Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-80)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon and Sweet Home, OR
Nativity of St. John the Baptist + June 24, 2018
Text: Luke 1:57-80

“How is the Bible relevant to me today?”  This is the question of the day.  How does it speak to my experience and what practical advice can I glean from it?  That attitude predominates most of what you’ll find in Christian bookstores.  Authors try to make Scripture relevant to people’s lives.
 
In the Gospel reading, we see quite the opposite approach.  Instead of seeing their lives at the center of the universe, Zechariah and Elizabeth understand their lives as described by God’s Word, not just according to their own private experience.
 
Indeed they were the second elderly couple to conceive and bear a son of promise, but Zechariah’s song, called the Benedictus, gives deeper insight than a biblical “me too!”  The Spirit-breathed interpretation of what was happening tells the whole story, not just about John’s birth, but about God’s whole plan of salvation from the beginning of the world.  So Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and sings:
 
68“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
 
This birth fits right in with God’s plans from of old.  A forerunner to the Messiah must be born, as the Lord had told us in Malachi and Isaiah 40 (which we heard today).  John was that man in the spirit and power of Elijah which God had appointed. (Mal. 4:5-6)  He was to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. (Isa. 40:3)  It wasn’t to inflate John or his parents and make them feel more special about their child; it was the glorious wisdom of God bringing His plans to fruition.
 
I’ve been into digital photography for a number of years.  Over that time, the images have gotten larger and more detailed.  That becomes a problem when you bring it over to the computer and it opens at 100% zoom.  That picture you took of the whole family might only show your sister’s chin.  What you have to do in order to see the whole picture is zoom out, and choose the option “Fit to screen.”
 
This is like what Zechariah’s prophecy, the Benedictus, does in relation to John’s birth.  John’s birth is one event in the whole history of the world, God guiding all of it.  It’s zoomed in on one moment, but this prophecy invites us to fit the whole picture of salvation history into a single frame.
 
So, the prophecy continues:
 
71That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
 
From the beginning of the world, tracing the promise of a Savior through Abraham, here is the content of that promise: To be saved from our enemies (namely the devil and his demonic host), for they truly do hate all people who belong to God through faith.  A pastor and I were discussing why it isn’t a good idea to baptize someone without their being connected to a congregation. It’s because Baptism paints a big target on their back, at which the Devil is looking to throw all his fiery darts.
 
The Benedictus goes on to the promise of God showing mercy to the generations of His people who came before, a holy covenant promised on oath to Abraham: “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you…in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”[1]  This was in connection with the offering of Abraham’s son which found its true fulfillment in God offering His Son, His only Son to bring all who believe the blessings of: Deliverance from the hand of our enemies; serving God without fear of sin and judgment; and being made holy to live before Him in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
 
But then there’s this amazing switch in the Benedictus:
76“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
78Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
 
Did you catch that?  It gets personal!  All of this big picture of salvation history, spanning generations and lands, and now it’s come home: You, child.  The life of Zechariah and his family falls right into this big picture of the history of God and His people, sacred history.  Sacred history is their history.
 
In that way, it’s no different for us in the Church.  Of course I’m not saying that your child is going to repeat the ministry of John the Baptist, but what we can rejoice in is that all of the tender mercies we hear about in Scripture are ours too.  The Dayspring from on high has visited and redeemed us from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death.  Rather than wandering in arid wastes, He has guided our feet into the way of peace in Jesus Christ.[2]  This isn’t a story about other people; it’s about us—our forerunners in the faith, our brothers and sisters today, the church to come, and the eternal peace which God has accomplished for His people with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.
 
It’s this narrative of God’s work in history that we rehearse and meditate on every time we come to worship.  It’s our touchstone to what God is doing in the world and even in our own life.  In Confession and Absolution, we receive again the good news of Easter: Your sin nailed Jesus to the cross, and the Lord has taken away your sin.  In the readings, we the story of God’s people including us, we hear instruction given to the churches but also to us, and we hear His gracious promises spoken at that time but reaffirmed today.  In the Creed (and the Te Deum) we confess with all the faithful people of God who He is, what He has done, the peace He has for us today, and the hope He has for us in the resurrection and eternity.  In the Lord’s Supper, we both remember what He has done and also receive that grace and strength in the moment on our tongues.  All of worship is a rehearsal anew of God’s people who have been brought into God’s history.
 
This is what I pray you hear when you read Scripture.  God isn’t just giving you an instruction manual, a rule book, or a self-help guide.  God forbid that the Bible is ever seen as a self-help guide!  “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love.” (Ps. 147:11)  No, the pages of Scripture describe to us God who created us, us who rebelled and inherited an evil heart, and God who continually is at work seeking those who are in darkness and bear the burden of death.
 
This vision of seeing ourselves in the whole of Scripture does two things: It tempers our fears and it breaks our pride.  It tempers our fears which naturally are zoomed into our daily struggles and what our eyes see.  I’m a wretched man who can’t seem to do any better.  The Church is in shambles and people compare her to a sinking ship.  The world is getting more powerful and chaotic and nobody seems to be able to stop it.
 
2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2)
 
This God who made heaven and earth, who orders the universe and upholds all things by the word of His power, is the one who reveals Himself in the pages of Scripture.  He makes Himself known as your God, your Redeemer, the one who holds the entire future in His hands.  He will neither leave you nor forsake you.  What can man do to you when the Lord is at your side? [3]  As for the world, as Psalm 2 declares, He who sits in the heavens laughs at those who set themselves as His enemies and seek to break apart His bonds.
 
This whole-Scripture view also breaks our pride.  There’s a tendency in every generation to think we are smarter than those who came before us.  It’s manifest in the idea that we’re more evolved than those Cretans who came before us.  Israel made a golden calf and called it their God who brought them out of Israel?  What idiots!  But as soon as someone in our day suggests congregations combine and sell their properties, our devotion to these created, beautiful, and costly things called buildings comes out.  We, too, are idolaters.
 
This is St. Paul’s point when he writes to the Corinthians.  First, he reminds them that “these things [in Scripture] took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did,” but then he concludes by saying, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”  Meaning: watch out buster, you are just as susceptible to idolatry, sensuality, faithlessness, and any other sin as any others who came before us or will come after us.  Jesus came to seek and to save sinners!  Therefore Paul comforts us in our temptations: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-13)  Repent and the Lord will have mercy and save you, just like He did all those who came before you.
 
Go from this place reminded, or perhaps hearing it anew, the great things which God has done for you.  It isn’t all on you, and you are not all alone.  You are part of a great cloud of witnesses, of prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all God’s people who together acknowledge Him to be the Lord who has visited and redeemed His people.  Surely a great host, but He has counted us among them.  Amen.
[1] Genesis 22:16-18
[2] Psalm 107:1-22
[3] Hebrews 13:6

Third Sunday after Trinity (Luke 15:1-10)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Third Sunday after Trinity + June 14, 2018
Text: Luke 15:1-10
 
When someone says, let’s celebrate Father’s Day, the first thing that usually comes to our mind is our own fathers—for better or for worse as the case may be.  Many fathers are great men, who reflect the attributes of God and give a fair comparison between God our heavenly Father, and the human title they bear.  Other times this isn’t the case.  Yet, God is the gold standard for fatherhood, the one St. Paul says, “from whom all fatherhood is named in heaven and on earth.” (Eph. 3:15)
 
Psalm 103 teaches us more about the character of our heavenly Father:
 
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:11-13)
 
Our heavenly Father is one who delights in forgiving sin, putting it away, removing it as far as east is from west.  Nonetheless, we can get hung up on our human ideas about the Father, as we see Him through our human lens.  That’s what happened during Jesus’ ministry:
 
1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”” (Luke 15:1–2)
 
What did the Pharisees and scribes think God the Father was like?  They saw Him as One who demands holiness and obedience.  They conceived of his hatred for sin and destruction of those who transgress. Their concept of God the Father was One who disowned children who brought shame to the family name.
 
To set the record straight, Jesus tells the first of two parables:
 
4“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:3–7)
 
This is how the Father views those who have made a mess of their lives: As lost sheep.  They’ve forsaken sound leadership, gone their own way because they thought they were wiser and more powerful.  Then reality hit them like a ton of bricks.  They can’t find their own way, and are in awful peril.  God is both able and willing to rescue them.  So, the Lord bears them on His own shoulders to bring them back to the fold with rejoicing.
 
What God the Father delights in even more than a life of obedience is one where a person hears His call to repent and live.  This is what the angels of God celebrate.   Perhaps it should teach us that the Church on earth is not on a quest to make the world act righteous, but on a quest for greater repentance and forgiveness of sins.  That would truly reflect our heavenly Father’s heart here on earth.
 
The Pharisees and scribes missed the purpose for which God gave the Law.  Certainly if a Law had been given that men could keep and earn their way back into God’s favor, then they would be right to insist on strict obedience.[1]  But sin has weakened all of us too much to be able to obey even the first Commandment to the extent it requires.[2]  God’s Law ought to drive any fallen person to despair of his own ability with all that it demands.  All that’s left to say is, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (Luke 18:13)  Enter Jesus, the Son of God who “receives sinners and eats with them.”
 
The second parable tells us even more about our heavenly Father’s heart:
 
8“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”” (Luke 15:8–10)
 
The difference here is that the subject is a coin, but no matter what we may believe about the couch cushions, money doesn’t wander off on its own.  Nevertheless, money that is lost cannot fulfill its purpose.  The $20 you forgot in your pocket isn’t worth $20 till you find it.  So the woman in the parable makes a careful search for the coin until she finds it.
 
We learn from this parable both the attentiveness to and the value God places on every one of His children.  To God, there is no one whose departure goes unnoticed.  Nobody in God’s house “slips through the cracks.”  That’s because of the value He places on each of His children—not merely a monetary value—but an imputed value which says: this person’s life is worth the shedding of Jesus’ blood.
 
The key thing we learn about God from both of these parables is that He seeks and saves the lost.  On the one hand, that’s a backhanded insult to all who flaunt their religious credentials—how pure their life is, how much they read their Bible, etc.  But on the other hand, it’s an invitation to God’s grace for all who admit how much shame they have brought to God’s Name.  It’s much-needed reassurance for the person who’s afraid the church would fall down or lightning would strike the moment they passed the front door.
 
God loves the lost and it is His delight to see those who were lost to Him return.  While men grumble, God rejoices.  God chooses what is despised by us, like Paul, a former “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” (1 Tim. 1:13) and turns him into a bold evangelist and author of 28% of the New Testament.  He chooses the irreligious to shame the religious.
 
This is something Christians always need to keep in mind—the danger of Pharisaic thought, of believing God chose you because of your good choices.  The Church is not our country club, and God may gather in whomever He will.  Our sinful flesh might want it to be a bunch of people who look like us and come from similar backgrounds, but what about when God gathers “the poor, crippled, blind and lame”? (Luke 14:21)  May we rejoice with God and His angels over every sinner who repents, regardless of background or traits.
 
God calls on His children to reflect who He is.  He loves, seeks, and saves sinners.  To accomplish this, He is merciful.  He is compassionate.  He is patient.  To this end, we pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  So may God give us His Father’s heart to be merciful, compassionate, and patient with our fellow tax collectors and sinners—even our brothers and sisters.  Amen.
[1] Galatians 3:21
[2] Romans 7:14

Second Sunday after Trinity (Luke 14:15-24)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Second Sunday after Trinity + June 10, 2018
Text: Luke 14:15-24

Life happens.  We all know that.  Sometimes life happens so much that one’s faith falls to the bottom of the list.  Children, work, family get-togethers, sleep…all sorts of things compete for attention in our lives.  This is how it’s always been, and how it will be in the future.
 
But when it’s a problem is when life is happening so much, that there is no room left for God to speak.
 
“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’” (Luke 14:16–20)
 
Week in and week out, the Church is in worship.  The Church hasn’t closed like a department store.  She hasn’t ceased meeting because a building was sold.  And only in times of dire persecution does she go underground so that you have to know someone to meet her.
 
Likewise, the messengers (pastors) haven’t stopped delivering the news.  They weren’t silenced because they were banned from Facebook.  They weren’t shut up by a group of rabble rousers who drove them out of one particular city.  And the faithful ones haven’t changed their message to get in line with the popular ideologies of the day.
 
So what so often accounts for the empty places in church?  It’s when we take this for granted that the Church will always be there—whether we mean the congregation, or faithful pastors, or the opportunity to fit Jesus back into our lives.  More often than we would like to admit, we say “Come back later, Jesus.”
 
“When things aren’t so crazy, then I’ll go back to church.”  This excuse might work for why you can’t volunteer for more things.  But the reality is that life is always going to be crazy to one degree or another.  The more important thing to realize is that life is always going to be messy.  You are always going to fail at some things.  You are going to hurt people by your actions or inaction.  People, no matter how much you may admire them, are going to let you down or wrong you.  To put it plainly, this messy life is full of sin.  It’s in the midst of that sin of daily life that God call you back to His grace.  Confess your sins to your pastor; don’t ignore them or make excuses for them.  Receive the Lord’s Supper as often as you possibly can and don’t get carried away with the lies that you’re strong enough without it or that less often makes it more special.
 
“If I could just get myself and my life together, then I won’t get stares at church.”  The social aspect of Church really gets to us.  So, we know we’re sinners who have sinned.  But it’s much more comfortable when we can keep a tight lid on that sin and not let it show to others.  It’s so much easier when we can put a smile on and go to church and tell everyone that we’re doing fine.
 
One of the great throw-away greetings that our culture uses is, “How are you doing?”  I even find myself using it, and sometimes I ask people on Sunday morning how they’re doing.  Now, the answer the checker at the store wants is “fine,” but I think it’s better when we can say something more honest about the burdens we’re carrying.  At the very least, be honest with God about why you’re here.  You need His grace, His strength, His guidance, His power.  Whether your sin is visible to others or not, know that every one of us is in the same boat.  We’re sinners here to dine with Jesus.
 
Lastly, we say, “When God shows me some good, then I’ll start praying.”  Many times we hear a brother or sister talk about the great blessings they received after praying—how a sense of peace washed over them, or a loved one’s health took a miraculous turn for the better, or a wandering child came back to their faith.  But when we look at our own lives, we can get down and only see the negative, the failings, the impossible situations.  Thinking God only answers other people’s prayers, we might not even bother asking.  Not wanting to be disappointed if God has another plan, we don’t bring it up to Him.
 
Take a step back and consider your life in light of God (not in light of your own understanding, Prov. 3:5).  According to His eternal purpose for your good, He called you into His Kingdom in Christ.  He adopted you as His child, and God Almighty as your Father.  He is eager to hear all your prayers because you are His child.  He is powerful enough to turn around even the most humanly-impossible things.
 
God does not change.  His Word is always the same.  His invitation to His grace in Christ is always going out.  Even if it’s ignored by some, it still goes out because His saving purpose is for all people:
 
21So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” (Luke 14:21–24)
 
We can safely assume that the Church will always be there, even unto the end of the age.  But how can you be sure that you will always have the opportunity?  We don’t know the length of our life.
 
 
Yes, the Kingdom of God will come, and so will the King’s messengers.  But what’s to say they will always be readily accessible?  Luther, acknowledging that the Word of God comes down like rain upon the earth, also recognized that sometimes it’s like a passing rain cloud.  If the people reject it long enough, it moves on to another place.  We can see this happen in history: The Byzantine Empire rested secure in their Christian kingdom, only to be invaded by the Turks.  Europe had such a rich history of Christianity with the buildings to prove it, but now those buildings lie vacant or are museums.  It should be a signal to us in America where we boast of our religious liberty, that if we abuse that liberty by driving away true teachers and following after false prophets, that we will soon be a spiritual wasteland, and the Gospel will move on to places like Africa and China.
 
In 2 Corinthians 5-6, St. Paul says, “Be reconciled to God…Do not receive the grace of God in vain…behold, now is the favorable time, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 5:20, 6:1, 2)  We need to repent of taking God’s Word and the Gospel for granted.  We should truly hear what the 3rd Commandment says to us all:
 
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
 
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
 
What a priceless gift it is for the King’s messengers to come among us and invite us to the eternal banquet!  The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is ready, all is prepared, come, taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34)   The Kingdom of God does not come with coercion and force.  It comes with the Holy Spirit in the heart, working a living and active faith.  For the sake of Christ and the salvation He wrought for us, may the Holy Spirit do this in each of our hearts and lives.  May the weakness of our flesh be crucified and die with Christ, and may our little faith be increased.  God grant it, even to us this day. Amen.

First Sunday after Trinity (Luke 16:19-31)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
First Sunday after Trinity + June 3, 2018
Text: Luke 16:19-31

Last week, we confessed in the Athanasian Creed, “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith.  Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.”  Today, we see the application of this biblical truth—The rich man is in hell, while Lazarus is comforted at Abraham’s side.
 
So, the biggest question from the Gospel reading today is: What shall we do, “lest we also come into this place of torment” where the rich man finds himself?  At first glance, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus seems to say that rich people go to hell and poor, sick people go to heaven.  Wouldn’t that make it easy?  Then the ideology would be right that says struggling, disadvantaged people are more noble than fat cat CEO’s.  That’s the message we hear all the time, so much so that it seems to be evil simply to have money.  If you don’t believe me, just ask any Christian what kind of looks they got when they drove to church in a new Mercedes.
 
But it’s not that simple.  The point of this story isn’t found in purple robes and feasts or starvation and open sores.  In the Athanasian Creed and Matthew 25:46, we confess, “Those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.”  What St. John says is true, “whoever loves God must also love his brother,”[1] but it’s deeper than outward actions.
 
Despite the first blush of this story, our lot in life doesn’t determine our place in heaven or hell.  If you’re young, healthy, and everything is going well, it doesn’t mean God loves you any more than a middle-aged woman who suffers with chronic pain.  If you can barely make ends meet and live with an endless stream of trouble, God’s love is undoubtedly yours because of Christ.  What you have or don’t have in this life where to look for God’s love.
 
The more important issue is, Where is your faith?  Jesus illustrates a rich man who believed in his material blessings and was comforted by them.  On the other hand, Lazarus despised his earthly life and looked only to God for comfort.  But it doesn’t have to be just deluded rich people and God-fearing poor people.  St. Paul writes to Timothy and to us, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”[2]  Yes, there are wealthy people who boast in the comfort of their wealth.  But there are also poor people who look to money as if it were their savior.  There are millionaires with messy divorce fights over property and there are poor people who scrape and fight to get every last cent they think they’re entitled to.  But before God they are all alike: “Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.”[3]  Whether you’re comfortable or lacking, if you believe your help comes from the things of this life, your faith is in the wrong thing.
 
In Colossians 3, St. Paul writes, 1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2)  This is where your Lord wants your faith to be: in Him, who made heaven and earth, who adopted you as His dear children, and who gladly and freely gives you all that you need to support this body and life.
 
And if that’s where your faith is, what flows from that is contentment.  In this life, the rich man was content with having everything his heart could desire—a fully belly, fine clothes, and people to wait on him.  Lazarus, though he had nothing, he was content with it.  That’s not to be confused with being happy about it.  But how can we make such a claim that he is content with his condition?  Because the parable tells us something we don’t normally have true knowledge of: Lazarus had faith in God, evidenced by the fact that he was in paradise.
 
Faith in God brings about contentment with whatever your earthly lot gives you.  Again from Colossians 3: 5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5)  The trouble really isn’t what stuff or how much stuff people have; it’s our earthly sinful hearts that are filled with jealousy and covet that Mercedes that our brother or sister drove up in.
 
But you have been crucified with Christ and were put to death with Him.  All that fills you with discontentment has died on the cross.  Your true God, the maker of heaven and earth, has given you a new heart and His Spirit, so that you trust in Him for all things.   With your faith you acknowledge Him as your loving Father who always and forever cares for you, His child.
 
Therefore whether you have much or little—it is enough.  You might have good health or poor health—it is enough.  Whether He gives or He takes away—it is enough.  It is enough because it is what your Father has given you for today.cg4eede
 
Now that He has given you a right faith and contentment in Him, then He sends each believer out to love His neighbor.   The faithful who are amply supplied now get to share in something amazing.  St. Paul writes to Timothy, 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share”[4]
 
But on the other side, if you are in need, your place in this economy is no less important.  While you might not be able to be generous the same way someone who has more can, God has also given you empty hands to lift up to Him.  Receive whatever good things God gives you by the hands of others, giving thanks and praise to Him.  The Holy Spirit who has been given to you also will guard you from trusting in and hoarding what you have.
 
When our journey is over, and God brings us from this valley of sorrows to Himself, these differences will pass away.  In the Kingdom of God, none are lacking and all are fully comforted.  And this amazing inheritance is yours through God’s gift of faith.  Therefore it is our duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him at all times.  Amen.
[1] 1 John 4:21
[2] 1 Timothy 6:10
[3] Psalm 62:9
[4] 1 Timothy 6:17-18

Feast of the Holy Trinity (John 3:1-14)

Bethlehem & Bethel Lutheran Churches, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Feast of the Holy Trinity + May 27, 2018
Text: John 3:1-14

The Feast of the Holy Trinity differs from the other three high festivals of the Church Year. Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost all celebrate the mighty acts of God for the salvation of mankind. Today’s festival, on the other hand, celebrates an important and mysterious article of the Christian faith, namely, that the true God is one in unity and triune in persons. The three articles about God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the distinct symbol of the Christian Church. Redemption and salvation of mankind rests in the true knowledge of the Triune God; not in the mere knowledge that there is a triune God, but in the actual knowledge of how Triune God has revealed Himself in the work of our redemption. The true knowledge of the Triune God is the foundation of our salvation.
 
What makes the Athanasian Creed so jarring is not its length, but the sentences at the beginning and then end: “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.” And “This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.”  How could we confess such strict things about God, as to say that those who do not have the true knowledge of the Triune God cannot be saved?  But, we object, we know so many honest, religious people who just believe a little differently than us.  Does this mean their beliefs will lead them to damnation?
 
As Christians, we recognize God the Father in the Holy Trinity in the sending of His dear Son. Outside of Christianity, God the Father is seen as a mere creator and sustainer of the world, if those outside of Christianity even recognize a prime mover in the universe. The Father is seen as an affectionate sort of fellow, but a weak father of His naughty children. He cannot but look at His children’s sins as an earthly dad looks at the misdeeds of his own children. He shrugs his shoulders and tries to show His disapproval at what they say and do.
 
Christians even get caught up in this false understanding of our heavenly Father. Consider Nicodemus. He tells Jesus: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” God the Father is a wise man. He’s done a lot of good for people. He’s blessed our nation. He’s even given us prophets and wise men like Jesus Christ.
 
True knowledge of the Father sees Him as a holy and righteous God, to Whom all sin is an abomination. Nevertheless, the Father is full of love for sinners. He sent His Son for their salvation.  He does not sit helpless in heaven, stroking his long beard and deciding if He’s going to be just or merciful today.  He is at all times true to Who He says He is: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God the Father sent His Son Jesus to reconcile sinners to Himself, and through Jesus, accepted you as His child and has declared Himself as your Father. He is truly the Father of all, but especially of those who believe. (Isaiah 64:8)
 
As Christians, we recognize God the Son in the Holy Trinity in His working salvation on our behalf. Again, consider Nicodemus’ misplaced confession of Who Jesus is: You are a teacher come from God. As Nicodemus reckons it, Jesus is another teacher in a long line of great teachers sent by God, along with Moses and Elijah. If Jesus is just another Rabbi or Prophet, then perhaps others will come like Muhammad or Joseph Smith.  Nicodemus does not recognize Jesus as the true Son of God, the only one who fulfills the Law which promised a prophet like Moses, and the Prophets who foretold that the virgin would conceive a bear a son whose name means “God with us” (Deut. 18:18, Isaiah 7:14).
 
Jesus is still held by some as a great moral teacher. Oh, sure, He is also God’s Son, but in the way that we’re all God’s children.  Sure, we’ll call Him Savior, but only because He shows us the right way to live.  He is merely a man. The way to heaven is through Christ, but only if you follow and do everything He tells you. For those enslaved by a fleshly understanding of the Son, we are saved because Jesus modeled the way.
 
True knowledge of Jesus Christ is more than acknowledging He is a good man Who says good things and gives you a good way to eternal life. Jesus Christ is God Himself in the flesh. He says so to Nicodemus in today’s Gospel: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” So does St. Paul in Romans chapter nine when He calls Jesus “the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever.” (Rom. 9:5) So does St. John: “we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)
 
Jesus is the Son of God because He is begotten of the Father from eternity.  But, He shows Himself to be the true Son in what He comes to do for us. He redeems us by His life, suffering, and death for sin. He alone has earned our salvation. Jesus tells Nicodemus: “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” When you believe this, you are able to say with Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)
 
We also recognize God the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity in how He makes the salvation ours through faith in Christ.  Trinitarians are accused of not giving the Holy Spirit His due because we don’t look for extraordinary signs, tongues, or ecstatic experiences.  But without the Holy Spirit, none of us could believe this “catholic faith.”  We confess with Luther’s Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.” Many Christians today deal with this inability to believe in Jesus as a matter of reason or strength.  Reason says maybe the Gospel just needs to be shared in a more appealing or compelling way. Strength says that some people just aren’t as devoted to following God as “we” are.
 
The true knowledge of the Holy Spirit is to confess Him as true God with the Father and Son. He is the third Person of the Triune God, co-eternal, majestic and glorious, Who with the Father and the Son actively engages in the salvation of men. “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  You must be born again, meaning you cannot bring yourself.  The Spirit must bring you and He must work faith and bestow heavenly birth to you. He also works powerfully in the hearts of men through the means Christ gives His Church—the Word and Sacraments. He enlightens them and regenerates them into children of God by faith.
 
“This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” No one can give this faith to himself. It is an incomprehensible mystery to man, even to Nicodemus: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” You can no more contribute something to yourself when it comes to faith as you can to your physical birth. You are born flesh of flesh. Only God works this miracle by grace. God wants to work this miracle in everyone, so He lets His Word be preached to the ends of the earth.
 
So today, we bid farewell to the Festival Half of the Church Year and welcome once again the Church’s Half of the Church Year. Over the next several months, we will focus on the work of the Triune God on the Christian life. The Word of the Lord grows both outwardly and inwardly when we get out of the way and let God do what He does best: make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching.  He gives this marvelous mandate to His Church, both pastors and people who work together to strengthen one another and bring others into the ark of the Church. “Blessèd be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us.” (Introit for Holy Trinity) Amen.
 

Pentecost Day (Confirmation Sunday) (John 14:23-31)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Churches, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Pentecost Day (Confirmation Sunday) + May 20, 2018
Text: John 14:23-31

It’s a beautiful thing to witness young men and women on Confirmation Day confess their faith publicly.  The flowers are beautiful, they look handsome in their best duds, but the really wonderful thing, the true miracle of the day is seen in response to the words of Jesus: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
 
“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”
 
What’s not so beautiful is the statistic that half of confirmands leave the Lutheran confession for box churches, or leave the Christian church entirely.  Many congregations see the effect of this and wonder where all the middle-aged and younger people are.  Studies are proposed, blame is assigned, and surveys are conducted all to figure out what happened.
 
Worrying that we will lose our confirmands amounts to idolatry of self.  Yes, really.  If only we were clever enough to come up with an attractive youth program, if only we had one of those praise bands that people say the kids like (but secretly it’s them who are bored with liturgy and hymnody), if only our pastor were a miracle worker who could use a shepherd’s crook to draw in more people (and of course the kind of people we think God’s church needs).
 
You hear the common thread with all these suggestions?  It’s our work that we’re worrying about.  Now it’s possible that curmudgeonly Christians could drive people away by being overly judgmental and cold toward people they view as outsiders.  It’s possible that the young woman who makes a bad decision and gets pregnant, is shunned by people who claimed to be her church family.  But assuming we’re a sincere Christian congregation that endeavors to love everyone, there’s another place to look for keeping confirmands in the true faith.
 
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
 
For the past two years, these young men have read, learned, and inwardly digested God’s Word.  They have regularly and faithfully given up their Sunday afternoons and been immersed in the Word of God.  But that’s just two years of their life.  Once they’re free from their parents telling them to go to Junior Confirmation, they might decide sleeping in is preferable, or hanging out with their friends who aren’t burdened by religion and have the whole weekend to themselves.  The same goes for when they move out after they graduate.  If they go away to school, their parents have no control whether they keep going to church or not.
 
If this is your worry, repent.  Though we were to drag someone to church or scream into their ear, we could not make one single convert to Christ.  That task is beyond the ability of parents, pastors, or any Christian. It is a divine work: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
 
This is where those beloved words of the Small Catechism come to bear: “I believe I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” (Creed, 3rd Article)
 
These young men are here today because of the work of the Holy Spirit (and yes their parents brought them), but the day is come for us to rely on God the Holy Spirit.  Recall that at one time, many of you were in the same position, and here you are today.  Others never were, and yet here we are today.
 
Our Lord teaches us in John 3, 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” (John 3:8)   Even though on Pentecost, the disciples were given a vision of the Holy Spirit’s work, now we simply see His working much the same way we see the trees blow in the breeze.  We now hear His voice (the Word of God) and we see men born again, confess faith in the one-and-only Savior, and remain true to Him.  We see boldness and sacrifice when these men and women put their faith above other things in life.  We feel a peace which the world does not give, because we have a God who rules over the heavens and has secured our eternal home.  We do not see this, the way the world sees, but we know and confess that it is the Holy Spirit who does all this.
 
It’s a reminder and comfort for all of us, when we worry about the state of the Christian church in this place, other parts of the country and world.  We long for the days when churches were packed and out the door, but I can almost guarantee you that was not just the Holy Spirit at work.  It was social pressure, it was the fact that there was nothing on TV and the stores were closed.  But in the midst of social pressure and so many distractions, the Holy Spirit’s work comes into better focus.
 
Our Lord promised, “On this rock [the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God], I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18).  That promise remains true no matter what year it is, no matter what ideas are popular today, or who you meet on the street.  The Church is the creation of the Holy Spirit, and what He creates is more powerful than anything in this passing life.
 
So, our hope is in the Lord who works all of this.  No need to worry, no need to devise plans, only pray and believe the promise in Philippians 1:6: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Amen.  This is most certainly true.

Sunday after the Ascension (Exaudi)(Ezekiel 36:22-28)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Sunday after the Ascension (Exaudi) + May 13, 2018
Text: Ezekiel 36:22-28

Don’t be fooled by the title, “Old Testament.”  It’s not old like your flip phone that sits forgotten in the junk drawer.  It’s not old like an old clunker that rattles when it gets up to freeway speeds.  It’s old in the way that it came before the current generation.  It spans more time than what is new, and yet still remains true.  It’s old because the new came—but unlike the old sinful nature and the new man—both Old and New Testaments are priceless.  The Old points ahead to the New, and the New builds on the Old.
 
In fact, neither is complete without the other.  The Old Testament is left longing for fulfillment, and the New Testament is no more than a story about quirky followers of Jesus without what came before it.  The Old is therefore full of shadows, but the flesh of Christ which casts that shadow is in the New.[1]
 
It’s with this in mind that we hear both the shadow and its fulfillment from the Prophet Ezekiel:
 
24I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:24–28)
 
For Ezekiel and the exiles of his day, this was a future promise, but for us it is a present reality.  It’s Baptism.  Pure water, a sacred cleansing, a new heart and spirit, the Holy Spirit within.  We return to the Small Catechism and review:
What is Baptism?
Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.
 
Which is that word of God?
Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
 
What benefits does Baptism give?
It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.
 
Which are these words and promises of God?
Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
 
It is our tendency to make Baptism a past action.  In the most extreme example, a person will call the church after many years and say, “I was baptized there,” to which the pastor says, “And where have you been in the meantime?”  But we also find ourselves putting our Baptism in the rearview mirror:

  • In Baptism, God adopted us as His own children and became our Father, but how is our prayer life? Do we talk to him constantly or do we put him in the proverbial nursing home and only visit him on Sundays or when He nags us?
  • In Baptism, God joined us to Christ in His innocent suffering and death, but how often we find ourselves weighed down with a guilty conscience, living things over again in our head.
  • In Baptism, we were also made fellow heirs of Jesus’ resurrection, but we magnify the cares of this life so big that even God couldn’t help us when finances or health are at risk.

 
What God did for you in the water of Holy Baptism is not just in the rearview mirror.  It’s right in front of you today and it still holds true for tomorrow.  While in it you have the forgiveness of your sins (“clean water to cleanse you from all your uncleannesses”), Baptism is the foundation for our whole life as Christians.
 
Uncleanness in the heart spreads to the rest of the life.  As Jesus said, 45The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)  An unclean heart will give birth to many evils, even among church-going Christians—adulterous thoughts, jealousy, greed, pride, doubt, gossip, factions, rebellion.  Left unchecked, it just keeps festering and even growing.  The insidious thing is when we turn a blind eye.  It’s much more comfortable to point these things out in others than to be naked before God, exposed by His holy Law.
 
That is precisely God’s purpose: to expose our uncleannesses and the ways we have profaned His Name among the people we live.  It’s to bring us to our knees and empty us of excuses and pointing the finger.
 
But God brings glory to His Name by sprinkling you with clean water—“not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience” (1 Peter 3:21).
 
How can water do such great things?
Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.” (Titus 3:5–8)
 
Baptism has the power to bring forth a new creature, reborn according to God’s glorious plan.  God is continually at work in the believer: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
 
But God is not done yet.  Jesus ascended into heaven in order that He could send the promise of His Father (Luke 24:49)—the Holy Spirit.  “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”  It’s God’s action which comes first, then the obedience.  As Jesus said, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good.”  God’s Spirit keeps us in this faith, and causes us to live godly lives.
 
[1] Colossians 2:17

Fourth Sunday after Easter (Cantate) (James 1:16-25)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Fourth Sunday after Easter (Cantate) + April 29, 2018
Text: James 1:16-25

Welcome to the world!  From the moment we’re born and placed in our mother’s arms, we’re growing and learning.  We learn from sights, sounds, and smells.  We learn from things we do, and things that happen to us.  At home, at school and work, and wherever we go, we learn from experience.  Throughout our lives, we come to know more and more.
For all of the experiences we have in life, however, there is one thing that experience will not teach us.  St. James writes, “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”  Through all of our days on this earth, experience can’t teach us how true this is.  Experience will teach us that sometimes God is evil.  He lets us suffer hurt and loss.  He lets marriages break apart, leaving children caught in the middle.  He doesn’t stop school shootings and Muslim extremists.
Experience will teach us that God is fickle, blessing us at some times and cursing us at others.  What did I do to deserve this?  How come my family is so screwed up?  Why can’t my job be easier or simpler?  We’re left to guess what God’s plan is, because we think it changes with His mood.
There’s only one way that God teaches us His unchanging goodness: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”  Our sinful birth into a sinful world can only give us an evil view of God.
But, He has given us another birth through the waters of Holy Baptism.  The Lord says, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”[1]  God has called us out of the darkness of experience and enlightened us by His Holy Spirit.  Our experience in this world would deceive us, but the Word of truth enlightens us to know that He is not a cruel and moody Deity; He is an Almighty Father…He is our Father in heaven.
More than that, He shows us that we are the firstfruits of His new creation—a new heavens and a new earth.[2]  It’s undeniable that this world and life is broken and sickly.  We are surrounded by evil and even see it at work within us.  In Romans 8, St. Paul writes, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for…the redemption of our bodies.”[3]  This is what our Good, Perfect, and Unchanging God has given us.  We have eternal birth in the Name of Jesus.  We’re not left to grope in the dark to figure God out or what His plans are for us.  He tells us plainly: I love you and I have made you my child forever.[4]
So, we grow in life as God’s children.  And we know that this has nothing to do with age, since some become mature after many years.  (I know a certain pastor who was confirmed at age 24.)  As we grow as God’s children, He teaches us about life through His Word.  Our heavenly Father teaches us about dangerous things to avoid:
Romans 16: “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”[5]
Colossians 3: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”[6]
Our Father also teaches us what’s good to do:
Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man…[whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”[7]
1 Thessalonians 5: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances”[8]
Ephesians 4: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”[9]
Proverbs 31: “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”[10]
Therefore, James writes, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”  Our heavenly Father wants us to be quick to learn how to live from Him.  This is why we read and study the Bible.  This is why we have Bible studies at church and in the home.  The Spirit tells us it’s important, but then our experience tells us a hundred other things that are higher priority.  In our busy lives that’s why it’s even more important to have time set aside to study the Word.
Our heavenly Father also wants us to know where to look when we sin.  “If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”[11]
Yet we would be deceived if we thought the Bible was nothing but a rule book for humanity.  James says, “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”   People railing against other people, using God’s Word as a club, is not God’s will.  God desires the righteousness of faith, and it’s never come by physical force.  Back in the 8th century, King Charlemagne took the “convert or die” tactic with German pagans, and it didn’t work.  It still doesn’t work today.  You can put up all the enraged billboards you want, and it won’t make righteous people in God’s sight.  You can yell at your children who refused to come to church, and it will only drive them further away.
God’s Word is also abused if His children are proud of their obedience.  Indeed, the Lord says, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”[12]  But conservatives become far too proud of how faithful they’ve been to the letter of the Word.  Meanwhile, they neglect love, mercy, and humility.  Jesus has this rebuke for such diehard conservatives: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”[13]
But instead of “trusting in ourselves as righteous and treating others with contempt,”[14] God teaches us about true righteousness.  James writes, “Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”  None of our righteous living or confessing saves us, but Jesus does!  He is God’s Righteous Man,[15] and His righteousness is a gift to you.  “Receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.”  God put it there in you.  Various people have watered it—parents, pastors, and others—but “God gives the growth.”[16]  And the result of that is, as St. Paul also writes, “you gain Christ, and are found in Him, not having a righteousness of your own…but that which comes through faith in Christ.”[17]
Finally, James sums up what it means to be a mature child of God, who confesses Jesus as Lord, God as his Father, and has the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”  All through confirmation class, the students are called catechumens, which is Greek for a “hearer” of the Word.[18]  In being confirmed, the “hearers” echo back what they have heard from God.  In Baptism, the Creed was spoken for you, and at confirmation, those who have heard the Word speak back the Creed.  As a child, God’s Word was read to you, and in Confirmation you take it to heart.  God’s Word has formed you to the degree that you are no longer merely hearer—a catechumen—but a doer of the Word.
Yet we never actually leave the place of being a “hearer of the Word.”  Remember what James just said, “be quick to hear, slow to speak.”  None of us—pastors  included—can ever claim that we have mastered the Word.  It doesn’t have to do with how much time someone devotes to Bible study; it has to do with what we are.  We are God’s creatures—He created us by His Word.  He is the Vine, we are the branches[19]—His Word is implanted in us.  So, day by day, we live “by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”[20] Day by day, as James writes, we “look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and continue in it.”[21]
May the Father of lights bless us in our hearing and our doing through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Amen.
[1] John 3:3 (see footnote)
[2] Revelation 21:1
[3] Romans 8:22-23
[4] 1 John 3:1-3
[5] Romans 16:17
[6] 1 Peter 1:15-16
[7] Psalm 1:1-2
[8] 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
[9] Ephesians 4:15
[10] Proverbs 31:8-9
[11] 1 John 2:1-2 NIV
[12] Luke 11:28
[13] Matthew 23:23-24
[14] Luke 18:9
[15] Psalm 24:3-5
[16] 1 Corinthians 3:7
[17] Philippians 3:9
[18] From κατακούω, “hear and obey, give ear”
[19] John 15:5
[20] Deuteronomy 8:3
[21] James 1:25, NKJV

Third Sunday after Easter (Jubilate) (John 16:16-22)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Third Sunday after Easter (Jubilate) + April 22, 2018
Text: John 16:16-22

Among the many promises of God, we have our favorites:

  • “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
  • “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2)
  • “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25–26)

But there’s one more the Lord makes in today’s Gospel, which probably won’t make anyone’s list of favorites: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”  This is a promise we can count on being true today: Truly, truly, I say to you; Amen. Amen. You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. He does not say, if your faith is weak, you will weep. Nor does He say, if you go astray, you will lament.  It’s true for every believer.  If you follow Jesus, you will weep and lament.  We should not be surprised when this life causes us grief and sorrow.  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)
 
We don’t have to like it.  We don’t need deny it and pretend it’s not that bad.  The hurt is real when vows are broken.  It really is a dreadful violation when your home is robbed.  It’s painful to see like Walther League or a church choir, laid aside forgotten.  You can’t deny that it cuts deep when you see your friends and peers in the obituaries.  It’s not a figment of your imagination, and it does not mean your faith isn’t strong enough.  Don’t be ashamed to cry. Don’t put on a good face and hide it from other people here when they ask you how you’re doing.  If anyone gives you flack, tell them Jesus told you it was ok: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament.”
 
But Easter comes after Good Friday: “Your sorrow will turn into joy.”  That’s the ultimate end of the promise, because Christ Himself has been to the grave.  Sin unleashed its fury on Him.  For three long days the grave did its worst, until by God its strength was dispersed.[1] Because God died for us, the sorrows of all who believe in Him will turn to joy.
 
Honestly, though, it can seems like shallow comfort in the midst of it.  That’s what makes the analogy Jesus gives so appropriate: 21When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” (John 16:21)  The suffering and anguish we face is like that of a woman in the throes of labor.  The pain seems to go from worse to worse. She just wants it to be over.  Isn’t there any easier way?  Any platitudes you try to offer her will be repaid with a punch to the gut: “In the end it will all be worth it!” “It could be worse.” “I know how you feel.”  The only thing that will really help is when the baby is delivered.  Then she can rest.  Then the joy can truly be appreciated.
 
The time of joy is still on the horizon.  We are in the midst of labor pains, sorrow, weeping, and lamenting.  But the risen Christ is our guarantee that we will have joy that will not come to an end, which no one will be able to take from us.
 
Today, the world celebrates Earth Day with many festivities that promote conservation and sustainability.  While this world is full of beauty and it is the only place we have to live, it’s also the place of our lament, the old, broken creation.  Christians have something greater to rejoice in.
 
Today (as every Sunday), we celebrate Resurrection Day, the hope of the new creation already begun when Jesus rose from the dead.  Even while we weep and lament in the old creation, we yet have a joy which no one is able to take from us—not the sadness of life, not the devil who lures us into despair and unbelief, not even the grave itself.
 
Really, it’s hard to imagine what that will be like now, yet we follow our Lord.  He was taken away from us for a little while as He lay dead and buried, but He arose on the Third Day (just as He said He would, and just as the Scriptures foretold).  All who belong to Him will likewise follow Him through the sorrow, the weeping, the dying…and the rising!  He gives us the strength to bear our labors until He gives us rest in death and ultimately resurrected life.
 
In that Day, the words of Psalm 66 which we prayed at the beginning of the service will be entirely fulfilled: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth. Sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!” (Ps. 66:1-2)  Alleluia! Praise the Lord.  Amen.
 
[1] Christ is Arisen! Alleluia! (LSB 466, st. 2)

Second Sunday after Easter (Misericordias domini)(John 10:11-16)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Second Sunday after Easter (Misericordias domini) + April 15, 2018
Text: John 10:11-16

“A Psalm of David. 1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23)
But what does that look like here on earth, and day to day?  To care for His flock, Jesus appoints shepherds (that’s what the title pastor means).  He said to Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?…Feed my lambs…Tend my sheep…Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)
 
Jesus does not hire employees; He calls men to shepherd His flock.  That’s why the language and practice of trying to compare a pastor’s work to that of another job doesn’t fit.  Pastors do not work 40-hour weeks.  If he does, you’re out of luck if your husband dies on Friday, or if you’re in the hospital at 11pm on a Sunday night.  A hired hand will leave the office, and you will not be able to get ahold of him because he will shut his phone off.
 
Why?  Because there is no bond of love.  The hireling is in it for the paycheck and not much more.  The Lord requires love of His pastors, and you can’t put that on a job description or measure it in a quarterly review the way you can other workers.
 
The Good Shepherd calls pastors to shepherd His flock, to tend to them whenever and wherever they may be—whether they are in the hospital in Portland or having a family crisis on what most people get off as a holiday.  It’s an earthly reflection of how the Chief Shepherd Himself is with us.
 
This is what is so significant at those points in the service when the pastor faces the congregation—the absolution, the readings, the sermon, the pax domini, and the benediction.  These are all sacred points in the divine service where it is not just the man who speaks, but the pastor speaks in the stead and by the command of the Good Shepherd.
 
Because the pastor isn’t an employee, it is unnatural for the flock to become an executive board to manage their pastor.  At times they will, and they have in many places—but this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.  The Gentiles lord it over each other and exercise authority, but it shall not be so among you.[1]  It’s quite unnatural for a congregation to talk in terms of “getting their money’s worth” out of their pastor.  If a congregation has a faithful pastor who loves them, those Christians are blessed beyond anything that money can buy.
But it can’t be ignored that the men the Lord appoints, starting with St. Peter, are sinners.  Although they are called to “Shepherd the flock of God which is among them” (1 Peter 5:1), they just as much are in need of daily forgiveness.  They themselves struggle with weak faith, pride, they hurt people with their words and actions.  Their sinful failings bring shame upon the Office of pastor which the Lord has entrusted to them.  Their words and actions can do real, sometimes irreparable damage to the faith the Lord’s little lambs.  To put it plainly, pastors are just as bad as the people they are called to lead.  The only difference, perhaps, is that they have the devil’s target on their back, and experience more frequent spiritual attack.  They need the Good Shepherd just as much as anyone.
 
11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:11–15)
 
The Lord arranges things this way because He knows that His flock needs this.  Christians are people who need congregations, who need shepherds.  They need someone to love them with a steadfast love, both when things are good and when they get ugly.  The sheep need someone who feeds them, even when some of the louder ones complain about doctrine as “worthless manna.”  God’s flock needs a shepherd who will stick with them, even when they deal low blows and make the complaints personal.
 
The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep—all Christians, both pastors and laity.  24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:24–25)  Again, He did it because we need it.  We often find ourselves wandering from our Shepherd.  His Word becomes burdensome and we instead lean on our own understanding.  We stay away from church after disappointments and hurts. Even within the church, fights break out among believers because of jealousy, fear, and greed.  The human limitations and failings of this divine relationship cloud our vision of what the Lord is doing among us.
Even in the valley of the shadow of death, our Good Shepherd tends us.  He sends His Word of grace and peace from heaven to purify our hearts.  He feeds us with His very own Body and Blood in the Sacrament for our forgiveness, restoration, and strength of body and soul.   We can thank Him that He has continued steadfast among His flock in this place, and He continues His work: “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
Let us pray,
Faithful Shepherd, You are ever with us.  In divine love, You laid down your life for us. We thank you evermore that You cause this life-giving Word to be preached among us.  Support our shepherd and bless his service in among us. Guide us with your Word and move us by Your Spirit to receive your tending gladly and follow where you lead, in the way that leads to eternal life.  In Your precious, saving Name we pray. Amen.
 
Note which didn’t fit in the sermon:
It’s true that in Matthew 9, when the Lord sees the crowds harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, He does call those He sends “laborers.”  But that’s an incomplete picture because those he sends are called to do so much more than a simple wage-earner.  Most of the Apostles He sent gave up their lives in the service of the harvest.
 
[1] Mark 10:42-45