2010 North Dakota District Pastor's Conference Sermon

I was assigned to preach at the 2010 ND Fall Pastor's Conference in Minot last week.  This is the sermon I preached for the occasion. 

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the epistle lesson assigned for yesterday, 2 Timothy 1:1-14,

"1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,2 To Timothy, my beloved child:  Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to [1] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, [2] 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. [3] 13 Follow the pattern of the sound [4] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Dear Brothers in Christ.  Two parents were asking there 8 year old son what he wanted to be when he grew up.  He told them he wasn't sure, he hadn't really thought it through.  The boy's mother said, "Well, perhaps you should be a pastor, you seem really interested in theology."  The boy's father nodded his head in agreement while the boy thought about it.  "I don't know mom," he replied, "I'm not sure I want to be a pastor.  I don't think I want to sit around listening to everybody else's problems all day." 

So it seemed to this 8 year old that a pastor's job was mostly in dealing with other people's problems all day.  Now 18 years later, he stands in front of you having spent a little over 2 months as an ordained minister and he wonders, how far off the mark was his innocent comment.  Not to say people are always complaining to him, but there are still enormous responsibilities and issues to deal with as an under shepherd of God's flock. 

Fellow brothers in Christ's ministry, you know the issues of what I speak.  Sin surrounds us at ever turn.  In every direction we see Satan's work, and we are asked how deal with it.  We are asked what should be done here or there, and at times it is simply overwhelming.  For only two months have I been a pastor, and already I have seen the affects and results of sin on the people of my congregations, and it makes me wonder, what more will I see, and what have you yourselves seen?

Have you seen pain, sorrow and hurting? A man, who has lost his wife, and now is uncertain what to do, and he comes to the pastor asking "Why did this happen?  Why does God allow cancer?  I am so lonely."  And the pastor must give an answer.  We are confronted with a young woman who wants to be a mother, and yet, has miscarriage after miscarriage.  "Why Lord, can I not be a parent?  Why is God keeping this joy from me?  What happens to the still born child's soul?" and again the Pastor must speak.

Have you seen sin and its effects on your sheep?  Countless young couples who are living together before marriage coming to the pastor, wanting to be married, and the pastor must ask "Lord, how do I handle this situation in a God pleasing manner, both speaking the truth in kindness and gentleness, while still conveying what You think of this sin?"  Pastors are confronted by questions about homosexuality, pornography, alcoholism, drugs and more, and the question is asked, "Why is this wrong?"  "Pastor, why do you have stick your nose in my personal business on these issues? Why can't you just live and let live?"  In addition to these things just mentioned, have you been faced with difficult questions regarding beliefs?  Pastor, why are some people saved and not others?  Pastor, why can't my cousin come up for communion?  Pastor why can't we have women pastors? 

Or maybe you have seen people's fears.  "What happens when I die?  What if I wasn't good enough?  Can God really forgive my sin, because oh Pastor, I have been bad."  Pastors face the fears of people who are not sure how they will make ends meet this month or week, people uncertain how they will feed themselves this week.  There are fears of death, fears of the unknown, fears of not receiving forgiveness.  And these fears include our family and friends as well.  "Pastor, is my mother really in heaven, I don't know.  Pastor, my brother never went to church.  Pastor my kids stopped attending after confirmation." 

As God's under shepherds, we are confronted with this barrage from all sides.  Often we are left awake at night wondering how we will deal with a particular situation, or wondering how God really is working through this situation.  We feel like we are on the front lines of a battle, and we are uncertain what to do or how to do it, because when we are honest, we are no different from those people coming to us.  We have the same struggles and questions.  We too have sorrow and hurting as we share in the death of a loved one, or a family member.  We have sin, both in our thoughts and in our deeds, by what we have done, and what we have left undone.  We know we have not loved God or our neighbors as we ought to.  We too have fears as we wonder how in the world we can handle and deal with the situations before us.  We have questions, "Have I handled this correctly?  Have I said the right thing?  How can God expect me to deal with that?"

We really aren't any different than those whom we shepherd, are we? Perhaps at times we even feel like we are worse, because we can see our own sin and feel our own sinful hypocrisy as we deal with people in our congregations.  Hypocrisy because St. Paul says a pastor should be "Above reproach, husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money and more."  Well, is that you?  It is not me, and I suspect that not a one of us really can fit such a high standard.  Sin is on the offensive, and we are its target.  So where do we turn? 

I can only imagine that St. Timothy asked this same question, "Where do I turn?" And that dear brothers, is why today's text is so important for us today.  Timothy was faced with the same problems and situations which we face today.  St. Paul gives him comfort for all these problems.  Comfort "Not because of our own works, but because of God's own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus." 

Comfort that says in the face of sin, we have hope, hope in the blood and death of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, sent to redeem us all from our sin.  In Him and Him alone do we have comfort and peace in the face of a sinful world.  As our text says, Jesus "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."  In response to the difficult situations with which we are faced, perhaps where we have no good answers, we look to Jesus on the cross and say, "There is our answer." 

In response to your fears, Jesus says, "In my death and resurrection, I bring you to eternal life apart from tears and weeping."  To your sin Jesus says, "You are covered in my blood, as I have taken your sin from you as far as the east is from the west."  To your pain and sorrow, Jesus says "I am the lamb in the midst of the throne, and I am your shepherd, and I will wipe away every tear from your eyes."  In Jesus, and Jesus alone, we have Grace and Mercy. 

After all this gospel is for us pastors too.  It is for us men who serve as under shepherds just as it is for those to whom we minister in Jesus' name.  Jesus died for the sin of all of us pastors too, and we share in the glorious promises of Jesus.  Each of you has been baptized, and in those waters you were washed in the blood of the lamb.  As St. Paul wrote to Titus, "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness."  Not because of our holiness, not because of  how well we have served him in our congregations.  No.  He saved us "according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, who he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior." 

Here today we are gathered together, and we receive more comfort in his "true body and blood" under the bread and wine "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."  Forgiveness for our short coming, comfort in times of struggles, promise in the everlasting message of the Gospel.  These are the gifts that God gives to you, as an under shepherd in His church, just as you share them with those you serve in His Name. 

Dear brothers in Christ, the only way that we can serve as pastors in Gods church, the only way we can faithfully serve God's people in the daily struggles of their lives, is in faith in the forgiveness that Jesus pours out upon us and all people.  As our text says, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved you and called you to a holy calling, not because of your works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave you in Christ Jesus, before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" in you and in your parishioners "for which you were appointed a preacher and teacher."  Dear brothers in Christ, Jesus will guard you in your ministry.  He will support you in struggles.  He will work through your preaching and teaching.  He promised it to Timothy, he promised it to Paul, and he promises it to you, sealing that promise with his own death and resurrection. 

18 years ago, I thought being a pastor meant only listening to other people's problems.  I couldn't have been further from the truth.  Instead, being a pastor means sharing with other people in receiving the gifts of forgiveness life and salvation earned through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

LWML Sunday 2010

Grace mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text for today, LWML Sunday, is from Psalm 119 verse 105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Elizabeth and I like to go on walks.  It is something that we can do almost any time anywhere.  Many evenings when finally we are done with our days' tasks we will walk up and down main street here, it is a good way to relax, a good way to get some exercise, and a good way to spend time with one another.  In my mind also, it will counteract the piece of pie that I ate earlier, or the dozen cookies that I somehow managed to eat.  Walking is good exercise. 

God too calls us to walk, though not necessarily up and down the streets here in Hankinson.  Rather God calls us to walk in His word, to spend time in it, reading, learning and inwardly digesting it.  In our reading today from Psalm 119, we are told, "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."  God invites us to be in his word daily, assuring us that he is with us to guide and lead us.  God promises to be with us in His word guiding us and directing us to the most important message, the message of Jesus Christ. 

But unfortunately, we do not always do a good job at walking in God's word.  There are so many other things going on in our lives.  Sometimes it seems like from the moment we get up to the moment we go to sleep, we don't stop moving and working.  We always have something to do, Work, School, after school sports, homework, cooking dinner, making the bed, brushing your teeth, the list could go on and on and on.  Where are we supposed to find time to be in God's word?  What do we have to give up to make sure we have time in God's word?

But God calls us to be in his word anyways, and when we fail to find time to make God's word a priority, we are weakened.  It reminds me of some of the shut-in visits I have made since I have been here.  There are several members who have injured a foot or a leg, requiring it to be in a cast for a period of time.  When finally the cast is removed, the leg is weak. The muscles are not as strong, because they have not been used.  To return to their former strength, they need to be exercised, to be stretched, to be active again. 

The same is true in our faith.  Without constantly being in God's word, without seeing over and over again what God says about us and our lives, our faith becomes weak.  We wander from God, and instead trust in other things.  Just as a person whose leg has been in a cast has trouble walking, we have trouble walking in faith with God's word.  With out spending time in God's word, we are weakened in faith.

In this weakened faith, we do not walk in the way of peace.  Our text says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Without the word of God creating and sustaining faith in our hearts, we walk in the dark, we wander about aimlessly, following what ever our hearts desire rather than what God wants us to.  It reminds me of camping as a child, and walking out in the woods in the dark.  You cannot see where you are going, or where you have been. 

Without God's word we do not know that we have sinned, following false Gods.  Without God's word we do not know what is right from wrong, and more often then not choose wrong for our lives.  Without God's word, we would not know our own situation, our own sickness in sin, or the inevitable result of that sin, eternal death.  Without God's word, we are the blind leading the blind.   Friends in Christ, we need the word of God.  It is the means by which the medicine of the Gospel is proclaimed to us.  But yet we cannot find the time to spend in it.  We turn away from it, walking in our own personal darkness of sin. We despise the word of God, and its preaching, breaking the 3^rd commandment.  We despise preaching and His Word, and do not gladly hear and lean it. 

But Christ keeps on coming to you anyways.  To get you into his Word, God sends jesus to you.  Jesus who himself is the very Word of God made flesh.  Jesus wants you to be his own holy possession.  He wants to walk with you through your life, lighting your way, and guiding your path.  Jesus gives you the gift of the word, and through the Holy Spirit's working in that word, you are ever pointed to the cross of Jesus.  The entire word of God, both Old and New testaments, point to Jesus on the cross.  Jesus on the cross, dying for you and your sin, including sins of neglecting the Word of God.

And Jesus continues to preach this message of forgiveness to you throughout your lives.  In the Word, we see God's eternal plan for you, life with Him.  Jesus wants to walk with you in His word.  He wants to you to be his dear brothers and sisters, and so He gives you means to do that.  He gives you preaching, where every week the word of God is proclaimed to you, and in that proclamation, the forgiveness of sins through Jesus is announced to you.  He gives you baptism, where Water and the Word are connected for forgiveness, rescue from death and the devil, and you are given faith.  Jesus gives you his very body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  In these things, Jesus is a "Lamp to your feet, and a light to your path." 

And Jesus doesn't only give you these gifts, but he continues to pour them out upon you.  God's giving of gifts to you is like filling a teaspoon with a fire hose, they keep coming and coming all the days of your lives.  You are always being inundated by Christ's work and word, even when it doesn't feel like it.  Jesus is always proclaiming himself to you.

And that is part of the reason for our special celebration today.  The LWML has being in the business of proclaiming the Word of God to people since 1942.  Through small donations, and the collection of "mites", it has been supporting the preaching and teaching of the Word of God throughout the world.  These ladies gather and hear the word of God together, and then proclaim that message to those around them.  Millions of dollars have been raised through them and used to help those in need. 

And the ladies in our own congregation, our own LWML, has been helping with this as well.  We too have gathered and supported the church, not just in its international mission, but also in its local mission.  Our LWML provides Bible Study opportunities, meeting once a month around God's word, and allowing opportunities for that to be shared with others. 

Yesterday St. John's LWML hosted all of the other ladies from the area in a gathering to continue to proclaim God's word, and to receive God's word themselves.  Last week, Immanuel's LWML hosted a booth for young children of the community to come and do a craft project and got the opportunity to work with and proclaim Christ to the children of this community. 

The LWML receives God's gifts through the world, and then passes them on to others.  They are a great example of how God works through his Word in our lives.  For God, the crucified Jesus, is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.  I encourage you to walk in this forgiveness of sins that Jesus gives you just as the LWML does, and just as Christ calls all of us to. 

The Word gives you forgiveness.  The Word gives you life.  The Word has died on the cross for you.  The Word made flesh, the incarnate Son of God now makes himself known to you through means, and all of these means revolve around His Word.  Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word, Curb those who by deceit or sword, would rest the kingdom from your Son, and bring to not all he has done.  May God grant this to you all.  Amen. 

German Cota wedding

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our texts for today are the readings we just heard.  Dear Friends and Family of the bride and groom, members, and especially you Chad and Memory. 

Our text today speaks of a miracle.  Two separate individuals are joined together for a lifetime into one flesh.  Two different people are joined, two lives are united to spend their remainder together.  Two become one.  And Chad, Memory, that is why we are here today, for you two to be joined together by God into one flesh, just like Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. 

Our text today really is a miracle, isn't it?  God created the entire world, and everything in it out of nothing, and gave it as a gift to the first man, Adam.  But God did not want him to experience it alone.  He wanted Adam to have someone to share his time with, someone to laugh with, someone to smile at.  God wanted the man to have according to the text, "A helper fit for him." 

So God took the man and put him a deep sleep, and taking part of the man's flesh, he forms for him a helper, a soul mate, and God takes the woman to Adam and right away he marries them.  Not only does God marry them, but he sets the standard for every single wedding that has occurred since, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."  Upon God speaking these words Adam and Eve were one flesh.

Jesus tell us in our Gospel ,"What God has joined together, let not man separate".  Through God's grace, Adam and Eve lived many long years together.  They spent the good years and the bad years together.  They dealt with fights within their family (Genesis 4).  Through God's grace they supported one another, even as they made mistakes (Gen 3) and errors.  Through God's forgiveness to each of them, they were able to forgive one another as well.  They loved one another, not based upon that fuzzy happy feeling we often think of as love, but rather on the Love that God first showed to them, and they then shared with one another.  Throughout the years of their lives, and we know Adam lived to be 930 years old, they spent it loving, forgiving and sharing their lives with one another.  God had joined them together, and no man could separate them.

Memory, Chad the same is true for you as well.  Here today you stand before this altar and this congregation to pledge that you will be married to one another for life.  This too is a miraculous working of God.  God created each of you, knitting you together in your mother's wombs, and giving each of you life.  He was with you as you each were raised by your parents, and as you grew up into the individuals who stand here today.  God was there working in your lives as you were set up on a date and met and over time fell in love.  God has worked through it all.

Today, God will work in your lives again, as through the fumbling words of a sinful pastor, God will join you together into one flesh.  In a few short minutes, God will take you Memory, and you Chad, and through his work, makes you Chad and Memory.  It's a miracle.  It's amazing how God works this in your life, and how God will keep you in this relationship, one flesh, until one of you finally reaches the end of your earthly life. 

But you cannot make this journey as one flesh alone.  You cannot hope that the two of you together are strong enough in your selves to make it.  You see Chad and Memory, there will be struggles.  There will be challenges.  There will be times where money will be tight, and you wonder how you will make ends meet.  There will be times of pain and sorrow.  There will be fights with in your family.  There will be stress and tension.  There will be times of helplessness.  These times will be there for you…  "But what God has joined together, let not man separate."  This isn't a command this is a promise.  Chad and Memory, today God will join you together, and nothing in this sinful world will be able to separate you. 

Chad, Memory, God has promised that he will be there in your relationship, in good times and in bad, just as he was in Adam and Eve's relationship.  God will be there with forgiveness for each of you, forgiveness based upon the blood of Jesus Christ shed for you upon a cross.  God will be there for you with Grace, grace earned and promised by the very Word made flesh.  God will be there for you, with Love, love that he will pour out upon each of you, and that you will share with one another as it overflows from Jesus' love for you. 

In this grace, love and forgiveness, will you live out your lives as one flesh.  When faced with a challenge in your life, God promises to be there with you, as you go forward in His mercy, knowing that Christ has overcome the world and all challenges with in it.  And, in this love, forgiveness and joy of Christ, you will also face joys.  Joy as you both one day meet Chad Jr. or little Memory.  Joys as you share with one another in worship.  Joy as you live together as one flesh. 

Chad and Memory, in the love of Jesus God today unites you as one flesh.  After today, you are no longer only Chad, only Memory, but you will be Chad and Memory Cota.  And what God has joined together, let no man or no thing separate.  May God richly bless you in your married lives together.  Amen. 

 

LWML Rally Opening Devotion

IN the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Let us pray, Dear Lord, heavenly Father.  Today we gather in your name to serve you.  We pray that you would bless our time here at the LWML rally as you promise to do.  Bless our study of the word, and keep our faiths strong and trusting in you, as you tell us, wherever two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us, so be with us today.  Through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.  Amen. 

Our reading is from Matthew Chapter 11.  "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Weariness.  How many of you have felt weary the last few weeks?  It is something that I think all of us deal with at one time or another isn't it?  We all have times where things just seem to wear you down, making life exhausting and difficult.  Sometimes, it seems like there is more to do than there are hours in the day to accomplish, and it really makes us tired.  Job after job after job.  We have to get up, make the bed, do the laundry, cook to meals, clean the house and more.  This is just the start of the list.  We have much to do, and sometimes the burden of it weighs us down. 

And on top of that, we have sin.  Sin, by which our thoughts words and deeds go against God's will in what we say and do.  Sin that overwhelms us with the knowledge we deserve eternal death and punishment.  Even our sin makes us weary.  Even our sin makes us tired.  The psalmist says in psalm 130, Out of the depths have I called unto you O Lord.  And that is where we are, in the depth of our sin, and in our sin we are weary of trudging through and dealing with it.

But our text today tells us that there is rest.  Our text tells us there will be a time when we need not be weary any more.  Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden… and I will give you REST!"  Jesus tells us there is rest for our souls.  Rest from our sin, rest from our tiredness.  Rest and comfort for eternity.

Jesus Christ can give us that rest because he has taken our tiredness and weariness upon himself.  Wearily he bore the cross up the hill of Golgatha, bloodied and bruised.  He was heavy laden with the weight of the cross, and the weight of your sin upon his own shoulders, bearing it for you.  He was exhausted as he hung upon the cross, barely able to speak the words, "It is finished."  In these words, you have rest.  Rest in the knowledge that your sin is atoned for.  Rest knowing that in the death and resurrection of Jesus you have eternal life.  Rest and Peace in Jesus.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you," Jesus says.  No, not as the world gives, but as Jesus gives peace to you.  You have rest and peace with your heavenly father in Jesus. 

"Come to me all that are weary and heavy laden," Jesus tells us.  And the miracle is even though we are unable to come to him, that rather Jesus comes for us.  Jesus comes for you.  Jesus comes and brings you rest.  Amen. 

Dear Lord, heavenly father, We ask that you would give us rest in your son Jesus Christ, and in His death and resurrection.  Grant that those times here and now in our lives where we feel weary, that we might have that rest in Jesus.  Be with us today as we gather as an LWML zone, and give us a rest and respite from the world here as we gather in the holy, powerful and precious name of Jesus, that same name in which we pray.  Amen.  

Proper 20 - Series C - Gospel - "Faithful Jesus"

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 (Luke 16:1-15), especially verses 10-13, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a  very little is also dishonest in much.  If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?  No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and Money."  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  A little boy wanted a pet dog, and so he asked his parents again and again to have a dog.  "Having a Dog is a great responsibility," his mother told him.  "You have to walk him, feed him, and care for him.  Tell you what, if you prove to me that you are responsible enough to keep your room cleaned, get your homework done, and do all your other chores, you can have a dog.  You have to prove you can handle these little things before you can handle the big responsibilities of a pet."

"One who is faithful in very little, is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."  So Jesus tells us in our text.  Are you faithful, or are you dishonest?  The dictionary defines faithful as "True" or "Adhering completely to something".  Does that describe you, or not? 

It does not describe the steward in our text.  He was the head of a rich man's household, in charge of running the daily affairs of the master.  But he did not do so according to the master's will.  He was not faithful to what the master desired.  Instead he squandered what the master had put him in charge of, wasting it.  Charges were brought up against the man, and he was out of the job, left to fend for himself.  "What shall I do," he says, "I cannot dig and am ashamed to beg."  His unfaithfulness had cost him his entire living.    

And it is not a surprise that the man in the parable was dishonest in these things.  Ever since the creation of the world, man has been unfaithful in their dealings.  Even Adam, the very first man was put in charge of the Garden of Eden, and ended up squandering all of the gifts God had given to him.  Instead of being faithful to God and his good gifts, Adam chose to eat of the only tree he was forbidden.  He wanted to "be like God" in knowing Good and Evil.  In doing so every good thing that God had already given to him was corrupted by sin.   In response, God cast Adam and his wife out of the garden, saying, "By the sweat of your brow will you eat bread until you return to the dust from which I created you."  Unfaithfulness cost Adam his whole life as the reality of death in sin now confronted him. 

And what of you and I?  We too are unfaithful in our own ways aren't we?   Each of us too struggles with this daily.  Christ calls us to be faithful even to the point of death, but we fail.  Instead often, just like Adam, and just like the steward in our text, our own selfish desires come between us and our Heavenly Father. 

God the Father who created you, knows your sin.  He knows your unfaithfulness, even in the little things.  He knows those times where you have turned your eyes lustfully at the wealth and sin of the world and says, "if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out."  He knows those times where your ear has been opened to the words of gossip, or when your tongue complained and spoken words you wouldn't want your mother to hear.  He knows when your hands in idleness have not helped your neighbor or even in busyness have caused you to sin.  Dear friends do not be fooled, God knows that even in these little things, you have been unfaithful.  And Jesus says in our text, "He who is unfaithful in little things, will also be unfaithful in much."  Our unfaithfulness infects every inch and atom of our being. 

In our unfaithfulness we, like the unfaithful steward, are taken from the company of our master.  We, like Adam, are removed from the Eternal presence of God, and left to eat bread by the sweat of our brow.  We are left alone and dead in our sin.  Each of us is guilty, and in our Old Testament lesson Amos, beyond condemning us for our greed, tells us the following, "The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their deeds."  Where do we turn?  What can we do?  In these worldly things, we have been unfaithful.  Our text says, "If then you have not been faithful in the worldly things, who will entrust to you the true riches?"  In other words, in your sin, daily turning away from God in thought word and deed, why should you expect heaven and eternity?  In the pain and suffering of our unfaithfulness, why should we expect comfort and peace from God?

Because your sin has been answered for.  Because your unfaithfulness has been atoned for by one whose very name is called "Faithful and True." (Rev 19:11)  The Son of God has come and taken on human flesh and has lived a life of faith and trust in the True God.  Jesus has been faithful in the little things.  His eyes never gazed lustfully on anything.  His ear avoided idle gossip and his tongue never passed on an untrue word.  He used his hands to help and serve those around them, even you, as they were pierced by nails outstretched upon a cross.  Jesus Christ has done this for you and for your unfaithfulness.  Jesus has proved himself in his own life death and resurrection to be faithful in the little things.  Now, in his faithfulness, he makes promises to you. 

In the waters of holy baptism, he makes the promise that you shall always be his own precious dear child, joined to him in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  He promises to never leave you nor forsake you (Deut 31:6), and to be with you always, even to the end of the age.  (Matt 28)  In his faithfulness he promises to be here with us today, in with and under the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22:19, Matt. 26) given to us sinners to eat and drink for the forgiveness of our sins.  There God promises to be, and God is faithful in his promise.  He who is faithful in the little thins, is also faithful in much. 

Dear friends in Christ, where we have been unfaithful, Jesus has been Faithful.  Where we have sinned, Jesus has become sin for us.  Where we fall short, Jesus excels in grace and mercy.  Yes we are unfaithful people, but Christ still makes faithful promises to you, calling you from your sin and into relationship with him.  Your Lord is faithful to you. 

The one who is faithful in the small things is faithful in the big things.  Jesus is faithful in the small thing, and in his faithfulness promises you ever lasting life and peace in His name.  Jesus makes promises to you, and you can expect him to fulfill those promises, because those promises are sealed in the blood of the faithful and true lamb,  Jesus will be faithful to you.  Amen. 

Sheep of the Shepherd - Ezekiel 34

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, Ezekiel 34, especially verse 11. 

Dear friends in Christ.  When you were a child, did you ever pretend to be an animal?  What kind of animal did you want to pretend to be?  I know that we did, my brothers and I would play games and pretend to be Elephants, or talk like parrots, or maybe we would chase each other around the yard while barking at each other.  Sometimes we would argue about which animal was the coolest, you know how it goes.  I would say to my one brother, "You pretend to be a cat, and I will pretend to be a dog."  Woo ha ha ha.  Then my brother would of course argue back, because no one wants to be one of the wimpy animals, we always wanted to be the cool animals, you know with sleek coats and fangs.  Well in our Old Testament lesson today, God compares us to a group of animals.  And unfortunately, the animal that God tells us we are like is not one that my brothers and I would have considered very cool to play.  God compares people in our lesson to Sheep.  That's right, God compares us to sheep, not very smart, stinky, furry sheep.  However, sometimes we are

LOST SHEEP IN NEED OF A SHEPHERD

Lost sheep with out a shepherd?  What does this mean?  I mean, first off I am not lost, am I?  And I am obviously a little smarter than a sheep, at least better looking.  So the question is then, how am I a lost sheep?  How can God even compare me to a lost sheep? 

I.                    Like sheep we have no direction of our own and easily stray.

Well, the answer to that is pretty easy if we stop and think about it, isn't it?  We all know that sheep are herd animals, they go around in flocks, right?  Sheep follow other sheep around.  But they don't always stay where they are supposed to.  Sometimes, sheep get separated from the flock.  Perhaps they see some nice new green grass over the hill, and they pursue it.  Or perhaps they stop paying attention as the rest of the flock moves ahead to new grazing ground.  Sometimes, sheep get scared.  Whatever the case, at times sheep can become separated from the flock. 

When Ezekiel was writing our Old Testament Lesson, Israel was straying from God, and instead trusting in other Gods.  At this time, Ezekiel and the rest of his country had been taken into exile in Babylon.  It was easy for them to lose faith.  God had given them a land flowing with Milk and Honey, and now they were forcibly taken from that land.  They lost faith, because what kind of a God would allow them to suffer?  What kind of God would inflict this much pain on his chosen people?  The people had lost everything, including hope.  They strayed because they no longer believed the words of God to be truth.  They were leaving the flock of the church and being scattered throughout the world.   What's more, they began to trust in other things.  They began to trust other Gods, and they began to trust in themselves.

Well, what about you and me?  Do we always stick close to our flock, the Church?  Unfortunately, the answer is no.    At times we too lose hope in the words of God.  Perhaps we too do not trust God's Word.  No, I know that we have not lost everything as those in Ezekiel's time had.  No, we are not being carried away into exile, as the people in Ezekiel's time had.  But don't we lose hope anyway?  Don't we become complacent in our lives, and lose the hope we have in the Gospel, trusting instead in ourselves?  We are a lot like one of those sheep, who see the nicer grass over the hill and wander off to eat it, because we feel like it.  That is how we are, people who are so inwardly focused on ourselves, that we don't care about others.  We don't do our best caring for the weak and sick of the church.  We don't do these things because we are sinners.  In our sin, we daily stray from the one true faith, leaving behind the comfort of the flock, all because we are only concerned with ourselves. 

In a way, we too act like "herd animals."  We sometimes do things, not because we want to, but because other people are.  I'm sure you have heard the question asked, "If everyone was jumping off a cliff because it was cool, would you too?"  Sad to say, it appears that way occasionally.  We become more interested in what other people think than what the truth is.  This happens in our faith when we become obsessed with fads.  Whether it is the latest self help book, or the latest growth program, we get caught up in what everyone else is doing.

When this happens, we are like sheep, going astray.  We are blindly wandering about, not knowing which way to turn or where to go.  We call our wandering "freedom", but in the end we are slaves to ourselves, and little more than dead men walking. 

II.                Like sheep we have many enemies lurking around us. 

How else are we like Sheep?  As we know from fables and other children's stories, sheep have an enemy, the big bad wolf.  The big bad wolf is always sneaking into the flock, trying to devour one of the sheep.  Aesop's fables tell of a wolf who even dressed as a sheep, just so he could get into the flock and have a nice tasty snack of a lamb.  Sheep are always in danger of being eaten by some sort of enemy.

The people in Ezekiel's day also had an enemy.  The enemy that they faced was made manifest in the nation of Babylon.  Babylon had come and oppressed the people, and then defeated them in battle and led them away into exile.  Their enemy was very easy to see. 

Yes, we too, just like sheep, and just like the people from Ezekiel's day, have an enemy.  Our enemy is death and the devil.  And just like sheep have the enemy of a wolf waiting to devour them, St. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that "our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  In fact our enemy has us right where he wants us.  He is always lurking around us telling us one of several lies.  He is either saying to us, "You haven't done anything wrong," or "Your sin is too great, you will never be saved."  Both of these lies he whispers into our ears.  And we believe them, because we want to.  We want to believe both of them, because when we believe either one of them, we are once again in charge of our own life, and able to leave the fold of the flock. 

III.             Like Sheep we have a shepherd who leads us to eternal life.

But things are not hopeless.  For just as sheep have a shepherd who walks amongst them and leads them to safe pasture, so too do we.  We have a shepherd who walked in our midst.  We have a shepherd who comes to us when we have strayed and carries us on his shoulders back to the flock.  We have a shepherd who would rather die than let enemies steal us from his flock.  Ezekiel tells us about our shepherd, saying "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd."  Our shepherd is this one, the shepherd king, Jesus Christ. 

Though we were scattered, and without hope, alone in the utter darkness of our sin, Christ came and rescued us.  It is told here in our Old Testament Lesson,   "I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness" (v. 12).  Here is the promise for us, rescue from our sin.  How are we rescued?  The Shepherd lays down his life for us. (John 10:11)   He is the one who was without sin, the one who fulfilled God's will completely, willingly suffered, and died for you.  Jesus, though He had not sinned, "became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!" as Paul says in Philippians 2:8.  Jesus was crucified, dying a criminal's death.  He came to rescue his sheep from slaughter, and instead was slaughtered himself.  Isaiah 53:7 tells us that Christ was led like a lamb to the slaughter.  The blood of the shepherd cleansed the sheep.  The blood of the shepherd cleanses you. 

Where does this happen?  In the waters of Holy Baptism, He puts His name upon us.  In the waters of baptism, He washes away all of our sin with His very own blood, and makes us a part of the flock of God.   At the font, Christ claims you for His own flock.  Ezekiel said in our lesson that we will lie down in good grazing land, and there we will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  This means that the best food available will be ours.  We already get a taste of that glorious food, here at the Altar where we receive Christ's own body and blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins into our very mouths.  In these gifts we receive the priceless treasures of heaven.  In these holy sacraments, the Lord becomes our shepherd, as it says in Psalm 23, and he leads us beside still waters, and prepares us a feast before our enemies. 

Shepherds are interesting people, because they lead their flock while standing in the middle of the sheep.   They walk with sheep before them, and behind them, sheep to the right and to the left.  This is how they lead them.  This is how Christ leads us, from among us.  As He promises in Matthew 28, "Surely I am with you, always, even unto the end of the age."  So he is.  Christ, our Good Shepherd, has walked among us.  Christ walks with us, through the valley of the shadow of death, and we fear no evil.  Not because we are special.  Not because of anything we have done.  Not because we are without sin, but because we are His flock, and He is our shepherd who died and rose again.  Now that we are a part of his flock, we too will rise from the dead.  We too will share in eternal life, and we too, will live in heaven forever.  The hymn "I am Jesus' Little Lamb" puts it well when it says: 

Who's so happy as I am?  Even now the Shepherd's lamb,

And when my short life is ended, by His angel hosts attended,

He shall fold me to His breast, there within His arms to rest. 

Revelation 7:17 says, "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  This is our promise:  Jesus our Shepherd ever leading us, and God the Father wiping all tears away from our eyes.  This is our promise in Christ.

Amen.

Proper 18 - Series C - Gospel - Counting the Cost of Discipleship

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 (Luke 14:25-35) especially verse 27, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  What is the cost?  How much will that be?  We are used to calculating the cost for other things aren't we? $3 or so for a gallon of gas.  $4 for a gallon of milk.  Even in big things, we like to count the cost:  $30,000 for a new truck or $100,000 for a new house.  For everything there is a cost.  We have all heard the saying, there is no such thing as a free lunch.  But here today, we are at church, and Jesus is telling us to count the cost?  What is the cost of being a follower of Jesus?  How much do I have to pay to be a disciple?  Our text answers that question, telling us

The cost of being a disciple of jesus is more than we can afford, but even then Christ pays the price for us. 

i.

Let's count the cost.  In our text today,  Jesus says "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yea even his own self, he cannot be my disciple."  Wait Pastor, what are you saying?  To be a follower of Jesus I am supposed to hate people, especially those people who are closest to me?  That doesn't sound like Christianity.  How can I hate my father, mother, wife and children?  Is that really the cost of following Jesus?

Yes.  To really be Jesus' follower, it costs everything.  I want to be clear, Jesus does not expect us to be cruel or mean to our family He has given.  Rather, we are to love Him first.  Jesus is to be number one, with absolutely no competition.  We are to love Jesus so much that we follow him forsaking our family and friends if need be, leaving them behind.  This relates directly to the first commandment, which our confirmation students will tell you (especially since this is their memory work for the week) is "You shall have no other Gods." Meaning we should fear love and trust in God above all things.  In other words, Jesus should be number one. 

That is difficult for us to do isn't it?  How often is Jesus really number one in our lives?  Instead don't we have all sorts of other things and people that we worry about?   We worry about our Children, and what is going on in their lives.  We worry about our friends, and what they can do to help us.  We worry about how we are going to make ends meet this month.  We worry whether or not the crops will be good this year or whether they will struggle.  Have we had enough rain, or too much? 

We worry about all these things, and in the midst of all this worry, Jesus often gets lost.   When we do this, Jesus is no longer most important.  When we think things like these, we are not paying the true cost to be a disciple of Jesus, we leave it an unpaid debt. "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."  Instead of paying the cost, we often care more about the things of this world, including family and friends, more that Jesus.  The cost of following God, requires us to give up our friends and family, and all our Earthly possessions to follow Jesus.

II

Jesus goes even further, stating that we ourselves also can be the problem.  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate…. even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."  Yes, we even must hate ourselves in comparison to Jesus.  We cannot allow our own selfish thoughts and concerns to separate us from Him. 

But even so, often times they do, don't they?  We like to be in charge.  We like to make our own decisions and do our own things.  Given the choice, I would like to sit on the couch and watch football all day, (especially when Nebraska and North Dakota State both win) rather then spend some time in reading God's word.  I would rather go fishing then pray about what is happening in my life.  It is what I want.  It is what I desire.  Sometimes, I don't even think I am that bad of a person, as to need Jesus around all the time.  Is it the same with you?  Do you have something that separates you from Jesus?  Something in yourself that you like just a little too much to give it up should the need arise? 

The answer, is yes.  Sin is that thing in your life that separates you from Christ and that you cannot and will not give up on your own.  Sin infects our entire being, it makes us completely self absorbed and unable to pay the cost required by God.  In theology we say that sin makes us completely turned in upon ourselves (incurvatus se).  In our sin we cannot see past our own nose enough to even consider being Jesus' disciple. 

The cost for being Jesus' disciple is complete and total.  It involves giving up everything we have, giving up our family, our friends and our selves to follow Jesus.  Perhaps it is best said by Dietrich Bonhoffer, a great Lutheran theologian from the 1930's.  He says "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."  In other words, God requires us to give up everything to be in relationship with him.  God wants you to give up everything in this sinful world, even your own life, and instead to be His possession.  That is the true Cost of discipleship.  As Jesus says in our text, "Therefore any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

III

So how do we pay?  How do we  make sure that we can afford to really be Christ's disciple?  Dear friends, we on our own cannot do this thing, and so we must rely on one who can.  Jesus Christ walked the way of the perfect disciple of God.  He was sent do to the works of His Father, and He did them to perfection.  He was the obedient Son, giving up everything on this Earth, his Family, his friends, his possessions, yes even his own life to pay the price required of you.  That obedience was a pure and perfect love for God.  As Jesus hung bleeding and naked on the cross, there was nothing left for him to give up, he had given it all up for you.

Jesus paid your cost.  He paid the price you owe because of your sin.  He paid the price required of you to be a disciple of Jesus.  In your baptistm, you were clothed with Jesus, and share in his death.  You have taken up your cross, and followed Jesus.  In your baptism, all you have and own was given away.  In your baptism, even your life is taken and killed with Christ, and then raised it again into glory eternal.  With that death and resurrection of Jesus, your lust and passion for sin has been destroyed.  Your have been freed from a bondage to the wants and worries of this world.  You have paid the cost of discipleship with the very blood of Jesus.

  And now, with that cost paid, you are set free.  No longer need you worry about how ends will meet, or how the bills will be paid, for the highest cost is paid by Jesus.  No longer do you need to worry about anything, for Christ has called you to be his disciple, and paid the price for your life.  Yes there are struggles here, but ultimatelyh Christ is victorious over them all.  Your sin is now as far from you as the east is from the West.  It no longer can haunt you, or separate you from anyone.  It is completely and totally forgiven. 

Everything here on Earth does have its cost, but Christ has paid the cost required of you.  Christ has paid the price that has brought you admission into the heavenly kingdom of God.  Christ has made you his own.  Amen. 

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Our Lord.  Amen.

Proper 17 - Gospel - Luke 14:1-14 - Jesus Humbles Himself for You.

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 (Luke 14:1-14), just read, especially verse, 11, "For Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Little Billy had his very first day of school, beginning kindergarten.  When his mom picked up, she nervously asked the five year old how his first day had gone.  Billy looked at his mom and said, "Great mom, I am the best looking person in my class."  His mom, caught off guard asked him, "How do you know that Billy?  Who told you?"  "Duh Mom," Billy replied, "I could see everyone else there; no one had to tell me." 

Pride is everywhere, and while in Little Billy's case, it may seem amusing; in reality pride is no laughing matter.  Pride is ugly, pride is hurtful.  Pride is a sinful deadly problem.  In our text today Jesus shows that those who are prideful will have no part with him in his kingdom.  "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who is humble will be exalted." The problem is that pride often times lies hidden beneath the surface, only sneaking out when we will least pay attention to it.  Often we don't even realize that we daily struggle with this sin, but it is there lurking in our lives, and in the lives of those to whom Jesus spoke in our text today. 

In our text today, Jesus addresses people who were full of pride.  Our text tells us "Jesus told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor."  The people in our text today were honoring themselves by making sure they were sitting in the place of honor, the head of the table.  They wanted to make sure that everyone else could see them, and that everyone else would be jealous of where they were sitting.  These people thought that they were important, and they wanted to make sure everyone else could see it and know it.  After all, there is no point in being superior if you don't get recognition for it, is there?

But is anyone of us more superior to any other?  Can we actually be better than another person?  We think so.  How often do we point at another saying, "Yes lord, I may sin, but not as badly as that person.  His sin is worse than mine"?  We all do this.  We judge others based solely on human standards.  In our pride, we like to put one sin below another, saying "The sin of premarital sex is worse than the sin of gossiping, but better than murder."  In human eyes we can justify this, but not in God's eyes.  In God's eyes a sin is a sin is a sin, and we are all guilty of them.

And that is where our pride is really strongest isn't it?  In our sin.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent that lied to them and told them that by eating of the forbidden fruit, their eyes would be opened, and they would be like God.  Ever since, every single human has been trying to exalt himself to the place of God.  We like to decide which things are right or wrong, rather than trusting in what God's word clearly says. We take what God's word says is wrong, and warp and twist it until we convince ourselves that it really is ok. 

In this, our sinful nature, our pride often fall victim to the very first sin again and again, asking the same question Satan asked in the Garden of Eden "Did God really say?"  Did God really say that homosexuality is a sin?  Did God really say that marital unfaithfulness is wrong?  Did God really say that I should always speak well of my neighbors rather than to slander them behind their backs?  Did God really say that apart from Him I am a poor miserable sinner?  Dear friends in Christ, the answer is yes.  You and I are horrible, foul, rotten sinners, even when we in our pride cannot see it. 

That truth is always hard to hear isn't it.  It really strikes a blow to our pride to hear that we are poor miserable sinners in our thought, our word, and our deeds, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.  Some times the truth hurts, but that is exactly what our text says.  "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled."  In our sinful pride we have exalted ourselves.  But in response, God's word clearly and faithfully humbles us.  To Satan's question, did God really say, there is a resounding answer, yes, and you are guilty. 

But what now?  Are we left humbled in our sin by God's word?  Dear friends in Christ the answer is no.  For your humiliation is but a sharing in the humiliation of Christ.  Yes our text says, "He who exalts himself, will be humbled."  But it also goes on to say, "He who humbles himself will be exalted."  This one who humbled himself is none other than Jesus Christ.  IN the book of Philippians, St. Paul clearly tells us this saying that "Jesus Christ, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

Dear friends, Jesus humbled himself, and became obedient to death on a cross for you.  Jesus took all your pride and your false self worth and killed it.  Just as we in our pride are humbled, so Jesus in his humility on the cross is exalted into everlasting life and joy. 

And that joy and exaltation is for you too.  For we who are humbled by God's word also will be brought to exaltation through that word made flesh.  In Jesus, we are brought to that everlasting wedding feast mentioned in our text.  In our sin we are left sitting alone in the lowest place, seemingly with no where to turn.  But with Jesus' humble life, death and resurrection, we are called to move up to the wedding feast.  Even here, today, we hear the Word call to us, "Dear friends, you who are humbled by your sin, do you not see Jesus has died for you, come up to the place of honor, and sit and dine with Jesus." 

The Small Catechism says it this way, that Jesus has "purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, in order that I may be [wholly] His own, and live under Him in His kingdom."  In this, the death of Jesus, you are free from sin, and exalted into the marriage feast of the lamb in His kingdom which shall have no end.  There we will be forever separated from all our sin, including selfish pride.  There will we feast in joy, boasting in our God who has saved us by humbling himself. 

While we are here on Earth, at times, our pride may still sneak out in to the open, we may still judge and condemn as if we are a god, but in the end, Christ has overcome it all. 

THOUGH OUR PRIDE LEADS TO HUMILIATION AND DEATH, HUMBLENESS IN CHRIST LEADS TO ETERNAL EXALTATION.

 And nothing that we do can separate us from this eternal joy.  May this peace be yours always, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.