"Live in God's Marvelous Light!" (Sermon on 1 Peter 2:9-12) | February 5, 2023

Text: 1 Peter 2:9–12

Date: February 5, 2023

Event: The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

1 Peter 2:9–12 (EHV)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.

11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and temporary residents in the world, to abstain from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul. 12Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us.

Live in God’s Marvelous Light!

How often do you catch yourself taking things for granted? I’ve noticed myself becoming a bit numb to the area we are privileged to live in after being here for more than a decade. This past Monday, it was clear a but cool morning and I went for a bike ride up the Bay Trail. As you approach the area in San Mateo around Coyote Point, you’re greeted with an incredible view of the San Francisco skyline across the waters of the Bay, with the Bay Bridge stretching off east into the distance. When it’s not completely socked in by fog, it’s pretty remarkable!

But as I turned that corner and that sight came into view, in the moment, I hardly noticed it. A few minutes later I had to kick myself a little bit to zero in on the view and appreciate that this is home, this is where we get to live, this is where we get to serve. What a tremendous blessing and privilege!

Taking things for granted can be dangerous. You start ignoring the blessings you have been given. Problems start to get multiplied and scale out of control in your mind. And taking things for granted, especially the eternal blessings we have, is exactly what Peter is trying to address in our Second Reading for today. Let us not take for granted the blessings we have in Jesus, but let us value what they mean for us every day of our lives so that we may thank God and share his goodness with others!

In the early weeks of the Epiphany season, we’ve seen Jesus revealed for who he is. In the latter weeks of this season, though, our focus turns to revelation on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We heard last week in the Gospel Jesus’ teaching about how being his follower will likely mean finding blessings in the things the world would say are curses. Being gentle, poor, insulted all bring about blessings because, as Jesus reminded us, the follower of Jesus is always looking ahead to eternal life, to the true blessings that are coming in the future.

And while this future-gazing and eternal perspective is good, we also want to not take for granted our standing with God while we journey through this life. We want to avoid two extremes: the one that goes through this life ignoring the people and responsibilities around us and exclusively focused on eternity, or the other that sees eternity as so far away to be meaningless to my every day life.

As Peter is writing his New Testament letters, he knows that he is rapidly approaching the end of his life. It seems likely that Peter died around 68 AD during the great persecution against Christians that emperor Nero carried out in the Roman Empire. So his letters are very forward looking for his readers. When he’s gone, Peter wants them to remember what is truly important and hold on to the truth that God had committed to them.

In our Second Reading for this morning, taken from the first half of his first letter, Peter encourages his people  to remember what God has made them. We know what we are by nature: sinners who have set ourselves as enemies of God. The rebellion of our sin means that by nature we are fighting against God and deserve the punishment of hell for our insolence. We are cut off from him and, in hell, would be separated from God forever.

But, that is not our current standing. Who are we now? But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession. That’s the polar opposite of what we are by nature. We were naturally separated from God, but now we belong to God. We were rejected because of our sin, but now we are a chosen people. We were vile to God, polluted by sin, but now we are his royal priests. We were at war with God, but now we are his own holy nation.

How? How did this change happen? What caused such a complete role reversal for us? Well, Peter reminds us. [you were] called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy. Notice how the changes came about from outside of us. Peter reminds us that we didn’t make this change, God did. We were in darkness, and he called us to his light. We were rejected, but then God made us his people. We had no mercy shown to us, but now God has shown us his mercy.

That mercy came in the form of his Son, Jesus. Jesus’ mission was to come and live in our place. And so Jesus became the rejected one, the despised one, the one punished for all sin—even though he did nothing wrong. He became sin in our place and suffered the wrath of God so that you and I would not. These early stages of Jesus’ ministry that we focus on during this Epiphany season are leading us directly into Lent, the season where we will spend time focusing on Jesus’ payment for our sins.

Jesus is the mercy of God shown to us. Jesus is our adoption into God’s family—his work in our place makes us his sisters and brothers. We are set free from sin because Jesus paid for it all on the cross. We will have eternal life with our God because of Jesus’ victory in our place.

That’s the eternal perceptive that we’ve talked about. But, how does Peter want that to affect us right now. Why does he want us to consider not just that will be be a chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation, God’s own possession but that by God’s grace we are all of those things right now?

He gives us the key in the middle of that paragraph. You are all of those things that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Our life here is to proclaim God’s praise with our life. The things we do, the thoughts we think, the words we speak and likely even the tone we use with those words are all opportunities to proclaim God’s praises. This is the difference, as we heard a couple of weeks ago, between walking about in the darkness of sin and walking in light of God’s love and forgiveness.

So Peter encourages a balance: remember that life here is temporary, but still walk in light, still glorify God in how you conduct yourself: Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and temporary residents in the world, to abstain from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul. Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us.

What is the purpose of a life live in God’s marvelous light? First of all it praises our God who rescued us, who called us out of darkness in his light. But it also another purpose. Peter zeroes in on it in the last verse of this reading: Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us.

When we live an honorable, godly life, a life that glorifies our Savior, we have an impact on the people around us. Jesus called us to be the light of the world in our Gospel for this morning because we are to be beacons of God’s light in this dark world. Some people who hate us without cause see our lives lived and have to at least reflect on the fact that there’s something different about us. Peter says that in the end, when they observe your deeds, they will at least recognize God “on the day he visits us.” Not necessarily faith, but in the same way that Paul said at the last day, every knee will bow at Jesus and confess or acknowledge him as Lord.

That is, of course, if we understand the day God visits us as the Last Day, Judgement Day. But that day won’t be a mere visit; that will be when we come home with him forever. So, perhaps, Peter means when God visits us with his means of grace, with the message of the gospel.

If we live our lives like anyone else or even in rampant sin, we very likely give Christians in general a bad name with people who are not believers. But, if we live a life that glorifies God, if we are able to show that our faith impacts the way we live and it stands out even to the unbelievers, perhaps that is pre-evangelism. If our lives are not concerned about getting our way or forcing people to do what we think they should do, but instead is a life overflowing with concern and empathy for others, perhaps God uses that to set the gears in motion for someone to not flat out reject and ignore the gospel. Perhaps your life of faith lived among that surly coworker or neighbor opens the door one day for someone to share Jesus with them—even if you don’t see that fruit. Maybe they think back about that one Christian they knew and how that person was so nice to them even though they did not deserve it, and it serves as a picture to begin to teach them about the truly undeserved love of God. Peter’s thought certainly seem to echo and paraphrase what Jesus said in the Gospel: Let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

So this is not merely about praising God, but it certainly is that. But your life of faith, your living in God’s marvelous light, may actually be part of the reason that someone else is in heaven with us. So, dear Christian, consider your walk of faith and the love your Savior has shown to you. Consider how you live as an ambassador for the Savior. My dear brothers and sisters who have been called out of the darkness into God’s light—let’s walk by that light, live by that light, to give thanks to our God. And who knows? Perhaps God will use that life as part of the story he writes to bring another person to faith—even someone you would never think would trust in Jesus as their Savior. After all, he’s called people like you and me into his marvelous light. Certainly, then, it is for everyone! Amen.

"Who Were You? Who Are You?" (Sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:26-31) | January 29, 2023

Text: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Date: January 29, 2023

Event: The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (EHV)

For example, consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, 28and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before God. 30But because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31God did this so that, just as it is written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Who Were You? Who Are You?

How are your Christmas presents working out? Did you get anything that was a huge disappointment? I hope not, but maybe there was something that you were looking forward to that just didn’t live up to the hype or the expectations you had for it.

Was there something that you received that surprised you by how useful it was? Maybe it seemed like nothing but once you put into use it was something you’ve found yourself using daily. Maybe it was something you didn’t even know existed until someone got it for you and now it feels almost indispensable.

Those are the good surprises. The movie you go to on a whim that ends up being a favorite, the meal you mistakenly order at the restaurant that is not at all what you were planning when it arrives—but it is also so delicious.

In our Second Reading for this morning, Paul wants us to have a bit of a epiphany and surprise at the state of our lives. Who were we naturally? Who are we now that God has done his work for us? How should we consider ourselves? A huge disappointment or surprisingly useful?

Paul’s first letter to the Christians living in the city of Corinth is not an overly positive letter. This congregation had a lot of problems. There were stark divisions in the congregation. Those divisions sometimes went along lines of which apostle or Christian teacher they valued more highly than the others, or it followed socio-economic divisions so that the rich just hung around with the rich and the poor were left by themselves. The Lord’s Supper was a particularly egregious problem, as some people were consuming so much that they got drunk while others were given nothing at all.

As Paul addresses these issues in this first letter, he wants them to consider their standing with God. Is there any reason for them to be holding anything over anyone else? Do they really have reason to boast in themselves or think very highly of their thoughts and opinions, or should they be more “down to earth” in their thinking?

Paul starts this probing at the beginning of our reading: Consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status. But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, so that no one may boast before God. What is Paul’s point? Who were you, Corinthians, before God called you to faith? Not much. No one would have expected anything from you. You were not the smartest people on earth. Few had power or nobility in their blood. But in calling them to faith, Paul says God used weak and lowly things to confront the world’s idea of strong and boastful.

And this is not just commentary on the Corinthians’ social standing prior to being called to faith. Paul is speaking about these things from God’s point of view. Was there anything in the Corinthians that attracted God to them? Was there anything in them that would have led him to say, “Oh, I simply MUST have them as part of my church!” No! Their calling to faith was God’s doing and their status with God was entirely produced by God.

We can think through the same line of thought. Was there anything special in us before God called us to be Christians, before he brought us to faith? Was there anything in you or me that would have led God to say, “Wow, now that is a special person! I need her!” Or “I need him!” No! In fact, quite the opposite.

We were like the Christmas present for which there were grand expectations and then it failed to meet any of those expectations. We were created to have perfect harmony with our God and yet we abandoned that and sought our own way. From Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden to our sins committed this morning, our whole natural history has been fighting against God and against his will.

So is there anything of value in you by nature? No. Is there anything that God would find appealing in you on your own? No. But this is message of the gospel: despite being at war with God, he still loved us. His grace means that he loved us even though we didn’t deserve it. Jesus is the epitome of the weak overcoming the strong. How strong sin and death looked on Good Friday! How weak Jesus looked nailed to a cross! Yet, by faith, you can see what was actually happening there. The weak was defeating the strong. And if there’s any doubt that that’s what was happening, three days later Jesus’ empty tomb removes that doubt.

Jesus came and sacrificed himself for us, not because we were so lovable, but because he loved us in spite of ourselves. Jesus’ life and death for us purges everything awful about us and makes us into the perfect people that he expected us to be. We don’t boast before God, but Paul tells us that because of God’s work for us you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Because of what the world would call foolishness and weakness, we have righteousness, a right relationship with God; we have been redeemed, bought back from sin and death so that we belong to God once again; we have been sanctified, set apart as holy, special, and precious to our God. All of this comes not from ourselves, but from him who loved us. Paul stresses: God did this so that, just as it is written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

And while that’s a real hit to our self-esteem, God is making the point that self-esteem isn’t what should be of prime importance for us—our esteem found in Christ is what matters. Our weakness magnifies God’s strength. I’m truly strong when I recognize my own weaknesses, because I’m left with nothing else in that moment other than being able to depend on God. And if my hope and dependance are completely and only on God for peace now and eternal life to come, then I’m truly resting in the most powerful possible place.

But that is not the way that the world often looks at this. With faith in Jesus does not come worldly-impressive changes. While we are the people God expects because of Jesus, we are not necessarily people that the world thinks are impressive. As Christians, we are not likely to be able to navigate this sin-corrupted world and have a lot of people think that we are so amazing and wonderful. In fact, the world will find Christians annoying and repulsive because that’s what they think about our Savior and his mission to save them.

That’s why Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in our Gospel sounded so backwards. Praising the gentle, the poor, the hungry, and the insulted? How does that make any sense? And how does it make sense that we would suffer degradation in this life if God has loved us so completely?

God’s love may not provide worldly-impressive power or status, but there’s a reason for that. God wants us always focused on what is ahead. He wants us remembering that there is something better and far more complete waiting for us on the other side of eternity. If this life were perfect, without any hardship or challenge, we may be deluded into thinking that this life is the be-all, end-all of existence, rather than straining and longing for the perfect, eternal life that is to come, that life which Jesus won for us by his blood.

Becoming a Christian probably didn’t bring with it amazing earthly wealth, or standing and respect among your peers. In fact, there’s a chance that it has meant just the opposite for you. But that keeps us ever focused on the true prize God has prepared: not peace and comfort here in this world of sin and decay but eternal peace and comfort in the life to come, where there will be no sin or sorrow or sickness. The weakness of this life leads us to be every looking forward to the strength of the life to come.

Who were you? A sinner who set themselves at war with God. Who are you? A dearly loved child of God who has been forgiven of every sin and assured of eternal life for the sake of Jesus. None of us are better or worse than anyone else. We were all equally condemned by our sin and equally forgiven by Jesus. When it doesn’t feel like that truth is having an impact, remember that when you are weak here and depending on God’s strength, then you are truly strong. “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Amen.

"The Light Has Dawned" (Sermon on Matthew 4:12-23) | January 22, 2023

Text: Matthew 4:12-23

Date: January 22, 2023

Event: The Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

Matthew 4:12-23 (EHV)

When Jesus heard that John was put in prison, he withdrew into Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14He did this to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

15Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

along the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles,

16the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death a light has dawned.

17From that time, Jesus began to preach: “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”

18As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 19He said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

20They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

23Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

The Light Has Dawned

This time of year, I find it really, really difficult to get out of bed while it’s still dark. And that’s not great because the sun rises so late that probably you need to be out of bed to before it’s light out in order to be properly ready for the day. But, one of the things I really do like is just feeling the transition from darkness to light that you get as the sun rises.

The darkness is a bit scary. One of our goals with our recent work around campus is to bring better light to more areas around the church and parsonage. The new lights shine better and more evenly around the parking lot, there are now more fixtures outside the Fellowship Hall for brighter light, and even the paths between the church and parsonage will be getting new lights to make that path better lit. Darkness is scary because you just don’t know what’s there. Will there be a branch or a rock you might trip over? Is a raccoon waiting to jump you for your food scraps you’re taking to the compost bin? You just don’t know.

But that transition from darkness to light is an epiphany itself. You can suddenly see what was hidden. The pathway that just moments before may have been perilous is now trivial. And even if the temperature doesn’t actually rise, there is a feeling of warmth that comes from the sun beginning to shine where it had previously been dark and cold.

All of our readings for this morning use this light/dark comparison to describe the coming of the Savior into the world. We’ll focus our attention primarily on God’s words in Matthew’s Gospel, but all the readings tie together to describe the coming of Jesus as light shining in darkness. And we can see that not only historically as the Light of the World began to clearly shine at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, but we will see it personally as the light of God’s love shines on us and changes us from darkness-dwellers to those who love God’s light and love to walk about in that light.

Matthew gives us a little bit of context for when these events take place: When Jesus heard that John was put in prison, he withdrew into Galilee. This is still very early in Jesus’ ministry, but we should run down a few things that have already happened. Jesus has already been baptized by John the Baptist, as we celebrated last week. John has already directly pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John has already been clear that Jesus must increase while John himself must decrease. And many of John’s disciples have begun listening to Jesus as a teacher, if not yet formally following him full time as his disciples.

I’m very grateful that we are largely done with those compact florescent lightbulbs. The most annoying thing about them was that they needed to warm up. So you would turn on a light, and as opposed to the older incandescent bulbs or the newer LED bulbs, the CFL bulbs would start out dim and then slowly but surely get brighter until it reached full brightness. And as annoying as that was to me in practice, it actually serves as a good picture of what’s going on here with Jesus. If we focus on the light shining, the bulb has been turned on, but Jesus’ brightness is slowly but surely growing.

Jesus relocates from Nazareth to Capernaum. Nazareth was not too far from Capernaum, but Capernaum was right on the Sea of Galilee whereas Nazareth was set in from the sea quite a ways. Capernaum was more directly on trade routes and would have put Jesus in contact with more people than sleepy Nazareth might have. This would serve as home base for most of Jesus’ ministry, in accord with what we had read from Isaiah, that the the region of Galilee, warts of which were given to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali as their inheritance and home, where both Nazareth and Capernaum were, would be where this light would shine.

And we’re told that this light begins to shine primarily in the message that Jesus proclaimed: “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.” Jesus’ message is very similar to what John had been preaching. Jesus picks up the baton from his forerunner to continue and expounds on the work that John had been doing.

We should take a moment to make sure we understand what repentance is. Repentance is a change of attitude about sin. Instead of loving sin or seeking after sin or just being indifferent toward it, someone who is repentant has sorrow over their sin but also trusts that God has forgiven it. Repentance is never doubtful or scared. Repentance is always pointing to God’s forgiveness as the solution to sin and as the motivation to turn away from it. Repentance is the attitude of a thankful heart knowing that it has been forgiven, wanting to express its thanks to God.

John and Jesus’ message was an encouragement toward repentance because it represents a “walking toward the light.” Walking the path of sin is stumbling around in the dark. Living by principles that put you at odds with God will only end in disaster eternally, but probably even in the short-term as well. So Jesus calls to those listening to him to abandon the path of sin and journey on God’s path. Walk toward the light, a path illuminated by the assurance of God’s free and full forgiveness. Jesus, as the one who would make this forgiveness a reality by his life and death in our place, was uniquely positioned to be able to make this call to the light because it was a call to himself.

Sometimes we don’t want to heed that call, though. Maybe a particular sin really has its claws in us. Maybe we like stumbling around in the darkness. Maybe we feel freedom in doing what we want to do regardless of what God says is good and right. And so we hear calls for repentance and we think, “Maybe later…” and we see Jesus shining as the beacon of forgiveness and we avert our eyes and try to ignore him so that we can live as we want to live.

The disciples called to full-time service with Jesus in the midst of this reading can really serve as role models for us. They left not just sin, but the lives they knew behind. The nets and boats and family stay where they were and Peter, Andrew, James, and John go to follow Jesus. They saw the light, they heard his call, and they followed him.

Can we do the same? Can we dedicate ourselves to our Savior to the same degree? Likely, God is not calling us to leave behind life as we know it to follow him. But he does call on us to leave behind sin. And he doesn’t call us to live a good life to be forgiven of past offenses; he calls on us to live a good life because we’ve been forgiven. A bright light that you don’t want to look at still shines. The sun will still be there no matter how buried under the blankets you make yourself. So, too, even when we are staring in the direction of the darkness of sin, Jesus still calls to us with reminders of forgiveness, forgiveness that leads us to repentance.

God has called you out of the darkness and into his light. You and I were those dwelling in the region and the shadow of death, but over us the light of God’s mercy has dawned. My brothers and sisters, let’s not get wrapped up in what we want to do when it is contrary to God’s will for us. Let us follow this light that has dawned over us. Let us repent of our sins—whatever they may be—and follow our Savior. Let us follow the light that has shined in our hearts and removed our sins.

That’s the epiphany we’ve been given, to see that the promised Light has arrived and has rescued us. Let’s follow his love and forgiveness out of the darkness of sin as we journey through this life. And let us ever be looking forward to that eternal life that he has given us—a life with no darkness at all—where we will be surrounded by the light of our Savior’s love forever.

Lord Jesus, keep us in your care now and until you bring us to that glorious light of our true, eternal home. Amen.

"God Anointed Jesus as the Savior of All" (Sermon on Acts 10:34-38) | January 15, 2023

Text: Acts 10:34-38

Date: January 15, 2023

Event: The Baptism of our Lord (observed), Year A

Acts 10:34-38 (EHV)

Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really am beginning to understand that God does not show favoritism, 35but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36He sent his word to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

37“You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. 38God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, because God was with him.

God Anointed Jesus as the Savior of All

Scope creep is a real danger to any project. We’ve wrestled with that a little bit in our recent work on campus. When you start doing some renovations, no matter what boundaries you set for the project originally, it seems inevitable that things will be added to it, either because it becomes necessary or because you had new ideas once you’re into the project that you didn’t have when you were in the planning stage.

But with God, there is no scope creep in anything that he does. He perfectly knows the needs and perfectly knows the complete solution, even if we don’t. And that can produce frustration for us because we approach God in prayer asking for help with problems and perhaps even bringing forth possible solutions, and his response may be that we don’t have the perspective to fully understand the problem and thus to understand the solution.

And so while that can be frustrating, there’s also a comfort in knowing that God’s perspective will lead to the real, best solution to any given problem even if we can’t see it. Sometimes, though, we are able to look back and start to understand what God likely had in mind even if we were blind to it at the time.

That’s the kind of epiphany that Peter has as he speaks in our Second Reading from Acts chapter 10. Peter outlines that God had bigger and grander plans than Peter had even realized, that Jesus was not just the Savior of some, but that God had anointed him as the Savior of all!

This account takes place in the early days of the Christian church. We’re past the time of Jesus’ ministry. His life, death, and resurrection and have come and gone, and now Jesus has ascended to heaven. The apostles are going out with the message of sins forgiven in Jesus’ substitutionary work. The first Christian Pentecost day was an outward, visible triumph as God brought 3,000 people to faith in Jesus through the preaching of the apostles. And while we don’t have many other grand mass-conversations recorded for us, a few chapters before our reading the Holy Spirit tells us through Luke’s pen, “The word of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly” (Acts 6:7).

Jesus, though, had promised that the disciples would be his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, but then also to the ends of the earth. And this movement toward sharing the gospel with Gentiles, with those who are not Jewish, was a difficult one. It was difficult in large part because of cultural inertia. God had established clear boundaries between his people and the other nations. They were not to intermarry; they were not to work together; even their diets were supposed to be different, labeling many of the foods that the surrounding nations ate and enjoyed as unclean. If we paint with a very, very broad brush, God had made it a sin in his ceremonial law for his people to look and act like the surrounding nations. But, in Jesus those laws had been fulfilled, their purposes were done, and God’s people were entering into a new era.

At the beginning of Acts chapter 10, we hear of a Gentile named Cornelius. He was a centurion in the Roman military and also a proselyte, someone who was not of the bloodline of Abraham who had converted to Jewish faith. He saw a vision of an angel coming to him, directing him to send for Peter. Cornelius immediately sent some trusted people to go and fetch Peter.

While this is happening in Cornelius’ home, Peter was praying where he was staying. He saw a vision of a large sheet or tablecloth being set before him with all sorts of unclean animals. A voice directed him to kill and eat these animals. And Peter, being the faithful Jewish believer that he was, was appalled at the idea. His response in the vision was “Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything impure or unclean” (Acts 10:14). But the voice he heard responded, “What God has made clean, you must not continue to call unclean” (Acts 10:15). This happened three times.

As Peter came out of the vision, the men that Cornelius had sent to summon Peter arrived at the house. The Holy Spirit directed Peter to go with them, so the next morning they made the trek to Caesarea. Coming into a Gentile’s home was considered wrong—it made Peter ceremonially unclean. But the vision of the animals that God had given to Peter was directing him to see the Gentiles not as unclean people to be avoided, but as people loved by God who needed the message of sins forgiven in Jesus. So Peter began to share the good news about Jesus with them—the beginning of which is our reading for this morning.

And you can see the revelation and epiphany happening in real-time for Peter. “Now I really am beginning to understand…” Peter was a work in progress—just like us. He was growing in his understanding of the scope of God’s plan to rescue people from sin. And even though Jesus and the Old Testament before him had made it plain that this forgiveness was for the world, he, like us, needed nudges and help to process this information and apply it to his life.

Peter takes us back to Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan in these brief verses. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, because God was with him.” Jesus’ baptism was his anointing, his commissioning, the formal start to his ministry. He took our place under John’s baptism of repentance, even though he had no sin to repent of, because doing so was proper “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). In other words, Jesus’ baptism was part of God’s plan to make us righteous, to rescue us from sin.

But Peter can see now that Jesus’ anointing set him on a path to be the Savior for all people, not a limited group. This forgiveness was not limited to people of a specific time, or place, or race. No, “Now I really am beginning to understand that God does not show favoritism, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. He sent his word to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” Peter began to fully appreciate the scope of Jesus’ work, that God called him to forgive the sins of all people. And lest we misunderstand what Peter is saying, he is not saying that God deems people acceptable who do enough good things. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that without saving faith, it is impossible to do anything to please God (see Hebrews 11:6). So those who fear God and do what is right according to him are those who already have faith in Jesus as Savior. And this faith can and will come to people from all backgrounds and nations.

What does this mean for us? First of all it means that we are included in that people for whom Jesus died. We are not part of “scope creep” that God put a stop to. You were always in his plan. Your sins, no matter how heavily they may weigh on you, were always part of what Jesus suffered on the cross. When Peter says that Jesus came to heal “all who were oppressed by the Devil,” that’s not just the demon possessed out of whom the demons were thrown out. That’s all of us, those whom the devil torments and tempts, those whom Satan wants to be in hell to suffer as he suffers. Jesus casting out demons was a slight twitch of his divine muscles that later strong-armed Satan, that crushed that ancient serpent’s head.

But this also has an affect on us as ambassadors of our Savior and on the work we do together as a congregation. I’m going to guess that hardly anyone was shocked this morning to hear me say that Jesus is the Savior for all people, that those who have faith in Jesus as Savior will be in heaven. For many of us, this has been a truth we’ve known from little on. And even for those of us newer to the Christian faith, it’s such a core tenant of the faith that it’s probably one of the first things we learned about Jesus’ work.

But do we always behave like we know that? Do we always act like we trust that it’s true? Do we decide that the gospel isn’t for this person or that person because, “They’ll never listen to us” or “They believe in a different faith” or “They didn’t listen when I shared before so why would I waste my time?” Do we decide that that neighbor or coworker or family member or friend is beyond the scope of our Savior’s forgiveness, not because his forgiveness is limited, but because we just don’t think it will “work”? Or even more selfishly, do we make these assumptions or declarations because pushing against them might make things difficult for us? Maybe we’ll have awkward conversations? Maybe we’ll lose a friend? Maybe family relationships will be strained? Maybe I’ll feel bad?

Peter was in an incredibly uncomfortable position going to this Gentile’s home to share the gospel with him. He was so far outside of his comfort zone that he couldn’t even see that comfort zone anymore. And yet, he knew God’s direction and he went forward. We haven’t had visions from God but we have the even clearer direction of his Word—our mission is to share Jesus with everyone.

Our area gives us a lot of unique opportunities to do this. People from all over the world live here. People from places where the gospel might not have much of any presence are here in our backyard. They live next to you. They shop for groceries alongside of you. People for whom Jesus died—but do not know it—surround us, and we have the free, glorious message of the gospel to give them.

That task feels completely overwhelming and perhaps we do nothing because we don’t even know where to start. And here, too, scope creep can distract from our goals. Yes, the gospel is to go to the world, but we are not alone in this work. We work with the fellow members of our sister congregations, and more loosely with Christians across the globe who share the good news of Jesus as Savior.

My recommendation right now? Follow Peter’s example and pray. Pray that we see Jesus as the Savior for all of our personal failings, all of our sins. Pray that God may open our eyes to the opportunities that are in front of us to share Jesus with those who need to know what he’s done for them. Pray that we might have the courage and fortitude to share Jesus with them and that the Holy Spirit would give us the words to share it. Remember, even something as simple as, “Do you want to come to church with me? I’ll buy brunch afterwards” will likely connect someone to the gospel if they are here. Or forwarding an email with worship livestream or online Bible Class information will also present an opportunity for them to see and hear what God has done for them.

We won’t convert the nations by ourselves. In fact, we won’t convert anyone on our own; in the end, this is God’s work through us, not our work. Jesus, the Lord of all, will see to it that his Word goes out with power to those who need to hear it. May we be part of that work, to bring the anointed Savior of all to all! Amen.

"The Mystery Is Revealed" (Sermon on Ephesians 3:2-12) | January 8, 2023

Text: Ephesians 3:2-12

Date: January 8, 2023

Event: The Epiphany of our Lord (Observed), Year A

Ephesians 3:2–12 (EHV)

Surely you have heard of the administration of God’s grace given to me for you, 3namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation (as I have already written briefly). 4When you read this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. 5This mystery was not made known to people in past generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and people who also share in the promise through the gospel.

7I became a servant of this gospel, in keeping with the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. 8To me—even though I am the very least of all the saints—was given this grace: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ 9and to enlighten everyone about the administration of this mystery. In past ages this mystery remained hidden in God, who created all things. 10He did this so that, through the church, the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was done according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him we can freely approach God with confidence through faith in him.

The Mystery Is Revealed

Do you like mysteries? Do you like a who-done-it book or movie? Do you like looking into things that seem to have no rational explanation? A few months ago I was watching several videos online of magicians performing tricks and illusions, and some of them were baffling. But then you can find other videos that go into some detail on how a particular trick is done and it’s like someone has pulled back the curtain to reveal the hidden workings of what is actually happening. You can see the misdirection or the slight of hand the produces something that seemed to be impossible.

That idea of the curtain being pulled back is a great picture to describe the season of Epiphany that we have entered into this week. Technically, the festival of Epiphany is on January 6, but since we do not have a worship service on that day, we’re observing the festival today. The word “epiphany” just means a “revealing,” a showing off of something previously unknown and unseen.

This whole season will focus on God pulling back the curtain and showing us more fully just who Jesus is and what he came to do. We may not learn brand new things in the coming weeks, but we will walk away with a Spirit-given renewed appreciation for all that Jesus did to save us from our sins.

But this festival of Epiphany is really the first revelation of the arrival of the Messiah to Gentiles, to those who are not Jewish. Mary and Joseph knew, Zechariah and Elizabeth and even then-unborn John the Baptist knew. The shepherds and everyone they talked to knew. Simeon and Anna in the temple knew. But what about those outside of Jerusalem and Judea and Galilee? What about those not descended from Abraham?

When the star appeared in the sky, it meant something to a group of wise men. We don’t really fully understand all the why’s and how’s of what the star was and how these men knew that it indicated the birth of the Savior of the world, but they did. In some way, God made it clear to them what this meant. And these Gentile believers wasted no time in making the trek. First to Jerusalem then to Bethlehem, we heard in our Gospel that these worshipers of the child Jesus speared no time or expense in showing their praise to their young Savior. That’s the reason this festival of Epiphany is sometimes called “Gentile Christmas,” because it’s the celebration of the Savior’s being revealed to those outside of his bloodline.

All of that is a long preface to bring us to the our Second Reading for this morning from Ephesians. The apostle Paul was a self-proclaimed “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5), a Pharisee so dedicated to his Jewish faith and bloodline that when this message about Jesus of Nazareth and his followers seemed to be threatening what he held dear, he persecuted the early church violently. Thinking he was serving God, he saw to it that Christians were arrested and even approved when they were murdered.

But you know the story of Paul’s conversion. On the road to Damascus coming to arrest Christians in that city, the resurrected and ascended Jesus appeared to Paul with a cutting question, “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). This was an epiphany of the highest degree because in that moment it was clear that he was not serving God; Paul was warring against God.

But rather than strike down the impudent Pharisee where he stood, Jesus had other plans for him. He called him with a very special purpose: to be his messenger primarily to the Gentiles, to bring the good news of sins forgiven to all people, not just to the Jewish people. He would pick up a thread that the wise men had left for him and continue to spread the gospel to the world. This reality, that Jesus was a Savior for all, is what Paul called “the mystery of Christ.” “This mystery is that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and people who also share in the promise through the gospel.”

The mystery has an epiphany, it has a revealing. God had been clear about this in the past, but not many had understood or taken it to heart. The words of the prophets went ignored or misunderstood for generations until the gospel went out in force after Jesus’ ascension. This Jesus is for all people.

But it’s bigger than that. It’s an emphasis that Jesus’ forgiveness doesn’t depend on a list of rules followed, it doesn’t depend on a family line of some importance, it doesn’t depend on anything. If God’s forgiveness is for all—even the Gentiles—then this forgiveness must be something given, not earned. This forgiveness must be a gift of God’s love for people, not something anyone did to deserve it.

Paul of all people could recognize that. A persecutor of the Savior turned into one of its chief proponents? What grace is this? I became a servant of this gospel, in keeping with the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. To me—even though I am the very least of all the saints—was given this grace: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to enlighten everyone about the administration of this mystery.

But we don’t have to be a former persecutor to appreciate this. Each one of us can take stock of our own lives and see sin after sin in it. We see unfaithfulness after unfaithfulness. We see failure after failure. We see rebellion after rebellion against our God. We’re barely a week into this new year. Have you been perfect since the calendar flipped to 2023? No? Ok, what about just since you got up this morning? No? Ok, well, what about since this sermon started? No? Me neither.

Every bit of evidence says that God should abandon on, he should have nothing to do with us and just cast us aside. We bring nothing of value to him; we contribute nothing but wrath-inducing behavior. And so to speak of the love of God seems like a magician’s slight of hand. That can’t be real. There must be some deception. We couldn’t possibly be loved by the God whom we have so violently fought against in our thoughts words and actions.

And then God pulls back the curtain and shows us his true love—love that we did not earn and certainly do not deserve, but love that he gives to us anyway. That love was wrapped in swaddling clothes and was lying in manager. That love was adored by those who followed the star with gifts to the child King. That love is the one who lived in our place and died the death we deserved only to conquer the grave by his resurrection.

The love of God is a mystery that we will never fully be able to explain. It will never make sense. But just because it doesn’t make sense doesn’t mean it’s not real. The love of God, this eternal mystery, has been revealed to us in Jesus, and he who did not spare his own Son will surely provide you with all that you need now and for eternity. As we continue into the early hours of this new year, relish that mystery that is so real as you kneel with the shepherds and worship with the wise men. Rejoice in the results of Jesus’ work for you: This was done according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him we can freely approach God with confidence through faith in him. Amen.

"God Sent His Son" (Sermon on Galatians 4:4-7) | December 24, 2022

Text: Galatians 4:4-7

Date: December 24, 2022

Event: Christmas Eve

Galatians 4:4–7 (EHV)

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, 5in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons. 6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to shout, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if you are a son, then you are also an heir of God through Christ.

God Sent His Son

The birth of a baby is a joyous occasion. A new life is brought into the world. A new member of the family has finally arrived. The preparation for the child’s birth has all led to this point, and parents, grandparents, other family and friends couldn’t be more excited or happy with the arrival of this day.

Tonight we are celebrating the birth of a child, and we are filled with joy. We’ve spent the last several weeks, throughout the Advent season, preparing for this child’s arrival. But tonight, we have a joy that is different than what a family experiences when their family grows by one. This is a joy that is comforting, not just in the short-term, but in the forever-term.

Jesus was born because we needed him to be born. God had a demand of us, of all people. He demanded from all of us a life of perfection. We had to keep his law flawlessly from beginning to end. But all of us started out born in sin. All of us started out at fault, and we’ve just piled on more faults since then. Whether the world would call them big or little, whether they’re public or private, the sins that we’ve committed pile up on our record. And God doesn’t care whether we have a relatively fewer sins than someone else. His expectation is perfection and anything short of that means eternal punishment.

We were in a bind that we could not get out of. No amount of good things we could do could change the fact that we’re all imperfect—so we needed someone to be perfect for us. And this is why Jesus was born. Paul said, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.”

Notice what God’s Son came to do—he was born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law. In Jesus, God took on a true human nature—became truly human—so that he could take our place under God’s demands. This is not God playacting and pretending to be obeying laws that don’t apply to him. God becomes man to fully, really take our place. Jesus lived his life perfectly for us, died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose from the dead to assure us of his victory. The result of all of Jesus’ work is that you and I find adoption as sons.

Now, when Paul refers to sons here, he’s not being sexist and exclusionary. In those days, the sons were the heirs. And so, regardless of gender, those who trust in Jesus as Savior are heirs of God, set to inherit everything that is his.

Without Jesus’ work, we would still be lost in sin. Without Jesus we would be separated from God forever. But because of Jesus’ work in our place, we are reunited with God. In fact, we no longer run and hide from God like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Paul says that we call God, “Abba, Father.” If we were translate that Aramaic term more directly into English, we might say that by Jesus’ work we call God, “Dada, Father.” That’s the relationship we now have with God—one that is as dear and as trusting as a very small child looking up to his or her parent.

So that’s the importance of Christmas. It’s not actually not strictly about the birth of a child, about a family growing by one. It’s about our adoption into God’s family. Because Jesus arrived, we have been brought into the family of God. Because Jesus lived a perfect life for us, that perfection has been credited to us. Because Jesus died to pay for our sins, we are forgiven of everything we’ve every done wrong. Because God adopted us as his heirs, we will spend eternity with him.

That’s the love of God. That’s the gift of God. That’s what it means that God sent his Son for you. How could we put it any better than the angels? Truly this is good news of great joy for all. Thanks be to God! Merry Christmas! Amen.

"How Do We Handle Advent Doubts?" (Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11) | December 11, 2022

Text: Matthew 11:2-11

Date: December 11, 2022

Event: The Third Sunday in Advent, Year A

Matthew 11:2-11 (EHV)

While John was in prison, he heard about the things Christ was doing. He sent two of his disciples 3to ask him, “Are you the Coming One or should we wait for someone else?”

4Jesus answered them, “Go, report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the one who does not take offense at me.”

7As these two were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the crowds about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? No, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you! And he is much more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11Amen I tell you: Among those born of women there has not appeared anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

How Do We Handle Advent Doubts?

If you have kids in your home (or you can think back to your own youth), maybe this conversation sounds a bit familiar. The Christmas tree goes up, the lights and ornaments are all placed, and then after a few days—even if it is weeks until Christmas—the kids start looking side-eyed under the tree. If there are no presents there in a few days, the children perhaps start wondering to themselves or even out loud, “Will there be any presents this year?”

A season of preparation can be difficult to find patience. Because while on the one hand, we’ve seen that we’re in trouble if we’re not preparing, if we’re dismissing or ignoring what God has done, on the other hand, if we’re really invested in the preparation and then also don’t see things obviously progressing, it can be discouraging and frustrating. We can be impatient or even doubtful that what we are preparing for is even going to arrive or happen.

And that might be kind of the situation we find ourselves in during this Advent season. We know that, Lord-willing, December 25 will come. Our preparations for the celebration of Jesus’ first advent will take place and it will be a joyful time. But what about the main advent we’re preparing and waiting for? What about Jesus’ return? What about heaven?

In our Gospel this morning, we meet up with some familiar people—John the Baptist and Jesus—but it’s later than we’re used to seeing them mentioned together. This is well after Jesus’ baptism by John and John clearly pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is well into Jesus’ ministry, at a time when John’s ministry has all but fizzled into nothing. Now, John knew and even said this would happen. He had said that Jesus must become greater while he needed to shrink away.

But I would guess that John probably didn’t see things going down like this. He’s not becoming less to eventually move into retirement. He’s not transitioning careers or moving on to other service opportunities once Jesus’ ministry takes shape. No, John is in prison. And as we know, his stay in prison will end only when Herod has him beheaded.

We don’t know what John’s state of mind was exactly, but Matthew tells us that John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus a question. It would not be unreasonable to think that perhaps John is concerned that things are not going the way God had planned, and thus is seeking some answers. Was this really the intended final chapter for the the one to prepare the way for the Savior? It’s also very possible that John knows exactly what’s happening and is at peace, but that his disciples are losing heart at what is happening, so he sends them to hear from and see Jesus directly.

Whatever John’s motivation is, he sends his disciples with a pretty direct question: “Are you the Coming One or should we wait for someone else?” The question is point-blank: are you really the Christ, the Messiah? Or is someone else coming?

And Jesus’ answer is fascinating. He could have just said, “Yes, I am the one who was promised.” But he doesn’t do that. His answer to John and his disciples is: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor. Blessed is the one who does not take offense at me.” Everything that Jesus said were paraphrases of Old Testament promises of what signs and work would accompany the arrival of the Messiah; some of those promises resonated in our First Reading this morning from Isaiah 35. So Jesus doesn’t just point John to himself (though he certainly could have), but he points him to what had been written by inspiration about his work so many years ago.

If we go back to the child wondering if Christmas (and the presents) will ever come, we can trace a similar answer. If the child says, “Are presents going to come? Will Christmas ever arrive?” A parent’s answer of “Yes, of course,” is not exactly what Jesus said. An answer that would mirror Jesus’ answer would be, “Look around. See that we’ve put up the tree and lights and ornaments? Do you see the other decorations in the neighborhood? See the calendar’s notes about the upcoming holiday? All of these point to your answer.”

When it comes to God keeping his promises, we can feel a bit like a child anticipating Christmas. We struggle with sin—both our own and other’s sin—and we long to be free from it all in totality. We go through emotional and physical struggles and trials. Disease impacts our bodies and the well-being of those we love. All of this starts to pile up and we start to get a little bit impatient. Perhaps doubts starts to creep into our minds. And, suddenly, perhaps our prayers are a little less trusting and a little more questioning, “Are you the Coming One or should we wait for someone else?”

Jesus answers our sin-smeared doubts and impatience in the same way he answered John and his disciples. He points us to the Scriptures. What was written about him? What was promised about him? Up to the point that Jesus was speaking to John’s disciples, he was fulfilling many promises about the Messiah. But we know even further. We can compare the rest of his life and work to the rest of the promises in Scripture: Born of a virgin? Check. Born in Bethlehem? Check. Healer of diseases, demon possessions, and even death? Check. Betrayed by a dear friend? Check. Belittled and disfigured by those in authority? Check. Pierced for our transgressions? Check. Gave up his life? Check. Rose on third day? Check.

Jesus fulfilled every promise that God had made about the Messiah. No, we shouldn’t be looking for a different Savior; he has come and fulfilled the work we needed him to do. Now, what other promises has he made to us that we don’t see so clearly fulfilled because they’re a bit more esoteric or because they just haven’t happed yet? Well, it’s all the things that we just listed being doubtful or impatient about: is he really taking care of us, working all things for our good? Is he really forgiving my sins, even those things I still feel really guilty about? Is he really going to come and bring us home to himself?

Jesus could just say yes, but instead he again and again points us to the testimony about himself in his Word. Has he been proven trustworthy in the past? What reason, other than our own lack of true understanding of his plans and ways would we have for assuming that he’s changed his mind or his view or his plan? Is that ever the way God has worked? Has he ever promised and then not followed through?

Advent doubts are normal—as we long to see Jesus return and it seems like he’s a long time in coming, we can begin to wonder if this is all real and accurate. But we have God’s own testimony and track record for us in the Scriptures. Look to the history of your God’s work for you to find confidence in the promises yet to be fulfilled. Your King will come, and until the time that he does, he’s with you, guarding and protecting you. Bring your impatience, your doubts, every sin to him, and find in his arms perfect love and forgiveness that will endure through eternity. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

"God's Hope Brings Joy" (Sermon on Romans 15:4-13) | December 4, 2022

Text: Romans 5:4-13

Date: December 4, 2022

Event: The Second Sunday in Advent, Year A

Romans 15:4-13 (EHV)

Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope. 5And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7For this reason, accept one another as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God. 8For I am saying that Christ became a servant of those who are circumcised for the sake of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs. 9He also did this so that the Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

For this reason I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and I will sing to your name.

10And again it says:

Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.

11And again:

Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples give him praise.

12And again Isaiah says:

There will be a Root of Jesse,

and he is the one who will rise up to rule the Gentiles;

on him the Gentiles will place their hope.

13Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s Hope Brings Joy

As I sat working on this sermon this past week, it was raining. Heavily. Rain can ruin a lot of plans. Our parking lot work has been delayed a few times by weather. A trip to the beach isn’t going to go well if it’s pouring down rain. And if you’re going to make a drive through the mountains, inclement weather is probably not what you want to see.

But, as we in California know very well, the rain is necessary. For all of its potential downsides, the upsides are far more important. And so even if the rain delays or cancels plans that we had, we rejoice to see reservoirs  filling up, land being watered, plants being able to grow, and food supplies stabilizing. The rain gives us many reasons to give thanks.

In our Second Reading for this morning, Paul speaks a length about God’s hope, that hope the he provides to us. Sometimes that hope feels like opposition to what we by nature want to pursue and what the world would tell us is important. But, as we continue our Advent preparation, we see the importance of God’s hope preparing us for Jesus’ return.

Paul begins our reading: Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope. Paul is specifically talking about the Old Testament Scriptures in what he writes, but we can broaden this out to the whole of Scripture. Everything in God’s Word was written to teach us.

This week I was reading some sections of 2 Chronicles for my personal devotions. Over the span of two chapters, the chronicler covered two kings of Judah, the end of King Hezekiah’s reign and the whole of Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh’s reign. Hezekiah was one of the most faithful kings in all of Israel’s history. But the account showed where he stumbled and faltered at the end of his life—and then returned to God’s promises. His son, Manasseh, is always lumped in my head as one of the worst kings. And while it’s true that he devoted most of his life to pursuing sin and idolatry, a fact that I had forgotten was that at the end of his life he returned to the Lord in repentance. What a valuable piece of instruction and learning for us.

The hope of God is an everlasting and perfectly-trustworthy hope. When we speak of God’s hope, we don’t do so with the same connotation that we do when we speak of our hope. When we use the word “hope,” we usually use it in an uncertain context: “I hope the car repairs aren’t too expensive,” “I hope it doesn’t rain doesn’t negatively affect my plans,” “I hope that Christmas gift is still in stock.” For all of those, there’s the assumption that while I want one thing, the other is probably more likely.

But not so with God. We do not say, “I hope God forgives my sins,” assuming he won’t. We have what was written in the Scriptures to teach us, to bring us patient endurance and encouragement. What happened when Abraham sinned? God restored him. What happened when David sinned? God restored him. What happened when Hezekiah and Manasseh sinned? God restored them. What happened when Peter sinned? Jesus patiently, lovingly, and privately restored him. This is how God works. This forgiveness of sins, this patient love that God has for his people, is the hope that God gives to us.

God’s hope stands in opposition to the world’s joy and focus. Not because the world doesn’t like exciting news, but the world doesn’t even want to hear about the facts that would make this news exciting. The world doesn’t want to hear about sin. Truthfully, by nature, you and I don’t want to hear about sin. It would be pleasant to be deluded into the false hope that I’m fine, you’re fine, we’re all fine. But that’s not the instruction of the Scriptures; that’s not true.

So, rather than being deluded by lies, we cling to God’s truth. God is the source and the object of our hope. For as unpleasant as it is to know and be reminded that we are sinners, it’s that much more pleasant to know that we are forgiven. We take John’s direction and repent—turn away from sin, trusting in God’s forgiveness—because we know our Savior’s return is close at hand. Our Advent hope, our Christmas hope, our forever-hope is certain because it rests in the infallible and unshakeable promises and work of our God.

But we know that God’s hope may be like rain in this world. We may endure hardship because we cling to this hope. We may lose relationships and suffer harsh words and mocking. We know that our brothers and sisters in other nations suffer intense persecution—even death—for their faith in Jesus. But as we await the return of our Savior, as we prepare to celebrate his first Advent, we know that for any hardship that God’s hope may bring into our lives, it is worth it, because it is a lasting hope that brings complete joy and peace now, and especially in eternity. God’s hope is like the rainstorm that cancels plans for today but ensures adequate water and food in the long-term: temporarily it may be difficult, but eternally it is so very worth it.

So, we don’t shrink away from this hope. Rather, we magnify it in our lives. Paul says, “May God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, accept one another as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God.” We strive to treat one another in a way that glorifies God. We aim to accept each other just as God accepted us. He didn’t accept us because we were perfect, but he welcomed us with forgiveness. And so we also strive to welcome one another with forgiveness.

We also strive to show this same patient love and forgiveness to those who rebel against this hope, hate this hope, even hate us for clinging to this hope. Paul made clear in the latter part of our lesson that Jesus, that God’s forgiveness, is not just for one narrow band of people. It wasn’t just for the Jewish people; it was for everyone. Today, as well, Jesus’ forgiveness isn’t just for people who love Jesus and live the right way; it’s for everyone.

This season of preparation allows us some unique opportunities to bring this forgiveness even to people who might not like it or might not care about it. You have the opportunity to invite families with young children to join us for Christmas for Kids. You have the opportunity to invite a friend or neighbor or acquaintance to our Christmas Eve or Christmas Day worship, to our New Year’s Day worship, to any event or class or moment in God’s Word. Invite them to join you, forward a live stream or online class email, whatever works the best for you and for them. Ensure that they know that this hope is not only valuable to some, but it is for them as well.

The end result of this hope is joy—joy for what is coming and eventually joy in what we experience in full in heaven. Paul concludes our reading with a joyous blessing: Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. May the God of hope do just as Paul prayed for you—for all of us—now and forever. Thanks be to the God of hope now and forever! Amen.

"Prepare for Advent" (Sermon on Romans 13:11-14) | November 27, 2022

Text: Romans 13:11-14

Date: November 27, 2022

Event: The First Sunday in Advent, Year A

Romans 13:11-14 (EHV)

And do this since you understand the present time. It is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is almost over, and the day is drawing near. So let us put away the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light. 13Let us walk decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual sin and wild living, not in strife and jealousy. 14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not give any thought to satisfying the desires of your sinful flesh.

Prepare for Advent

The time of year calls for a lot of preparation. A great deal of work likely went into getting your Thanksgiving meals ready. Maybe the Christmas decorations have gone up at your house already or you’ll be doing that shortly. We’ll be decorating the sanctuary next weekend. All sorts of plans get laid for the start of a new calendar year. Prep, prep, prep!

And that helps us this morning because that’s really what the start of a new church year is all about as well. Advent is a season of preparation; we even have “Prepare” emblazoned on one of the two banners here in the sanctuary. We are preparing for Jesus’ advent, his arrival. And during this season, our preparation focus is two-fold: we are preparing to celebrate his first advent at Christmas, but we’re also keeping our end times focus, looking forward to his second advent at the end of the world.

Our focus for the last Sunday of the church year last weekend was that of Christ the King. It was a triumphant and celebratory reminder that Jesus reigns and rules all things for us. Today’s focus to start a new church year is a slightly more somber—a reminder that we have things to do to get ready for our King’s return.

In our Gospel, Jesus reminded us that the end is certainly coming, but when it’s coming is anyone’s guess: “The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44). Unlike Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or the New Year, we don’t have a date or time. We can’t schedule our life around it. We don’t have a traditional deadline. As such, because Jesus may return at any moment—even before this sermon is over (but it’s not that long, don’t worry!)—we need to find a way to be in a state of readiness. We need to be prepared. And that’s what the apostle Paul helps us with as he writes to the Romans Christians about this very topic.

Ahead of our Second Reading, Paul brought two encouragements to the Roman Christians in chapter 13 of his letter: submit to the governing authorities as God’s representatives and that Christians love one another, echoing Jesus’ command to his disciples on the night he was betrayed. And it’s with that context that our reading begins, “And do this since you understand the present time.”

We might often find ourselves looking at society around us and thinking, “Wow, the end must be near. Look at all of these ridiculous and scary things that are happening.” It is, perhaps, sobering to remember that Christians living in the first century AD would have thought the same thing. They saw their present time and thought, “Well, the end must be near.” And Paul stokes that fire with scriptural urgency: It is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

On the one hand, since things seem to be crumbling down around us; we can rightly see the end of all things drawing near. On the other hand, because they’ve always looked like this, for our entire lives and even for the two millennia since Jesus walked the earth during his ministry, we can also get lulled into a sense of apathy and contentedness that this is always that way it will be and that nothing will ever change. This leads to the philosophy that says we should eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die, that nothing matters but pleasure and happiness now. If that is our approach, we will be caught completely unaware when Jesus returns, which means we will not be ready, which will end disastrously for us. So, since we don’t want that to happen, we want to prepare for Jesus’ return. Paul outlines for us how to do that.

The night is almost over, and the day is drawing near. So let us put away the deeds of darkness and put on the weapons of light. Let us walk decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual sin and wild living, not in strife and jealousy. A theme that we will see in Paul’s encouragement is that sin leads to not being prepared, while a life of good works shows that we are prepared. But that’s not because of the deeds themselves, but what they reflect about our hearts. Embracing sin means that we’ve abandoned our Savior. If we love sin, we hate God, because the two are diametrically opposed. And since we don’t want to have anything to do with hating God, Paul tells us to “put away the deeds of darkness.”

As you scan through your thoughts, words, and actions from the last week, where are there “deeds of darkness” that you are clinging to? In what places in your heart do you harbor sin? Where are your sins not just a point of weakness but a point of pride, something that you cherish? Are they in that list that Paul gives as examples, or are they different? Our Advent preparation, the preparing for the arrival of our King and Judge, requires us to purge that love of sin from our hearts.

But Advent preparation is not simply about looking good or even being well-behaved. Because on our own, we can’t do that at all. We can’t put away the sin that permeates every aspect of our heart and mind. We actually need Jesus to get us ready for his own arrival. Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not give any thought to satisfying the desires of your sinful flesh.

Jesus’ first advent was the beginning of his work to be our Savior. Because these deeds of darkness clung to us so hard and fast, we needed rescue. No amount of bleach could get these insidious stains our. So Jesus’ arrival on this earth was to bring us the cleansing that we needed.

By the faith he’s given to us, then, we are no longer clothed in the filthy rags of sins, but in the perfect robes of his love and forgiveness. Perhaps Paul’s words make us think of when the apostle John saw the huge crowd of believers in heaven in his vision in Revelation. They were all around God’s throne wearing gleaming-white robes, and of them we are told: These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them (Revelation 7:14-15).

Notice how the people didn’t bring the soap—they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, in Jesus’ blood. And in what Paul says in Romans, we are not clothing ourselves with our best efforts and strength, but we are clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ. You no longer stand clothed in the sinful deeds of darkness, but clothed in the perfection of your Savior who has taken every sin away.

Advent preparation is not really about getting yourself ready—it’s about acknowledging that God is the one who prepares you. We spend time this season in repentance, with sorrow over sin and trusting in our Savior’s forgiveness. We spend time seeking to amend our ways in preparation for Jesus’ return. But we do so not because we’re worried that we’ll get in trouble if we don’t. Our motivation is still—as always—thanksgiving for what God has done for us.

So we spend time with our Savior. We cherish his Word in our lives and perhaps seek out extra time in the Word that we hadn’t before. In each mailbox in the back of church is a Advent devotional booklet from Martin Luther College that can be used in service of our Advent preparations. In each box there’s also a new issues of the Meditations quarterly devotional booklet. These can supplement our weekly Bible classes and worship so that our time in God’s Word blossoms and increases.

And here’s the amazing thing: the more we are in God’s Word, the more we are studying and enjoying what God has done for us, the more the love of sin that we have by nature starts to fall away. Slowly, God strengthens me to put away those deeds of darkness. Because the more I value God’s love, the stronger he makes my faith through Word and Sacrament, the more repulsive sin at large becomes to me. Not that any of us will ever be perfect, but God will strengthen us to say no to temptation more often and be more ready to reject Satan’s ploys.

The more I’m in God’s Word, the more prepared I am for my Savior’s return. Not because I have to be good enough for him, but because God’s Word reminds me over and over again that I am perfect because Jesus has taken all of my sins away. God’s wrath has been satisfied in Jesus’ death and that triumph is proven by his resurrection. That comfort means that while I don’t know when he is coming, I know that when he does come it will be a good thing, not a scary thing. I won’t be facing my angry Judge; I’ll be meeting my Savior who loved me enough to die for me.

In that spirit, now and always, let’s keep getting ready. Advent allows us a joyous focus on preparation for eternity, so let’s prepare together! E’en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come! Amen.

"God's Love Produces Thankful Love" (Sermon on Luke 7:36-50) | November 23, 2022

Text: Luke 7:36–50

Date: November 23, 2022

Event: Thanksgiving Eve, Set 1

Luke 7:36–50 (EHV)

A certain one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37Just then a sinful woman from that town learned that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38stood behind him near his feet weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she began to wipe them with her hair while also kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. 39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would realize who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, because she is a sinner.”

40Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

He said, “Teacher, say it.”

41“A certain moneylender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?”

43Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the larger debt forgiven.”

Then he told him, “You have judged correctly.” 44Turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, but you did not give me water for my feet. Yet she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but she, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. 47Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that is why she loved so much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” 48Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

49Those reclining at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

God’s Love Produces Thankful Love

Are there certain things that someone can do for you that inspire overwhelming joy? Maybe the kids pick up their rooms without being asked. Maybe someone could make your favorite meal or invite you over to watch the game. Maybe someone can sit and talk with you during a difficult time. We each have different things that really resonate for us, and probably even have different things at different times.

But while there are differences in what brings up the joy in our hearts, probably the desire to express that joy is universal. You want to make clear how much you appreciate what that person has done for you, how meaningful it was, or how special they are to you. Love shown to you produces a desire to show thankful love.

And we have an example of that tonight in our Gospel. We meet up with Jesus in the middle of his ministry. He’s been teaching the crowds and the Pharisees have been in there, listening, trying to figure out what to make of Jesus. To that end, one of them named Simon invites Jesus to his home for a meal. As is made clear quickly, this is not a believer rejoicing in God’s promised Messiah. This is not a repentant person showing thankful love to his God. This is someone who is curious but also doubtful about who Jesus is and wants some more one-on-one time with him to try to figure him out.

We’re told that in the midst of the meal, a “sinful woman” appeared at the dinner. We don’t know who she was, and while tradition often tries to label this woman as one of the named followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit doesn’t give us enough information to identify her. But we have plenty of information to understand her heart and mind. Just then a sinful woman from that town learned that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, stood behind him near his feet weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she began to wipe them with her hair while also kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. She cleans his feet with her tears and hair and anoints them with an expensive perfume.

The woman’s tears show us something that Jesus will confirm in just a moment. This “sinful” woman (perhaps she was a prostitute by profession or had been wrapped up in some other public sin) is not proud and boastful about her sin. Sorrow over sin, which we often call contrition, fills her heart. But notice how she does not despair—rather she comes to the one whom she knows and believes forgives sins. Her tears might rightly be seen as sorrowful and joyful at the same time. In Jesus, this woman has found forgiveness and restoration to God. Jesus says that this is the reason for her loving actions at that meal: Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that is why she loved so much.

God’s loving forgiveness produces this thankful love. One of Simon’s issues was that he didn’t feel that he had many (or even any) sins to forgive. He was confident in his righteousness. He felt he could stand before God on his own. The woman, though, had no such delusions. She knew what Simon denied—that she was a sinner deserving of God’s wrath. She valued Jesus’ forgiveness because she knew just how much she had to forgive.

We would love to sit here this evening and identify with the woman, right? “If I had been there, I’d have been weeping in thankful joy along with her!” we might say. But would we? How often does the pharisaical comparative bug bite us? How often do we look at the people who have very public, flagrant sins in their lives and think, “Well, at least I know better than that person. At least I’m not doing those things”?

Let’s not follow Simon’s lead here, though the sinful nature in each of us constantly wants to justify ourselves. If we spend any amount of time comparing ourselves to other people in a way that would say, “Well, my standing with God is secure because I’m not like this person,” we’ve radically misunderstood ourselves and God.

Each of us carries a burden of sin. For some of us, that sin is public, but for others, it’s much more private, perhaps known only to ourselves and God. But the reality is, God doesn’t measure quantity. God’s demands are perfection or nothing. So the person who has one sin and the person who has a billion sins are equal in God’s eyes: each are “sinners.” And neither person can do anything to get rid of one part of the this debt.

So Jesus comes. God himself takes on our human nature to live the flawless life that God demanded, but to do so in our place. Jesus’ message to the people was one of forgiveness of sins in himself. At the very end of Jesus’ ministry, Mary from Bethany, Martha’s and Lazarus’ sister, will do something similar for Jesus. In joy she will anoint him with costly perfume to, as Jesus says, prepare him for his burial. Mary looked ahead to what Jesus was going to do. Not only living that flawless life to credit to her, but also that he would die to pay her debt. This woman at Simon’s meal was looking ahead to the same assurance.

Jesus has addressed our burden of sin as well. Public, private, glaring, or secret, Jesus takes all of that sin on himself. He takes it off of your shoulders and mine and puts it on his. He dies to pay for our hell, and his perfect life is given to us. We can gush joyful tears because we have been forgiven. And the Holy Spirit gives us the faith to trust and cling to Jesus as our Savior. Through that faith we benefit from what Jesus has done, so that Jesus can say to you and me what he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

So, how do you respond to sacrificial love like this? How do you respond to Jesus’ forgiveness? Well, in part we’re doing it right now. Songs and prayers of praise, time in his Word, all of it is sitting at Jesus feet. Our praise ascribes him honor in the same way that the woman’s perfume did. We thank him by… thanking him.

But God also gives us the opportunity to thank him by being generous to others. How can you be generous to your family to show your love for them and also thank Jesus at the same time? How can you be generous to strangers in need by showing empathy for them and also thanking Jesus at the same time? How can you be generous to those who need to hear the gospel message of this forgiveness and also thank Jesus at the same time?

We show thankful love to God by being generous to individuals who need our support. We show thankful love to God by supporting a charity that can do more work than you and I can as individuals. We show thankful love to God by supporting our congregation with time and resources so that all of us here can be reminded of this good news about Jesus, and that those who don’t know this message yet may hear of their Savior’s eternal love. Our worship and praise, our actions and attitudes, all of it is wrapped up in the love of God shown to us in Jesus. These are all ways that we can tell Jesus, perhaps through tears, “Thank you.”

So, my dear sisters and brothers, find your motivation to be thankful in Jesus. Find your opportunity to be thankful in serving him and others in their needs. Find your opportunity to rejoice always in the Lord not just on a holiday but always, for you have been forgiven much—all—and heaven stands waiting for you. Thank you, dear Jesus! Amen!

"See the Glory through the Haze" (Sermon on Luke 21:5-19) | November 13, 2022

Text: Luke 21:5–19

Date: November 13, 2022

Event: Proper 28, Year C

Luke 21:5–19 (EHV)

As some were talking about the temple, how it was decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said, 6“These things that you see here—the days will come when there will not be one stone left on another—every one will be thrown down.”

7They asked him, “Teacher, when will these things happen? And what is the sign that these things are about to happen?”

8He said, “Watch out so that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9Whenever you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end will not be right then.”

10Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven. 12But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13It will turn out to be your opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand how to defend yourselves, 15for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By patient endurance you will gain your lives.”

See the Glory through the Haze

Call me crazy, but I really like gloomy, foggy days. When it’s a touch damp and cold and you’re wondering if the sun is even out. Good days to drink something warm and put on your favorite sweatshirt and maybe get some work done or just curl up with something fun you’d like to do. And given the number of days we have marine layer coming in here in Belmont, this seems like a pretty good place to be.

But there are times when the fog isn’t so great. Like taking the carpool of kids to school in the morning and the fog is thick on the freeway, making it at best slow and at worst kind of dangerous because of poor visibility. When you have to go through the haze and make progress in it, that’s when it becomes a real problem.

Last week we celebrated the festival of All Saints’ Day, the certain triumph that we have in Jesus. Today’s focus is still looking ahead, but it’s more focused on our life here leading to the Last Day. Jesus says that in many ways this life will be like trying to travel through the fog. It’s going to be uncomfortable and even dangerous. But by his grace, we will get beyond the haze of this sinful world and be with him in eternal life.

During holy week, Jesus and his disciples were walking through the temple courts in Jerusalem and those around Jesus were marveling at what was around them. The beauty of everything was overwhelming. The temple had been recently refurbished, and the disciples were amazed. But Jesus didn’t do much marveling. He’s very stark: “These things that you see here—the days will come when there will not be one stone left on another—every one will be thrown down.” Jesus’ statement was proven true just a few decades later when Rome would march on Jerusalem and destroy much of the city, including the temple. It has never been rebuilt.

What is Jesus’ point in this harsh statement? Don’t get too attached to the world around you. It will not last. It will not endure. The things of this life are temporary—even the good and God-pleasing things like the temple was. Everything has an expiration date.

That’s a challenge in this life, right? The danger of driving in the fog is that you can’t see far in front of you. So while you’re nervous about what may be looming ahead of you, you’re spending all of your time focused on where you can see, limited as it may be. It’s easy to adopt that approach in our life, to ignore or put off the coming glory of eternity. We can be deluded by our fogged-in vision and think that what’s around us is the be-all, end-all of existence. But Jesus reminds us that it’s all temporary, it will all pass away. Nothing endures, and we need to stay focused on what is eternally coming, not only on what is right in front of us.

But what about between now and then? While we’re living in this end time fog, we still have responsibilities. We still have family to care for, a congregation to support, people to share the gospel with. We still have tasks to complete and promises to keep. We still need to do our best in whatever vocations we are serving in. We still have love to show and empathy to be poured out. So we will tend to those tasks. But what will it be like to do those things in the haze of this life?

It would be tempting for us to think that, as Christians, life should be pretty smooth sailing. Sure, it’s foggy, but out footings will be safe, right? We should be able to have the confidence that because God loves us, everything should be great. Life should be good, and then the end will come, right? Well, what does Jesus say? “Watch out so that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. Whenever you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end will not be right then… Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake… You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake.

This does not sound good. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s break it down.

First, Jesus says that there will be spiritual, religious leaders that will come teaching messages that are off-kilter and contrary to Scripture. False teachers have come and will come preaching messages that we should just focus on what is here in this life because, they say, God just wants us to be happy. Others teach different messages than we’ve been given, like we heard the Judaizers teach to the Galatians a couple of weeks ago. These false teachers may distort Jesus’ words or lead us to put trust in our own work and convictions rather than in what God has done for us. “Watch out so that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.”

But it’s not just false teachers that we have to deal with in this hazy life. Whenever you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end will not be right then… Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven. Kind of sounds like the last couple of years, doesn’t it? It also kind of sounds like the time of World War II, or World War I, or the bubonic plague, or almost every moment in every era from the time Jesus spoke these words until now.

What’s the take away? Things are not going to get better. We can’t make the fog go away. No election or politician can change the track this world is on. No viewpoint or conviction can stop this life from being clouded from God’s truths because of sin. Again, we do well to serve in our roles that we’ve been given faithfully and honestly. But whether we are nurturing our children or voting in an election, we have to recognize that we cannot change the impact sin has on the world around us, on the people we love, and on our own hearts. We cannot lift this haze.

Only Jesus can do that. And even then, the forgiveness is ours, the inheritance of heaven is assured, but we don’t have it in full right now. There is no doubt that it is coming, but we are looking ahead. There will be no paradise on earth. We can see the glory in part, but it’s only like looking for the bright spot on the other side of the fog. Even the sun may be clouded out, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone missing. So too, the promises of God of forgiveness and eternal life stand unmoved, but they’re are not our full experience yet. And being stuck in the pea soup of this like can be deeply, deeply unpleasant.

We’re looking ahead to the glory that is coming. But, Jesus says, that looking ahead to the future glory brings its own problems. Being a Christian in this world will cause its own issues: But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. It will turn out to be your opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand how to defend yourselves, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake.

Did you notice what Jesus did say and what he didn’t say here? You will face persecution and trouble because of your faith in Jesus. Being a Christian in this world will naturally bring these hardships. But did Jesus say, “Take a stand! Fight for yourself! Defend your rights to your faith!”? No. Did he say we should be loudmouthed, arrogant, and obnoxious, hoping to draw some of these hardships on ourselves, to seek after persecution and suffering? No.

He said you will suffer these things, you may even die. But this suffering will not be the chance to fight, it will not be the chance to cry foul and play the victim, it will be the opportunity to testify. Persecution is not an opportunity to show how tough and strong we are. Persecution is an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with people who clearly don’t know it or understand it. So when you are mocked—or much worse—for your faith, that’s an evangelism opportunity. There’s an opportunity to put into practice what Jesus commanded, to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. And you do not need to worry about what to say in that moment. Your time in God’s Word prepares you; Jesus himself promises to give you the words and wisdom you need to witness to the truth lovingly, with gentleness and respect. Because it’s never about defending yourself—it’s about sharing the love of God with others. It’s about bringing the light of the coming glory to others who are lost in this haze.

And that’s where we need to return, because we could leave a section of Scripture like this feeling really, really down. Jesus is being real with us. He’s being honest about what’s going to happen. But none of this, not one nasty comment, not one natural disaster, not one financial difficulty will ever change what God has done for you. We’ve said a couple of times that all of this has happened, is happening, and will happen because of sin. But that sin is, of course, what Jesus came to solve.

And solve it he did. The reason we look through the haze to glory that is approaching is because of Jesus’ work on our behalf. Without Jesus, all the bad things that he describes here would be the best part of our lives; hell will be so much worse than anything bad we can endure here. But with Jesus, because he took all sin on himself at the cross, that means that we’re not stumbling our way through this haze and falling into a pit. It means we walk this life hand-in-hand with our Savior. He leads us through this life, through good days and difficult days, through joy and sorrow, all the way through this hazy, perishing world to the eternal life he has prepared for us.

Don’t lose track of how he ended our reading: You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By patient endurance you will gain your lives.” Focus in on that word perish, because this is not the same as die. Death may speak of physical separation, the end of one’s life. Our hair, just like the rest of us, will surely die unless Jesus returns before then. But not a hair on your head will perish. “Perish” here means eternal death. So great is the love and victory of your Savior that not even the most fragile part of your body will be lost; not a part of you will see hell even for a moment. For as bad as things are here in the haze, by God’s grace you will reach the coming glory unscathed because Jesus has forgiven every one of your sins.

And so, my brothers and sisters, lift up your heads. In joy and thanksgiving to God for his forgiveness, we will continue to do our best in every aspect of life. But don’t let the haze bring you down. Don’t let it distract from the glory that is coming. And don’t forget that every step we take through this fog, Jesus is guiding and leading us with his forgiving love. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen.

"Does Jesus Have Value for You?" (Sermon on Galatians 5:1-6) | October 30, 2022

Text: Galatians 5:1–6

Date: October 30, 2022

Event: Reformation Sunday, Year C

Galatians 5:1–6 (EHV)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again. 2Look, I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3I testify again to every man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obligated to do the whole law. 4You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law are completely separated from Christ. You have fallen from grace.

5Indeed, through the Spirit, we by faith are eagerly waiting for the sure hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. Rather, it is faith working through love that matters.

Does Jesus have Value for You?

I’ve had the same conversation more times than I can count. Mostly here in California, but it even happened a couple of times while we were in South Dakota. And it always goes the same. I meet someone new—maybe a barber or a clerk at the post office or someone waiting to visit a loved one in a hospital or care facility—and we get to talking. Nothing major, mostly small talk. But in the course of that conversation it comes up that I’m the pastor of a Lutheran church. And the same question comes so reliably that I can almost finish the sentence for the other person: “Oh, Lutheran? Is that like Christian?”

For those of us who have been Lutheran for a long time, the question seems silly given the confessional Lutheran church’s narrow, scriptural focus on Jesus as Savior. But it makes sense that people would wonder or be curious. Especially around here, the only exposure they may have had to anything “Lutheran” might be driving by a church with that word on its sign. So it’s a good question, and one which usually leads to very quick sharing of the gospel message.

Being Christian (that is, believing in Jesus as Savior) is far more important that being Lutheran. But the reality is that, perhaps especially on a day like Reformation Day, we can get a little out in front of our skis with misplaced priorities of what is truly important. And in our Second Reading for this morning, we’ll see in what Paul writes why reformation is not just for a church at a given time, but that reformation is for our hearts all the time, because the things that pull us away from Jesus are more subtle and insidious than we would like to believe.

The letter to the Christians living in region of Galatia is likely the earliest of Paul’s letters, probably written sometime in the late 40s AD. Paul had started many of the churches in that region during his first missionary journey. But, after he had been there and then moved on, some other teachers came into the region and started teaching a distorted gospel which Paul says in the opening of this letter was really not another gospel at all (Galatians 1:7). To fully understand what Paul is talking about in our reading from chapter 5, we need to understand the root problem these Christians were dealing with.

Teachers came into this region of Galatia whom have come to be known as “Judaizers.” Their message was pretty simple. They taught that Jesus was great and necessary, but in order to actually benefit from what Jesus did for you, you had to keep the Old Testament laws as well. This is the reason that circumcision looms so large in our reading, because these congregations would have been predominately gentiles who would not have had the custom of circumcision. But now they’re being taught that in order to be saved, you must follow this law that requires circumcision. And at this, Paul is furious. In his introduction to the letter he said: If we or an angel from heaven would preach any gospel other than the one we preached to you—a curse on him! As we have said before, so I now say again: If anyone preaches to you any gospel other than the one you received—a curse on him! (Galatians 1:8-9).

What was the gospel, the good news, that Paul had preached to the Galatians originally? That Jesus is the Savior. Now, of course, that sounds reductive, but it’s true. Jesus it the Savior—full stop. That was Paul’s message to the Galatians. When Jesus lived his life, he did so perfectly, but he also did it in our place. When Jesus died on the cross, there all of my sins and your sins were laid on him. He suffered the hell that we deserved to release us from our sins. We have freedom from sin because Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead. Jesus’ work has set us free from any punishment that we deserved because Jesus did it all for us.

This work of Jesus becomes ours through faith that God gives. God grants us faith, trust, to hold fast to the truth that Jesus died for us. Notice we don’t earn this or pay anything for it. All of it is a gift from God. Paul explained to the Galatians: We know that a person is not justified [that is, declared not guilty or forgiven] by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law (Galatians 2:16).

So this is the issue that Paul has with what these false teachers are saying. They were teaching that Jesus alone was not enough. You needed to do something to be worthy of his forgiveness. You needed to dedicate yourself to him by outward works so that you can earn a spot in this family. That teaching undermines the whole of what Jesus did! We know we can’t save ourselves, but if we start following the thinking that we need to do a little bit of something to be worthy of Jesus, then we are trying to do things to save ourselves. Doing that is what Paul describes in our reading as allow[ing] [some]one to put the yoke of slavery on you again.

And while the Judaizers’ focus may have been primarily on circumcision, Paul is clear that if you want to start doing something to earn your forgiveness, you cannot pick and choose which things to do and follow. He said, “I testify again to every man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obligated to do the whole law.” And if you then have to follow the whole law to be saved, well then, Jesus becomes utterly worthless: if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

That is not the path to heaven. We cannot earn our way, even by a minuscule percentage, because God demands perfection. And if we are anything short of perfect, we doom ourselves to hell. And we are all far, far from perfect. Trying to be saved by the work we do means Jesus has no value to us anymore.

But this mindset was not unique to these false teachers in region of Galatia at the time of Paul. In fact throughout all of human history, people’s thoughts and hearts have assumed that they need to do something to be right with God. Nearly every religion in the world is based on it. Our legal system is based on it (do something wrong? Do something good or uncomfortable to make up for it). Even our human relationships are, at times, based on it. How many times have you done something that hurt someone in some way and then you scrambled to try to figure out what to do to make it up to that person?

So it’s no surprise that at the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had fallen head-over-heels in love with this teaching. Like the Judaizers, Rome taught that Jesus had a great deal of value, but he only did so much. You needed to add your works to what Jesus did if you hoped to be saved. Maybe that meant attending masses, special prayers, or the thing that finally woke Martin Luther up to this distortion, the selling of indulgences. Indulgences were pieces of paper that when purchased supposedly forgave the sins of the purchaser or the one for whom they were purchased. What a flagrant offense to the truth of Jesus’ forgiveness!

Not much has changed. Rome’s teachings today have not really changed. Much of American Christendom focuses you on yourself for comfort—how strong your faith is, how much you believe, how emotional you are when you consider your faith. In fact, much of Christianity today seems to focus people on everything possible except Jesus. Other religions use Jesus’ name but only preach a message of works. In all of these systems, despite what lip service they may give to Jesus, he becomes completely worthless when my good works are trying to be factored into the equation. I can’t put it any more strongly or clearly than Paul did: You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law are completely separated from Christ. You have fallen from grace.

And it’s not just those people over there. It’s not just people in other churches. On a day like Reformation Day perhaps we gloat a little bit. “Those foolish teachers in those other churches teach the wrong thing. But I’m Lutheran! I know the truth!” And in that moment, don’t we also cross the line? Don’t we also put our hope in something other than Jesus? Aren’t we putting our hope in our “Lutheraness” rather than Jesus? How quickly and insidiously this happens. How craftily Satan would lead us to put our confidence in ourselves rather than where it belongs—only with God.

Again, the Reformation was not just something that was needed at one time and place. We recognize that our hearts, daily, hourly need to be reformed by God’s Word to refocus us not on ourselves but again on Jesus and on Jesus alone! We need God to remind us that Jesus not only has value, but he is the only thing of value eternally. Who cares about your denominational ties or your history? If Jesus isn’t valued above all else, everything else is worthless.

In our Gospel, Jesus reminded us that if he sets us free than we are truly free. And that’s what he did. No matter what we’ve done or what misguided notions we’ve had, Jesus came to be our Savior—to completely free us from sin, death, and hell. He did that by living a flawless, perfect life under God’s law in our place and crediting that life to us. He did that by completely taking all of our sins on himself and paying their horrific price when he died on the cross. He proved all of this by rising from the dead to show that it worked. We are free from sin because Jesus has conquered it completely.

So the value that Jesus has is not one of mere helper. He’s not just a guide for our path in this life. He doesn’t just embolden us to be better. He frees us from sin completely, without our intervention at all. Jesus is our Savior and there is no other.

What is the role of good works then? Paul said, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. Rather, it is faith working through love that matters.” It might have been tempting for the Galatian Christians who rejected this false teaching to start feeling pretty good about themselves. “Well, I didn’t let myself get circumcised, therefore I am better.” And, again, in that moment they have the exact same problem as those who tried to follow the law to be saved had. They looked at something they did or didn’t do as reason for confidence before God. So Paul is clear the it doesn’t matter if you’re circumcised or not. What matters is faith working through love.

Faith is trust in the promises of God. Faith that trusts that Jesus is the Savior can’t help but express itself. The expression of that faith is what we would call good works. But the motivation behind them is different than what the Judaizers were teaching. These are not good works done trying to earn God’s love; these are good words done because God has already loved us. These are not works done trying to pay off our sins; these are works done because Jesus has already paid that debt we owed. We do good works to thank God, not to earn anything with him.

In the end, we shouldn’t really care if people understand what a “Lutheran” is, although it is a heritage that many of us cherish. It doesn’t matter if we or someone else are members of a church called “Lutheran.” What matters is that people know who Jesus is because he is the one who has completely and freely set us free from sin by his life, death, and resurrection for us. He broke the yoke that sin had placed on us and freed us to be with him forever in heaven. Trying to add our work to his work devalues him completely. But valuing Jesus means trusting in him completely for the forgiveness of our sins and the certainty of eternal life with him.

So on this Reformation Day, let’s not recommit ourselves to simply being “Lutheran.” Let’s recommit ourselves to the gospel message that makes being Lutheran valuable at all. Is Lutheran equivalent to Christian? By Paul’s words, most certainly yes. Let’s commit ourselves to valuing Jesus, not our own works. Let’s commit ourselves to sharing Jesus with those who don’t know him yet. Let’s commit ourselves to resting in Jesus’ freedom that he freely gives, and thanking him for that free gift today and always. Thanks be to God! Amen.

"Love God, Not the World" (Sermon on 1 John 2:15-17) | October 23, 2022

Text: 1 John 2:15–17

Date: October 23, 2022

Event: Proper 25, Year C

1 John 2:15–17 (EHV)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, boasting about material possessions—is not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

Love God, Not the World

What does it mean to love someone or something? People can play pretty fast and loose with that term, but in general, loving something to value it highly. In human relationships, if we take a God-like view of love, it would mean sacrificing things for them to support and equip them. When it comes to things, it might mean valuing something of that category more than other things: you might, for instance, like pie but love ice cream.

In our Second Reading for this morning, the apostle John gives us direction on who and what we should love in our lives. And this goes well beyond the things that we say we love, which may be a flippant, thoughtless expression. John urges us to really consider our hearts. What do we truly love and value? And is our value and love in the correct place?

John is probably the last of the original twelve disciple to still be alive. He’s writing at the end of the first century, probably around 90 AD or so. John is writing as likely the last-living eyewitness of the life and work of Jesus, and he’s writing to encourage a new generation of Christians. The church had been undergoing a transition for a a number of decades as the apostles handed off the teachings of the church to those who had believed because they heard the gospel through those apostles. A few weeks ago we heard from Peter who would die 20 to 30 years before John, but who wrote to encourage the people in the truth that he taught. Paul wrote a similar “passing-the-baton” letter to Pastor Timothy ahead of his death.

Now John is trying to focus his original readers, likely a broad swath of Christians, from his island of exile. While John was not executed, he was sent to the island of Patmos off the eastern coast of modern-day Turkey (as of this summer known as Türkiye [tur-ke’yeah]) because he shared the message of Jesus. We know for certain that John was on Patmos when he received and wrote the great Revelation that ends the New Testament; it’s very possible that he wrote his Gospel and his three letters while on that island as well.

At the start of chapter 2 of his letter, John had shared this comfort: My children, I write these things to you so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1-2). John is intimately focused on the life of Christians, what it should look like, and what spirit should flow through it and motivate it. But John never loses track of the reason for that life: Jesus as the sacrifice for all sin.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in basic truths of right and wrong. We’re generally programmed to want rules to follow. But it’s much more difficult for us to keep track of the why we should do what we’re doing.

Even the very theme of this sermon, “Love God, Not the World” is able to be applied without the right motivation. “Right, I should love God because otherwise he’ll be mad at me. I shouldn’t love the world because I’ll be in trouble.”

What is the motivation that John gives us for loving God instead of the things in the world? Jesus! Look at how he loves you. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus made atonement for us, that is, he offered himself to cover over our sins and put us “at one” with God again. Though sin had separated us from God, Jesus solved that problem. He restored us to children in God’s family yet again. Though we had been been destined for hell, Jesus’ death in our place saved us and made us right with God!

And that’s the motivation for serving God. Not because it’s right, not because we’ll be in trouble if we don’t, but because he has so loved us, how can we do anything else? How could we let sin reign in us? How could we possibly not devote every breath, every moment to the one who was crucified, died, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day? How could we ever do anything wrong ever again?

How can we not?

I look at my life and I am disgusted. Here I am, a redeemed and forgiven child of God, and how do I behave? Where are the thoughts of my heart? Here I am, a called servant of Christ, called to be your pastor and serve you with God’s Word, and what is my attitude? Where does my energy go? Here I am, called by God to be husband and father, devoted to my family and dedicated to their well-being—is there ever a night that I can lay my head on the pillow and think, “Finally, today, I didn’t fall flat on my face in those responsibilities?”

Maybe you share those thoughts. I know we share the same struggle with sin because this is what it means to be a human being in this world. Martin Luther called Christians at the same time both saint and sinner, and how true that is. I know my Savior, you know heaven stands waiting for you, and yet how do we respond?

And John points us to a huge place that causes these problems for us. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, boasting about material possessions—is not from the Father but from the world. How much time did you spend thinking about eternal life this week? How much time did you spend being grateful for your forgiveness? Or did the things around you crowd it out this week? Were the pressures at home or work so much that God’s work drifted from your mind? Were you so enamored with a sporting event, or TV show, or any other form of entertainment that is pushed thoughts of what God had done away from you and took that priority place in your life? Does a dedication to earthly wealth and treasures and toys make it difficult to focus on what lies beyond this life?

You saw the serious distraction that the things in the world was to the ruler Jesus spoke to in our Gospel. He felt he had flawlessly kept God’s law from beginning to end. Of course, that was a delusion of his own making, but Jesus went along with it. “Oh, you’ve kept all the laws. Ok, great. Well, then, there’s only one more thing to do: give away all of your stuff and then you will be welcomed into heaven.” Of course, Jesus isn’t saying that we cannot have possessions and be saved. What he was showing this man was that he actually wasn’t perfect as he thought—he loved the things in the world more than he loved God, or perhaps even more accurately, he love the things in the world instead of God, because Jesus told us last month that no one can serve two masters (Luke 16:13).

Loving God will likely mean sacrifice of the things of the world. We can’t be wholly dedicated to the fun and pleasure of life here and wholly dedicated to God. But we need God’s help understanding what our priorities should be. Do you more carefully consider the purchase of a home or lunch? Hopefully the home, right? Because it will, ideally, last for a really long time. Where as lunch, if you bought or made something bad, well, you’ll have another meal in just a few hours. It is passing and less important that the place you’ll live for several decades.

John reminds us: The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever. This life is temporary. The treasures and joys of this life are temporary. The stress and the struggles of this life are temporary. Don’t fall in the love with the fun things in this life. Don’t fall in love with fixing problems here.

That’s not to say you can’t enjoy this life or shouldn’t work to fix issues you see around you, but don’t let these things consume you wholly because they are not worth it. To give up eternity because you were so focused on the here and now is to lose your house because you were so focused on lunch—only much, much worse.

And lest we lose track of what we wanted to stay focused on, John reminds us: the one who does the will of God remains forever. But be careful—John is not espousing a works-righteousness here. He’s building off of what Jesus himself had said, as John recorded in his Gospel: “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent” (John 6:29). Doing the will, the work, of God is not accomplishing some outward act. The work and will of God is trusting in Jesus as Savior.

And so that’s the reason that one doing the will of God remains forever, because that person is focused not on earthly blessings, but on eternal blessings. He’s focused not on the gifts for this life, but the gift of everlasting life. He’s focused not on earthly wealth, but on the treasure of the forgiveness of sins we have in Jesus.

Does that mean we are lacking anything? Perhaps from the viewpoint of the world, but we don’t really care about the world’s view because the world knows nothing of God’s love and forgiveness. We are not lacking for anything eternally. In the short term, we may not have everything we want or everything we dream about, but we know that God has promised daily bread to take care of our needs. But at God’s direction, we know that a life lived in thanksgiving to him is far more fulfilling than one in which we get all of the toys we want and all of our desires met.

And so, as we continue the path of this life, keep the focus on Jesus and what he’s done for you for eternity. Don’t let the shiny and the tempting of this life prevent you for holding your Savior up as prime importance. In the next few weeks, we’ll focus on the difficulty and joy of standing up for these truths as we live in these end times. May God keep us focused and faithful to him now and until the day he brings us home to himself. Amen.

"Faith Trusts and Thanks" (Sermon on Luke 17:11-19) | October 9, 2022

Text: Luke 17:11-19
Date: October 9, 2022
Event: Proper 23, Year C

Luke 17:11-19 (EHV)

On another occasion, as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12When he entered a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him. Standing at a distance, 13they called out loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they went away they were cleansed.

15One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. 16He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus responded, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

Faith Trusts and Thanks

As I continue to work through the call to Canada, I ran into a interesting puzzle this week: a reminder from the circuit pastor in Alberta that tomorrow is Canadian Thanksgiving, and that would obviously affect my ability to get in touch with people and have phone conversations with them.

And then, after Bible Class was done on Tuesday morning, we were briefly talking about plans for church here in Belmont for the coming months. And in that moment, I felt my stomach bottom out as I thought how close the United States Thanksgiving is. I mean, it’s not close, but it’s just a touch over a month away. And, of course, that means we’re just a touch over two months away from Christmas. Perhaps you can empathize that I stated spiraling for a moment.

But, let’s not jump ahead to Christmas. Let’s focus on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is always a little bit of a weird holiday to me, mostly because of what it has turned into. It always seems like the gateway for Christmas. In the past, Black Friday sales often encouraged people to line up at stores even on Thanksgiving Day to get the best deals when the stores open. I’m not really sure if that happens as much anymore with as prevalent as online shopping is and as system-changing as COVID has been, but at best it feels like Thanksgiving has been relegated to the gatekeeper of the Christmas season, and perhaps at worst Thanksgiving has actually been changed into the opposite of what it was designed to be: instead of focusing on thanks, it focuses us on discontent and wanting more and more and more things.

We could spend all day talking about the frustrating state of the Thanksgiving holiday, but that might miss our point a bit. Isn’t it just a touch strange or sad that we have need to have a holiday set aside for giving thanks in the first place? Isn’t that something we should be doing even without a day off of work and a plate full of mashed potatoes? Why is showing thanks so difficult for people in this country? Or this continent?

Well, in our Gospel for this morning, we’re reminded that this is not a uniquely North American problem. Thanksgiving is a struggle for people, regardless of place or time. And so we do well to consider the place of giving thanks in our own lives, and identify the proper relationship between faith and thanksgiving.

As Jesus was traveling around between Galilee and Samaria (the regions to the north of Jerusalem) he came across a group of lepers. Now, having leprosy was a life-changing experience for people in those days. Much worse than any COVID-related isolation and quarantine, if you had leprosy in those days you had to be separate from everyone, except others with the same ailment. You lived on the outskirts of towns, you couldn’t see your family. Oh, and on top of that you had a horrible disease that was at best tremendously uncomfortable. The only way to be cleared to return home is to recover (which would have been rare) and to go and show yourself to the priest who could make the call about whether or not the leprosy was truly gone. If he determined that it was gone, you could return to your life.

As Jesus is passing through the area, it’s not a surprise then that the lepers, who had undoubtedly heard about Jesus’ ability to heal diseases and infirmities, seek him out. When [Jesus] entered a certain village, ten men with leprosy met him. Standing at a distance, they called out loudly, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Notice that they leave considerable distance between themselves and Jesus—legally required social distancing. They could only get so close to someone without leprosy and no closer. But their plea is clear—the seek mercy from the one who has proven himself capable to help and to be merciful to the all people, including those on the lowest rungs of society.

Jesus’ miracle here is perhaps one of the most understated in his entire ministry. He makes no big show, he doesn’t even say that he’s going to heal them. His only direction is “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” He still has them live under the law that governed them. He doesn’t circumvent the law and say “You are healed; go home,” though as God he certainly could have done that. He still has them do what had been commanded while at the same working that miracle: as they went away they were cleansed.

Jesus’ mercy and love extended to these ten men. Think of the joy that would have flooded their hearts as they started on their way to the priests and saw their skin clear up. Think of the relief they would have felt as the pain just vanished. Think of the excitement they felt as they got closer to the priests knowing that they were just moments away from being brought back into society and to reestablishing some amount of normalcy to their lives. What joy would have filled their hearts! It would have been euphoric!

But only one of them stopped en route and turned around. There’s no mention of the intentions of the other nine. Were they planning to come back to Jesus after seeing the priests like they told them to? Were they going to seek him out after their reunion with their families? We don’t know. What we do know is what Luke records for us: One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan.

This one man knew what had happened. He knew that God had healed him. He knew that Jesus had worked this miracle to change his hopeless, isolating situation and returned to thank Jesus. He couldn’t repay Jesus, he couldn’t do anything except express his gratitude. And Jesus knew this. So he said to him, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

All ten of these men trusted that Jesus could heal them; that’s why they had called out to him in the first place. And that trust was not in something uncertain; that trust was on the rock of Jesus. But this Samaritan’s faith was so strong, it pulled him off the course he was on to come back and thank Jesus for what he had done. His faith trusted Jesus, but it also thanked Jesus.

We had been in a hopeless, isolating situation, one that was far more dire that the ten’s leprosy. Our sin cut us off from God and we could do nothing to fix it or make anything better. So complete was the isolation that we couldn’t even shout to Jesus for help and mercy. We were left alone in our sins, destined to be forever cut off from God in hell.

But Jesus saw our state and had mercy on us. But sin was a far bigger problem than leprosy. No simple visit to the priests would solve this. No, to solve the disease of sin, we needed our Great High Priest to offer himself as the sacrifice. The miracle worked on our behalf was far less subtle than the one we see with the lepers, because on that dark day the Son of God died for the people he created, for the ones who had sinned against him. The cleansing we needed required not physical healing or a third-party’s approval, but the blood of Jesus shed for us.

And so we look at ourselves and we are clean! The sin is gone, the disease is cured. We are restored, not simply to our brothers and sisters here, but to God. We are welcomed into God’s family once again because he cured us and made us whole. We are no longer isolated and hopeless, but wrapped in the arms of our loving God, never to fear again.

The faith that God gives through his Word and the sacraments clings to these promises. There is no doubt in our voice as we plead with God for his forgiveness. Before we even ask, we know we have it because that’s what he’s promised and done for us. We approach our God with complete confidence!

What, then, is our response to this? Do we see the enormity of it? Do we understand the ramifications of what Jesus has done for us? Is there any appropriate response except for overwhelming gratitude? Is there anything we can do but thank God for what he’s done for us? Can we possibly delay our thanksgiving to God until we accomplish this or that task? Hardly!

We throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet in joy for what he’s done. We praise him here at church. We fill our hearts and mouths with prayers of joy and gratitude along with our requests for help. We live lives that reflect our gratitude to God. Paul said in our Second Reading: You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. Generosity to God, chiefly shown in generosity to the people God places around us, is a primary way that we show our gratitude to God. Which means when we take our forgiveness of sins and eternal life seriously, we look for ways to help others to express that thanksgiving.  We rejoice in our forgiveness in every possible way, not just one hour a week, but every moment of our lives.

We know our lives are not always filled with thanksgiving, though. I would guess all of us, if pressed, would acknowledge that at some points during the past week we took God’s forgiveness for granted. Perhaps his Word didn’t cross our minds on a given day. Perhaps it was a real struggle to really get ourselves going this morning to come to church. Thanksgiving is not as natural and automatic as it should be because of our sin. Often we are not the one thankful Samaritan, we are the other nine.

But our reason for thanksgiving means that there’s reason to rejoice even when we note our failure to thank. Because as we look at all the times we didn’t live our lives in thanksgiving, where we didn’t praise God like we should, where we didn’t reflect his love well to those around us, we know that for all of those things we are forgiven as well. Jesus died even for our ingratitude and thanklessness. That is forgiveness that faith trusts; that is forgiveness for which you can then give thanks.

So as you leave here this morning, go be thankful. Be thankful in your prayers, in your praise, in your words, and in your actions. Why? Because you know Jesus has saved you from hell, and as your faith clings to that promise it also thanks the God who gave it. Amen.

"Trust in the One who Forgave You" (Sermon on Luke 17:1-10) | October 2, 2022

Text: Luke 17:1-10
Date: October 2, 2022
Event: Proper 22, Year C — Annual Church Picnic

Luke 17:1–10 (EHV)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2It would be better for that person if a millstone would be hung around his neck and he would be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3Watch yourselves.

“If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 4Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

6The Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7Which one of you who has a servant plowing or taking care of sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at the table’? 8Won’t the master tell him instead, ‘Prepare my supper, and after you are properly dressed, serve me while I eat and drink. After that you may eat and drink’? 9He does not thank the servant because he did what he was commanded to do, does he? 10So also you, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants. We have only done what we were supposed to do.’”

Trust in the One who Forgave You

Faith is, perhaps, one of the most misunderstood spiritual concepts in our day. Even many Christians may not be able to accurately describe and define what faith is. You might have heard people say, “Well, you just got to have faith! You just have to believe!” When talking about anything from applying for a job, to a scary medical diagnosis, to an emotional hardship, people can point you to believe. But… believe what?

Faith always needs an object. If we’re going to have faith, it means we are trusting something. You have faith in these public picnic tables to hold you up and not break while you’re sitting there. I have faith that this music stand isbn’t going to topple over and break my tablet that’s sitting on it. But we have to be careful that we’re not creating fiction to trust in, right? No matter how earnestly I may believe I can fly by flapping my arms, that does not make me able to fly.

The thought behind the statement “just believe” with the job application, or the medical diagnosis, or the other emotional hardship is often communicating a thought along the lines of: “God is going to do what you want him to do in this area,” be it getting you the job, curing the disease, or smoothing out the rough problems. But has he made those promises, or are we trusting promises he hasn’t made?

Jesus addresses the concept of faith in our lives in our Gospel this morning, and leads us to examine whom or what we are trusting and what expectations we have from that trust. Jesus urges us to trust the one who forgave you, because that is depending on the promises of God.

The last few weeks we’ve been hearing Jesus’ warnings and directions to the Pharisees. When it came to Jesus’ teachings, we might call the Pharisees unbelievers or fringe believers depending on the person. But in our Gospel this morning, we’re told that Jesus spoke to his disciples. This would include the 12, and probably the broader 72 that Jesus had earlier sent out to do some preaching and teaching work, and maybe an even bigger gathering of disciples. The point is that these words were not spoken to a mixed crowd. Jesus is not trying to shake unbelievers out of their spiritual slumber or apathy. He’s speaking to believers, which means even more than before, Jesus is speaking directly to us.

I want us to jump to the middle of our Gospel. After something that felt difficult to believe, the disciples responded to him, “Increase our faith.” They didn’t think they had an adequate faith to trust or do the things that Jesus was saying. And then Jesus responds with a wildly vivid picture:  “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could tell this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine me turning and speaking to one of these giant eucalyptus trees here in the park and saying, “Be uprooted and planted in the Bay!” and then it does it? It might feel like I had a wildly strong faith, or a uniquely strong connection to God to do such a thing.

But Jesus says that such an amazing outcome doesn’t require huge faith; it requires mustard-seed faith. Mustard seeds are really tiny. You can see a whole bunch them in a person’s palm on the front cover of the bulletin. Those are not impressive in size or scope. So what is Jesus’ point?

Faith’s power is not from the faith but from what it trusts. If you sit in a strong chair that you just barely believe will hold you, that chair will hold you just as well as if you were completely confident in its stability. Mustard-seed-faith or strong-faith doesn’t matter; what matters is what is trusted.

So, if God had made a promise that you could yell at trees to relocate themselves into the heart of a body of water, and you believed that promise even just a little bit, you could order the trees and they would obey. Because in that example, the power is coming from God’s promises—you’re just trusting that the promise is true and reliable. Of course, God hasn’t made that promise—Jesus is using a hypothetical example. So I would not recommend yelling at the trees the rest of the morning here to see if they’ll move.

We might think of Scriptural example of a one-off promise that was trusted—sort of. Think about when Jesus walked on the water and Peter asked Jesus to bring him out with him and Jesus says, “Sure, come on down!” He made a promise in that moment for Peter that he could walk on the water. And what happened? Peter walked on the water—at least until the wind and the waves shook his faith. That’s the argument for faith that is bigger and stronger than a mustard seed. Strong faith is less likely to let go in times of trial and hardship. But strong or weak faith doesn’t have any effect on the promise believed.

That means that faith has to trust a real promise. Faith can’t make the promise a reality. So, if our faith is going to depend on something, it has to depend on what God has actually said to us. And while God has made a lot of promises in many different areas of our lives, the principle one is that of the forgiveness of sins. He promises through the prophet Jeremiah, “I will forgive their guilt, and I will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34) and through the apostle John, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The forgiveness of sins is not some wistful hope that we throw into the spiritual ether hoping it will become a reality. The forgiveness of sins is not a hypothetical situation like the tree being uprooted and planted in the sea. The forgiveness of our sins is not a one-off promise made to one specific person at a specific time like Peter walking on the water. The forgiveness of sins and the certainty of eternal life are the clear, consistent, and accomplished promises from God to all people, including you. Your forgiveness is a reality. Your sin is washed away in Jesus’ blood. You can trust that with all of your heart.

With that established, trusting the one who forgave you, we can start to apply Jesus’ teaching a little more clearly. The fact that you have been forgiven changes your outlook and approach to life. Knowing that Jesus died for you means you approach things differently than you otherwise would. Jesus said, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for that person if a millstone would be hung around his neck and he would be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Watch yourselves.”

Trusting that we are forgiven means that while temptations are unavoidable, sin is not. Trusting that we’ve been forgiven means we can tell temptation to take a hike and leave us alone because we are the children of God. It enables us to resist that temptation, and more than that, to not be the one through whom they come to others. So, because we are forgiven, it means we don’t try to get people in our lives to do what is wrong. We don’t act as a conduit for temptation for friends at school, our spouse, or our coworkers. Instead, we build them up to do what is right. We live our lives making clear that temptation is not something we want, because we want the chance to be able to share what Jesus has done with them.

And because we are forgiven, we know that when we stumble, when we do let temptation get the better of us and we do sin—because we will—we don’t have to fear that that is the end of everything. We can confidently bring that sin to God and say, “Lord, please forgive me.” And we know that, for Jesus’ sake, that sin is gone.

Jesus goes on: “If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Trusting in the one who has forgiven you means that you can turn around and forgive others. It means treating other people’s sin like God treats your sin. Does God say he forgives you and then later throw it in your face? No, when God forgives, it is gone. Does God say you have to do something to earn his forgiveness? No, Jesus did it all in our place. So when someone wrongs us—even if it happens multiple times in a day—because of our trust in Jesus we can truly forgive that person each and every time.

Lastly, Jesus uses the picture of a servant taking care of his master. The servant receives no special accolades for doing what he was supposed to (though one would hope in that human relationship, gratitude and appreciation is expressed). But when it comes to our relationship with God, we don’t bring all the things we did because we trusted in him and look for special treatment. We don’t say, “Hey, I didn’t succumb to that one temptation—can I get something special?” We don’t say, “Hey, I didn’t bring temptation to someone else—can I get something special?” We don’t say, “Hey, I forgave that person who sinned against me multiple times—can I get something special?” No, when we do those things, we simply say, “We are unworthy servants. We have only done what we were supposed to do.”

As we approach the tasks that God has for us to do, we always remember where we came from. We were sinners, lost to hell for that sin. But God saved us. Jesus’ life and death forgives us. We are restored and whole again with God. That means we’re not looking for special treatment when we do what God asks us to do because he’s already given us that special treatment. We do these things because we trust in the one who forgave us, thus we are doing so out of thanksgiving to that one who forgave us.

Trusting God means depending on certain promises. Trusting God means you will not be disappointed or let down. Trusting God means leaning on him exclusively for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Trusting in God means knowing that we have all that we need for life and eternity, and that we can live our lives thanking him for what he’s done.

Trusting in the one who forgave you doesn’t mean you can command trees to be planted in the depths of the sea. But trusting in the one who forgave you does mean you can soothe your soul with the fact that God has rescued you from the depths of punishment. May God bless your lives lived in joy and thanksgiving to the one you trust, to the one who forgave you! Amen.

"Can You Judge Eternity by its Earthly Cover?" (Sermon on Luke 16:19-31) | September 25, 2022

Text: Luke 16:19–31
Date: September 25, 2022
Event: Proper 21, Year C

Luke 16:19–31 (EHV)   

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 20A beggar named Lazarus had been laid at his gate. Lazarus was covered with sores and 21longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Besides this, the dogs also came and licked his sores. 22Eventually the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell, where he was in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus at his side. 24He called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in misery in this flame.’

25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in misery. 26Besides all this, a great chasm has been set in place between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27“He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s home, 28because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29“Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.’

30“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31“Abraham replied to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Can You Judge Eternity by its Earthly Cover?

You’ve heard the trite, cliche line: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But, there’s a lot of truth to that. I have a lovely copy of the Lord of the Rings books at home that have these wonderfully-feeling pseudo-leather covers. They look amazing. Despite being only a couple of years old, they smell amazing. I bought them like literally two weeks before the lockdown started in early 2020, and when we were stuck at home I thought this would be a great time to finally read these books. But as I sat down to do it, I discovered that the type in the books is so small that it’s almost unreadable. They are wildly uncomfortable to read. The good first impression did not speak to the whole.

And certainly this doesn’t just happen with books. Movies, video games, breakfast cereals, fast food commercials, real estate listings, and anything else trying to sell you on something or convince you on something’s quality is going to, at the bear minimum, put its best foot forward if not even outright lying about the quality that lies within. And yet, it works right? You go to that open house because the apartment or home looks great in the pictures and then you get there and it’s small and cramped and uncomfortable. You get that sandwich that looked so nice on the menu to find a squashed, kind of gross reality on the tray they hand to you. But still we want to believe that what we see will be what we get.

That becomes especially dangerous when we consider this life as the “front cover” for eternity. Is what we experience here a reflection of what is coming? How much about what we go through in this life shows us what God thinks about us? Should our experiences in this life make us hopeful or worried about what is to come?

In our Gospel, Jesus shares a story that’s probably a parable (although, it’s not called out as such) about an unnamed rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. The experiences for both of these men in life could not have been more different. There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A beggar named Lazarus had been laid at his gate. Lazarus was covered with sores and longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Besides this, the dogs also came and licked his sores. The rich man and Lazarus are living in two totally different worlds: wealth vs. poverty, comfort vs. pain, an abundance vs. not enough.

To look at this book on the outside, one might say that God loves the rich man and hates or at least is indifferent toward Lazarus. After all, look at all the good things the rich man has and look at all the good Lazarus lacks. Modern-day prosperity gospel preachers like Joel Osteen and his ilk preach a message similar to this. They will encourage people to measure their faith by the observable blessings that they have, and advise that if someone lacks wealth or health or anything else, they don’t believe strongly enough or haven’t pursued it with God often enough.

Does Jesus’ story give even one shred of credit to that notion? Lazarus dies and is taken to heaven and the rich man dies and is in hell. It’s a total role-reversal. If you were judging what God thought about either of these men by the cover of their earthly life, you would guess that God loved the rich man and despised Lazarus. But the reality in eternal life is much, much different. Looking at someone’s earthly life and earthly wealth tells you nothing about the relationship they have with the Almighty.

Last week we spent a good amount of time talking through the dangers of pursuing more and more earthly wealth. It leads to discontent; it could lead to a falling away from faith. And in Jesus’ story we see another strong reason for not pursuing earthly wealth and putting stock in this life: it just doesn’t matter. Being rich in this life doesn’t translate to blessings in eternity, and being poor in this life doesn’t translate to enduring grief in eternity.

I need to stress that again: it doesn’t matter. Earthly wealth doesn’t play into this at all, one way or another. Lest we misunderstand Jesus’ point: the rich man did not go to hell because he was rich in his earthly life and Lazarus did not go to heaven because he suffered in his earthly life. In Jesus’ story, Abraham makes clear the distinction as he speaks with the rich man about his brothers: They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.

In this story, the rich man ends up in hell because he does not believe the promises of God. Lazarus ends up in heaven because he does believe the promises of God. Note that God’s promises say very little about earthly life here, save for daily bread. Lazarus seemed to have just barely had daily bread where the rich man had an abundance.

But God’s promises primarily focus on the spiritual and the eternal. Is a person’s earthly life an indication of what is coming? Perhaps, but not necessarily. And if it does coordinate, one did not cause the other. The riches and pains of this life are completely inconsequential when it comes to eternity.

So when you look at your life, maybe you feel nervous about your ability to make ends meet and then worried that this situation means that God doesn’t care very much about you. Or maybe you look at your health struggles and it feels like God has forgotten you. It may feel that way, but the reality is the contrary! God loves you and has forgiven your sins in Jesus. Or when you look at your life and see that you have much more than you need or perhaps more than you could ever use, don’t let that twist your thinking to assume that this means you automatically have things set for now and for eternity.

Regardless of our socio-economic position, our health status, or our reputation among others, we have the same needs that Lazarus, the rich man, and his brothers all had in Jesus’ day: Moses and the Prophets. That’s shorthand for the inspired Scriptures at that time, so we might have sub in just “the Bible.” Rich or poor, healthy or sick, strong or frail, we need God’s message. We need God to come to us and confront our greed or our anger or our lust or our gossiping heart or whatever sins might have a snare around, and show us how incompatible those things are with God’s expectations. We need the message of God’s law to convict us of our sin and show us how we haven’t been the perfect people that God demands we be.

But then we also need the Bible’s message of gospel—the good news that Jesus lived and died to free us from those sins. This is where we actually find out what God thinks of us. You can’t deduce that from a bank account balance, the report from the doctor, or personal awards and accolades. Those things are just the cover of the book, which can be misleading. You can only deduce what God thinks of you by looking at Jesus. And what do you see when you look at him? You see the Son of God living a perfect life in place of your sinful life. You see the Creator of the universe dying to pay the debt his creation owed. You are so precious to God that he was willing to die to save you. That’s what God thinks about you, regardless of what you have or don’t have right here and right now.

We’ve spoken a lot about contentment over the last few weeks, but in Jesus’ story Abraham reminds us that if there’s one thing we should never be content with, it’s how much we know God’s Word, how well we’re connected to his love, and how powerful an impact that message of his love and forgiveness has on our lives of service to others. And those things are all things that God does for us, through his Word and sacraments.

You know how God loves you dearly, not because of what he’s given you now, but what he’s assured you is your inheritance forever. Spend your time focused on what is truly important and truly imparts understanding for what God has prepared for you. Your Savior gives you what you need now, and will give you an abundance in eternity because he loves you. May that fact, more than any earthly metric, be your encouragement as you look ahead to what is to come.

Thanks be to our Savior, who forgives our every sin in his love for us! Amen.

"How to Get Rich" (Sermon on 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19) | September 18, 2022

Text: 1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19
Date: September 18, 2022
Event: Proper 20, Year C

1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19 (EHV)

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.

9Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. 10For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

17Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment. 18Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

How to Get Rich

Not too many weeks ago, the Mega Millions lottery prize was over a billion dollars. A billion. I can’t even process that number. I once heard a way to try to distinguish the difference between a million and a billion. A million seconds is 12 days; a billion seconds is 31 years. It’s an astronomical number for anything, including dollars. Of course, if you win that, a huge percentage goes to the government in taxes. But even still, winning hundreds of millions of dollars? What would you even do with all of that money?

Several years ago, another lottery total was up around that much and I remember doing a lot of daydreaming about the good we could do if our family won that amount of money. What could be done for our family? For those suffering with homelessness and poverty? What could be done for our congregation and synod and the spread of the gospel at large? In fact, I can remember standing in line at a convenience store thinking, “I should just buy one ticket,” but they only sold them as a cash purchase and I didn’t have any cash, so I didn’t buy a ticket. But the result was the same as if I had bought a ticket—we didn’t win.

But you’ve likely heard the horror stories of people who win the lottery thinking it will make their lives better and it just ruins them. All of their relationships become strained. All the good they wanted to do seems impossible, and oftentimes, even those who win ridiculous sums of money, are bankrupt within a few years.

Having a ton of money isn’t all its cracked up to be. In fact, it can often be a burden rather than a blessing. Money in general is a tool, but it’s not an end. It’s a means to an end. So what is the Christian’s relationship with earthly wealth? And how do you manage that against the world’s view of earthly wealth? How do you get rich while taking God’s perspective on the matter?

Sometimes there’s a view that the church should’t talk about money. And if all we were going to talk about is how you should give more money to the church and end there, then that sentiment is probably right. But God’s Word is overflowing with verses guiding, advising, and warning about earthly wealth. So if this is important for God to say it’s probably important for us to hear and consider.

In our Second Reading, Paul is writing to Pastor Timothy with advice and guidance for him as he approaches his work shepherding God’s flock in the city of Ephesus. One of the topics he spills considerable ink on in this relatively short letter is money. The very first thing in our reading that Paul hits on is that of contentment. Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.

That is not the way the world looks at wealth. The world’s advice is always get more, buy up more, hoard more, have more. And this is why greed is not a problem for rich people nor is it a problem for poor people, it’s a problem for people. Because whether I have a lot of money or a little bit of money, if I’m pressing on toward wanting more and focused on accumulating more, that’s going to lead me into trouble no matter what I’m starting with: Those who want to get rich (or we might insert the “richer”) fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. A lack of contentment leads to wanting more wealth, and wanting more wealth leads to complete destruction and utter ruin. In other words, continually seeking after more wealth leads to earthly and eternal loss.

How do you get rich? The first step is by realizing that earthly riches are not something to be pursued, but something to be received. When it comes to earthly wealth here, no matter how much we’ve been given, the goal is always management, it’s faithfulness, to what has been entrusted to us. So if you are barely scraping by and just barely making ends meet to feed, clothe, and house your family, that is being faithful with what God has given. If God has given you an abundance to manage, you have the responsibility to use that abundance in a way that pleases God. And no matter where you find yourself on the poor/wealthy spectrum, contentment with what has been given is paramount.

But we know that we’ve not always been faithful, we’ve not always been content. We’ve dreamed about and lusted after more wealth for ourselves, be it adding to a considerable amount we already have or pulling us out of what feels like a low pit of no resources. There have been times, even if not constantly, where money and material things have become an idol for us, a god that we worship because we prioritized it above all other things. And that’s why Paul reminded Timothy that such attitudes lead to complete destruction and utter ruin, because they lead to focusing on worldly things instead of eternal things. In our Gospel, Jesus said that you cannot be a servant to both God and money at the same time (Luke 16:13), and Paul underscores that truth: By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

But Jesus came to save us. When writing to the Corinthians, Paul put it this way: You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus not only didn’t reach for things that hadn’t been given to him, in order to save us he actually gave up what was rightfully his. There was no reason for Jesus to take on our human nature, but to save us. There was no reason for him to give up on the glory he rightfully has as God the Son, but to save us. There was no reason for him to allow himself to be nailed to a cross and suffer the punishment of hell, but to save us. And saving us was of the utmost importance to him, so that’s what he did. He gave us the power and glory and riches he has as God in order to be our Savior.

Because he gave up those things for us, we are forgiven for the times we have let the desire for and worry about material things drive our lives. We have been forgiven for our discontent.  We have been forgiven for prioritizing earthly treasure over true, eternal wealth. Jesus paid the debt we owed in our sin and he freely gives us the most precious gift of eternal life.

So what now? How do we get rich? First and foremost, recognize that you already are. You have the treasure that no amount of money could ever buy. You have the love of God freely given to you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You have faith given to you by the Holy Spirit through his Word and sacraments which enables you to trust that these things are true and certain.

With that certainty of our eternal wealth established, Paul gives us the secret to getting even richer in this life: Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Want to be rich? Don’t focus on money or possessions or anything else the world might consider wealth. Rather, focus on being rich in good works. What does that look like? It means living your life in thanksgiving to God—every conversation, every interaction, tackling every moment of every day with the goal of bringing glory to God through it. It means being generous with what you’ve been given in treasures or talents or time, and in whatever degree God has allowed you to have those things.

God has given you the ability to be generous. Now, maybe you can’t write a check and pay off someone’s mortgage or singlehandedly support a new mission congregation somewhere in the country. But perhaps you can do some smaller-feeling things—helping someone who needs some water or a meal, spending time with someone who needs an ear to listen to them and support them, spending some time teaching someone a skill or some facts they need in their lives. There are many, many ways to be generous, and few of them require a giant vault of gold to do so.

So let those earthly resources that God gives be used in his service and in the service of one another. Don’t let earthly things become an all-consuming force. Put them in their place and use them for what God has intended: take care of your personal and family responsibilities, see to it that the message of the gospel goes out from this place and elsewhere, and take the opportunities to be generous to others so that you reflect God’s eternal generosity to all people.

How do you get rich? You let God give you true riches that endure now and forever. Thanks be to God! Amen.

"What Does God Think About You?" (Sermon on Luke 15:1-10) | September 11, 2022

Text: Luke 15:1-10
Date: September 11, 2022
Event: Proper 19, Year C

Luke 15:1-10 (EHV)

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3He told them this parable: 4“Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls together his friends and his neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.

8“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, would not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the lost coin.’ 10In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

What Does God Think About You?

Do you ever wonder what someone thinks about you? Maybe you’re wondering if you got off on the wrong foot with that new coworker, or wondering if your first impression with that friend-of-a-friend went really poorly, or perhaps a formerly strong relationship has begun to drift. In any case, you can be left wondering what someone really thinks about you and that can make future conversations and interactions difficult, uncomfortable, or even feel impossible.

That’s bad enough when it comes to our human relationships. It gets multiplied when we consider our spiritual relationship, that is, our relationship with God. Knowing how God thinks about you, knowing what he feels for you, will be vitally important for your peace of mind and heart as you look forward to eternity. So, what does God think about you?

In our Gospel, Jesus took the opportunity to respond to some Pharisees’ criticism. They were appalled that Jesus would spend time with quote-unquote “sinners,” that is, people who were publicly known to have done or be doing things that the Pharisees felt were wrong.

What sorts of people were they referring to? Two of the most commonly referenced people in the Gospels that raised the Pharisees ire were the tax collectors and prostitutes. We know that Jesus welcome such people, spoke to them, and spent time with them. Were the Pharisees wrong to disapprove of these people from a moral standpoint?

Let’s start with the tax collectors this would not be the equivalent of an IRS agent. Tax collectors in Jesus’ day would almost be more akin to a member of the mob shaking down a business for personal gain. Tax collectors were local people commissioned by the Roman government to gather taxes. Now, they had a minimum that they were supposed to gather from people, but Rome turned a blind eye if they took more than they were supposed to. So many tax collectors became fabulously wealthy by collecting many times the required amount from the people and then pocketing the difference. They were morally corrupt by stealing from others what was not owed to them. And the rest of their countrymen found them to socially corrupt, because they were partnering with the foreign power to profit themselves at the expense of their own people. On many levels, this is not conduct that should be condoned.

What about the prostitutes? We don’t need as much background here as prostitution has been relatively unchanged in the history of the world. A prostitute seeks money by distorting God’s design for sex and turning it into a transaction. They are professional adulterers and fornicators. You do not need to look far to see the sin in people that take up this profession.

So no one, Jesus included, would defend the sin of these so-called “sinners.” Jesus would continue to try to help the Pharisees see beyond surface level obedience, though. The Pharisees were good at identifying professional sin. The tax collectors and prostitutes chose occupations steeped in sin or one where sin was very easy to walk into. The Pharisees recoiled at that, and to a certain degree, rightly so. However, what the Pharisees often failed to see was the personal sin, that not just in publicly seen action, but that in the heart of every person is a sinful nature. Sinful thoughts pervade even the most sanctified of people. Sinful desires and temptations claw at every single person. While not every person may feel temptation to the same sins, temptation in general is universal in fallen mankind.

But that’s not really the point of Jesus’ brief parables here with the Pharisees. The point Jesus is trying to make is not whether or not anyone is a sinner. Jesus has been clear over and over again that EVERYONE is a sinner, even the Pharisees who didn’t think they were. But Jesus’ point is that that’s not something someone needs to deny or run from because of what God thinks about them.

These parables are so powerful. What does the shepherd think of that one, straying sheep? He thinks so highly of that singular sheep that he leaves behind the rest of the flock and traverses the rocks and the hills to search it out. How valuable was that one coin to that woman? She spent the night sweeping out her home by lamplight and wouldn’t rest until she found it.

What is Jesus point? What does God think about you? He loves you with a love so complete and strong that you and I can’t even understand it. He seeks you out where you are with his loving forgiveness and brings you back to himself. We know that quest wasn’t just a trip through the rugged countryside or a night spent cleaning the house. The quest to find lost you and lost me cost Jesus his life. He died to forgive our sins. He died to bring us back to himself. He loves you so much that he willingly, gladly gave up his life to save you.

Perhaps you feel like the sheep all alone or the coin that tumbled into the dusty corner of a forgotten room. Perhaps you feel like you are in those places because of your own fault. Maybe it’s something you said to a loved one or failed to accomplish that you should have, or even sinful thoughts that drifted through your head. Perhaps you feel like you’ve wandered away from God and that that’s that.

It makes sense to feel that way—Satan uses guilt to twist us into a spiritual and emotional pretzel—but it does not reflect reality. It does not reflect God’s promises to you. It does not reflect what God truly thinks about you. God isn’t giving up on you. God is not abandoning you. God is not done with you. Rather, God is seeking you out. And he calls us to repentance. And when we repent from our sin, when we turn away from those things that are pulling us away from him, there is a giant party thrown by the angels in heaven.

And this is the thing the Pharisees missed: God doesn’t just love people who look like they live a good life on the outside. God loves all people regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. But notice how Jesus does emphasizes repentance. When Jesus spent time with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other so-called “sinners,”  he didn’t tell them to keep doing what they were doing. He loved them, which meant forgiving them and also not letting them think it was good or wise for sin to run rampant in their lives. It benefitted no one to avoid these people as the Pharisees wanted to do, rather they needed someone to interact with them and to call them to repentance. Zacchaeus the tax collector famously said he would pay back what he stole when he learned of Jesus’ love. Matthew the tax collector became one of Jesus 12 disciples. Jesus told the woman who was caught in adultery that he didn’t condemn her, but that she should leave her life of sin.

So Jesus’ approach to seeking the lost is not letting them stay lost. This is not a case of (as some distort it), “God loves me no matter what so it doesn’t matter what I do.” This is a case of God loving you and because he loves you, he calls you away from that sin.

Sin is a constant threat to our faith because sin leads us away from God. If we are determined enough, we can be a lost sheep that is carried away by sin and sprints away from our Savior every time he’s searching for us and calling to us. That will end in hell. But part of the comfort of God’s love for us is that he’s looking out for what’s best for us. Like a family member begging the person addicted to drugs to get help to get off of them, God calls us to get off of sin, because it only leads to self-destruction. And he provides the way out—Jesus.

So unlike the way the world defines love, God’s love is not letting us do whatever we want. The lost sheep doesn’t keep playing in the dangerous terrain, away from the flock; the shepherd takes the sheep away from the dangerous place and brings it back home. God brings us away from sin and back to himself. His forgiveness means we need not feel guilt over our past faults but also that we actively seek to thank him by living a life free from sin, living according to his will.

And this is the Christian’s constant struggle. Because no matter how much we study God’s Word, no matter how much we know what he wants or has done for us, no matter how much we know and believe that his thoughts for us are filled with love, we will still sin. Sin will be our constant companion until the day we die.

But so will Jesus. Our loving shepherd will continue to seek us out. He seeks us out in his Word as we read or hear it. He seeks us out in the loving concern of a fellow Christian who calls to us to examine what we’re doing or saying. He seeks us out no matter where we are, and in his loving forgiveness brings us back to himself.

What does God think about you? He loves you, and that will never change. God, keep us close to you, forgive our faults, and bring us to your eternal home in heaven. Amen.

"What Does it Cost to be Jesus' Disciple?" (Sermon on Luke 14:25-35) | September 4, 2022

Text: Luke 14:25-35
Date: September 4, 2022
Event: Proper 18, Year C

Luke 14:25-35 (EHV)

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, if he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ 31Or what king, as he goes out to confront another king in war, will not first sit down and consider if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32And if he is not able, he sends out a delegation and asks for terms of peace while his opponent is still far away. 33So then, any one of you who does not say farewell to all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. 34Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? 35It is not fit for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

What Does it Cost to be Jesus’ Disciple?

When you’re getting ready to go away from home for a few hours or a few days, what are some things you have to think through? A lot of it focuses on what you’ll be doing, right? You’ll prepare differently for an afternoon spent in Golden Gate Park than a three day business conference in Dallas. You have to think through where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing to ensure that you’re prepared properly for it. You probably have to factor in time, weather, and what you have available to you.

Planning is important, and can be a lot of work. If you don’t have a natural inclination toward being a planner, doing a good job preparing for something can be a ton of mental and even emotional work. But being well-prepared, especially when you won’t have the time or ability to make adjustments where you’ll be is often the difference between a good experience and a miserable experience.

In our Gospel for this morning, Jesus is urging those following him to plan and consider the cost of what it  means to be his disciple. We do well to listen as well, because nothing has changed between then and now. Being Jesus’ disciple, being a Christian, has a cost associated with it in this life. If we are not well prepared for it, the hardships of this life may lead us away from the forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus has won for us and freely gives to us.

Our reading continues down the path of the middle of Luke’s Gospel that we’ve been walking for the last several weeks. Two weeks ago we heard Jesus directing us to strive for the narrow door, and last week we heard him remind us to approach this life with humility. This week, he urges us to consider what it costs to be focused on that door and being humble in this life. What does it mean for here and now as well as for eternity to be Jesus’ disciple?

Jesus’ first statement is kind of alarming: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Is Jesus saying I must hate my family to be a Christian? Is self-loathing a requirement for heaven? That’s not what he’s saying, but he is saying something not too far from it. We actually heard Jesus make a related point three weeks ago when he said: Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Yes, from now on there will be five divided in one household: three against two, and two against three. They will be divided: father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Luke 12:51-53).

The heart of what Jesus is asking people to consider is what is most important to you. If there was a conflict between doing what your spouse wanted and following Jesus’ direction, who should win? If there was a conflict between being personal desires and what Jesus says, what should win? While hatred is a strong term, Jesus is clear that he must take priority over all things, even our most personal feelings and our closest relationships.

Living according to God’s will is always going to be at odds with the things of this world, and thus will put us at odds with anyone thinking about things from a worldly point of view—including ourselves. Being a Christian will be difficult; Jesus calls it carrying your cross to make clear that this isn’t always going to be pleasant. That’s not to say that every moment of a Christian’s life will be pure misery, far from it. But when those troubling things happen, when those crosses are placed on our shoulders, when we bear these burdens in the short term or the long term, it should not come as a surprise.

Jesus uses that truth to teach a powerful reminder: you need to take this into account when you figure in whether being a Christian is worth it. There is a real cost associated with this life, and we do well to consider that rather than just blindly following what seems best or what our parents or friends are doing. Jesus uses the example of a man starting a building project. He has to consider if he has enough resources to complete the project. He has to know what it costs before he starts to make sure he doesn’t just peter out. Likewise, the king going into battle, needs to weigh the cost and determine if he can win even if he’s outgunned, and if not to try to make peace before the fighting begins.

What’s the alternative to either of those situations? The man who starts the building project and runs out of resources will be left with a construction site and the shame of not being able to finish what he started. Everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ Likewise, the king who doesn’t carefully consider the situation in front of him may have his authority ripped away from him while losing many lives, perhaps even his own. Starting something and not being able to finish it because you didn’t anticipate what was coming leads to disaster.

The same is true for the Christian life. If someone becomes a Christian but then doesn’t know that it’ll be tough, may have that difficulty choke his desire for Jesus out of him. And if the crosses we must bear as Christians leave us abandoning the Christian faith, what we will face after this life will be the same disaster (or even worse) than it would have been if we had never believed in the first place. If we give up on our faith in Jesus as our Savior, it doesn’t matter that we at one time believed. Abandoning our faith midstream leads to hell the same way that a lifetime of unbelief does.

That’s the point Jesus is making with the salt. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? It is not fit for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Salt was far more important to people in Jesus’ day than it is in ours. It wasn’t just about flavor; it was a preserving agent in the eras before refrigeration. If salt lost the qualities it needed to be considered salt, it was worthless. It wouldn’t preserve anything, it wouldn’t flavor anything. Unlike spoiled vegetables that may be mixed into the ground to fertilize it or into the manure to aid in the breakdown of that compost, salt that isn’t salty is utterly worthless. It’s just thrown away.

As a Christian, Jesus says you are the salt of the earth. But abandoning your faith for any reason, including the difficulty associated with being a Christian in this world, leads you to be discarded like unsalty salt.

We do well to consider what it costs to be a Christian. Jesus is not the easy way through this life. Jesus is not the path of least resistance. In many ways, because Jesus sets you against the attitudes of the world around you, being Jesus’ disciple is the path of most resistance. It is more difficult to be a Christian in this life and live a life of thankfulness to God than it is to not be a Christian at all.

All of this ties into what Jesus has been saying for weeks in our Gospels. It’s difficult to strive for the narrow door. It’s difficult to be last in this life and look forward to being first in eternity. It’s difficult to live in humility.

Who is up to this task? No one. Not you, not me, not even the most pious, faithful believer that you’ve ever known. Without God’s grace we would abandon this calling, we would abandon this life, we would leave the construction site half finished and walk away to our eternal demise. But with God’s grace? By his grace we see the value in building that tower, so with his aid we strive to complete no matter the cost. By his grace we see the strategy to the battle of this life and with his aid strive to execute on it. By his grace we see the importance of being his salt in the world and with his aid continue to preserve this world by living and sharing his love.

By God’s grace we see the value of Jesus. The cost his high, absolutely. Unbearably high if we were on our own. But we are not on our own. We see that Jesus is the solution to our sin. Every time we’ve felt the pull to just walk away from him, we know that he has forgiven us. Every time that we’ve begun to think that this life isn’t worth it, he’s there to point us to the reality: his life and death paid for every sin which means we will be eternally safe.

We asked the question earlier if it was worth it to follow Jesus, to endure these hardships. The answer is absolutely “yes.” Because he provides infinite, eternal good and peace, not the temporary reprieve of this life. To couch it in financial terms, would you rather have a thousand dollars or an infinite supply of money and resources? That’s the difference between peace here and peace for eternity.

Being a Christian may mean divisions here, crosses that are difficult to bear, and temptations to walk away. But Jesus’ forgiving love guards us and guides us in that. What you are looking for is not a temporary joy that will eventually evaporate; you’re looking forward to the eternal joy that your Savior has prepared for you. Acknowledge that the cost is high, but see that it is absolutely worth it.

And support one another. As Christians, we are not left to bear these crosses alone. Offer to help your brothers and sisters in their hardships; share your need or desire for help in bearing the crosses that Jesus allows to come into your life. Together, we count the cost; together, we bear the crosses; together, we look forward to the perfect eternal life with out Savior who lived and died to forgive our every sin and failing. Dear Christian, press on no matter what the cost, because you press on with your Savior now and forever. Amen.

"You Are Exalted from Humility" (Sermon on Luke 14:1, 7-14) | August 28, 2022

Text: Luke 14:1, 7–14
Date: August 28, 2022
Event: Proper 17, Year C

Luke 14:1, 7–14 (EHV)

One Sabbath day, when Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat bread, they were watching him closely.

7When he noticed how they were selecting the places of honor, he told the invited guests a parable. 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline in the place of honor, or perhaps someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. 9The one who invited both of you may come and tell you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.

10“But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a higher place.’ Then you will have honor in the presence of all who are reclining at the table with you.

11“Yes, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

12He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or rich neighbors, so that perhaps they may also return the favor and pay you back.

13“But when you make a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. Certainly, you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”

You Are Exalted from Humility

Do you ever read advice columns? Be it in newspapers, magazines, or probably more likely now, online, the whole point of an advice column is that people have a situation in their life that they’re not sure how to handle and they seek out advice on what the solution may be. Perhaps it’s a social question, a work question, a family question, or even a question about the direction of their life. The one writing the response will do their best to give an answer with the limited information they’ve been given in the original note.

That’s seeking out advice, but have you ever received unsolicited advice? Maybe someone offered you some tips on your appearance or your health that you were not looking for. Maybe someone told you how to do you job differently than you were currently doing it, but the way you were doing it was working fine. Maybe your parenting or your relationship with your spouse was critiqued among a group of friends or by your in-laws, producing a really awkward situation that you did not ask for. And again, it would be advice given with very, very limited information.

In our Gospel this morning we hear and see Jesus offering some social and spiritual advice to the people at the meal he was attending, but it was not advice that anyone asked for. They were going about their business and enjoying themselves when Jesus launched into a brief sermon on humility and exaltation, a sermon that perhaps no one wanted to hear. Unlike the advice column or the unsolicited advice we might receive, though, Jesus is not speaking from a perspective of limited information. As God, he had all the information one could possibly need. And he uses that to direct his fellow guests not merely to better social graces, but to applying these principles to their spiritual lives as well.

There’s a bit of overlap in our Gospel for this morning and our Gospel from last week, where we heard Jesus talk about striving for the narrow door and the reminder that last will be first and first, last. But today’s focus is a bit different. Rather than focusing on the path one takes in this life, Jesus is zeroing on what people think about themselves. As he sat watching the guests at this dinner, he could see several people who thought very highly of themselves. They felt they deserved to be honored, and so took places at the table they felt that they deserved.

Jesus’ direction to his fellow guests, on the surface, is some social graces: “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline in the place of honor, or perhaps someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him. The one who invited both of you may come and tell you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.” Jesus advises against taking places of honor without invitation because then you’re inviting shame. If the host of the dinner had a different plan for those places of honor, then you’ll be told to move, and with shame and embarrassment have to take a place that someone feels is right for you.

So, instead, Jesus says, take the lowest position. If you take the lower, more humble place, you may very well be “upgraded” to a higher position, to a position of prominence. And when that happens, you will have honor in the presence of all who are reclining at the table with you. And even if you aren’t moved to a higher position, at least you avoided the public shame of being told to move down to a more lowly place.

But Jesus is not merely focusing on social graces here. What he really wants to address is the attitude of the heart that would lead someone to assume that the place of prominence is for them. That same attitude might also lead them to do something like inviting people to a dinner party with the hope of getting repaid in-kind. Why should they get repaid? Because they deserve it! After all, what they did for the other people means they should be shown the same blessing.

Lurking under the surface here is the idea that getting ahead in this life is the most important thing. Success in business, in family, in hobby, in general recognition or notoriety. Not that pursuing excellence in any of those things is wrong in and of itself, but pursing it exclusively or more than eternal things leads us astray. To use Jesus’ imagery from last week’s Gospel, pursuing these things above all else will make us stop striving to enter through that narrow door.

And this attitude, to one degree or another, is present in all of us. Because it boils down to selfishness, which itself is the essence of sin. Sin is, at its core, believing that what I want is more important than what anyone else needs or wants—including God. I’m more important than anyone and everyone else. Ah, this place of prominence is for me because who else could it possibly be for?

You see the problem right away. And this may take different forms in our lives. Maybe it’s pride (I deserve the recognition), maybe it’s greed (I deserve these treasures), but really it can be anything that exalts us above other people.

That’s the attitude and issue that Jesus came to solve. Jesus, of all people, had the rights to the highest position. He is the Son of God after all. And yet, what place did he take? The scratchy straw in the manger doesn’t seem like a very exalted position. Living in the home of a humble carpenter’s family doesn’t seem to be very eye-catching. Traveling around Galilee, Samaria, and Judea teaching, but never having a home to call his own doesn’t scream, “Success!” And certainly, allowing himself to be condemned and executed without even raising a finger to stop it doesn’t really speak to his power or authority.

Why was Jesus so humble? Because he was taking your place and my place under God’s law. He didn’t come to this world to be the extreme, dominant force in the world, to garner the praise and adoration of the nations. No, he came to give his life as the only possible payment to remove our sin. We said last week that Jesus made himself last to put us first. And today we can see that Jesus humbled himself that we might be exalted. Jesus’ humble work on our behalf lifts us from the shame of our sin. Jesus puts us in the place of honor that we did not deserve and that we had no ability to claim for ourselves. And no one will tell us to go back. We will never face what we deserved because of our sin. We will not be sent to hell in shame for what we’ve done because the forgiving-exaltation Jesus gives is forever.

What is our response to the exaltation that Jesus gives? Do we walk around with chest out, proud of what we have, as if we deserve it or earned it? Walking that path will lead us to put our hope in ourselves, which is the exact problem Jesus came to solve. Putting hope in ourselves in for eternal safety leads to a infinitely more dire outcome than being embarrassed at a dinner party. Putting our eternal hope in ourselves and in our work will lead to hell.

So, no, our response to Jesus work is not pride; it’s gratitude. We rejoice in what Jesus has done for us. We live our lives in way that should reflect that joy, doing what God wants us to do, not to earn something from him, but to thank him for what he’s already given to us.

This leads us to another question: how do we view others who don’t know Jesus? Do we get angry at those who don’t share our hope and thus our moral values? No! As we approach our whole life with thankful humility, that humility reigns in our interactions with the people around us.

There’s an axiom that humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. To be humble does not mean hating yourself. Humility is prioritizing others ahead of yourself. Paul, when writing to the Christians in Philippi, compared the attitude of Christians with Jesus. He told them, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility consider one another better than yourselves. Let each of you look carefully not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Indeed, let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).

When we consider our relationship to other people, we want to think, “How can I be a little bit like Jesus in this person’s life? How can I love humbly and selflessly?” Your humble treatment of a coworker may be what eventually opens a door to share Jesus’ humble service for them to forgive their sins. Your humble treatment of a fellow Christian may be the reinforcement and reminder of Jesus’ humble love that they desperately need in the moment.

Your sin meant that you deserved nothing good, and everything bad. But Jesus humbled himself to exalt you. You’ve been lifted from the pit of hell and placed in the seat of a child of God in the kingdom of heaven. Rejoice in that humility that saved you. Reflect that humility around you. My dear brothers and sisters, because you are exalted, rejoice with humility at all times. Amen.