Sermon Text 6.2.2019 — Cool, Clear Water

June 2, 2019 Text: Revelation 22:12-20
Dear Friends in Christ,
It is vital for all forms of life. It affects our metabolism and respiration.
Depending on body size, 55-78% of our bodies are made up of this. We need 1-2
gallons of this to sustain bodily functions on a daily basis. 19% of this is found in
our foods. We use it for transportation and power and 70% of the fresh kind is used
in agriculture. This morning you took a shower in it, washed your teeth with it and
drank it down in your coffee, OJ, or hot chocolate. It might be a little hard to talk
about with all the precipitation we’ve had, but talk about it we shall. By now, you
have the answer . . . it is water . . . cool, clear, water.
This morning’s text is from John’s Book of Revelation and while I have
parishioners tell me they don’t always understand the whole book, today’s message
about water is one we can understand. We need it. God provides it.
“COOL, CLEAR, WATER”
How many of you know Leonard Slye? Leonard was part of a singing group
in the 1930’s named “Sons of the Pioneers.” A member of that group, Bob Nolan,
wrote a song in 1936 about a man, his mule Dan, and a mirage in the desert. That
song was titled, “Cool, Clear Water.” That song has been so popular over the years
that it has been recorded by Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, and
Fleetwood Mac.
In the song the man and his mule need water. They are in the desert and
they are parched. Do you ever feel that way? Our thirst is usually a short duration.
Have we ever suffered from deadly thirst? We say things like, “I’m gonna die, if I
don’t get some water” or “My mouth is so dry, I can barely talk.” We are good at
drama, aren’t we? But have we really been that close to withering away because of
our lack of liquid hydration?
Sometimes we try to quench our thirst with the wrong things. A few are
mentioned in our text. “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually
immoral and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices
falsehood.” (v. 15) We may spend a lifetime trying to quench our thirst and we
continually turn on the wrong faucet.
For our thirst we need, cool, clear water. The water offered in verse 17, “Let
the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without
price.” This water Jesus makes available from a very deep well – the reward he
earned by His death and resurrection. This water is fresh and wholesome, for
everything that Jesus offers is the highest and the best. In this case the water is the
coolest and the clearest.
Jesus offered this water to the Samaritan woman in John 4. We have drunk
deeply of this water when it was poured on our body and soul at Baptism.
This is water that Jesus offers freely to all. It is as near to us as His Holy
Word, which proclaims to us the saving work of Christ. It is offered regularly with
the bread and wine, body and blood of the Holy Supper. This Word and this
Sacrament quench our thirst, keep us alive and sustain us as God’s people until Jesus
comes again.
Earlier I asked if you knew Leonard Slye? Well . . . How about we try the
name he changed to when he left the “Sons of the Pioneers” and became an actor in
the movies . . . Roy Rogers. Aah, you say, I know that name. Do you also remember
his television show? Once he had corralled the bad guys he would sing the song,
“Happy Trails.” Life isn’t always going to be happy trails. You have experienced
enough saddle sores and dust in the face to feel dehydrated and lost.
Our Lord doesn’t leave you there imagining an oasis in a desert drear. He
provides it now with his hydrating love and mercy and grace. He showers His
forgiveness into every crevice of your body so that sin can no longer cling to you.
When feeling like a dried up well, Jesus primes the pump so that the water of life
will engulf you. Man, that feels good.
There are blessings for the people of God, who make their way through this
life until the their Lord comes again, well-supplied with the cool, clear water of life.
Amen.

Stewardship Corner June 2019

Some disciples of John the Baptist were questioning him about the baptism and preaching of Jesus.  Many disciples were going to Jesus instead of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist answers: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27).

John the Baptist says this to show that Jesus, His teaching, and His baptism are from heaven.  God provides everything we have in body and soul.

We are taught this in the meaning of the Apostles’ Creed in the Small Catechism.

In the First Article of the Creed, we learn that God has made us and everything in the universe.

            “He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.  He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have.  He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.  He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.  All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.  For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”

In the Second Article of the Creed, we learn that God sent His Son, Jesus, to humble Himself by taking the form of a servant.

            In so doing, He “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.”

In the Third Article of the Creed, we learn that the fruits of what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did are given to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

            “That I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.  On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.”

Indeed, “a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

But how easy is this for us to forget?  How easy is it for us to think that what we have in life is because we have earned it?

How easy is it for us to forget that all our skills – the abilities of our hands and minds, the ethic to work diligently, and the desire to improve – is given to us from heaven, just as John the Baptist said?

How easy is it for us to forget that it is Christ alone, and the work of the Holy Spirit, that reveals His salvation to us, delivers it to us, and that none of this is our doing?

Sure, we have responsibility for coming to church, for delving into God’s Holy Word, and for praying without ceasing.

But even these responsibilities are given to us from heaven.  These duties are not earned; they are given in response to what He has accomplished for us.

Everything we have, and everything we are – in both body and soul – are gifts from God in heaven.

Let us then respond in thanksgiving and give back to Him as He asks – with a first-fruits, generous proportion offering of what He has given to us.

Celebrating June 2019

Birthdays

Paula Hardy 6/2
Jordan Doddek 6/3
Brad Gerike 6/6
Diane Benjamin 6/7
Deborah Huber 6/7
Eric Orr 6/7
Mike Field 6/8
Kent Warren 6/11
Penny Culp 6/13
William McNeely 6/14
Richard Ross 6/14
Ruth Gerike 6/15
Marlene Hitch 6/16
Eugene Fuller 6/23
Kathy Hitch 6/24
Janet Williamson 6/26
Steve Davis 6/29
Martha Prescher 6/29

Baptismal Birthdays

Craig Culp 6/1
Dorothy Herberts 6/1
Doris Hoffman 6/1
Harriet Campbell 6/2
Mo Dale 6/3
Brad Gerike 6/7
Mandy Kluender 6/7
Diane Benjamin 6/19
Terry Trost 6/28

Pastor’s Notes June 2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

            I just completed another sermon and now it is time to write my newsletter article.  I am very organized and ahead of the curve when it comes to my sermons.  I plan them out a month in advance (with appropriate hymns) and this month I even had two of them done by Monday (this week it’s Wednesday.)

            These articles not so much.  In the office we comment on how these dates for the newsletter sneak up on us.  Already?  Didn’t we just put together the May newsletter?  Fleeting moments passing by.  What will I write about?  While typing the sermon that I just completed the Lord again came through with an idea.  Don’t you like that about Him?  Let’s see if you like it as much as He sent it.

            I type on the computer a lot.  Sermons and letters and newsletter articles and hymn choices and worship folder items and bulletin announcements.  When you do that much typing you are bound to make a few mistakes.  I do.  I just did in the sermon.  What I noticed is that I make the correction as I go along.  It comes naturally to me.  Probably because I learned on a typewriter (look it up millennial and younger on your phone where you do most of your typing).  I was taught in typing class (yes, they had those!) to correct my mistake when I made it – white out, eraser.  I still bring that to the computer.  I have been blessed to be a good speller, so that is not usually the problem.  Punctuation – sometimes.  The computer does not always like my style of writing.  The red lines prove it. 

            The amazing part is how quickly the correction can happen.  Backspace, correct and boom you are off and typing again.  I still check things at the end and I appreciate the ease compared to what it used to be.  See I am evolving!

            How about you?  Correct as you go or make mistakes and clean them up at the end.  I believe those who like things right and in order in life are the correct as you go.  Those who clean up at the end are those who love the technology, aren’t bothered by mistakes or figure there is time, chill, why be in a rush.  I would love your feedback as I put my sociology minor to use.

            No matter which way you do it, the Lord does it better.  He backspaces the mistakes of our life and they are completely written out of the code.  They don’t stay around.  They don’t linger.  His work on the cross is the best white out or eraser ever made.  We acknowledge our shortcomings and He clears them away.  He allows us to turn in the perfect paper because of His perfect life.  Your name is written (typed) in the Book of Life and is safe in His loving hands.

            I see one red line.  I am going to run the spelling and grammar and see if the computer is right.  The spelling looks right to me.  Stay tuned . . .

In Christ,

Pastor