Proper 23 - G - 2014 - The Wedding Feast Invite

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 12, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline
Isaiah 25:6-9      Philippians 4:4-13    Matthew 22:1-14

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “Many are called, but few are elect.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  How many wedding invitations have you received this summer?  Each one promising a night of fun and partying, the best of foods that catering can offer, beer poured into you mug until the tap is dry, and dancing and partying until early in the morning.  In our Gospel lesson that’s what Jesus says the Kingdom of heaven is like.  God has invited you, called you, to attend the wedding feast of his Son Jesus and his bride the church.  The biggest shindig of all.  There, is promised the finest of all meats, the best of wines.  The fatted calf has been slaughtered, the dinner is set!  “Come to the wedding feast!”  Everything is ready!  Everything is done!  And your name is on the invitation list.  Jesus has invited you to the meal.  Come to the party!  Come, eat, drink and be merry. 

No?  No you say?  You refuse to come to the party.  You have work to do, farms to tend, businesses to take care of.  People to see and places to go.  Excuses, excuses, excuses.  Saying no to God?  Is that what you do?  I don’t want to be with you, I don’t care about you, I don’t want to go to the party.  I have no time for God. 

You’re just like the people in our parable today.  At times too many things that are more important than spending time in God’s presence – no matter what joy that presence might bring.  There’s football games to watch, fish to catch, malls to visit, friends to talk to, places and times to sleep in.  And most importantly, we have jobs and activities outside of the feast that are more important. 

So we throw away the invitation.  We reject it.  We count it as foolhardy and worthless.  Because of our sin it is easy to disregard the Lord’s invitation.  Truly it is very easy to disregard the invitation.  Don’t believe me?  Look at your own life.  How easy is it to find some other activity to do than bible study?  How easy is it to get bored in church, and to decide to sleep in instead.  How easy is it to find another place to spend your money or to give your time.  After all there are business and farms, football games and naps to take care of. 

Dear friends repent!  God will bring people into his wedding feast, he will bring people in both good and bad whether its you or not.  You have the call.  You have the invitation.  And you even have the right wedding outfit.  Its there in our text.  All the people at the wedding are wearing their very best wedding clothes.  And you have been given those clothes dear friends.

Where?  In the waters of holy baptism.  There your sin was washed away.  There you were clothed with a righteousness that is not from you, but instead is from Christ.  You’ve been washed white in the blood of the lamb, even though your sins were as scarlet.  You are dressed and ready for the wedding, because it is Christ that you wear. 

For you see, in the end, the wedding feast, the invitation, the whole kitten caboodle is really not about you, your acceptance, your works at all.  Its about Jesus.  It is his party.  It is his wedding.  It is the party to celebrate the victory over sin, death and the power of the grave that Jesus won on the cross for you, and for me. 

God sent his servants out into all the corners of the globe to bring you in to the feast.  He brought you in with the power of his Holy Precious Word, proclaimed and heard by your ears.  That word is that great invitation proclaimed by pastors all over the world, and recorded for us in Holy scripture.  It calls you, and the call itself makes you a part of the feast. 

And at the feast there is the best of meat – the very body of Jesus, and the finest of wines, the very blood of Jesus.  Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all yours sins of doubt, of avoidance and boredom in the church.  It is that feast that will sustain you throughout all of eternity, without end.  Amen. 

Dear friends, the call has come – Come to the feast – it is ready and waiting for Jesus has died and risen again.  We have victory in his name.  In this feast the vale that covered all people will be taken away, and we will rejoice with our God, even forever more.  You have been brought in by God’s working, both in the Word proclaimed, and the Sacraments administered.  You are God’s child, clothed and ready, only through Jesus. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Proper 13 - E - 2013 - Hidden With Christ in Baptism

The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Baptism Sermon

August 4, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26                  Colossians 3:1-11                Luke 12:13-21

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Our text this morning is from the Epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  You have died.  Your life is hidden with Christ.  All of you.  It happened to you just as it happens to a little baby  in baptism.  Water was poured on your head, God’s word was spoken, and you died, right there, and your life was hidden with Christ. 

You needed to die.  In fact you were required to die because of your sin.  It weighed upon you heavily, declaring you to be guilty in the eyes of our Holy and Just God.  As scripture says, you were born sinful, surely from your mother’s womb you were sinful.  Sinful to the point of death. 

Our text today describes what that sin was.  Each of us was born full of sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  And not just those things, but also anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  That sin infects our thoughts, our words, and our deeds.  And because of that sin, we must die.

There are two options for our death to sin.  One option is that of which God told Adam in the Garden of Eden.  “If you sin, if you disobey my command, you shall surely die.”  There were no ifs, ands, or buts.  It was a clear statement made by God.  And so when Adam fell into sin, he began to die. 

And I don’t only mean physically.  The death Adam faced for his sin was also a spiritual death.  It meant not a promise of eternity in peace with God, but rather an eternity of suffering, an eternity without the God who richly and daily provides us with all we need to support this body and life.  Sin meant Hell for Adam, and all who followed after him in sin. 

Word’s cannot describe the terror that is the spiritual death of Hell.  The best words can do is speak of weeping and gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness.  There the worm does not die, but is always consuming your dead body.  There the flames do not go out, but are always burning the sinner, destroying forever.  That is the special death God has reserved for sinners, for those apart from him. 

But there is another death, and it is the death we have all died together.  Yes we still are sinners, but we are sinners who have already died – with Christ.  We died in water and the word, as the Word in and with the water took away our sins, and clothed us not in our sin, but instead in the righteousness of Christ. 

In baptism we truly die – and we face the punishment for our sin, but we face it not alone, but with our Lord and Savior Christ.  For in baptism, our life is hidden with his.  In baptism we are joined with Christ, so that we die with him upon the cross.  We face the mighty judgment of God’s wrath with Christ, as He bleeds and dies for us.  We lay dead in a tomb, with Christ, who for three days was buried graveyard dead.  And because our life is hidden with Christ in baptism, when he is risen from the dead, we are promised to rise as well. 

And so the baptized baby has already died and risen with Jesus.  The baptized baby has already received the promise of eternal life, and not only the promise but has received eternal life itself.  The baby will never spiritually die again, but at the moment of physical death will immediately be spiritually alive with Christ until the last day when all will rise again. 

And this promise is not just for baptized babies, but is also for you dear friends, who are a touch older than babies.  For baptism isn’t just a onetime event.  It is a lifelong process.  Every day of your life, you are baptized.  As Luther says in the catechism, each day you arise and drown your sin in the waters of baptism.  You are a baptized Christian today, and you will be even forever more. 

In your baptism, your life was hidden with Christ.  In baptism you have died already.  In baptism you are alive forever more with Jesus.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  You have the whole inheritance of Heaven, because your sin is gone with Jesus, and you will live for ever more because of baptism.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Proper 14 - G - 2012 - The Drawing of Jesus

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 14

August 12, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

1 Kings 19:1-8            Ephesians 4:17-5:2      John 6:35-51

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, last week Jesus said the words that begin our text today.  I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  So come to Jesus, come and eat, come to me you who are weary.  Come to me, Jesus says.  Come to Jesus.  But how?  What must you do to come to the bread of life?  What must you do to eat and be satisfied forever?  How do you, a poor miserable sinner, come to Jesus, the bread of life? 

There’s all sorts of answers to the question out there in our world today.  There are people who say, “To come to Jesus, all you need to do is be holy, after all Scripture says, ‘Be holy, as I the Lord your God am holy. (Leviticus 11)’”  This sounds nice, doesn’t it?  And it is scriptural after all – Be holy!  Stop swearing, stop lusting, stop stealing, stop sinning period.  Be holy!  But when we examine ourselves, we pray to God that this isn’t the way to come to Jesus, for we have failed.  If we’re honest with ourselves, we see that despite our best efforts at “holyizing” ourselves, we still lust, steal, and sin.  We aren’t holy, but still unholy sinners.  For scripture says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3)

How do you come to Jesus?  Lately there have been more and more people saying “the way to come to Jesus is love.”  Just love everyone, and ignore what they are doing.  Don’t criticize someone, don’t yell at someone, don’t concern yourself with what they are doing.  Ignore their shortcomings, and just take them for who they are.  Judge not!  Just love.  But we fail at this as well.  We don’t really love everyone, we have all sorts of people we don’t even like.  And we can’t, as good Christians just ignore those who sin around us in the name of love.  Even Jesus told sinners to “Go and leave your life of sin.” 

So how do you come to the bread of life?  There must be some way!  Is there a special prayer I should say?  Do I need to accept him first?  Do I have to give money to the church, do I have to be buried in the right cemetery, do I have to come to church every week?  Do I have to have more good than bad in me?  Do I have to love, do I have to be holy?  What must I do, because no matter what I try, I seem to fail, again, and again.  What must I do, tell me, and I will.

Dear friends of Christ no!  You can’t came Jesus by your own reason or strength, and you can’t believe in him by your own doing.  As Christ himself says in our text, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” 

It is the work of Jesus to be drawn to God.  It is the work of Jesus to come to the Bread of Life.  It is the work of Jesus – entirely, completely and totally.  You don’t provide one ounce of help to God – you are too sinful.  You don’t have to do this or that, you don’t have to be holy.  Your walk up to the communion rail to receive the body and blood of Jesus doesn’t even earn you forgiveness.  It’s all Jesus.  It’s all his work.  It’s all his concern and care.  Jesus is the one who draws you to himself, who reels you in. 

In our text, Jesus himself uses a great illustration to describe this – manna in the wilderness – bread from heaven.  The people of Israel were 40 years in the dessert, without crops, without the normal means of sustenance.  But they ate all the same, for God gave them bread from heaven and quail.  Manna fell from the sky.  The quail flew into their camp to be eaten.  The people didn’t do anything, God was the one who did the work.  God came to them, God drew them in.   

So too with you.  You too are brought to God.  You are drawn to Jesus, and as Jesus says in our text, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”  Jesus brings you into the faith, he does this through Holy Baptism.  There in water you already died, drowned in your sin and were raised up with Jesus into new lie.  Baptism connects you with Jesus who dies on the cross, and raises again. 

Then God draws you in further, as you come through your childhood and learn the faith, as the head of your household teaches it faithfully to the family.  You are brought weekly to church, you are taught in Sunday School and Confirmation – all that Christ has become the salvation from sins in his death and resurrection.  God leads you further, confirming you in your faith, and bringing you to the altar, to eat the very body and blood of Jesus that suffered on your behalf, to take his glory and forgiveness into your own mouth to eat for forgiveness of sins.  And anyone who eats this bread, he will live forever.  Bread for the life of the world. 

Dear friends, Its not you, its not your work, but it is all the work and glory of Jesus Christ on your behalf.  Crucified and risen, to take away the sin of the world.  Its Jesus on your behalf.  The bread of life for you. 

Now, people will grumble and tell you your silly for believing this.  They will mock you and tease you, even hate you.  It happens even to Jesus in our text.  But do not fear, the words of someone taunting won’t stop God from drawing you, from reeling you in.  The hatefilled words of the world can’t prevent Jesus from coming to you to give you forgiveness.  Its there, evermore drawing you in through God’s own words and sacraments.  Its bringing you into heaven. 

I am the bread of life, Jesus says.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. Amen.  

August Newsletter Article - Religious Voting?

   Dear Friends,

Well the time is almost upon us again:  the every four year presidential debacle.  This brings up a rather “heady” topic that I would like to address in this month’s newsletter.  Please bear with me and remember, as your pastor I would like to remain outwardly neutral as far as the candidates go.  I have my own opinions, but it is not my place to tell you to vote for one person or the other.  However, there are two questions that I keep getting asked that I would like to address.  (As I do, I will do my best to remain neutral in this debate.) 

The two questions are as follows:  “Pastor, are Mormons Christian?” and “I can’t vote for a non-Christian can I?”  I’ll take these questions one by one. 

I would like to start with addressing the second question:  “Can a Christian vote for and elect a non-Christian into office?”  Within the Lutheran Church, we firmly hold to the scriptural idea of two kingdoms:  an earthly kingdom, and a heavenly kingdom.  God is king and ruler of both, but he operates in different ways to rule each kingdom. 

Easiest to understand is the heavenly kingdom, as God rules his church by means His Holy Word.  His work in this kingdom is to create faith in Christians through the means of Grace.  (Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Word.)  Thus the church falls under this kingdom, and within the church we are to be subject to nothing else but God and His Word.  In this kingdom, people are taught the faith, and learn to be pious and faithful people.  This kingdom deals with spiritual things only. 

On the other hand is the earthly kingdom.  God rules in the earthly kingdom as well by means of secular government and rulers.  God has allowed the rulers that exist today to rule by only His own will and authority.  He gives governments and rulers the power of the sword: that is to rule with force and power.  Their duty is to maintain peace and justice in our earthly world – in relation to life, liberty, and property on earth.  They are not to be involved in spiritual matters (hence our issues with the Health and Human Services Mandate).

So in the earthly kingdom, God allows earthly rulers to protect and defend their people.  In other words, the Prime Minister of England rules under God’s allowance.  In the same way, the President of Iran rules that country under God’s allowance – even as he does it without true faith.  God allows all leaders of the world to rule and protect their people – to provide for their earthly needs, not spiritual. 

In terms of the earthly kingdom, what one’s faith is does not matter.  We have examples like Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar in Scripture – faithless kings that God appointed to rule for a time.  Similarly, in our own world, be the ruler a Turk or a Jew or a Hindi, they all rule only because the one true Trinitarian God has allowed them to be in that position.  Whoever rules is allowed to be in that position by God’s good and gracious will.  God then works through the things that ruler does, for good or ill, to protect and care for the people of the earth in terms of worldly goods. 

So when you go to the ballot this November (or at any election for that matter), don’t base your vote on the reported “religion” of the person running for office, instead vote for the person you believe will do the better job caring for your earthly needs.  Who will give you more opportunities, who will allow you to get a better job, who will protect you militarily, etc.  In the secular earthly kingdom, faith is not the chief measure.  Luther himself famously said, “I’d rather be ruled by a smart Turk then a dumb Christian.”  In other words, keep religion out of politics, and trust that God will do His work no matter who is in charge. 

As for the Mormon religion itself, no it is not Christian, no matter what Mormons might claim for themselves.  Since the founding of the Christian faith at the resurrection of Jesus (And even before that in Old Testament times) the Christian faith has been monotheistic.  Monotheistic means that we believe in only one God.  The Athanasian Creed itself says, “Whosoever desires to be saved must believe above all else the catholic faith…And the catholic faith is this:  We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity etc.” 

Throughout the ages, this Trinitarian God has been the center of the Christian faith.  Even in scripture itself the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is declared to be One God.  The Mormon religion denies this simple fact.  They do not believe in a trinity, but instead have uncountable numbers of “gods.”  In addition, the god that they most often reference, “the Father,” they believe was once a human just like you and me.  This human lived a good life, and now no longer human but divine. 

With these false teachings (and more), their “church” ceases to be truly Christian, and instead joins the ranks of countless non-Trinitarian cults.  There are many other dangerous teachings and beliefs that they wrongly hold.  These short comings, however, are in the heavenly kingdom.  They have a false faith.  But in the purely secular earthly realm however, they are often very “moral” and “nice” people. 

Bottom line, go and vote, but remember to vote your conscience, not religion.  If you believe current President Obama will do a better job than Candidate Romney based on secular credentials, by all means vote for him, and vice versa.  But as a good Lutheran, please do not vote for someone only based upon their religious faith.  For even if a non-Christian is the earthly ruler, remember, they are there because the one eternal heavenly king and ruler God has consented that they be there for a time.  He will work through their rule to bring about his will. 

In Christ,

Pastor Adam Moline

Proper 11 - G - 2012 - The Shepherd who Gives to His Sheep

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 11

July 22, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Jeremiah 23:1-6           Ephesians 2:11-22       Mark 6:30-44

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, especially these words, “he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Sheep without a shepherd are at risk in a variety of ways.  There is no one to guard them, no one to lead them, no one to gather them together, and no one to feed them.  Sheep without a shepherd live their lives in chaos, running amok, giving into their own desires as a leaf blows in the wind.  There is no right and wrong, and when faced with danger, the whole flock can stampede over a cliff together. 

And yet, it is this phrase that Christ uses about the people in our text today.  He and his disciples have tried to go off by themselves to “a desolate place to rest.”  But the crowds of people run ahead of them to meet them as they get off the boat.  There will be no rest for Christ or his disciples, for these people need a shepherd.  They need someone to have compassion on them, to care for their weaknesses and to provide for their needs even as they are protected from their enemies.  And so the Lord will be their shepherd, so that when they are with him they shall not want. 

Jesus takes time to “teach them” many things.  Things that they need to know.  He proclaimed to them the Gospel of God, and said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand!  Repent and believe in the Gospel.”  (Mark 1:15)  Believe the Word of God, that you are a guilty sinner.  Because of your sin you must die.  Because of your sin you must suffer.  Because of your sin you will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 

In your sin you are sheep without a shepherd – but even so the shepherd is coming. The Shepherd who shall make all things right – who is even now before you.  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.  He shall be, as David was a Shepherd King.  And he will give peace to his people, through his own blood and sacrifice. 

When Christ is done teaching the Scriptures to these people, when he is done restoring their souls with God’s Holy Precious Word, and giving them comfort for sin, their bodies are still hungry.  Their bodies are weak from the heat of the day and the lack of food in that desolate place.  So there on the side of the still waters of the lake, Jesus sets a table before them – a few loaves of bread and a few fish.  Jesus broke them into groups of hundreds and fifties – congregations – and sets each group down in the green grass – green pastures – and gives them a meal that truly satisfies them, the cup Christ gives them overflows.  On that day he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them to eat, along with two fish.  He fed them, and they were full.

The Good Shepherd, on the shore of the water in the green grass fed his sheep, and became their shepherd.  He fed their soul with His Word, and he fed their bodies with bread.  He gave them direction, he gave them purpose, he gave them… forgiveness, and peace, and protection even forevermore.  5,000 men – filled.  5,000 men and their wives and children – stuffed!  What a shepherd!  What a gift! What a blessing!

And dear friends, it is a blessing that God extends to you as well.  You too are sheep without a shepherd are you not?  You too wander to and fro so often without a care in the world.  But even as you do, you are scared, you are worried.  What will tomorrow bring.  Will my health hold out?  When will my end come – years from now, or tomorrow?  Who will protect me as I strive to protect those that I love?  How can I ever do what I need to?  For you are full of sin.  You are guilty beyond belief.  You have sinned in thought word and deed.  You’re a sheep whose run away from God your shepherd.  And in your wanderings all you have found is the valley of the shadow of death. 

So hear the words of your Good Shepherd as he speaks in the Old Testament lesson, “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.  I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.” 

Jesus is your shepherd.  He leads you beside still waters – Nay! through them in baptism.  He breaks you into congregations – groups of hundreds and fifties – just as Jesus does in our text.  He teaches you many things as here in this building His Word is proclaimed to you.  It heals your soul, because His Word tells you the truth:  “YOUR SINS ARE ALL FORGIVEN!  Every one of them – all in the blood of Jesus your Good Shepherd.  Having given you his word, he sets you down in good pasture and sets a table before you – an altar filled with bread and wine that is not just bread and wine, but which is very body and blood of Jesus Christ in with and under bread and wine, again for the forgiveness of sins. 

And just as Christ gave the bread to his disciples to hand out to those gathered in our text, so too does he give an undershepherd to you – to give you his gifts.  An undershepherd, whose job – entirely by the grace of God – is “to care for you, that you shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall any of you be missing,”  To remind you of Jesus who is the true shepherd.  The one who gave all to be with his sheep.  The Good Shepherd Jesus who has compassion on his sheep. 

That’s what today’s Gospel says for you:  “The Lord is your shepherd, so you shall not be in want.  He makes you sit down in green pastures, he leads you beside still waters, and restores your soul.”  “He sets a table before you” “And now, in Christ, in his name, in his gifts, in his promises, “Goodness and mercy shall surely follow you all the days of your lives.”  And at long last, when your journey is over, “you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

God’s promise to you, from the mouth of the Good Shepherd, through the mouth of your lowly undershepherd is this.  You are forgiven, so come and eat that you may be satisfied.  Amen.  

March News&Views from the Pews

Dear Friends in Christ,

The March News&Views is available here

Please enjoy!

Epiphany 5 - G - 2012 - The Gift Greater than Earthly Healing

The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

February 5, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 40:21-31           1 Corinthians 9:16-27         Mark 1:29-39

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read especially these words, “Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else-- to the nearby villages-- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  He did it for Peter’s mother in law, he’ll do it for me too right?  In our Gospel lesson today we see Jesus coming into a town, much like our town.  A town full of people who were sick, people who struggled people who hurt.  Jesus comes to Peter’s house.  His mother in law is sick with a fever, too sick to get up and meet Jesus., too sick to help prepare the meal and the food.   Immediately Jesus takes her by the hand, lifts her up, and she is healed. 

Immediately, she begins to help cook the food, immediately she helps the part – the celebration – to get underway.  As the news spreads throughout the town, countless other people bring in their sick people.  After all, he did it for Peter’s Mother-in-law, so of course he will do it for them as well.  It is a late night of celebration as Jesus heals countless people, from various diseases.  As Jesus, casts out demons, but prevents them from speaking a single word. 

Finally, Jesus goes out to a solitary place, sneaking out to take a break from healing, and he prays.  Finally Jesus tries to catch a rest from the work of healing people, for just like you and I, the God man needs some rest.  As Jesus is praying, Peter hunts him down – “Jesus there are more people coming!  Jesus they need to be healed too  Jesus, you did it for my mother in law, you healed her.  It’s only fair if you will heal these other people too.”

Dear friends in Christ, isn’t that our cry as well.  Dear Lord, we know that you healed all sorts of people in the New Testament.  You gave the blind their sight, you gave the lame to walk, the deaf to hear.  You did all these wonderful powerful things, so won’t you just do the same thing for me?  Won’t you take away my ailment too, its only fair. 

We make these deals with God all the time, and we do it because we believe it is the most important thing.  Heal my father’s cancer.  Heal my uncles kidneys or livers.  Take away my grandfathers weakness.  That’s all I need!  That’s all I want.  Just do that, then I will believe in you, then I will trust in you.  Dear God, can’t you take away my suffering, can’t you raise my friend?  Do for me as you did in Capernaum.  That’s all I need.

Sometimes we even get angry – Dear God, how could you let that happen, when I know that you could have stopped it if you wanted.  I know you could have prevented this event!  Why didn’t you?  You did it for some, why not for others.  All I need is your help in this situation, all I need is your healing.  Give it to me!  Give it to me now!

That’s the same thing Peter says to Jesus in our text.  “Everyone is looking for you Jesus, they want you to heal their sick as well.  It’s all they need.  But Jesus stop’s Peter cold in his tracks.  And dear friends, he stops you in your tracks.  Healing from your earthly maladies is not what you need from Jesus.  It isn’t the most important thing that Jesus came for.  Hear what Jesus says to Peter in our text today. 

“Let us go somewhere else-- to the nearby villages-- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”  Don’t you care Jesus?  Aren’t you concerned with suffering?  Don’t you want everyone to be healed and happy, and to live forever here on this earth?  Can’t you save those people, or are you showing favoritism?  Are you compassionate to some, and not to others? 

Dear friends, the problem is not with Jesus, it is completely and totally with you and with me.  Jesus does care.  Jesus will heal if it is His holy perfect will.  But Jesus has a more important, a more necessary reason that he has come for first, and he tells it to Peter in our text.  I need to preach there also.  I need to go to the next place and preach – that’s why I have come. 

Friends Jesus didn’t come for the reason you wanted him to come!  He didn’t come to be your magic healer, to take away the pain and suffering and sickness of this world through magic tricks.  Jesus came to preach – “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.”  Jesus came to preach “I will be lifted up, and will draw all people to myself.”  And that message of Jesus preaching is more important than any miracle of healing, more important that any miraculous feeding.  Because in that word the whole ball of wax is included. 

That message Repent for I am going to die for your sins.  I will rescue you from your illness, not by healing you just to die again later, but by taking death away forever with my own death.  Repent, turn to me, and I will lead you out of death into eternity, I will spill my blood over you, cover you in it.  Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it forever and ever without end. 

Faith in those words, faith in Jesus will lead you from sickness into life, from death to heaven.  That’s what is most important.  That’s why Jesus came.  Not to put off your death.  Not to leave you alive for a little longer, but to take you away from death in his own cross. 

Friends, each one of us has loved ones who are sick.  Each one of us have people we know who hurt, who are in danger, and we want them to be better.  We want them not to hurt, not to suffer.  We want a perfect world.  We want God to take away their illness so we can have them to ourselves a little longer. 

But friends, Jesus came to give you something greater, something more wonderful.  He came to give you something, as difficult as it is to hear and to believe, more wonderful that the healing of your mother in law or brother.  He came to give you eternity, and to give it to you through preaching and his word.  He came to give you eternity with them before the throne of God.

God gives this to you through preaching.  He gives it to you through the words of a sinful man, who says, “In the stead, and by the command of Christ, I forgive you all your sins.”  He gives it to through the preaching of a man who says, Christ’s own words, “Take and eat, this is Christ’s body.  Take and drink, this is his blood.”  He gives you his word that says, “Christ suffered and died on a cross, and he did it for you, not as a temporary from the sicknesses of this world, but as a permanent rescue.”  Yes it may hurt for awhile.  Yes it is difficult to struggle through on this sinful earth.  But what God gives to you is something more amazing than you can imagine. 

Christ may heal your loved ones, he may not.  He may heal you, he may not.  But he has give you his word either way.  He has given you a gift of eternity, of peace of comfort beyond all understanding – all through the preaching of his word.  Come, hear God’s word.  Come believe His preaching – for that is why he came.  Amen.  

Baptism of our Lord - G - 2012 - Jesus the Sponge

Genesis 1:1-5         Romans 6:1-11            Mark 1:4-11

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  We have all seen a new sponge, sitting idly by the sink, waiting to be used.  It looks pristine.   It is clean and soft.  It isn’t missing any pieces, and it is relatively germ free.  But you know that as soon as you stick it in the dirty dishwater, that clean sponge will soak up all the grease and grime and germs of the dishes you are washing.  A clean white sponge becomes a nasty brown and crusty sponge.  It takes the dirt of the water up into itself.  It no longer is clean, but it is stained with the goop of the other things in the water. 

Friends, that is what happens in our Gospel lesson today.  Jesus Christ, the spotless, sinless Son of God gets down into the dirty water of the Jordan River, and is baptized.  The baby who was born pure and holy, the Savior who has no sin of his own soaks up all the yucky disgusting things that are in the baptismal waters in the Jordan River. 

You see, for Jesus, the baptismal waters were not clean.  They were full of filth, filth that you and I had put in the waters.  For we, just like Jesus in our text today were baptized.  We too, just like Jesus were washed in the waters of baptism.  For you and for me, those waters washed away all our bad things.  It washed away our sin. 

For our sin stains each and every one of us.  Scripture says our sin is as scarlet.  Isaiah says, “For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.”  You are guilty.  You are dirty with sin.  It corrupts all your nature.  Your sin is so great that it is like you have been wallowing in the mire, covered in mud. 

This sin doesn’t just cover your outside, it penetrates deep into the very recesses of your soul.  It has become a very part of your nature.  You cannot help but sin, as Scripture says, you are a slave to sin.  “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” Jesus says.  Because of your sin, when God looks at you, he sees your filth, even the hidden filth.  When God looks at you, he sees all the wrong you have done and received.  He knows your guilt.  It stains your very being. 

But you have been baptized.  You have been washed by God.  All that disgustingness of your sin was washed, inside and out, here in a few drops of water and the Word.  There you are washed, made whiter than snow.  There you no longer are guilty, but instead forgiven.  In baptism all the sin of your body of your soul, that which you know and that which you don’t know is taken away from you.  In baptism you are clean. 

We all know what happens when you wash the dirt off of something in a tub.  The water becomes dirty.  The water takes up the filth that is washed away and stains the water.  That, friends is the water that Jesus climbs into today.  Water filled with your sin.  Water filled with your guilt.  Water that is dirty.  And Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, just like a sponge, soaks up your sin and guilt.  As Jesus goes down into the water He is clean, and as He comes out he is filthy with your sin. 

In fact, you can say, that after Jesus soaks up your sin, he is the biggest sinner ever, the greatest sinner in the whole world.  For he has all the sin of you his people.  And as he comes out of the water, God says, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  God is pleased, because you are saved.  God is pleased because Jesus has taken your sin and given you His righteousness.  Because you have traded places.  Where once he was clean and you were dirty, now he is dirty and you are clean. 

Jesus takes your sin, and he bears it through this world.  He carries it boldly and humbly onward through his life, setting his eyes on his ultimate goal.  Destroying that sin.  Killing that sin.  Eliminating it from you forever, preventing you from taking it back to yourself.  Jesus, who has soaked up your sin, goes to the cross of his own free will, to suffer and die for all your sin. 

For it is his blood, the blood that pours out of his hands, his feet, and his side.  The blood which comes from his wounds that truly cleans away your sin that he carries.  In his death you are given life.  In his death you are rescued, because in his death your sin gets killed forever.  Your filth is destroyed, run down the drain if you will.  And you are left clean forever before God.

Dear friends in Christ, you have been baptized, just as Jesus is in our text today.  And so when God looks at you, he no longer sees your filth and sin, but he sees his Son Jesus and his righteousness.  And so he looks to you and says, “You are my child, and with you I am well pleased.”  For you are cleaned in Jesus.  You are rescued in his death.  You are set free forever.  Amen. 

Paul Alan Fenske Prayer Service

Dear friends in Christ, baptism is an amazing thing.  In baptism, with simple water and word, death is destroyed, swallowed up forever.  In baptism, we die with Jesus, and then are raised with him.  Every person who has been baptized has already died, and been raised into eternal life.  Because of baptism, while we mourn, we know that death is not the end for those who believe in Jesus.

Why speak of this today?  Why bring up something that happened to Paul 52 years ago when there have been so many things that have happened since then?  Why bring up baptism before cancer, and pain? 

Why?  Because Paul’s baptism is important today, when all our senses try to tell us that Paul is now gone.  It is so important today as we are gathered here with family and friends to mourn the loss of a father, a grandfather, a son and a brother.  It is important because today we hurt deeply.  Today we mourn.  Today we wonder what has happened to Paul. 

But I tell you the truth, baptism has done an amazing thing for Paul – not just baptism, but the One whom Paul was bound to in the waters of baptism.  For Paul already had died, more than 50 years ago.  He died with Jesus, was buried with Jesus, and as our text says, “if he died with Christ, we believe he also lives with him.” 

In water, in a font at Trinity Lutheran Church Great Bend, Jesus grabbed ahold of Paul, and carried him through death into life.  In Baptism, Jesus carried Paul through cancer, through suffering, through pain and agony, and brought him safely into God’s eternal kingdom.  There he will no longer thirst, nor will he hunger, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne is his shepherd.  There, Jesus wipes all tears away from his eyes with nail marked hands. 

Friends, one who dies in Christ “has been set free from sin.”  One who dies in Christ, “walks forever in newness of life.”  Baptism is that place where faithful Christians like Paul, and like you, die with Christ.  Baptism is that thing that gives us hope today, hope that cancer is not the end, that in “death no longer has dominion” over us. 

I won’t lie to you, these past few days have been difficult.  They have brought us pain, and they will not magically get better over the coming weeks and months.  Death hurts.  It makes us weep and mourn, and long to be with the one who has departed.  But it is not the end for those who believe and are baptized into Jesus.  For Christ has destroyed death and gives eternal life to all who believe in him.

Friends, because Paul was baptized let not your hearts be troubled, even as you mourn.  For Jesus has come and taken Paul unto himself, to a place where they might be together, forever.  It’s a place with many rooms, a place of peace, a place of life.  It’s a place of living water, where God’s baptized people are raised to live with Jesus forever.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, for if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

In baptism, Jesus does an amazing thing.  He brings you, me, and yes our dear friend Paul through death into life.  Because of baptism, while we mourn, we know that death is not the end.  In baptism, in Jesus, death is destroyed forever.  Amen

Christmas Eve - G - 2011 - Oh By the Way, Jesus Was Born On Christmas Day

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen, our text today is from the Gospel of Matthew just read, especially these words, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, on a dark night, nearly 2000 years ago, a little baby rested in a barn outside an inn.  We all know the Christmas story, or in so far as the nativities in our living rooms tell it.  Jesus was born, there were cows lowing and sheep quietly sitting there, while wise men arrived and shepherds gawked.  As we imagine this scene, we are hit with its sentimental theme.  We like to think about baby Jesus, we like to picture him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.  It makes us feel good to picture.  And it should, that little baby has come because of you.

But in our text today, Matthew doesn’t spend time on angels and shepherds, or even sheep or great tidings of joy.  St. Matthew almost mentions the birth of Jesus as if saying, “Oh, by the way, he was born.”  You see, in the Gospel of Matthew, the focus is on all the other things going on at the time.  Joseph thought Mary was cheating on him before they were married.  He was trying to call the whole thing off in a holy and upright way.  You can only imagine the scandal that was going on!  Mary claimed God gave her a baby, and Joseph had his doubts. 

And so in the midst of this scandal, a young woman pregnant and a fiancé in doubt, Jesus is born.  In the midst of chaos, in the midst of doubts, in the midst of struggles in regular people’s lives, the only begotten Son of God was born, and born for a reason.  In fact, dear friends in Christ, it is good that Matthew writes his Gospel in this particular way, because it reflects our own lives, doesn’t it?

Christmas time is here, and family is in town, we want to try and spend some time with them before they head home again.  We have had a busy month of preparation, and now it is crunch time: get the food cooked, get the dishes cleaned, rush, rush, rush, until we get to January – then we can work, work, work so that we can pay off all our Christmas bills.  We are always busy.  Our lives are always chaotic.  We have our own problems and issues that come up, just like Joseph and Mary. 

In the midst of it all, it is easy to lose track of what is actually going on in our text.  It is easy to lose track of the reason we are gathered here tonight.  Jesus is born.  And He is born for a purpose.  Jesus enters our busy lives, and he comes to save us from them.  He comes to rescue us.

The little babe is born to die for you, as we sing, He is “Born that man no more may die.  Born to raise the sons of earth.”  That babe is born, so that “now the foe, sin and woe, death and hell are broken.”  He’s born for you.  He lays in a manger for you.  He lives for you.  And most importantly he will die for you.  For thirty years, Jesus lived here on this earth.  He interacted with countless people in the midst of their busy sinful lives.  He helped those who struggled as his own parents had.  He cared for the broken hearted, he cared for the sick and he healed those who needed him.  And most importantly, he set his eyes on Golgotha, and suffered on an old rugged cross, on a Friday we call Good. 

That is who this baby is, and friends, today he enters into your own busy lives as well.  You don’t need do anything, you don’t need to invite him in.  He comes!  He comes on his own for you.  He is with you in your struggles and promises something better for you.  He is as our text says, Immanuel, God with us, with us at all times and in all places.  With us for calm and peace. 

Dear friends, it’s Christmas, and tonight we have sung countless Christmas hymns all describing the joy and wonder of angels and shepherds – good hymns that we love and cherish.  But tonight, in just a few minutes, we will turn down the lights, and have a minute of silence.  Silence in the midst of our busy lives, silence in the midst of suffering and struggles.  Silence to reflect on the meaning of this day.  And as we sit in the dark, a warm glow will build from our candles, as we celebrate the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. 

For with Jesus, it truly is a silent night, a holy night.  All is calm, and all is bright.  He has come.  He has come for you.  He will die for you.  All so that you may have his chickens.  Merry Christmas dear friends in Christ.  Merry Christmas.  Amen.  

Advent 4 - O - 2011 - Your King Forever

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16     Romans 16:25-27         Luke 1:26-38

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, especially these words, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.  Your throne shall be established forever.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Forever is a long time.  We have all made light of this fact by saying “that car ride took forever,” “it took forever for the sequel of my favorite movie to come out,” or even, as we may admit, “that sermon took forever in church!”  We doubt forever could happen, and we use it as an excuse when things seem to fall apart in our lives.  Forever is a long time, so long in fact that we often say, “nothing lasts forever.” 

And yet, in our text today, God promises David forever.  “Your throne, David, will be established forever.”  In other words, there will always be a Davidic king ruling.  One of David’s children or grandchildren will always be a king.  It will be that way forever.  God has said so, David, he has made you a promise. 

What is David to do?  Should he doubt God’s word, should he tell God, “Well Lord, nothing lasts forever, so your promise must not be true.”  Nothing lasts forever, so don’t you have a different promise for me?  Nothing lasts forever, so will my throne really be established. 

If you look at the history recorded in scripture, it would seem that should this have been David’s view, if he had been a cynic, he would be right.  During the reign of David’s grandson, the kingdom of Israel divided into two different kingdoms, that began warring with one another.  These kings, some of whom were descended from David, turned from God and turned from faith before finally the kingdom of David was destroyed and taken into captivity by the Babylonians.  After all nothing lasts forever, right? 

So often we too have that same view.  For we too have a promise of “forever” in our lives.  God has promised that he will be with us “forever”, never leaving nor forsaking us.  God has promised that we shall live with him “forever,” and yet we see loved ones passing away.  God will love us forever, and yet, sometimes we don’t feel like it do we?  He will forgive us forever, and yet sometimes we still feel guilty for things we have done wrong (sometimes rightly by the way.   Is God really keeping his promises to us, or is forever just too good to be true? Is it true that nothing really lasts forever?

Dear friends in Christ, when God says something is forever, he means it, even if we cannot understand how or why, or even see the way it will all work out.  God told David, “I will establish your house forever,” and He meant it.  Hear again our Gospel text for today, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.  And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’”

Even for David, when it seems that forever is gone, that there is no hope of it being fulfilled, God keeps his promise of forever.  900 years after David dies, a descendant of his is born.  900 years later, in the city of David, good tidings of great joy occur.  For God keeps his promise, and a new king is born.  Jesus, whose first throne is but a manger in a stable.  He is the king  descended from David.  He is the one who will reign in David’s place forever.  A king is born, lowly in a manger.

And dear friends, he reigns for you as well, keeping God’s promises of forever for you.  For the same King Jesus, descendant of David, enthroned in a manger will also be enthroned in a much more painful place.  He will wear a crown of thorns and a robe stained in his own blood, until stripped naked he is enthroned upon a wooden cross for all the world to see.  It is that King, who is enthroned forever.  It is that King who is both our God and our Lord.  It is that King who will keep all of God’s promises to you. 

You are forgiven, FOREVER, for the sins of the whole world were placed on your king, as he died in your place.  You need not continue to feel guilty for them.  They are no longer yours, but his.  You are free and forgiven for ever.  God has promised that you will live forever, and you know this to be true, for death cannot destroy your King Jesus.  Even when he lied dead in a tomb for three days, he returned to life, and so will you.  Your King is the very Resurrection and the Life, FOREVER, and he gives that life to you in the very waters of life in baptism. 

You are loved FOREVER, for your God promises you heaven, a place where you may stand before him, not in shame, not in sorrow, but in peace.  God has promised that his own hand, with the hole from a nail still in it, will wipe away all the hurt and pain of this world. 

God keeps his promises to us, especially the promise of forever.  And if we doubt it at times, all we need do is look at the baby in the manger, the one whose birth we celebrate next week, the babe, the son of Mary.  David’s throne is established forever, and God lives and reigns today – over you, over me, and his reign shall have no end.  He is your God, your redeemer, your savior, and he will be FOREVER.  Amen.  

Advent Midweek 2 - 2011 - From Heaven Above to Earth I Come

6 How glad we'll be to find it so!
Then with the shepherds let us go
To see what God for us has done
In sending us His own dear Son.

7 Come here, my friends, lift up your eyes,
And see what in the manger lies.
Who is this child, so young and fair?
It is the Christ Child lying there.

8 Welcome to earth, O noble Guest,
Through whom the sinful world is blest!
You came to share my misery
That You might share Your joy with me.

9 Ah, Lord, thou You created all,
How weak You are, so poor and small,
That You should choose to lay Your head
Where lowly cattle lately fed!

10 Were earth a thousand times as fair
And set with gold and jewels rare,
It would be far too poor and small
A cradle for the Lord of all.

Colossians 1: 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the hymn verses sang, as well as from the following words from John, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ, It’s amazing!  It’s beyond belief!  It’s impossible!  The God who created the entire Universe, the One who made the stars and the planets, the seas and the land, the One who is so powerful that all he need do is speak things and they exist, is coming to us, to lie in a manger.  The infinite God of the universe will be contained within a tiny, helpless, cuddly human being. 

Ah, Lord, though You created all, How weak You are, so poor and small, That You should choose to lay Your head Where lowly cattle lately fed!  How easy is it for us to just ignore this truth, to disbelieve what is happening.  How easy would it be to doubt this miracle: that God would be enclosed into one person.  After all, if Jesus is really God, then the same God who made all the animals needs his diapers changed.  If Jesus is really God, then he needs to be fed and burped and rocked to sleep.  So it can’t be true, can it?

John writes, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”  It’s the truth: the world will not believe that the little baby is God.  The world will not believe that the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient God of All could be lying in the arms of a virgin helplessly.  And dear friends, all of this crazy talk is easy for us to dismiss as well.  

We don’t want a weak god, but a powerful one.  We don’t want a helpless god, but a mighty one.  We want a god that fits our image of what a god should be. 

But our God must be weak to accomplish what he wishes to.  As our hymn says, “You came to share my misery, That You might share Your joy with me.”  You see, God leaves his power behind for you.  He becomes frail for you.  He becomes a baby so that he can die just like you.  He becomes weak so that he can go to Golgotha, die, and be raised again in your place. 

God comes and shares with us in our sin, with us in our pain, with us in our struggles.  He is Immanuel, God with us.  And he is with us in all things, including our frailties, so that he can suffer and die for sin. 

For our frail God can be beaten and bleed.  Our God can have thorns pushed into his head; he can have nails driven through his hands.  He can die for your sin.  He can die for your doubt.  Just as he will shortly come and lie weakly in the arms of Mary, He will also die weak. 

How glad we'll be to find it so!  Then with the shepherds let us go To see what God for us has done In sending us His own dear Son.  Rejoice, he is coming for you.  Rejoice he is weak to die for your sin.  Rejoice, He is coming, not in power and majesty, but in weakness to save you from sin.  Amen.

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.  

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.