Sermon Texts

April 4, 2021 – Easter                                                                        Text:  John 20:1-10

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Well here we are.  Almost a year removed from an Easter most had never experienced.  Locked up in homes.  Afraid to venture out.  Chilled to our soul with the news of the day.  Fear overtook our nation and our world.  What was everybody afraid of?  Certainly the unknown.  But take away all the fluff and experts and press conferences and what do you get.  The fear of death.  People were and still are afraid of dying. 

            Philip Yancey wrote a book, “I Was Just Wondering,” where it imagines a society in which no believes in life after death.  No heaven.  No hell.  No nothing.  The fictional land is called Acirema.  This was written over 20 years ago.

            “Aciremans would put great emphasis on youth.  The idea of growing old and eventually dying would be so traumatic that they would have no hope for the future.  Therefore, preserving youth would become an obsession.  Old age, and anything associated with aging, would be shunned and devalued.  In this way, the rest of society could continue the charade of denying the facts of aging.  Every kind of cosmetic and chemical treatment that can possibly slow down the aging process would be necessary. 

            “Appearances would be all that matter.  Inner beauty, characterized by such things as integrity, compassion, and decorum, would no longer matter.  People who do not look attractive, young, and healthy would face great discrimination.  Scientists would try to figure out how to eliminate death.  People would use all kinds of euphemisms to say that someone has died.  Religion for the Aciremans would consist of philosophies to help them make the most of the here and now.  Eternal rewards wouldn’t exist in their belief system, so Acireman religion would teach that one must be fully gratified and rewarded in this lifetime.  Therefore, Aciremans would be taught to ‘grab all the gusto they can get,’ to build up riches and satisfy their whims and desires as soon as they can.”

            By the way, Acirema, spelled backwards is America.  Fear. Unbelief.  Sadness.  We finish our Lenten theme this morning “The New Normal – Or Is It” and see once again that our times and biblical times are the same.  Fear. Unbelief.  Sadness.  They needed something that first Easter.  It is still a need we have today.  Where is Jesus?

“THE EMPTY TOMB OVERCOMES OUR FEAR”

            The women and disciples were early risers.  Mary Magdalene sees the stone rolled away and tells the disciples, “they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” (v. 2)  Fear.  “We don’t know what this virus can do.  People are dying.  What should we do?”  Without Christ the unknown is there for all of us.

            Dr. James Dobson observed this, “Life itself is a fatal disease.  None of us is going to get out of it alive.  And it happens so quickly too; about the time your face clears up, your mind gets fuzzy.”  There it is the grave . . . in the distance . . . and no amount of posturing can make it go away. 

            It’s a sprint to the tomb and John gets there before Peter.  They both see the linen cloths lying there.  And the face cloth was folded by itself.  “The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed…” (v. 8)  Believed what?  They didn’t believe in Christ victorious over the grave, they believed what Mary Magdalene told them.  They still didn’t understand He must rise from the dead.  Then look at the last verse of our text, “Then the disciples went back to their homes.”  The fear.  The sadness.  The unknown.  Where do they go? – home.  Go back again to last April.  The fear.  The sadness.  The unknown.  Where were you – in your home.

            The disciples eventually came out and realized what had happened.  They remembered the words of Jesus – “On the third day I will rise again.”  We too come out from our shelters and face the reality.  This life is hard.  We can make all the facades we want.  When we visit the empty tomb we come to terms with the tremendous victory won for us.  The empty tomb overcomes our fear.  Fear of death.  Fear of virus.  Fear of governmental control.  Fear of our sins.  Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live.”  Have you been living?

            Mary Magdalene says in verse 18, “I have seen the Lord.”  It’s glorious news.  It is our news.  Have you see the Risen Lord?  I mean have you really seen Him?  Has His presence let you just live life.  Have His words uplifted your sagging spirit?  Has His Holy Meal provided comfort and strength?  Has seeing the Lord changed the way you see everything?  I pray it has.  Living in fear leaves you entombed.  Be reminded again – the tomb is empty . . . empty . . . empty . . . He Has Risen!

            At Christ’s tomb the One who loves us with an everlasting love directs us Heavenward!  And our last earthly dwelling – the grave – is just as temporary as the present.  A victory has been handed to us, my dear brothers and sisters.  Eternal life.  And the sign outside the tomb reads . . . VACANT.  Glory be to Jesus.

                                                                                                                        Amen.          

March 28, 2021 – Palm Sunday                                               Text:  Philippians 2:5-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Are you an optimist or a pessimist?  Do you see things in a negative light or a positive light?  Some folks are completely one way or another.  Most of us are a combination.  I can be pessimistic sometimes about the teams I cheer for.  But as last weekend showed that is also reality.  I think I am a realist.  I’ve seen too much.  My nickname at the seminary was Dr. Reality.  I am also an optimist.  I am optimistic about the Lord’s Church and church work and the Lord’s people and our children.  These are all blessings in my life and have been for years.  As Christians depending on what it is we can be either.

            This week we are celebrating has elements of both.  Jesus rides into Jerusalem in optimism and cheering and by Friday it is “Crucify” and killing.  We Christians must have some pessimism in us if we like to see our Savior treated this way.  Then we have services to celebrate it!  But we have reasons for calling it “good” Friday.

            On Easter we will be accused of foolish optimism – believing a myth that Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead.  Get a life.  Look around at the world, my friend.  What is your Savior doing about it?

            A blessed Holy Week to you.  It is not about a glass half empty or a glass half full; it’s about Jesus emptying Himself in order to make us full.  That’s what St. Paul in our Epistle, teaches us really happens in these holy days.

“BY EMPTYING HIMSELF, JESUS FILLS YOU”

            We are commanded to empty ourselves by following Jesus’ example, but when you try, you just come up, well . . . empty.  Can we have the mind of Christ?  Perfect love.  Humble as He rides into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey.  A mind of perfect obedience that allowed himself to be arrested and tried, tortured and killed according to the Father’s will.  Love that serves others.

            We strive for that but usually ending up serving ourselves.  We don’t like to look on the dark side or be pessimistic but this is the way our sinful nature works.  We come up empty when trying to empty ourselves.

            When Jesus emptied Himself, He was exalted to the full.  In Jesus’ state of humiliation He didn’t always use His divine powers on earth.  He emptied Himself as a baby, like us, inside Mary.  He put Himself under the Law in our place.  He became nothing in the form of a servant to become obedient to the point of death.  He could have walked away; He could have destroyed His enemies.  He could have…but He didn’t because He loves you and your soul too much.

            When Jesus emptied Himself it did not leave Him empty.  His name is above every name.  Every knee bows before Him.  Every tongue confesses Him as Lord.  Jesus now and forever uses His divine attributes.  We call this His state of exaltation.  That’s not half full.  It’s full.  It’s not foolish optimism, it’s true.

            What Jesus did counts for us.  We still can’t empty ourselves of our selfishness as we ought.  But Jesus did.  We still can’t live as humbly as the Savior did.  But we don’t have to because He paid for our sins.

            We share in Jesus’s exaltation.  For all eternity we wear His name.  When we kneel before Him we don’t do it in shame but in faith and joy.  With the angels, our tongues will forever sing his praise.  Knowing that God will exalt us fully with Christ even fills us with love that can humble itself in service to others – with a mind like Christ.

            The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived and preached in Barcelona, Spain for a time.  On an Easter afternoon he was taken to a bullfight.  When he first observed it he was shocked at the gruesome elements and how the spectators seemed to enjoy the blood and cruelty.

            The second time he went he started to see the allure of it.  Ever the theologian, He wrote this in a letter to his wife Sabine:  “I have never seen the swing from ‘Hosanna’ to ‘Crucify’ more graphically evoked than in the virtually insane way the crowd goes berserk when the bullfighter makes a turn, and they immediately follow this with an equally insane howling and whistling when some mishap occurs.  The momentary character of this mass mood goes so far that they applaud the bull and against the bullfighter if, for example, the later proves to be cowardly and – quite understandably – his courage fails him for a moment.”

            We are stepping into Holy Week.  What do you observe?  Isn’t it great that we can be optimistic?  Whether you’ve experienced it for 10 years or 90 years you know who triumphs.  His courage will not fail.  The charging sin, death, Satan, and hell will not do Him in.  His humble obedience puts a spear through their heart.  They lay dead in the spiritual arena.  By emptying Himself, He fills you.

                                                                                                            Amen.     

March 21, 2021                                                                                 Text:  Mark 10:35-45

Dear Friends in Christ,

            We are currently in basketball nirvana with the NCAA tournament going on.  Which I find interesting because I have always thought of Jesus’ disciples like a basketball team.  The lead players are Peter, James, and John.  The first called and then present at the Transfiguration.  The next tier being the role players.  Mentioned in Scripture but not prominently.  Guys like Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas.  Then a few disciples we know very little about – James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean.  Then at the end of the bench sulking because of a lack of playing time and always mentioned last in a list of disciples – Judas Iscariot.

            So who should be asking for a more prominent spot on the team?  Judas, of course.  That is not the way the text unfolds.  It’s two of the lead dogs.  A couple of guys who have been near the head coach the last three years.  Don’t they have the power already?  You two want more playing time?  That’s sure what it looks like from here. 

            Huddle up team it is time for another teaching lesson.  I can’t believe I have to keep repeating myself.  Haven’t you men being paying attention? 

“ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT THIS CUP?”

            Jesus is getting closer and closer to Calvary.  He has told his team of disciples three times now what is going to happen there.  This isn’t what they want.  Glory doesn’t look like a dead guy on a cross.

            They were worried about their future careers and earthly glory.  The other apostles were indignant.  More than likely they were annoyed that they hadn’t asked first.  They craved the recognition and the attention and their accomplishments.  “Hey, coach look at me.”

            We are not immune to this.  I’ve lived this.  I was in their shoes during my basketball career.  The point guard with the ball in his hands and the game on the line.  The one willing to take the game winning shot.  The captain and leader of the team.  And I absolutely loved it.  Couldn’t get enough of it.  Have you been there?  Large and in charge?  The one everybody looks to.  Like the apostles, we get caught up in ourselves.  It always about “I.”  This causes fractured friendships and husband and wife divorcing and children and parents who stop talking to one another

            That’s not how God created us to be.  “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” (v. 45)  Jesus dismissed their request.  It was not His to grant but the Father’s.  They will all suffer for proclaiming Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins.  None of them had the life of a celebrity.  James was the first to go – beheaded by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12.  John died in exile daring to preach Jesus.

            “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them.  “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (v. 38)  They said yes.  Did they understand the hostility that would follow?  Did they know the torture and drowning and beheading and burning they would face for taking up their cross?

            When you were baptized and confirmed and confessed that you would rather die than fall away from the faith, did you really understand it?  Did you know your confession of faith would exclude you from a world of fleshly delight, unbridled sex and fun and sleeping in on Sundays, your conscience unburdened of any guilty thoughts?

            It’s not easy when the tide of world opinion turns against you, when the shouts of “Hosanna!” change to “Crucify!”  It’s not easy when those around you pit you against “science” or “nature” or “fairness.”  We certainly have our own bitter cups to drink from.  But we have something else – a covenant promise.

            The world has its gods of fairness and being nice and living life to the fullest.  But all that leads to death.  All the fairness and equality in the world can’t forgive your sins or take away your guilt.  You still suffer and you still die.

            Jesus is different.  Jesus is life.  Jesus offers you the cup of salvation.  Jesus baptizes you into His household.  Jesus marches to the cross to save you, in order to serve you.  Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 

            Our song is love unknown because we cannot fathom that kind of sacrifice.  One poor, frail, broken human body.  Mocked, spit upon, flogged, nailed to a cross and gasping for breath.  Unfairly, undeservedly, willingly.

            You have been baptized into His death.  His resurrection from the dead gives you a new bodily life in heaven.  You drink the cup at this altar for forgiveness and life and salvation.

            You have been brought to faith not to lord it over others but to share it with the other teams.  To serve those who look to you and your faith.  Pass me the ball coach; I’m ready to make a difference for You.

                                                                                    Amen.  

March 14, 2021                                                                          Text:  Ephesians 2:1-10

Dear Friends in Christ,

            A teacher was explaining to her class how a thermos works.  “You can bring hot soup to school for lunch, and the thermos will keep it hot.  The next day you can bring a cold drink to school, and the same thermos will keep it cold.”  One doubting but clever little boy asked, “But how does it know?”

            Good question.  “How does it know?”  It also a good question for this morning.  How does the community around us know we are Christians?  How do you know I am a Christian?  Maybe I am in this job for the attention and money! 

“HOW DOES IT KNOW?”

            If we want to know where we are going, we need to know from where we came.  “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. . . were by nature children of wrath.” (vs. 1-3)  That sounds pretty bad…and it is.  Under the rule of the world and the devil and alienated from God.

            There are no exceptions.  Verse 3 says “we all.”  Everyone is the same condition by virtue of our human nature.  Not a use-friendly introduction to a conversation when on an evangelism call.

            Have you ever had a life threatening experience where someone else had to rescue you?  You could do nothing to save yourself.  That is what God does for us because He is “rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us.” (v. 4) 

            We had a terrible fate in front of us if the Lord did not intervene.  He rescued us from a terrible death.  He made us alive when were dead in trespasses (v. 5).  At our birth He breathed new life in us and He continues to do the same as He makes us new people in Christ Jesus.

            St. Augustine, one of the great church fathers, was once a cultured, civilized, wicked man.  One day he was greeted by a former mistress who said, “Hey, Augustine, It is I.”  He replied, “But it is no longer I, It is Christ.”  After his conversion he was a great Christian theologian.  An Aborigine tribe in Australia translates conversion as “given a new heart by God.”  Right on target.

            It gets even better.  “Raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  Wow.  We are part of the resurrection story.  God does this for you and I through the cross and the appearance of Jesus three days later.

            What prompts you and I to do nice things for others?  Why do others do nice things for us?  Are our motives always pure?  What prompted God?  It is important as troubled sinners, and doubting sinners and sinners with guilt and a bad conscience to be reassured that the new life in Christ has nothing to do with us.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (v. 8)

            When did God do this for many of us?  Before we were old enough to know about it.  He acted in us with His grace at our Baptism and He still keeps us in that covenant. 

            Society wants us to believe that there essential requirements for success – degrees, certificates, natural talent etc.  Our going to heaven doesn’t depend on our goodness.  It is God’ gift.  It is God’s grace.  Grace is more than God’s undeserved love for us.  It is His undeserved love in action.

            How does the world around us know that God has done all these incredible things for and in us?  If you were wondering when I would get to our sermon theme, here it is.  We are God’s workmanship who have been created in Christ Jesus for good works, and we walk in them. (v. 10)

            Through our sanctified life, the things we do and say, the world will know we are His children.  The message of salvation by grace stands by itself.  God did not save us to sit back and relax, basking in the sunshine of salvation by grace.  Spiritual atrophy would quickly result.  A long time ago He planned that others should see Christ in us.

            Our Christian life is part of God’s purpose.  Christ within us.  Why are we God’s children?  To let the world see and know what the grace of God can do.  During this pandemic I have said Christians must be above the fray.  The great masterpieces of our Christian faith are not stored away in vaults.  They are on display at all times so that people will “see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.”

            You know about product placement.  Companies work to have their products seen in movies, TV, sporting events, everywhere.  We are the sanctified products of God’s gracious plan of salvation, which He puts on display all over the world.  Through the Holy Spirit be the best product you can be for Him.  St. Paul never forgot the sheer joy and astonishment of his conversion when God surprised him.  He was never the same as His life showed what the grace of God truly is.  In the same way and through Christ, let the world know what God has done for you.        Amen.      

March 7, 2021                                                                                    Text:  Exodus 20:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Every year in Confirmation class I get to teach the Ten Commandments to the Lord’s young people.  To help these young cherubs understand the Law, this is the example given.  Let’s take the stoplights away at the Corner of Oakland Ave. and Veteran’s Parkway.  No stop signs or traffic cop.  Who wants to go through that intersection?  These nimble minds realize that there would be chaos, accidents, vehicles honking and the middle finger salute.

            We may not like the law but we know we need it.  We’ve all been in a classroom led by a student teacher or a substitute who had no control.  Maybe fun for a while, but we all need structure in order to live the lives God has for us.  The Lord knew this about us and so he gave His creation a simple set of 10 Commandments.  You might hate to hear it like a parent telling you to eat your lima beans but the Law is . . .

“FOR YOUR OWN GOOD”

            “You shall have no other gods before me.” (v. 3)  This commandment indicts the pagan but also spears us when we devote ourselves to money, popularity, me-ism, sports, work, and the pleasures of the body whether active on Saturday night or asleep on Sunday morning.  Would we rather gather around the golden calf or dwell in the House of the Lord?

            Our language pollutes the air.  God’s name as expletive is everywhere, even sadly in the verbiage of Christians.  I wear headphones at ballgames but could use them at restaurants and shopping malls and just about anywhere.  Our silence over the years has given profaners free reign.

            If we forget the Sabbath we harm ourselves.  It can be hard to get out of bed but once you get to church and worship you feel better.  We were created to live in God’s presence. 

            The law is a better place.  Watch a daughter mouth off to her mother at the store or look at a world where fathers are not there to provide spiritual guidance for their flesh and blood.  From this vantage point, the Fourth Commandment looks better every day.

            Rage and vengeance is not the answer.  We can’t go around harming others.  Abortion doctors who keep the remains of dead children in their homes is not the world I want to live in.  We stand at the foot of the cross.

            Adultery is a fruit that is tempting but the damage is long-term.  Our understanding of the body has many young people abandoned and confused.  The sixth commandment bleeds into the fifth and no amount of penicillin can make it better.

            Who will notice if I take a little something from the office?  They owe me…I work hard. 

            Doesn’t it feel good to speak down about others?  Kind of makes me superior.  But I don’t really like it when others whisper about me.  The residue is left on both parties in this equation.

            Why am I not happy for my friend or relative?  What a wretched person I am.  Do I covet their success?  Can’t we be joyous for each other?

            We know the society would be better if we paid a little more attention to God’s directives.  I am part of the problem.  You are part of the problem.  We are in the middle of the intersection and we are scared to death.  In order to live the Spirit induced life of love and kindness and charity and patience the law must indict us. 

            In the heart of the Christian it does.  We know shame and regret and guilt.  In this life we live under the law.  For your own good though Christ lived for you and I.  For our own good Christ was obedient to the law, not simply as a past event, but as a life He gives to us even now.  For our own good we have been redeemed out of Egypt of our sin and death.  For our own good the Lord Jesus Christ abolished the law so that in eternity we only live in the Gospel.  For our own good we will be in God’s presence forever and ever.

            The air is heavy in our world.  The pagan is feeling pretty good.  In a world that celebrates death come to worship where life is seen in the faces and actions of God’s people.  Experience kindness and fellowship and generosity and encouragement and joy and occasionally when needed consolation.

            We know sin remains in each of us and that the devil is still on the prowl.  But the glorious word today is that Christ makes all the difference and if we can’t see that then we need to pray for the Spirit to open our eyes.

            Through our living God and for our good we have been freed from our slavery to the law.  The law does not bind us in chains.  We are held close to the Lord and He directs our daily life for our own good.  Now pass the lima beans.

                                                                                                                                    Amen. 

February 28, 2021                                                                Text:  Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Ever tried a shortcut?  You spout off about a shorter route to somewhere and you end up sitting in a Wal-Mart parking lot with the Rand McNally out.  You have some assembling to do – a kid’s toy, a desk, an entertainment center – the directions just jumble your brain and you just know there has to be an easier road to completion.  Except it doesn’t quite work that way . . . and why am I still working on this hours later?

            Abraham is looking for a shortcut.  Here is his dilemma – he is 99 years old and has no heir with Sarai his wife.  Let’s fill in some blanks not in our text.  Sarai had an Egyptian servant named Hagar that she gave to Abram to bear him a son.  And she did – Ishmael.  Abram was 86 years old.  Abram thinks that he can be the heir and tells God of his wonderful shortcut.  “I mean God Sarai and I are too old to have children so let’s just call Ishmael the heir of the promise and get on with it.”

            All of this shows the weak faith that Abram and Sarai have.  Have you been in there shoes?  You see something in front of you, want to take the shortcut and leave God out of it.  When we do that we . . .

“LEAVE THE BLESSING BEHIND”

            Abram’s actions make sense to us.  He wants to fix the problem.  He wants to take the matter into his own hands.  He has got the solution:  “God, let’s do things my way this time.”

            The Law reflects back at us.  We are Abram.  We have struggles and challenges in life.  Everyone does.  So, we go to Him in prayer.  Our emotions pour out and we know He promises to answer.  And we finish the prayer with a heartfelt ‘Amen’ and instead of giving the Lord the time to intervene in your life, we start looking for our own answers and the way that we really think the problem should be fixed.  And that leads to worry and anxiety and despair.  We leave the blessing behind because we give it to God but then we take it right back.  Couldn’t my sickness been cured yesterday?  I really needed that money last week.  My child is destroying themself, what are you doing God? 

            We miss the blessing of his answer.  We miss the sign of His intervention.  We don’t really trust that He has our best interests at heart.  After all, you might not like God’s answer and His solution.  Just like Abram.

            The Lord needs to see His servant face-to-face.  He isn’t there to belittle him or tell him that he can’t believe his behavior.  God is there to strengthen his faith as He speaks to him the promises of the covenant.  God goes above and beyond the old man and old woman having a child as senior citizens.  The promises that He shares are mind-boggling and are still happening today.

            The other night I was listening to a CD of Elvis Presley’s greatest hits.  As I lay there in the dark, I had this thought.  Would Elvis have been so popular and called the ‘King’ if his name were say . . . Joe Yablonski?  I don’t think so.  The only thing Joe Yablonski could be the king of would be sausage!

            God knew names mean something so He is going to change the names of these two servants.  Abram becomes Abraham and the father of a multitude of nations.  Sarai becomes Sarah because she would be the mother of many nations.  Two miracles happen here – a son being born and many nations coming into being.

            God would make this everlasting covenant with Abraham and so many descendants would spill out of this relationship that the world would grow through his offspring.  Eventually one of those descendants would be the Savior, Jesus Christ.  Abraham and his descendants would also have an everlasting possession – the Promised Land.

            God didn’t leave the blessing behind He gave it to Abraham and Sarah.  When He fulfilled this promise to them, He kept this same promise to you and to me.  Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham, has come.  He came for all nations.  He came for all generations.  He came to fulfill God’s promises.

            He has done this by removing the sins of our weak faith, our doubts, our constant desire to do things my way and our penchant for solving problems without regard to God’s will.  His suffering and blood and death paid for our misguided actions.  He even conquered death for us in his glorious resurrection.  All the promises to Abraham and to us have been fulfilled.  By faith in Jesus, we, too, are now descendants of Abraham.

            Your name has also been changed.  At the day of your baptism when you became an heir of eternal life, God gave you a new name:  Christian.  He also grants us a new covenant through the shed body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins.  All of this keeps us in the faith until we walk into the everlasting Promised Land.

            Don’t leave the blessings behind.

                                                                        Amen.