Author: TechCommittee

June 23, 2019                                                                        Text:  Galatians 3:23-4:7

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Have you made your plans for the 4^th of July?  We all know what the 4^th is right?  The birthday of our country, Independence Day, July 4, 1776.  Rein in your minutemen, my Christian friend, that’s not quite right.

            July 4, 1776 was the birthday of 13 countries, which don’t exist anymore and were never formally named the United States of America.  Here is what the Declaration of Independence actually said:  “We…solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States.”  Each had its own power to raise an army, conclude treaties, and elect a leader.  Not one, but 13 separate countries.  It wasn’t until 13 years later when “we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union” wrote the Constitution, that we all became one.  This new government and Constitution went into effect in 1789.

            The holy Christian Church includes billions of souls, free and individual.  We are scattered in thousands of denominations.  We are diverse and independent and not always in harmony.  St. Paul writes in our text that we as Christians are all one in Christ Jesus.  How can that be?

“HOW CAN WE BE ONE IN CHRIST?”

            Christian churches are not all in agreement.  Thank you Pastor Obvious.  You see it among your family members and your friends.  You hear it from your co-workers and acquaintances.  We see it even among our brothers and sisters in our own Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

            Having been a Pastor in this Synod for almost 28 years I can say that we have had relative harmony the past few years.  It wasn’t this way when I was a non- gray hair Pastor.  But even now as I and our delegate Steve Parry vote for the synodical president and the church gets ready to meet in convention next month, we have some disharmony.  Not a lot, but Steve and I get mailings urging a vote one way or another.  This is because the church on earth is made up of individuals.  Sinful, I want things my way, human beings.  How can we be one in Christ?

            You Mr. and Mrs. pew sitter understand this.  Why?  Because something inside you tells you that you aren’t even one with yourself.  Are you always of one mind – in your own mind?  Don’t we all do things that we don’t want to do?  Haven’t we changed our minds about situations because we lived through them or were close to someone who went through something?  Do you really know yourself or are you just blowin’ in the wind?  What does it mean to say we’re all one in Christ Jesus when we’re not even one with ourselves?

            Inside every Christian believer there is a war between believer and unbeliever.  We are sinner and saint at the same time.  The struggle will not go away.  We are not as one with ourselves because the Christian can never be one with sin.  This is also why we are not one with other Christians because they have the same conflict going on inside themselves.  They may be glossing over a sin, not seeing a sin because of selfish motives or refusing to honor God’s Word on a certain subject.  All doctrine is not true.  Some is false.  God expects us to study His Word and declare to the world what we believe just like the reformers did. 

Isn’t this a little gloomy, Pastor?  There is hope.  Listen to the words of St. Paul in our text.  “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.  For as many of you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female, for you are all on in Christ Jesus.” (v. 26-28)  We may look like a whole bunch of independent countries each going its own way, but beneath that, beneath it all, incredibly, the forgiveness we have by Baptism into Christ has formed a perfect union.

Wherever sin is forgiven, we are one.  Wherever sin remains – as in false doctrine – separation must remain.  But where sin is forgiven, we are one.

The beauty of that is that even with Christians from whom we must remain outwardly separate, we are one, because all true Christians – all who truly believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection has saved them – are forgiven, even those many believers who hold some teachings we find false.  We will not be visibly one with them because we cannot be one with their sin.  But we know that as we look at one another, inside we are one.  “You are all one in Christ Jesus.”

We are all on in Christ as we declare His death and resurrection.  We are all one in Christ as we stand in the Savior’s forgiveness.  We are all one in Christ when we live in His love and mercy and grace.  This how we CAN be one in Christ.

                                                                                                                        Amen. 

June 16, 2019 – Trinity Sunday                                           Text:  Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Back in August of 2000, we the members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church placed a cornerstone (though it’s not really in a corner) in the front of our church.  We placed in there items such as a bible, a hymnal, a newspaper, a list of our congregation members and a few other things.  We sang a hymn and had prayers.  Someday, like at many churches that celebrate a 100^th Anniversary, this might be opened.  What will people see?  They will see God’s Word, the words of his people and the words of the world.

            It was our prayer that day that God would bless our congregation and the mission of God’s people.  We lifted to God our petitions that people would hear the Word of God, proclaim that Word in the world, lift up to God their songs of praise.

            In our text for today we do not have a time capsule with objects in it, but we do get a rare glimpse of what was there at the earth’s foundation.  Our goal is to open this text so that we can see the . . .

“DELIGHT OF GOD”

            This Old Testament Reading from Proverbs gives us some additional knowledge of what was happening at creation beyond what we know in the Book of Genesis.  Creation is something that is constantly argued in our world.  Let’s keep it simple as God’s people and say this.  We were not there when the world was created, but God was, and He has revealed how it happened.  God is credible.  We believe what His Word has to say.

            What Proverbs adds so beautifully is we are given a glimpse of God even before His work of creation.  Before the world began, God was rejoicing, and his delight begins the story of our salvation.

            What was God delighting in?  First God was delighting in Jesus.  Verse 30 says, “I was daily his delight.”  Christ, the Son of God, was and is an object of delight and pleasure for the Father.  Paul clarified this in Colossians 1:16:  “By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth.”  This ties the Father with the Son.  We also know from Genesis that the Spirit “hovered over the waters.”  The Trinity was present at creation.  Jesus is the master workman who is with the Father before the world was created.  Father, Son, and Spirit worked together to bring all things into being, and after it was all created, God called it good.

            After the fall into sin, Jesus had to come to restore creation.  If we go back to the foundation of the world and found this time capsule we would see that the story of our salvation begins with this delight of God.

            Many times we are guilty of approaching God for a temporary fix in our lives.  When something is wrong we turn to God.  A divorce.  A death.  A disaster.  A challenge.  A question.  We reduce God then to a temporary healer or fixer.  We make him fit our needs. 

            People are more like what W. Somerset Maugham wrote, “The nature of men and women – their essential nature – is so vile and despicable that if you were to portray a person as he really is, no one would believe you.”  Is that you?  Is that me?  Do we want all our thoughts exposed?  Our actions to be known? 

            This is why we need the delight of God.  Forgiveness for God is not a momentary fix in our lives.  It is part of a much larger story.  God found delight at creation after he formed us.  When we fell into sin, He still delighted in His Son.  Why?  Because Jesus chose to come, to die for your sin, and to rise for your salvation.  By His death and resurrection, Jesus promises to bring you from this world into the new creation of God, where you will sing an everlasting song of praise.

            I do enjoy the Book of Proverbs.  I think of most of it as God’s Instruction Book.  There are short proverbial sayings that help us in discipleship.  It helps us to walk in the ways of God.  It is easy to think we are the ones pursuing Wisdom.  In our text though we are not pursuing God.  Instead, we come across words about God pursuing us.  Wisdom goes to the crowded places, calls to all people, and sings of God’s delight.  Before we ever pursue God, God pursues us.  Before we ever delight in God, God already delights in us. 

            Thus, our salvation begins and ends with God’s delight.  As verse 31 sates, “rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.” 

            The delight of God is with us for a lifetime.  Most of us or maybe all of us will not be around when the cornerstone of our church is opened some day.  But the delight of God will continue through Jesus to make a difference in the lives of our sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  That brings a smile to my face, to your face and most importantly to the face of God.  He delights in the salvation of all.

            Amen.        

June 9, 2019 – Pentecost Text: John 14:23-31
Dear Friends in Christ,
Who do you go to for counsel? As you know I am pretty self-assured person,
but there are areas of life I need some advice. When I bought my first car I talked
with my parents who had the experience and then I took them along. It was high-
pressure, with the salesman blocking our path to the door and my dad got a
headache but thanks to my parents the deal was pretty good. Two years ago we
leased a vehicle for the first time. I had lunch with a college friend who counseled
me on how to go about it. He is also on the ready when we turn it in next year.
Parents and friends are just some of the people who counsel us. You may
also seek out a Pastor or therapist or boss or coach or teacher. How many times do
you seek the help of the ultimate Counselor – the Holy Spirit? We don’t always
understand His work. He appears in Scripture as a dove and tongues of fire and a
loud, rushing wind and a quiet whisper. Will the real Holy Spirit please stand up?
Our text gives us help. The Greek word is paraklaytos, which literally means
“one who is called to and stands by one’s side.” In our text it is translated as
“helper.” I like the NIV translation, which is “Counselor.” It is Pentecost and we
ask…
“WHO CAN COUNSEL YOU BEST?”
What does a good counselor do? They listen and sometimes like with Nathan
and King David they confront us. We have all been counseled to repent, to make
right a wrong and to own up to our problems. This is also the work of the Holy
Spirit. He uses the Word of God to let us know about our secret and not-so-secret sins. This is not an easy job for our Counselor. We can be hardheaded and we don’t
want to acknowledge our guilt and our weaknesses.
Pastor Eldon Weisheit tells of the time he was doing a children’s sermon and
he help up words like “short”, “tall”, “smart”, “popular”, “handsome.” He then asked
the children to raise their hands if they thought these words applied to them. Most
raised their hands on at least a couple of them. Then he held up the word “sinner”
and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited, until finally one youngster in the front row
took hold of his little brother’s hand and lifted it high in the air.
Aren’t we like that little shaver? Ready to lift someone else’s arm up as a
sinful person? Do you ever think the problem might be you? The best counselors in
our life confront us with the truth in love. They are honest but compassionate. This
is the Holy Spirit. He is concerned about our welfare and He does not want us hiding
from the sin that harms us.
The Holy Spirit does not just convict of us of our sin – thank God. This is not
His most important job. His main priority is to comfort us with the Gospel, the Good
News of our forgiveness in Christ.
The Spirit convicts us to lead us to repentance. We all know what that looks
like, don’t we? We are told we should apologize or tell someone we are sorry. We
might do it a little hesitantly, but we do it and prayerfully feel better after. Our
Counselor reminds us we are poor, miserable sinners but this leads us to the great
joy that God still loves us and we are His children. How wonderful that is.
Daily the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Scriptures. Daily we are
reminded of the promises of our Baptism. Daily he reminds us of Christ’s
death on the cross so that we can be forgiven. We then can pass that forgiveness on to others.
Someone close to us can hear it from our lips, a wife or husband, son or daughter,
brother or sister or Christian friend.
There was an older Pastor who grew up on a large vegetable farm in Ohio.
All the family worked there, aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins. They had a
beautiful tradition that kept division at a minimum. Each Communion Sunday
before going to worship they would hold hands around their large kitchen table and
starting with the oldest down to the youngest they would ask forgiveness for any
hurtful words or sinful actions committed during the week. Then each would say, “I
forgive you in Jesus’ name.” Then it was on to church to receive with great joy the
body and blood of their Savior and to sit at the feet of their divine Counselor, the
Holy Spirit.
Who Can Counsel You Best? While you may get wonderful advice from a
trusted confidante, it is still coming from an imperfect human being. Also, our
human counselors may not always be available. The Holy Spirit is there for us at all
times. Call on Him to lead you. Call on Him for direction. Call on Him for that
problem that weighs on your mind. He will provide the answer as He makes you
spiritually aware of where you need to be or what you need to do.
Our Divine Counselor works powerfully in our lives to become the holy
people that the Holy Spirit calls us to be.
Amen.