Sermon Texts

December 5, 2021                                  Text:  Malachi 3:1-7b

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Here’s a story for you:  “An optimist said to a pessimist, ‘isn’t this a bright, sunny day?’  The pessimist replied, ‘Yes, but if this heat doesn’t stop soon, all the grass will burn up.’  Two days later, the optimist said to the pessimist, ‘Isn’t this rain wonderful?’  The pessimist replied, ‘Well, if it doesn’t stop soon, my garden will wash away.’  Later the optimist invited the pessimist to go duck hunting.  The optimist wanted to show the pessimist what his hunting dog could do.  The pessimist looked at the dog and said, ‘Looks like a mutt to me.’

    “At that moment, some ducks flew over.  The optimist shot one of the ducks and it fell in the lake.  The dog ran out on the water, picked up the duck, and ran back on the water.  The optimist took the duck from the dog and said to the pessimist, ‘What do you think of my dog now?’  The pessimist replied, ‘Dumb dog – can’t even swim!’”

    Are you the optimist or the pessimist?  How do you see God’s love for you in Christ Jesus?  How do you view God working in your life?  Do you ever wonder . . . 

“WHERE IS THE GOD OF JUSTICE?”

    That is a question posed by the people of Malachi’s time.  It comes in chapter 2 right before our text.  Israel was not ushering in the glorious and prosperous reign they had hoped for.  Israel had internal problems and external problems.  Pagan people were prospering because of their wickedness.  The people questioned God and thought he delighted in all this.  The believers were burdened, the wicked rejoiced.  Things were upside down.  People began to think that God was unlike His promises.  Had He forgotten His people?

    Our text is God’s answer to these wearying accusations.  God will act and soon.  Yet God’s coming will not be as the people expect and hope.  The pagan will not be the first focus of God’s judgment.  Rather, god’s coming will be in the purification of his own people.  They must be upright before God judges the outsider and brings in the everlasting victory.

    The Lord expects better of His people.  As silver gets tarnished in the open air, we easily adopt the ways of the world.  We are influenced by what we see and hear.  We buy into the babble and as we do the image of God starts to be hidden in our lives.  We sing with the world:  “Where is the God of justice?”  We start believing that God doesn’t care.  We start believing that God will no longer intervene with his justice.  We think God has become like certain big city cops who are told to let bad behavior go.  Our world like Malachi’s is turned upside down.

    God could have destroyed Israel for not paying attention.  But He didn’t.  God has every right to destroy our society for not paying attention.  But He doesn’t.  He rebuked them.  He rebukes us.  He warned them and us of God’s imminent coming with purifying fire.  They needed to repent and so do we.  If we do we can endure the coming of the Lord.  He promised the people they would once again be “pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old.” (v. 4)

    Luke announced the “way of the Lord” was the coming of Jesus.  Jesus’ sufferings, going to the cross, were the purifying fire and the fullers’ soap.  Jesus endured the day of His coming and He stood under the judgment of God.  Jesus obedient passion was the offering “pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old.”  Being united in Christ by His death, we return to God, as He returns to us.

    Where is the God of justice?  He is right here with us.  He never left.  Our text, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (v. 6)  He’s consistent, we are inconsistent.  He’s a rock, we are sand.  The Lord has control, we spin out of control.  God is the same, we blow like the wind with whatever news we hear that day.  God smiles.  “Dear child, there you go again.”

    In our world God is very near.  This God of justice is fair and righteous.  He has purified us in Baptism.  He has given us endurance to stand in the strength of His body and blood.  He has re-created us in his image so that we can shine clear and bright in the darkness of the world.  

    Like in the time of Malachi the Lord is refining us.  He is making us stronger for the upcoming journey.  He wants us to have a healthy fear of who He is and what He can do.  He reminds us again today that a primary aspect of His constancy is his desire to save.  His willingness to forgive.  His gift of hope.  

    Where is the God of justice?  He is never far away.  He draws near to your heart and mind.  I’m so glad I know that, aren’t you?

                                Amen.     

November 28, 2021                        Text:  Jeremiah 33:14-16

Dear Friends in Christ,

    When do things and/or people become old?  Is a car new until 10 years or 100,000 miles?  What about your fridge or your dryer?  When do your clothes become old?  For some it may be after only a few washes.  Hang on to your “old” clothes and then they become vintage and popular at re-sale shops.

    How about us?  When do we go from young to old?  Is it all about how we feel?  Is it how others view us?  I’ve always been considered young.  “Your to young to be a Pastor you should be in high school” was something I heard a lot in my early pastorate.  Even today when I tell people I have been in this profession for 30 years they have a hard time believing it.  But that is usually people older than I am.  When I ask the confirmands over the years most lowball my age, but not all of them.  By the way, I’ve got your names in my secret book!  I feel good, I can still perform in my sporting events, my mind is still in sync and then a family friend who hasn’t seen me in years says, “Boy, you are getting gray.”  So which is it – young and new or old and decaying?  

    Change is happening and the mirror doesn’t lie.  When change and decay occur then anxiety and insecurity can swell up from within.  Why didn’t I remember that?  Why this pain?  Stairs can look like a mountain.  

    Jeremiah knew about change and decay.  He knew about anxiety and insecurity.  Jeremiah is here to announce God’s deliverance from all of this.  It is a message we need to hear because we all need . . .

“SECURITY”

    God speaks through Jeremiah:  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (v. 14-15)

    “They day that are coming” is a reference to the birth of Christ and he will “execute justice”; namely pay for our sins at Calvary.  Righteousness is the obedience God demands of us but we can’t always be righteous.  Christ would have to earn our obedience through His obedience.  God reckons us righteous through Christ who died and rose again to pay for our disobedience.

    Jeremiah had his insecurities.  He saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians.  Before that he was in prison and had people reject him because of his preaching God’s Word.  They didn’t want to hear it.  He saw upheavals and uncertainties.  Yet God would comfort him with a promise.  A coming Branch, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Can we acknowledge the world has always had uncertainty?  We are fearful because we see these institutions of church and government and healthcare and education in upheaval.  We are concerned about the lack of a justice system.  Our security is worn down when people want the pandemic to continue so they can wield the power.  But guess what word I heard from an apolitical doctor the other day – endemic.  We will still have isolated cases but the hysteria will end.  History shows this over and over again.  God gives us hope.  Political bad decisions have consequences that cannot be made sensible by a 30-second talking point.

    “In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely.” (16a)  Alfred Edersheim, a noted Jewish convert to Christianity gave this fascinating description of the Roman World at the time of Jesus.  See if you notice anything.

    “The citizens were idle, dissipated, sunken.  Their chief thoughts were of the theater and arena.  They were mostly supported at the public cost…200,000 were thus maintained by the State.  (There was a rapid decay of home life) partly from corruption, but chiefly from the cessation of marriage, and the nameless abominations of what remained of family life…among the populace religion had degenerated into abject superstition.”

    That is what Jesus stepped into.  He didn’t secure earthly Judah or Jerusalem.  Judah and Jerusalem are references to the church – to Jew and Gentile saved by grace through faith in Christ’s saving us through His blood, death, and resurrection.  He secured for us a heavenly Jerusalem.  It is ours now and forever.

    Let God’s Word address your insecurities:  “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken…For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Heb. 12:28 & 13:14)  Hold on to God’s Word when in doubt or when your gut churns with concern.  Also from Hebrews, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

    Rejoice with Jeremiah.  Beyond the disappointment and challenges of this world that come at us from all angles, beyond the anxieties we have security that is secure.  We have the security that the Son of God, the seed of David, brings and freely bestows on us.  Be at peace inside as you meet the world on the outside, for you have security in Jesus.               Amen.    

November 21, 2021                                  Text:  Mark 13:24-37

Dear Friends in Christ,

    On May 19, 1780, the sky over Hartford, CT and much of New England, darkened so quickly and ominously that some members of the Connecticut legislature, as they peered through the windows thought was world was ending.  They rose for an immediate adjournment.

    The speaker, Colonel Abraham Davenport, quelled the chaos when he rose and said, “The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not.  If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment.  If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty.  Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.”

    The end of the world as we know from the Bible is imminent.  What should we be doing now?  On this last Sunday of the Church Year the text is from the Book of Mark.  When it comes to the grand finale we have . . . 

“ALLURES, ALERTS, ASSURES”

    Our first word of the day is allure.  The end of the world always has a certain allure for us.  Jesus disciples were no different.  They want to know when.  They want details.

    People are fascinated by the end times.  Why the popularity of the Book of Revelation?  More people ask questions about this book more than any others in a Bible Study.  And then we still don’t completely understand it.  But the end times have such drama and oh Judgment Day.  We write books and make movies and have television shows like we are some kind of experts.  

    The only expert is the Lord.  There is such an allure for both the believer and the unbeliever.  The believer is confident of a new and a new earth.  The believer knows that Jesus’ return is a good thing for now and for eternity.  The unbeliever on the other hand is scared.  They may not say it, but down deep they know they may be facing an eternity of hell.  When the trumpet sounds it is too late.  They wonder, “Could I have been wrong all along?”  The predictions must make God laugh.  Even Jesus says in verse 32 that He, Jesus, doesn’t know the day or hour.

    That brings us to word two of our day – alert.  “Be on guard, keep awake.  For you do not know when the time will come.”  Are you on alert?  Are you anxious with expectation or dreading the moment?  We’ve lived through some big moments but if Jesus returns – wow – now there is something to talk about in heaven.  The good news, the 24-hour cable news channels can’t cover it to death!

    Our lives are full of trouble and challenges.  But Jesus tells us:  “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mk. 24:13)  We don’t walk alone.  Jesus is alongside as we wait.  You can and you do endure because Jesus lived, died, and rose for you.

    That leads to our final word of the day and that word is…assure.  Christ is coming.  Trusting in Christ we have his full assurance.  We wait with joy because the Lord has put sin and death in their eternal places.  We have light and life and forgiveness and hope.

    Be assured through His Word.  “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (v. 32)  His Word assures of forgiveness and we share that with others.  His Word assures of love and we share that with others.  His Good News of salvation assures us and we share that with others.  

    For thirty years I have preached to three different congregations that the Lord is going to return.  I see the signs.  You see the signs.  Pray that day will be here sooner rather than later, the day there will be no more headaches, no more stress, no more fears, no more tears, no more virus, no more sorrow and no more death.  I can’t wait for heaven.  No more political footballs, everything works and nothing breaks down.   The showers are always hot and the toilet paper is plentiful and soft. Truthfully we know that won’t matter.  What will matter is being in the presence of Almighty God – another wow moment.  

    As Christians, we live in Him now by faith, and on that Last Day we will be with Him forever in love.  That is good news for us and all who believe.  With faith in Christ, there is forgiveness for all our sins.  There is hope when things seem hopeless.  There is life after death.  There is eternity.  With Jesus, we are more than conquerors.  That is why Jesus lived, died, and rose for you.  So, not just allured – stay alert, be assured.  Jesus is coming.

                        Amen. 

November 14, 2021 – Stewardship Sunday        Text:  Colossians 4:3, 5-6

Dear Friends in Christ,

    If you are mentally able to do this I want you to think back in life when citizens of the world did not carry around phones.   Hard to do when I recently heard that more of the world’s population owns a phone than have a running toilet.  There is something wrong with that picture, but I digress.  Ok, are you back to that time?  Before phones many people but not all wore watches.  I rarely wore one.  If I wasn’t near a bank or inside I was asking people what time it was.  As someone who respected my parent’s curfew and being at places on time, I was finding someone with a watch and saying, “Excuse me, do you have the time?”

    Were you like me?  Even if you have always been a watch wearer you have probably had a moment or two where you asked the same question, “Excuse me, do you have the time?”

    Today is Stewardship Sunday and the direction we take on this day of Sabbath rest is a simple one . . .

“EXCUSE ME, DO YOU HAVE THE TIME?”

    We begin by asking ourselves, “Excuse me, do you have the time?”  Well, do you?  Do you have enough time?  Do you feel squeezed, pressured, on edge and now the holidays are coming and well . . .  Paul writes in verse 5, “making the best use of the time?”  Do we do that?

    Do we ever waste time?  This afternoon is a bad example because I am going to the nursing home to conduct worship but on many Sundays I like to relax and watch sports?  Is that bad?  Depending on your view of sports your answer may be yes or no.  We all have things we do with our time that others may not find productive.  Does God expect us to always be out sharing His Word?  No, that too is unrealistic.  The Lord understands we all need our rest, our down time, our alone time.  It prepares our minds and our bodies to be useful in His Kingdom.

    Let’s ask God the question, “Excuse me, do you have the time?”  God is not subject to time but He is the Creator of time.  So, He has the time but does He need the time.  Scripture says this, “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Gal. 4:4-5)

    Jesus came at exactly the right time.  He kept the Law of Moses perfectly because we could not.  He bought us back from sin and gave us our freedom.  He did this on a cross at a specific time in the history of our world.  He provided us forgiveness for when we waste the time.  We are freed from the guilt that we should be doing more.  Even Jesus had to have time away.  Didn’t the disciples drive him a little crazy at times.  “Wake up Lord, the wind and the waves!”  “I’m the greatest, no I’m the greatest.”  “Let these hungry people go home.”  Even when he would go away sometimes they would have to follow just like a child following his mother to the tub.  In spite of all that, He loved them and died for them and rose for them.  He does the same for each of us.  The Lord gives us a fresh start as his children to spend our time for God’s purposes.

    We ask Paul, “Excuse me do you have the time?”  He wanted the time as he writes in verse 3, “At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison.”  Paul needed the prayers of the believers.  He needed opportunities to share the Gospel.  He wanted to use his time wisely.  A big picture view of his life certainly confirms that.  We think of him as one of the greatest Christian missionaries who ever lived.

    How do you see yourself?  Is time usage a strength or weakness?  “Excuse me, do you have the time?”  You do, so listen to Paul.  “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”  (v. 5-6)  Before unbelievers the Word we proclaim should be done in a favorable light.  We strive through the work of the Holy Spirit for tact and sincerity so that our words take root.  Let your love flow to the person you are speaking to.  Do you use words like blessing, forgiven, saved, hopeful a lot?  Or are you complaining, whining, wondering why things are so bad for you?

    Take this perspective home with you.  10 of us from Good Shepherd went to a movie this week based on the story of Rev. Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand.  Converts to Christianity who were tortured for Christ.  We sat through a half hour of previews that just kept playing over and over.  We were watching people in prison and being beaten for their faith.  As I sat there I thought, “We are all antsy to get this thing moving but we are in a comfortable theater.  There are millions around the world who are experiencing what the Wurmbrand’s went through.”  Can the Lord use your time?  Can you pray for the people around the world who can be imprisoned for having a Bible or even speaking the name of Jesus?  Can our brothers and sisters in Christ count on you?

    Help us Lord to use the time you give us for your glory.

                                    Amen.           

Nov. 7, 2021 – All Saints Sunday                Text:  Matthew 18:1-10

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Are you ready to be confused?  Today is All Saints Sunday but we have a text on angels, what is going on Pastor?  We are going to delineate between the two.  There is confusion within the Christian Church and even more so outside the Christian Church about angels and saints.  

    How do we use the word angel?  We say of our daughters, “She is such a little angel.”  We say of our sons, “That kid is just like an angel.”  Angels are figurines and in paintings and in TV and movies.  The caricature of the angel floating in the clouds playing the harp or the angel getting ready to shoot the arrow of love fill our heads of images that part from the reality.

    Yes, there are angels.  God uses these ministering spirits for His purposes.  We have maybe come in contact with an angel unawares.  They watch over us as we speak of travel and dangerous situations.  One thing to get straight today:  we do not become angels when we die.  Loved ones are not looking down on us or intervening for us.  Once you have attained perfection why would anyone want anything more to do with this sinful world.  We say, “take us from this vale of tears” because we are tired of the hurt and the suffering and the sin.  We don’t want to relive it.  

    Let’s go at it this way . . .

“WE’RE NO ANGELS . . . BUT WE ARE SAINTS”

    Angels, you see, surround the reality that God values man.  Consider these words from our text:  “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.  For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”  What do we learn here?  First, the abode of angels – they live in heaven.  Second, they are in the presence of God the Father.  Third, angels are keeping watch.  This verse is the basis for the depictions of “guardian angels.”  Haven’t we all had experiences where are “guardian angel” kept us safe?  Landing in an airplane in a bad snowstorm?  Turning a steering wheel just in time?  Kept from drowning?  All done by the Lord’s angels not by grandpa who floated down here to rescue you.

    Founding Father James Madison said this, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”  Are men and women and children angels?  Of course not.  Most of the time we are so far from angelic it is laughable.  Does our compassion extend to everybody, even those we see as being on the wrong side of everything?  Are we kind, and gentle and speak well of others?  Do we love with no expectation in return?  The closest we get to being angels is when we dress in white and even that is not found in the Bible.  The bottom line is we’re no angels.  Elvis sang what we can be “the devil in disguise.”

    All right we are no angels, but Pastor isn’t there another part of the sermon?  Glad you asked.  We are saints.  Say it loud.  Say it with joy.  We are saints.  Not in the sense of having a hospital with our name it.  Not in the same way as a school with a patron saint.  No colleges have plans to put our name on the letterhead.  We are saints but not because of anything we have done.  In those rare moments you are saintly the world is not preparing for you a statue.

    You are no angel and God the Father knows that.  You fail.  You fall short.  Your harp playing is little off.  Your arrow is shot into the backside of an enemy.  You need some help and quickly.

    God knew all this so he shared in our frail humanity.  In becoming like us, God shows how much He values our existence.  Whether we live a hundred years or die tomorrow, God reached through the great chasm that separates Creator from creature to bring frail, fallen, un angel like men and women and children back to the good world to come.  This happened because of the word of the cross.  

    Immanuel, God with us, mounts up on Zion, crucified and risen, and enters our ears and our mouths so that we hear and taste bittersweet victory.  Here we know that God feeds us and strengthens our faith for the battle He shares as we wait the consummation.  

    Angelic voices rise today in preparation:  “To you all angels cry aloud, the heav’ns and all the pow’rs therein; to you cherubim and seraphim continually do cry.”  We get a foretaste of the feast to come as we hear:  “With angels, and archangels and all company of heaven we laud and magnify your glorious name.”  We worship and celebrate with the angels and saints.  Today here on earth, maybe tomorrow in heaven.  We are living saints through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We’re no angels . . . but we are saints.

    As saints we still have angelic work to do.  Jesus was speaking to the disciples in our text.  His ministers of mercy.  What is speaking to you?  Where can your voice of prayer and faith make a difference?  What wayward saint needs your presence and love?  Who is turning their back on their formerly strong Jesus relationship that wants to hear some saintly advice from you?  Intervene, before it is too late.  The Holy Spirit has your back.  The Holy Spirit has the words.  Draw strength as a living saint. 

    Has the confusion lifted?  Do you better understand?  Let’s keep it simple and say it one more time.  We’re no angels . . . but we are saints.

                                    Amen.     

October 31, 2021 – Reformation                 Text:  Jeremiah 36:23

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Do you own a paper shredder?  They come in all sizes and many of us have one that shreds bank statements, bills, and other sensitive information.  It destroys these things.

    Today we meet a paper shredder with a name – King Jehoiakim.  He was shredding God’s Word.  Cutting it with a knife and burning it.  Why would he do such a thing?  Because he was motivated by the Paper Shredder.  The Paper Shredder is a liar and deceiver and goes by names such as Satan or the devil.  He does not want us to have the power of God’s Word or life in God’s Word or forgiveness in God’s Word.

    Why do such things?  Well, yes he is evil and he wants to destroy lives.  Yours and mine.  He wants us to see the days as hopeless.  He wants us to question God’s Word.  He wants to shred our hearts and minds so that we join his team.  He wants to keep us from God’s Word.

    Thank God we come from a lineage that wants us to have God’s Word.  Martin Luther wanted people to have God’s Word.  The reformers wanted men and women and children to have access to this truth.  Today is Reformation Sunday throughout much of Christendom and we state boldly . . .

“YOU CAN’T SHRED THIS!”

    Luther knew about the Paper Shredder.  Wrote about him in our opening hymn, “The old evil foe, now means deadly woe!”  That is why the Holy Spirit had Luther embrace God’s Word.  We heard it in our Epistle lesson, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:23-24)  We heard it in the Gospel, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

    The Grand deceiver used one of his minions to work on silencing Luther.  Albert of Brandenburg was selling indulgences to pay off his debt to the pope.  People could buy these indulgences pieces of paper really, that was signed by the church and lessened their time in purgatory.  Luther put together 95 Theses that in essence said these pieces of paper were worthless, they should be shredded.  As people believed Luther and the church, Albert’s money making scheme was in jeopardy.  Luther and his thoughts on God’s Word needed to be shredded.

    A debate was set.  Rome said in short that people were saved by what they do.  Luther wouldn’t back down from his position of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, for Christ’s sake alone.  Pope Leo X put the hammer on Luther and threw him out of the church.  Banished.  Silenced.  Shredded.

    God had other plans.  Luther kept up the fight.  In April of 1521 in Worms, Germany the Roman Catholic Church said that Luther must take back his words.  He couldn’t go on speaking what they saw as heresy.  You can’t buck the system.  Except, he could.  He did.  He used these words, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and will not recant!”  Rome had a response.  God’s word must be silenced, God’s Word must be censored, God’s Word must be shredded.

    Where did Luther get the backbone?  From God’s Word that says Christ is crucified for sinners.  The Gospel promises are yours.  Christ is our righteousness.  Christ gives us a hope and a future.  Christ loves us with an everlasting love.  Because of Christ crucified, God remembers our sins no more. 

    This is all ours because of a shredding that took place.  A shredding of skin when our Savior was beaten.  A shredding of life when he was nailed to a cross.  A shredding of his dignity when he was strip naked and mocked and slandered and spit upon.  After the shredding took place then life left Him and He was buried.  Finally, He was silenced.

    Jeremiah could not be silenced.  It says this later in chapter 36, “Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had shred and burned in the fire.  And many similar words were added to them.” (v. 32)  God has resurrected Jeremiah’s scroll and even added to it.

    This was a prelude to another resurrection.  In the silence, the echoes of life began churning on an Easter morning.  Christ, the Word made flesh, rose again.  He wasn’t a shredded mess, He was alive.  “My Lord and my God!”

    Alive with the life of Jesus and the breath of the Holy Spirit – God’s Holy Word is the living voice of the Gospel.  It speaks to you.  It showers you with grace.  It overcomes all the satanic forces that want to shred and silence it.  When it is preached and taught and read it is living and active.  It can’t be shredded.  We can’t be shredded.  We are victorious through Christ Jesus.

    Here we stand.  Luther stood on 1 Peter 1:25, “The word of the Lord endures forever.”  The Latin is Verbum Dei Manet In Aeternum.  Luther and the people sewed VDMA on their coat sleeves.  We confess Verbum Dei Manet In Aeternum – the Word of the Lord endures forever.  You can’t shred this!

                                Amen.