Author: TechCommittee

July 21, 2019                                                                                    Text:  Genesis 18:1-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

            In the land of Israel a lady’s fight with a cockroach put her husband in the hospital with burns, a broken pelvis and ribs.  The Jerusalem Post  reported she found the insect, stepped on it, threw it in the toilet and then sprayed insecticide when it refused to die.  Her husband came home from work, sat on the toilet and lit a cigarette.  He threw the cigarette in the toilet and got burned on his “sensitive parts.”  When paramedics came they laughed so hard at the story that they dropped the stretcher, which broke the man’s pelvis and ribs.

            There was another time in Israel when laughter abounded.  It is in our text.  It involves a husband and wife.  A senior citizen couple.  Two souls thinking that having a child has passed them by.  But has it?  God doesn’t think so and He is the creator of life.  He enjoys a good laugh and I pray you do too.

“LAUGHING WITH GOD”

            Can we laugh with God?  I believe we can.  He makes me laugh all the time.  I like to park away from other vehicles in large lots.  Numerous times I come out and there is a car parked right next to me or that person is getting in their car at the exact same time even though there were hundreds of people in the store.  I laugh.  God laughs.  Whatever my foibles the Lord always says, “Not so fast human being Lueck, I’m in control here.”  I laugh.  He laughs.  It happens all the time. 

            Does the same thing happen in your life?  He laughs.  You laugh.  I sure hope it does because God’s gift of laughter has been shown in certain medical studies to stimulate organs with oxygen-rich air.  It also helps relive stress and tension, improves the immune system and mood and relieves pain. 

            Abraham and Sarah got even more than just health benefits.  Abraham laughed when told he would have a son.  Sarah now laughs.  “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”  Sarah has both joy in a child to be born and in having sexual relations at an advanced age.  Joy with child and joy with husband.  God wanted Sarah to laugh for joy.  God wants us all to laugh for joy in His unique and astonishing promises.

            Notice at first though how Sarah’s laughter is laughter of doubt.  She didn’t believe a woman of 90 could have a child.  They laughed at the Savior too.  When he healed Jairus’ daughter the people laughed in unbelief.  But that unbelief turned to joy when she came back from death.

            Do we laugh at the Lord’s promises?  Do we doubt his Divine Providence?  Do we laugh at God’s promise to forgive us over and over in our weakness?  When do we laugh at His promises?  When we are struggling with temptation, when we are beaten down by the world, when we are sick or fighting a disease, when the expenses outweigh the income, when the direction for our life is not clear, when we watch our kids struggle.  The Lord asked a question to this faithful couple and He asks us the same thing, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (v. 14)  Can our troubles be too big for the Lord?  Never.  Laughing with God because His promises lead us from doubt and unbelief to joy and laughter.

            That is what happened with Sarah and Abraham when their Son was born – Isaac – which means, “he laughed.”  Sarah said at his birth, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” (Gen. 21:6)  It was by faith that these geriatrics believed the promise.  This Son being born brought great joy.

            There would be another Son being born that brought great joy.  Not just to a small corner of Israel but to the whole world.  He would be a Son of Promise.  Promised by God to all of mankind.  This was also a promise to Abraham.  From his seed would come forth one who would be a blessing to all the world.  They would laugh that He was the Son of God.  They would laugh when He wouldn’t come down from the cross.  They laughed in mockery and scorn.  They laughed that He was dead and what were His followers going to do now.

            God kept the promise.  God laughed at their antics.  God laughed that they thought they were bigger than Him.  God laughed at their foolishness and arrogance.  The Promised One from Abraham’s line and David’s line has conquered unbelief.  He is living proof that God keeps His promises, for he rose again on the third day and is alive today.  “To those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

            God wants you today to laugh with Him.  Laugh in joy.  Witness to this joy when others laugh at your faith.  Who cares?!  You will stand before the throne of God someday and laugh for joy for you are in heaven forever. 

            God has a great sense of humor.  Don’t miss it as you go about your daily business.  God laughs with all of us because of the promise of forgiveness and salvation.  Laugh with Him at the antics and arrogance of our world and then know the God of laughter has the last laugh.  You will too.

                                                                                                Amen.     

July 7, 2019       Texts:  Lamentations 3:22-33, 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, Mark 5:24b-34

Dear Friends in Christ,

            How many of you remember the show Hee Haw?  They had a segment on that show and a catchy tune about “gloom, despair and agony on me.”  Do you ever feel like that song?  We have many blessings as people of faith and people of this country but we also have gloom, despair and agony and as we look out over the horizon these seem to be building.

            You are a smart people gathered here today.  You know some of the challenges before us.  We hear them so many times we block out their intensity.  Taxes going up.  Roads being filled with vehicles and now drivers who can light up the funny weed and instead of reaching for the Cheetos they go for the car keys.  The continued bashing of people who aren’t in agreement with us.  The pseudo sages of our age who have all the answers for you but don’t want to follow their own ramblings. 

            The agony and despair may hit closer to home with divorce, a loved one who succumbed to drugs or alcohol or gambling.  A marriage in a precarious situation because of a health problem.  The financial cloud – do I have enough for retirement or college or the house’s next big repair? 

            We may lift our heads to the heavens and say, “Lord, these must be the last days.  Things cannot get much worse before you return in judgment.” (2 Pet. 3:1-4)

            You can get a little depressed, can’t you?  What if I tell you, “It can get worse.”  Please don’t jump up and leave.  We are going to find for you today . . .

“JOY OUT OF TRIAL”

            Read the Book of Lamentations and see how bad it can get.  God rained down ruin on the priests who wouldn’t repent.  God destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its idols and defiled temple.  God had warned them of this if they turned from the faith of their fathers. 

            Your personal problems seem more immediate than those of our nation and state.  Hang on.  It can get worse.  Look at the woman in our Gospel.  Her illness stayed with her for twelve years.  She had to sleep apart from her husband and be isolated from friends and family.  She went from doctor to doctor and all this got her was a little lighter pocketbook.  When she approached Jesus was she lamenting?

            Things can get worse – even in the Church.  The new congregations of Macedonia in our Epistle suffered affliction and poverty.  Have we suffered like they?  Yes, the church on earth has problems but we cannot equate them with some of the early churches.  They had lives and money at risk at all times. 

            Scripture reminds us that things can get worse – much worse.  Worse for our country, worse for our Church, worse for ourselves.  How can we go forward and take seriously the words of Scripture that say “Rejoice always?” (1 Thess. 5:16)

            In Christ, the future is not all gloom, despair, and agony.  Far from depression and misery is the Good News of our Lord.  When the writer of Lamentations surveyed Jerusalem and the destruction around, he could still say, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.” ((v. 22)  When all seemed hopeless Jeremiah still confessed, “The Lord…will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love.” (v. 31-32)

            Look beyond the doom and gloom.  Look to heaven.  The Lord is master over time and history, there is hope.  We have life-restoring Good News when we see our country torn apart by sin and when we drift in our personal lives.  There is a tomorrow for those who believe in Christ Jesus.

            If your despair is the more personal kind then witness the new life God gave the woman who touched his robe.  By the power of God her health returned and sadness was set aside.  She could again enjoy her husband’s company in bed and be back in her social circles.  God restored a soul and a body.

            He did the same for you in baptism.  He made you an unbreakable promise:  He has claimed you as His own.  He reminds you of that in His Word.  He communicates that to you when you eat and drink his body and blood.  God’s grace brings you a sense of assurance.  Come on out from under the covers, face the day, meet the challenge through your Savior.

            Gain strength from the witness of the Macedonians.  Persecuted with very little to give.  They knew of Jesus’ sacrifice so what did they do – they sacrificed.  They gave glorious gifts in spite of meager means.  The Holy Spirit gave them great joy in their giving.  In a country filled with despair, in a world filled with hostility toward God’s Word and purposes, these people became beacons of light to lead the lost to the Lord.

            Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in 107.  An arrest takes place.  The crime?  He was a Christian.  He found joy in his martyrdom which was a lion feeding with him as the main course.  We don’t stand on the brink of arrest for our faith yet.  We will finish the week without being the main entrée for Simba.  But, like Ignatius, we have a victorious Savior.

            With light from Jesus, gloom, despair, and agony are banished from Christian lives.  With power from the conquering Christ, we find peace and healing, whether living in ancient Greece or modern America.  With the Lord leading, the Church can unite.  I told you it was safe to stay because now you know of Joy Out of Trial.   

                                                                                                                                    Amen.