October 20, 2024 Text: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

Dear Friends in Christ,

During my years of growing up in Argenta, there were those trying to keep up with their neighbor. We lived on the south side of town where most of the older homes were. The north side of town had the newer homes. One year the folks up there all had to have a boat. One person buys one, then another, then another. Eventually my friend and his family buy a boat. Everyone was trying to keep up. Having that possession, a boat, was that important to how they looked to the fellow neighbors.
The things of this world can be alluring and tempting as tangible proof that our lives have meaning. But is that true? Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes calls it “vanity.” If we exclude God all of our life is meaningless. But when He is present . . .
“YOUR LOT IN LIFE AND YOUR TOIL ARE GOD’S GIFTS”
Our culture certainly holds material success up as a panacea to conflict. If we have enough, we can insulate ourselves. But our culture daily proves that wrong. Millions play the lottery, but most of the winners have more conflict because people want to get to them and their money. Gambling, especially sports gambling is huge. You can make a bet on what a guy had for breakfast or if he is going to tie his shoes in the 2nd quarter. We are so vain about it that every commercial for this type of gambling tells you where to go to get help. Hello! We are not immune. The boys move out of our house, and we still struggle to have enough closet space for all our stuff. Can you relate?
This week was part of Bloomington’s bi-annual bulk pick-up. Toni and I set things out both Tuesday and Wednesday. By morning everything was gone, so that by Thursday the city had one old dehumidifier to pile on to the truck. This happens every year. Somebody likes “our junk.” It is a great study of our world. People love things. But it is never enough, and that is the warning.
So, what is the blessing? We can all relate to the first part of our text, but let’s focus on the last two verses. “Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil – this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.” (vs. 19-20)
All that we have is gifted from God. Good things should be enjoyed. We confess, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Our lot in life is that God is at peace with us. Not bought with gold or silver, but with the blood of Jesus.
Items we have will perish. Our soul is eternal. Our eternal soul is bound to an eternal God. God loves you and has bound your life story to that of His own Son. In Baptism, you were bound to the Son of God.
The life of Jesus was not lived in luxury. If Jesus had an estate, what was in it? I’ll tell you. His only possession at death was the garment on his body and that became the prize for a game of lots played by the soldiers who crucified him. Jesus left not a trail of selfish gain, but of sacrificial giving of Himself to the poor, the needy, the hurting, the afflicted.
When we were bound to Christ in baptism his righteousness replaced our unrighteousness. The shedding of His blood frees you and I from a world caught up in the great accumulation. Even his lifeless body was placed in a tomb he did not own. That tomb could not hold him. Those words of Easter morning were our inheritance: “He is not here. He has risen!” This is your story, your lot in life, your victory. You toil for an inheritance that will not spoil or perish, kept in heaven for you.
You do not have to go looking for the treasure that is Jesus. He searches and finds you. No matter who you are, how confused your priorities might be, or how much you have trusted in your possessions and substituted them for God as the object of your love – He is even now, this moment, coming to you. He engulfs you with baptismal water. He speaks the sweetest words a sinful human can hear: “Your sins are forgiven.” He invites you to a meal that brings his own marriage feast to you right where you are as He gives you his body and blood.
These are God’s gifts, and they have great meaning. You are the eternal recipient. Toil in joy, live a blessed lot in life, but remember what’s in the will. Heaven . . . forever.
Amen.

October 13, 2024 Text: Mark 10:17-22Dear Friends in Christ, About 15 years ago I was here before church on Christmas Day. As I was in the narthex, a little sports car drove up and a nice dressed lady got out. She was carrying a box. She was heading to the front door of the church. Before I got there she had laid the box down. I opened the door and asked if she needed anything. I looked at the box and it was a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler box. Odd, but maybe she was dropping something off. She was. She proceeded to tell me she had caught a mouse that morning, put it in the box and brought it to church. I’m thinking, “What?” She then said, “Well, you know the story about the church mouse.” Mice, I am afraid of. Thankfully this one had escaped and ran off. I just stood there dumbfounded. This lady had completely missed the point of what a church is. A place for dropping off mice. I don’t think so, my friend. People miss the point all the time. Nothing was different in the days of Jesus. The Bible is always relevant. Let’s evaluate . . . “MISSING THE POINT” We begin with the first verse of our text, “As (Jesus) was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (v. 17) Life always gets down to this. What is going to happen to me after I die. This fella wanted to know how to have eternal life. He was you might say, anxious. Do we ever get anxious about that question? Someday death will arrive, and we want to know we have eternal life. My friend and I were just talking about this the other day. For the first time in our lives one of us heard from a doctor the words “tumor” and “biopsy.” It is my friend. We talked about life and death and the things that swirl in the mind. Some of you have been through this and understand the anxiety. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (v. 18) Jesus lets it stand: He is God. So, God through Christ is going to give the answer. Please note the man’s wording, “what must I do?” It is not, “What can God do to help me a poor, miserable sinner?” Jesus answers, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” (v. 19) This is where the man’s thinking becomes less than honest. “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” (v. 20) This has been man’s thinking for thousands of years, “But, I’ve been a good person?” Really? Jesus drives him back with his thinking that his accomplishments will get him eternal life. “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (v. 21-22) What should he have done? Something we all should do, fall to our knees and cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” No, not this one. He wanted to earn heaven. He is Missing The Point. Does life ever find us Missing The Point? “Lord, I have done a lot of good things, and I am really good on commandments 2, 3, 5 and 7.” Can’t we help this eternal life business along? I want to participate with my stellar human record. Look it up, Lord, I’m one of the good ones. We come here to the Lord’s House to rid ourselves of those thoughts. We should be walking in the doors with sincere repentance ready to stand before Calvary’s Cross where the Lord forgives and reconciles us with God. The point is: He takes our sin away not because we are wonderful and momma’s favorite. He does it because He loves you and me. He knew and He knows we need a Savior. A little Wisconsin town on the shores of Lake Superior has an annual dog sled derby for young people. A mile course marked out on the ice. One year they had large boys with large dogs competing with one little fellow with a little sled and little dog. As the race began the big boys outdistanced the little shaver by quite a large distance. Then it happened. The sled in 2nd was trying to pass the sled in 1st. There was a melee. Each subsequent rider and dog got caught up in the mess, until all the dogs were fighting. That is – all but the little fellow with the little dog and the little sled. He was the only one to finish the race. We have a clear course marked out for us. The course won for us by the blood of Jesus. We exist as a congregation for this reason: to share Christ’s love with others. No matter how difficult and messed up things look in front of us, we know the course. Just keep going. Christ the Leader. Eternal life the destination. We haven’t missed the point, have we? Amen