Sermons

Copies of pastor’s sermons, either in text or video format

Sermon October 5, 2014 – Walking With Purpose (Eph 5:1-9)

October 5, 2014 – LWML Sunday                             Text:  Ephesians 5:1-9

 Dear Friends in Christ,

             Educators have done studies on how children spend their days at school – how many minutes spent reading at their desks, how many minutes spent going to the restroom or the drinking fountain, how many minutes sharpening their pencils and so on.  Down to the minute.  Down to a science.  Blocks of time devoted to all sorts of things you’d expect children to do in school.  Plus at least one activity we might not expect:  “walking with no purpose.”  That’s right:  “walking with no purpose.”  Studies have found that in a normal day, a very normal child will spend a certain number of minutes walking from here to there for no good reason.  Curious and interesting.

            We are children of God, and our lives as Christians are often described as a walk, as St. Paul does in our text today, our Epistle from Ephesians 5.  Are we walking with no purpose?  Paul exhorts us in our text to be . . .

“WALKING WITH PURPOSE”

            The fact is it’s not just schoolchildren who walk with no purpose.  People of all ages, spend their lives walking through life not really knowing what it is all about.  Paul calls this darkness in our text.  “For at one time, you were darkness.” (v. 8a)

            We live in a world of darkness.  People are entangled and enslaved by sin.  We can try to redefine it, excuse it, redecorate it, or hide it, but sin is at the bottom of what makes life and relationships difficult, hurtful, sick, and dying.  Trying to hide this darkness just brings about “deception” and “empty words.”  These things serve no purpose.  Paul lists some of them:  filthiness, crude joking, foolish talk, sexually impure, covetous.  These are all common in the world around us.  So common, but they serve no purpose.

            Sin can do that.  Because of sin, we use God’s name only to condemn others or justify ourselves.  Because of sin, we ignore or despise God’s Word and do not worship him.  Because of sin, our relationships with others – father and mother, husband and wife, parent and child, enemies and friends, co-workers and strangers – all these are disrupted and destroyed.  And none of these actions serve any meaningful purpose.  By nature, we are children of darkness with no purpose.

            Because we cannot free ourselves from this darkness, God in his mercy determined to save us.  His mercy shone like a beacon of light when he promised Adam and Eve a Savior from sin.  This light of salvation burned as hope in God’s people through the centuries until that light exploded like a supernova over Bethlehem when “the Word became flesh.” (John 1:14)  When life and death went at each other on the cross it looked like darkness was winning.  But the light of salvation could not be put out.  It was stronger than the darkness.  The reign of death was ended.

            Suddenly, we see things in a whole new way.  We see God for who he really is:  not distant or disinterested in our lives, but he is here, present, eager to have a relationship with each one of us.  That is what Jesus lets us see in his light.  God is not angry and keeping score on how well we keep his Commandments, but forgiving, not counting our sins against us, because Jesus took them upon himself on the cross.  That is what we see as children of light.  “Now you are light in the Lord.”

            As “light in the Lord” we are now able to “walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.)” (vs. 8b-9)  We now have a purpose.  We walk in repentance and faith.  We walk in forgiveness.  We walk with a purpose to invite the world to the glorious light of salvation in Jesus Christ.

            Today is Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Sunday.  Lutheran women who also walk with a purpose.  These daughters of Zion and many others in our congregation give pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars in the interest of missions.  Combine ours with the rest of Synod and some wonderful mission projects are funded.  Walking with purpose.

            When we all with faithful obedience, study the Word of God, when we dwell together in unity, when we faithfully hold the confession of the church in this perverse generation, when we speak faith, when we love one another, fragrant offerings and sacrifices rise up to the nostrils of our merciful, holy, and gracious God and Father.  Walking with purpose.

            Every work of the saints of God from quilt sewing to helping with a funeral dinner all serves a purpose for the greater good of Christianity.  Christ’s kingdom is extended in these works of mercy.

            May the Holy Spirit lead you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  Walking in the light of Christ is to walk as children of God with purpose.

                                                                                                                                    Amen.

September 28, 2014 Sermon

 

September 28, 2014                                        Text:  Philippians 2:1-4, 14-18

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Don’t fall out of your pew on this one – but I watch a lot of sports.  I know you are shocked, but it is true.  One thing I hear the announcers talk about periodically is that a certain player is “a difference maker.”  They are conveying to the audience that some players have skills and abilities that can change a game.  They run faster, hit harder, pitch better than their fellow players.  They make a difference for their team, which usually leads to winning.

            How about you?  Do you consider yourself a difference maker?  Not in the sports arena but in the life arena.  Do you like to just sit on the sidelines and complain about people and the world?  Or do you like to get in the game, use your God-given skills and abilities to further advance the cause of Christianity down the field?

            This morning Paul is addressing his brothers and sisters in Christ at Philippi.  A congregation founded by Paul and one he still watched over.  He knew the challenges they were up against.  But he had a game plan they could each be a part of.  This morning so can you . . .

“BEING A DIFFERENCE MAKER”

            Paul knew what his fellow Christians were battling.  He said they were “in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.” (v. 15b)  Don’t we hear the same words being used about the times we live in?  Crooked in the generation that has left the straight paths of the Lord.  Crooked in mind and in heart and thus in acts means lying thought.  Truth is straight but lies are crooked or twisted.

            Have you heard or seen this one?  It is called “the blasphemy challenge” and it is used by atheists to further their agenda and to expose the “crock that is Christian doctrine.”  They want their followers to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and this verse from Mark 3:29:  “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”  This is how twisted things are.  People who supposedly don’t believe in the Trinity want to sin against it.  But, of course, they wouldn’t call it a sin.

            In the political arena two agendas have been advanced.  Marijuana and same-sex marriage.  Having grown up in the 70’s and 80’s I didn’t think I would see a day when marijuana was looked on more favorably than smoking.  I don’t want to argue the medicinal purposes but we know this will lead to abuses as we are already seeing.

            When it comes to same-sex marriage and parenting I read this interesting quote:  “You encourage a consumerist model of parenting.  It encourages the idea that individuals have a right to a kid, instead of viewing children as a gift and a great blessing.”

            In this crooked and twisted generation we live in a “social revolution that attempts to define what you’re allowed to think and do in the public square.”

            So, how do you and I make a difference?  First, Paul’s advice:  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (vs. 3-4)  These admonitions all come because of our connection to Christ.

            Gandhi had this interesting quote during his lifetime:  “I don’t refuse Christianity because of the Christian Scriptures but because of Christians.”  Ouch!  We can’t be self-righteous but we must make an honest assessment of ourselves.  We can be crooked in thoughts and deeds.  We can become twisted in our thinking if it fits an agenda or manipulates a situation.  We are not immune to the garbage that is coming our way, day by day by day.  And then some of us don’t want to be difference-makers because we think there isn’t anything that can stop the tide that is sweeping over us.  Satan and sin and the world win when we become apathetic.  Talk about the sidelines, some don’t want to leave the locker room.

            But leave it we must.  Contact with the world cannot be avoided.  Ever and ever we must have it impressed upon us that we are different from the world, must be told what is the matter with the world, and what we have that makes us different.  Look at Paul’s encouragement, “Holding fast to the word of life.” (16a)  Paul labored because of his confidence in the Word of God.

            Do you have that same confidence in the Word?  As Scripture says, “These words…are life.”  They increase our spiritual life.  This Word called us in the waters of Holy Baptism.  This Word strengthens are daily walk.  Holding fast to the Word of Life continuously reminds us of the forgiveness and life we have in Christ.  This Word of Life is power as the Holy Spirit helps us to become difference makers.  The Word of Life in Holy Communion can make the weak strong.  It is a spiritual boost for the days ahead.

            As the text tells us, we are to “shine as lights in the world.” (v. 15c)  Even imperfect Christians shine.  When Jesus spoke to his imperfect disciples he did not use the future tense:  “You shall be the light of the world,” but the present:  “You are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14)  And you are you know?  The littlest things you do for others can make a difference.  The big things you shout from the rooftops can make a difference.  As with a ballplayer, God has gifted you with certain gifts and abilities that start to make the crooked straight, and the twisted start to untangle.

            The social scientist I quoted earlier on same-sex parenting had this to say later in his presentation.  France is proof “of signs that people are fed up with the fruits of the sexual revolution.  Human nature is reasserting itself.”

            Be faithful.  That is all that is asked of a difference maker.

                                                                                                                        Amen.

August 3, 2014 Sermon Text

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost
August 3, 2014
Isaiah 55:1-5

Dear Friends in Christ,

In 1538, the Dance of Death made its way into the Bible. In their printing of the Old Testament, the Treschel Brothers included Life after the Fall, a woodcut by Hans Holbein. In his woodcut, Adam is tilling the ground and Eve is nursing a child. Near Adam, however, one sees death, a skeleton tilling the field. Near Eve, death again is visible, an hourglass measuring the limits of our lives. Death is everywhere, hounding our efforts and measuring our days, so that we “labor for that which does not satisfy” (Is. 55:2).

In his woodcut, Holbein was actually creatively appropriating a much larger painting and a much larger tradition. In St. Mary’s church in Lubeck, there was a painting nearly 100 feet long, weaving itself along the walls of a small chapel. The painting filled the walls with life-sized figures…in a chain dance with death. Death was weaving itself in and out of the figures, calling to them to “Come here to the dance.” People old and young, rich and poor, from the pope and the emperor to the hermit and the peasant were invited by Death. “I call everybody to this dance.” Even an infant who cannot walk heard Death’s invitation and was invited to the dance. Gathering for worship, one was surrounded by the figures dancing with death. You never knew when Death might extend his invitation and take your hand.

Although it took so long for the Dance of Death to make its way into the Bible, God’s people have long heard death’s call. Isaiah gives voice to the question that has troubled all people ever since the fall: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Today we answer that question as we examine our Christian faith.
“THE LORD OF LIFE OVERCOMES THE DANCE OF DEATH”

Why do we spend money and labor on those things that we know do not satisfy? Because that is all we are able to do. From the glossy magazines that litter our life to the pop-up ads on our computers and phones to the billboards that hover in the sky, our world is filled with merchants crying out to us: “Come and buy.” Like I was telling my boys the other day they are successful. Those who have kids involved in sports know this. Go into any sporting goods chain and the prices for athletic gear will literally knock your socks off. These companies have successfully marketed to kids that it is more important how you look than how you play. Why? To make the little bit of life that we have satisfying, because, in the end, nothing will last. The computer, the phone, the flat-screen TV, the video game, the dry-fit t-shirt. All will decay. Death will whisper its invitation to “Come” and all our labor will be in vain.

In contrast to the Dance of death, Isaiah gives voice to the Lord of Life. Like Death, the Lord’s call is to everyone (v. 1). No one is excluded. But unlike Death, the Lord’s call brings people life. The life the Lord offers is rich – “wine and milk” in verse 1 and “rich food” in verse 2. It is free – “without money and without price” in verse 1. It will answer the deepest needs of human experience, bringing eternal life to the soul (v. 3). Most surprisingly this call is not new. It reaches into the past of Israel based on God’s covenant love to David. It is one that reaches out to embrace the world’s future as all nations come to this one that the Lord glorifies. Even “a nation that you do not know” and “a nation that did not know you” (v. 5) will join in the feast. In this text, Isaiah issues a call from the Lord of Life and his voice triumphs over the Dance of Death.

This call and promise of prophecy has taken on flesh in Jesus Christ. He came to dance our dance with death, died on a cross, and rose victorious never to die again. Suddenly, the church is surrounded with a chorus of witnesses, who invite the world to life. The Apostle Paul heard this call and made it known to the Jews in Antioch. There he proclaimed the certainty of all of God’s promises made known in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

From the voice of Wisdom calling out to all people to come to the house of the Lord (Prov. 9:1-6) to the voice Jesus raised above the banter of the temple to invite all who are thirsty to come to him (Jn. 7:37) to the voice of John, aged and exiled, closing out his vision of the end of all things with the simple cry of the church to “Come” (Rev. 22:17), this cry of the Lord of Life is sounded. It is an eternal cry of salvation for all. It comes from the one who danced with death, overcame death and the grave, and claimed victory on Easter morning. This is the cry that Jesus will raise on the last day. By the power of his life, He will raise all people from the dead and, by the power of His love; He will call all who believe in Him to enter into the new creation.

Because of the fall, the Dance of Death made its way into the Scriptures. Because of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life is making his way into our world. In 1538, we have a moment when the Dance of Death visually marked the pages of the Bible. Today, the question is, how is the Lord of Life reaching out from the Scriptures to make his mark upon our world? Where is His call? What does it sound like? How is God, through you, calling out to the peoples who are working and buying that which does not satisfy, those that do not know Him as Savior? Can we share with them what we already know that through the work of Christ this life is rich and free and brings eternal life to the soul? Sure we can. May the Holy Spirit bless as we do.

Amen.