Sermon Texts

December 1, 2019                                                                                Text:  Isaiah 2:1-5

Dear Friends in Christ,

            We have all been on guided tours.  Where do you like to position yourself when on these tours?  Toni, Karson, and I just toured a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house in Kankakee.  There were only five of us so positioning wasn’t so important but if in a large group your position is vital to your view.

            Since we are a cross-section of human beings in this church, there are some who like to be at the front of the tour.  You can hear better, preferably see better and you like to be the lead dog.  Others of you take the middle.  You don’t want to crowd to the front but you need to be close to hear and you like that human contact.  Then some of you are like me.  You like the back of the tour.  Gives you time to linger, gives a non-crowded view and there is no jostling.  Yea, this is the view I like!

            Go ahead and position your minds where you want to be.  We are going to take a tour this morning and we can see that it’s . . .

“TIME FOR A BEATING”

            We as Christians have the best view today because we are on the Mountain of the Lord.  God promises that this mountain on the last day will be a place of supremacy.  This isn’t a spot of real estate; Isaiah is speaking of God’s dwelling with His people, the church.  On this mountain we will have a perfect view of God’s loving face that assures us of life and peace.  On this mountain will be no war or strife.  On this holy mountain will be believers from every nation who are unified around their Lord and Savior.  Yea, this is the view I like!

            Why can we be so sure that we will like the view?  Because Jesus has given sin and death a beating.  When the spear pierced Jesus’s side, it looked like Jesus was beaten.  In fact, it was Jesus who gave the beating.  He beat that spear into a pruning hook by his death on the cross, a death that pruned away all our sin.

            On Easter morning Jesus demonstrated that he had given sin, death, and Satan a beating.  Through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus we gain forgiveness and acceptance into the family of God.  Through Baptism into Jesus’ victory we have been called to our place on God’s holy mountain.

            Through faith in Jesus we now have an unobstructed view of salvation.  No sin, guilt, present hurt, or scheme of Satan will be able to block our view of God’s shining face because Jesus has given every such obstacle a beating, sharing his triumphs with all who believe in Him.

            “Let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  That is Isaiah’s admonition to us in verse 5.  That can be hard when we know the offerings on Netflix better than the Scriptures.  It can be hard when the darkness of our troubles and challenges overshadow us.  It can be hard when pain and sorrow obstruct our view of the light.  Put aside your deeds of darkness in order to walk in the light.

            Time for a beating.  What better way to walk in the light than to give people on earth a glimpse of what life will be like on God’s holy mountain.  Start now to beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks.

            What are some of the “swords and spears” we sometimes wield?  The sword of a grudge over another person.  Especially prevalent over the holidays with family we don’t see on a regular basis.  The spear of our words that cut like sharpened steel.  The weapon of deafening silence and callous indifference to those who might need our help and understanding.

            We have wielded these weapons with skill, but our skill hardly fits our status as saints.  Those of us who have seen the shining face of Jesus wish to walk on the path of his instruction.

            Thus, Advent reminds us that it’s time for a beating.  It is not time for God to beat us for our sins, oh no.  Jesus took the beating for us on Calvary.  He beat sin and death once and all for us.

            Advent instead reminds us to give a beating to our old ways of sin.  We do that by repenting of them and knowing Christ will forgive them.  With the Holy Spirit’s guidance we beat that grudge-sword into the plowshare of forgiveness.  Those spears of hurtful words turn into pruning hooks of words that build up.  Our silence and indifference show themselves in love and mercy.

            Yes, it’s time for a beating.  The beating of sin that comes by the Gospel of Jesus.  Receive that Gospel message yourself in faith.  Then put the love of Jesus to work in your life.  By the power of the cross beat down your sinful habits.  Your new tools of peace and love will give witness to the kingdom of God.  In doing so, you will call all those around you to come to God’s holy mountain, to walk in the light of the Lord, and to behold the best view of all:  Jesus and his love.  It’s time, isn’t it?  Time for a beating.

                        Amen.    

November 24, 2019                                                                      Text:  Malachi 3:13-18

Dear Friends in Christ,

            In the early editions of Lutheran Worship, what many of you know as the “blue hymnal” they made a mistake.  In the beloved Thanksgiving hymn “Come, You Thankful People, Come,” they printed that the fruitless ears Christ would store in his garner evermore.  The copy editors missed it and folks sang right on through it as if nothing were amiss.  Being fruitful in faith, or being fruitless, didn’t seem to make much difference.

            God’s people, like those in Malachi’s day, can become discouraged when it doesn’t seem to make much difference whether we are faithful to the Lord or not.  “It is vain to serve God.  What is the profit of our keeping his charge?” (v. 14)

            As we live in this world let’s find some encouragement this morning.  There is something far greater than this present world.  This moment in time and all that our eyes see is transitory and will pass away.  Only . . .

“GOD’S FUTURE IS THE REAL WORLD”

            Sometimes we think we know what is real and substantial by looking at the world around us.  The people of Israel looked around and saw that the wicked were doing just fine.  The Lord confronts them but they say, “How have we spoken against you?” (v. 13)  The Lord then rattles off their complaints – the arrogant are blessed, evildoers prosper and those who put God to the test escape.

            What do you see when you look at our real world?  Do your eyes focus on the same things?  Arrogant blessed – entertainers, sports figures, politicians, a neighbor or boss?  Evildoers prosper – the immoral people’s rights seem to be more important than the Christian, those who rebel against the church are held in high-esteem.  Even the church is at fault.  The arrogant that water down the gospel of Jesus, the wolves in sheep’s clothing just out for themselves.  Do you ever confront God with these complaints like the people in Malachi’s time?

            Some in Malachi’s time heard the Word of God and believed.  We are told, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.  The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.” (v. 16)  From the tragic mass of rebellious Israel, God called forth his faithful ones.  They saw with their eyes the same things others saw.  But they knew that the Lord had a greater reality – a reality defined not by sight but by faith.

            What about you and I?  Is the world around us all there is?  When we are called to repent, do we process it through our human experience in this world?  Or do we hear, believe, and confess to each other a more powerful reality than this world has to offer?

            We are called to faith by things misunderstood by this world though they are things of this world.  Have you heard a Pastor with his all-too-human voice say, “Your sins are forgiven?”  Have you been touched by the water of baptism?  Have you knelt at the altar and received bread and wine while fully believing they are the very body and blood of Jesus?  Then you have experienced in this world the very promise of God’s future.

            All this is based solely on the magnificent grace of God.  It was His grace that sent His Son into this world to share our humanity.  It was His grace that led Jesus to Calvary, where He, the Lamb, was slain once and for all of humanity.  It was His grace that raised Jesus on Easter morning, granting freedom and forgiveness and hope, beyond this world for all humanity.

            It will be revealed in the end.  Listen to the text, “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.” (v. 17)  We are the Lord’s treasured possessions.  Sons and daughters of a loving father.  But that is not all.  The Lord also says, “Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” (v. 18)  In this world, that distinction seems blurred; in the reality of God’s future, there is no blurring for them or us.

            Last weekend we spent Sunday with a seminary classmate of mine and his family.  He Pastors a church in the Northern Illinois District.  As we are apt to do in this profession “we talked shop.”  He told me he had been at a recent Pastor’s Conference where his District President gave an update on their district.  He said it was like being at a funeral with all the bad news of churches on the verge of closing and others who were struggling.  We thanked God for the churches we serve and the hope that our Lord gives us.

            What our eyes see can be difficult to turn away from.  But we can see our future.  It is filled with the redeemed of Israel.  We will see the Blessed Son of God who redeemed us through His holy, precious blood.  We will see the new heaven and new earth as we stand in the midst of those whose robes are made white in the blood of the Lamb.  This is your future because it is God’s future.

            Our reality is greater than that granted by this poor world.  By His grace it goes beyond our eyes to what our heart believes.  Come, Lord Jesus.         Amen.

November 10, 2019 – Stewardship Sunday                                  Text:  Psalm 23:1b

Dear Friends in Christ,

            “I Shall Not Want.”  Are you in want?  Are you in distress or dire need?  These are a few of the synonyms for the word “want” in its usage in our text.

            Can we be in want knowing that if you make $40,000 a year you are in the top 4% of earners in the world?  Bump it up to $48,000 a year and now you have made it to the top of the world – you are in the highest stratosphere – the 1% of all human beings on earth who make that much money.  Can we be in want when we find out that there are 52,000 storage facilities worldwide and 46,000 of them are in the United States?  We love our stuff.  We are so rich in so many ways yet we seem to have stress upon stress.  Maybe we are in want but not in the way many of us think.

            Today is stewardship Sunday and the Psalmist has given us a wonderful title for our exploration of this subject . . .

“I SHALL NOT WANT”

            How can the Holy Spirit be so bold as to base His assurance to you that you never need to live in worry and want?  How about this:  “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give you all things.” (Romans 8:32)

            The Holy Spirit is not asking you to believe in something that might happen.  The Holy Spirit’s promise to you is based solidly on a fact of history.  This historic event has already happened.  Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is God’s evidence and guarantee that “You need never want.”

            God the Father gave up His Son publicly for you and your sins.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)  Solid evidence of God’s love for you.  His second act of grace is that He will give you everything else you need.  This is a divine promise.

            Do you have friends who are puzzled at your contentment?  You don’t want this or that.  You have confidence in your future.  The next time it happens point to the cross on your neck or your finger or your lapel or your dorm room.  And then say, “I believe what the Scriptures say.  God did not spare His own Son who went to the cross to pay for my sins.  If He did that great act of love I know He will provide everything I need.”  Speak with joy.  Let people see you are not in want.

            Why is it so important to remember this daily?  Because Satan is working to destroy you and your family and your loved ones.  He works subtly in trying to confuse your thinking.  He wants to confuse what you want with what you actually need.  You may want many things, but you may actually need very few things.  Look to our Epistle lesson where Paul writes, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

            Oh, how we need that strength.  Satan is like the spider that uses a web to capture hearts and minds.  On television, on our phones and other media platforms, the Prince of Lies uses advertising and programming to confuse our wants with our actual needs.  Once Satan can twist your mind you are like a helpless fly caught in His web.  Companies spend billions to get you to believe that what you want is what you need.

            Once you get caught in this web of confusion then Satan can really go to work.  He will then tempt you to reject the Christian faith.  Why?  In your confusion of your wants with your needs, you begin to believe that God is not really giving you what you need each day.  You are trapped and Satan moves in for the final kill.  Satan is working hard every hour to destroy your faith and your soul.

            We throw it back at Satan today – “I Shall Not Want.”  Why?  Because “The Lord is my Shepherd.”  As our Shepherd, we His sheep are led to where we need to go.  Green pastures and still waters.  The Lord restores my soul when I get confused about wants and needs.  His righteousness leads our path.  We don’t fear death or evil or devil because His rod and staff comfort us.  Our enemies cannot harm us.  We are so blessed that we are not just given a cup but we have one that overflows.  Do you see the overflow in your life?  The treasure you have been given.  The talent you can use for the Lord’s Kingdom.  The time He allows you to live on earth to make a difference in your corner of the world.  And then once that time comes to a completion you “shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

            What a joy and a blessing.  May your heart and mind see it this day and every day.

            Amen.     

November 3, 2019 – All Saints Sunday                                      Text:  Matthew 5:1-12

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Do you feel “Blessed Beyond Belief?”  Most of us look at our lives and can say we are blessed.  We have hope in Christ and heaven when we die.  Focus on the phrase “beyond belief.”  Do we sometimes act in ways that puts the message of Jesus Christ “beyond belief?”

            A former world-class athlete tells the story of his stepfather, a man who professed to be a Christian.  He would talk a good game but he had a temper that led to whippings for the young boy when he was messy.

            When the young man was 14 his mother had to have surgery.  He had to leave for a swim meet and his father went with.  At the airport his stepfather starting writing notes on a pad.  He would write, ball them up and then throw them in the garbage.  Strange thought the boy.  When his dad went to the restroom he retrieved a few of the notes and stuffed them in his bag.

            Later, when he was alone, he took them out and read them.  They were to another woman.  His stepfather was writing to another woman while his mother was in the hospital recovering from surgery.  What kind of impression of Christ do you suppose that gave this boy?

            Does our conduct ever put the blessings of the Christian life beyond belief for others?  Foul mouth, financial cheating, speaking ill of others, self-righteousness.  Yes, there is forgiveness of these sins, but the point right now is that our sins have consequences – and one consequence is that we sometimes make the blessings of the Christian life unbelievable for others.

            Today on All Saints Day the Gospel is Matthew 5:1-12.  In the Christian Church we call this section of Scripture “The Beatitudes.”  Good news of the blessings God has given us.  But is it all “sugar and spice and everything nice?”  To really understand them as Gospel, listen to them as Law.  “Blessed are the meek,” how often do you turn the other cheek?  “Blessed are the merciful,” but how many times do we withhold forgiveness from others?  “Blessed are the peacemakers” but how many times do we let our anger flow?  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” but do we always base our daily decisions on what the Word of God has to say?  Are you getting the point?  The Law accuses.  You are probably feeling “poor in spirit” right now.

            There is only one person who in Himself is in fact accurately described in the Beatitudes.  That’s the Son of God.  Listen to the Beatitudes and think of Jesus.  The perfect Son of God is described, not us sinners.

            Jesus died for those sins on the cross.  There is another way He rescued us and that is His “active obedience.”  Before His crucifixion, during His years on earth, Jesus kept the Law of God perfectly.  As a baby, as a toddler, as a teenager, as a mature man, Jesus did the will of the Father without fail.  Whereas, you and I buckle under the pressure of life and give in to our sinful nature, Jesus has no sin and committed no sin.  Jesus, Son of the Most High, blessed be He!

            Jesus did endure the punishment for our sins.  All those times we had not led the blessed life, all those times when you and I have put the blessings of following Christ beyond belief for others, everything was laid on Him at the cross.  He reached into your soul and mine and removed the curse.  “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’” (Gal. 3:13)  Jesus, Son of the Most High, blessed be He!

            Blessed be He!  What about us?  Can we be blessed?

            After those Beatitudes, Jesus turns to us in the text and says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (v. 11-12)

            How can this be?  C.S. Lewis wrote:  “Christ says, ‘Give me all.  I don’t want so much of your money and so much of your work – I want you.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there; I want to have the whole tree down.  Hand over the whole natural self . . . I will give you a new self instead.  In fact I will give you myself; my own will shall become yours.’”

            How can we empty ourselves so much that Christ completely resides in us?  It is almost beyond belief except for the Biblical teaching that the Holy Spirit works it in us.  Through our Baptism and God’s Word and The Holy Supper.  Christ lives in us.

            The climax will be the day when we are . . .

“BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF”

On that day we will no longer walk by faith, but by sight.  We will see the Savior face-to-face.  On that day we will dwell with God and all the saints in heaven.  We pray for the message to take root on those currently going down the wrong path.  We pray the Holy Spirit will work on their hearts with the Gospel so that Revelation 7:9 comes true:  “A great multitude that no one could count.”  “With them numbered may we be here and in eternity!” (LW 370). 

                                                                                    Amen. 

October 27, 2019 – Reformation                                                         Text:  Daniel 3:17

Dear Friends in Christ, 

            Have you ever been hot?  I mean beyond the usual summer temperature, the raging fire or the hot flashes.  You are sticky and suffocating and sweat is all over your body.  It’s as hot as hell and you can’t find any relief.  All because . . .

“THE HEAT IS ON!”

            Just ask Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah.  Maybe you know their VeggieTales names:  Shack, Rack, and Benny.  In Daniel 3 they are called by their Babylonian names – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

            It’s 6^th century BC and these three Hebrews stand on a plain in Babylon in the midst of 300,000.  They had better blend in, bow down and sell out.  King Nebuchadnezzar has made a golden statue standing 125 feet high.  He then declares that everybody better bow down or the heat will be on.

            Surely these three will assimilate.  Peer pressure.  What’s wrong with doing it once?  You know, fellas, I am not a big fan of fire.

            We know, don’t we?  We stand in a culture with millions telling us to conform to the present evil age.  We are called to confess the Son of Man before men and we shrink like a little rag doll.  We think it would be better to be comfortable and compromising then face the heat. 

            When faced with putting the best construction on things, when faced with moral compromise or get along to graduate or get promoted, we fudge a little with God’s Word.  Who is going to be hurt if I do it just this once?  I don’t want to be roasted like a s’more on the campfire of life.

            Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are ready to take the heat.  “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us.”  Nebuchadnezzar gets so mad that he orders the furnace to be set seven times hotter.  It is so hot that the men who take them up to dump them in the furnace die from the heat just by being in the vicinity.

            What happens when three stand against 300,000?  What happens when the baptized take a stand?  What happens when believers say that “enough is enough and I will not bow down to political correctness and amoral standards of behavior.”  Nebuchadnezzar can answer that in Daniel 3:25:  “Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth one looks like a Son of God.”  There is always a fourth man in the furnace.  Always!

            He is the same Son of God, Son of Man, who has been given authority, glory, power and the one who all the nations worship.  He writes our names in His book and He delivers us on the last day from the eternal fire so that we have the fullness of everlasting life.

            Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego make a bold stand and the result is hair that is not singed, clothing that isn’t burnt and they don’t even smell like smoke.  Try not smelling like smoke the next you are around a campfire!  Only the Son of God’s protection can save these men from not smelling like a bowling alley.

            This same Son of God enters a furnace once again.  This time He is against the world.  The heat is on.  It is sweltering and sticky and suffocating.  The Palestinian sun is out and the sweat is rolling down His bleeding body.  It is as hot as hell, because that is what He is up against, because of your sin and mine.  He has cracked lips and a parched throat.  “I thirst!”

            Three days later He comes out of this fire alive and unbound.  He makes this promise from His heart to yours:  “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze; for I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2-3)

            Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made a bold confession.  In 1517 there was another bold confessor and then many bold confessors.  They refused to bow down, or blend in, or sell out.  Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John the Constant were just some of the names.  In 1530, they presented the Augsburg Confession that begins with Psalm 119:46:  “I will speak of your decrees before kings, and I will not be ashamed.”

            It all started when Luther read the Book of Romans.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.”  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

            Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were great confessors of their faith.  They said in Daniel, “But even if God does not save us now, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship your image of gold.”  God is empowering us to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that there is new life in Him.  To confess that the three solas of the Reformation are the true and correct exposition of the Word of God – grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone – and that they all point to free salvation in Christ crucified alone.

            In the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, we refuse to blend in, bow down or sell out to any person, ideology, movement or government that would rob us of the Gospel.  When the heat is on, we will take our stand.  God help us! 

October 20, 2019                                                                         Text:  Genesis 32:22-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Let’s get ready to rumble!  In this corner we have Jacob (though by the end of this match he will have a new name), son of Isaac, brother of Esau, ancestor of Christ, father of Joseph.  In the other corner is the Supreme Being, Creator of the World, goes by the one-word moniker “God.”

            This match is a little different than most wrestling matches you might catch on TV.  Usually there is a bad guy and a good guy.  One adored, one spit at.  Good versus evil.  As this match begins things are not quite so clear.  Let’s clear away the fuzziness and answer the question . . .

“IS THE WRESTLER FRIEND OR FOE?”

            We know the location of the match – along the ford of the Jabbok, which is a stream.  Jacob is facing a confrontation with his brother Esau and he doesn’t know if he is friend or foe.  Jacob tries his own solution, which is going to be presenting gifts in the form of many animals to Esau.  You know, buy him off, then he won’t be a foe, right?

            Well, right before this happened God had promised Jacob to be with him and bless him.  But instead of trusting God, Jacob goes looking for his own way to appease his brother.  I’m thinking bad move, what about you?

            It’s easy looking outside in, isn’t it?  Why doesn’t Jacob just put his faith in His Creator?  What about us when we are on the inside looking out.  If we sense confrontation, we gird for battle.  Our Lord has promised to take care of us, but we don’t always trust Him.  We think we have to fight our own battle and when we do we are actually wrestling against God.  We have a hard time figuring out who is our friend and who is our foe.  I’m a baptized child of God, but is He really on my side?

            Is Jacob’s mystery attacker – friend or foe?  He has got to be a foe because he just put Jacob’s hip socket out of joint.  Hold it, stop the timer.  Look at this would you; the attacker asks injured Jacob to let him go.  No longer relying on his own craftiness, Jacob by faith realizes his attacker is a friend not a foe.  He then asks the attacker for a blessing and his wrestling nemesis God blesses him.

            So is God our friend or foe?  Being sinful, we sometimes see him as our enemy.  How could he allow me to be in this financial mess?  My wife doesn’t love me and God doesn’t love me.  How could a loving Savior let me lose my job?  I’ve been praying every day and where is the man upstairs, doesn’t He promise to answer? 

            God’s Word encourages diligence in prayer.  God’s Word teaches us that God is our friend and is there to help us in difficult times.  God’s Word teaches us that God sent Jesus to die to deliver us from our foes – sin, death, and the devil.

            Because of Jesus we have prevailed.  Jacob being humbled makes all the difference.  God changes his name to Israel.  God affirms the promise of the Messiah.  Jacob’s sins of self-reliance and lying and cheating are forgiven.  Jacob will no longer fear meeting Esau and Jacob has complete trust in God to be with him.

            God grants us deliverance when He humbles us.  You’ve been there, haven’t you?  So low, wrestling with God in your mind, wrestling with the devil in your heart, all you can do is surrender to the Lord’s will.  We have a new name – no longer children of wrath but children of God.  Our struggles with sin and doubt and uncertainty in the dark nights of our lives are forgiven in the Messiah – Jesus Christ and His Cross.

            The Lord comes to us not to engage in a wrestling match, but to give us grace and mercy in Baptism, in the Word, in the Lord’s Supper.  With faith strengthened and sin forgiven we are able to walk into each new day knowing God is our friend, not our foe.  Someday we will stand in that heavenly circle and the Lord will raise our hand as the eternal victor.

            Let’s stop wrestling with God.  You know who is going to win.  He is the ultimate wrestler who has got your back.  He fights for you, as your friend, and nothing can stand against him.  He has pinned Satan and sin and death so get out of the ring because He has done it all for you.

                                                                                    Amen.