Advent Midweek 1 - 2011 - From Heaven Above To Earth I Come

1 "From heav'n above to earth I come

to bear good news to ev'ry home:

Glad tidings of great joy I bring,

Whereof I now will say and sing:

2 "To you this night is born a child

Of Mary chosen virgin mild;

This little child of lowly birth

Shall be the joy of all the earth.

3 "This is the Christ, our God Most High,

Who hears your sad and bitter cry;

He will Himself your Savior be

From all your sins to set you free.

4 "He will on you the gifts bestow

Prepared by God for all below,

That in His kingdom, bright and fair,

You may with us His glory share.

5 "These are the signs that you shall mark:

The swaddling clothes and manger dark.

There you will find the infant laid

By whom the heav'ns and earth were made." 

^{Ephesians 4}

¹I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism,⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore it says,

    "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
   and he gave gifts to men."

 ⁹( In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?^[a] 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the hymn verses read, along with these words, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, “From heaven above, to Earth I come!” Jesus declares in our hymn for today.  And what good news this is for us dear friends, what a blessing that Jesus is coming to Earth.  In fact that is what the very word Advent means, that Jesus is coming.  He’s on his way, and he comes with healing in his wings.  He hears our “sad and bitter cry,” and comes “from all our sins to set us free.” 

It is a gift we greatly need and desire that Jesus brings with him.  Freedom from sins.  For we are slaves to sin, captured and mistreated by a cruel master.  Freedom because we are greedy, we are hurtful, we are jerks at times.  We fail to do what we know is right, and we pay the price for that sinfulness. 

Do you doubt that you are in need of a savior?  Do you doubt that you need to be rescued?  Look at your life.  Are you ever overwhelmed by the things that happen in your life.  Do you yourself hurt, and feel pain and sorrow?  Do you feel lonely, do you hurt?  These things are all from your sin, and they show how greatly you need a savior, how you need someone who would come down to save you.  Oh that a savior would come, O that God would rend open the heavens and come down, for here we toil and suffer, and we want rescue.

And that is what Christmas is all about.  As it grows nearer and nearer every week, know the reason for Christmas is that we might be rescued.  That, “To you this night is born a child; Of Mary chosen virgin mild; This little child of lowly birth; Shall be the joy of all the earth.”  He will on you gifts bestow, gifts of Life and Salvation, gifts that bring you to his own cross, where He hung and died for you sin, where he suffered because you are guilty, where he died to take away all your guilt and give you life. 

Our epistle lesson says “grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”  Therefore, Jesus “descended into the lower regions, the earth.”  From heaven  he came with gifts of baptism, that wash you in his blood for sin payment.  From heaven he came with gifts of his own sacrificed body and blood for forgiveness of sins.  From heaven above to bring good news to ev'ry home, good news that you are forgiven, that your sin is gone. 

For unto you this day is born in the city of david, a savior, which is Jesus Christ the Lord.  He is coming.  He will come down.  He will bring saving powers for you.  Come Lord Jesus, come quickly.  Amen.  

“God’s Grace For Messed Up Sinners” - Guest Sermon for Baptism of Claire Emilie Moline

“God’s Grace For Messed Up Sinners”

Rev. Don Meyer
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
11/27/2011

    Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  By the looks on a few of your faces, some of you are confused.  Judging by all the decorations that you see going up all around you along with the ads on the TV, it’s obvious that Christmas is coming... soon!  So you come to church on the first Sunday in Advent and what do hear?  A Gospel reading about Palm Sunday!?!  Then, to top it off, a strange Pastor is standing in the pulpit.  Something must have really gotten messed up because this doesn’t seem normal or right.  Well, please allow me to clear up your confusion.  First of all, Jesus’ triumphant ride on Palm Sunday was not read by mistake.  Just as He arrived humbly at Jerusalem, so He did at Bethlehem when He was first born into our world.  And in both circumstances He had one goal and mission in mind– to go to the Cross to pay the price for our sins.  He did it so that God’s grace could be delivered to you and me.  God’s grace is what I’d like to focus on with you today.
    Which leads me to the second confusing factor... the strange Pastor in your pulpit.  Now I would agree that the label of “strange” does apply to me, but you can be sure that Pastor Moline would not have asked or allowed me to preach if I was strange in a doctrinal way.  He loves you and is very protective of your souls.  Actually, I am his father-in-law and I’m here to celebrate my granddaughter Claire’s Baptism.  And when you think about it, that too is all about God’s grace being delivered through those Holy Waters.  I can’t begin to tell you what a privilege it is to witness that AND to be honored to share with you God’s message of grace in the sermon!
    I would direct your attention then, to the Epistle lesson.  These are St. Paul’s introductory remarks to the Corinthian Church that he was writing to.  In verse 3 he says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Does that sound familiar?  It ought to because this is how your Pastor and others often begin their sermons.  And what an appropriate note to begin on!  Wishing God’s grace upon you.  But maybe we take for granted that people understand what that word “grace” really means.  You may recall from Confirmation Class that grace is God’s undeserved mercy and kindness towards us sinners.  Because of that, we have the peace from God that flows from His grace.  Then Paul goes on to say, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus...”  There’s that grace mentioned again.  Please notice that Paul is reminding the Corinthian Christians of the grace they had already received through Jesus Christ.  For this, he gives God thanks for them.
    But does that introduction sound odd to you?  It might if you understood who Paul was writing to and what he was about to say.  To put it nicely, these Corinthians were REALLY messed up spiritually.  Paul was writing to correct some of the serious problems in their Church and advise them on how to proceed in a Godly manner.  A little background will help us understand the seriousness of this letter.
    Corinth was a coastal town in southern Greece and was part of the Roman Empire.  It was an important city for trade and shipping which meant that people from all over the known-world would pass through there.  With them came a wide variety of customs... and yes, vices.  If you think that San Francisco is a coastal city with all kinds of sick perversions, Corinth was a hundred times worse.  The temple of Venus was located there and over a thousand cult prostitutes were made available to any visitors who “worshiped” there.  That was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of their sexual perversions.  As you might imagine, they were unrestrained in the sins that would violate all the rest of God’s Commandments too.  In a nutshell, they were really messed up people.  And yet God’s grace came to these undeserving sinners.  The Lord sent Paul there on his second missionary journey in the year 51 A.D.  For 18 months he preached both Law and Gospel to them.  They received God’s grace through Baptism, the preaching of God’s Word, and through the Lord’s Supper.  The result was a thriving new congregation in this pagan town.
    However, as they say, old habits die hard.  Yes, they were true believers, but after Paul had left, the devil masterfully got them to incorporate their sinful past into their newly found faith life.  Cliques had formed in the congregation which led to an attitude of arrogance and superiority that led to divisions.  A man in their congregation was shacking up with his step-mom and the church merely winked at his sin.  They were suing each other rather than working things out as Christians.  Evidently some of them thought it was still okay to visit the temple prostitutes.  They were conflicted over whether it was okay to eat food sacrificed to idols.  And their own worship practices were all messed up.  Selfishness and gluttony had invaded their celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  Speaking in tongues had turned the preaching of the Gospel into a cacophony of indiscernible babbling.  There were also doubts and confusion about whether the dead would be resurrected on the Last Day.  And you thought your congregation had problems!
    News of all this got back to Paul, and to say the least, he was not happy.  So he sent Timothy to investigate and try to get them back on the right path.  In the meantime, Paul wrote them a letter which our text is drawn from.  He was about to take them to the woodshed.  Isn’t it interesting then, that he started out his letter the way he did?  I mean, was he just trying to put on a happy face with this introduction so as to trick them into reading the rest of the letter? That’s certainly not what Paul was up to.  What better way to correct the problems than to remind them of God’s grace that had taken them out of their sinful way of life in the first place?  Paul was focusing on that grace which was given to them through Christ Jesus.  Yes, they were still messed-up sinners, but God’s grace is greater than any sin of ours.  That’s why Paul could thank God for them always.  And he reminds them that God’s grace enriched them with the ability to speak their confession of faith and to have the knowledge of God’s truth in their minds.
    Paul then turns them from what God’s grace had done for them in the past, to what it was doing for them in the present and the future.  They need not go looking for some mysterious additional grace.  No, Paul says that they were “not lacking in any gift.”  God’s grace is distributed equally to every Baptized soul.  And they need not worry about whether they would have enough of that grace to carry them safely to the end of their lives.  Paul says that the grace they had already received would sustain them to the end so that they may stand guiltless before God on Judgment Day.  Keep in mind, he was writing this to some really messed up sinners.  But that’s precisely who God’s grace is intended for!  Those Corinthians needed to be reminded of the bottomless well of God’s grace which they could freely dip into.
      Christian friends, that very same grace is what we are celebrating today.  God’s grace is meant for messed up sinners.  As much as it pains me to say this, my little granddaughter, Claire, is a messed up sinner.  We may look at her sweet little cherub face and say, “There’s no way this innocent child could be guilty of any sin.”  But you would be wrong.  You see, you don’t know how rotten of sinner her grandpa is... this grandpa... the one who’s preaching.  Seriously, the sin that is active daily in my life... and yes, in the lives of her other grandparents and parents... has been inherited by Claire.  That original sin has been passed on from generation to generation going back all the way back to Adam and Eve when they fell into sin.  Because of it, we have no choice but to declare that my granddaughter was born a really messed up sinner who was a lost and condemned soul.
    Ah, but thanks be to God, His grace has been shown toward this little messed-up sinner!  Baptism is a means of grace.  In other words, it’s part of God’s delivery system for distributing His grace to us needy sinners.  In those Baptismal waters, God washes away the stain of original sin with the forgiveness that is ours through Jesus Christ.  And He plants within us a faith which is able to receive that grace.  Once {Now that} Claire has been Baptized, as Paul says, she is “not lacking in any gift.”   She doesn’t need to go looking for some new, greater grace from God as she grows older.  Like the Corinthians, this grace is sufficient to carry her through the rest of her life.  God is faithful to His Word of promise and will sustain her faith by His grace.
     That’s great news for the rest of us!  Because you see, like Claire and like the Corinthians, we too are really messed up sinners.  And God in His mercy has made His grace available to you and me.  We call it His “Means of Grace.”  In Holy Baptism, you also received that gift of grace which is complete and not lacking in anyway.  As I mentioned before, God’s grace is like a bottomless well that never goes dry.  We can daily go and dip into it for the forgiveness of our sins.  Along with Baptism, God’s grace flows to us through His written and preached Word.  That Word sustains your faith over and over again with God’s grace so that you are able to confess Jesus as Lord and grow in your knowledge of Him.  When, like the Corinthians, we discover that we’ve really messed things up with our sinfulness, we can come to God and receive His grace through the Absolution as we hear that all our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.  And through the Lord’s Supper, God once again grants to us His grace through the very Body and Blood of Christ in the bread and the wine.  This means of grace continues to sustain our faith.
    I am deeply moved each and every time I perform or witness a Baptism.  That’s because it’s such a joy to see another needy, messed-up sinner receiving the free gift of God’s grace.  That’s something to celebrate.  But I would remind you that this celebration is why we gather each Sunday for worship.  We are here to receive and celebrate God’s grace which is bestowed on us messed up sinners.  And that grace sustains you and goes with you all throughout the week, even as God will sustain you by His grace until the end of your days, so that you may stand guiltless before Him and inherit His gift of eternal life.  Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Eugene "Bud" Bruce Stack Funeral - 2011

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Epistle lesson, especially these words, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, family and friends of Bud, do not be uninformed, today we mourn.  Today we miss.  Today we feel a hurt inside as a father, a son, a husband and a friend is no longer here with us.  Today we mourn because death hurts, and because we feel that pain especially today. 

It would be easy for us to be consumed by that grief, to become so totally distraught that we cannot function.  We did not want Bud to leave.  We weren’t ready for him to be taken from us.  We knew that his body was slowly wearing out, that he was becoming weaker and weaker as the days went by, but we were not ready for him to go.  And now that he is gone it feels like we have a hole in our heart, a pain that feels like it can never heal. 

That pain you feel, and the reason we are here today is because of sin.  Sin infects every part of our life, of our world and of our being.  It is something that Bud dealt with during his earthly life every single day.  And friends, it is something that you and I still deal with.  It is something that will not go away, it is something that we on our own cannot solve.  We are sinners, Bud was a sinner, and because we are sinners, we are here today.  Because we are sinners we must mourn.

But dear friends, as our text says, we do not mourn as those who have no hope.  For we have a great and wonderful hope.  We have an amazing promise, a promise that looks beyond this world and beyond our sin.  We have a promise that even though we face mourning, that one day our tears will be dried and our pain taken away.  We have a promise that looks to Jesus.

As our Old Testament Lesson says, we have a hope that “Our Redeemer lives, and that in the last we shall see him with our own eyes.”  Even as our flesh is destroyed by sin and death, we know that we will one day stand before God and see him face to face.  Our Redeemer lives!  Even though he was killed on a cross, even though he suffered for all our sin, even though he has taken as his own all of your sin, he lives, and we shall see him ourselves, our eyes shall behold him and not another! 

We see that promise in our Gospel text today, as Mary and Martha mourn the loss of their dear brother Lazarus, and say to Jesus, “IF you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  But even in the midst of their frustration, they confess to Jesus, “You are the Christ the Son of God.”  Jesus himself mourns at the tomb of Lazarus, even while he knows what he will do, raise Lazarus from the dead.  Lazarus is raised from the dead, even having been dead for three days, and dear friends, that promise is for you, and for Bud as well. 

For even though we mourn today, we know that today Bud is in a better place, that he is at peace with Jesus, and that even though we wish him to be with us, that he is now in eternal life, and that we shall join him there.  He is in comfort eternal, with God’s own nail scarred hands wiping away every tear from his eyes. 

And we know that even as he today is in heaven, that one day he too shall be resurrected, that this very body will rise again and live, no longer sick, no longer weak, no longer with medical struggles forever and ever without end.  That is our hope.  That Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, will fulfill our hope and give him bodily comfort and peace, even as we are with him forever. 

We do not want you to be uninformed dear friends in Christ.  Today we mourn.  Today we hurt.  But even in the midst of this pain and mourning, we have hope that looks to Our Redeemer, the Resurrection and the Life, we have hope that looks to Jesus.  That hope gives us an answer to our mourning.  We do not mourn as those who have no hope, for we have Jesus.  Amen.  

Proper 29 - G - 2011 - Last Sunday of the Church Year

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24          1 Corinthians 15:20-28           Matthew 25:31-46

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson that was just read, especially these words, “Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Today is the last day of the church year.  Next Sunday we celebrate the church’s new year with the beginning of the season of Advent, but today we focus on that great and ever near last day.  It is a day that our text today describes clearly.  For on that day, Jesus will divide the holy from the unholy.  He will separate those who belong to heaven from those who belong to hell, just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.  Sheep will go to the kingdom prepared for them, and goats will go to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 

But what is the difference between a sheep and a goat?  What is the difference from the saved and the unsaved?  And which one are you dear friends in Christ?  In our text today, Jesus tells us the difference between sheep and goats.  The sheep have faithfully served their Lord in care and compassion, while the goats have failed to serve God.  So dear friends in Christ what are you, a sheep, or a goat?

There are two ways we can answer this question, the first one is to seemingly look at what we have done in this life.  After all Jesus seems to favor the ones who work hard helping the people around them.  Those who visited the sick.  Those who visited the imprisoned.  Those who feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty.  In other words, those who have lived a holy life of compassion and service will be saved.  Those who get heaven have earned it, right? 

But we know the truth of what that means.  On our own, not a single one of us have done enough.  Not one of us has spent enough time in doing good.  We confess every week, “that we have sinned in thought word and deed” and that we “justly deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment.”  We have sinned, and as sinners, we deserve death. 

Sin, it’s a word we often times just quickly say without understanding what exactly it means.  Sin literally mean that you are turned inward on yourself.  In other words we put ourselves first in all situations.  We don’t serve others, we don’t help others first, but we help them if it is expedient to us.  We don’t visit people unless we ourselves feel we have the time and patience to do so.  We don’t care about others so often, solely because we are more concerned about ourselves. 

So are we all goats?  Do we all deserve hell?  Do we deserve fire?  Yes, but yet our text tells us that is not what we will get.  For in our text, it is not our works alone that judge us.  It is our works done in faith that looks to Jesus.  That faith is what saves us, not what we do, or don’t do.  Friends, it isn’t that you can save yourself by going to visit a sick friend, it is the faith which compels you to visit them.  It isn’t that you can save yourself by giving food to hungry people around you, but it is the faith that compels you to do so.

It is a faith that looks to Jesus, a faith that trusts not in our own acts, but in what Jesus has done for you on your behalf.  He lived a perfect life, he showed compassion where you have fallen short.  He loved where we have not loved.  He cared where we saw only our own desires and concerns.  He died on a cross where you deserved to be nailed, punished, and killed.  He took and did what you could not do in your selfish sin.

And having done this for you, Jesus gives you that faith that compels you to serve your neighbor.  It is Jesus’ love for you that first allows you to love those around you.  It is because Jesus has given to you, that you are now free to give to those around you.  It is because Jesus feeds you when you are hungry, because he visits you when you are sick, because he gave up his life for you in your sin that you are free to do the same to others. 

And the faith Christ gives actively does those things that Jesus did.  You love others having been loved first.  And because you love others with a faith that trusts Jesus, when God looks at you, he says, “well done, good and faithful servant, in faith you served me, and you served those around you.”  Come to the inheritance prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  Come receive peace, and comfort and care.  Come, and I will give you rest. 

Its your faith, not your work.  Its Jesus, not you.  Your trust is in him, not in man.  And so, you will enter glory.  There is no doubt.  You are a sheep, because Christ is your shepherd.  And as a sheep you deserve heaven.  Amen.  

Proper 28 - O - 2011 - The Great Day of the Lord is Drawing Near

Pentecost 22/Proper 28           Zepheniah 1:7-16        1 Thess 5:1-11             Matthew 25:14-30

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament Lesson just read.  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, “the great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast;  the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.  A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.”  The day is coming, and our text today paints a grim picture of what will happen. 

We are now in the last few weeks of the church year, and as we draw near to the end of the church year, we remember the coming end to our world.  St. Peter tells us that the end of the world will come with fire (I Peter 3:7) for the judgment of ungodly people.  We see all sorts of movies and televisions shows depicting the end of the world, and even they cannot depict the gruesomeness of it.  It is a scary prospect, that all we know, all we have ever experienced, all we have ever seen will be destroyed in one day. 

So often we are afraid of the end of the world.  So often we are afraid of the judgment that will one day befall us.  And dear friends in Christ, there is a good reason for that.  For we truly deserve and have earned the promise of destruction.  We deserve what our text today describes, “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.'  Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste.  Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.”  In other words, the worldly will not be able to enjoy the wonderful things they have prepared for themselves.

Why do we deserve this?  Why must we face this promise of destruction and punishment?  Why must we face the thought of all we love and know being destroyed.  Friends, you know the answer.  You have not loved God with your whole heart.  You have not loved your neighbor as yourself.  You have not perfectly fulfilled God’s will, you have not pleased him with your thoughts.  Instead, you, just like me, just like every other person, has filled your life with filth and sin.  We have made ourselves the judge of the world, and we boldly cry out to the vices of this world, “I will make you mine!”

Sex and violence fill our televisions and our computer screens, and we keep watching.  Anger and hate fill our hearts, and we smile as we spread it around some more to those who surround us.  We disobey our parents, we disobey the government.  We cheat, we steal, we do all sorts of horrible things.  In other words dear friends in Christ, we are sinners.  There is no escaping it, just as there is no escaping the punishment for that sin, death and destruction.  We are the reason that this world will come to an end.  We are the reason that fire will destroy all we know.  Its because of you and because of me. 

So what can we do?  How can we escape the destruction of sin?  How do we save ourselves.  In countless movies we watch those who are facing the end of the world miraculously save it.  In the movie Armageddon, they prevent the asteroid from destroying earth.  In I am Legend, Will Smith invents a vaccine to save humanity.  In the War of the Worlds, a virus stops the aliens, and in 2012 they miraculously drive, fly, and run away before devastating destruction only to be saved at the last minute.  Can’t we in a similar fashion save ourselves from sin and death? 

Friends, you cannot.  The situation is too dire.  Your sin is too great.  You are lost in your sin, and you cannot save yourself.  To put it bluntly – THERE IS NOT ONE LITTLE THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT YOUR SIN!  Our text says, “Be silent before the LORD God!”  You cannot make an excuse.  Be silent!  You cannot talk your way out of it.  Be silent!  You cannot tell God a lie about why you are in sin.  He knows the truth, and he knows what it will cost.  It requires death.  It requires the shedding of blood, for without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9:22). 

But hear what our text today says, “For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.”  He has prepared a sacrifice for you.  He has prepared the necessary blood atonement to avert your destruction.  He sent Jesus to the cross to keep you safe from destruction and to give you eternal life.  He sent Jesus to shed his blood on behalf of all those sins that infect your life.  He sent his one and only begotten son, that all who believe in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

And having sent Jesus to a bloody death, and having resurrected him from the dead, Jesus now consecrates his guests.  The word consecrated means to wash and make clean and holy, to set it apart for holy usage.  Dear friends, our text says that he has consecrated you, that in the sacrifice of Jesus you were made holy.  How?  Or don’t you know, that when you were baptized, you were baptized into the death of Jesus.  You were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  (Romans 6:3)  A new life consecrated to God. A new life forgiven in the blood of Jesus. 

I tell you the truth dear friends in Christ, because of what Jesus has done, when God looks at you he does not see your sin, not even what you believe is your most glaring fault.  When God looks at you, he sees only Jesus blood, he sees only a baptized forgiven child, he sees only the holiness that Jesus gives to you in baptism. 

And now forgiven by Jesus, we need not fear the destruction at the end of times.  We need to fear even our own death, for death has been swallowed up forever in Jesus.  On that great and dreadful day the end of the world finally arrives, those who trust in Jesus will but enter into eternal life, not death.  Peace, not destruction.  Joy, not terror.  Our faith, the great gift of God that receives God’s gifts, will save us and bring us into something more wonderful than we can understand.  As our epistle lesson says, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”  Be silent before the Lord GOD!   For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.  As a baptized child of God, you will be ushered into eternity in peace and comfort.  Fear not, the Lord is with you.  Amen. 

2011 - Funeral - Mervin John Wesley Buck

Proverbs 23:26            Revelation 7:9-17        John 5:24-30

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  Thus far our text.

 Dear friends in Christ, Marcy, Family, and friends of Mervin, Mervin Buck was a hard working man.  He served in the National Guard, he farmed for many years.  And for “retirement” he spent 25 years working at Wil-rich implements.  He rose early every day for work, and he went to bed early.  He loved spending time with his grandchildren and children, and he faithfully attended this church for 71 years, always sitting in the same pew every Sunday. 

Merv was a kind, caring man, who loved his family and who loved his God.  This gives us a pretty glowing description of Merv.  And yet, we know that despite all of these things, Mervin was not perfect.  He too, just like me, and yes, just like each one of you had things that he struggled with, difficulties in his life.  Things were not always easy for him, and often Mervin fell short of God’s goals for his life.  Mervin was a sinner, and because of sin, he had struggles in his life, struggles which our text call “the great tribulation”.

Friends, we too are in this great tribulation.  We too struggle with our sin every day.  We have problems within our families.  We have fights and arguments.  We have sickness and pain.  We have death all around us.  And friends, today we feel that most pointedly.  We will miss Mervin, we will miss his smile and his care and his advice.  We will miss his hugs.  We will miss spending time with our grandpa and father.  We hurt, we mourn.

This is exactly what sin causes in our life.  Hurt and pain.  Loneliness and sorrow.  Because of sin, each and every one of us has to face death, the death of others, and yes even our own death.  And what is more, it is more than we can handle.  It is not pretty, it is not fun.  And we are left searching for answers.  Why?  Why did Merv have to die?  Why now?  Why did he have to be taken away so suddenly?

But we know that as Christians death is not the end for us.  We know that even though we no longer have Mervin with us, that we will not be apart from him forever.  For Mervin trusted in something bigger than himself, Something that was the answer to the sin of this world, Something that could overcome death and pain and suffering.  Mervin looked to Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.  God called Merv at his Baptism, marking him as a precious child of God.  God called Merv as he was confirmed in the faith with these words, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.”  And that is how Merv lived, ever living in the ways of Jesus, the ways of forgiveness of sins through the cross of Christ. 

And so, last Thursday, Mervin’s 71^st birthday, God called Mervin home.  Now he is experiencing that picture which our text describes.  He now stands before God, apart from pain, apart from suffering.  He no longer shall hunger, for he is at the feast of God.  He no longer will thirst, for he drinks the very living water of the spring of life.  He no longer will feel the pain and suffering of this world, for he is before the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  He is with Jesus who died for his sins and yours, and will be at rest forever more. 

Friends, it will not be easy for us.  We will ask questions in the coming days and weeks and months.  We will miss Merv at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We will have times where we just want to cry a little because we hurt.  But even in the midst of this, we do not mourn as those who have no hope.  We mourn as those who trust in Jesus, who know the promises he brings.  We mourn knowing that Merv is now in a better place, and that we will one day join him.  Merv has passed from death into life, he now lives forever with Jesus.  Praise be to our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

2011 - Funeral Prayer Service - Mervin John Wesley Buck

Isaiah 25

Dear friends in Christ, One of the things that I have heard about Mervin the last few days, from several people, is his love for butchering and making his own sausages and meats to eat and enjoy.  Every year, he would get together with some family and friends, and they would grind sausages that they could feast upon, eating a meal fit for a king. (There is even a sign on the front door of their house that says, “Mervin Meats, and Marcy Greets.”)

But this year, there is no sausage making, this year there is no feast.  For a few short days ago, Mervin’s earthly life ended 71 years to the day from when he was born.  Our beloved friend, brother, husband, father and grandfather is suddenly no longer in our life. 

Death hurts, Death causes pain.  We hate losing friends and family, having people we love leave us behind.  It is because of sin that it happens, it is because of our guilt that this terrible thing must happen.  For the wages of sin is death.  Each and every one of us has sinned, and deserves death for what we have done against God our Father. 

How comforting then the words of our Old Testament lesson today, which speaking of Jesus Christ says “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations.”  On the mountain of Golgotha, Jesus destroyed the shroud of death and sin that causes us pain, that causes us hurt, that takes our loved ones.  On that mountain, as he hung from a cross, Jesus “swallowed up death forever.” 

In the death of Jesus, God wipes away all tears from our eyes.  In the death of Jesus we know that even as we die, yet shall we live.  In the death of Jesus we have certain hope that we know where our loved ones are, that we know where Mervin is today – with Jesus in peace everlasting. 

And today we know that Mervin is now feasting in a far better place, for that is exactly what our text says today.  “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines”  It’s a feast that Mervin now eats, which puts any earthly feast to shame.  It’s a feast, where one day we will join him in eating the finest of meats, and the best of wines.  It’s a feast, where we will forever enjoy the love and comfort and peace of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for all our sin. 

Friends, Mervin is still feasting, he is still enjoying sausages and food and drink.  In faith that looks to Jesus, he always will, and one day in that same faith, we will join him forever and ever.  In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."  Amen.  

All Saints Day - 2011 - See how God Loves You

All Saints Day 11/6/2011        149      Revelation 7:2-17        1 John 3:1-3    Matthew 5:1-12

Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father though our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Today is All Saints Day, the day we celebrate the lives of all our loved ones and friends who have died in the faith over the last year.  Each of us knows several people that we cared about who have been lost over the last year.  We have had friends who died from Cancer, from heart problems, from sickness and other things.  We have felt the sting of death, as it struck our hearts with hurt and sorrow and loss. 

Death seems to fill our lives, whether it is the pictures of countless people dying in wars around the world, or whether it is in our own close knit community, we are surrounded by death.  Every year more people that we love leave this vale of tears, and every year, we are left behind to mourn them and miss them. 

Death is our lot in life, one of the things that life assures us to happen.  For just as we mourn those who have gone before us, we know too that one day it will be our turn.  Death will find us, we cannot escape it.  One day our life will come to an end, and we will be the one who is mourned, just as we mourned during our life.

The reason for all of this pain and suffering is clear from scripture.  “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” St. Paul writes in last week’s text.  “And the wages of sin is death.”  From our very first father and mother, Adam and Eve, the plague of death has gone on.  Genesis recounts life after life, “Adam lived 930 years, and he died.  Seth lived 912 years, and he died.  Noah lived 950 years, and he died.  Abraham lived 175 years, and he breathed his last and died.”  They all were steeped in sin, and they all died.

Friends, we continue in that very tradition.  We live our lives, and “The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” according to Psalm 90.  We spend our entire life trying to lengthen our life to save ourselves, and we fail.  We cannot escape death on our own, because we cannot escape its root cause.  For our sin is too great.  In sin we were conceived, and in sin we will die. 

But as our text today says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”  We are God’s children whom he cares for, whom he loves.  And what a love it is that He has for us.  For even though we deserve a world of death, of pain, and of sin, that isn’t what God promises us.  He didn’t create us and then abandon us as soon as we He gave us Christmas, the incarnation of his son in human flesh, to save us from our sin.  His Son came with one purpose in mind.  To bring the Kingdom of God to us poor dead sinners. 

This path involved suffering for Jesus, suffering he didn’t deserve.  It involved pain for Jesus, pain he didn’t deserve.  It involved sin for Jesus, sin he didn’t commit.  In fact all the worlds sins, all my sins, all your sins, every last one of them were laid upon Jesus.  The sinless Son of God became the greatest sinner ever, as your sin was washed upon him. 

And then he killed it.  He died the death of sin on a cross in Jerusalem.  He gave up his life for you, in your place, for your guilt.  Jesus died, and now you are free. 

See what kind of Love the Father has for us, that we should be called children of God, in the blood of Jesus.  You see, this is the hope of our message today.  This is the goodnews for All Saints Day, that in Jesus death is not our end.  In Jesus we have no end.  For we now get what we do not deserve, we get life forever in heaven.  We get peace of being with Jesus and God resurrected, made whole, forgiven with Jesus. 

And so our first reading pictures you and me, and all who believe in Jesus before the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  “No more shall they hunger, neither shall they thirst, the sun shall not beat down upon them.  For the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear away from their eye.”  This is the gift God gives to those who trust in his son.

And it is the same gift that he gives to you.  Today, you have a foretaste of that feast.  Today you get to taste the heavenly banquet in the very presence of Jesus Christ.  Here, with angels, and arch angels and all the company of heaven, with all those loved ones you miss, with all those people who are no longer on this earth, you eat bread and wine in which the very person of Jesus exists.  A little piece of heaven on Earth.  A promise of forgiveness.  A reminder of where you will go when you die.  A blessing beyond all understanding – all in a little piece of bread, and a little sip of wine. 

Hear our text again, and listen for the promises of heaven contained therein.  “1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”  Happy All Saints Day.  Amen.