July 7, 2019       Texts:  Lamentations 3:22-33, 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, Mark 5:24b-34

Dear Friends in Christ,

            How many of you remember the show Hee Haw?  They had a segment on that show and a catchy tune about “gloom, despair and agony on me.”  Do you ever feel like that song?  We have many blessings as people of faith and people of this country but we also have gloom, despair and agony and as we look out over the horizon these seem to be building.

            You are a smart people gathered here today.  You know some of the challenges before us.  We hear them so many times we block out their intensity.  Taxes going up.  Roads being filled with vehicles and now drivers who can light up the funny weed and instead of reaching for the Cheetos they go for the car keys.  The continued bashing of people who aren’t in agreement with us.  The pseudo sages of our age who have all the answers for you but don’t want to follow their own ramblings. 

            The agony and despair may hit closer to home with divorce, a loved one who succumbed to drugs or alcohol or gambling.  A marriage in a precarious situation because of a health problem.  The financial cloud – do I have enough for retirement or college or the house’s next big repair? 

            We may lift our heads to the heavens and say, “Lord, these must be the last days.  Things cannot get much worse before you return in judgment.” (2 Pet. 3:1-4)

            You can get a little depressed, can’t you?  What if I tell you, “It can get worse.”  Please don’t jump up and leave.  We are going to find for you today . . .

“JOY OUT OF TRIAL”

            Read the Book of Lamentations and see how bad it can get.  God rained down ruin on the priests who wouldn’t repent.  God destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its idols and defiled temple.  God had warned them of this if they turned from the faith of their fathers. 

            Your personal problems seem more immediate than those of our nation and state.  Hang on.  It can get worse.  Look at the woman in our Gospel.  Her illness stayed with her for twelve years.  She had to sleep apart from her husband and be isolated from friends and family.  She went from doctor to doctor and all this got her was a little lighter pocketbook.  When she approached Jesus was she lamenting?

            Things can get worse – even in the Church.  The new congregations of Macedonia in our Epistle suffered affliction and poverty.  Have we suffered like they?  Yes, the church on earth has problems but we cannot equate them with some of the early churches.  They had lives and money at risk at all times. 

            Scripture reminds us that things can get worse – much worse.  Worse for our country, worse for our Church, worse for ourselves.  How can we go forward and take seriously the words of Scripture that say “Rejoice always?” (1 Thess. 5:16)

            In Christ, the future is not all gloom, despair, and agony.  Far from depression and misery is the Good News of our Lord.  When the writer of Lamentations surveyed Jerusalem and the destruction around, he could still say, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.” ((v. 22)  When all seemed hopeless Jeremiah still confessed, “The Lord…will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love.” (v. 31-32)

            Look beyond the doom and gloom.  Look to heaven.  The Lord is master over time and history, there is hope.  We have life-restoring Good News when we see our country torn apart by sin and when we drift in our personal lives.  There is a tomorrow for those who believe in Christ Jesus.

            If your despair is the more personal kind then witness the new life God gave the woman who touched his robe.  By the power of God her health returned and sadness was set aside.  She could again enjoy her husband’s company in bed and be back in her social circles.  God restored a soul and a body.

            He did the same for you in baptism.  He made you an unbreakable promise:  He has claimed you as His own.  He reminds you of that in His Word.  He communicates that to you when you eat and drink his body and blood.  God’s grace brings you a sense of assurance.  Come on out from under the covers, face the day, meet the challenge through your Savior.

            Gain strength from the witness of the Macedonians.  Persecuted with very little to give.  They knew of Jesus’ sacrifice so what did they do – they sacrificed.  They gave glorious gifts in spite of meager means.  The Holy Spirit gave them great joy in their giving.  In a country filled with despair, in a world filled with hostility toward God’s Word and purposes, these people became beacons of light to lead the lost to the Lord.

            Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in 107.  An arrest takes place.  The crime?  He was a Christian.  He found joy in his martyrdom which was a lion feeding with him as the main course.  We don’t stand on the brink of arrest for our faith yet.  We will finish the week without being the main entrée for Simba.  But, like Ignatius, we have a victorious Savior.

            With light from Jesus, gloom, despair, and agony are banished from Christian lives.  With power from the conquering Christ, we find peace and healing, whether living in ancient Greece or modern America.  With the Lord leading, the Church can unite.  I told you it was safe to stay because now you know of Joy Out of Trial.   

                                                                                                                                    Amen.    

June 30, 2019                                                                                    Text:  Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Dear Friends in Christ,

            There is a hill in Lake District in England called Rash Judgment Point.  It was given that name by the poet William Wordsworth.  He and his sister were standing at the top of the hill one day during harvest season looking at the lake below.  They saw a man fishing and this angered them because every able-bodied man was needed to gather the harvest.  Wordsworth decided to go down the hill and challenge the man that he should be busy at work for the good of the community.

            He called the man to shore.  He got out of the boat old and bent over.  He had several fish.  He explained he had worked for years helping with the harvest but he couldn’t physically do it anymore.  Instead, he contributed to the community by getting up each day at dawn and fishing.  The fish he caught he added to the community’s resources.  Wordsworth felt so bad about his hasty judgment that he named the hill from which he had first seen the man fishing, Rash Judgment Point.

            Rash judgment is a sin of the flesh.  It is a weakness in every man and woman.  This was just one of the things Paul warned the Christians in Galatia about.  He has a whole list.  But he also has encouragement for us as Christians to . . .

“WALK BY THE SPIRIT”

            Walking in the Spirit means we do make judgments.  We are to distinguish between right and wrong, truth and error, good and evil.  Where there is open sin apart from God’s Word manifesting itself the Christian is called to do what Paul writes in Galatians 6.  “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.”  Matthew 18 has the congregation excluding openly unrepentant sinners.  The goal is restoration.  The child of God repents and is welcomed back.  We do not pass judgment on those outside the church that is the job of governing authorities.

            In our gospel lesson even the apostles James and John struggled with this sin.  When the Samaritans would not welcome Jesus they wanted fire to come down and consume them.  But Jesus rebuked them.

            Have you ever felt like that?  Wanted someone to get his or hers?  Don’t we take guilty pleasure in the misfortune of others especially if their arrogance leads to a bad decision?  Be careful what your sinful flesh wants.  Many of these same Samaritans we are told were saved when the gospel reached them in the Book of Acts.  Do we see a soul that needs saving or does our flesh work against walking by the Spirit?

            As long as the world stands there is an opportunity to share the Gospel with unbelievers in the hope they will be saved.  We are not walking by the Spirit if we wish for their damnation.  John wrote this, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn. 3:17)  The love of God is for those who recognize the depth of their sin.  That love has touched us.  As we walk by the Spirit we recognize our weakness in passing unfair judgments.  We need that love of Jesus that comes through His life, and suffering, and death.  Our sins are then forgiven and we escape everlasting damnation.  This love changes everything in us.

            Paul writes in our text, “For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:  ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (v. 13,14)  When we are touched by the love of God, we can walk by the Spirit, we can even love our enemies.  We want them to be saved and in heaven with us.  This is where our love and kindness and goodness and patience and gentleness can make a difference in the lives of others today.  Isn’t our society screaming for more fruits of the Spirit to manifest itself?  Oh, it is so needed and I hope this is in your prayers daily.  Some days who wants to leave the house?  Through the Spirit we leave our residence and let Him work through us. 

            Corrie Ten Boom tells this story in her book, Reflections of God’s Glory.  “In Africa a man came to a meeting with bandaged hands.  I asked what happened.  He said, ‘My neighbor’s straw roof was on fire; I helped him put it out and that’s how my hands got burned.’  Later the whole story came out.  The neighbor hated him and had set his roof on fire while his wife and children were asleep in the hut.  They were in great danger.  Fortunately, he was able to put out the fire in his house on time.  But sparks flew over to the roof of the man who had set the house on fire and his house started to burn.  There was no hate in the heart of this Christian; there was love for his enemy and he did everything he could to put out the fire in his neighbor’s house.  That is how his hands were burned.”

            An amazing story, isn’t it?  It shames us when we take delight in what we think others deserve.  The truth is, we all deserve to be burned in fire because of our sin.  For the sake of Jesus we have been forgiven and the fire of wrath has been extinguished.  God loved us that much.  Can’t we in turn love others?  Live by the Spirit . . . and Walk By The Spirit.                 Amen.