Author: Sonya

June 12, 2016 – A Changed World – Wouldn’t that be Nice?

The recent storms in Texas and floods in France remind us of how quickly and frightfully our world can be literally turned upside down. Such tragedies and disasters have a way of focusing us on what’s truly important in life. Sometimes we benefit from the hardships, loss and pain of others if we are humble and wise enough to pay attention.

I had my world turned upside down by the death of my mother 6 years ago. My sense of what is normal and usual was forever changed by her passing. And, though I rejoice that she is at rest in Christ, there are still days that I’m learning to cope with this change in my world.

I can imagine that Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife in the Old Testament lesson today, also had to cope with a change in her world when her husband was killed. But the circumstances of his death that she faced where not brought on by something as mundane as a heart attack. No, it was the result of the greedy and lustful heart of King David that brought such devastation to Bathsheba and her world. As the story tells us, David had Uriah, a brave soldier, killed just so that David could ‘legally’ take Bathsheba as his wife. Such a corruption and perversion of God’s law.

Uriah served his king, as do those who serve our country in uniform, with steadfastness and honor. If you take the time to read this whole passage out of Samuel, you’ll see that Uriah sets a standard dedication and faithfulness to his fellow servicemen, honorable service to the chain of command and an adherence to duty that carries down to those who serve in the armed forces today as well. And those traits are what King David took advantage of to betray Uriah.

And in that betrayal David is found out through God’s prophet, Nathan, and stands accused and condemned for his betrayal. But in our scripture readings today David isn’t the only betrayer. And Bathsheba isn’t the only one who has her world changed. In the gospel reading we see the Pharisee, Simon, who, like David, also finds himself confronted by a man of God, with his betrayal.

We also have Mary Magdalene who has her world turned upside down, not by betrayal, but by God’s grace. And that grace is spoken to her by the same Man of God who confronts the Pharisee.

For Simon, the Pharisee, the world is ordered and correct according to how he sees his place in the religious structure of his day. He believes himself to be exempt from the normal social customs that Jesus points out to him because of his own exaggerated sense of self. And this is a betrayal of the very obedience to God that Simon thinks he does so well. To him, his own morality and self-righteousness are what keep his world in order, and not the mercy of God shown to others.

Jesus punctures that self-righteousness with His story of the two men who are forgiven their debts. The one, who is forgiven more, Simon the Pharisee judges correctly, is the one who loves more. And in speaking this judgment Simon reveals that he, like king David, doesn’t see his own sin. Then there’s Mary Magdalene. She, by her tears, confesses her sin and in her need of forgiveness, comes to Jesus for His pardon. And she receives it. Not because she’s earned it with her tears, but because Jesus knows her need, accepts her humble service to Him as her confession He then gives her, through His word, the absolution that frees her from her guilt. And so her world is changed.

What I believe these readings together teach us is… that we cannot come to God and presume our own righteousness. We cannot come to God in this place or in our daily prayers with a sense of entitlement or of just ‘going through the motions’.

David was confronted with his sin by the story that Nathan told him of the one sheep of the poor man being unjustly taken away. The Pharisee was shown his own lack of following God’s law of love by the woman who, in his own house, showed the love and devotion due to Jesus.

Sometimes it’s difficult to really see our sin and we need something, like a Nathan and his story of the poor man’s sheep, or Jesus and His story of 2 debts forgiven, to help us see our sin for the outrageous betrayal and stark affront to God that it truly is, rather than sin being something we presume to control.

I’m going to give you a few moments right now and ask you to silently answer this for yourself. What is it in your world that shows you your sin? How are you truly confronted with your own lack of control?

Again the weather the last several weeks has served to show us just how little we are in control. But it also has provided a real-world demonstration of what today’s readings show us: The benefit of being warned. Weather reports are there for us to be warned of the danger that is coming our way.

Those reports do not to give you control, but give you time to respond to that which is not in your power to control. So also these warning-stories from scriptures today are there for us. They show us that we can-not control sin or God’s wrath and anger at sin. We’re caught in the deadly winds of God’s destruction on sin if we fail to receive both the warning and the protection God’s word gives us.

We are in danger of certain death from our own greed and lust, our own pride and arrogance and we oftentimes simply don’t or won’t see it. Like David and the Pharisee, we need to be shown our need for repentance. David, through the story Nathan tells him, did see it and, by God’s grace, he was able to make his confession, and so was spared death.

True, his child had to die. But that only shows us the truly great cost of our sin. God’s own Child, Jesus Christ, also had to die on the cross… for sin. He had to die for us, so we like David, could be spared the penalty of death that our sin requires. God, in love, chose to sacrifice His child so that we would be forgiven our debt.

Like the two men who owed money in Jesus’ story, both were forgiven. But the one who was forgiven much, loved much. And that is what turned Mary’s world upside down, the great love of God expressed through Jesus Christ. By her being drawn to Him and through her tears acknowledging her great need, Jesus pronounced the words of forgiveness that indeed resulted in a change in her world. That change is what allowed her to love much. She recognized the only Source of true forgiveness and restoration, Jesus Christ. And when she found him, though she did not deserve it, she received the words of Jesus as her comfort and peace. Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And with those words her world changed.

Those same words also change your world. Those words are what we hear declared to us when we come and confess our sins, humbly and without self-righteousness. When we, like David, hear that ‘you are the man’, who took the one sheep that was dear to its owner and carelessly sacrificed it, we know we’re the ones who have betrayed God’s faithfulness to us. And we, like Mary, need to then have our world changed. Jesus is the one and only Lamb of God who was sacrificed on the cross to take away the sin of the world and then rose from the grave in victory over death. Jesus tells us like He told Mary, ‘your sins are forgiven’ and ‘go in peace’.

We do go from here today with our world changed and our hearts and minds now at peace in the grace of God alone. May we now serve God as honorably as Uriah served David. May we, having had our world changed by the love of God go in the peace that Jesus pronounced to Mary. And may we, having our world so changed by the Word of Christ alone, go in to the week ahead, … now free and strengthened for Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel. Amen.

 

Sermon #831 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                                                 2 Samuel 11:26-12:14 26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. 12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”                                                                                                                7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’                                                                                                                  11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”                                                                                                               13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

 

Epistle Reading                                                                                       Galatians 2:15-21; 3:10-14 15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                                                   Luke 7:36-8:3

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

8 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

June 12, 2016 – A Changed World – Wouldn’t that be Nice?
The recent storms in Texas and floods in France remind us of how quickly and frightfully our world can be literally turned upside down. Such tragedies and disasters have a way of focusing us on what’s truly important in life. Sometimes we benefit from the hardships, loss and pain of others if we are humble and wise enough to pay attention.
I had my world turned upside down by the death of my mother 6 years ago. My sense of what is normal and usual was forever changed by her passing. And, though I rejoice that she is at rest in Christ, there are still days that I’m learning to cope with this change in my world.
I can imagine that Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife in the Old Testament lesson today, also had to cope with a change in her world when her husband was killed. But the circumstances of his death that she faced where not brought on by something as mundane as a heart attack. No, it was the result of the greedy and lustful heart of King David that brought such devastation to Bathsheba and her world. As the story tells us, David had Uriah, a brave soldier, killed just so that David could ‘legally’ take Bathsheba as his wife. Such a corruption and perversion of God’s law.
Uriah served his king, as do those who serve our country in uniform, with steadfastness and honor. If you take the time to read this whole passage out of Samuel, you’ll see that Uriah sets a standard dedication and faithfulness to his fellow servicemen, honorable service to the chain of command and an adherence to duty that carries down to those who serve in the armed forces today as well. And those traits are what King David took advantage of to betray Uriah.
And in that betrayal David is found out through God’s prophet, Nathan, and stands accused and condemned for his betrayal. But in our scripture readings today David isn’t the only betrayer. And Bathsheba isn’t the only one who has her world changed. In the gospel reading we see the Pharisee, Simon, who, like David, also finds himself confronted by a man of God, with his betrayal.
We also have Mary Magdalene who has her world turned upside down, not by betrayal, but by God’s grace. And that grace is spoken to her by the same Man of God who confronts the Pharisee.
For Simon, the Pharisee, the world is ordered and correct according to how he sees his place in the religious structure of his day. He believes himself to be exempt from the normal social customs that Jesus points out to him because of his own exaggerated sense of self. And this is a betrayal of the very obedience to God that Simon thinks he does so well. To him, his own morality and self-righteousness are what keep his world in order, and not the mercy of God shown to others.
Jesus punctures that self-righteousness with His story of the two men who are forgiven their debts. The one, who is forgiven more, Simon the Pharisee judges correctly, is the one who loves more. And in speaking this judgment Simon reveals that he, like king David, doesn’t see his own sin. Then there’s Mary Magdalene. She, by her tears, confesses her sin and in her need of forgiveness, comes to Jesus for His pardon. And she receives it. Not because she’s earned it with her tears, but because Jesus knows her need, accepts her humble service to Him as her confession He then gives her, through His word, the absolution that frees her from her guilt. And so her world is changed.
What I believe these readings together teach us is… that we cannot come to God and presume our own righteousness. We cannot come to God in this place or in our daily prayers with a sense of entitlement or of just ‘going through the motions’.
David was confronted with his sin by the story that Nathan told him of the one sheep of the poor man being unjustly taken away. The Pharisee was shown his own lack of following God’s law of love by the woman who, in his own house, showed the love and devotion due to Jesus.
Sometimes it’s difficult to really see our sin and we need something, like a Nathan and his story of the poor man’s sheep, or Jesus and His story of 2 debts forgiven, to help us see our sin for the outrageous betrayal and stark affront to God that it truly is, rather than sin being something we presume to control.
I’m going to give you a few moments right now and ask you to silently answer this for yourself. What is it in your world that shows you your sin? How are you truly confronted with your own lack of control?
Again the weather the last several weeks has served to show us just how little we are in control. But it also has provided a real-world demonstration of what today’s readings show us: The benefit of being warned. Weather reports are there for us to be warned of the danger that is coming our way.
Those reports do not to give you control, but give you time to respond to that which is not in your power to control. So also these warning-stories from scriptures today are there for us. They show us that we can-not control sin or God’s wrath and anger at sin. We’re caught in the deadly winds of God’s destruction on sin if we fail to receive both the warning and the protection God’s word gives us.
We are in danger of certain death from our own greed and lust, our own pride and arrogance and we oftentimes simply don’t or won’t see it. Like David and the Pharisee, we need to be shown our need for repentance. David, through the story Nathan tells him, did see it and, by God’s grace, he was able to make his confession, and so was spared death.
True, his child had to die. But that only shows us the truly great cost of our sin. God’s own Child, Jesus Christ, also had to die on the cross… for sin. He had to die for us, so we like David, could be spared the penalty of death that our sin requires. God, in love, chose to sacrifice His child so that we would be forgiven our debt.
Like the two men who owed money in Jesus’ story, both were forgiven. But the one who was forgiven much, loved much. And that is what turned Mary’s world upside down, the great love of God expressed through Jesus Christ. By her being drawn to Him and through her tears acknowledging her great need, Jesus pronounced the words of forgiveness that indeed resulted in a change in her world. That change is what allowed her to love much. She recognized the only Source of true forgiveness and restoration, Jesus Christ. And when she found him, though she did not deserve it, she received the words of Jesus as her comfort and peace. Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And with those words her world changed.
Those same words also change your world. Those words are what we hear declared to us when we come and confess our sins, humbly and without self-righteousness. When we, like David, hear that ‘you are the man’, who took the one sheep that was dear to its owner and carelessly sacrificed it, we know we’re the ones who have betrayed God’s faithfulness to us. And we, like Mary, need to then have our world changed. Jesus is the one and only Lamb of God who was sacrificed on the cross to take away the sin of the world and then rose from the grave in victory over death. Jesus tells us like He told Mary, ‘your sins are forgiven’ and ‘go in peace’.
We do go from here today with our world changed and our hearts and minds now at peace in the grace of God alone. May we now serve God as honorably as Uriah served David. May we, having had our world changed by the love of God go in the peace that Jesus pronounced to Mary. And may we, having our world so changed by the Word of Christ alone, go in to the week ahead, … now free and strengthened for Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel. Amen.

Sermon #831 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

First Reading 2 Samuel 11:26-12:14 26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD. 12 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.”

Epistle Reading Galatians 2:15-21; 3:10-14 15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Holy Gospel Luke 7:36-8:3
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
8 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

 

Feb 7, 2016 – Seeing

When I turned 40 I had to get glasses. I really needed at them at first so I could distinguish headlights at night rather than just seeing these blurs of light coming at me. In the rain of Seattle it’s important to be able to see on-coming headlights clearly. Later, it became important to wear glasses so I could see to work on the old monochrome computer screens we used back then. Again clarity of sight was what was needed.

And now, today I simply need them… all the time if I want to see anything! And then there’re times when I have to clean these things and that becomes a pain in itself. It seems like no matter how much you try to get all the glass clean there’s always a smudge or streak that’s left. But if the glasses are going to work right I need to keep them clear so I can see what it is that’s in front of me.

Seeing what’s in front of you. That’s very important in the Old Testament lesson today for Moses. Moses was given the sight to see the Promised Land in front of him, from the top of Mount Nebo. From that mountain top, Moses, saw that land toward which he had led the people of Israel 40 years in the desert. And then, after giving Moses, on that mountain, the sight to see that, God spared Moses the grief of taking the people into the Promised Land.

Those problems fell to Joshua after Moses died. Moses entered into his death like we enter baptism, by God’s grace alone. We’re told that God Himself buried Moses there on Mt Nebo. As death spared Moses from grief among the hardships of settling the people of Israel in the new land, so baptism spares us the hardship of trying to settle ourselves into the new land of heaven.

Jesus has done that work for us through His death on the cross and His resurrection. And that work is poured out on us by God’s work in our baptismal life. But like Moses seeing the Promised Land, so also baptism gives us the sight, by faith, to see that heaven is our true home, our true promised land. We see, in the work of baptism, that the promised land of heaven is yet before us.

Moses’ seeing the land, yet not touching it reminds me of what our mothers used to say to us when we’d go into a store, ‘look, but don’t touch’. Sometimes I used to wonder, what good is that? If I can’t touch it what good is it? Well Moses had to deal with that same idea.

What did Moses see, though, before he died? He saw that God had fulfilled His promise. He saw the promise of bringing Israel to this land beyond the Jordan brought to completion. His view included seeing God bring this people out from Egypt and through the desert for 40 years. And then Moses saw that the land promised by God to this people was really there and waiting for them.

And Moses did get to see that Promised Land though in a different way in the gospel lesson today, didn’t he? In the gospel lesson, on another mountain top, Moses saw “the Promised Land” when he stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and talked with Jesus. Jesus is revealed as the true Promised Land. Jesus, by His death and resurrection, is how the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring His people home happens.

Moses standing on mount of transfiguration, with Jesus and Elijah, now enters into the Promised Land in a way he could not have foreseen when standing on the top of Mt Nebo, except one thing… faith. By faith in God’s promise, Moses saw that the Promised Land was his. And in seeing Jesus Christ, Moses sees God’s promise in its ultimate fulfillment.

As Jesus was transfigured there on that mountain, in the presence of His disciples and Moses and Elijah, the ‘promised land’ of God was revealed not as a place but as the person of Jesus Christ. That’s because in the person of Jesus all the promises of God find their fulfillment. Seeing Jesus as God’s fulfillment of all that He promises, is something that only those who believe God’s promises in His word can see.

I don’t know if you’ve ever read all of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia but there’s a book called The Last Battle. In this book there are dwarves and children and the Christ-figure, the lion Aslan, along with others. There’s a scene in that book that illustrates for us the idea that seeing Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises comes from believing God’s promises.

There’s a door to a barn in the story that people go through one night. The night is full of fear and darkness and the barn from the outside is rather forbidding and scary. But for those who believe in Aslan, when they go through that barn-door, it surprisingly becomes the gateway to Aslan’s world that is full of light and trees and grass and meadows. And the children and their Narnian friends who go through it are met there by Aslan.

But for the dwarves who go in the door they only see the dank stinky inside of the decrepit old barn. Though they are in fact surrounded by the glory of Aslan and his world, and the children and other Narnians who can see the dwarves, yet the dwarves themselves refuse to see it because they refuse to believe the promises of Aslan. You should read the story sometime if you haven’t. But those dwarves are like people who refuse the gift of faith in the promises of God.

Seeing is what today’s Bible readings are about. Seeing God’s work and seeing what Gods promises result in, are what we see in these readings. Looking back at the gospel lesson where the disciples, after recognizing Moses and Elijah, say that they want to put up shelters for Jesus and these two. The disciples only see what’s in front of them right here on the mountain. They don’t yet see all that God wants them to see. And one thing they miss is, that Jesus has been transfigured before them in preparation for going to Jerusalem to die on the cross.

So to help out the disciples, and us as well, God speaks from the cloud that suddenly surrounds them and makes clear two things: that Jesus is God’s Son and that they are to listen to Him. It isn’t for them to tell Jesus what the plan is, they are to listen to what He says. It isn’t for them to put Jesus, Moses and Elijah in some boxes up on this mountain-top so they can be looked at anytime the disciples feel they need a spiritual fix. Such a zoo-like approach to God’s promises is not in the plan.

God’s plan to redeem man can’t simply be viewed at the top of a mountain and say, oh that’s nice, I’ll tuck that away. No God needs to bring His salvation to man personally and that’s why Jesus’ personal death must take place. And that’s why baptism is a personal thing as well. God touches us individually with His grace through the promise of His word to us those waters.

Going to die at the hands of men is what Jesus makes clear is the plan in the following verses. In fairness to the disciples, though, this mountain-top experience is not something they had any frame of reference for. They had no context of a similar event with which to compare this. So we can understand their confused reaction to God’s plan. I’m quite sure none of us would have had the sight to see clearly on that mountain what it was that God was doing.

And when you read the lesson from Hebrews it becomes clearer what indeed God did. In Christ God was building the house of faith that began with Moses. Moses leading the Israelites faithfully through the desert to the Promised Land was the start. It was the point of reference needed to see clearly that, in Jesus Christ is the complete fulfillment of the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are of the house of Christ as we keep hold of the courage and hope that is ours by faith in Jesus Christ.

Let me close with a story that helps us to remember to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in our thoughts as Hebrews tell us to do today. When we do as this little boy in the story does, we can see clearly that keeping our eyes on Christ gives us the way to the Promised Land.

One rainy Sunday afternoon, a father was babysitting his children and had the task of keeping them entertained. He assigned different projects to each of the children. To keep his 10-year-old son busy, he cut a full page map of the United States out of a magazine, and then he cut the map into tiny pieces and told his son to reassemble it like a jigsaw puzzle. To the father’s amazement, his son completed the task in just a few minutes. “How did you do it, son?” he asked. “It was easy!” said the boy. “When I first tried to put the map of the land together it seemed impossible. But then I noticed part of a man’s face on the back of one of the pieces. So I turned all the pieces over, and put the man’s face together.’

When we fix our eyes on the face of Jesus, the Promised Land takes care of itself and comes together of its own accord. Because Jesus Himself is that Promised Land which Moses saw on both Mt Nebo and the Mt of Transfiguration. By faith granted to us in our baptism, we see the same thing as He did… that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of God.

In Jesus name, amen.

 

Sermon #808 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                                   Deuteronomy 34:1-12

34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”                                                                                                                                     5 And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.                                                                                               9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.         10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

 

Epistle                                                                                                                          Hebrews 3:1-6

3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                                                  Luke 9:28-36

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

 

Jan 24, 2016 – Jesus DNA

One of the signs of aging is that many of our body parts no longer work the way they once did, right? I’ve experienced this with many things ‘failing’ in the last several weeks!

Last week, from the epistle lesson, we talked about tools – this week we start off in the epistle lesson talking about the body and the various parts of the body and how the body needs all of its parts.

Young or old, it can be very frustrating to have body parts that no longer work the way they’re supposed to. Life can be a real challenge when you have a poorly functioning back or heart, thyroid or bladder, poorly functioning knees or hips or teeth, eyes or ears or lungs, or maybe some combination of all of these – at the same time.

Well, that’s also true of the Church. The lesson from Corinthians today refers to the Christian Church as the “Body” of Christ. The Body of Christ is made up of many different parts, that is, many individual members, each having their own unique gifts, abilities and functions within the Body.

Again, like we mentioned last week, each of us here can contribute to the ‘common good’ of this place and those we seek to serve in some way. God has called us to be part of His body in this place. But there’re dangers for getting involved in that, and among those is that we become so inward focused, so focused on our part in the body, that we fail to take into account that Jesus, the light of life from God, is for all people everywhere.

When I had devotions with the ladies on Tuesday morning I read the following story. A group of animal decided to improve themselves by starting a school. The classes included swimming, running, climbing and flying. The duck, an excellent swimmer, was not so good in other areas, so he majored in climbing and running. As a result, his swimming suffered. The rabbit, the swiftest runner was forced to spend so much time in other classes that he soon lost much of his famous speed. The squirrel, who had gotten an ‘A’ on the first test in climbing, dropped to a ‘C’ because his teachers spent hours trying to teach him to fly. And lastly the eagle soon found he could no longer soar to the highest treetops because he’d had spent so much time learning to run.

The point to this illustration according to the devotional is: ‘If God made you a teacher – be a teacher. If He’s given you the gift of mercy, serve cheerfully and don’t expect others to do what you do. Accept your spiritual gifts. Stop comparing. Enjoy being you.’

There are 2 lines in that devotional I want point out. – ‘don’t expect others to do what you do’

… and … ‘stop comparing.’

I know both those things sound like law however in the light of God’s Holy Spirit those things are actually freedom for us. We no longer need to feel we have to make everyone else jump on our bandwagon. We no longer bear any burden for what God does with the spiritual gifts of the other parts of His Body, the Church.

Further we’re free from comparing what we do to what others do. We no longer need envy the other perhaps ‘better-known’ body parts.

Very often when I’m getting a sermon ready, the law is found in the Old Testament lesson. But today the law is found in the gospel lesson because we see in it the way the people reacted to Jesus and his inclusion of the Gentiles as part of the body. The danger for us is when we too, like those in the synagogue think we control the grace and mercy of God; I’ll come back to that in a bit.

But for now let me say that when we get so focused on being blessed, we can forget that we have been given God’s grace in order to be a blessing. We’ve been given the Light of Life in order to share His good news, heard in the proclamation that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the gospel lesson.

Those words that Jesus read are the first words of His public ministry after being baptized. And Jesus goes home to Nazareth to begin that ministry. In the reading from Isaiah He did in the synagogue, He declares that its prophecy is fulfilled in Himself. These words from the scroll form the outline for all that Jesus will do in the coming three years of His public ministry. Listen to those words again, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

In these words are the DNA, if you will, of all the words and actions that Jesus will do; including His death and resurrection. That’s because from His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave comes our release from the ‘oppression’ of sin and also our access to the ‘favor’ of the Lord.

So the DNA of Christ’s work, of His body on earth, is found in these words from Isaiah. Now since we’ve talked about the metaphor of the Body of Christ, look at all the references to ‘the body’ in the gospel and the Old Testament lessons today.

As He speaks, using His mouth, the eyes of all are on Jesus as He reads the scroll. And in the Old Testament all the people there listened attentively to the reading from the book of the law. And in that reading we’re told that the people responded with praise and joyful shouts of ‘amen’ meaning they were eager to put their hands and feet into service for God.

We also are given eyes and ears in our bodies to listen and receive God’s word and we too have hands and feet to do His will just as they were so eager to do. At the feast that followed the reading of God’s law in the Old Testament, those who were unprepared were taken care of by those who had prepared. Is that fair? No, but it is merciful and right and important for us today.

Now, back in the gospel lesson, the people who heard Jesus got upset and angry with Him when His words, after reading the scroll, revealed that His ministry and ultimately salvation were going to be for more than just themselves. It was going to also be for those who were ‘unprepared’ and living in the darkness of their sin. That meant it was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. And this angered those who heard Jesus words.

They’d originally been pleased with Jesus words from Isaiah, but that’s when they thought they controlled him. The people got upset when He started speaking about times in the Old Testament when God showed his mercy to those not of the house of Israel. They wanted to keep Jesus, and the mercy of God, to themselves. They didn’t want God showing his mercy to anyone else. They resented Jesus for proclaiming that it was to be for all the world.

Remember that Jesus came to do His Father’s will and that was defined by the reading from the scroll where He was to preach good news to the poor and set the prisoners free. In this way Jesus’ place as Messiah was to be revealed to the world, which sat in the darkness of sin.

There’s a lesson for us in the people’s reaction to Jesus wanting to take that good news beyond the confines of His hometown and heritage. We need to be cautious that when we’re talking about being part of the body of Christ, that we don’t become like they did, seeing themselves as the whole thing – as the only ones that God’s grace is intended for. Remember the devotional don’t expect others to do what you do’ … and … ‘stop comparing.’

Rather we need to be like the people in the Old Testament lesson, seeking to take care of those unprepared for the darkness and captivity of sin in our world. Christ has made us a part of His body so that we too can proclaim His release and light; His hope and wholeness and His healing to all who like ourselves had been – unprepared.

Like the Jew’s of the Old Testament lesson, we’re to be receiving with our ears, the Word of the Lord with gladness and then, with our mouths, sharing its Good News with all. That is what Jesus came to proclaim and that is what He has revealed to us, His Body, in these days of epiphany. We too, then, may share the Light of Life with others, who, like ourselves, are in need of the healing that comes from being part of the body of Christ.

In the name of Jesus the Head of our body, the Light of our life and our Redeemer, amen.

 

Sermon #807 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                            Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

8 All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law…

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground…

8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

 

Epistle                                                                                              1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                                                   Luke 4:16-30

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

 

Jan 17, 2016 – God’s Tool Box

(A toolbox full of tools. Point out one box, many tools. Each tool has its own unique use. I wouldn’t use a hammer to fix my glasses and I wouldn’t use a screwdriver to pound a nail into a wall. Sometimes I do use a tool for something other than what it was made for and that usually has disastrous results. The main point is that there is one tool box and many tools. We are one church and we are all here in God’s love, which is His power in us. But we are all different and God uses us according to what He has made us for.)

This illustration helps with understanding the epistle lesson for today. The verses in the middle of this lesson are the key here. They read: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

The point is that the Spirit is the one who empowers us all. And it is only the Holy Spirit of God that does that. We don’t get ‘energy’ from crystals, mantras or pyramids. It’s the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, who comes to us through our baptism and by faith, which empowers, enables and enlightens us with His gifts. Of course His greatest gift is that of salvation. Salvation by grace through faith isn’t something we achieve by our effort. That too is gift, pure gift. Faith is something that we’d never have thought up on our own. It’s something far distant from our lost human nature.

“‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,” goes the line from the hymn ‘Amazing Grace,’ implying, correctly, that – faith, trust in God’s grace, is not a human discovery but a divine disclosure (-X2). Faith is something taught to us by God. Moreover, faith is not ‘faith that’ something is true; but ‘faith in’ Someone who is Truth… Truth in human flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re in the season of epiphany, the time when we celebrate the revelation to the world that Jesus is both fully God and fully man.

And in the gospel lesson today we see the God/Man, Jesus performing His first miracle that begins to show His followers His divine power. And in this miracle even Jesus uses tools. As Jesus turns the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, He uses the jars for purification. And that’s interesting as you can bet, from what the steward of the feast said, that this wine was the best. I think there’s a connection of some sort between the rite of purification in the wedding ceremony and the fact that Jesus uses those jars to put the best wine in. Jesus is the one who purifies His church, His bride, by giving us the best wine there is, His own blood that cleanses us. Then of course the best wine that Jesus gives us is the wine that we partake of on communion Sundays. In His flesh and blood that we partake of in, with and under the forms of bread and wine in Holy Communion, Jesus delivers to us His gift of forgiveness.

He took on human flesh to win for us that gift of forgiveness by dying on the cross and rising again to life – in the flesh. He gave His flesh as a ransom for the price of our sin. God’s wrath and vengeance that we deserved because of our refusal to obey His loving commands required justice. And Jesus took that on in our place and then freely grants His forgiveness to all who trust in Him.

Forgiveness is not a natural, universal, inborn human virtue; it’s not something native to our sinful human natures. Revenge is natural and inborn. It’s normal for a human being to strike back when struck. Forgiveness is the peculiar attribute of a people who know that they first have been forgiven all, each and every one of their sins, through the gift of Jesus Christ. Having been forgiven, we are empowered to be forgiving.

In a hospital emergency room, an injured little boy holds out his arms for his father and cries, “Daddy, Daddy!” His father cries too, but he lets them take away his son because he knows it’s necessary. Our heavenly Father let His Son enter this world in human flesh to be our Savior, the sacrificial lamb who would die on the cross for the sins of the world. The Father let His Son go because He knew it was necessary – not for Jesus, but for us, for our salvation for our cleansing. His Son went willingly because He too knew it was necessary for our eternal benefit.

Before we can bring any offering to our Lord, before we can receive any other of His gifts and put them to work for Him, before we can ask anything of Christ, before all that, we must first trust Him as the One who takes away the sin of the world – the One who has forgiven all of our sins. It’s that supreme gift of forgiveness that we have received from Christ that opens the door to heaven and frees us so that we can bring our gifts to our loving God and use them for His glory by His power!

So we don’t put any effort of our own into salvation in any way. But we do put effort into using the other gifts, the gifts of the Spirit, He has empowered us with. We put forth our efforts together here to do what our mission statement says we do together; Hearing, Sharing, and Living the Gospel.

That doesn’t happen by keeping our tools in the box. That doesn’t happen by withholding the use of the tools – the gifts – God has given each of us here. As Paul says in the lesson today, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” and that ‘good’ is for each of us and for the good of others beyond our walls.

Let me point out some of the things that go on here ‘for the common good’ the things that it takes just to have worship each week. Now I’m not going to include myself or Gordon. He and I have our parts and you generously support us in what we do.

But to have worship each week someone has to – fill the candles with oil, light the candles, fill the flower vases, hand out the bulletins, change the paraments, move the banners, collect the offerings, count the offerings, deposit the offerings in the bank, write the checks that keep the heat and lights on, turn on the sound board, run the organ and projectors and open and close the building. All of that is done by you, by people who have responded to God’s call to serve in these ways.

Also we have communion twice a month. Luther has said, “Also the people are to be taught that this sign has been instituted not only to awaken faith but also to instruct us in love… We are not to harbor envy and hatred, but each is to care for the other, to help the other with alms and every kind of service which God has commanded us.”

It’s takes people who have volunteered to do the work of setting up and cleaning up the vessels, the host and the wine and counting and recording the number of people taking communion. That task, though it seems a simple matter, like turning on the heat and taking up the offering, that too needs only someone to exercise the gift of service to have happen. I’m grateful for those who’ve stepped up in this important service to the congregation.

Exercising the gifts, using the tools we’ve been given by the Holy Spirit is up to us. We’re not in charge of handing out the gifts we’ve been given, the Holy Spirit does that, but it is up to us to actually put those gifts to use. The doing of those things is in our control and so the question becomes, what have we done with what we’ve been given?

I’d like to quote something from The Hand Tools Institute (HTI). HTI is an association of North American hand tool manufacturers. They say, “Be certain that the hand tools you use are the correct ones to do the job. For example, many people are surprised to learn that there are at least 10 different types of wrenches, over 125 types of pliers, 12 types of screwdrivers, 15 types of hammers and many other tools that can save hours of labor.”

God may have many of us here who can do similar things, like those 125 types of pliers or 15 types of hammers, but that is God’s choice for this toolbox called Zion Lutheran Church. Our choice is about being faithful and responsive to what God would have each of do here and now.

Then HTI says something that fits so well with our scripture today, they say, “Remember one tool is not enough; there are many types of wrenches, pliers, screwdriver, hammers, etc., each suitable for a specific job.” God knows what you are suitable for, that’s why He’s given you the talents, skills, abilities, empathies and compassions that you have.

Luciano Pavarotti once praised by an interviewer for his marvelous voice, gave this reply: “Don’t praise me for the instrument. God made it. All I did was to have the discipline to learn how to play it!” May God give all of us the discipline to learn to use the tools He’s given us so that the world might be blessed through them.

We have been given the gift of salvation free and clear with no strings attached. This isn’t about showing God that He made a ‘good deal’ when He got you. Heavens, He knows what He got in the bargain with you and I so we know this isn’t about showing Him our goodness. No, this about responding to His grace. How do you put into action the gifts, the tools, that in Jesus Christ, He has freely given you?

In Jesus name, amen.

 

Sermon #806 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

Old Testament Reading                                                                                               Isaiah 62:1-5

62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

 

Epistle Reading                                                                                               1 Corinthians 12:1-11

12 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                                                   John 2:1-11

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”                 They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.