Sermon Texts

Sept. 6, 2020                                                                                 Text:  Romans 13:1-10

Dear Friends in Christ,

            “All roads lead to Rome.”  You’ve probably heard this in your lifetime but do you know where it comes from?  Observing France in the 17^th century Jean de la Fontaine put it in a French fable.

            Rome was the center of a massive set of roadways.  These roads spread outward from a single monument erected by Augustus:  the golden milestone, placed by the temple of Saturn.  On the monument were the major cities of the empire and the distances to them.  How far to the Wall of Britain?  Or the Rhine River?  These roads were more than a road atlas, they spoke of power.  Roman officials could go to any district and exert their power.

            The Apostle Paul lived in a time of great Roman power.  How did he view through the Lord’s inspiration government authority?  How should we view it now? 

“DOES GOD RULE THROUGH CIVIL AUTHORITIES?”

            Before we get to the answer let’s live with Paul.  When he wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome things were getting worse, not better.  Christians were killed in persecution and slaughtered in sport.  Even when they buried their dead, they had to go underground – into the catacombs.  On the walls of these underground tunnels they painted and sketched images of hope.  A shepherd carrying a lamb across his shoulders.  Crosses.  In the midst of death they wanted people to see clear visions of God’s mercy and power.  Through these mazes the early Christians confessed Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life.  In the darkness of death, Christ reveals His power, his promise of life everlasting and of a world without end.  The same is true today.

            Crowds are not following Jesus.  Rulers are not bending their knees before Him.  Yet He remains the Savior of the world.  The world may reject Him, scholars may questions his words or resurrection, and academics may claim His followers are blind and stupid.  Still this Jesus comes for you.  He brings you into His kingdom.  He leads you through the pathways of this world.  How do you relate to the civil powers of world?

            When the early Christians left the safety of the catacombs to live in Rome what could they do?  Paul encourages them to see God’s authority behind the power of Rome.  They were to respect their rulers not because of their power but because, in some strange way, they were servants of God.

            Nero was the man in charge at this time and he promised a golden age of peace.  Behind the scenes there were rumors of his mother poisoning Claudius, her husband and uncle, to secure the throne for her son.  The public heard that Nero had hidden his sword but privately what they whispered about Nero revealed their darkest fears.

            What do we, as Christians do, how do we relate to civil authorities that publicly say one thing but privately do another?  How do we obey when what we are asked to obey is obscured by propaganda so you never know the truth?  When our government says 94% of deaths from the virus have had underlying health problems how far do we disrupt our churches? 

            We struggle as Christians with politics.  Do we trust?  How far do we follow their directives?  What is their motive in dealing with Christianity and the free exercise of?

            The theology of the Bible is the theology of the two kingdoms.  There are two ways God is at work in our world.  First through the Church.  The church is where God proclaims salvation.  The church is where God proclaims forgiveness through Jesus.  The church is where the Lord gathers His people.

            The second kingdom is God’s gift of civil authority.  We do not look for them to proclaim the Gospel but for an enactment of God’s good rule in the world.

            Paul anchors obedience to the rulers not on their character or the laws of the empire.  No, Paul anchors obedience on something as powerful and eternal as God.  “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”  The early Christians are turned from the realm of Rome to the realm of God.  God established the office and people in them.  Better hang on to these words of Scripture the night and morning of November 3 and 4. 

            Some who hold these offices test us.  Some who hold these offices offer a public witness and honor God through their words and actions.  But we don’t base it on the person but on God’s work.  They are to restrain evil and promote good.  Sometimes they use it wisely.  Sometimes they do not.  This does not diminish their office, the fact God has established the civil authorities not to save people but to care for them.

            The answer is yes.  God does rule through civil authorities, but we do not give our obedience blindly.  Faithfully, we seek to do good and avoid evil, and to honor these rulers as verse 6 says as “ministers of God.”  God rules over all.

                                                                                                                        Amen.   

August 30, 2020                                                                    Text:  Jeremiah 15:15-21

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Do you remember this story from two years ago?  It involves a teenager in the United Kingdom who went deaf and blind due to his junk food diet.  Here’s a portion of the article from Fox News.

            “The case involves a teen, believed to be the UK’s first such case, who slowly lost his eyesight and hearing after eating nothing but fries, chips, and other kinds of junk food…The then 14-year-old boy, described as a “fussy eater,” complained of experiencing tiredness to his family doctor.  By the age of 15, however, his hearing and vision became impaired…At 17, he was declared legally blind…The teen was eventually diagnosed with nutritional optic neuropathy, a result of nutritional deficiencies…The boy’s mother told the Telegraph that the teen’s condition has “devastated his life” and that he’s since dropped out of college.  She also left her job in order to care for him.”

            What a cautionary tale.  Many health situations can be linked to our diet.  What we put in our mouths has a bearing on one’s state of mind and health.  What are you feeding yourself spiritually? 

“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”

            If you have been around the Lutheran liturgy for a while you can recall these words:  “Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word we may embrace, ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ…”

            Inwardly digest the Word of God.  Eating the Word is throughout the Scriptures.  Eating led to death in the Garden of Eden but eating is also connected to the promise of life.  At the Last Supper the promise of the New Covenant there was eating and drinking that gives forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

            In our text it is the prophet Jeremiah eating the Word of the Lord.  “Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.  I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.” (v. 16-17)

            What are we going to eat?  A feast on the Word of God or will we open that bag of chips and gorge ourselves on the incessant junk food that is communicated to us daily?  You ever sit down with a snack while watching TV and before you know it half the bag is gone?  We just keep shoveling it in without a realization of what we are doing?  This happens to us spiritually.  We skip the daily devotions; we neglect the hearing and reading of God’s Word.  We fill our plates with that which does not satisfy. 

            Listen to this insight from an enlightened author.  “Spiritual junk food is comprised of the things we take in, that sometimes provide temporary comfort, but have little to no spiritual value; and once the moment passes, we feel worse than before.  Those things are often hidden in entertainment.  Many times entertainment serves as a means to distract us from the problems in our lives, escape reality, cure boredom, or make us feel better.  The content in entertainment is often high in spiritual sugar, salt, fat, and…empty calories.  Most people don’t like to admit that what they watch read or listen to, has an effect on their spiritual welfare.  To one who is accustomed to eating junk food, healthy food isn’t very appealing.  The same is true for one who is accustomed to enjoying spiritual junk food.  And the result of a spiritual junk food diet is a diseased soul.”

            What should we be putting into our mouths and minds?  God’s Word.  When hearing the Word what provided you comfort?  As you read the Word think of the grace that helped your trembling soul.  In marking your Bible how many times do you come back to that passage that you gives you a spiritual lift when life has you in the doldrums of the basement?  As you digest the Lord’s Words you fill yourself with forgiveness and life and salvation that the Lord died and rose again to provide.

            God’s Word doesn’t always have to be in a formal setting such as Bible Class or Sunday School.  Those are wonderful.  I love where Scripture says, “talk about them as you walk along the road.”  This puts it in our daily experiences.  It is part of our ongoing Christian walk.  What we eat we share with others.  Don’t always know what to say?  God has a word for that.  Know your Bible so that what you eat flows out of you to those around you.

            You are what you eat.  What will it be?  It is the prayer from this pulpit today that you choose the food that lasts forever.  As Jesus says, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:27)               Amen.

August 16, 2020 – Building/Church Anniversary                         Text:  Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

Dear Friends in Christ,

            It was the summer of 1993 and a young LCMS Pastor from Texas brought his relatively new wife to Normal IL to show her where he went to college.  One of their stops was his college church – Wittenberg Lutheran Center.  They were informed a new mission congregation was forming in the Twin Cities with offices at Wittenberg.

            By 1994 this mission had 15 original members, one of which is still a member.  In 1995 a large influx of souls joined what was called Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  Many were as Isaiah says in our text “outcasts” from another congregation, even to the point of being asked to leave.  This mission was made an official member church of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on February 19, 1995 under the leadership of mission developer Rev. Clarence Mankin.

            This small band of believers would wander, like the Israelites in the Exodus, from Wittenberg to Holiday Inn to Eastland Conference Center to McLean County Farm Bureau where offices were procured.  Would they find a permanent home?  Would this mission last?  Many of us have lived the story.  But it is not about us.  It’s about Him – our Lord Jesus Christ.  This anniversary day . . .

“PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW”

            Many of the verses in our text from Isaiah have been marks of this congregation.  “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come . . . keep the Sabbath.”  The Lord’s people here have always known the importance of Sunday Worship – keeping the Sabbath.  Where the Synodical average in worship is around 35%, Good Shepherd has always been in that 60% range.  Even now in this “blip in our lives” the importance of coming together as God’s people in this place is reflected in those coming to the Lord’s House.

            God blessed that as well.  He gathered us together and when you called a Pastor from Shawnee Kansas with 7-½ years experience, the thought had to be where are we going from here?  He looks so young and he told us he likes to sleep in.  Is this going to work?

            Pastor and people prayed.  Another mark of these sheep of the Shepherd.  Isaiah says, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”  They had a voter’s meeting and were presented three plans for a church home.  They met in the middle and voted to ask the Church Extension Fund of their district for a $1.8 million dollar loan to build their place of worship and Bible study and fellowship.

            A group of them went to Springfield and presented a plan that most bankers and financial advisors would laugh at.  We are 150 little church mice and we prayerfully ask for almost 2 million dollars.  There are some concerns but they vote unanimously to grant the funds.  Huh?  What?  The Lord must know what He is doing.

            And of course He does.  As He promised the Israelites, “soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.”  The Lord’ righteousness is victorious over wickedness.  His salvation comes to His people solely because of Him.  Jesus would procure our salvation.  The Good Shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep.  This is our temporary home but while here on earth we are blessed by our Lord to be part of this congregation.

            Ground was broken in 1999 and the Lord blessed us with mild winter weather – construction would continue.  On June 11, 2000 a cornerstone was put in place.  Later that summer this church would find it’s promised land in southeast Bloomington and begin worshipping in this sanctuary.  Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.

            There is no doubt this is where we are suppose to be.  The unexpected blessings are too numerous to list but just a few:  church pews we didn’t expect to have, construction overruns of $200,000 we paid off, a pipe organ refurbished and paid for, putting the short pews in the middle of the sanctuary, instead of the back, and having a family from our neighborhood canvas come to worship that first Sunday with a wheelchair-bound family member.  Wow!  If you have been in this church for any length of time, you see the gracious hand of our Lord.

            He has allowed us to touch 535 members in 25 years plus visitors and family members.  We have been blessed with twice as many baptisms as funerals.  We have had adult confirmations almost every year of our existence.  We’ve maintained stability in spite of all those who have moved from our area because of our state economy and job opportunities elsewhere.  Even now, the Lord’s Church is resilient.

            Praise God From All Blessings Flow.  He has hold of us now and into the future.  It is a great time to be the church.  We are always a mission church.  Who needs the stability and rock solid foundation that only our Good Shepherd can provide?  Pray for that person.  Look to the Holy Spirit for guidance.

            We look forward to burning our mortgage and other blessings in the coming years.  That young Pastor in 1993 had no idea he would be called to lead this group.  What a joy it has been for our family.  Lord Jesus continue to grant us your grace, mercy and love as we await your return.  Until then . . . Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!          Amen.            

August 9, 2020                                                                      Text:  Matthew 14:22-33

Dear Friends in Christ,

            How do you talk about others?  Positive?  Negative?  We all make first impressions.  How do you share those?  “She was nice.”  “He was pleasant.”  “He is funny.”  “She is a great worker.”  We also can catch people in challenging moments.  “They were rude.”  “Why did she bite my head off?”  “He’s got a temper.”  Yes, how do you talk about others?

            If you have a longer-term relationship with this person you see they are more than just one characteristic.  You see this pleasant, friendly Pastor and then learn wow, is he competitive.  Someone you thought lazy might confirm your impression or they may surprise you and really give effort.  And every once in a while we may get a glimpse of a person’s dark side that we never saw coming.  It is not easy to define any one of us.

            Human beings are complicated.  We are chameleons depending on the situation.  We define people by what we observe. 

            We do the same with Jesus.  We make judgments that aren’t in Holy Scripture.  We define who He is in our speech.  What are we saying?

“HOW DO YOU TALK ABOUT JESUS?”

            Jesus is not a poorly written character with no depth, no complication.  Matthew’s Gospel these last few weeks shows that.  We have seen Jesus in many different situations.

            Thousands were following Jesus around and he regularly defied expectations.  Some walked away not satisfied by what they saw.  This one called “the Messiah” confuses some.  His hometown doesn’t give him a key to the city or even a free drink at the local watering hole.  They mock him and send him away.  He has compassion on the diseased and heals them.  He touches the untouchable and hears the voice of the voiceless.  He needs time away from all these people but still feeds a throng with very little supply.  Unexpected.

            Now in our text for today He does something we might not see coming.  He again leaves everybody.  What is going on here?  Why is this guy so standoffish?  Didn’t He come for us?  He leaves so He can pray for you and the others.  He needs time alone with the Father.  See how you have misread Him again?

            Prayer time is over.  No Coast Guard signal comes but Jesus notices the boat of the disciples is far away from land with wind and waves crashing against it.  He walks on water.  Is it a ghost?  What is this ragtag group expecting?  We know our leader is different but walking on water?  He brings words of comfort.

            Now the drama shifts from 12 to one and his name is Peter.  “Come on out Peter.”  Should I guys?  Sure, you can trust Jesus?  His faith keeps him above water, but as soon as the wind comes he needs a life jacket.  It’s Jesus.  He rescues the helpless disciple.  He saves a tragedy from occurring.  “Peter, Peter, Peter, why the doubt?”

            How are the disciples going to talk about Jesus after this?  He is no longer just the guy who attends parties or the one not accepted in his hometown or the buffet chairman at a large meal.  He commands creation.  The wind ceases.  The waves calm.  What does this mean?  What can we say about Jesus?  They are not exactly sure but they confess, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

            How do you see it?  Is Jesus hard to label and categorize?  He is unique and special but isn’t there more?  Though you can’t completely grasp Him and I can’t completely understand Him, He’s got a hold of us.  Lifting children to His lap.  Dragging disciples into boats.  How many times has He held on to you in pain, in death, in things that don’t make sense?  How often has He calmed your boat ride with His presence?  He holds you all the way to the cross.  His death and resurrection assures you that He holds you into eternity.  In your doubts and struggles He is there.  His Holy Spirit creates in you a clean heart that can confess today:  Jesus is the Son of God.  Follow His path.  The Savior reaches out to you, “Come, trust and walk toward me.  I have your hand.”

            With all of this in your life, how do you tell others about Jesus?  What words do you use?  Do you describe the peace and comfort He brings to your daily life?  Do you talk about the “blessings” he has showered upon you?  Do you share the hope and future that awaits a child of God?  Do your words have the affect that when others describe you a prime characteristic is that you are a Christian?  Do they see His presence in you?

            Yes, there are times we take our eyes away from Jesus and our faith.  Drowning is not pleasant, is it?  But remember this – He’s there.  The Lord Jesus grasps you.  His touch is gentle and strong.  In His grip you’ll know the price that He paid to have you forever.  His hands bear the scars of His love, the price of forgiveness.  He’s crucified and living.  Now that is something to talk about!

                                                                                                                                    Amen.      

August 2, 2020                                                                      Text:  Matthew 14:13-21

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Can an appetizer be a meal?  Can a meal be an appetizer?  Seinfeld played this running joke in a few episodes.  Jerry owed another comedian a meal but the guy only ordered soup.  Was it meal?  Their argument led to Jerry having to take this guy out again and this time he made sure he ordered something more substantial that counted as a meal.  What say you?

            The text is familiar.  Jesus feeding 5,000 men plus women and children.  They left more than satisfied.  Filling as it was, we need to ask the question:  was this meal still just an appetizer?  We have two choices.

“MEAL OR APPETIZER?”

            The text begins with some horrible news.  Jesus learns about the beheading of John the Baptist.  The Lord is fatigued and needs to get away.  The disciples were probably worn down too.  We pile on top of this, thousands of people who have no food.  This is not turning into a pleasant day.

            The crowds want Jesus to turn on His power.  In His state of humiliation He didn’t always use His divine power, unless it applied to his work of the salvation of sinners.  Instead of feeding these people wouldn’t it have been more impressive if He reattached John’s head from the platter and gave him back his life.  Or wouldn’t the people want to follow if He destroyed Herod in some gruesome manner?

            It may have played well in the media and with frenzied crowds but it would not have shown Jesus as Messiah.  Power for power’s sake was not this Savior’s way.

            This act of grace shadows the Lord feeding the Israelites quail and bread during their exodus.  What everyone did not understand was that the promise of a Messiah was among them.  This man who was going to feed them was also going to save them.  The feeding would be the appetizer.  The meal was still coming.

            Living in a world of sin is still the same for us.  People die tragic and senseless deaths.  We face physical and spiritual fatigue.  Just this week I talked with a college friend, an area football coach, and a church member in assisted living.  They all have said the same thing; they are worn down and have had enough.  We need some courageous people who will make a decision and then live with it.  You can be thankful you have a Board of Elders who has done just that.  We also want God to use His power to strike back at lawbreakers and evil human beings.  What we forget is that we would be the first to be struck!

            You and I also don’t quite fathom this state of Jesus’ humiliation or the theology of the cross.  Do we ever spout a theology of glory?  “Lord feed my needs.”  “Father, send a miracle and I will be on your side.”  But that’s seeing not believing.  We are then settling for a mere appetizer.  Mozzarella sticks, table 4!  The appetizer led many who were fed to fall away.  Today people stop following Jesus and His Word when they settle for the nachos and don’t wait for the steak or chicken.

            Notice the grace in our text.  Jesus shared the sorrow of the crowd.  Jesus had compassion on the crowd.  He was deeply moved and was ready to do something miraculous.  The short-term miracle was the food.  The long-term miracle would be the cross.

            Jesus would withdraw to the cross and there no one could follow.  Far from raising John and striking Herod, Jesus gave more information about how He would fulfill all that was written about the Savior.  Jesus would suffer and die and rise from the dead.  Jesus satisfied the hunger and other needs of the crowd but it was just an appetizer for what would follow.  Jesus would pay for Herod’s sin and overcome John’s death.  Jesus multiplying a meal shows the compassion to be shown in even greater measure on the cross.

            We are in the crowd with respect to our problems.  We are also in the crowd in respect to the miracle.  If we hunger for bread more than we hunger for righteousness, and if we fail to see our own sin on the cross, then we are settling for the appetizer.  Lift your head from your plate because there is good news for you. 

            You are forgiven.  Jesus gives comfort in death.  Jesus gives hope in the midst of fatigue.  He is going to bring some good out of what we are living through.  The cross of Jesus is and always will defeat evil.  This is the real meal, which led Jesus from the crowds to the cross.  Through this sustenance, the truth of God’s Word is applied to our lives through the Holy Spirit.  Mind and body are fully satisfied and God’s grace overflows to us.

            Do you have your answer?  Meal or appetizer?  Jesus looked to heaven and said a blessing.  A miracle allowed them to live for a time.  Amazing!  But an appetizer.  Now Jesus looks down from heaven, says a blessing, and brings us into an ongoing miracle of salvation for all time and eternity.  Bon appetit.  Eat up.

                                                                                                                                    Amen.      

July 26, 2020                                                                         Text:  Deuteronomy 7:6-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

            In the fall of 1983 I was a freshman at Illinois State.  I lived in the Manchester dorm.  One night looking for something to do, we decided to go to the Normal Theater, which at the time showed movies that had been out for a while.  The cost was only a buck or two.  The movie that night was one we didn’t know a lot about but took a chance on.  It was Tender Mercies starring Robert Duvall.

            In the movie, the main character Mac Sledge played by Duvall was a former country singer divorced and alone.  He is a defeated man who wakes up in a run-down motel run by a young widow named Rosa Lee.  She has pity on him and lets him work there for his room.  She didn’t see anything good in him, it is purely grace.

            What happens?  Mac begins attending church with Rosa Lee.  He hears the Gospel and is baptized.  Does he feel different after Baptism?  No.  This part Hollywood got right.  Everything didn’t suddenly fall into place.  Life was still challenging.  He makes contact with a daughter, now age 18, he barely knew.  She dies in an automobile accident.  Despite this tragedy and other questions he has, he does not lose his faith.  God surprises Mac with his love and Mac comes to see himself as the object of the tender mercies of the Lord.

            In our text for today, God chose Israel – God has chosen us – not because He saw anything good in us.  He chose us to be His simply by His grace.  We are the objects of God’s unfettered love, his . . .

“TENDER MERCIES IN CHRIST”

            The text opens this way, “You are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” (v. 6-7)

            We love numbers, don’t we?  We think if something has the numbers, they must be doing everything right.  The worthy should gain something.  We even do this in the church.  I just ran across some of our attendance numbers from 9 years ago and we had double on average of what we have in the sanctuary today.  Has the church changed the way we have done things?  Have we stopped preaching and teaching the Gospel in its truth and purity?  Has the Pastor while aging, lost his marbles?  No, no, and hopefully no! 

            Remember how Paul worded it, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise…the weak to shame the strong…the lowly things…the despised things.”  Our lower numbers have actually allowed more worship opportunities in our current environment.  God does not measure success by human methods.  On the contrary, it works this way . . .

            “But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (v. 8)

            “The Lord loves you.”  What wonderful words.  The Lord loved the Israelites and He loves us.  God’s love is not like human love.  It does not change with the moment.  When God makes a promise He keeps it. 

            God loved his chosen people in spite of their rebellion.  His tender mercies in Christ give us that same love.  We have spurned that love with worshipping idols in our hearts.  We forget God’s love toward us.  We go down a different path than the Lord’s.  We make an exodus from His church and Christian fellowship.

            Bring us home Lord.  We need your tender mercy.  “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” (v. 9)

            These verses again put before us that there is only one God.  The God who reveals himself to us in the tender mercies of Christ.  The triune God.  He is also the faithful God.  That is what we must hold on to every day of our lives. 

            God’s keeps His covenant.  He forgives our spurning of His love.  He welcomes us back from our Exodus.  He is with us in our not so pleasant moments.  It took a lot of heartache but the Israelites made it to the Promised Land.

            Are you living a heartache?  A marriage challenge?  A child rebelling?  Looking for a future when society is stuck in neutral?  The tender mercy of Christ is here for you.  It helps you in the pain.  It relieves you in the stress.  It helps you focus on the Promised Land in the distance.  You can trust the Lord to keep His promise.  He will take us to be with Him that we may be where His is.  God does not lie.

            Oh, yes . . . the tender mercy of God in Christ.

                                                                                                Amen.,