May 15, 2022                                          Text:  Revelation 21:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Valerius Maximus was a Roman author/historian, perhaps best known for his work “Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings” dated around 30 A.D.  He stated, “The divine wrath is slow indeed in vengeance, but it makes up for its tardiness by the severity of the punishment.”

    Life can be very, very frustrating – isn’t it?  The reality of so many senators voting to kill the unborn, goods and services that cannot be obtained, prices that continue to climb, people in high positions who abuse their power and live in an alternate reality.  None of it is lost on us.  But then, neither are your sin crimes and my sin crimes.  Valerius Maximus’ insight is accurate:  “the divine wrath…makes up for its tardiness by the severity of the punishment.”  More importantly, God said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” (Rom. 12:9)

    What a blessing to know the love of God in Christ, right?  Especially when we face our final moments.  Jesus is the only One who can lift us beyond the dread and fear of death.  The question for this morning . . .

“WHAT IS IT WORTH TO US?”

    The religions of our world all say the same thing:  Man is either basically good enough or capable enough to deserve or earn God’s love.  Is there any truth in that?  If we could truly earn God’s love, at minimum, we would never think the things we want no one else to know…or see!  

    God is love and we cannot earn, nor do we deserve His love.  He felt sorry for you and me.  Pity.  Mercy.  It was my sins and your sins that caused Him to love us so much that would suffer and die for those horrible things we are capable of.

    One of the saddest conversations you can have with a person is when you ask them what is going to happen to them when they die?  Their answer, “nothing.”  Which is a bold answer while the heart is still beating and the lungs still breathing.  

    Why has humanity spent untold money, time, effort, and persecution of those who follow Christ to disprove Christ’s credibility?  That right there proves something.  Why fight so hard to discredit something you don’t believe in?  Because even the unbelievers know the Scripture just like the devil in the desert with Jesus.  “He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41)

    We’ve been spared this.  Though we struggle daily with our sin, for the sake of Christ we have forgiveness.  That’s the promise.  “…the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 Jn. 1:7b). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 6:23). We will go into eternal heaven – uninterrupted happiness.  All assured us now through Word and Sacrament.

    Frank Wilson wrote this, “In early times of persecution acts of spiritual heroism occurred in many communities.  Christians would see one of their own give up his life for his faith, and they would feel proud of such an example of staunch fortitude…They did not mourn their dead, but rejoiced over them because their departure out of this world was the occasion of the new birth in the world-to-come…”

    When we read these stories of Christian martyrdom we come away thinking:  “what a witness.”  The ultimate offering.  But I confess along with you that the best most of us have given up for the faith is a small percentage of coin and time.  

    Here we are then.  Sinful humans, covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.  Living with promises of Christ’s presence in Word and Sacrament, looking forward to the New Heaven and the New Earth.  The words of John always preparing us:

    “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” (v. 1-4)

    Haven’t we all been confronted with death?  Shed tears for those we love.  Felt the pain of a broken heart or broken body?  Because of God’s love in Christ that will be taken away forever.

    Listen to this written some time ago:  “He calls us not to be deceived into thinking that the goal of our faith here is the highest degree of comfort and happiness…but to understand the people who hated his Son – marched Him to the cross for preaching the truth about human sin – crucified Him and his Apostles – and have persecuted the church through the centuries – those people and that mind-set are as much a part of our time as ever before.”

    We have been given everything in Christ.  His presence now and his eternal promise of heaven.  What a blessing to confess with the saints:  “I am going to heaven when my pilgrimage here is finished.”  It’s a fair question – What Is It Worth To Us – God’s eternal love in Christ.  What is it worth – to you?                                        Amen.   

May 8, 2022                                    Text:  Acts 20:17-35

Dear Friends in Christ,

    It’s mid-morning on September 11, 2001 and Delta Airlines Flight 15 from Frankfurt, Germany to Atlanta, Georgia has been in the air for five hours.  Then with little warning the plane was routed to land at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland.  When they land the passengers see that there are 20 other planes on the ground.  What is going on?  The captain finally gives them the scoop.  He shares the little he knows about the terrorists’ attacks.

    Life for these people is going to get challenging.  They do not know the whole situation.  They will not be let off the plane in the immediate future.  By nightfall 53 planes would be on the tarmac in Gander.  Wait.  Patience.  Very little information.  What to do?

    The Apostle Paul in our text this morning is also on a journey.  He has made his way to Ephesus.  He is going to address the elders of this early church.  Paul is traveling and where the Spirit is leading him and in what way is on his mind.  

“WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME THERE?”

    Do you ever utter those words?  What will happen to me there?  “Yes, we have the result of your scan, can you come to our office tomorrow?”  “Hello this is Barnes from the IRS there is a discrepancy in your tax return.  I’d like to set up an appointment.”  “Good morning, Mrs. Newman, this is Principal Fike, would it be possible to get together later this week, to discuss something about Cassandra?”  Paul in verse 22, “I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there.”  Will it be imprisonment?  Will it be affliction?  Will he receive pressure from all sides?  What is going to happen?

    The passengers in Gander had to be thinking the same thing, wouldn’t you?  They have been assured of medical attention, water, and bathroom service.  Which is a positive because one of the passengers is 33 weeks into her pregnancy.  Finally, some concrete news.  They will start deplaning all 53 jets.  Delta 15 is scheduled for 11 a.m. the next morning.  You can imagine the grumbling.  A night on a plane.  

    Paul is not just concerned about his trip to Jerusalem he is also building up the brethren in Ephesus.  They too will face grumbling.  We cherish the success of the early church, but it was not so rosy most of the time.  Paul knows that when he leaves there will be wolves ready to pounce on the flock.  There will be men who will twist words and confuse the people.  This church needs to be on alert.  What is going to happen next?

    How do you approach your “what is going to happen next” situations?  Fear?  Anxiety?  Trust in the Lord?  Paul I am sure had these range of emotions.  But Paul knew wholeheartedly what He had received from the Lord Jesus.  He had received the Gospel and through it the grace of God.  This was a changed man.  

    We too are changed men and women.  When we face the unknown, when we get worked up about “what will happen there?” we have a Savior who empathizes.  He cares.  He loves.  He directs.  God directed His Son to a cross on Calvary, a journey if you will with many uncomfortable and painful situations along the way.  Everywhere he went in that time period was directed by someone else.  He was pushed and shoved and made to carry a cross.  He finally landed on a hill and was raised to the sky.  His death was a forgiveness for our fears and anxieties about the unknown.  His resurrection assured us that while life may take our plane down in a strange town, our final destination is an eternal city where “they shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore…the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

    While the Delta 15 flight crew disembarked to a local hotel, the passengers were sent to Lewisporte about 40 miles away.  Schools and gathering halls and churches set up accommodations.  Elderly went to private homes.  Families were kept together.  Remember the pregnant lady?  She was put up in a private home across the street from a 24-hour urgent care.  The local high schoolers took care of their guests.  Phone and e-mail were available.  Local excursions were planned.  Food and laundry and all their other needs were met.  Paul concludes our text with these words, “we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  The Gospel Paul preached centered on giving.  God gives forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.  God’s heirs, you and I, give to others based on what God has given to us.

    When finally allowed to go home, the plane was one big party.  The passengers had bonded.  Then this happened.  A passenger was allowed to speak over the PA.  He reminded them of the hospitality they had received from strangers.  He said he was going to set up a trust fund for the high school students of Lewisporte.  By the time the paper got back to the crew $14,000 had been promised.  That fund today has $1.5 million and has helped around 135 students.  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

    What “what is going to happen to me there” moment awaits you?  Trust in the Lord Jesus because He is watching out for you.

                        Amen.   

May 1, 2022                                    Text:  Acts 9:1-22

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Question for you.  If you wanted to select someone to be a character witness for you, would you choose someone who didn’t like you?  If you had the opportunity to make someone your strongest advocate, would you go with a person who goes out of their way to make sure the world knows you are no good?

    Those choices defy human reason.  In our text this morning from Acts this is what our Lord Jesus does.  He chooses a persecutor of His name to carry the message of the Gospel to all the nations.  

    Saul of Tarsus, was an opponent of Christ.  He imprisoned Christians in Jerusalem.  His energy was used to try to destroy the Christian Church.  If at that time he was allowed to twitter his thoughts, facebook his musings, or youtube his rantings you all would have had utter contempt for this man.  Now he is on the way to Damascus to arrest the Christians there and bring them back to Jerusalem.  Man, how we despise this guy. 

    Jesus has another perspective.  Christ is going to meet him on the road to set him free.  

“SAUL SET OUT IN MALICE, BUT JESUS MET HIM IN MERCY”

    Jesus begins by confronting Saul with his sin.  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (v. 4)  Jesus is no longer a faceless name.  In his blindness he calls out, “who are you, Lord?”  The answer.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (v. 5)

    Things start to come into focus for Saul.  In persecuting the Church he was persecuting Christ Himself.  The story is getting more interesting.  It is time to send Saul to Damascus.

    With three days of prayer and fasting he is sent to Ananias.  Ananias was a disciple of Christ who Saul would have brought “bound to Jerusalem.”  The Lord brings together these two separate men, these two guys who think differently, into fellowship together through the Gospel.  It all happens on Straight Street!  “Straighten up.”  “Walk straight.”  “Get on the straight and narrow.”  This is all going to happen for Saul.  

    Ananias is reluctant.  Wouldn’t you be?  Do you get up each day and think, “I believe I will go down to Main Street and meet with those who hate Christ and His Church?”  The beauty of this man’s faith is evident.  The Lord explains Saul’s mission and Ananias lays hands on him and baptizes him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The names that Saul hated with a passion.

    By God’s grace in Christ, Saul had been reconciled to God.  He had been the enemy of Christ, but through His gracious work he was now a friend of Jesus.  Saul would be the ambassador of this same gift of reconciliation to the world.  Jesus met Him in mercy.

    Some treat Saul’s conversion as a model for all Christian conversion.  They think a crisis must occur for a conversion to take place.  This is misleading.  The Lord may work through heartaches and valleys, but conversion is always the work of the Holy Spirit through the mans of grace.  Saul’s conversion takes place as he receives Word and Sacrament.  It doesn’t take a dramatic experience.  You may have come to faith quietly.  What matters is trust in Christ as Savior and Lord.

    How many Saul’s do you see in our world today?  Spouting their theories about Christianity.  Defending evolution.  Desecrating marriage.  Blasting parents.  Killing the baby.  Saying the church is not “vital or essential.”  When you let your mind become clouded with these thoughts what starts to happen?  You stand on the verge of hating the person and not the message.  For many of us we would have done the same with Saul.  His malice would have gotten in the way of our Christian love.

    Isn’t it wonderful our Lord is different?  He sees the soul in front of Him.  He sees the misguided rhetoric that is spouted.  Saul is the perfect choice to spread the message because he has been on the side that needs to be converted.  What a beautiful, beautiful plan.  The best elder in a church can be the man who was once on the outside looking in.  The best LCMS Pastor can be the one who once pranced and danced in the pews of a non-liturgical confessional Church.  They’ve seen the other side and the view is not great.

    We are dependent on God’s saving grace.  When we want to step out on the ledge because the voices of the day have gotten us so upset, the Lord pulls back in.  “My child,” He says.  “I love you.  I forgive you for your thoughts toward others.  Let it go.  I am in control.  Look at what I did for Saul.  No one is beyond hope.”  

    Christ transforms.  He does it in His time and in His way.  We are blessed to receive that mercy again today.  It is showered on us in this Word we hear and in the Sacrament we will enjoy in fellowship together.  What Saul do you need to be praying for?  Whose heart needs a transplant?  You too are a “chosen instrument” of the Lord.  God reached out to Saul.  You’ve witnessed it firsthand.  Saul set out in malice, but Jesus met him in mercy.  

                                            Amen.