The Day of Pentecost - May 23rd, 2010

The Church Season of Pentecost
The Day of Pentecost, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 23, 2010)

“The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Comes to us”

Readings:   
    Psalm 143
    Genesis 1:1-9
    Acts 2:1-21
    John 14:23-31

Sermon Form    Deductive

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

The text for today’s message will be from the Gospel lesson, from St. John the 14th chapter, especially the following verses:

John 14:23-31 (ESV)

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

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

On this day of Pentecost, we hear Jesus speaking with His disciples.  They had been following the Lord and listening to His teaching and learning the doctrines of the Church for nearly three years. Jesus knows where He is going. He is on the way to the cross in order to be crucified and die for the sins of the world. Then Jesus will arise from the dead in victory over death and the devil. He will ascend into heaven and send the Holy Spirit Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. He teaches the disciples of the Law that accuses and condemns, and of the Gospel that comforts and forgives so that, after all this takes place and when the disciples have fled from Jesus and sinned horribly, they would recall God's Word. Then the Holy Spirit would remind them of all these things. Thus, they are being told that the Word is critical for them so that they would be able to recall that repentance is a gift worked by God through His Word.  In simple terms Jesus Christ comes to you, but how?

Well, Jesus knows where each of you is going in the days, weeks and years that stretch out before you.  God the Father, in His mercy, kindness and grace, has provided His Son as the Savior of the world. Rather than giving the world what it deserved, the Father has given unto His fallen Creation and rebellious mankind what was not deserved. Therefore, "let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." The Christ was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and was named Jesus. The Son of God is also the Son of Man and the Savior of the world. In His perfect Life and in His sin-atoning death Jesus gave Himself in order to be our Redeemer ... the One Who bought us back and He is the only One Who takes away the sin of the world, your sin included ... the sins of your past, the sins of the present and the ones of the future. "And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe." And because Jesus rose again from the dead, you have a future with Him, both in the days and years ahead and in the eternity that can come at any moment. The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, works faith in the heart through the Word of this Good News.  Yes, yes we know all these things, but what do we have to do to find Jesus, where do we find Jesus?

I recently was listening to radio interview with the Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel, a beloved professor from our St. Louis Seminary, he is a scholar’s scholar, and a pastor’s pastor.  Dr. Nagel was interviewed from a nursing care facility in which he now resides as a result of a debilitating stroke.  Though his voice does not sound the way it once did, nor is his delivery the same, his wisdom regarding our Lord still flows freely from his mind even if garbled by his lips.  Dr. Nagel was asked, “Where do you find Jesus?”  Having had the honor to visit the St. Louis Seminary, and to have sat in one of his classes, I can visualize his response.  “Jesus isn’t where we think He ought to be, Jesus is where He has promised to be, for us, and that promise is fulfilled in what we call the means of grace, His means for giving out His gifts, Holy Baptism, Holy Scripture, Holy Communion, Holy Absolution, to say Holy is to say that it belongs to the Lord and He is the One who does it and fulfills those things, as it says in the Large Catechism, ‘to be baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is to be baptized by the Lord Himself.  Although we see His instrument, the pastor, saying His Words, and pouring the water, it is the Lord who has done our baptisms and who gives to us His Body and Blood, and who gives to us the forgiveness of sins, ...so for Jesus we go to the places which He has appointed for us to go Baptism, Lord’s Supper, Scripture, and if we look for Him somewhere else we won’t find Him.”(Norman Nagle, Issues etc, 5/20/10)

Jesus has already answered the what and where questions.  As Dr. Nagel said, if you look for Jesus, you will find Him where He has always promised He would be.

Jesus is in you Baptism as the water combined with God’s Word promise. In the words of Holy Absolution, you are forgiven of all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is soul-cleansing and spirit-renewing Word of comfort gives peace to you. Or, as the Holy Spirit caused the very Words of Jesus to be written in the Bible for our remembrance, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you."

The Father gave His Son for the world and that includes you. Jesus was born for you, lived for you, fulfilled the Law perfectly for you. He Who is the Truth taught the Truth for you. The miracles that He performed were for you. He went out into the desert to defeat the Devil for you. Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified in your place and gave of Himself to satisfy the wrath of God for you. All your sins have been paid for. He died for you and was placed in death's chilly tomb for you. Jesus descended into the hell to proclaim victory over that God-forsaken place for you. Our Redeemer rose again from the dead for you and ascended into heaven for you and, in addition, is still truly with you forever. The Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit for you and the Holy Spirit works through the Word to give you faith and keep you in the one truth faith unto life everlasting. Jesus is in Holy communion where gives His Body and Blood for you for the remission of all your sins.

If you are looking for Jesus, look no further, He has found you.  In Baptism you have received the water and the Word, He has found you innocent.  Receive His Word this day, He has found your ear, and spoken to you, all is okay, your sins are forgiven.  Receive Christ’s true body and blood, in Holy Communion Jesus touches your lips, His forgiveness reminds you that you are His, your faith is renewed, the world and all that has and will attack you has been conquered. 

On this day of Pentecost, if you seek to see Jesus Christ, look no further, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father [sent] in [Jesus’] Name, [taught]you all things.” And today, in Absolution, in the hearing His Words, and Holy Communion, He has “[brought]to your remembrance all that Jesus Christ said to you.”(v. 26)  And that is, Jesus Christ IS where He said He would be, He IS still and always will be, with you, even to the end of the age.  Amen.

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 Seventh Sunday After Easter - Exaudi - May 16th, 2010

The Church Season of Easter
The Seventh Sunday of Easter  - Exaudi
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 16, 2010)
One Year Series

“When the Helper Comes”

Readings:   
        Ezekiel 36:22-28           
        Psalm 51:1-12       
        1 Peter 4:7-14       
        John 15:26 – 16:4

Sermon Form:    Deductive

+INI+

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 15th chapter of St. John, especially the following verses.

John 15:26-16:4 (ESV)

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. 1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

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

The Gospel Words we hear today are Jesus’ last words to His disciples before the Passion.  Jesus was giving His disciples a warning and a promise.  Rather Jesus spoke these words to His disciples who were soon to be promoted to Apostles - from 'students' to those who were the "Sent Ones", sent out to bear witness to what they had seen and heard and to spread the Gospel. 

Jesus warns His disciples about the troubles that they will face in their lives.  This is easy for those following Jesus to understand.  The disciples had followed Jesus and they knew what it meant to have Jesus care for them, and shield them from all of the dangers and troubles that might have faced them. He fed them, and taught them, and led them around what was once called the "promised land".  O, they had enemies, and there were all sorts of local issues and political parties, just as there are today.  But, none of the enemies of Jesus had attacked them physically, at least not yet. Jesus gave His disciples a few years of peaceful instruction, as He modeled the faith and showed them how they were to live once He was gone.

 But now they were about to be cast out on their own, more or less - Jesus was going to die and rise again and ascend and leave them to be His witnesses.  He was going to take His visible presence from them though He was not taking His care away from them, but things were going to change, and God knew about it.  In fact, it was all part of God's plan.  Jesus told them, "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.  And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, or Me."(v. 2-3)  That is the hour that is coming.  Jesus had to tell the disciples that all this was coming because they were likely to be tempted with the idea that just because they worked for the Savior everything was going to go smoothly.  Jesus did prepare the way before them, but not by removing obstacles like the hatred and violence of the world. 

We are not witnesses, as were the Apostles.  We have never seen Jesus.  Yet we are confessors.  We confess what we have heard and believed, in fact we confess that each Sunday, whether in one of the Creeds or like today  by singing the Benedictus.  We speak what God has spoken to us through His Word.  We confess with the Church what those original witnesses bore witness of - and to.  We confess that Jesus is the true Son of God, come down in human form and having taken on human nature on our behalf.  We confess that Jesus kept the whole will and law of God, where all mankind has failed, and having earned and rightly deserved eternal life, has suffered and died in our place, and for our sins, and on our behalf.  We confess that His death on the cross is ours, taken for us to meet the justice of God against our sins. 

We also confess that God raised Jesus from the dead, because those first witnesses saw it, and spoke with the risen Jesus.  We confess that His resurrection shows us that the death of Jesus has been accepted in our place and for our sins, and that it was sufficient, so that now we are forgiven and we stand in the good will and favor of God.  We confess that there is nothing for us to do to earn our salvation - Jesus did it all - and that we fail to qualify to even start to work out our salvation, because we are sin-filled, and sin-corrupted, and fall short of the glory of God before we can even start.  We also confess that even our coming to faith is not possible for us by our own wisdom or will-power, but God must call us to faith and cause us to believe, and that He does so by the preaching of the Gospel. 

And even though we confess our faith in Christ, this world will reject us, and try to marginalize us, and drive the church into obscurity.  That is why Jesus warned us.  The Hour that is coming.  There will be those in the world who will be convinced that they are serving "truth" and "all that is reasonable" and that they are fighting "superstition".  The point is, they will persecute and trouble those that confess the truth of the Gospel, all the while thinking that they are the good guys and on the side of the angels.  That is the hour that is coming.

But do not despair.  We have the helper, the One that Jesus promised - the Holy Spirit.  Jesus wants us to know that when we come upon pains and all our sorrows and troubles, that it is to be expected.  Nothing is out of order - except the unbelief of those who have and will persecute us.  Suffering is part of the confession.  We share in Christ's righteousness, so we also share in His suffering. 

Yet since we are Christ's, we should remember that He is coming, and, as Peter put in our Epistle lesson today, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” (1 Peter 4:12-14)

When the pain comes, or when people turn on you for speaking about the wonderful good news of Jesus, or pain, or when so called friends or even your family turn away from you, you will be tempted to be confused, and wonder why these things are happening.  Jesus warned the Disciples, and through their warning He warns us - it is the Hour that is coming.  Expect it.  Of course knowing that pain is coming doesn't change the pain, but it does explains it - and it is for your strengthening and comfort that Jesus tells us about it. And that comfort ultimately overcomes all our pain whether physical or mental, and it is the knowledge that Christ’s Incarnation, His life, His death, His resurrection has overcome your pain.  And the Father and the Son Jesus Christ have sent the Holy Spirit to convey and bear witness to the message Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil.  And the Good News of Christ, which you hear by the Holy Spirit, tells you that you too are given Christ’s victory which is eternal life.  Amen.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

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 Rite of Holy Matrimony - Jason and Kimberly Hines

The Church Season of Easter
The Rite of Holy Matrimony
Jason Hines – Kimberly Kraus
St. John Lutheran Church-Amelith,  Bay City, MI (May 15, 2010)

“The Mystery of God”

Readings:   
    Psalm 127
    Genesis 2:18-25
    1 Corinthians 13

Sermon Form    Deductive

+INI+

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 1st Corinthians, the 13th chapter.

1 Corinthians 13 (ESV)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

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

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and His Church to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy marriage. 

Jason, and Kimberly, dear family and friends,

This is a wonderful day in which Our Lord Jesus Christ offers His blessings to you both.  Up until this day you two were a couple.  But now, here in the sight of God, as we heard in our reading from Genesis, the two of you shall become one flesh.  And of this two becoming one flesh, St. Paul further tells us that, “This is a profound mystery.”(Eph 5:32)  And St. Paul also writes in 1st Corinthians, if we, “understood this mystery, and even have faith to move mountains, but still didn’t have love, then you would be nothing.”(1  Cor 13:2)

Well, in the world in which we live, it is indeed challenging to have faith to move mountains, or to try to understand the mysteries of God.  For it would seem that both faith in moving mountains and the mysteries of God are like intangible and abstract theorems.  But, the solving of abstract theorems might be a worthy challenge for those who are of the engineering or mathematical types.  The challenge of the two becoming one flesh, it’s quite a mystery, together yet apart, and so how does 1 + 1 = 1?

That equation set before us, the two becoming one, is indeed a profound mystery.  But even as I speak, I can only think that the engineering and mathematical wheels in this sanctuary are turning, and all the possible solution sets are being worked out.  But quite frankly, none of those mathematical answers will even be close to solving the mystery, nor will they end up be correct. 

For we as humans want God to play by our rules, by our own equations, and by our theorems.  We try to force God into a recognizable package, defined by reason and logic, because we don’t want mysteries.  Mysteries are too complex, they just seem to us to leave things undone.  But rejoice, Jason and Kimberly, the mystery equation set before you is already solved, and so there is no mystery left for this day, no challenge with an empty solution set.  For the answer to the equation has already been given to us and the solution is very simply, and that solution is love.  And the source of that love is God.  For God had a patient and kind love for you both, even since before the day you were born.  In love, God has had a plan for you both and God’s never ending love has brought the two of you together.  And everyone gathered here today can see that love you have for each other is abundantly apparent.

While you grew up in different places, now you are together, and today you will be made one.  An equation solved, by God’s love for you both.  Yet even greater still you are given the promise by God that this solved equation will last for an eternity.  For in the waters of your Baptisms, you were made one with Jesus Christ.  In Baptism you were both claimed by God and made part of His Holy family.  There, in the waters of your Baptism God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, gave you both the promise to be together with Him for all eternity. 

Yet God is before and beyond all eternity and that indeed is a mystery to us.  It is also a mystery that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to undo all the sin of this world.  For Jesus came into this world as an infant, just as both of you did, and it was here that He grew in wisdom and stature.  And just like you both, Jesus Christ was baptized.  And because Jesus Christ’s life included His journey to the cross...sin, death, and the devil have been conquered.  It may be a mystery to us why Jesus would come here for us.  But God gives us the answer to that question too, by saying, “8 God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Rom. 5:8)  God loves you both so much that He gave His Son Jesus Christ to die for you.  He gives you that gift freely, just as He has given that to all who live and breath in this world.  One man, Jesus Christ died for many, so that they may never die, but rather have eternal life. 

Many equations may come before you in this world.  Some may be solved, and others, may remain a challenge.  Challenges may face your marriage, there will be good days and bad, there will be sickness and health.  But also know that from time eternal, God’s patient and kind love for you has brought you both together in this place.  God brought you both together and the two of you have become one.  So in reality the greatest of all equations, the greatest of all mysteries is already solved for you.  For God brought Jesus Christ into this world, for you, so that together in Him you may be one and therefore have eternal life together.  In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

+SDG+

The Ascension of Our Lord - May 13, 2010

The Church Season of Easter,
The Ascension of Our Lord, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 13, 2010)

“The Light of Christ”

Readings:   
        Psalm 110
        2 Kings 2:5-15
        Acts 1:1-11
        Luke 24:44-53

Sermon Form:    Deductive

+INI+

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from 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 24th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verses:

Luke 24:44-53 (ESV)

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” 50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 3 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

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

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

The paschal candle is lit for services through the Easter season, but today we extinguished it for the rest of the year to remind us that our Lord has ascended into heaven to bless us from there. Today we celebrate Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven.  On that ascension day Christ led His apostles to Bethany, He blessed them and then He ascended into heaven.  We can only imagine what the apostles were thinking.  We know that good byes are always hard when the person you love is going away.  We have all shed tears when we say farewell to someone we won't be seeing for a while. 

I’m sure we can all recall the loss of a loved one, a mother, father, or other close relative who has passed away.  We can recall the pain of the loss.  We are overcome with tears for the loss of that person, at the same time we rejoice for what God has done for our loved one.  So in those times we are sometimes sad and afraid.

It was surprising for the disciples when Jesus' last days on earth came.  Yes, he had told them ahead of time that was going to be delivered into the hands of rulers, crucified, die, and rise on the third day.  But when it happened they were still surprised and afraid.  Emotions got the best of them, and even the brave ones, like Peter, ran away and denied knowing the Lord. 

Yet, when those same apostles saw Jesus alive, their faith was restored.  Scripture tells us that Jesus, "showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.  He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."  (Acts 1:3) During all these appearances the apostles put their trust in Jesus again and He forgave all their doubts and unbelief. 

Even on the day Jesus ascended to heaven, He was still teaching his followers.  Our text says "He opened their minds so they could understand the Holy Scriptures" (Luke 24:45).  Jesus gave them the ability to understand the Bible, and that He had fulfilled all that was written about the Messiah.  Nothing more needed to be accomplished.  Salvation for the world was complete.  From then on, any person who asked God for forgiveness in the Name of Jesus would get it.  Nothing more can be added to what Jesus had done.

And while Jesus' work was finished, the disciples work was just about to begin.  They were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to them.  Then they were called upon to preach the message of repentance and forgiveness in his Name to all nations.

And Christ's commission to his disciples continues today.  We must continue to repent of our sin and believe the good news that Jesus forgives and restores us to God the Father.  There is no area of our life that we can allow to be off limits to God's Word.  God's Word cannot be altered, we much preach it just as we receive it from the printed page.

Jesus has ascended to heaven, but He is not distant from us.  He sends us the Holy Spirit through the church's preaching and administering His sacraments.  We ask Jesus to open our minds to understand the Holy Scriptures as He did for the first disciples.  In them we find the meaning we need to guide our lives as servants of God.

At the ascension of Jesus, the church said goodbye to the face to face contact with Jesus. Now, through the preaching and sacraments which He instituted, the Holy Spirit brings Christ to us in means that are hidden, yet powerful.  We are to use this time God has given us to prepare for Jesus' return.  There are so many souls to be reached, and there is so little time.  While we may weep that Jesus has ascended, His incarnation has won for us joy beyond all understanding.  While we are here we bask in the joy of salvation won, yet that does not mean we should rest and do nothing.  Christ has won salvation for all and graciously we are called to proclaim that salvation to the ends of the earth.  There are no sad goodbyes today.  Yet we still may ask, ‘what of those tears we shed for those family and friends who have gone before us in the faith?’  The answer is that when we join Jesus Christ in His heavenly home He, “will wipe away every tear from [your] eyes.”(Rev 21:4)  No pain of loss or separation will remain.  In fact, there is no separation, for even in Christ’s ascension, He has told us that He will still be “with us even to the end of the ages.”(Mt. 28:20)

So when you see the unlit Christ candle here at the altar, remember that Jesus has indeed ascended to heaven, and there Jesus is our heavenly high priest who brings our prayers to the Father, and He rules over His church with grace and forgiveness.  And for us that grace and forgiveness is the knowledge that Christ’s victory over death is won and He gives to us the promise of eternal life. Amen.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

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 Sixth Sunday after Easter - Rogate - May 9, 2010

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 6, Rogate, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 9, 2010)

“PRAY”

Readings:  
        Psalm 107
        Numbers 21:4-9
        1 Timothy 2:1-6
        John 16:23-33

Sermon Form:    Deductive

+INI+

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

The text for today’s message will be from the Epistle lesson as recorded in the 2nd chapter of St. Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy, especially the following verses:

1 Timothy 2:1-6 (NIV)

1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.

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

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

St. Paul tells Timothy to pray.  Pray for everyone, for kings, rulers, everyone in authority that we, “may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”(v. 2)  Seems easy, just pray.  Jesus Himself said, “7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”(Mt. 7:7-8) Just pray.  We know who to pray to, that would be Jesus, as St. Paul tells us, “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”(Rom 8:34) We know why to pray it “is good, and pleases God our Savior,”(v. 3)

But is that enough?  Is it enough that we know that God wants us to pray?  Is it enough that it pleases God when we pray?  Is it enough for us to know that Christ is the only one to whom we pray and He hears every prayer?  Is it enough that we interact with God in prayer?

Prayer is an exercise in patience.  You are praying to the God for whom a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.  This could take a while.  One of the characteristics of faith is patient endurance, and persistence in face of difficulty, but being long-suffering is not one of our strong suits.

But the fact of the matter is that we lose patience with our prayer life.  Most times prayer life means that something has happened to us or to a friend that we don’t want to happen and now it’s time to start praying.  Then once we start to pray, we don’t get what we want, when we want it, and so we quit, or look for another “more productive” path.  Our prayers become shallow, sporadic, undisciplined, anemic.  It’s like going to the gym a couple of times, lifting a few weights, and then concluding, “This exercise stuff doesn’t work.  I don’t see a hint of muscle.”  Prayer is exercised over the long haul not the short term; it’s a marathon, not a 100 yard dash at top speed.  But living in this fast paced world dims our reflexes, because they’re conditioned by our instant everything world and our self-centered natures quickly run out of steam.  And so we ask, ‘What’s the point in prayer when nothing seems to happen?’

God doesn’t seem to answer my prayers, at least not on my demand.  It’s frustrating to pray and not get results.  Why can’t we seek and receive instant answers from God? Wouldn’t it be easier if God were more like a divine ATM machine?  Prayer in and instantly the answer I want comes out.  But no, it would be more accurate to say that God is grindingly slow in answering my prayers, almost to the point that I’ve forgotten what I was praying for by the time God gets around to dealing with it.  Old prayers are answered as though they were prayed yesterday, like an old treasury bond that one day comes to maturity and you’ve forgotten you own it.  “A day is like a thousand years; a thousand years like a day.”  We are sinners, we want what we want and we want it now.

Yet we pray, and we pray, and we still ask does it matter?  Well since it is Mother’s Day, let me tell you about a young woman who went to church in her earlier days.  In fact, she met her husband in a Bible class.  They got married and had several children.  Her husband went off to war and came home again.  They attended church very regularly for a while, but then something happened.  Maybe they were told that they sat in someone else’s pew, and that was the excuse they needed to stop attending, who knows.  Anyhow, as this story goes, the husband had been baptized as an infant, one of the children was baptized as a teenager, but the wife and the other children were not baptized. 

And that is a scary thought, one that is certainly worth praying about.  To pray to God our Savior, that those souls would not be lost or condemned.  Because that is exactly what would happen if they were to die before they had faith.  That is scary to think of dying without faith in Jesus Christ.  What if this mother and her children were to die?

So what happened?  Well, first I will tell you that the story is true.  Prayers were offered, prayers were heard, and God’s will was done as it always is.  And God’s will was done in His time.  The prayers were answered, not immediately, but certainly in due time.  Because woman who was a wife and the mother of that family was brought to faith.  In fact, she was brought to faith by the Holy Spirit and she was baptized when she was 82 years old.  And alongside that lady was her daughter, and her granddaughter too, three generations.  That is indeed prayers answered, for both here in time, and there in eternity that that family would be joined God’s forever family eternally. A few years later that wonderful lady who cared for her family passed away.  But she did not die for she had already died to Christ in her Baptismal waters and therefore she lives eternally in Christ’s arms.  And I know that that story is true, because that Lady was my mother, who I cherish and miss very much.  But, I am comforted that I will see my mother again, in eternal life.  

And God comforts you too.  For all those people that you miss who have died in the faith, they await you in eternal life.  For all that faces you, you who believe and are baptized, that same eternal life awaits you too.  And so in the knowledge of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that He gave you the victory over sin, death, and the devil you are urged to pray.  And so prayer indeed comforts us so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives.

So we pray.  God always hears.  We want our answers now.  We pray for our family, our neighbors, and for everyone throughout the world that the Holy Spirit may work faith and bring more people into His Kingdom. Jesus prayed.  He prayed in the Garden that the cup of His death would be taken away from Him.  Jesus prayed that if God would find another way, yet He concluded His prayer, “not my will but yours be done.”  Jesus prayed for those who mocked Him.  “Father, forgiven them, they do not know what they are doing.”  He prayed to the Father when the Father seemed absent in His suffering.  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  He prayed in His dying breath in the darkness to the silent Father, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

We pray and our prayers are answered, maybe not in the timing that we would have had the accomplished.  We pray in faith, not as a requirement to get what we want.  But as a response to that which we have already been given.  We have only one person to pray to and that is Jesus Christ for, “there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”(v. 5)  Jesus hears your prayers.  Jesus answered all your prayers by giving you Himself.  Christ came into this world to die for you, so that you may live in Him.  And that is indeed an answer to all your prayers.  God’s will is done in Jesus Christ, and indeed His testimony was “given in its proper time.”(v.6)  What is the proper time?  You are given Christ in the waters of your baptism, and in the Holy Sacrament you are given Christ’s body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  Your prayers are heard.  Christ’s testimony was given for you, your prayers are answered, for you have been given eternal life.  Amen.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

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 Fifth Sunday after Easter - Cantate - May 2, 2010

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 5, Cantate, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 2, 2010)

“Convicted and Found Innocent”

Readings:  
        Psalm 66, v. 1-8
        Isaiah 12:1-6   
        James 1:16-21
        John 16:5-15

Sermon Form:    Deductive

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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 will be from the Gospel lesson as recorded in the 16th chapter of St. John, especially the following verses:

John 16:5-15 (NIV)

[Jesus said] 5 “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

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

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

The religion of Christ, the only true religion, is a very great stumbling block for the world.  According to Christ, no one comes to the Father but by Him.  No other religion saves, because, as we are told in scripture, “there is no other Name under heaven by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12)

The world looks at this truth and says that they cannot believe in a God who condemns all other religions.  They tell us to look at those good men in other religions, like the Dalai Lama and Gandhi, who give so much of their time and money and effort to help the poor.  What kind of a God would condemn loving and kind people to hell, just because they don’t believe in Jesus Christ?

A person may indeed have a very great amount of external righteousness, that is they very well may try to help the less unfortunate in this world.  And it may seem that their deeds may outshine all the saints.  And indeed there may be no obvious sins that they have committed at all.

Yet there is a part of the Law of God that they do not keep, even if they could somehow keep every other part.  And the second table of the Law summarized by Christ says "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Many unbelievers may seem to do that, but keeping the second table does not mean you have kept the first table of the Law.  So what does that mean?  It means first listen to how Jesus summarized the first table says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."  Put first things first, but the lost unbelievers cannot do that.  If they do not know the true God, then they certainly cannot fear, love, and trust in Him above al things.  And if they do not fear and trust in God, then they are not really obeying the rest of the commandments, no matter how much it seems that they do.  Their good deeds, no matter how flashy and glorious in the eyes of men, are actually filthy rags.

We too must believe in Christ Jesus, or else all the rest of your good deeds are nothing at all. That is why Christ our Lord says in the Gospel today that the world will be convicted of sin because they don’t believe in Him.  Unbelief is the primary sin above all sins.  Because of unbelief, all the rest of the so-called good deeds of the noble unbelievers are not really good deeds at all.  You can’t keep any commandment without keeping the first commandment and that is to have fear, love, and trust of God above all things.

By God's grace, we aren’t unbelievers, by God’s grace we are believers.  We have received the free gift of faith.  We believe because the Spirit, the Comforter, has placed that faith into our heart.  Yet the heart is still sinful, and the primary sin of all sins, their root and source, is unbelief.  You and I continue to commit sins every day.  So we have unbelief still lurking in our hearts.

After all, the only reason we break any of the commandments is that our faith is not perfect in us, that is, in our sinful flesh.  If we had perfect faith by our efforts, then we would easily obey every commandment and commit no sin at all. Therefore, the Holy Spirit convicts all the world of sin.  It’s not only those unbelievers out there who are condemned.  You and I are condemned as well. And that is a terrifying thought indeed.

So should we be afraid for our salvation because with our own heart we can’t believe as we should?  No.  The faith that saves you is not our own doing.  It is not the faith that we muster out of our emotions or intellect.  It is not our decision or choice to believe.  True, saving faith does not come from us at all and the scriptures also tell us that.  It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast.  The Spirit has indeed given us faith, even to us who don’t deserve it.  Actually none of us deserve it, yet it is a gift from God.  And with faith, He has given us eternal life and forgiveness of all our sins, on account of Christ.

Christ adds in our text that the Spirit "will convict the world... of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you will see Me no more."  There is only one kind of righteousness, that is being made right, by which a person is saved.  That is the righteousness of Christ, we are made right in God’s sight by Christ.  For it is by Jesus Christ who secured your righteousness by dying and rising and ascending to the right hand of the Father.

But we can’t see, or choose not to see that kind of righteousness.  The world may examine our good deeds and conclude that we are good or evil, depending on what standard they use to judge us.  But whatever they see or whatever they judge, they can’t see our true righteousness.  Our true righteousness is not in our deeds.  It is in Jesus Christ.

For it is Jesus Christ who lived the only perfect life.  That is your righteousness.  Christ suffered to erase your sins from God's record forever.  That is your righteousness.  Christ rose again and ascended to the Father's right hand, so that your human nature is seated at the throne of glory.  That too is your righteousness.  You have holiness equal to the Son of God Himself.  That is righteousness that far outshines anything the world can do, even if they put all their good deeds into a giant pile.  Your righteousness is far better than all that.

But of course, the whole world despises that kind of righteousness.  They don’t think it's fair.  Why in the world would God give His holiness to some people as a free gift, but not to everyone?  It is as if they are saying to God, "You sent Your Son into human flesh to save us, but that's not enough.  You commanded Your Son to live our life and share our sorrows, but that's not enough.  You gave Your Son to die in horrible agony for our sins, but that's not enough."  So says the unbelievers.

So we must ask, Why is Christ not enough for the world?  And the answer is that the world wants a God who approves of their own goodness, who approves of their deeds, who tallies how many prayers said, who many good things done.  They want God to look into their hearts and say, "Oh, my, what a wonderful love you have!" The world believes in its own righteousness.  Therefore they can’t believe in the righteousness that Christ gives, it’s free so it must be some kind of trick.

But you know, truthfully, we were that way once too.  We were part of the world, stuck in self-righteousness and unbelief.  But God has rescued us by His Spirit.  He has snatched us out of this doomed world full of death, and has given us the life of His own Son.  We didn’t choose Christ because we are wise.  In fact, God chose Jesus Christ His only Son, for you, and His righteousness given to you as a free gift by the Spirit.

This same Spirit also "convicts the world... of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  For Christ triumphantly conquered the powers of this world.  The serpent's head is crushed.  Death is stingless.  Hell is an empty threat for you, since Christ has already judged you as innocent.

The world does not want to acknowledge that the devil exists.  Or if he does exist in their opinion, they believe that he must live on eternally as the opposite of goodness.  According to some in the world, there can be no good without evil, no darkness without light, no God without the devil.  But that’s not true.  The devil is no equal of God.  The devil is beaten already, and is passing away.  He is mortally wounded, and soon to be cast into eternal death in the lake of fire.

Christ did not achieve this triumph for Himself.  He conquered for your sake.  Because of His victory on the Cross and in the Empty Tomb, we are looking forward to a world that does not contain evil and death.  You look forward to a world that is the home of righteousness, where everything will be as perfect as the holiness that Christ has given to you. 

And so, do you now want to know what lies in your future?  This is your future... your future was, is, and will always be most certainly purchased and won for you by Jesus Christ, and delivered to you by the Spirit.  There is no doubt, God has done it for you, and He gives you Christ’s victory.  And since we also know that God does not fail, it is most certainly true that your future is looking up.  Amen.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

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