June 21, 2020                                                                                    Text:  Jeremiah 20:7-13

Dear Friends in Christ,

            It’s far easier to be quiet than prophetic.  The life of Jeremiah wasn’t quite working out the way he wanted.  He had been a prophet at a young age.  The Lord gave him incredible gifts and made him tough.  God made Jeremiah wise and insightful and passionate and most importantly right about the things he prophesied about.  And when this occurs what happens? – it makes a person very unpopular.

            Jeremiah’s friends and family had abandoned him.  He lived in evil times but his pain was because he knew it was all avoidable.  But no one would listen.  The people worshipped false gods and demanded that the church and prophet change God’s Word and declare them righteous.

            Let’s bring Jeremiah’s predicament into Earth 2020.  It’s quite easy to do.  It’s far easier to be quiet than prophetic.  The persecutions will come, but . . .

“THE PROPHETIC VOICE WILL BE HEARD”

            Jeremiah’s voice will be heard because it is God’s voice.  Our voices will also be heard if what we speak is the truth of God’s word.  Jeremiah felt like he was trapped.  The more truth he spoke, the less the people listened.

            What is a truth spoken throughout time that people listen less and less to?  Homosexual marriage.  In 2004, the Pew Research Center found that 60% opposed this type of marriage.  By 2019, the same research company found 61% found nothing wrong with these types of unions.  Misguided Internet ner-do-well’s, interest groups and liberal commentators go after churches and businesses that uphold marriage between one man and one woman.

            There is only one universal truth.  Two weeks ago our Old Testament lesson was God creating the world in Genesis.  He laid out His plan for marriage and family.  I will continue to preach this.  Instead of simplifying life we complicate it.  God’s plan is real easy to follow.  Man and woman marry – God Blesses.  Man and woman have children prayerfully – God Blesses.  Man and woman bring children to worship and Sunday School.  Man and woman pray for their children and love them and respect them.  These same children then carry this same behavior to the next generation and the world is a more grace-filled place.

            When we deviate from the Lord’s plan then problems and challenges occur.  When I am about ready to retire, the prayer is that the world will wake up.  They will have empirical evidence by then that the two moms or the two dads do not work.  And all the liberal thinkers will wonder what went wrong.  It’s far easier to be quiet than prophetic.

            Jeremiah experienced the same thing.  Even though he had times of feeling like a man on an island, he kept proclaiming God’s truth.  I love verse 9, “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, I cannot.”  This is prophetic reluctance overcome by divine compulsion.

            Have you experienced this?  You can’t continue to stay quiet as people speak God’s name in vain or trash His Word or so jumble what the Bible says that you must say something.  That is the Lord speaking through you – divine compulsion.  He even gives us the words.  It’s far easier to be quiet than prophetic.

            God speaks a Word, an eternal Word that will always prove right.  If you love your children, spouse, friends, parents, even your enemies, you should want them to hear and know the truth.  God loves His children and so He declares His Word in every generation.  He will not let it die. 

            We err if we think the purpose of life on earth is just to enjoy and be comfortable.  That is part of the promise of heaven, not earth.  It is not an option to keep heads down and eyes turned away.  Can we just have head in the clouds with abortion and assisted suicide all around us?  It’s far easier to be quiet than prophetic.

            We need help to understand what is upon us.  The way we live is our creed.  We pray that the Heavenly Father would deliver us from every evil of body and soul.  When our last hour comes we have faith he will take us from this vale of confusion and bring us to Himself in heaven.  We proclaim that the blood of the Lord overcomes the power of the devil.  We do these first among ourselves because we have been a part of evil.

            The deliverance we proclaim is not only for the world that doesn’t get it, it is for us who do.  We need a Savior from the wrath we have rightly earned.  Don’t get self-righteous at the world; understand the need you have to overcome sin.  The church is the home of rebellious sinners who long for peace and comfort.

            The church is also the home of forgiveness poured at in Word and Sacrament.  We reach out with the world’s only hope.  People hate the church for all the wrong reasons.  They hear condemnation and so it steals their earthly power and purpose.  They are so quick to defend the evil; they do not hear the salvation story.

            You and I know the prophetic word works.  The bible is full of people who hated the church and changed.  Share that story.  It’s far easier to be quiet than prophetic.  Persecutions will come…but the prophetic voice will be heard.  Amen.   

June 14, 2020                                                                                    Text:  Matthew 9:35 – 10:8

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Harold was a farmer.  A plower of the land.  One beautiful day he was putting his crops in the ground when he saw it in the sky, the Lord must be sending a message because the clouds had formed two letters – P and C.  It could only mean one thing – “Preach Christ.”  Harold hopped, actually he climbed down, you can’t hop off of tractors anymore, rushed to his home to tell his wife.  They made the decision right away – sell everything, move to the city, and Harold would begin seminary.

            The first class most take at seminary is Greek.  Harold struggled.  He couldn’t parse a verb, he didn’t know his Delta from his Alpha.  When the ten-week class ended and he saw his grade, he knew he didn’t have the skills or smarts to be a Pastor.  He would return to farming.  Before he left, he went in to tell one his professors.  Harold said, “I saw it distinctly, I just don’t understand, I was sure God was saying “P.C” – “Preach Christ.”  The professor thought for a moment and looked at Harold and said, “Harold, did you ever think that P.C. meant plant corn?”

            God does not call everyone to full-time church work.  God has invested in each of us talents and abilities to be utilized to further His Kingdom.  And the Kingdom needs furthering, doesn’t it?  When the Lord says, “The harvest is plentiful” we don’t need to be knocked in head, we can see it all around us.  If there were more souls in the kingdom of the Lord these last weeks and months might have played out differently.  The challenge has always been there.  Can you labor in the harvest for those so lost their misguided actions cause so much pain? 

“PROCLAIMING THE HOPE OF HEAVEN AT HAND”

            Who does the Lord want to labor for Him?  Christians.  Those who believe in the message of salvation and hope.  This is where what we have been gifted with comes in.  I’ve been blessed to use skills in ways I never saw.  My secretarial skills got a workout when typing all the services for online worship.  My computer and phone skills were used to further God’s Kingdom in contacting members.  I pray my calm demeanor and non-panic has had an influence especially on Karson and Holden, who will remember this time vividly in the years to come.  I pray it has also been a help to you.  The Lord is in control.  He uses my skills and abilities for His benefit and the benefit of the church.

            I know many of you can say the same.  While not being as involved here at the church, you have still called members, e-mailed shut-ins, played the organ, led the singing, took care of the plants, mowed the yard, entered the offerings, paid the bills and a myriad of other things that have furthered the Lord’s Kingdom.  You have also, I’m sure had many discussions with friends and family and maybe even strangers or non-believers about the hope you have in Christ Jesus.  Your proclaiming the hope of heaven at hand has not lied dormant. 

            Before we can be the workers the Lord needs, as you see in our text, we need the compassionate healing of our Savior.  Jesus was teaching and proclaiming the greatest hope the world has ever seen.  God in human form had the greatest talents and abilities of anyone.  He did not use them to glorify Himself.  He used them to save us and the whole world from drowning in the pit of sin and damnation.  Jesus threw us the lifeline that we needed.  In the quicksand of despair and hopelessness, he pulls us out through the power of the cross.  When we struggle with direction and meaning, He shows us the path to eternal life.  His hope is our hope.  This Jesus whom we proclaim is the ultimate Helper. 

            He helps us through our questions with answers in His Holy Scripture.  He helps us through our sin-stained body with a thorough washing clean in Holy Baptism.  He helps us through our spiritual and mental struggles with problems and people by feeding us His body and blood so that we can make a new start, a fresh perspective, a hope that will not waver.  This Lord is always there even when you struggle to see His presence.  God’s word and promise and hope and forgiveness and salvation are a constant in our lives.  It is ingrained in our soul. 

            You know the hope you have makes a difference.  The Lord wants to use that hope in you to reach others.  The disciples were to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (v. 7b)  Things can go two ways.  People can be drawn back to the Christian faith and worship because they have seen things out of their control, they have watched destructive behavior, they need purpose and meaning for their existence.  They need hope.

            Or God created men and women can see no hope.  They can get comfortable in their individualism and worship online.  They can shelter in place because things weren’t too normal even before the last few months.  They can stop engaging to help because of fear.  They live for themselves or their politics or their self-preservation.

            Jesus asks us to step into these moments of opportunity.  The Holy Spirit gives a calm voice to speak with the misguided.  The Lord allows our hearts to pray for those on the outside of the faith instead of “putting them in their place.”  If we don’t live the hope we possess in Christ what is the purpose of such hope?

            Jesus didn’t send those first disciples to those who agreed with them or knew the hope they knew.  The Lord sent them into hostile and difficult situations.  He knew what they faced.  They knew they didn’t go there alone.  The Lord’s work was done by the Lord through them.

            That is the simple task He gives to you and I.  Make a difference, with the Lord doing the heavy lifting, where he has placed you.  Proclaiming the hope of heaven at hand.

                                    Amen.