The Third Sunday after Epiphany - January 23, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany
The Third Sunday after Epiphany
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 23, 2011)

“MERCY”

Readings:
Psalm 110:1-4
2 Kings 5:1-15
Romans 1:8-17
Matthew 8:1-13

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

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel lesson from the 8th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses,

Matthew 8:1-13 (NIV)

1 When [Jesus] came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

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

In today’s reading we hear of a man who was an outcast, left behind and outside of society.  What this man had was catching, and at that time incurable by man, it was loathsome to view, a slowly degenerating body of a person.  Outside of life, outside of contact, no where to go, no one to turn to.  And if you think about it this man was ridden with mental and physical pain he had only one certainty, that was he was certain of Christ’s power. Yet, it would seem he doubted Christ’s willingness, whether or not Jesus would come to help or shrink away from one so unclean.

Yet Christ’s heart was moved by mercy, Jesus uttered words of encouragement, “I am willing.” And from the God-man Jesus came an act of mercy that endures forever. Jesus did not slink away, nor did He find an excuse.  Jesus did not assign the task to look at this man to a committee, nor did He say this isn’t my job, or I’ve done it before so let someone else do it, nor did he say I’ve never done this before.  No, Christ did not, and will not ever restrain His mercy.

What a contrast to us.  While our bodies might not be literally melting away from the horrid disease of leprosy, we are just as disgusting and unpleasant when we turn away from providing mercy to our fellow men.  Not only that we turn mercy on its head, by misconceiving what mercy is.  Meaning we think if we’ve received mercy then we are absolved from duty of providing mercy. We think if we provided mercy at some time in our lives then it is no longer our duty to provide mercy anymore, rather let someone else take their turn at it.

It was the duty and obligation of the leper to himself to the priests, to the health officers, and then to offer the customary gift. The object of mercy is not to save us from the judgment of God, rather mercy is as a result of obedience to God’s desire for us. 

All the diseases of the human body reflect our sinful human nature and our fallen human spirit. Sin is the leprosy of our corruption, actually leprosy is much kinder than our sin, for our sin starts with Adam, and is part of our entire our lives.  And how does Jesus respond to us? Christ still has mercy, our Lord still has mercy, Christ still has mercy to deliver us.

The manifestation, the epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ’s mercy toward that leper reveals God’s love for all sinners, a love that He brought with Him to the Cross. It is this mercy of Jesus Christ in which we have faith and so we are also obligated to love one another to have mercy on our fellow man. 

Today, we remember the death of Jesus Christ and we celebrate Him and proclaim Him by eating and drinking His Body and Blood together with the Bread and Wine in the Holy Sacrament. Our bodies come to Communion riddled with the leprosy of sin.  Christ does not turn from us, rather He turns to us and offers Himself up as a sacrifice to make us well. 

We have heard it read to us from the scriptures that, “God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The leper doubted that Christ would have mercy on, and love for, a such wretched creature that he was. We have doubt that Christ packs mercy in this Holy Supper when we make light of what this supper means.  Can you imagine actually saying out loud, ‘No, no thank you Jesus Christ, I know you died and all that but, you know, I’ve already had all the mercy I need for this month, nope no thanks I don’t need or want anymore.’

When we take stock of ourselves, and that is exactly what God’s Holy Word tells us to do before receiving communion, it is then that we feel our sin.  We feel and realize our sin has disturbed every relation between us and a pure and Holy God. We are given the gut punch, we driven to our knees, how in the world could we ever expect God to love us?

We can’t expect God to love us yet He still does for Jesus Christ died for us! God has proved His love for you because Christ died. God so loved the world that He sent His Son to stand in our stead to pay for our sins. God showed His love in that Christ died for us. Christ’s death proves God’s love because it is for you. 

The death of Jesus Christ is the revelation of a love that is not called forth by any lovableness on our part.  Were we to reveal our sin,  the skeletons of our sin would no longer be hidden away in our closets.  Yet Christ still sees that in us and yet He still died for us. That my friends is the Gospel for you, to know we are sinners, yet mercy and salvation is sill freely given for us. 

In the Holy Supper of our Lord which we receive this morning we receive God’s undeserved grace.  And from that overflowing cup of God’s grace we are obligated to show our reaction to God’s mercy. We cannot receive this mercy and shrivel away from the people around us who need our mercy.  We cannot turn from those people who people who do not look like us, or have the stature or gifts we have.  We cannot  tell those who need mercy to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.  We must have mercy, there is always more to do.  Not having mercy is like being touched in the head.  Rather we must recognize that God in Christ Jesus has touched our hearts. 

The leper said, “Lord if you are willing.”  Jesus was willing for that one man, and Jesus is willing to cure all mankind.  In fact, Jesus cures all that faces you, no matter if it be the physical or mental, no matter what Satan has in store for you, Christ has already healed you.  He gave you your faith, His grace, and His mercy and He healed you immediately as the water combined with God’s Word was poured upon you in you in you baptism.  And because Jesus Christ was and is willing one day you will kneel down before your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and when you close your eyes you will immediately be in His hands.  Amen.

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The Second Sunday after Epiphany - January 16, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany,
2nd Sunday after Epiphany,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 17, 2010)
"The Sympathy of Christ"

Readings:   
    Exodus 33:12-23
    Ephesians 5:22-33   
    John 2:1-11

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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 2nd chapter of St. John, especially the following verses...

John 2:1-11 (ESV)

1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Jesus Christ attends a wedding in Cana, and there He blesses the wedding party with His first recorded miracle, changing water into wine.  It is a contrast of duty and sympathy, contrast but not exclusion.  For Christ’s duty, that is to do His Father’s will, did not fill His life so completely as to leave no room for sympathy. Surely no life was ever so spent in duty. Jesus had just entered upon His campaign of the world’s redemption and was in the act of choosing His apostles. Yet Christ did not plead duty as an excuse by sending a note saying ‘sorry no time must be saving the world from its sins best wishes Jesus’, but rather He came to the wedding with His disciples.

And so one lesson taught at the wedding of Cana was that Christ proclaimed Himself divine. He also taught that He would bless the relationship between man and wife.  Jesus did not come to destroy human nature and relations, but to fulfill them by reconnecting them with God. Christ came to unite, not to scatter.

It would seem that our chief joys and sorrows center in our homes. As at Bethany Christ relieved the deepest sorrows of a home, so at Cana He showed His sympathy with the joys and lesser anxieties of home. The contrast then with this lesson is that we are happy but that we are not happy enough.  No matter how much we want, we want more, brighter, shinier, newer, better, or just more than our neighbor.  But, Earth’s sources of pleasure run dry, or as our hymn would have it, “Earth’s vain shadows flee.”LSB Hymnal #878  At this wedding, Christ manifested Himself as the source of a joy that is richer than that of any thing of human making. The poor flat wine of cheap earthly joy is soon spent from clay jars, so Christ came to give a joy that no other man can give us, that no other man can take from us. It is a gift of a miracle that the wedding is blessed in Cana, it is a gift of a miracle upon the cross that we are blessed.

And so in Jesus Christ is revealed the very essence of sympathy.  Jesus does not feel with others,  but rather He enters into your feelings.  The water was changed to wine, and His gift was given in secret so that none but the servants knew how close this party was to disaster.  Nor did these servants later mention how the supply had been replenished and multiplied. Christ’s gifts of grace are often given and received secretly.

So what was done at Cana is a type of what was to come.  What is a type?  A type is a biblical term roughly meaning a shadow revealing a future truth, like the flood of Noah is a type of baptism, the washing away of sin, and the gift of new life.  So this type, this example of things to come is that all of Christ’s working lead’s to the final banishment of all your sorrows, all that attacks you in this world.  And Christ then points you to God who will wipe away all your tears and the water of sorrow shall be turned into the wine of joy at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And from that gift of mercy from God in Christ Jesus, it is our duty to display obedience, unquestioning, impartial, practical, and personal mercy and service to others.  God said, “This is my Son, listen to Him.”  We cannot share Christian hope and comfort without rendering Christian obedience. Remember those jugs of water set aside at the wedding were for purification rites to use with those who had been set apart from the community as unclean.  Christ turns that water of purification into wine by His actions not by ours.

Today as we gather together we should be reminded that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, members of one body  We are called to serve one another in love with whatever gifts we have received. The Holy Supper of our Lord reminds us of that too, as St. Paul writes: “Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the same loaf” (1 Cor. 10:17). At the Lord’s Table we all partake of the same bread, we eat a fragment broken from the same loaf. Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body. In Holy Communion Christ describes the sympathy and loving concern the various members of the same body how they should show mercy for one another, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Cor. 12:26). This is the relationship we enter and gather into with one another as we eat of the same loaf at the Lord’s Table.

We eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus Christ.  He gives us His Body, which He gave into death out of love for you. He gives us His Blood, which He shed for the love of you. This pouring out of Christ’s body and blood reminds us of His love and keeps alive in us a deep affection for Him.

But when He asked that we do this to remember Him, He was concerned not only about our love for Him, but also how His followers’, that would be you and me, how we love one another. Our strength is united affection in our oneness with Christ. For it is His Kingdom which was founded on truth, love, and mercy. Not  by the wielding of a sword, but only by His love did Christ conquer the kingdoms of this world.

And so what holds us together?  It is Christ’s love for us, it is our love one another. If we all love Christ then we must also love one another. This love must keep us united. So Jesus pleads with us to love Him always, because He wants us to love all the other faithful people who love Him too.  And hidden behind these two desires was a third. He wants to be remembered and loved always, because He wants His friends to love and serve all needy people always. We are called to unselfish, self-denying, in humble service to our fellow people and that is to be our life, just as it was Christ’s life and death. 

It is a hard thing to expect of us.  In fact, it is impossible unless we constantly keep true to our ideal of service by means of a lasting affection for Christ. So Jesus pleads to us, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” It is as if Jesus were speaking to us and saying ‘Recall not only Me but everything about Me. Remember how no service was too humble or too lowly. Remember this, follow, My example, and do it for Me. No one can be Jesus, but we can show mercy to others as we have been show mercy by Christ Himself.

When we celebrate the Holy Communion, may we never forget for a moment that what is done is in remembrance of Him. There is probably little danger of our failing to recall that He gave His life to purchase for us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The words “for you” always assure us that in making the price paid for our forgiveness in our own by eating and drinking, we have all that Christ purchased with that price. All that is His is ours — His righteousness, His perfection, His holiness, His glory. We would be strange people, indeed, if we could kneel again in spirit under the Cross and see the Son of God dying out of love for us, without, also loving Him, too. If Communion is just something we do as a mechanical thing, rather we remember Him and love Him the more, as we recall His sacred Person and glorious work of love.  Then Holy Communion is recognized for what it is, that is, it is for you.

But to do this in remembrance of Him means more. We are to remember Him also in His eagerness to find some means of keeping His followers united in their common affection for their Lord. As they remember Him, every disturbing element in their fellowship and in their love for one another is to disappear. The love we have for Him is to unite us. “Love one another even as I have loved you.”  Like changing the water into wine as a blessing, in baptism He has changed our bodies from it sinful nature to the newness of life.  As it was written in Psalm Number 4, Christ fills “[our] hearts with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”  A marriage was blessed by the abundance of new wine, your life is now blessed by the abundance of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, and so our marriage with Jesus Christ the bridegroom is blessed for us, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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Funeral Sermon for Elsie Schlagrait - January 12, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany
Funeral Service for Elsie Schlagrait
Our Savior Lutheran Church,
January 12, 2011

Readings: 
    Psalm 23   
    1 Timothy 6:6-11
    John 12:23-26
   

“Fight the Good Fight of Faith”

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Friends and family of Elsie, especially Joyce and Joe, Janet and Ed, Frieda, and all the grandchildren.  Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Elsie Ione Schlagrait was born on October 16th, 1920, baptized on November 20, 1920th of the same year, and confirmed on February 13, 1944.  She was married to her beloved husband Otto on August 11, 1945 and they were married for over 62 years.  They had two children, Joyce who married Joe, and Janet who married Ed, and there are 4 grandchildren. Blessed are they who die in the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore.

The text for today’s message is Elsie’s confirmation verse as recorded in 1st Timothy the sixth chapter, verse twelve.

1 Timothy 6:12

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

The verses just read from 1 Timothy fit Elsie to a tee.  “Fight the good fight of faith.”(v. 12)  For as many of you know, these past few years have indeed been a fight for Elsie, in fact a long struggle of frustration and pain to be faced each day.  But if you’ve ever been around Elsie much, at some point or another you would hear her say something like this, “Well, I just do what I can do, and what I can’t do I don’t do.” 

We all know that there was a time when there wasn’t much Elsie couldn’t do.  She played coy when she met Otto, and held off their marriage until she thought he was out of the military.  She and Otto worked hard to provide for their girls.  Elsie and Otto worked hard so that they could vacation in Myrtle Beach.  The worked hard in being good loving parents.  The participated in the activities of the church, and I know we all will certainly miss Elsie’s beautiful singing voice.

So all those wonderful things make it all that much harder for us to understand these past two years.  For it would seem that despite her best efforts to play by the rules and lead a godly life, she ended up facing greater challenges and even more uncertainty. 

Shouldn’t we be right in crying out, ‘Couldn’t there be another way?’   Couldn’t our Lord Jesus Christ provide us with a model of how to handle these challenges in life?  Just what do you do anyhow, when you have done all that you can do, and what you can’t do is simply overwhelming?  Why can’t there be another way? Why can’t there be a way to go through life without all the suffering, why can’t we just go when we want to go.  We ask, ‘Don’t we get a pass on all this suffering because we have tried to, “Fight the good fight of the faith.”?(v.12)

Elsie and I talked about this many times.  Our Lord teaches that even in the times when it seems we can’t do what we think we can do, that is in our time of suffering. ..even in those times our suffering provides an opportunity for mercy from those who are around us.  I’ve mentioned to some how our caroling group went to sing for Elsie and in so doing we were fulfilling what God has called us to do, that is have mercy on those whom we love.  But that act of mercy could not be contained, it spilled out into a hallway, and other patients came to hear the caroling too.  Mercy can not be contained, it multiplies and overflows.  And that mercy started with Elsie in her time of suffering.

Yet with all this mercy, why does the suffering still linger? Well, that of course is the wrong question.  For the way of Christ is not the easy way.  And that doesn’t mean that all of life is suffering. In fact, a life of faith is more like a roller-coaster, it has its ups and downs, its twists and turns, its straights and bends. And during this blessed life we are to make that “good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”(v. 12)  And Elsie did that, she would be the first to ask someone why they hadn’t been in church.  She would also be a person in whom just about anyone could confide.  But you know Elsie could also confide in others too.   She knew she wasn’t perfect.  Elsie knew that she was like all the other people in this world and that is a sinner who needed God’s grace.  She knew that she could do what she could do, but conquering sin, death, and hell, that she just couldn’t do.

For as a baptized child of God, Elsie knew that only Jesus Christ can do those things that He can do.  And Christ did everything for Elsie, for Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and that would be Elsie’s sin, your sin, and mine too. 

We know that from Christ’s first words on the cross until His last, His sole concern was to do the Father’s will.  Jesus Christ was making a “good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”(v. 12) and He was doing that for you.  And at the foot of the cross we see Jesus Christ pouring Himself out for the sins of the entire world.  His is a patient love, a love that fights the good fight and then freely gives you your faith, He gave faith to Elsie and also to you. 

I know that we all miss Elsie deeply.  We know that she had a great love for Otto and to dance with him into the night.  She loved her children and grandchildren, her family, to volunteer at the hospital, to sing to the Lord.  And I know that she desired to have Holy Communion often just as Jesus had told her, “Do this often.”(1 Corinthians 11:25)  I know that because Elsie requested it often.  She knew that Christ’s body and blood were given and shed to renew, refresh and enliven her faith.  To forgive her sins and to give her strength for her weary soul, and you can always use more grace from God and He always has more for you.

I also know that Elsie was given strength by her Lord Jesus Christ.  For even in her frailest moments, I witnessed the faith given to her as she folded her hands in prayer, as she closed her eyes, as her lips moved to say the Lord’s prayer, to “12 Fight the good fight of the faith. [to]Take hold of the eternal life to which [she was]called and about which [she]made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses”(1 Timothy 6:12)  When it would seem to the world that she had very little, Elsie was given very much.  St. Paul reminds of that when he said, ”6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

Maybe you’ve suffered because of your own words, or actions, or inactions over the years.  If we were honest we would all admit that we are somehow, in someway all among the walking wounded of this world.  In this world people get hurt.  But just remember what we can do.  As a result of the mercy given to us, we can offer mercy to those who are around us, even if it is that they would have mercy upon us.  And what we can’t do, we don’t do, in fact we don’t need to do, for Christ, “does do all things which strengthens us”(Philippians 4:13).  He has, He does, and will do all things, just like He has done for Elsie, just like He does for all who die in the faith forever and ever.   

Blessed are they who die in the Lord Jesus Christ
from this time forth and forevermore.  Amen.

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The Baptism of Our Lord - January 9, 2011

The Church Season of Epiphany,
The Baptism of Our Lord,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 9, 2011)
One Year Series

Readings:
Psalm 85
Joshua 3:1-3, 7-8, 13-17
1 Cor. 1:26-31
Mt 3:13-17

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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 is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 3rd chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses:

Matthew 3:13-17 (NIV)

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

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

Baptism is all about reversals—God taking upon Himself what we deserve and giving to us what we do not. When Jesus was baptized, the great reversal was that the Son of God was baptized into a life that identifies Him, the One who knows no sin, as the One who now bears our sin. When we are baptized, the great reversal is that we who know nothing but sin now bear the righteousness of Christ. Maybe it’s simpler to here it this way.  When Jesus approached John the Baptist at the river Jordon, Jesus arrived without sin.  And then Jesus went into the river, was baptized, and when He walked up out of the river, Jesus’ robe was stained with sin.  John the Baptist even said so, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”(Jn. 1:29)  It is the exchange, the contrast, clean and pure baptized in filthy and dirty water.  And for us? The exchange is, God brings us to baptism, in a filthy sinful state, and the water washes away our sin.  Christ takes all our sin, He takes our life, in baptism we approach dead in our sins, and baptized we live to Christ.

But as with the Son of God, after we are baptized, we too must remain in this world even as heaven has been opened to us and we have been declared by God the Father to be His beloved in whom He is now well pleased. We too will endure the cross--the cross of living in a world that will often treat us just as it treated our Baptized Lord.

Baptized into Christ, we will look no better to the world, and to paraphrase Isaiah, in fact we will have no beauty or majesty to attract [the world to us], nothing in [our] appearance that [the world] should desire [us]. [We will be] despised and rejected by men, [children] of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces [we will be] despised, and . . . esteemed . . . not. Baptized into Christ we will feel no different.

We all know that one day we shall die, but we don’t often think about it.  But for those who do know that it approaches, it is a real and imminent struggle to the end.  It is a struggle of irony for those who watch, and pray, who see their loved ones falter.  As with Christ Himself, the life of the Baptized remains a life of temptations to sin and turn away from God and His Word; a life of trials to your faith in what remains unseen; a life of tribulations of our bodies.   With all our might we struggle to not die and go where in almost every prayer we pray to go.  Ironic, twist, I pray for heaven, but not just yet.

That is why Baptism is so important. Through all we face, God gives us our Baptism which never ends so that we will never forget.  In your Baptism God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit says to you: "I am you're your God and You are my child. In you I am well pleased." By believing this you will never really die, but have eternal life. That you are baptized means that you are no longer dead in your sins but alive in Christ and though the world will surely hate you and make this life difficult at best, as God's redeemed, baptized children, you know you are loved by Him forever.

That is also why it is so important to hear the Word and receive God's forgiveness often—it reminds you of and even keeps you in your Baptism—and thus with Christ and His Father in heaven.As tough as it is for those of us who regularly hear the Word of Baptism, receive the forgiveness and Name of God, and partake of the very body and blood of Christ, think of how it must be for those who do not—for those who have separated themselves from Baptism and the Name of God by not hearing His Word and receiving His gifts.

Even though it sometimes doesn’t look or feel like when we recall our baptism we are really in the best place of any of us—secure in the baptismal grace of God. For Baptism is God's help for the helpless, His hope for the hopeless, His heaven for those ravaged by the hell sin brings to earth.

The ones we really should be concerned about are those who are not hearing the Word of God, who have better, more important things to do.The ones who are really in trouble are the ones who prefer not to be helpless before God and throw themselves on His mercy. These are the ones, especially those we know and love, whom we should be pursuing and inviting back to where heaven is open to them too—back to Baptism--and the preaching of everything our Lord has spoken for the forgiveness of sins that is a continuance of Baptism—the gift of God that ensures in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:34-39)

Dear Baptized, despite whatever you may be going through and see others going through, heaven has been opened to you and all who are baptized, because you have been baptized into Christ, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. This is God’s mercy for you, He has exchanged perfection for your sin, He has taken your sin and offers you perfection.  And if you would take that gift of mercy and cast it away, or bottle it up.  Then your light would not be shining toward your fellow man.  God’s grace is unconditional, your salvation does not depend on your works.  At the same time that which you do for others show that your faith is active.  God uses you to bear fruit and bring the kingdom of heaven to others through your suffering.  Hear that again, for most do hear it but do not listen, your suffering offers others a chance to show their mercy.  So even in your suffering there is opportunity for mercy.  Listen and hear, look and see, so many are touched by the mercy you offer to those who suffer.  Just a couple of weeks ago a group from here sang carols for Elsie.  That was our opportunity to show our mercy, not only to Elsie, but also the other residents who slowly wheeled their chairs closer to better hear the singing.  The blessing for one expanded beyond the bounds of a single room, mercy is contagious.

And we hear in Christ’s baptism an incredible act of mercy.  For you are God's beloved children for whom Christ exchanged heaven for earth, for sinlessness to being the Lamb of God bearing all your sin.  In Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit descended, God spoke His approval. And in Jesus Christ God well pleased with you, because in your Baptism you are forgiven all of your sins, now and forever.  

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

+SDG+

The 2nd Sunday after Christmas - January 2, 2011

The Church Season of Christmas
2nd Sunday after Christmas

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (January 2, 2011)

"The Great Escape"

Readings:   
    Genesis 46:1-7
    1 Peter 4:12-19       
    Matthew 2:13-23

+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 2nd chapter of Matthew, verses 13-23

Matthew 2:13-23 (ESV)

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

On Christmas we celebrated the newborn Christ child.  The only begotten Son of God whom we know is born to a world in a state of being vulnerable and at the same time almighty.  Today we hear that Jesus and His family seem to be controlled by the circumstances set in place by Herod who would have Jesus murdered with all the other babies. 

     One thing that comes through loud and clear in this passage is that Jesus was vulnerable, He was at risk of being hurt or killed.  When King Herod found out from the Wise Men that another King had been born, Herod was fearful for his throne.  He tried to use the Wise Men to find Jesus so that he could have Him killed.  But when that plan failed, Herod flew into a terrible rage.  Because Jesus was at least a year old at this time, and so Herod ordered that all male children in Bethlehem two years of age and under be slaughtered.  As this was about to happen, Joseph was warned by an angel to escape at night and flee to Egypt.  Imagine that the Son of God having to escape under the cover of darkness, being rescued from a murderous monarch who would allow babies to be slaughtered.  Joseph did as the angel said, and they took up residence to the south in Egypt until the death of Herod not long afterwards.  And as we heard in the gospel lesson, all of this occurred in fulfillment of prophecy, according to God's plan.  What at first appeared to be an unwanted vacation in Egypt turned out to be a fulfillment of the prophecy of Hosea "Out of Egypt I called my Son."  (Hosea 11:1) 

Yet Jesus is in control of everything.  Everything that has happened, His birth, the rushed escape and journey to Egypt all happened according to God’s plan for His beloved son.  A plan that continues to the end of Jesus’ earthly life, and to the time of His crucifixion.  On the one hand we know that the cross was a part of God's plan from the beginning.  It was His almighty will that Calvary take place.  And yet, when it actually happened, God the Son was utterly helpless.  No escape occurred on the Cross, and no travel to Egypt was ever planned to avoid the horrible taunting, the nails, and the spear, and His death completely despised and rejected.  Nevertheless, through that almighty vulnerability, God paid the full price for our sins and brought eternal life to all who dare to worship and place their confidence in Him.

We too often feel like our lives are full of vulnerable moments.  Much of what happens to us seems to be beyond our control and often quite random.  We have all lost loved ones, we’ve had challenges with someone in our family, or have struggled with tough situations in our daily lives.  There often doesn't seem to be much order or purpose to the way things happen in our lives, we struggle, we worry, we fret, we cry, we wring our hands, and our minds from attacks on all sides.  But where is our escape plan, how will we get away?

Well we do have an escape of a sort, not made by our hands or our doing, but rather relief because we have been joined to Christ by water and the Word and made to be members of His body through faith in Him.  We should certainly expect to be experiencing Christ’s almightiness and His vulnerability in our own lives as well, both individually and as a part of this community.  And that certainly is the case.  On the one hand when you look at the church at large today, it seems to be in a state of disarray, vulnerable to all sorts of problems, looking less and less like God's set-apart people and more and more like the world around it.  God's holy Law and Gospel often seem to be ignored.  

And yet into the midst of this messy and complex world comes God's Word comes to us.  St. Paul writes, "In everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purposeI."(Rom 8)  Wherever the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, wherever the Gospel of Christ is rightly proclaimed and His sacraments are rightly administered, there God has His people, His church, and the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

And individually, we trust that despite any appearances to the contrary, God is truly working for good in our lives.  For we know that we were "called according to His purpose" in Holy Baptism.  We’re made to be His sons and daughters through water and the Word, all our sin being washed away.  We therefore believe that, in the midst of our human frailty, God is indeed working out His almighty will for our benefit, he is giving the gift of our escape from sin and hell.

At this time of year when an old year has ended and a new year was ushered in we often look back on our lives.  I'm sure many of us will recall when a time of trouble or suffering strengthened our faith in God.  A seeming setback turned out to be an opportunity for better or happier employment.  A chance meeting brought you to your husband or wife.  In fact it was not chance at all, rather God's gracious working in your lives.

Sometimes the events that happen around us don’t always go the way we want, and maybe we would like to be like Joseph, Mary and that tiny Christ child and flee to another place, another country, or even another time.  Maybe we want to flee from our sins or we don’t want to acknowledge we have any sin.  So we hide our sins to ourselves, and when we realize what we have done it’s only time to run away before anyone finds out what we have done or left undone.  But, in those times when we can't make sense of things, when there seems to be no valid purpose or meaning to what's going on in our lives (and that happens to us all at one time or another), know that Christ has made you His own. 

There is nothing in all of creation that can separate you from Him and His love.  In fact, the Lord comes so near to you with His love that He actually gives Himself into you in the Sacrament of the Altar.  He imparts to you His very own life with His body and blood.  If the almighty Lord would go so far as to take on your vulnerable human flesh, to die in the flesh and shed His blood, and then give you His resurrected flesh and blood for the forgiveness of your sins, then certainly you can trust Him even in those times when there seems to be no reasonable answers to all your questions.

When those times occur. When our plans go crazy.  When there seems to be no reasonable answers to your questions, then that is a time when you can trust God.  Our plans say the year 2010 has ended and the new year 2011 has begun. But, God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11)   God’s plans were for the One little baby laying in that manger.  God’s plan was for One little Christ child whose earthly family fled to Egypt.  God’s plan was for Christ to return to Jerusalem so that He could take our sins with Him to the cross.  God’s plans give you the escape from you earthly bonds and give for you a place to dwell with Him in everlasting peace.   And that is not just a great escape, it is His love for you fulfilled by Christ, just for you.

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 Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus - December 31, 2010

The Church Season of Christmas,
New Year’s Day,
The Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 31, 2010)

“My Name”

Readings: 
        Psalm 8    
        Numbers 6:22-27       
        Romans 1:1-7   
        Luke 2:21   

Sermon Form:    Deductive

+INI+

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

The text for today is as recorded in the Old Testament Lesson from the 6th chapter of Numbers:

Numbers 6:22-27 (NIV)

22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’ 27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

(Aaronic blessing roughly phonetically translated)
24    ye-va-re-khe-kha    YHWH   ve-yish-me-re-kha
25    ya-er   YHWH   pa-nav   e-ley-kha   vi-chun-ne-ka
26    yi-sa  YHWH  pa-nav  e-ley-kha  ve-a-sem   le-kha  Sha-lom

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

The words just read are strange words to our ears, words from the past,  words that are not understandable, words certainly not of the present, nor of the future we look forward to on this night.  But, because they come from the past doesn't mean that they have no impact on our lives.  These words, no matter how strange they sounded, are words we do know for they are known to us as the Aaronic blessing, Words spoken by God to Moses, and to us.  And Moses was to share this Word with His brother Aaron and with his sons, to bless God’s people.  It is the promise of God to put his Name on His people, it is the Word of God’s promise to protect and deliver them.  On the eighth day after His Christmas birth, according to the Law of Moses, our Lord was circumcised and then He received the Name.  And the Name given to Him was the one which the angel had spoken to Joseph, “you shall call his Name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. “(Matthew 1:21)  God had exalted His only Son by sending Him into our world, “and given Him a Name which is above every Name. “(Philippians 2:9)

That Aaronic blessing is the one we still use at the end of our worship services.  And so therefore all our worship services, all that we utter in our praise and we return in thanks occurs surrounded by God’s Name, beginning with the words, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit” and ending with placing God’s Name upon you and blessing you as you depart.  And be sure to note, the service is not ours, it is God’s for all that occurs between those two blessings are gifts delivered from God, in His Holy Name.

“But what is in a name?  That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”  That’s the familiar quote from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, and the quote reflects Juliet telling her Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, that Juliet loves the person called Montague, she did not love the Montague name nor his family, she loved him.  But this Jesus, this Name, this Rose E’er blooming of Jesse’s seed is Him whom we have all sung these words,

 “1.....prophets have long sung,
        He came a flow’ret bright,
    amid the cold of winter,
        when half spent was the night.
 4    O Savior, child of Mary
        Who felt our human woe;
    O Savior King of glory,
        Who dost our weakness know:
    Bring us at length we pray
        To the bright courts of heaven,
    And to the endless day.”

(LSB#359:1&4)

Jesus is indeed the flower of which Isaiah foretold.  For in the incarnation of the One Named Jesus, YHWH joins creation to history.  The One who would be called Emmanuel, “God with us.”(Is. 7:14) For Isaiah guided by the Holy Spirit was looking forward to better days for his people and he knew they were yet to come.  And Isaiah spoke of those better times to come when it would be said, “to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6) Quite a list of names for the one who was to come.

But all those names do not make even half the joy we have when we hear our own name.  For it seems that the most important name in the 21st century is the name of the person which is looking back at us from our mirror.  And on this night we will not only celebrate ourselves, but we will celebrate with others, we will celebrate by going out or by staying home.  At while we sit waiting for the clock to strike midnight we wile away the hours recalling how fast the years have passed by or maybe by recalling the names of those who are no long with us to share our joy here in this world.  A New Year is upon us, we wish each other well, and that this coming year will be a happy one for all.

And also recall there is one more reason to celebrate this night, more important than any other and that is that the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ has come for you.  “The Lord has blessed you and kept you; 25 the Lord has made his face shine upon you and He has been gracious to you; 26 the Lord does turn his face toward you and He always gives you peace.” The Lord has put His Name Jesus upon you and by His Name you will always be blessed, not just for a night foreshadowing a new year, but for you foreshadowing eternal life.  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+