The Festival of the Reformation - 2016

St. James of Jerusalem - E - 2016 - Taking Faith for Granted

Evening Prayer - October 19, 2016 - Luther's Large Catechism - 6th Commandment

Proper 24 - G - 2016 - Itching Ears

Evening Prayer - October 12, 2016 - Large Catechism 6th Commandment

Sermon From Oakes Last Sunday

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.  Our text today comes from the epistle lesson, especially these words, “The Lord knows those who are his.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  For the second time in a little over a year, you have a vacancy coming up in your congregation.  And I can only imagine that it feels uncomfortable and challenging, after all you were served by the same faithful pastor for decades.  And even the last year, following his retirement, another faithful pastor has served you.  But soon vacancy will come again.  Soon, your flock will be without an under-shepherd called to serve you here in this place – at least for a time. 

And it is in times like this, as you prepare for a second vacancy in as many years, that it’s important to consider what the job of a pastor is, what you are looking for in the call process, and what the purpose of a pastor is. Luckily for us, we have for our epistle lesson the book of 2^nd Timothy. 

Timothy was a pastor.  One of the first in fact.  He had converted from Paganism to Christianity due to the preaching of St. Paul.  After spending time learning from St. Paul, he began to be a pastor himself, serving the church in Ephesus at the time of St. Paul’s martyrdom.  And our Epistle lesson is the farewell letter from Paul to Timothy – the final words written from Paul to his good friend. 

What was that final message?  To go on propagating the gospel just as he had begun doing.  Or as our lesson says, to “rightly handle the word of truth.”  To speak God’s Word in and out of season.  And to remain true to that calling, not to be distracted by bickering, or “irreverent babble.”  Not to take part in foolish ignorant controversies.  Paul says stick to the Word of Truth.  For St. Paul, that Word is the most important thing that Timothy needs to deal with. 

And you too, dear friends in Christ, need to hear this message.  You need to call a pastor who will bring God’s Word to you faithfully, just as your last pastors have done.  And there is nothing else more important in your call of a pastor than guaranteeing that you will hear that Word. 

But that’s not what the world teaches us, is it?  No, our world tells you that other things are more important.  It tells you to seek a pastor who worships in the style you think will bring in more people.  It tells you to seek a pastor who is charismatic and avoids the issues people don’t like to talk about.  They need to preach a sermon that is only 7 minutes long but tells you how to live your life so that you are healthy, wealthy and wise.  You want them to be relatable to the youth.  The world wants you to look at whether or not his wife will play the organ, and whether their kids will benefit the local school’s football team.  And on top of all these things, so often we want a pastor who will do things the way we want them to. 

What is it, dear saints, that you want in a pastor?  What things are important to you?

When we look for a pastor based on worldly characteristics, every person in a congregation has a different idea of what they want.  And fights arise over what item is most important.  Bickering becomes common.  Disagreements reign.  Congregations fall apart.   All over their own silly perceptions about who their pastor should be. 

I know it sounds ridiculous that this could happen, but I’ve seen it firsthand.  I grew up in a non-Lutheran church in Lincoln Nebraska.  A well liked pastor retired, and the time arose for a new pastor.  Everyone brought their own opinions on who should be there pastor – and those opinions were usually based upon the people’s own self-interest.  I remember the voter’s meeting where the decision was made on the new pastor, and when the decision was announced, 1/3 of the members left never to return.  A small group remained who sought to undercut the new pastor at every turn, so that soon the new pastor grew weary and left.  The church soon fell apart completely. 

Dear friends, St. Paul tells Timothy that those things are peripheral.  He tells Timothy that the most important thing for the pastor to be about is the Word of truth – the Word of Jesus.  And the same is true for you as a congregation as you look again for a pastor.  Look for the Word of God before you look at the number of children the pastor’s family has.  Look for the Word of truth before you consider how handsome or homely the man may be.  Look for the Word of truth as the first and foremost as you look for a pastor. 

Why?  Because it is the Word of Truth that brings you Jesus.  It’s the Word of God that brings forgiveness straight to your ears.  It is the Word of truth that gives you the promise of eternal life with God forever.  Because that Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us – as St. John writes.  That Word is Jesus.  He lived among us, preaching repentance because His kingdom was near.  And then to bring that kingdom about he went to the cross.  He was crowned with thorns, he was dressed in purple robes, and seated upon the throne of a cross – all of it for you.  There he bled for your sin, he suffered for your weakness, he was mocked and tortured for your bickering and fights.  He died, so that you might live.  And in case you didn’t believe it, he rose from the grave, declaring that all who trust in him also shall live.  That is the message of the Word of God, that is the message that Paul tells Timothy to hold to, that’s the message that you want your next pastor to bring to your ears in sermon and hymn, as well as in baptismal waters and in the sacrament of the altar. 

For, as Paul writes just before our text begins this morning, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel… (so that) you may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.  The saying is trustworthy, “if we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him, if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful.” 

Dear saints of Oakes, ND, do not take that word of truth for granted.  Do not think that just because you have faithfully received the Word of God these last 40 years, that it will automatically continue.  Make that Word of truth your first priority as you seek a new pastor.  And trust that Word to continue to work in your lives and in your congregation as you go forward day by day in the grace of Christ, crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. 

I pray that God will send you a faithful pastor like Timothy, who will bring God’s Word of Truth to you.  And I know that God will do this thing for you.  He may be old, or young, handsome, or not, funny or awkward, married or single – I couldn’t tell you that now.  But, none of that matters, so long as he “rightly handles the Word of Truth in this place.  IN the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Proper 23 - G - 2016 - Guest Preacher - Rev. Jonathan Fisk

Altar Guild Instruction Meeting

LWML Southeast Zone Fall Rally

Part 2