as a hypocrite. He says one thing in his sermon, but he does a completely different thing in life. Perhaps you have come to God’s house to look for other hypocrites. “Why is so-and-so here? Doesn’t everyone know that so-and-so isn’t going to listen to the sermon? They drink, swear, steal, and lie during the week only to come here, fold their hands, and look like an angel. You can’t fool me!”

            But, you’ve been fooled. You are the one who is a fool if you think you are the only one who isn’t a hypocrite. The Church Militant is a hypocritical Church. We say and do things that contradict what we believe every day. That’s what sinners do. Sinners want to do better every day, but they will stumble back into their old tricks.

            The difference between hypocrites and Christian hypocrites is that Christian hypocrites are recovering hypocrites. The Christian hypocrite hates the fact that they say one thing and do another. If that wasn’t the fact, then why is that person at Divine Service? Why do you, O hypocrite of hypocrites, stand in the place of Almighty God and judge? Repent. Leave judging of hearts to God. You have enough to worry about each day, let alone worrying about who is and is not a hypocrite.

            Instead of judging others, judge yourself worthy of eternal death yet rescued from that terrible condition by faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of hypocrites. Jesus asks the Pharisees, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Jesus knows the answer, but He wants to hear their answer. He receives silence. So Jesus heals the man of dropsy. In the eyes of a Pharisee, Jesus has broken the Sabbath Law and must die. In the eyes of those made righteous in Jesus Christ, Jesus has kept the Sabbath according to the letter of God’s Law.

            Jesus says elsewhere the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Our heavenly Father knows we need at least one day a week to rest in Christ Jesus. For New Testament Christians, that day is commonly Sunday, the day Christ rose from the dead. This means every Divine Service is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Today Jesus raises a man with dropsy from near death to healthy life. He does the same for you today.

            The Alleluia verse from Psalm 116 says it best: I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. The verse says nothing about hearing only those who are not hypocrites. The verse says He hears your voice and your pleas for mercy. One of the first words said in the Divine Service is “Lord, have mercy.” This is a cry of faith. This cry says, “Lord, I know you are the God of mercy. I know that You promise never to turn a deaf ear to me. Do what You promised me. Have mercy on me. Hear my words of joy and thanksgiving and answer them not according to who I am, but according to Who You are.”

            The Lord is merciful because He lays down His life for you. He could sit on a throne surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand angels and archangels. He could be inaccessible except to those Whom He deems to draw near to Him. He could be inaccessible to mere mortals like you and me. This is not Who Jesus is. Jesus becomes like us, except without sin, in order to exalt us to sit with Him in the heavenly mansions forever. Jesus dies as a mocked hypocrite of a Savior, despised by both God and man, in order to buy you back from the devil’s cunning grasp. Humiliation becomes exaltation. Death becomes life. Hopelessness becomes joy.

            Jesus Christ has mercy on recovering hypocrites everywhere. He bids us ask him to help us control our tongue in order that it may praise Him rather than curse others. He bids us open our mouths to receive His forgiveness and life in the Lord’s Supper on the same muscle that wants to speak ill of God and our neighbor. Instead of cauterizing the tongue or cutting it off, our Lord sanctifies the tongue through His means of grace to bestow mercy that is stronger than hypocrisy.

            Jesus places His forgiveness, His body and blood where sin comes out of our body.  “Oh Lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.” For Christ had said it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the body, but what comes out.  In the sacrament of Sacrament of Holy  Communion not only are your lips cleansed, but also your mind, your life, and your soul.  You are forgiven,  Christ offers that forgiveness everyday and unto eternal life.  Amen.

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The Church Season of Trinity - The 16th Sunday after Trinity


The Church Season of Trinity
The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 23, 2012)
 
Readings:        Psalm
                        1 Kings 17:17-24
                        Ephesians 3:13-21
                        Luke 7:11-17

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
The text for today’s message as recorded in the Old Testament Lesson from the 7th chapter of Luke:

Luke 7:11–17, ESV
“Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

            Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. These are comforting words from Psalm 23.  The widow in Nain is probably not thinking about words, she’s thinking about her son, her husband, what now.

            But words do come to this woman from an intruder, from someone who does what is not allowed, not pure or ritually clean, nor right by the eyes of the world. 

            And that intruder is Jesus Christ who is also surrounded by a large crowd who were following Him from His healing of the Centurions servant.  And the very first words Jesus tells the widow is Do not weep.”  Unbelievable words to this grieving widow.

            But when Christ comes, he comes to help. He came to help these people in the Gospel of St. Luke. And he comes into our presence to help us. He comes to change our wailing into dancing. He comes to change our grief into joy. Surely he knows we have much to wail and grieve about. He sees that we know the pain and anguish of losing those we love, sometimes much too soon. He sees that we know the grief and anguish of being the one lost, the one who dies.

            Yes, we know what its like to be dead—dead in our sins. We know the death that happens inside when we sinfully grieve as if we have no hope. We express our sinful death with words that masquerade as comfort and consolation—like telling those who grieve, "Don't Cry." We die in our sin, again and again, when we gather around our grief-stricken brothers and sisters and do nothing at all that shows true godly compassion and mercy. These and all our sins kill us. They kill us spiritually. In the eyes of God they put us in a coffin and make us just as dead as that young man from Nain. Whether we're grieving over the death of a loved one, or even over our own death, our sins are carrying us to a spiritual grave. We know very well the need for help. We know very well the need for God to come and help us. Because we need Jesus to help us just like he helped this young man and his mother.

            And help us is exactly what Jesus does. Most often, and rightly so, we think of Christ helping us by his own death on the cross. By his death he killed our sins. By his resurrection he seals his promise that we will rise one day like the boy from Nain. This is great help indeed. But there's also a more personal, intimate side to Christ's help. It's the way Christ delivers this help to us today—through his holy Word in the Bible and through his Holy Sacraments of Absolution, Baptism, and Communion. By these gracious gifts, our Lord Jesus Christ comes and helps us. He walks up to the deadly coffins of sin we find ourselves in and he says, "Young man, young woman, I say to you get up! Dear old man, sweet old woman, I say to you, arise! Arise from the coffin of sin that holds you in and I will give you back to our Father in heaven. Your true father, to whom you truly belong. We experience Christ's touch when we hear him say in Holy Absolution, "Your sins are forgiven." We hear him say, "Get up!" as the water is poured over our heads in Holy Baptism in the name of our Triune God. We feel him raise us up from death and give us strength for our lives of faith as he feeds us his true body and blood at this very altar. And all the time, together with these gifts, he speaks to us from the Scriptures, telling us over and over and over again, "Get up. Arise. Walk and live."

            Without Christ meeting us as we walk to our own sinful death, we would remain forever dead. Because, we know exactly who we are without his help. We are the dead. We are dead in our sins. But Christ does come to meet us. He does come to help. With his holy touch in the Word and Sacraments we too arise from our sinful death. We get up—and even though we may grieve the death of those we love, we grieve with sure and certain hope for our eternal future, and the future of those we love. We stand up, strengthened to comfort those who mourn with our presence and with the consolation of the Word of God. We rise from death, even in this life, with our eternal life preserved so we can help those among us preserve their livelihood, their strength, and their own faith. With Christ's help, we walk in newness of life. Christ's heavenly help gives us the faith and the strength for these and all good works.

            Every good work we do, we do in hope. Hope for our everlasting life. Because as we all know, our sin will eventually overcome our mortal bodies. We will finally be devoured by sin, and we will die. People will mourn our death as the widow mourned for her only son. There may indeed be weeping and wailing and great sorrow. But Christ has promised his help even then, precisely then. He has promised help for those who mourn, and help for the dead, as well. His promise of help is his promise to return. And when he does, on that great and glorious day, we will experience the touch of God on our own coffins. We will feel Christ's hand not in Word in Sacrament, but in true, incarnate flesh and bone. With our own ears we will hear his voice, and he will say, "Get up. Get up from the grave. Get up from death. Get up and be alive forever. As his words ring forth, the fields and floods will shout for joy, the rocks and hills will echo with praise. And with his own hand, Christ will take us to heaven to live with him there, and we will see the widow from Nain. We will see her son. We will join with all the nations gathered in heaven and will prove the glories of the righteousness and love of God. And for eternity we will sing words much like those of Psalm 30. You turned my wailing into dancing. My heart will sing to God and will not be silent. Because we will know, most intimately, the blessings of our Lord. Forever, we will know the blessing of the Lord who has come. We will know in full the grace, the mercy and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ—Our God who has come to help his people. Amen.

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The Church Season of Trinity - Holy Cross Day (Transferred)

The Church Season of Trinity
Holy Cross Day (Transferred)
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 16, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 40:1-11
                        Numbers 21:4-9
                        1 Corinthians 1:18-25
                        John 12:20-33

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Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

John 12:20–33, ESV
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

            God has a plan for your life. You know that already. Yet you may wonder why you still have problems in your life. You ask yourselves; if God has a plan, shouldn't my life get gradually better? We pray for God's help in times of trouble. God most certainly helps you. So why are there still nagging problems? Why does life get so hard? If God has a plan, what is taking Him so long to put it into action? If He is loving, why does He seem so slow?

            It is easy to say that God has a plan for your life. But wouldn't it be nice to know what that plan is? It is one thing to patiently endure troubles if you know how long you have to endure. It is quite another thing if there is no end in sight, and perhaps only the grave will end your troubles. If only God would show you His plan.

            God does in fact have a plan for and the plan is that you follow Jesus. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? As you follow Jesus, you do acts of love and service to help other people. That sounds pretty easy and it sounds good.

            But didn’t Christ said, "Whoever serves Me must follow Me." And before He said those words He said, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." And before that He said, "A kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die."

            Jesus suffered and laid down His life. That is what it means to follow Jesus. God's plan for you is the way of the cross; in other words, to suffer and die. That’s not quite the plan that any of us may think of and it may be just a tad unsettling. Because you’ve heard from the TV Preachers and the people of this world that God's plan is to give you a life with little or no trouble in it, everything will just always be hunky dory. But God actually brings you the troubles. They happen according to His plan.

            Now let me finish before we start wondering if God is cruel, He is not. He is loving, not mean-spirited. Yet He is much wiser than we are. He knows what is best for us, and sometimes that means pain. Maybe a better way to understand this is like when a doctor inflicts pain when he gives an injection, but it is for our good. So God also gives us pain, for our good.

            Consider the life of Christ. He was born into this world for the express purpose of suffering and dying. "For this reason I came into this hour," said Jesus. God's plan for Him was Passion and Crucifixion. The Father sent His own beloved Son to do this.

            We are to be imitators of Christ. That means sharing in His sufferings. He went the way of the cross. We must do the same. We do not suffer in order to earn anything before God, or to atone for sin. Yet we still suffer in the image of Christ our Lord. We must follow Him.

            Too often, we love our own lives. Loving your life here does not mean to enjoy the physical blessings God gives. Otherwise, we would have to stop praying, "Give us this day our daily bread." God gives us many blessings to enjoy. So we should not feel guilty for taking pleasure in His created gifts.

            Yet a Christian following the way of the cross must be willing to die a little every day. Is our life one of accumulating as many things as possible to make ourselves happy? Is it our purpose to live for enjoyment? In that case, our lives would be dedicated to serving ourselves, as if we were the God we worship.

            But we must die daily in sacrificing for the sake of Christ and our neighbor. If we greedily consume our creature comforts, yet our brother suffers in poverty, then how is Christ served by such a life? Should we not instead willingly suffer poverty, if need be, for the sake of Christ and our brother? Not that Christ needs our charity. Yet He has chosen to accept your works of mercy as if they were directed to Him.

            In all we do, we should fix our eyes upon Christ, to see Him above and before all things. In our devotion to Him, all other loves in this life should be pale and small in comparison. Even our own survival should be secondary next to Christ. Should we not gladly cast aside our life, if called upon, so that Christ might be glorified in our death?

            But our sinful nature does not want death. It does not want to carry a cross. It does not want anything to take priority over itself. We often participate in our religion only so long as we feel satisfied and happy. We limit our involvement to those activities with which we feel comfortable.

            And what if we are called upon to face greater suffering? The things we have felt are small compared to the tribulations and persecutions that may yet come upon us, if God so wills. Will we stand firm and accept whatever God sends? Or will we avoid, retreat, or deny? If Peter the Rock could deny His lord three times, then surely any of us could do the same. In our weak self-centeredness, we are likely to cut and run in order to preserve our own life.

            Deep inside, we love our life. The sinful flesh is full of self-love. It does not submit to God's plan. It wants no part of suffering or death. This flesh will be with us till we die. So a part of us always resists God's plan of suffering and cross. Thus, seeking to save our life, our sinful flesh would lead us to lose our life for all eternity.

            To rescue you from this death, the Father sent His Son into human flesh. Yet Christ had no sin and did not resist His Father. To be sure, Jesus was troubled by the prospect of the Cross. In Gethsemane, He felt agony and sweated drops of blood. He prayed that the Father keep the Cross from coming, if it were possible.

            Still, He submitted to His Father's will. There was no other way but the Cross. So Jesus patiently endured it all. He suffered the vicious tortures of man and the burning wrath of God.

Because our rebellious nature resisted God's plan, therefore Christ had to suffer in our place. So this was God's plan, that His Son be slaughtered on our behalf. Pain and death became the pinnacle of God's purpose, and a Man tortured on a Cross became the glory of God. In the precious Blood and in the Crucifixion, the Father's Name is glorified.

            He lifted up His own Son from the ground. He was suspended between heaven and earth, rejected by both. On the Cross, Christ was made an unclean thing to His Father, to receive His full, unleashed wrath against sin. But in this horror of a Man hung upon pieces of wood, God created the greatest good that has ever existed. In this Man, tortured to death, God has made salvation for all men.

            So Christ crucified is drawing all men to Himself. His message has gone out into all the earth. Some reject and resist His Word, even though He draws them. He bore their sins, yet they will not receive Him.

            To you who believe, He is a fruitful Seed that springs up to new life. He plants His own vitality in your soul, so that you cannot die. Even in physical death, you will be a seed like Christ, planted in the ground to sprout and blossom into immortality.

            That is God's plan for you. His plan carries you through death. You must suffer first, because you live in the image of Christ. As He endured bitter pain and sorrow that pierced Him, so you must endure. As Christ's life was carefully planned and set in place by the power and wisdom of God, so your life is prepared in advance for you.

            The Father does nothing lightly or carelessly. His love for you is greater than anyone could ever imagine. Every pain and every tear is known by Him. He sends you these troubles so that you, like Christ, can pass through suffering into an eternity of joyful bliss. For if you reject Christ in order to live a more comfortable life, then you will spend eternity in suffering. But if you embrace Christ through all the trouble that this life gives you, then you will share in His glory in the life to come.

            So you endure many hardships, because you know that Jesus did not choose the easy path, but the hardest one of all. He, your elder Brother, carried the heaviest burden, and your troubles are light by comparison. Take comfort that He has merited full salvation for you by His sufferings. Even when you shrink away from a cross He gives you to bear, He is still ready to forgive.

            So let us gladly die with Jesus. Let us die to our sinful flesh in repentance. Let us die to this sinful world. As we have died with Jesus in Baptism, let us gladly die to this present life and suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from faith in Him.

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The Church Season of Trinity - Holy Cross Day(Transferred)

The Church Season of Trinity
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 9, 2012)
Readings:        Psalm 119:9-16
                        Proverbs 4:10-23
                        Galatians 5:16-24
                        Luke 17:11-19
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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 17th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

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

            Leprosy is an excellent metaphor for sin. Sin is a contagious, incurable, and fatal disease from which you cannot save yourself. Sin, like leprosy, requires healing from outside you. No one has ever cured themselves from leprosy. No one, not even you, can cure you from sin.

            You can’t ignore leprosy. If you ignore it, then it will get worse. The same can be said for sin, although we all try to give ignorance of sin a good try. We think, if only I don’t think about sin. Then, maybe, it will go away. I won’t sin anymore. When I do sin, it won’t be sin. It will be doing something wrong that I know better to do. God will wink at it. He understands.  Or maybe we understand that a little bit better in non-theological terms, maybe better said as, hedging our bets.

            God certainly does understand sin. He can’t stand sin. All sin is repulsive before God. Nothing unclean is able to stand before Him and live. Perhaps that is why we sometimes wink at sin. We can’t do a thing about it, so we go on about our business. We figure we are going to die anyway, so why bother worrying about our lost condition.  Another bet hedged.

            We are worse than a leper is if we think this way.   Our reading from Luke tells us that at least the ten lepers were smart enough to cry out, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! At best, it is possible these lepers believed that Jesus could help them. But they don’t ask for healing, they ask for mercy. Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than what Luke says.

            Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than you or I do. Or perhaps not, as after our blessed Lord tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, nine of them keep running to the priests even after they discover they are healed. You must admit this sounds familiar, maybe just maybe we have done the same. We have bowed our head in prayer to God for something. And once God is merciful and has granted our request, we run away and go on about our business, never stopping to thank God for His mercy. We’ve gotten what we have have requested. That’s all we need. Gee thanks, God, no time to say hello goodbye, I’m busy and late, talk to you later…When I need you, maybe.

            Blessed Martin Luther writes We can do no greater nor better work toward God, nor show nobler divine service, than thank Him…. On the other hand, just as praise and gratitude is to be the highest divine service, both here on earth and there in eternity: thus ingratitude is also the vilest vice. Whoever thanks God gives Him honor. Whoever does not thank God robs Him of honor and makes himself god. The First Commandment says You shall have no other gods. The prophet Isaiah writes I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.

            It is indeed sad to note that most people who call themselves Christians only call upon the Lord when they need Him. And once they receive what they ask, they never bother to thank Him. They never bother to show any sort of gratitude. They’ve gotten their desired handout and keep on running. It is as if you have total control over God’s hand.

            Do not be deceived. God and His Word is not mocked. What happens when God removes His gracious Hand from you if you believe that you can control His mercy? Will you wither and die. What happens when God does not respond as you wish, when you wish, exactly the way you wish?  Will you remember that God is a gracious God, and that He knows what is best for you.  Or will you sulk, because your prayer is not answered to your satisfaction?  Oh I did pray, I prayed and prayed, I pleaded with God, but He did not do as I asked.

            We are driven downward to despair and when we do it is time to repent. We are to believe once again what God’s Word says about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Saint Paul tells Saint Timothy: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. You can’t argue with Saint Paul, he was a filthy, rotten sinner, just like you and me. There’s no need of ranking who is chief. You are chief alongside Saint Paul.

            But, thank God instead, when the perceived result of your prayers are not as you wish.  Prayer is not wishing, prayer is conversation with God.  Our petitions to God are like speaking into a tin cup with string attached.  But just the same God hears every word, every feeling, every disappointment, every heartfelt plea.  And God’s answer does not ring us back with the tin cup, His answer is laser precise, He gives us exactly everything we need.  For, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus did not come into the world to save only grateful sinners. Thank God for that.

            Rather recall from St. John’s Gospel: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. He suffered pain and scorn from the same people He came to save from their sin. Jesus could have removed His gracious Hand from His beloved children. He could have paid for the sin of Gentiles only, or Jews only. But, Jesus suffered unbelief and ingratitude, just as He does today. Jesus suffers unbelief and ingratitude, but still He does not cease to offer His deliverance from the distress of our sins.

            Jesus laments that only one out of the ten lepers returned to give Him honor and praise. St. Luke adds a stingy comment, and [that one]was a Samaritan. The bad has finally won, the Samaritan does what’s right.  He says thank you Lord.  The Leper has been healed for today.  Isn’t it amazing how the Samaritans upstage the Jews in the Gospels. Last week in the Holy Gospel the Samaritan did something he shouldn’t do either. Jesus tells the Samaritan, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.

            Have you ever asked, the question…Okay, I’m standing Lord, but which way should I be going? In this case the Leper turns and goes away, yet is drawn back. The true temple is not a building on a temple mount, the true priest is not gathered with others trying to decide the rules.  The true priest and the true temple are one and the same, one person Jesus Christ our Lord. 

            And the leper cured for a day, will one day die to this world.  Yet he goes in the way of the Lord, walking with Him to Jerusalem for the consummation of forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus takes the Samaritan’s greatest infirmity, sin, puts sin on His back, walks to Golgotha, and dies for it. Jesus does the same with your sin, too. Jesus takes your infirmities and diseases, especially the infirmity of unbelief and the disease of ingratitude, and dies for them on the cross. You are healed. You are forgiven.

            You are made well and absolved from sin, you journey with Jesus through this life, washed clean in Baptism, fed with His True Body and Blood in the Supper, pronounced clean from the leprosy of sin in Absolution, dying in His Name in order to rise from the dead when He calls you forth on the Last Day.

            In the meantime, Jesus’ healing Word powered by the Holy Spirit speaks through you when you show gratitude to your neighbor. This gratitude shown to your neighbor is a fruit of faith. It shows that the healing medicine of Christ is at work in you.

            The Lord keeps His Church in perpetual mercy. He takes away your infirmities and makes you whole. No longer are you a leper, an outcast. You are part of the family of God. You are clean. Your faith, a gift from a loving and gracious God, not something you earned on your own, has saved you. Now you go on your way, or rather the Way that has been given to you…the way of Jesus…and that is the way of forgiveness and eternal life for you.

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

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The Church Season of Trinity - The 14th Sunday after Trinity


The Church Season of Trinity
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 9, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 119:9-16
                        Proverbs 4:10-23
                        Galatians 5:16-24
                        Luke 17:11-19
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 Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 17th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)
11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

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

            Leprosy is an excellent metaphor for sin. Sin is a contagious, incurable, and fatal disease from which you cannot save yourself. Sin, like leprosy, requires healing from outside you. No one has ever cured themselves from leprosy. No one, not even you, can cure you from sin.

            You can’t ignore leprosy. If you ignore it, then it will get worse. The same can be said for sin, although we all try to give ignorance of sin a good try. We think, if only I don’t think about sin. Then, maybe, it will go away. I won’t sin anymore. When I do sin, it won’t be sin. It will be doing something wrong that I know better to do. God will wink at it. He understands.  Or maybe we understand that a little bit better in non-theological terms, maybe better said as, hedging our bets.

            God certainly does understand sin. He can’t stand sin. All sin is repulsive before God. Nothing unclean is able to stand before Him and live. Perhaps that is why we sometimes wink at sin. We can’t do a thing about it, so we go on about our business. We figure we are going to die anyway, so why bother worrying about our lost condition.  Another bet hedged.

            We are worse than a leper is if we think this way.   Our reading from Luke tells us that at least the ten lepers were smart enough to cry out, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! At best, it is possible these lepers believed that Jesus could help them. But they don’t ask for healing, they ask for mercy. Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than what Luke says.

            Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than you or I do. Or perhaps not, as after our blessed Lord tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, nine of them keep running to the priests even after they discover they are healed. You must admit this sounds familiar, maybe just maybe we have done the same. We have bowed our head in prayer to God for something. And once God is merciful and has granted our request, we run away and go on about our business, never stopping to thank God for His mercy. We’ve gotten what we have have requested. That’s all we need. Gee thanks, God, no time to say hello goodbye, I’m busy and late, talk to you later…When I need you, maybe.

            Blessed Martin Luther writes We can do no greater nor better work toward God, nor show nobler divine service, than thank Him…. On the other hand, just as praise and gratitude is to be the highest divine service, both here on earth and there in eternity: thus ingratitude is also the vilest vice. Whoever thanks God gives Him honor. Whoever does not thank God robs Him of honor and makes himself god. The First Commandment says You shall have no other gods. The prophet Isaiah writes I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.

            It is indeed sad to note that most people who call themselves Christians only call upon the Lord when they need Him. And once they receive what they ask, they never bother to thank Him. They never bother to show any sort of gratitude. They’ve gotten their desired handout and keep on running. It is as if you have total control over God’s hand.

            Do not be deceived. God and His Word is not mocked. What happens when God removes His gracious Hand from you if you believe that you can control His mercy? Will you wither and die. What happens when God does not respond as you wish, when you wish, exactly the way you wish?  Will you remember that God is a gracious God, and that He knows what is best for you.  Or will you sulk, because your prayer is not answered to your satisfaction?  Oh I did pray, I prayed and prayed, I pleaded with God, but He did not do as I asked.

            We are driven downward to despair and when we do it is time to repent. We are to believe once again what God’s Word says about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Saint Paul tells Saint Timothy: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. You can’t argue with Saint Paul, he was a filthy, rotten sinner, just like you and me. There’s no need of ranking who is chief. You are chief alongside Saint Paul.

            But, thank God instead, when the perceived result of your prayers are not as you wish.  Prayer is not wishing, prayer is conversation with God.  Our petitions to God are like speaking into a tin cup with string attached.  But just the same God hears every word, every feeling, every disappointment, every heartfelt plea.  And God’s answer does not ring us back with the tin cup, His answer is laser precise, He gives us exactly everything we need.  For, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus did not come into the world to save only grateful sinners. Thank God for that.

            Rather recall from St. John’s Gospel: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. He suffered pain and scorn from the same people He came to save from their sin. Jesus could have removed His gracious Hand from His beloved children. He could have paid for the sin of Gentiles only, or Jews only. But, Jesus suffered unbelief and ingratitude, just as He does today. Jesus suffers unbelief and ingratitude, but still He does not cease to offer His deliverance from the distress of our sins.

            Jesus laments that only one out of the ten lepers returned to give Him honor and praise. St. Luke adds a stingy comment, and [that one]was a Samaritan. The bad has finally won, the Samaritan does what’s right.  He says thank you Lord.  The Leper has been healed for today.  Isn’t it amazing how the Samaritans upstage the Jews in the Gospels. Last week in the Holy Gospel the Samaritan did something he shouldn’t do either. Jesus tells the Samaritan, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.

            Have you ever asked, the question…Okay, I’m standing Lord, but which way should I be going? In this case the Leper turns and goes away, yet is drawn back. The true temple is not a building on a temple mount, the true priest is not gathered with others trying to decide the rules.  The true priest and the true temple are one and the same, one person Jesus Christ our Lord. 

            And the leper cured for a day, will one day die to this world.  Yet he goes in the way of the Lord, walking with Him to Jerusalem for the consummation of forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus takes the Samaritan’s greatest infirmity, sin, puts sin on His back, walks to Golgotha, and dies for it. Jesus does the same with your sin, too. Jesus takes your infirmities and diseases, especially the infirmity of unbelief and the disease of ingratitude, and dies for them on the cross. You are healed. You are forgiven.

            You are made well and absolved from sin, you journey with Jesus through this life, washed clean in Baptism, fed with His True Body and Blood in the Supper, pronounced clean from the leprosy of sin in Absolution, dying in His Name in order to rise from the dead when He calls you forth on the Last Day.

            In the meantime, Jesus’ healing Word powered by the Holy Spirit speaks through you when you show gratitude to your neighbor. This gratitude shown to your neighbor is a fruit of faith. It shows that the healing medicine of Christ is at work in you.

            The Lord keeps His Church in perpetual mercy. He takes away your infirmities and makes you whole. No longer are you a leper, an outcast. You are part of the family of God. You are clean. Your faith, a gift from a loving and gracious God, not something you earned on your own, has saved you. Now you go on your way, or rather the Way that has been given to you…the way of Jesus…and that is the way of forgiveness and eternal life for you.

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

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The Church Season of Trinity - The 13th Sunday after Trinity

The Church Season of Trinity
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (Sepember 2, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 32
                        2 Chronicles 28:8-15
                        Galatians 3:15-22
                        Luke 10:23-37

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

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 10th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 10:23–37, ESV
Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

             "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" asked the Lawyer. But what can a man do to inherit anything? Can inheritances be earned? No. Inheritances are bequeathed. They are given, based not on what you do but on who you are. Inheritances are about being and receiving not doing.

            And so Jesus answers the Lawyer's question: "Do this and you will live." He speaks not of eternal life. He speaks of life. That is, do this and you will show yourself, prove yourself to be alive. Do not do these things and you will prove yourself to be dead. For the one who does not do this is dead: dead in his trespasses and sins. For the wages of sin--the transgression of God's Law--is death, as the Lord promised Adam "In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die." So, Jesus' answer really is a veiled question about human nature. He asks: Who are you? Are you alive? Or are you dead?

            And so the Lawyer, seeking to justify himself, seeking still to earn eternal life, asks "Who is my neighbor?" In other words, the Lawyer still doesn't get it. And thus the parable.
            The parable is told from the perspective of the man in the ditch. As you listen, you can't but help seeing yourself in the ditch. And so you can't help but see all these people walking by on the other side. The Lawyer sees those so focused on their doing so as to earn eternal life, that they do not show themselves to be alive to those who are in need. And so the Lawyer sees himself walk by on the other side. He sees himself leave himself for dead. He wasn't a neighbor even to himself. He is dead. Anyway you look at it, either as the one in the ditch or as the ones who walk by, he is dead.

            But the one who was a neighbor is the one who had every right not to be: the Samaritan. The one despised by his own half brothers did not see it below him to help one in need. For he, too, saw himself in the ditch. He felt it in his bowels. He had empathy and sympathy. And so he showed mercy. He reached out to those who did not deserve it as though he himself were in that ditch. He paid his half-brother's price. He felt their pain. He went the distance for them. He lived so that they would not die. He proved himself to be alive to save them from death. He had compassion on them. He felt sorry for them and did something about it. He is alive.

            Now the parable goes out to you. You are in the ditch. Do you see yourself pass by? Yes. But your half brother, our Lord Jesus Christ, has compassion. He proves himself to be alive. He comes into your death to pull you out it, to give you His life. And you live.

            Now go and do likewise. Prove yourself as one alive out of the grave, saved from death, forgiven of your trespasses and sins. Do mercy to your half brothers in the ditch. Have compassion on them. Feel their pain, pay their price, go the distance for them. Live . . . in faith toward God and in fervent love toward your neighbor.


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The Church Season of Trinity - The 12th Sunday after Trinity


The Church Season of Trinity
The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (August 26, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 146
                        Isaiah 29:17-24
                        1 Cor. 3:4-11
                        Mark 7:31-37

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
 
The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 7th chapter of St. Mark.

Mark 7:31–37, ESV
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

(The following is from a sermon by Doctor Martin Luther.)
            The Gospel Reading describes the miracle of the deaf and dumb man. During the church year we regularly hear of wonders where Christ showed Himself the Savior who desires to keep us from the devil's wrath. We should thank God most sincerely for such a comforting blessing, to have given us such a Man, a Champion, who out of sheer grace will stand by us in everything that the devil can do against us.

            The fact that the poor man is so handicapped that he is unable to use his tongue and his ears like other people must be traced to the troublesome devil's stinging blows. Wherever he can, the devil afflicts people with blindness and sorrow, and leaves them joyless and hurting. He causes some to give in to false teaching, and others to be overcome by terror and sorrow.

We rightly thank our dear Lord God who has had compassion on us and sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who helped this poor man and also graciously safeguards us. Every person who is sound of body, eyes, ears, hands, feet, and all other members, should perceive these to be pure gifts of God.

            This Gospel Reading comforts us with unfailing help against the enemy. St. John says that "for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." The devil entered Paradise to destroy our Lord God's handiwork by causing pious and holy Adam and Eve to become disobedient and sinful. Not willing to tolerate this, God considered how He might avenge Himself against His foe, to make whole again what the devil had broken, and to destroy the devil's handiwork - sin, death, and hell.

            As we see in the Gospel Reading, He loosed the tongue which the devil had tied and opened the ears that he had stopped. Christ had come for this purpose and He continues this work among His Christians. He is the Helper of suffering mankind and desires to heal all afflictions with which the devil burdens us, and to drive him from us.

            Christ shows us that He opens ears and unbinds tongues. He seeks to perform this work daily in His church against the devil. It is a physical fact that God gives sound ears and tongues also to the heathen; but only for Christians is this spiritual fact true, that He opens ears and looses tongues. For we Christians must hear His Word with our ears and confess with our lips.

            This is sure, that we have our salvation alone through the Word of God. What would we otherwise know about God, about our Lord Christ, His sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit? To this day the greatest miracle and mightiest work is giving a person ears that gladly hear God's Word and a tongue that honors God and does not blaspheme.

            Many people are a thousand times worse off than this poor deaf and dumb man. They have ears that are really stopped up. They hear God's Word and yet really do not hear it, nor do they want to. But those who hear God's Word gladly and to whom Christ says, as to the deaf man, "Ephphatha (Be opened)," are helped against the devil. God has shown us no other way by which we can come into heaven than through His precious Word, the Holy Gospel. Whoever gladly and diligently hears and receives it and who loves and delights in it will be helped.

            God also stirs our tongues and causes us to speak, as St. Paul says, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Through faith in Christ we come to have the forgiveness of sins; confession should also follow. We must not be mute, but speak what we believe in our hearts.

            Now see our Lord's unusual performance in the Gospel Reading. The people bring the poor man to Him, asking that He should place His hands on him. He then takes him aside from the crowd, places His fingers into his ears, spits, and in this way loosens his tongue. Then He looks up to heaven, sighs, and says, "Ephphatha!"

            We must note why the Lord employed such an unusual routine and procedure in this miracle. He surely could have effected this miracle by a simple word, for we see again and again in the Gospel that it requires merely His word to cause something to be done, and it is done. Lazarus He woke up with a word. To the palsied man He said, "Stand up and walk!" But with the deaf and dumb man He does not proceed in such a short and simple way, but takes unusual steps.

The Lord employs such vivid action here for the sake of the spiritual miracle. He wants to demonstrate how great an effort is required to cause a deaf man to hear and a mute man to speak. He shows us that if we are to be loosed from the devil's bonds and possess ready tongues and good ears, this can happen only through the external Word and preaching. We must, first of all, hear the Word, not neglecting Baptism or the Sacrament either, and the Holy Spirit will then be present to free the ears and tongues.

            We must be on guard against the fantastic spirits who despise the external Word and Sacrament, waiting till God speaks to them in the heart. "No," says Christ, "here is My finger, the eternal Word, that must sound in the ears; My spittle, which must moisten the tongue. In this way My work proceeds rightly." We see this wherever the external Word has free course. There Christians will be found, for as goes the shepherd, so go the sheep.

            Everyone should take care to be found on this path and gladly hear God's Word. Without the Word, God does not reveal Himself in your heart. To see and know Him can happen only through the external Word and Sacraments. The Holy Spirit works in no other way.

            This is what God taught at the time He spoke from heaven, "This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him." Likewise, Christ commands His disciples, "Go into all the world, teaching and baptizing." Again He says, "Whoever hears you, hears Me." Thus our dear Lord Christ commanded preaching the Gospel and baptizing. This is the only way to salvation. Otherwise all is lost and for nothing.

            Surely none of us would hesitate to travel a hundred miles to a certain church if we knew God Himself were going to speak and preach there. Everyone would want to hear His voice. Now, instead, our Lord God says, "I will arrange things closer for you, so that you do not have to travel so far. Listen to your parish pastors, and you will hear Me. They are My disciples and office bearers. When you hear them, you hear Me."

            These are the external means Christ points to. Our tongues will not be loosed, our ears opened, faith in our hearts begun without the outward, oral preaching of the Word and external Sacraments. For parish pastors and preachers are the fingers of our Lord God, the servants and spittle, through which He looses our tongues and opens our ears. When you hear them, God says to your hearts, as to this deaf man, "Ephphatha!" so that your ears are opened, your tongue unsticks, and you become a hearing, speaking person, no longer deaf and mute.

            Let us take careful note and learn to truly be Christians by the Word and by our professing of it. That is why we should cling to the Word tenaciously, for us to be saved. May our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grant this to us! Amen.

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