November 19, 2023         Text:  Matthew 25:14-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

How about the Powerball numbers we have been seeing?  A single winner took home, after taxes of course, $2.1 billion last year.  Do you ever fantasize about what you might do if you won Powerball or even the state lottery?  After last week’s sermon, you know what Toni and I would do!

Imagine how the slaves in Jesus’ parable must have felt.  The master entrusted each of them with a fortune and left it to them to decide what to do with it.  Dreaming about such things might help pass a few minutes, but what does it do as we live our lives today?  This is really what the parable is about.  You are about to be given something, what are you going to do with it?  You need to realize that . . . 

“THE CHIEF PROPERTY IS THE GOSPEL”

Some parables of Jesus can be a little hard to understand, but not this one.  A simple story with a clear message.  

This parable is usually called “The Parable of the Talents.”  We equate talent with a gift we have.  Talent in biblical times is a monetary unit.  Three servants are given sizable amounts of money.  The master gives no instruction in its use.  He goes away.  Two of the servants make more money and are commended.  One digs a hole and does nothing with the money.  He was afraid.  Afraid of losing it.  Afraid of his master.

Quite often with this sermon the preacher will talk about using our skills, our abilities etc. in a God-pleasing way.  But that is not the point here.  You see, God gives those kinds of gifts to everyone, believers and unbelievers alike.  This text is about how we use the special treasure God has given alone to his servants, the Church, for the building of His kingdom.  The most valuable gift that God entrusts to us is the message of the Gospel.  

We have a greater treasure than a lifetime of wealth.  If you and I won millions of dollars, could we even get it all spent?  The Gospel on the other hand can always be shared.  There are always going to be those apart from Christ who need to hear the message.  We never run out of opportunities.  We never tire of hearing the Gospel message.

Christ died on the cross and paid for the sins of the whole world, mine and yours.  Christ rose from the grave, and you too will rise to eternity.  You have been given the riches of the Gospel through the work of the Holy Spirit in your lives.  God’s riches are yours today and forever.  Each day you awaken to a new life in Jesus.  You have a conscience freed from the burden of guilt.  You know that because of your Baptism, each day you are caressed by the love of your Savior.

So, if the chief property is the Gospel how will we respond and use it for God’s glory?  “Hide it under a bushel no, I’m gonna let it shine.”  We don’t dig a hole and protect the gospel.  We take God’s Word and invite others to worship.  We take God’s Word and help the less fortunate.  We take God’s Word and give encouragement to a hurting friend.  We take God’s Word and pray for a co-worker suffering with a disease.  We take God’s Word and offer childcare or a ride or we offer a ministry of presence for those who are lonely.  All of this allows the Gospel to grow.  The Church becomes larger as the love of Christ permeates from our hearts.  

One of the most underrated statistics in sports is the assist.  In basketball, soccer, and hockey a good pass is just as important as making the score.  As a former point guard and even now when I play pick-up games, I get a bigger thrill out of a good pass that leads to a basket rather than making the basket.  

We see this in our text.  The servants who returned more to the master were “assisting” him.  You and I are fellow servants who assist one another.  We give and receive help from our brothers and sisters all the time.  Isn’t it beautiful to be in a congregation of servants who encourage one another and hold one another accountable – who assist one another – so that together, we might remain faithful and, when Jesus returns, enter together into the Master’s joy.

God has promised to bless our work.  The fruit is the lives of those saved by the proclamation of the saving love of Jesus Christ.  The chief property is the Gospel – share it.

Amen.     

November 12, 2023 – Stewardship Sunday               Texts:  Readings of the Day

Dear Friends in Christ,

For a number of years, a local grocery store chain sent us a free coupon for Dawn.  Every month or so we would get our dishwashing liquid.  We had quite a build-up under our sink.  One year all of our extended family got a thing of Dawn.  With this abundance it was easy to put an extra squirt in the dishwater.  We have two left under the sink, the natural inclination is to be a little stingy going forward, because it will be free no more.

This is what faces Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  Easier to give in abundance, but now that we have a recession and tough economy . . . well, you’ll see in the rest of the sermon.

You always get honesty from your Pastor.  I’m not crazy about giving this sermon, but since just a portion come to our voter’s meeting it is important that everyone knows what is happening.  This is the one item that stresses me and keeps me up at night.  I have never prayed more about a sermon and God’s direction than this one.  But the Lord and his disciples talked a lot about finances, it is all over the Bible and a Shepherd who knows some of you longer than I have known Holden should let the sheep know what is going on.  There will be pain, joy, laughter and probably the longest sermon I have preached in years.

Today we consider our mutual support for this congregation’s existence and the mission for our Lord Jesus Christ.

“GIVING TO THE OWNER”

I have stated at the last two voter’s meetings the biggest short-term and long-term challenge is our mortgage.  It always has been.  First, a brief history lesson.  In 1999 the church had a historic vote – a 1.4 million, a 1.8 million, or a 2.2 million dollar church.  The vote was for the 1.8 million dollar plan.  Cost overruns pushed this to 2 million.  We started the 25 year mortgage in 2000.  Should be paid off in two years.  To get lower payments, which we needed, we have refinanced twice, the last in 2010.  That pushes the loan to 2035.

We are not here to argue the wisdom of past decisions.  In our Collect of the Day, our church groundbreaking prayer, we prayed that this church would be “successfully completed to the good of your people.”  We intend, with God’s help to honor that commitment.

You hear me say all the time that Karson and Holden are God’s children.  He has allowed us to be their parents.  Our finances are the same thing.  They belong to God.  We don’t really own anything.  Somebody once said, “It is difficult to save money when your neighbors keep buying things you can’t afford.”  While parts of the economy have moderated, our homes have not because of the ridiculous prices people have been paying the last couple of years.  I get it.  But I also get this.  When you are standing next to a casket looking down at the person who was once alive and vibrant, the reality sets in that they don’t even own the ability to dress themselves or comb their hair.  So much for ownership.

God owns everything.  We are merely stewards of what he has loaned us.  He entrusts things to us to use for His glory.

Let’s remember our blessings.  A new sanctuary furnace, stained glass windows, pipe burst clean-up, elevator repair and new windows and doors just in the last two years.  But above and beyond that is the greatest blessing we possess.  God owns us.  From baptism on we are his child.  He has taken away our sin and forgives us through Christ.  He feeds us His Holy Supper that strengthens us for the tough choices and upheavals of life.  We don’t fear death and decay because we know what is on the other side of the grave.

We are set apart for work in the Lord’s Kingdom.  Through faith in Christ God owns you and me.  God owns this place we call Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and those that gather here.  He has entrusted this place and one another to us.  This is your church.

No one group is going to take care of this church, determine the heat in winter or what to give to missions.  No one else is going to determine our spiritual direction or how to pay the mortgage – nobody is going to take care of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Bloomington IL but the members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Bloomington IL.  No outside organization or government funded agency is going to step in and do what we must do for the glory of Christ and to witness for Him.  God has placed this wonderful responsibility on to each of us sitting in the pews this morning. 

So Pastor, what’s the plan?  It is in our Scripture readings for this morning.  In our Old Testament God’s people brought forth the firstfruits and the tithe, not the leftovers, for the work of the church.  The tithe in our Adult and Junior Confirmation classes is explained this way.  We return 10% back to God.  The formula is easy.  What you make before taxes divided by 10 is the yearly tithe.  You can then divide that by 52 and that breaks it down weekly.  In the Bible, the offering is actually what is above and beyond the tithe.  In the Epistle, the Macedonians, who had affliction and poverty, gave with joy “in a wealth of generosity.”  Our motivation to do all this is in our Gospel.  Jesus breathed his last for us.  The temple curtain was torn in two which brought us back to God.  “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Our church is pretty consistent and has been for years.  We normally meet our budget by the end of the year, but because some gifts are given at the beginning of the year, including our loan rebate, and some are given at the end of the year we struggle in the middle, usually around the end of July to Christmas.  This year has been a little worse.  I hold my checks to pay other bills, which is my choice, because I don’t add a finance charge.

The big question, what are we going to do with God’s help?  You called the right man.  Finances are a passion.  I was the bookkeeper for dad’s business, so I have experience with not always having money.  I don’t know another LCMS Pastor who is as involved as this one.  I love this church.  I love all of you.  This is my servant nature.  The other thing is I am competitive.  Toni says I am competing against our mortgage.  She’s right.  We are not going to lose.  You called me to preach and administer the Sacraments.  Along with that you got a young man who brings soft toilet paper and a gift for finance.  In the last recession, I spread every bill out on the conference table.  Recommendations were made and we cut $25,000 from the budget.  This budget is as lean as it can be.  Do you realize we pay, just as an example, $2500 a year for water, when all we do is flush a few toilets and drink a little water.  Ridiculous but true.  We have to have stormwater coverage and big pipe for our sprinkler system.

All of this effects our ministry.  I can’t tell you how many things are taken care of by members apart from the budget.  Thank you.  

God has also placed a man on the inside, again, your Pastor.  Do you see His hand in all this?  Your Shepherd is on the Church Extension Fund Board fighting for our loan and our rebate.

The math is simple.  We need $5,000-$6,000 a week to meet budget.  We have 50 giving units.  If those units give $5,000-$6,000 a year we are fine.  Luther wrote in our confession today that we shouldn’t be selfish and that we help others.  That is what a church does.  Those of us blessed help those who struggle to reach our goal.

Hang on, we are just about done.  There is a plan I want to lay out for you.  Our loan payoff right now is April 2035.  I am 58.  Lord willing, I plan to work until 67 and retire in December 2032.  The greatest gift we can give the Pastor that follows is to have this loan paid off.  The Council approved this next thing.  A thank offering for August 2025, which will be our 25th year in this wonderful church.  This gives everyone time to plan.  Like Paul writes in our Epistle, “I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift.”

Everything belongs to God.  He is in charge.  Be in prayer.  He will continue to bless.  Now we know and may the Holy Spirit lead us in GIVING TO THE OWNER.

AMEN.         

November 5, 2023 – All Saints     Text:  John 5:1-15

Dear Friends in Christ,

How are you going to die?  Isn’t it something we all think about?  Haven’t we all had dreams about it?  In my dream, Toni and I have taken the grandkids to the Willis Tower Observation Deck in Chicago – 103rd floor – highest in the U.S.  Since I hear from grandparents that grandkids can get you out of your comfort zone, they talk me into going out into one of the glass boxes that protrude out the side.  I am scared of heights, and I know that the floor of these boxes have cracked twice.  But I do it for the little cherubs.  Then they get me to jump up and down and before I remember that these boxes were built by Chicago union labor, I am hurtling toward South Wacker Drive.  Hello Jesus.

My other dream is a little more realistic.  When driving on a two-lane road I always expect the car coming toward us to cross the center line.  If it’s a semi I just pray he has no medical emergency.  Because of this I usually hug the right side.  Fine in flat central Illinois, but in my dream, we are in the mountains of Colorado.  Yep, you guessed it, we get too far to the edge and it’s sunshine on my shoulders as I am standing around the throne of the Lamb.

What is your dream?  Today is our observation of All Saints Day.  The subject of death is prevalent, but it isn’t all sad even when we ponder . . .

“HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DIE?”

Apart from our dreams, death is more likely from cancer, as we have 2 million new cases a year in the U.S.  Or heart disease, the leading cause of death that affects every 1 in 13 Americans.  Death is inevitable, but for the Christian it is a going home.

John 5 is our text.  Jesus is in Jerusalem for one of the annual Jewish festivals.  He goes to a pool called Bethesda.  Half of the pool was used to wash the sheep for the temple sacrifice, the other half for people.  This was no ordinary pool of water.  Mysterious and at different times this pool would stir.  The people believed it had healing qualities, but only for a moment.  Because of this many of the ill and infirm would gather there.

When Jesus gets to the pool, he sees a man who has been coming for 38 years.  That’s 13,879 days!  He waited. He hoped.  He asked for help.  Nothing.  When Jesus asked, “Do you want to be healed?” (v. 6), the only thing he says is that no one can put him in the water.  But Jesus says, “Get up, take your bed, and walk.” (v. 8). And he does!

Jesus cared about this man’s physical well-being.  But that is not His only concern.  A short time later He sees the man in the temple.  Jesus says, “See, you are well again.  Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” (v. 14). What does Jesus mean?

To understand what He meant, we must first understand what He didn’t mean.  He didn’t mean that some sin caused the man’s affliction.  Jesus is not saying that at all.  What Jesus is saying is that living with his physical ailment for 38 years has been difficult, what would be even worse is to have no hope of salvation in your life.  What is worse is to not know that God has unconditional love for you.  What is worse is to be eternally separated from the God who created you.  What is worse is to live without the forgiveness and peace God offers you by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  All of that would be worse.  Jesus’ point is that no matter what else may be going on in your life, physically or otherwise, to be spiritually infirmed would be worse.

Jesus addresses the man’s physical needs, but more importantly he addresses his spiritual needs.  One thing that is easy to skip over is the man’s response after Jesus asks if he wants to be healed.  If you lived with something for 38 years and were asked if you wanted to be healed, wouldn’t you respond “Yes, yes, alleluia!”  Don’t you think he asked for help all these years?  Only to be turned down.  Discouraged.  Depressed.  A man with no hope.

Jesus brought the man hope that day at the pool of Bethesda.  Healed him.  Breathed new life into him spiritually.  And why not?  God has created every one of us with body, mind, spirit.  Maybe you are suffering physically, or spiritually, or mentally.  Thinking about your death or what could be.  Trying to cling to hope, but having a tough time.  On this All Saints Day remember those who suffered before you.  The hope they had they are now living in heaven with the Hope-giver Jesus.  Jesus’ hope transcends all circumstances – spiritually, physically, and mentally.  

In Hebrews 2 we read:  “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.” (v. 14). These words remind us that if anyone understands our physical well-being, our spiritual well-being, and our mental well-being, Jesus does.  Why?  Because He was one of us.  But not only was Jesus like us in His human nature; in His divine nature He also came to love us, to redeem us, to save us, to forgive us, to give us hope and an eternal future – spiritually, physically, and mentally.

The man healed went away and told others with joy.  Let us do the same.  Death for the Christian is just the beginning.  The hope that becomes reality with Jesus in heaven.

Amen.    

October 29, 2023 – Reformation                                                             Text:  Matthew 28:11-20

Dear Friends in Christ,

            We like to spout off about “follow the science” or “fake news” or “it’s a fact” because I heard it on Fox News or CNN or MSNBC.  We want others to adopt the reality we have decided upon.  Online profiles are distorted.  We have a penchant for replacing substance with shadows. 

            There was plenty of “fake news” in Martin Luther’s day.  His very first hymn was written and sung to cast light on the shadows of a lie being spread about the martyrdom of two young men for believing the Gospel, the first Lutheran martyrs.

            Five hundred years ago, on July 1, 2023, Heinrich Voes and Johann Esch were burned at the stake in Brussels, Belgium for refusing to deny the Gospel of the Reformation that we are saved from our sins by grace, through faith, for Christ’s sake alone.

            Shortly after their murder, the fake news began that they had denied their faith in their last moments.  In response, Luther turned to the most powerful media platform of the day.  He wrote a ballad praising these martyrs and upholding their confession of faith.  By late summer the song had gone viral, and it showed Luther the power of song to overcome the shadows of deception.  We just sang the verses as our sermon hymn.  They were printed in the TLH Red Hymnal of 1941 as Hymn #259. 

“SONGS AND SHADOWS”

            Fake news is dispelled easily as Luther shows in “A Mighty Fortress.”  He says of the devil that “one little word can fell him.”  And still we cling to his lies.

            What drives our dishonesty?  Why do we spin our sins like some Washington DC lobbyist?  Little white lies are ok.  Lust isn’t hurting anybody.  My self-centeredness is just self-care.  Does God really care what I am saying in a world boiling over with violence and hatred and rampant inhumanity?  I might be dismissive toward my family members, but I have a low carbon footprint.  I might neglect my spouse, but I volunteer a lot.  I have friends heading for hell and I am not sharing the Gospel with them, but I voted the right way in the last election.

            These shadows leave us in the dark and we spin sins as virtues.  We are okay because we are doing pretty good in most areas of life.  Our shadows leave us in desperation.

            God wants us to have life and have it to the full.  Those who burnt Heinrich and Johann were afraid of the Gospel.  They were fearful it would change their little world of lies.  They didn’t understand that the Gospel doesn’t change the world.  It changes the people in the world.  The world remains the same fallen place, even after Jesus’ resurrection.

            Jesus lets us know that our sins are real, and they must be atoned for.  They deserve death, and someone must die for them.  Christ takes the mantle, and He pays for them with his innocent life.  We remain sinners, but because Christ has redeemed us, we are also saints.  This is no made-up fantasy, it is our reality.  For this truth Heinrich and Johann were burned.  This is the truth that Luther wants us singing about.  This is the truth that sets of free from our spin doctoring.  In the long run, we are set free from damnation and eternal separation from God and His people.  Being set free puts us on a path to live new lives.

            We don’t have to pretend to be someone else to be at peace.  Christ allows us to be set free from the shackles and chains.  He gives us His forgiveness in the Word and Sacraments.

            God’s grace changes us.  We were dressed in this grace at our Baptism.  We hear this grace in the Pastor’s Absolution.  We taste this grace at Christ’s altar.  This is the faith that gives us hope and offers hope to the rest of the world.  We can’t help but sing when the news is this good.  We can’t help but tell the truth when it is so liberating.  One of the ways we can do this is by telling of the saints who have gone before us.  Men like Heinrich and Johann.

            The Psalms tell us of this truth and beauty.  They encourage our new song.  Here are just a few references:  Psalm 96, verse 1 – “Oh sing to the Lord a new song.”  Psalm 40, verse 3 – “He put a new song in my mouth.”  Psalm 144, verse 9 – “I will sing a new song to you, O God.”  The new song begun by Luther, sung forever by the saints in glory.

            Sinners, yes.  Saints, most certainly.  Everyone who has lived and died in the confession of the faith, made the same confession as Heinrich and Johann made unto death.  We are justified by grace through faith for Christ’s sake alone.  This strengthens our faith and trusts no fake news.  The love of Christ that replaces shadows with song.

                                                                                                            Amen.