Sermon Texts

September 1, 2019                                                                           Text:  Luke 14:1-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

            On The Andy Griffith Show amateur psychologist Deputy Barney Fife was always trying to help town drunk Otis Campbell cure his drinking.  In one episode Barney shows Otis the Rorschach inkblot cards and asks him what he sees.  When he shows him the one that looks like a butterfly, Otis sees a bat.  No matter what Otis says with the rest of them they are usually the opposite of what Barney wants him to see.  They end up yelling at one another and the guffaws ensue on the greatest comedy show of all time – in this Pastor’s opinion.

            Jesus has been invited to dinner.  People are watching him to see what he will do.  They want to find something to accuse him of.  Jesus is also testing them.  Let’s step into the drama and ask . . .

“WHAT DO YOU SEE?”

            The Pharisees are watching the Savior.  A man with dropsy appears.  Jesus gives the first test:  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” (v. 3)  The Pharisees answer was no as we see by their silence.  They didn’t see a soul in pain that needed their help.

            What do you see?  When we look at those around us with problems and difficulties, do we feel annoyance and emotional tiredness?  Do we grow weary of helping others especially those who come with problems but don’t listen to our advice?  Do we set a boundary because we do not want to be an enabler?  Do you see this as love?

            Jesus gets to the deception.  He uses a son and ox that have fallen in a well.  “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”  Now it gets personal.  Wouldn’t you help a loved one or an animal you need for labor?  Again – silence.

            Jesus on the other hand acts immediately.  He healed the man and sent him away.  In the same way He does not delay in healing and restoring us.  He doesn’t wait to forgive us if we repent.  Jesus doesn’t put our problems or pain off until a later time.  He listens and then acts according to His will and purpose.

            When the Pharisees see their peers, what do they see?  How do they relate to others?  Their love is for themselves.  They want the highest honor and the best seat.  They think their actions and work give them this deserved place. 

            What do you see?  Don’t we size up others?  Who is above me?  Who is below me?  Where ought I to sit?  When we love ourselves the most then we see others as objects and not people.

            Jesus again has an answer.  In their narcissistic attitude – love of self – they may get moved down in the order.  They may occupy the lowest place, the place of shame because they loved themselves more than others.

            The proper way is to start out is at the lowest place.  In our sin this is where we all are.  We are so far away we can barely see the host of the dinner.  But wait.  Here He comes.  He wants us to move up.  Go to the front of the line.  Sit in first class.  In love He is sacrificially giving us a better place.  This is Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  He gave His life placing others in front of himself because of love.

            When the Pharisees see their friends, what do they see?  Is Jesus insulting the host?  Has Jesus been invited because the host expects something from Him?  Wouldn’t this host, a Pharisee have better social standing if he could catch Jesus doing something wrong?  He is using others for himself.

            He has invited those who love him.  These people will gladly return love and invite him to their party.  I say “love” here but it is really a mockery of love.  It is not the deep sacrificial love Jesus has for us.

            We too confuse love.  We love our children but do we ever manipulate their lives?  We love our spouse, but are we above emotional blackmail?  We love our Pastor but will we still love him if he refuses to bury, marry, or commune someone we ask him to?  What do you see?

            Jesus expects nothing in return for His love.  He loves purely and simply to help others.  This is the love of God that led him to send his Son for our salvation.  This is the love of God from which we will never be separated.  In this love we see the gracious salvation that is indeed ours now.

            In the 2008 movie Vantage Point the President gets shot.  The rest of the movie is that moment in time.  What was the vantage point of each main character?  What did they see?  Each of you this morning sees and hears this sermon from a different vantage point.  Through the Holy Spirit can you trust the Savior’s love more faithfully?  Can the Lord’s love motivate your love toward others?  What did you hear today that has got you thinking – what do I see? 

            See this.  A Savior who loves you.  A Savior who sacrificially died for you.  A Savior who wants to help you to love others more than yourself.  Oh, say can you see?  Yes, with the help of Jesus.

                                                            Amen.         

August 25, 2019                                                                             Text:  Isaiah 66:18-23

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Your mission, dear Christian, should you accept it, is to share the Word of the Lord before the coming judgment.  Your main, adversary, Beelzebub, also known as Satan, will be working like the devil to thwart the cause.  He has made inroads in formerly Christian nations and is looking to imprison the world in their sin.  He is backed by a legion of followers working to conquer the world.  We want you and the billions of other Christians to fight back with the flaming sword of the Gospel.  You do not go out alone the Holy Spirit is there to back you up.  God Bless.  This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.

“YAHWEH GATHERS US TO HIMSELF AND SENDS US OUT TO THE NATIONS”

            At first it seems unexpected that Yahweh, the God of Israel, would set out to gather the nations to himself and save them.  The Israelites were God’s chosen people, His treasured possession.  In stark contrast, the nations were to be slaughtered and scattered, not gathered.  They were outsiders.  Unholy and unclean, an offense to Yahweh.  We are like them.  Before a Holy God we are outsiders and unclean and unworthy of Yahweh’s attention.

            These very nations would be used to carry out his mission to save the nations.  But these are the enemies.  In a few short years from this text the Assyrians are going to destroy half of Israel.  One hundred years after that the Babylonians descend and destroy the other half and carry them into exile.  We are numbered among the enemies of Yahweh.  It seems preposterous then that Yahweh would use those who were His enemies to carry out His mission.  This mission is unexpected and it looks impossible.

            For Yahweh, for our God, the unexpected becomes the expected and the impossible, becomes possible.  It was expected that Yahweh would save the nations and gather them to himself.  His missionary heart is to save people of all nations and people and language.  Once Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord promised a Savior that would defeat Satan for them.  John saw this picture when he wrote the Book of Revelation.  “A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9) 

            God accomplished this by sending Jesus Christ as our Savior, the one who loved the whole world.  As He is lifted on the cross, Jesus draws all people to Himself.  Through faith in this forgiveness we have through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are no longer filthy but clean, no longer enemies of Yahweh but His own children.

            The expectation of God is that the nations take on the mission.  He could have just used Himself or his angels but He chose to give this task to His people.  Israel was given this mission, but they forgot its purpose.  Israel was meant to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.  The task now falls on the people and nations that were Yahweh’s enemies.

            Are you ready and willing for the mission?  The Lord expects us to be a part of this life and death struggle.  What a privilege to be His “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9)

            This mission we take on is both inward and outward.  It is inward because the Lord gathers and strengthens us for the work through Word and Sacrament.  It is outward because God is sending us out to declare his glory to the nations.  In this mission not everyone is the chief – you may not be called to be a Pastor or a missionary overseas or in North America.  No matter, the chief can only win the battle with help from the Indians – everyone in the Christianity camp has the joyful privilege of being a witness where God has placed you.  You have family and friends.  You have work and live in a community.  You serve on boards and interact with the men and women that the Lord allows to enter your lives.

            This mission will not be accomplished in an hour TV show or a two-hour movie.  There will be self-destruction and pain along the way.  When you have watched the TV show or the movies you go into it knowing one thing:  the impossible is going to be possible.  Jim Phelps and Ethan Hunt are going to win.

            From the day you entered the waters of Holy Baptism your winning path was set.  Our Creator God set things in motion so that you and I would have an eternal victory.  It was guaranteed and sealed at Calvary’s Cross by the One who accomplished the mission – Jesus Christ.  We are now asked to share the message before the world self-destructs and Christ returns.  We are graciously gathered and graciously sent.

                                    Amen.     

August 18, 2019                                                                                 Text:  Luke 12:49-53

Dear Friends in Christ,

            I love word origins and word meanings.  I get to study them when preparing sermons and Bible studies.  Our word for today is “benign.”  If you have had a tumor you want to hear “benign” and not “malignant.”  Do you know the actual definition in the dictionary of benign?  Here are the two meanings:  1.)  “Of a gentle disposition.  2.)  “Of a mild kind.” 

            This is not a medical sermon but we are going to take a scalpel and cut away at a faith that many have – benign.  Gentle, mild, comfortable.  A faith that makes it’s home in the world.  Nurse, may I have the text please.  Let’s cut away and . . .

“REMOVE A BENIGN FAITH”

            The first cut is made with the first verse of our text.  “Jesus said, ‘I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled.” (v. 49)  Jesus is no weak, mealy-mouth Savior.  He spells things out.  He pronounces His judgment.

            Let’s cut a little deeper.  “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished.” (v. 50)  What baptism?  This is a figurative way of referring to the cross.  Jesus is torn between two emotions.  On one hand, Jesus cannot but dread his impending death on the cross.  On the other, there is glory for Him and all humankind beyond the grave, thus His eager expectation.

            His death is a must.  “The Son of Man must suffer…must be killed…I must keep going.”  Why must he do this?  Because He loves you and me so much.  He desires our forgiveness through His baptism of blood.  This cut removes personal pain because we don’t have to sit in the shadows and wonder – Does God love me?  This makes our benign, mild faith look silly.  He died and rose for you.  The ultimate sacrifice.  The greatest show of love the world has ever seen.

            The next cut is even more dramatic.  Nurse, please wipe my brow.  “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division?”  Men and women need this surgery.  How many have such a benign faith that they blame God for their troubles?  The tumor of faith goes from benign to malignant as they seek someone, something to pin their shattered dreams on. 

            You don’t need a billboard from the pulpit to see how timely this verse is today.  Jesus’ peace is between God and man.  Not a peace that stops wars or killings or death or destruction.  The patient is looking for the wrong cure.  This is because the cross of Jesus divides.  When 25% of our American society now says they have no faith the division is widening.  Worldviews are different.  The eyes of morality see things differently.  The answer is nowhere to some and everywhere to others. 

            The last cut is the deepest and pierces the soul.  I am going to need more suction here!  “For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.  They will be divided, father against son and so against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (vs. 52-53

            No surprise for the Biblically knowledgeable.  Remember the words of Simeon in the temple?  “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against…” (Luke 2:34)

            Many of you in the pews this morning are living these verses.  Your heart aches for a child, a grandchild, a spouse, a brother, a sister.  While I don’t hurt for my immediate family my soul is pierced by our Good Shepherd family.  I too am seeking answers for why there are less people in the pews.  Why families and individuals who use to be active in church now find something else to do with their time.  I ponder a benign faith lying on the operating table not seeing the danger that can land them in the fiery morgue because of turning their back on Jesus.

            We are crying to the Lord for answers.  What can we do?  The remedy for this malady is really quite simple:  What Can He Do.  He can love you.  He can show you mercy and grace.  He can quiet your fear.  He can help you breathe when it hurts so bad.  He can change hearts.  He is the greatest heart transplant surgeon this world has ever seen.  Trust Him.  There may be hurt along the way.  Frustration.  This Doctor of your salvation can cure all.  He can take your benign faith and make it alive.  His Word and Sacrament are the post-surgical medicine your body needs.  Then hope in Christ and live that hope because the world is watching.  They want to see if we really believe in what Christ has given to us.

            A Pastor was making a trellis for a climbing vine.  Pounding away at the nails he was watched by a young man.  The boy kept watching.  The Pastor finally asked, “Do you want me to show you what to do?”  “No, thanks,” said the little shaver, “I am just waiting to see what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer!”

            We are being watched and scrutinized.  When the neighbors see you leave the house on a Sunday morning in the dead of winter in your good clothes or they see you shoveling just to get out of your driveway to make it to the Lord’s House.  You are a church person – a person of faith – and plenty know it.  The world sizes up the reality of the faith we profess.

            A non-benign faith is an active and committed faith.  Warren W. Wiersbe said:  “You are a Christian today because somebody cared.  Now it’s your turn.”  Don’t you agree?  Lord please help us cut away forever . . . a benign faith.

                                                                                                                                    Amen.          

August 11, 2019                                                                         Text:  Hebrews 11:1-16

Dear Friends in Christ,

            You probably have never thought how many different ways the word nothing can be used grammatically.  It can be a pronoun, a noun, an adverb and an adjective.  Using it those four ways you get definitions ranging from “no value” to “worthless” to “not at all” to “does not exist.”  It all adds up to a bunch of nothing. 

            We have a bunch of nothing in our text today or more accurately a “bunch of nothings.”  Our Lord can work with that and give reason and purpose to what seems like nothing.  God calls us to trust His promises and follow Him to the Promised Land . . .

“OUT OF NOTHING”

            God finds us in nothingness.  The Book of Hebrews tells us that the world was not created of things that are seen.  It was created out of nothing.  That is who we are apart from God.  In our nothing and fallen condition we cannot please God.  We cannot do what is righteous.  We cannot prevent our own death.

            These Old Testament saints mentioned this morning were great big nothings.  Abel was not a strong hero; his brother murdered him.  Enoch was not complimented for what he had done he was commended because God took him.  Noah inherited his righteousness; it was not his own.  Abraham was a wanderer in a land not his own.  He owned nothing himself.  Sarah was a nothing because she could not bear a child. 

            Out of this nothingness God calls us to faith in Him.  There was nothing and then God spoke and the world came into being.  This Word of God made something out of nothing.

            This is how you and I came to faith.  God has called us by His Word.  We do nothing except hear and take that Word.  Christ proclaims to us that He has died for our sins and given us the gift of salvation.  From the nothing of sin to new life. 

            God calls us to follow him to the promised land.  Each of these saints – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah followed God and were commended for their faith.  Noah had to prepare for a rain and the reaction of others when his ark building looked downright silly.  Abraham went on a trip that had no destination.  Turn around!  Turn around!  In our Old Testament for today he had to have faith that he would have an heir.  Sarah had the strength of faith to believe that even as a longtime member of AARP she was going to be a mother. 

            All of them died in the faith.  They didn’t tie their existence to the tent pegs of this world.  They were just passing through on the way to a greater place.  An eternal homeland.  A better country known as heaven. 

            Their journey is our journey.  We have nothing to show God.  We have no righteousness to shove in his face and say look at me, wonderful me doing wonderful things.  Yet the Lord sees us wandering in our weakness and calls us by the Gospel and gives us new life.  The Holy Spirit leads that new life of ours as He sanctifies and keeps us on the narrow path.  We follow that path to the promised land of heaven.  As strangers and exiles aren’t you looking forward to that day when you can say:  “I’m home.”  Home in the eternal presence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who guided us through this life.

            No one wants to be in a nothing place.  Having nothing is not a comfort zone.  Being a nothing can be devastating.  Thankfully we have a God who out of nothing has created a better place for us.  He has a city waiting for you and me that has no traffic, no headaches, no pollution, no taxes, no sickness, no crime.  All the residents are joyful – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and many others.  We can hardly wait to take residence in the sight of God who is not ashamed to call us out of nothing to His glorious presence.

                                                            Amen.     

August 4, 2019                                                   Text:  Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26

Dear Friends in Christ,

            If you stand in the courtyard of the Detroit Institute of Arts, twenty-seven fresco panels that show the beauty of work surround you.  The Detroit Industrial Murals by Diego Rivera make labor beautiful.  The two largest murals capture scenes from a Ford Motor Company plant.

            Back in 2013 when the city of Detroit declared bankruptcy, the murals were ironic.  In the murals you had the wonder of labor but it was contrasted with labor being lost in the city and the hardships that went with it.

            You don’t need murals and a bankrupt city to show that tension.  For many work is both a beauty and a burden.  After God created Adam he put him in the Garden of Eden and asked him to take care of it.  He was to serve his Creator.  But after the fall into to sin he told Adam, “In pain you shall eat of (the ground) all the days of your life.”

            As Christians we live in the same way.  Our work, our vocation is a gift from God for service to Him and others.  But our labor can also be difficult and dangerous and painful.  It can demand perseverance and the sweat of our brow.

            In our text from Ecclesiastes God offers some encouragement in the daily labor we pursue.  On this day of rest for most . . .

“GOD GIVES JOY IN DAILY WORK”

            The words of our text are from King David.  Even as king, he struggles with work.  “All is vanity…I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun.”  Toil is a word used in Scripture for work.  In Psalm 90 we have a reminder about the shortness of life.  “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” 

            The Preacher echoes this wisdom.  He cannot control what happens to his labor.  He can’t control that it will last and he has to leave it to others.  He could build barns from the fruits of his labor but then you heard the words of Jesus in our Gospel lesson.

            The encouragement comes toward the end of our text.  “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.  This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.” 

            The Lord wants us to have satisfaction in our daily work.  We don’t do it to build a kingdom for ourselves.  We do it in service to God, our Creator, who gave us certain skills and abilities.  We do it also to serve others.

            Have you ever said, “I couldn’t do that job.”  Perhaps a surgeon.  A cell tower lineman.  An IRS agent.  A nurse’s aid.  I even hear people tell me, “I couldn’t do your job.”  The good news is you don’t have to my job or any other job you don’t see yourself in.  God has placed you where you can do your work. 

            Don’t turn that work into an idol.  True happiness is not just beyond the horizon with one more purchase.  Work was never meant for that purpose – the car, the house, the vacation.  If you see it that way then the Lord needs to change your heart.  All of this is vanity, it eventually disappears.

            Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  Jesus came to bring us into God’s kingdom, and His work for us will never fail.  He bore the punishment, He did the labor and He took God’s wrath to the cross so that we would be forgiven and have heaven opened for us. 

            Saved by Christ, work is no longer our master.  It does not define us.  Work is a joyful life of service as a follower of the Savior.

            Jesus has done all the work.  He has done the heavy lifting.  His work completes your salvation.  What we do is now done for Him.  We find great joy in raising our children.  We have a smile on our face when we prepare food or do the dishes.  There is a song in our heart as we meet with clients, farm the land, teach our students, or stare at our computer on a daily basis.  In all these things you are doing it for the Lord and you are doing it for others.  No work is too small to make a difference in our world.

            As we make your way to Good Shepherd Lutheran on Sunday mornings many of us pass shopping centers and restaurants and golf courses and ball fields and maybe even a lake.  To enjoy these places takes money which means we labor for them.  But as you come up the south drive or come in from the east you see the steeple of our church.  A cross mounted on the top.  In that moment you are experiencing the tension of Christian vocation in America. 

            For many having a job, means earning money so they can shop and play and eat.  This becomes their god, which they enjoy even on a Sunday morning. 

            As Christians we live differently.  We are not fulfilling a consumerist desire.  We are given an opportunity for faithful living.  Christ has forgiven our sins and called us to faithful service in the world.  In our work we have a chance to reveal to the world just a glimpse of God’s good design.

            You are doing that by being in worship.  You are here to thank God for your work and the gifts that go with it.  Find joy in raising your family, serving your community, caring for creation.  God created you for that purpose so you can serve Him and your fellow brothers and sisters.  What joy in our daily work!

                                                                                                                        Amen.

July 28, 2019                                                                                 Text:  Genesis 18:20-33

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Have you ever had someone say to you, “You can’t talk to her like that?”  “You shouldn’t speak to him in that tone of voice?”  Maybe it was a parent admonishing you.  Perhaps a spouse who intervened.  Maybe a basketball official or baseball umpire who didn’t like your questioning of a call.  We all have probably spoken when others around us thought we shouldn’t.

            Do you think the men traveling with Abraham thought the same thing?  “You can’t talk to God like that.  Who does this Abraham think he is?  Man, we are in trouble now?”  But that doesn’t really describe Abraham at all.  He says of himself, “I who am but dust and ashes.” (v. 27b) So, then where does he come off talking to the Lord like that?  Abraham believed and understood what God wants us to understand today.  That is . . .

“THE PRIVILEGE OF PLEADING PRAYER”

            Prayer is first of all a gift.  One that we can misuse.  We might ask for something that is not taught in Scripture or is not loving toward others.  An A on an exam (though I didn’t study), permission to stay out late (though I know it’s not safe) a date with ______ (though her boyfriend won’t like that.)  We might ask for a new job (though my wife thinks it will cut down on family time), for the kids to move closer to home (though that is really what I want.) 

            The Lord is often treated like those newfangled soda machines where you can pretty much get what you want in any combination.  We make the choices – not Him.  “You better do what I want God, or I’m done with you.”

            We also misuse this gift if we never approach Him.  Too cocky in our own abilities.  Too many things to do.  We might believe God doesn’t want to hear from us.  “I don’t really deserve God’s help because look at how I have messed up my life.” 

            None of these is how Abraham understood the Lord’s invitation to pray.  He knows he has no claim on God; he is just dust and ashes.  He’s not dictating.  He’s pleading.  He is not afraid to pray and ask for more, more, more.  How can a dust and ashes human being push Almighty God and not be reprimanded by God?  Because Abraham knew this:  the prayer line is open because of God’s mercy in Jesus.

            The Lord initiated this conversation.  He had told Abraham earlier that his descendants would be blessed.  The Messiah would come from his family tree.  Christ would bless all nations by reconciling the world to God.  He would bring us back into a right relationship with our heavenly Father.

            And get this.  Abraham is talking to none other than Jesus, long before He became flesh and blood Jesus of Nazareth.  The Lord himself invites Abraham to pray.  God himself invites us to pray because of Jesus.

            How would you answer this:  “Does God always answer prayer?”  Most astute believers answer, “Yes, no, and wait.”  But did you notice I just said “prayer,” I didn’t say “Christian prayer.”  A Christian prays a certain way.

            We pray through Jesus.  We are privileged to go to the Father through the Son.  We can do this because Jesus’ death on the cross took away the sin that separated us from God.  Sin nailed to the cross and we are back together with the Father.  We are his children who bring Him our requests.  We plead for mercy in “Jesus’ name” because merciful Jesus makes our prayers acceptable to God.

            Look at the mercy shown Abraham.  Why did he care so much for that moral cesspool of Sodom?  Abraham wanted to save his nephew Lot who lived there.  Six straight times – count ‘em – God says yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.  In the bigger picture God had already answered even more wonderfully back in v. 19:  “that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

            This is our promise.  Don’t we also pray for family and personal concerns?  The Lord says yes when He showers mercy on our prayers.  Loved ones kept safe in travel.  Family comforted in loss.  Friends finding answers in their marriage.  Our children kept in the one, true faith.  God allows us to address Him in the faith He has given us in Baptism and which He strengthens at the Altar of the Lord in His Word and Holy Supper.  As fragile, pleading human beings His grace is more than sufficient for our needs.  The faith He creates in us trusts that His mercy always gives us the best.

            Does prayer change things?  Sometimes we may see this statement as manipulating God.  It isn’t . . . you realize?  The truth is closer to this:  “Prayer changes things; namely, the person praying.”

            “You can’t talk to God like that!”  Well . . . yes we can.  We can confidently stand before the all-knowing and all-powerful Lord knowing that prayer is a privilege, a gift that God gives us through His Son Jesus.  So be bold, be consistent, lean on His mercy as you exercise The Privilege of Pleading Prayer.

                                                                                                                        Amen.