Sermon Texts

January 10, 2021 – Baptism of our Lord                                       Text:  Genesis 1:1-5

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Currently we have 5 to 6 of our members who are gone.  Left the area.  Headed south.  Mainly to find warmth but they all are somewhere near water.  Last winter Toni and I took a trip and we just drove until we found significant climate change.  We eventually stopped 100 feet from the Gulf of Mexico – water.  What do we do to relax – hot bath, hot shower, or even better sit in a whirlpool.  Toni and I have stayed at a place with a pool in the room.  Wow!  Even your sound machines and little gadgets that are supposed to calm your nerves revolve around water – ocean waves, a rolling brook, water bubbling and falling down some rocks.  We find comfort in water.

            It didn’t take long for God to put this in place on earth – we’ve got water by the 2^nd verse of Genesis.  He was “hovering over the face of the waters.”  Maybe this calmed God as He was creating the world.   He knew that water was important from the beginning. 

            It seems that week after week our world gets more chaotic.  Sickness and vaccines and special elections and fighting.  Throw in a cloud of fog that enveloped us, homes without electricity, tree branches ready to snap and fall wherever, and the general malaise of winter.  We’ve got to keep fighting our perspective or we are all going to go crazy.  We are on the brink.  Please, help us Lord.

“BREAKING THE CHAOS”

            Water is you and me.  It transports, it dissolves, and replenishes nutrients and organic material while carrying away waste.  We have a brain – 70% water.  Lungs – 90% water.  Blood – 83% water.  We drink water and need water.  The dying person in film always asks for a drink. 

            God knew all this before He started his craftsmanship of world and man.  2 Peter 3:5 says, “the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.”  The Holy Spirit used water to make things as they are.  Scientifically we know this…there is no life apart from the element of water.  The heavens and the earth came into being, exist now, and are preserved only because God has so commanded and ordered all things.  The heavens and the earth are preserved through the Word of God alone.  The only One who can break the chaos is God because He controls what He has made.

            Don’t let your mind play tricks with your thoughts.  God continues to work in the midst of His creation.  His ways are not your ways.  What is the opposite of chaos?  Order.  We call it the Order of Creation.  God had a plan and He saw that it came to be.  In our text “God saw that the light was good.”  He never said darkness was good.  He doesn’t promote sin or people who want to change what He created.  He doesn’t want to see you and I living in darkness.  He sent Christ to be the “light of the world.”  He had a plan for the chaos.

            In our Gospel lesson John baptizes Jesus.  The same Spirit that was at creation descended on him like a dove.  Then a voice from heaven:  “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  We sin.  Jesus didn’t.  Yet, He is baptized with a baptism for sinners.  Jesus takes our sin upon Himself.  Heaven is torn open.  The Savior breaks the chaos.

            Jesus had to deal with chaos, didn’t He?  The smarter-than-thou crowd always questioning His words.  Chaos in the streets of his hometown.  Confidants turning their back on Him.  Friends and family of Jesus dying.  Politicians who didn’t just want to make His life miserable but who wanted Him dead.  Sickness and disease and is He the Messiah?  Crowds that always surrounded Him and few moments to be alone.  And in some of those alone times where did He find Himself – on or near the water.  He created it.  He enjoyed it.  When it got too rough – He calmed it with just His Word.

            He gives that same peace to you and I.  God’s Word and water when first sprinkled or dumped or dunked into brought us from the chaos of our sinful nature to the peace of forgiveness.  It took us from the scariness of death to the beauty and promise of eternal life.  Paul writes in our Epistle, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:4)  This is an everyday pledge that we carry in our DNA.  This water and Word never left your body. 

            Let all of this calm you down.  Let in flow in you and around you, as the chaos is broken.  God created the heavens and the earth.  Not man.  Not some happy accident.  The Creator spoke the Word and it was done.  The void was filled.  He does the same for you.  His Word…His water…all speak to a void you may have.  Order in the midst of chaos.  He’s here.  He has to be because all of this belongs to Him. 

                                                                                                                                    Amen.          

January 3, 2021 – Epiphany                                                                    Text:  Matthew 2:1-12

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Can’t you picture the Epiphany story played out in a silent movie with the exciting music in the background?  The setting exotic.  The characters are royal, magical, mysterious.  You’ve got the essential ingredients.  You’ve got a villain in King Herod who is trying to trick the Wise Men who are dashing in their bright clothes.  If we could we would be booing Herod and cheering on the Wise Men as they make their way to Jesus.  Good over evil as the Magi complete their quest.  We could just leave it at that and the sermon would be over, but that won’t do.

            This isn’t an overboard melodrama.  These are not larger-than-life characters playing their parts.  There is something ordinary and real life about this narrative.  The storyboard is complete so let’s watch it play out . . .

“EPIPHANY MELODRAMA”

            We get right to some of the main characters right away.  Wise men come to Herod looking for the one born King of the Jews.  This disturbs Herod and it seems the whole city . . . the drama starts to build.

            Herod is a dichotomy, which means he has many aspects to his personality.  We always play up his ruthlessness and his killings of his family but as with many dictators he also did some noble things.  He built the last temple.  He eased people’s taxes when times got tough.  He used his own wealth to feed starving people.  Under the surface this guy did not respect human life.  He felt power meant he had to destroy those who threatened him.  Whether they did or not they had to go.  And so it is with Jesus.

            The Wise Men were perhaps remarkable men of their day, but by no means unique.  They were philosophers and astrologers and soothsayers.  These Magi may have been sincere seekers of the truth but it wasn’t their great wisdom that got them to Bethlehem.

            God put the star in the sky.  Did you see what they call the Christmas star in the sky two weeks ago?  Didn’t it look like the star as you have always seen it or imagined it?  I stood on our deck, looked southwest and marveled at this occurrence.  I thought to myself, “Thank you Lord, in the midst of everything surrounding us, you shine a star as a reminder that it is your working in our daily lives that leads us on.” 

            That is what God did with the Wise Men.  These Gentiles are led by God something that the Lord has been doing for thousands of years.  The encompassing love of God for the world and every human being is played out again and again.  He wants all to come to a knowledge of His truth and under the shelter of salvation in Christ.

            How were they brought to Bethlehem?  Not by their astrology knowledge.  It was God and God alone.  He spoke to them with a star, something they were looking for.  What a wonderful backdrop to our melodrama.  God had prepared the world for the coming of the Prince of Peace.  When we are not seeking Him, He finds us.  This is what the Magi were brought to see – their salvation and ours, as the Son of God had been born in the likeness of men.

            Could the opposition prevail against God’s practical love?  Nada.  No.  Herod actually enlightened these Gentiles with the truth of which he and his people were custodians – the truth of God’s Word, profitable for correction, reproof, and teaching because God inspires it.  Micah centuries ago had directed people to the town of Bethlehem and the clans of Judah.  The prophet still points the way for us.  And God’s grace is not thwarted.

            In the drama the Wise Men finally arrive and we rejoice with them.  What is their response?  They had great joy.  Then they worshipped.  Then they gave their gifts.  They are not paying a price they are paying homage to a King. 

            This King would eventually gift us the gift of redemption, not with silver and gold, but with His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death.  This brings us great joy day after day after day.  We are part of the story.  We too worship.  We too give our gifts.  We too have been led to the star and the main character of the melodrama – Jesus the Christ. 

            Many of the silent movies always had “The End.”  This was so you knew when to leave.  We have no such thing.  This screenplay continues on.  We have an eternity waiting for us.  We are going to be with the star forever.  That is a drama I can’t wait for, what about you?

                                                Amen.

December 31, 2020 – New Year’s Eve                       Texts:  Matthew 1:24-25, Luke 2:21

Dear Friends in Christ,

            What you are named is important.  It identifies who you are, it tells others what you are about.  It shapes how you think of yourself.  Do you like your name?  Have you ever wanted to change it?  Modify it?  Take on a nickname? 

            I have always given my parents credit for my name.  In 1965 it was different.  Not many had my name.  It set me apart.  It has been a huge part of my identity.  I have always been comfortable going against the crowd, if needed, and I believe it all started with my name. 

            Jesus is now eight days old.  It is time to get him circumcised and more importantly it is time to give him a name.  His parents have already been told what his name will be.  His name will set Him apart.  His name will identify what He does.  His name will be a blessing.  His name will be improperly used and become a profanity.  He will be comfortable going against the crowd.  His name will mean life for some and others will struggle to identify with it.  It is time for . . .

“THE NAME”

            What I hold in my hand is a piece of paper Toni and I used to name our children.  I keep it in my desk drawer at home.  Since we did not know the sex of our children before their birth we had to have a male name and a female name.  The boys know what they would have been named if they came out of the womb a girl.

            Many of you who have been at Good Shepherd for years already know the story.  Toni put a list of names she liked on a piece of paper.  I put down names that I liked.  Toni’s list came from names she had heard through the years.  My list came from AAA maps of Europe.  We go back to my name and thinking outside the box.  We then set down one night at the dinner table and just started matching names.  We would sound them out.  Do they flow?  Will we scar our kid for life?  We they still love us and invite us to their home someday?  This led us to Karson Calder Lueck.  Karson from Toni’s list, Calder a community in Scotland from my list.  A few years later the same exercise, Holden Shay Lueck.  Holden a community in England from my list and Shay from Toni’s.  It is really the boy’s opinion and we pray they like their names but we have had a few people say to us that the names fit our boys. 

            The name we see given tonight fit the person.  “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”  The angel had told Joseph in Matthew that they would have a son “and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save people from their sins.”  Joseph then woke from the sleep, did as the angel told him and he took Mary as his wife but did not have sexual intercourse with her.  “And he called his name Jesus.”

            All of this is important for you and me because we are sinful people living in a sinful world.  A world that for the most part wants nothing to do with the Triune God.  Being a person in that kind of world means that I have and will have…problems…anxieties…worries…some traumatic situations.  Does Jesus know all this and relate to me . . . to the person who knows himself?  You bet He does.  The very act of circumcision was an act of His willingness to put Himself under the law in order to pay for my sin.  The Jewish Law required that baby boys be circumcised on the eighth day after birth.  Circumcision was for a sinful, fallen people that God would claim as His own.  Jesus became like us – but without sin.  I’d say He knows us quite well.

            P.E. Kretzmann writes, “For here (in Jesus’ circumcision) He paid the first drop of blood as the price for our souls, the full payment being completed when He committed His soul into the hands of His heavenly Father on the cross.”

            Doesn’t it all make sense?  The Lord promises and gives us a new start.  What an appropriate thought on New Year’s Eve.  It gives us the assurance of forgiveness and peace, anxiety free living in the work and person of Jesus Christ as we cross over into 2021.  Jesus stands before us with open arms to clean up our messes of sin and death and hell.

            You can count on his abiding presence.  You can call on His name at all times.  You can look to His wisdom and power when faced with questions that seem to have no answers.  As you exist down here, Jesus the name that is above every name, will provide comfort and stability in a shaky world.  

            We do not know what is before us and that certainly makes daily living interesting.  He has our attention, doesn’t He?  Rest assured that He who bears the name “Savior” will never leave you nor forsake you.

            It has been a wonderful journey these last few weeks.  Celebrating with Joseph and Mary.  Traveling with them.  Being at the birth.  As we all did with our own children – what will they become?  You know the outcome, but it never gets old for those who know the name . . . JESUS THE CHRIST.

                                                                                                Amen.

December 27, 2020                                                                          Text:  Galatians 4:4-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Susan Ertz was a British fiction writer who died in 1985.  She once commented, “Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”  How do we use or misuse the time that is given us?

            A family moved to the country to escape the high-pressure run everywhere life they had been living in the city.  One day a neighbor stopped by and noticed something pinned to the family bulletin board and asked about it.  The mother said, “That is a poem that represents what our moving here was all about.  The poem starts, ‘Lord, slow me down…uh…well, I haven’t had time to read the rest.”

            I pray your Christmas season time wasn’t wasted.  Let’s grasp the importance of time and the time we just celebrated. 

“AFTER CHRISTMAS TIME”

Do you remember this 1980’s song by The Alan Parsons Project?  “Time, flowing like a river Time, beckoning me Who knows when we shall meet again If ever…”

Time.  Here and gone.  What happens when it ends?  “Who knows when we shall meet again?  If ever?”  But that is the world’s lot when Christ is removed from the life and death and what’s beyond question.

God steps into human history and changes the direction.  “When the fullness of time had come…”  God’s time.  God’s timing.  He is not subject to time, but gives it to us.  He owns it.

Every minute and movement since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin was being directed to Christ’s coming into this world.  The Savior entered in time.

The world has its time.  It is composed of hatred and violence and vulgarity and greed and lies.  We are no closer to solving man’s foibles than we were 50 years ago or 500 years ago or 5,000 years ago.  Time for man is lost water under a decaying bridge.

Look at time in relation to those who understand the significance of Christmas.  “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” 

Christ did everything necessary.  He kept the Commandments perfectly in thought, word, and deed.  He bought us back from sin, death, and hell.  Those who believe this “receive adoption as sons.”

Our time is now.  We still battle the awful sin in us.  As sons of God we are blameless through Christ.  Men, women, children – everyone trusting in Christ for forgiveness and eternal life.

We are members of God’s family.  Peter wrote, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…” (1 Pet. 2:9a)  Isn’t it fascinating that everyone clamors to a part of something in this world?  And for us as a Christian is that our goal?  Isn’t the fact that we are “a people of his own possession” sufficient for each day?

The last verses of the text, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

God is our eternal parent.  The Holy Spirit works through the Word so that we can understand that God is our Father – in time and in eternity.

How about the “heir” part?  We’ve all seen a movie where the family gathers to hear the reading of the will.  They want to see if they are getting anything.  Maybe you have been in such a setting?  In Christ we are not waiting on the will to be read.  It has already been read:  “You are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”  What do we receive?  Heaven and eternal life and an unending Kingdom! 

Remember Moses?  He had the attention of the world and riches right in front of him.  What did the writer of Hebrews say about that?  “He considered the reproach of Christ’s greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Heb. 11:26)  His time here was insignificant compared to what was promised Him in Christ.  “Time, flowing like a river Time beckoning me Who knows when we shall meet again If ever…”  Such is the sadness of the world.  Such is the tragedy of this life’s brief, brief, moment.

For those of us in Christ?  Every moment is a time to be ready?  “…the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  The Christ of Christmas goes with us…with us…to the end of this world’s time – right into eternity.

                                                                                                            Amen. 

December 25, 2020 – Christmas                                                 Text:  Matthew 2:13-15

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Baby Jesus has been born – Hallelujah!  Now His life begins and we have got to get him home.  But it is not as easy as it sounds.  Come along then, but watch out behind you, there are those who want to kill Jesus from the beginning of his life.

“COMING HOME”

            What do you recall about taking your child home from the hospital?  Do you remember the weather?  Warm, cold, sunny, rainy?  Maybe you had a struggle getting them in their infant seat?  Was your child sleeping or fussy?  And at least one of you in the organ loft brought your child home by airplane.  We all have had different experiences.

            Toni and I discussed this the other night at dinner.  We believe, if our brains are still working that we only stayed overnight with each child.  Bringing Karson home in December brought sunshine but cold temperatures.  What we recall about bringing Holden home was of course a brother there to greet him in the hospital and at home.  Both trips were quick.  In Overland Park, Kansas we just lived 35 blocks from the hospital and here in BloNo we made coming home in 15 minutes.  Once we got them home, we didn’t hunker down.  We had them in church the next Sunday and they went where we went.  Yes, life changed, but nothing can compare to Joseph and Mary getting Jesus back to Nazareth.

            The wise men have made their visit and it is time to set up their new home but not so fast my friend.  Herod.  Oh no, Herod.  He doesn’t want to see Jesus live past the first few weeks of his life.  The only way to prevent this in his sick mind is to kill all the male babies in the region around Bethlehem who were two years and younger.  He didn’t know where Jesus was, so he planned this mass murder to eliminate him.  It was a hellish time.

            The Lord again uses a dream to communicate with Joseph.  “’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.’   And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.”  Toni and I don’t remember the exact details of coming home and maybe you don’t either, but I bet Joseph never forgot.  He was asked to travel 175 miles southwest of where they were.  For us that would put us between St. Louis and Rolla Missouri.  How long would it take to walk that?   Joseph obediently followed the instructions and it saved his newborn baby.

            Do you see it?  Do you have a proper understanding of the life our Lord?  From the lowly manger to the tomb cut in the rock our Savior was the object of the bitter hatred of evil men.  The Savior comes to confront sin and death, this unbelieving world and the power of the devil.  He faces it all.

            We live in a time where it looks like the forces of evil are marching to victory.  We see religious freedoms being eroded.  People living for themselves instead of all mankind.  It looks like from our perspective that they are having their way.  Scripture warns that their power will only increase as we approach the second coming of our Lord. 

            God knows all this.  We call it foreknowledge.  He knew everything before creation.  There isn’t anything – not one thing of your life that God doesn’t know.  As it was with Joseph and Mary and Jesus in their escape so it is with your life and my life.  God provides all things in order to achieve His holy will and purpose in us.

            The holy family remained in Egypt until the death of Herod.  How long they were there is not known.  God knew all this – “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”  The Lord had called Israel “my son” whom He had called out of Egypt at the time of the exodus.  Jesus is here named as God’s one and only Son, who was the representative and substitute for all Israel.  God would also call this Son out of Egypt to redeem his sinful people.

            The promises of God cannot be stopped.  They don’t stop when you struggle with pain and suffering.  They don’t stop when you participate in your own brand of evil.  They don’t stop even when you think God doesn’t care about your life or the life of the world.  Remember what he left with us, “I am with you always to the end of the age.”  His love for all mankind and us has no limits.  His mercy and grace overcome our shortcomings.  His foreknowledge trumps our worry.  He is in control and always has been.

            Are you coming home?  Are you on the path that leads to Him?  We are traveling a life route with many dangers and roadblocks but we don’t travel alone.  An angel helped a family way back when and they assist us today.  We don’t know how far we have to travel to our eternal home.  We know its there.  We know it will be our dwelling forever.  We know it will take us away from the killing of babies and the other evils that surround us. 

            Think of what Jesus has done for you.  Nothing can stop Him – coming home!

                                                                                                                        Amen.     

December 24, 2020 – Christmas Eve                                                   Text:  Luke 2:7-20

Dear Friends in Christ,

            “It’s time!  It’s time!”  We have been with Joseph and Mary from the beginning.  We were there when they found out they were going to have a child.  We watched the preparations they made.  Last week we made the trip with them to Bethlehem.  Now it’s time for the apex, the main plot line, the reason we are sitting here tonight.  Step into the manger and witness . . .

“THE BIRTH”

            What do you remember about your son or daughter’s birth?  There are many things that stand out about our boys’ entrance into the world.  Toni doing a great job of pushing as I would count from 1 to 10 and then say Go Illini or Go Cubs or Go Bears.  It wasn’t as funny when I started counting in French!  Karson was born during the Andy Griffith Show episode “The Pickle Story” – my favorite.  Then amazingly Holden was born when we had on Hawaii-Five-O my favorite crime show.  The announcement of their sex was exciting.  We knew right then we had the rehearsal dinner and not the wedding.

            The one thing that does stand out from both births is this:  The excitement of the obstetrician who was delivering our bundles of joy.  In Kansas it was an older male who had delivered probably thousands of babies.  Here in town it was a middle age female who had delivered hundreds.  But in both instances they were as excited as we were.  This surprised me because this was their job.  I guess they treated it as the miracle that it is.  Another of God’s creation has come to be.

            That was the story of the birth we see tonight.  There was no TV on in the background.  No obstetrician or nurses around.  We have no idea what Joseph and Mary said to each other.  But in its most basic form it was the same.  A mother delivering a child.  It was messy and bloody and smelly.  But it was a miracle.

            “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  Here is one area that baby delivery has not changed in 2,000 years.  Babies were washed, rubbed with salt and possibly olive oil and then wrapped.  Strips of cloth were wrapped tightly around infants to warm and secure them.  Can’t you picture your newborn the same way?

            Now this is where the birth of Jesus has a distinct narrative.  Shepherds enter the plot.  They are just doing their jobs when this happens.  “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”  I only hear positive thoughts in these verses, don’t you?  “Good news…great joy…for all the people…Savior…Christ the Lord.”

            Beautiful.  But something got left out.  Do you know what words are the most important?  If you are thinking, “unto you,” you have just won a lifetime of Hallmark Christmas movies – congrats.

            The very Creator of all things became a creature.  He entered a human womb, there to grow and develop like any other baby, until the time came for him to enter the world, not in a grand announcement of his glory, but in the ordinary crying of a newborn baby. 

            This gift has your name on it – “unto you.”  Jesus’ perfect obedience was for you.  His innocent death and glorious resurrection – for you.  He came to fill you with contentment and peace that only this baby can give. 

            When you are overwhelmed with questions that seem to have no answers.  When you have an illness that continues to pester you.  When you have fears that churn the stomach or you see a future that has no guiding star look to the Holy child.  The shepherds went in haste, that means quickly.  Don’t just stand there in wonder but never approach the manger.  Don’t just stare in amazement but never come to the altar.  Don’t just see the miracle but touch it, hug it, love it.  May the Holy Spirit guide your heart this night as the Savior wraps you in grace and mercy.

            That is what we all did as parents as soon as we could, we held our child, we hugged our child, we kissed our child, we cried at the beauty of our child.  This child is yours.  More importantly you are His.  He made you His at your Baptism.  This too is a miracle and something I learned from our doctors – every Baptism should be a joyous occasion as if it’s the only one.  It is individual – unto you.  It is personal – unto you.  The Triune God is present and He brings you into His Kingdom.  Prayerfully we can all thank God for the families were born into you.  But the greatest family you are a part of is the Lord’s family.

            His love is never separated from you.  He loves you in good times and bad.  He loves you when obedient…He loves you when you fail.  He rejoices in your faith and forgives you when you disappoint Him.  His birth is your birth.  You are there.  He is here.  Make a place for Him in your home.  Don’t leave Him in the manger – ok?

                                                                                                                        Amen.