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Apr 3, 2016 – Trust In…

Today’s gospel reading is unique in the cycle of Bible readings that we go through every three years. This gospel lesson is unique because it’s one of the very few that do not change from year to year. Every year the gospel reading for today, the 2nd Sunday of the Easter season, is this one. I don’t know the official reason for this since the lectionary, the list of readings, has been established for years and years and it’s not exclusive to the Lutheran church. But I suspect that some good Lutheran had a hand in this because Thomas makes such a good Lutheran that we need to read about him every year.

Thomas makes such a good Lutheran, you see, because He was given the truth, but thought it was just too good to believe and so he didn’t want to say anything to anyone until it was proven to him to be true. He wanted proof that – Christ is risen… He is risen indeed, alleluia!

So we Lutherans really like to hear about Thomas. Of course I like to hear about him since he’s my namesake and because he’s done for us all what we could not do for ourselves; he got to have the proof of Jesus physical resurrection given to him by Jesus Himself. You know having proof of what you’ve been told gives you such great relief. It gives you a certainty that you can bet your life on it. It’s like this one young girl I read about.

She was part of a group of girls, on a picnic in Washington State’s Cascade mountain range. The girls, after the picnic, had taken off walking but they went down a wrong trail. Now, after spending a terrifying night in the high country, they were wandering around hopelessly lost and they were cold, wet and hungry. “They’ll never find us,” one of the girls said between sobs. “We’re all going to die.” Then 11-year-old, Evanell Towne, stepped forward. “I’m not going to die,” she said firmly. “I’ve been told that if you follow a little stream, it empties into a bigger stream and finally you come to a town. I’m going to follow that little stream we saw. The rest of you can come if you want.” Evanell plunged straightaway into the woods toward a tiny brook that they’d seen and the others followed. For more than five hours they thrashed through the brush along stream beds that kept getting larger and larger, just like she’d been told. Finally, they heard voices, and their shouts brought a rescue party. The trusting young girl had led the group to safety because she was convinced that she had been taught the truth and she acted on that truth.

Evanell could give lessons to Thomas, and us, on trusting what you’ve been told by people you trust. Acting on that trust is what she did, and in doing that demonstrated her trust in those who’d told her what was true. For her, trust in what she’d been told wasn’t just an academic thing; it wasn’t just something to know. For her, and those who followed her, acting on trust saved their lives.

Now don’t hear me wrong, I’m not saying we are saved by our action. But rather that the truth that Christ is risen… He is risen indeed, alleluia(!) is what grants us the faith to trust and then; and then to act! I’m saying that our actions reflect that we trust in that truth. After all, we’ve been given the eyewitness of a good Lutheran to the resurrection of Christ. What more do we need?

Doubt, by the way, as Thomas expressed it, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But perhaps in Thomas’ case he should reconsider what he doubts and what he trusts.  He should perhaps, doubt the power of the Roman Empire. Or he, perhaps, should doubt his own certainty. That’s because God’s word trumps doubt. He, like the other disciples, had been told by Jesus many times before, that the Christ would die and then rise again. Thomas was there when Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after hearing Jesus say to his sister, I Am the resurrection and the life.

Thomas has a certainty about Jesus’ death; that is, he has no doubt Jesus is dead. What the disciples and the women have been telling him for the last week makes no sense. And so he is possessed of a certainty to not believe. By the way, what they’re telling him they themselves are still struggling with. Why else are they behind locked doors? Thomas’ doubt only adds fuel to their own struggle with what they believe.

That should ring bells for us. How many times have we refused to believe something that someone tells us that sounds outlandish or far-fetched? Especially something that later turned out to be true? Thomas had heard Jesus’ claim to be One with God and that claim, to being the great I Am, helped to put Jesus on the cross.

And now trusted friends are telling Thomas that this same Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of the living God of heaven, has returned to life. What was Thomas going to trust, his own senses that told him Jesus was dead, or what his friends, hiding with him behind locked doors were saying? How could he not doubt. And yet everything Jesus ever said had come to pass, including Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial. Yet even with all of that, Thomas is certain that Jesus is dead and for Thomas, that was that.

So what is he to do when Jesus comes and stands before him in the gospel lesson today and says: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” ?

Thomas has to change what he doubts and what he trusts. And in doing that Thomas becomes our teacher. Thomas becomes the one whose words recorded for us here, that we now trust. Like Evanell was told what would save her life if she was lost in the woods, so we’ve been told by Thomas’ words, that Jesus, now alive, is Lord and God and He is the savior of our lives. We, like Thomas, would benefit from learning to doubt death, not life!! (X2)

Jesus comes into the midst of the locked doors in our life. Jesus comes through our fears and sins, our worries and doubts and He speaks His words of forgiveness to us through verses 21-24

21″Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Jesus’ words deliver to the disciples, and to us, through the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins and the power of eternal life that He has won over sin, death and the devil. Jesus’ words save our lives and delivers faith in us. Trust in what Jesus has done gives us the power to witness to that trust to others.

As we said before, we’ve been given the eyewitness testimony of a ‘good Lutheran’ to the resurrection of Christ. What more do we need in order to tell others of what Christ has done? Perhaps in our speaking boldly, as Evanell led her friends boldly, others may hear our words behind their locked doors of doubt and sin and so learn to trust in what Jesus has taught. May the Holy Spirit, which Jesus has sent to us, work in us and through us to tell others that – Christ has risen… He has risen indeed. Alleluia!    In Jesus name, amen.

 

Sermon #821 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                            Acts 5:12-20

12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.                                                               17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

 

 

 

 

Second Reading                                                              Revelation 1:4-18

4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”     and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”;     and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

 

 

Holy Gospel                                                                 John 20:19-31

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

 

Apr 10, 2016 – Jesus- Resurrected- Restores Abundantly!

Have you tried to give a big hug and kiss to your adolescent son in front of his buddies? “Daad! You’re embarrassing me!” he tells you. Adolescent girls also talk about their embarrassing moms. Kids feel they have to keep their distance from their parents, or they’ll suffer mocking and rejection by their friends.

In John 18, before Jesus died on the cross, Peter denied Jesus three times. Peter was clearly embarrassed by his association with Jesus and he feared suffering the mocking, the rejection, and even the punishment of his fellow Jews for being one of Jesus’ disciples. Today, in our own way, we, too, at times have been embarrassed, slow, or afraid to admit before our friends and others that we’re also disciples of Jesus.

When kids keep their distance from their embarrassing parents, and even, at times, deny them before their friends, a loving mom and dad won’t disown their children, but rather absorb the hurt they may feel and put it aside. Loving parents do everything they can to show their children just how much they’re loved and to give them the opportunity to express their love for them in their own way.

In the Gospel lesson today a resurrected Jesus returns Peter to fellowship with Him and gives Peter the opportunity to confess his love for Jesus three times. Jesus isn’t embarrassed by those whom he calls disciples, though we often give Him reason to be, as Peter and the others also did! Rather Jesus, crucified and risen again, restores us, to fellowship with Him again and again and again. And He gives us the opportunity to again serve Him in this world.

In today’s gospel lesson, along with the reading from the book of Acts, we have some familiar Bible stories that have to do with the resurrected Jesus abundantly restoring His followers to fellowship with Him.

We’re going to focus on the gospel story which starts out with a night wasted fishing by the disciples. I say wasted because they caught nothing. But when Jesus, standing on the shoreline greets them and gives them His instructions, all that’d been failure and loss turns to abundance, by now catching 153 fish. The blessing of that abundance of fish serves as an indicator of just how great is the restoration that – Christ is risen… He is risen indeed, provides for His people. The problem is we often, like the disciples don’t recognize at first that Jesus is the one giving us direction. We can waste opportunities for profitable service to Him by being wasteful of His guidance.

Like this story of a man who was exploring caves by a different seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn’t look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock …  Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar stone. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He’d been on the beach a long time. He’d thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he’d just… thrown it away!

It’s like that with the direction and the restoration that Jesus provides this world. It’s often ‘thrown away’ and not recognized for its precious nature. It’s like how we sometimes go through our liturgy while thinking about the pot roast or we go through confession and absolution by rote without thinking much of what we’re saying, or not truly hearing the declaration that Jesus has restored us and returned us to fellowship with Him and with the God of heaven. However, as we hear that absolution and let it fill us up, it will change us each time, because His word of forgiveness and restoration is effective… each and every time. It’s effective because – Christ is risen… He’s risen indeed!

The resurrected Jesus on the sea-shore where the disciples are fishing provides them direction. And following His direction results in His providing them abundant living. And His provision for abundant living is an indicator of just how great the restoration with God is that the blood of Jesus provides for all.

Our receiving God’s abundant grace, through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, does not depend on doing any work ourselves to get us into good enough shape. We can’t do anything good enough to restore us to God. God does that restoration for each of us just as He did with Peter. The Lord, in the lesson today, restored Peter after Peter’s three-time denial of the Lord on the night He was lead away to be crucified. Today Jesus asks Peter three times ‘do you love me’ and each time Peter replies “yes”.

Peter, by Jesus’ word of forgiveness and absolution, is given all that he needs to again be in fellowship with Jesus. Jesus doesn’t first ask Peter to get better or to improve himself and only then can Jesus use him to feed His lambs, no! Jesus takes Peter as he is, broken and humbled by his own words of embarrassment and denial on the night Jesus died; shattered and repentant by his confession to Jesus of, “yes, Lord you know that I love you”; Jesus gives to Peter the grace needed to live the rest of his life as Jesus’ restored and faithful witness. Peter with his flaws and impetuous nature are what Jesus restores to a right relationship with Himself and then uses Peter to give the good news of forgiveness he has received from Jesus, to others in this world.

Each of us has our own unique flaws like Peter. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use us, flaws and all. Jesus takes us as we are, restores us by His grace and then having been changed by His grace, He uses us for His purposes. Our efforts to perfect ourselves do not earn us a purpose, only the ‘precious jewel’ of Jesus’ perfection, given to us by His Holy Spirit, makes us useful.

Because, Christ is risen… He is risen indeed, the resurrected Jesus provides all His follower’s abundant restoration and purpose for life. Our salvation doesn’t depend on us doing something. But our effectiveness in this world as Christ’s witnesses does require our efforts. As we put forth effort to be obedient to Christ so will our effectiveness improve.

Our salvation is not what’s at stake in our obedience to Jesus’ purpose for us; but our effectiveness in ‘feeding His lambs’ in this world, with His word of abundant provision, that is affected by our efforts. We’re to give His Word away, and then let Jesus supply the growth. We don’t put the ‘jewel’ in clay, God does that. We simply have to be the clay holding the jewel of the word of God and then we’re to be willing to be opened up and used according to His purposes.

Because Christ is risen… He is risen indeed – Jesus is the one Who establishes our purposes for us; He restores us to a right relationship with God which then allows us to be used. He knows our cracks and flaws, and He’s chosen us anyway. Not because of those things, but because in His love and His abundant provision He chooses us. Jesus’ words to Peter resulted in Peter’s restoration and Jesus’ words to us also results in continual blessing and abundant restoration for us. If they didn’t I couldn’t be standing here before you today.

We’ve been given the jewel of heaven by God’s grace through faith alone. That’s in contrast to those who refuse the gift of God’s grace offered through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. The abundant and continual blessings we’ve been given through Jesus resurrection completely fill our need for eternal restoration with God beyond our imagining. We’re not only given the precious gem of heaven, but we’re also given the purpose of serving Jesus here on earth. That’s because we’ve been transformed through the abundant supply that is ours through the cross of Christ.

Like was said earlier, even though we, like Peter, at times have been embarrassed, slow, or afraid to admit before others that we’re disciples of Jesus, the Lord is never embarrassed of those whom He calls disciples. Rather, because Christ is risen… He is risen indeed – He restores us through His blood and grace, and makes us His own to then go and ‘feed His lambs’, in His name, amen.

 

Sermon #822 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                  Acts 9:1-22 9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”  “Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

 

Second Reading                                                                     Revelation 5:8-14

8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                 John 21:1-19

21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered.

6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

 

 

Apr 17, 2016 – Recognizing the Lamb of God each day

Wisconsin school & parents at odds over ‘Jesus lunches’ – Texas agriculture chief investigated after ‘Jesus shot’ injection treatment – Is This Jesus Or An Alien In The Skies Above Mexico? – Texas pre-race prayer asks to put a ‘Jesus man’ in White House – Why Hillary Clinton needs Jesus – Taking Jesus to the pizza parlor.

All of these are actual headlines from secular news sources on-line in the last 10 days or so. The name Jesus is used to grab readers’ attention and pull them in. Yet not one of these headlines is helpful for anyone in recognizing Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not one of these stories directs us to the truth that Jesus is the Son of the living God of heaven. People today as they were in Jesus day, are curious about Jesus.

His power, teaching and works attract people to Him. But for what reason? Why is it that people are drawn to Him? What is it that they seek in Him? When Jesus, as He did in today’s gospel lesson, tells people plainly who He is, they often times don’t want to hear His answer. People want Him to be what they seek and what they desire to use Him for, and not for who He truly is or what He freely offers.

What we need to be careful about when others learn that we’re Christians is that we need to be very careful to tell them plainly Who we follow and who He truly is. Being a Christian is about being a follower of the Lamb of God, Jesus. It’s about Him not us. It isn’t up to us to make Jesus palatable to others. It’s not up to us to ‘package’ Jesus in a more acceptable form for them. Jesus isn’t a ‘widget’ that we’re selling. He’s not an ‘old’ product that we need to market in a ‘new’ way.

We’re called to be His witnesses, not marketers; His servants, not salesmen and His sheep, not His shepherd. He makes clear who He is and for that, the Jews of His day and the majority of people today, reject Him. He says plainly He is the Son of God, and that’s one of the reasons that the Jews of His day put Him to death. And that’s also why so many today reject Him. But that only happens when we are honest about Who He is.

When we try and put forward an image of Jesus that is less than He is or other than who He is, sure we can make Him sound “PC” acceptable. Why not, look at all He’s done? But that’s not fair to those we’re called to speak to. It’s Jesus as both God and man that we’ve all had to grapple with and by His grace we’ve been given His Holy Spirit to receive that truth. Don’t shortchange that for others.

Let them have that holy struggle for themselves that only God can resolve. We have all had to face the stumbling block of His divinity, of Jesus being, at the same time God and human. He’s called us and granted us faith to believe in Him as the holy one of God come to earth to give His life on he cross for the sake of the lost and condemned… for us. We’ve been given faith to accept Him as He is, on His terms, not ours.

Trust that God will do that for those we speak with also in His time and His way. But remember that can only happen as we’re honest about whom Jesus is. As He said today, I and the Father are one. What Jesus truly is, is what changes a person, not just what they or we think He is.

Jesus is not a holy trickster. He’s not merely a good teacher or prophet or leadership guru. He’s not about the ‘basic principles’ of anything… He is God… in the flesh, come to earth to bring the forgiveness of God to the world that has rebelled against Him in sin. We’re the sheep that have wandered off in our ignorance and self-centered ways. And He’s the shepherd that’s come to draw us back to the safety of His flock. When we try and picture Him as something other than what He has revealed Himself to be, we cheat Him, others and ourselves. That’s something that St Paul addressed in the epistle lesson today. He said (20):

You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus…

In repentance everyone comes before God Paul says. Repentance, remember it’s two parts, sorrow for sin and trust that for Jesus sake we are forgiven, that is what St. Paul teaches is true for all people. We cannot alter that for anyone or reduce that in anyway. And besides, having faith in Jesus as the Christ teaches us that we can go no place else for the forgiveness of sins. St Paul goes on to say (24),

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace… 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.

And there’s the task left also to us, to testify to God’s grace. Testify to it; not change it, not ‘dumb’ it down or make it anything less than what Jesus has bought with the cost of His holy blood shed on the cross for us. We’re of the flock of Jesus Christ that Satan attacks from without and from within. Our testimony is always being tested and tried.

Remaining faithful to God’s Word and hearing only the voice of our good shepherd will keep us steadfast in the face of such trials. And that’s the only way for others to know the good news. One last thing from St Paul, (32) “…Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up

What do you do to make the word of God present in your life – first to you and then to others? In other words how do you recognize Jesus, the Lamb of God, in your life, daily? That’s important because that’s what was missing in the lives of the Jews today’s lessons, a daily recognition of God in their lives as He had revealed Himself to them in Christ.

Paul in the epistle lesson today is also calling for a day-by-day recognition of the word and grace of God in our lives. That word, he says, is what can build us up. Not that we build ourselves up, but that God does that through His Word in us. We can shut out that Word if we choose to, but we’re the only ones that hurts. It’s our growth in grace that gets stunted by that. We then can become like those who choose to not see Jesus for Who He is, our great Shepherd and the Lamb of God who calls us His own and by His blood and sacrifice has died to accomplish that. By His grace we have His righteousness that allows us to stand before God with the great multitude that we read about in Revelation today. After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

We’re the ones that the Lamb of God sacrificed Himself for on the cross. We’re the sheep of His pasture and we hear His voice as we read, mark and inwardly digest the word of God that reveals Christ to us.  Here are six ways for you to do that. Pick just one, two or three. I might ask you later which of these helped you to take in scripture daily. Here are the six suggestions. Before doing any of them, pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to recognize how some aspect of the life, death or resurrection of Jesus can be seen in what you read. And remember this is for every day.

1 – Pick one book of the bible you’ve never read all the way through before and start on that, but only do one or two chapters each day, no more. And remember to pray.

2 – Pick one Old Testament book and one New Testament book and read one chapter from each every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. And remember to pray.

3 – Do a word study, look in the concordance, the word list in the back of a study bible, and pick a significant word for you and read at least one chapter everyday that has that word in it and see how God uses that word in different places and different ways. And remember to pray.

4 – Do a life study, pick a biblical person and, again, using a concordance, look up every reference you can to that person and read about them. You’ll have to pick more than one person if you pick people like Bildad, Og or Zachaeus. And remember to pray.

5 – Put some music on and read one or two psalms each day. Remember these were songs and were sung. Imagine what that might have sounded like for the different types of psalms. And remember to pray.

6 – What bible verses have been significant for you? Pick one a day to memorize. Write it on 6 or 8 post it notes and put them around your house, work space, steering wheel on your car, any place you’re going to be that day and say it out loud at least 20 times that day. And remember to pray.

So those are some things you can do that might impact your vision, your ability to see Christ in your life each day. After all, as His sheep we need to learn to follow His voice alone. Getting that voice in our heads helps us to respond to it and live in it.

Nothing in this world can separate us from Him, He’s promised that to us today, so act on that promise and live in His word. Let that word richly fill you and then, hearing His voice brings us the comfort of His presence and the wholeness of His righteousness in our lives… each day. In His name, amen.

 

Sermon #823. Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                         Acts 20:17-35 17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. 22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

 

Second Reading                                                                           Revelation 7:9-17 9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’  ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                     John 10:22-30

22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

 

 

Apr 24, 2016 – love love love love

When you leave here today you will not be the same as when you came in. You will, hopefully, be living your life differently. You will be thinking differently about yourself and your congregation. You will never be the same again. Of course that’ll be up to you. If you don’t want to be different or changed you don’t have to be. That’s always true when we read God’s word. We can choose to ignore it and go on our merry – or not so merry – way.

Speaking of God’s word –how’d it go this week? Remember I said there might be a quiz? Were you able to use any of the 6 suggestions from last week about how to see Christ as the Lamb of God through reading the bible everyday?

This week in God’s word we’re looking at how that word changes us and our actions. We’re looking at how the love of God is what makes us different than we were before. How will we be changed by that love? Well, I can’t give you your own specifics, but I can tell you that you will know about love in a new way. And that knowledge will either change you and allow you to see your life and how you can live it differently, or not. That’s up to you.

I know you’re not used to hearing things like this from me are you? You’re not used to hearing me say that ‘things are up to you’. Usually it’s about how you are different because of what God has done for you, not what you can do differently. Well that is also true today. Both things are true. Because you can only be different because of what God has done.

And if you do choose to listen and learn something new about love, that can guide you in how to be different. In today’s gospel lesson in verses 34 and 35 Jesus speaks about love. Let’s read those verses together. ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So let’s talk about this love Jesus speaks of a few moments and learn something about it. You remember me talking about C. S. Lewis a while back, he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia.  He was a Christian apologist, an Oxford don and he died the same day as JFK was assassinated.

Well he also wrote a book called the Four Loves. It’s a wonderful book about the four words in Greek that all get translated into our language as, love. And that’s unfortunate because each has their own unique meanings and none of those meanings has to do with Madison Ave telling you; you’ll love this car or you’ll love that dish soap. The four loves are eros, storge, phileo, and agape.

Lets deal with eros first. That one may sound like another word you know, erotic. And eros is generally about that sort of love. Its self seeking and sensual and usually sees the other person as a means to please one’s self. But eros is the one of the Greek words for love that is, interestingly enough, not in the New Testament. At any rate eros is not what Jesus is talking about in verses 34 & 35 today.

Neither is He talking about storge. But storge, or forms of it, are found in scripture. Storge is used to refer to family-type love. It’s the natural type of love that families share. This is the affection that cousins and uncles and moms and dads and sons and grandmothers express. It’s a strong and powerful bond. But this too is not the love that Christ speaks of today either. It’s seen a few places in scripture as we said, but not here.

Then there is phileo. And this one may sound more familiar. Ever heard of Philadelphia? It’s known as the city of … that’s right brotherly love. Now phileo is often used in the gospels and in the New Testament. This is the deep love of a true friend. It is a close and binding sort of thing. In the Old Testament the story of David and Jonathan is a good expression of this sort of love.

Phileo is used by the Jewish crowds when they saw Jesus weeping over Lazarus’s tomb and talking about how Jesus ‘loved’ or ‘phileo’d’ Lazarus. It’s also the expression that Peter uses when, after Jesus resurrection and they are walking by the sea, Jesus asks Peter if Peter loves him, and Peter uses this word phileo, in reply. So phileo is a strong and potent expression of care, of embrace, of affection.

In fact this word can also, in certain contexts, be translated as ‘kiss’. Not in the erotic sense, but in the affection of one person for another sense. When you hear in the New Testament to ‘greet one another with a holy kiss’ like in Romans 16:16, that’s a form of this word phileo. But again this isn’t the word Jesus uses in the gospel lesson today.

Are you ready? Some of you may know this word for love; this is the word, agape. This is the word that speaks of selfless love; the word that describes love that is the opposite of self-seeking. This is love that seeks the best for the other. This is the love that chooses and decides to act in the best interest of the beloved. There was a man who one day made such a decision and his choice presents a good picture of the love we’re talking about now.

It started with a fire. Both parents died in a tragic fire on the first floor of the house, where they slept. Upstairs the couple’s young son leaned out the window, crying for help. Suddenly, out of the watching crowd came a man who climbed up the side of the house by hanging on to the gutter pipe, even though it was red hot from the fire on the first floor. He saved the boy and then was gone. Since both parents were dead, there was a court hearing to decide who should have charge of the boy. A neighboring farmer offered a good home. A wealthy man promised to give the boy whatever he needed. Then in came the man who had saved the boy. His only claim was his scarred hands. As soon as the boy saw him, he rushed to hug him. The hearing was over.

The man had chosen to make a sacrifice for the benefit of the boy and that act of love demonstrates the kind of love that changes a person. That’s the kind of love Jesus was talking about in the gospel lesson today. That’s the love that Jesus speaks of when He gives a new command. Again read verse 34. ^34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’

The new command of Christ to His followers is His marching order so to speak. This command needs to be seen by us also in the context in which it is given. This command is given within 24 hours of when Christ goes to the cross and will there show the disciples, us and the world what / true / selfless / love looks like. And that selfless love is what Jesus says when He says, in verse 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. He isn’t using the word love as it’s used by Madison Avenue when talking about soap or a car like we said. It also isn’t romantic love. It also is not talking about family love, like between brothers and sisters. And it’s beyond even the love of a close friend.

Earlier in this same chapter Jesus has done the work of a servant for the disciples. He’s washed their feet. He did this to demonstrate this agape love, the self-giving love, that’s willing to do what’s needed for the other. Agape love is love in action. It’s not about flowery emotions or deep ‘feelings’. Agape love is restless until the one upon whom love is being shown has all that they need.

It’s a love that is kinetic, that is, it moves and acts and is seen by being demonstrated. Like the man who rescued the boy from the fire. Agape isn’t confined to talk. It is not defined by emotions. Agape love is what Christ commands here. And it’s what He has shown in the foot washing, and it’s what He will show on the cross. He will go to the cross and do, and do, what needs to be done in order that the world which Jesus loves will have what it needs, and that is reconciliation with God the Heavenly Father.

Jesus rests in grave only after that work of atonement is accomplished. Until then Jesus doesn’t stop acting in love. And today in verse 35 we are given the command to do likewise. Not that we’re needed to redeem the world, that’s ridiculous. But we are given the order to love / one / another / as Christ has loved us. That means action, participation, movement, going and doing. It means seeing that each other’s needs are met. It’s the foot washing that another person needs.

Jesus says that if we want the world to know that we follow Him, then love is what we’ll show one another. The mark, the sign and signal to others that we are of Christ and that He claims us as His followers is, that we act in love, in agape, toward fellow believers. Jesus says that in this way the world will take notice and will know that we are of Him.

Agape is the badge of the disciple, of the follower of the person of Jesus Christ. The Christian knows the love Jesus has for him. Because Christ is risen… And the love of disciples for one another is not merely edifying, it reveals the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and Their love for the world.

Agape-type love is the mark of identity we bear. It is that, which makes us different as we leave here today. This is the-self sacrifice that Christ exemplifies and that is what shows us to be different to the world around us.

That’s a hard thing for us since our society tells us to be our ‘own’ person. Create our own reality. Be a self–made person. But Jesus instead, calls us to be the people, the followers, the disciples that He has sacrificed to make us to be. We’re to be people that demonstrate we follow Him – and not ourselves. We are followers. If we’re not, if we choose to not show agape-love, then we’re leaders and we’re leading people away from God and toward death.

In showing love, in showing agape, to one another, the world will see and wonder at it. We don’t want them to follow us; we want them to follow the One we follow, Jesus Christ. Only in Him is life and hope and salvation. If we’re following Him then we are serving one another by reflecting His love as He has loved us.

History tells us that Alexander the Great would often hold court on the battlefield to try offenders on the spot. Once a young man, a mere boy, fair-haired and still too young to shave was brought before him on the charge of desertion. He was accused of hiding in a ditch to avoid the battle. Alexander the Great asked the soldier, “What’s your name?” The young man replied, “Alexander!” Alexander the Great came down and stood face to face with the young man. Then extending his arms, he took the young soldier by the shoulders and shook him, and said to him: “Either change your name, or change your conduct!”  Either we strive to reflect, imitate, and witness to our risen, living Lord Jesus Christ, or we don’t. And if not, then should we bear His name?

God’s great agape can be reflected in our lives, because His great love has been poured out on us. What you do with that love is your choice. That He loves you is beyond your choosing, because He has chosen you; to love you and to give you life eternal in the name of His son Jesus Christ, in whose name we act and in whose name we pray. Amen.

 

Sermon #824. Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                       Acts 11:1-18

11 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

 

Second Reading                                                                    Revelation 21:1-7

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                        John 13:31-35

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

May 1, 2016 – Completely Healed!

In a Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown is hanging his head low, looking sad and dejected. He groans to Lucy, “I think if I would disappear tomorrow, no one would miss me!” Lucy puts her hand on his shoulder and says: “No, Charlie Brown, that’s not true!” His spirits began to rise, then she crushed him completely: “Charlie Brown, if you were to disappear today, no one would miss you!”

The lame man in the gospel lesson today could be Charlie Brown. He seems to have no friends or family who miss him. And yet Jesus meets this man’s need the same way He meets all of our needs as well, He does so completely.

Surely in his 38 years this man had some relationships. But now he was apparently alone, indicated by his statement that he had no one to help him. No family, no friends, no one left to care for him.

This text raises a few other points to consider. Why did Jesus choose to help this man and not the others? Also, what was it about his trying to get in the water and failing for 38 years that had kept this man there? The man wasn’t cured until Jesus spoke the word of healing to him. It says in the lesson, When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well? When it says, ‘Jesus learned that he had been in this condition a long time’, that indicates Jesus had a conversation about the man’s condition with him or someone else. So Jesus understands this man’s long-suffering, with no one; not a friend, not a relative – to help him.

In response to Jesus’ question, all the man did was explain his condition of not being able to get in the water fast enough – that the blessing of healing was given to others before him… for 38 years! What had his life been like before he was invalid? Where did he sleep at night for those 38 years? Who fed him? Where did he go when Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk? What do you suppose the man’s life was like after Jesus healed him?

We’re told none of those details. We’re not given any insight into this man except that He had suffered long; very, very long. Then this rabbi, Jesus, comes and after learning of his condition asks one question, ‘do you want to be healed’? Jesus, the first person in 38 years to do so, makes an offer of help. But not help as the man had hoped for those 38 long years. It was an offer of help to a man who was in a desperate situation. I can imagine that Jesus came to him and offered him complete healing because he was the least of these around the pool who where hoping for a healing – that never came.

How many before this man had gotten into the water and yet remained unhealed? This man, along with everyone else has no prospect of being healed without help. And in this man’s situation we see our own situation. His plight is our plight, with one difference. This man knew his situation was one of helplessness and hopelessness.

So often we don’t recognize that, confronted with sin, sickness, sorrow or disease, we are without help. We think that our friends, family, insurance or the government will be there to meet our needs. We think we live in Disneyland where nothing can ever really hurt us. But this man’s hopeless situation points out to us that when we recognize that death and sin keep us ‘out of the pool’ then we too are in our own hopeless situation. Unless, some comes to us and helps us completely, the way this man was helped when Jesus asked, do you want to be healed?

Take note that Jesus is the one who comes to the man, Jesus initiates this man’s recovery. No one comes to intercede on behalf of the man to Jesus. The man doesn’t even seem know who Jesus is, which is, in itself, a revelation. This man lives in Jerusalem and it would seem from other readings that many if not most of Jerusalem knew of Jesus and His miracle working power. Yet not this man.

This man had no help, no knowledge of Jesus – who could in fact help him. And he was in a situation that held no prospect for change, improvement or relief. There was no hope or help for this man… until Jesus came to this man.

We too, as the people of this planet, had no hope until Jesus came to us; until He initiated our help. We too are in a desperate situation, a deadly sinful situation with no prospect for change, improvement or relief. Without Jesus, we only imagine that we can do something for ourselves.

I’ve said it for a long time now; that the automobile, our cars, are among the greatest obstacles to the preaching of the gospel. Our cars give us a false sense of independence and autonomy. We think we can go any direction we want, any speed we can reasonably get away with, any time we want, for as long as we want. Our cars give us the illusion that we’re in complete control of our lives. When folks get older, giving up their driver’s licenses is among the most difficult things to do because of the sense of power we invest in those licenses. And yet for all that cars do for us they cannot give us the relief, the help, the deliverance that we truly need. And that’s what the man in the gospel lesson today reminds us of, that we are in desperate need of help.

This man knew and understood his condition and simply explained to Jesus what it was. He had nothing to offer and nothing to bargain with… And yet Jesus comes to him. Jesus brings complete healing to this man and this man is no longer the same after this encounter. So too with us.

We are no longer the same when Jesus comes to us. We have capacities and abilities given to us in Christ that we did not have before. Jesus was born into this world and in so doing, He comes to us. And then He died and rose again for our healing. Jesus comes and by His coming, by His life-giving word and in the waters of baptism we are now different than before.

Remember two weeks ago I gave you 6 things to do that would help get the word of God into us? Remember we said that as we read, mark and inwardly digest the word of God that Christ is revealed to us? So the question today again is how did that go for you? Which of the six things was most helpful to you? Was it reading the psalms to music? Or picking a favorite verse and memorizing it each day? How about reading about a biblical characters life?

In all of these things from God’s word, we are granted want we need. In Christ and His work, water and word, we now have the complete restoration and healing of our relationship with God that by our sin had crippled us in fear.

Now here’s another thing about his man that he can teach us about ourselves and the world around us. He was right to hope in something other than himself for healing. But, unfortunately, he was looking to the wrong waters for healing. He was looking for the water of this world to restore him, to heal him and make him whole again. The true healing water of the Living Water, Jesus Christ, come down from heaven, was standing before this man and He makes the offer to cure him.

This makes me think of old-time meetings that used to take place down by creeks and riverbanks where people would gather to be baptized in the flowing water there. But in all Christian baptism the same thing happens whether in creek, river, baptistery or font. The same life-giving, restoring water of Jesus’ righteousness is poured out in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit on all who receive the complete healing that Jesus has come to give.

By his own admission, the man wanted to be healed but also by his own admission he needed help to be healed. The problem was he didn’t know who Jesus was otherwise he would have asked Him for help as so many others had done.

Finally for us this man is a good illustration of the world around us today. We all presume everyone has heard of Jesus and what Jesus has done for them in the cross and His resurrection. But, those around us are like this man – hurt, crippled and looking for help. The world simply doesn’t see Jesus for who He really and truly is. Just as this man, though in the world of Jerusalem, didn’t seem to know what most of Jerusalem knew, that Jesus was a healer, sent from God.

Today some people say Jesus was a healer, or that He was a good man, a good teacher, some even acknowledge He was a prophet of the living God of heaven. But all of those things count as nothing when we learn, through God’s word, that Jesus is, the living water of heaven come to bring healing, wholeness and total restoration with God.

Yes a friend or families love on this earth is a wonderful thing. But greater by far is the love of Jesus, come down for heaven for each person in this world who sees their own hurt and fear or their anger and crippled-ness. For these – for you and me – Jesus comes and asks, do you want to be healed? And Jesus then delivers completely that healing by His word of wholeness that tells us that in Him we can take up our mats and walk. In Jesus’ name that heals us, amen.

 

Sermon #825 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                    Acts 16:9-15

9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

 

Epistle                                                                      Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27

9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb…

21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

 

Holy Gospel                                                             John 5:1-9

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4]  5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

 

May 8, 2016 – Given not sold!

In one congregation, when a Bible is presented to a third‑grader, the child recites a memory verse. On one occasion, everything was going well until the pastor came to one little boy who couldn’t remember his name, much less a Bible verse. The little boy’s eyes frantically searched for his mother, who was seated near the front. When he finally spotted her, he was greatly relieved when she whispered his verse, “I am the light of the world.” Immediately, with a big smile on his face, he proclaimed, “My mother is the light of the world.”

Well on this mother’s day, we’re talking about the risen and ascended light of the world, Jesus Christ and what He’s freely given to us. The hymn we just sang starts out with ‘on Christ’s ascension I now build’. That ascension, of Jesus Christ to heaven, isn’t an idea we humans came up with and so it isn’t ours to sell or trade. The gospel, the good news of God’s love in Jesus, is confirmed for all the world to see in Christ’s ascension. The ascension tells us that God has accepted the life, death and resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ as the one, single foundation for eternal life; that it’s the grace of Jesus Christ alone that grants life with God to anyone who receives Christ’s offer of love.

Like the bible the little boy received, the blessing of Christ has been given to us; not sold to us. We can’t put a price, on the priceless love of God. We can’t purchase what’s already been paid for… for us.

We can’t ‘trade’ the gospel of God like stocks, bonds or commodities. It isn’t a doodad to put ‘on sale’ so people will buy it. When Jesus told His disciples in the gospel lesson today that “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations”, He didn’t add – ‘only if you market it right’. He’s given us the gospel, all 100% of it to give it away. We’re not trying to sell the gospel by carefully using ‘slick’ sales methods. No, the gospel is freely given to us and only Christians can freely give it away to others.

Growing the kingdom of God is not like the movie Field of Dreams; it’s not a matter of ‘if you build it they will come’. Of course the world won’t come… the world, because of our sinful flesh, put Jesus on the cross to die, so they won’t beat a path to our door if we just put the gospel out there with the right gimmick. We can’t confuse the message with the medium or method either. In other words the methods we use to share the gospel speak as much about the regard we hold the gospel in as anything.  The manner and fashion by which we share the gospel tells others what we truly think of the gospel.

It’s fine to be innovative, creative and inspired. The gospel is all of those things. It’s fine, also, to have traditions and ancient practices that tie us to the history of God’s relationship to His creation since creation. So innovation and tradition have their place.

What doesn’t have a place is using the law to ‘sell’ the gospel. I’ve seen it used so often and there’ve been times I’ve been guilty of that.

I’ve often times seen churches do a bait and switch routine. ‘Come and we’ll help you with fixing your finances’, or ‘come and we’ll mend your marriage’, or ‘come we’ll build up your broken-down children’, ‘and oh by the way you need to join the church to get all these benefits’. And ‘oh by the way your salvation is up to you so make a ‘decision for Christ’ otherwise all these things we promised you are null and void!’

That isn’t what Jesus said the disciples were to do when He ascended in the gospel lesson today. They weren’t to try and con people into taking something they didn’t want; they were to give away what all people need; restoration with God through the blood of Jesus Christ – alone. What He did say the disciples were to do in regard to the repentance and forgiveness being preached to all nations is that they were to be His… witnesses.

46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. That is ‘You are the ones who’ve been given, at the cost of my life, this message to bear witness too’. That and only that is what we, as Christ’s followers, bring to the world of people with failing finances, messed up marriages and crude kids.

Those things that are broken or messed-up in our lives are indeed changed when Christ comes to us through His word and sacraments like in Jaylan’s baptism this morning. But those broken things aren’t what bring the love of God to us. Only the cross of Christ proclaimed openly, freely from friend to friend is that witness of the repentance and forgiveness of sins that individual people need as Jesus told us as He rose up to heaven today.

Now does that mean that we don’t do outreach things or have marriage seminars or youth and preschool programs? Of course it doesn’t mean that, but we do those things to help people grow and mature as stewards of the resources Christ has freely given in the gospel. And we don’t put our hope or our confidence in those things. Those things are not the gospel. And the gospel, freely given by Jesus, is what the world rejects and yet so desperately needs.

It is good to do things that help people be wise with their money and so reflect the wisdom of God given to them by grace. It is good to provide resources for Christians to help their marriages and families grow together in the love of Christ and so grow in repentance and love toward each other. Youth and preschool programs are beneficial for individuals to grow in the experience and knowledge of the love God. But again those programs and things are not what Jesus called His followers to be witnesses to.

In this world we witness to others of the mercy and grace of God given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit alone. Grace alone, Faith alone, Word alone, that is at the bedrock of what we as Lutherans believe, teach and confess. Right, Confess! We confess and in confessing with our mouths of the love of God, we each, individually, bear witness to the forgiveness and repentance that is to be preached in His name as Christ has called us to do.

Now I do ‘preaching’ here in the pulpit and if you bring someone here, I do all I can to give the law and the gospel rightly. I’m not perfect at it. But the Word of God remains perfect and accomplishes what God wants in people’s lives despite however imperfectly I may preach. Communication, imperfect or otherwise is also what God has given you to do.

Perhaps not to preach in a pulpit – unless you believe God wants you to do that. And if so I encourage you to go get training and follow that call. God may be calling you to this work, or to mission work, or to deaconess work, and if so follow where He leads you. If you’d’ve asked me 20 years ago where I’d be today it wouldn’t have been here doing this – so never doubt that if God calls you to this type of witnessing He can and will prepare you for it.

But being His witnesses is something each of us and all of us have been prepared by God’s word to do. Because you have been given forgiveness, you’ve been called to bear fruits in keeping with repentance.That’s for you to do, not the paid staff of any congregation. You are the only witness to what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. (x2)

You aren’t called to sell what’s been freely given to you. You can only give it away. And only you can do that. Like Smokey the Bear says ‘only you can prevent forest fires’. And to an even greater extent only you can prevent your friends, co-workers and neighbors from being condemned to the fire of hell. Now don’t take that out of the context of the Bible – of course it’s the Holy Spirit and only the Holy Spirit who calls, sanctifies and makes a person righteous. But Jesus tells us we are all to be His witnesses to that.

We’ve been given freely what Christ purchased with His blood and sacrifice. We can only give that away. Each of us, and all of us, bear His mark, the mark of the cross on us, just as was put on Jaylan today in his baptism. And where ever you go you are a witness for Christ; whether you’re a good witness or not, that’s in your hands alone. You can’t give that responsibility away to anyone else, not to me, or any other pastor, teacher or church worker. You alone have been given God’s grace for your life and only you can testify to that grace to others in your circle of family and friends.

That, by the way is a joy, not a burden. You don’t need a script or power-point presentation or a memorized set of lines in order to ‘get it right’. And unlike the little boy getting the bible, it’s not up to your mother to give you the right words to say.

What you know is that Jesus Christ came into this world, lived the only prefect life and then gave that life up as a sacrifice for our sin, so that by His death, His resurrection and now by His ascension which we celebrate today, we have the guarantee that God has accepted Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. That truth, that love, is what we’re all witnesses to and that is ours… to give away. In Jesus Name, amen.

 

Sermon #826 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                           Acts 1:1-11 1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

 

Epistle Reading                                                         Ephesians 1:15-23

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Holy Gospel                                                                   Luke 24:44-53

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”                                  45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”                                 50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

 

May 15, 2016 – “Burn the Ships”

On this day of the celebration of Pentecost, I wanted to try and help us see Pentecost in a fresh light and a perhaps a new way. To do that I want to share a song, written and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman. I’d like you to read the parts in bold and as we move along you’ll see how this is such an appropriate song for today.

In the spring of 1519 a Spanish fleet set sail – Cortez told his sailors, this mission must not fail – On the eastern shore of Mexico they landed with great dreams – But the hardships of the new world made them restless and weak – Quietly they whispered, ‘let’s sail back to the life we knew’ – But the one who led them there was saying…‘Burn the ships, we’re here to stay – There’s no way we could go back – Now that we’ve come this far by faith – Burn the ships, we’ve passed the point of no return – Our life is here so let the ships burn”

In the spring of new beginnings a searching heart set sail – Looking for a new life and a love that would not fail – On the shores of grace and mercy we landed with great joy – But an enemy was waiting – to steal, kill and destroy – Quietly he whispers, ‘Go back to the life you knew’ – But the One who led us here is saying…

‘Burn the ships, we’re here to stay -There’s no way we could go back – Now that we’ve come this far by faith – Burn the ships, we’ve passed the point of no return – Our life is here so let the ships burn.’ Nobody said it would be easy – But the One who brought us here – is never gonna leave us alone. ‘Burn the ships, we’re here to stay – There’s no way we could go back – Now that we’ve come this far by faith – Burn the ships, we’ve passed the point of no return – Our life is here so let the ships burn.’

I really like how that song expresses the idea that comes through in today’s New Testament and gospel readings, that in the new beginning of Pentecost, the power of God’s Holy Spirit sets us free, truly free, to leave the old things completely behind; that the old things of our life, of our life without God’s Spirit, are burned and are useless for the new life we’ve been given by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ.

In the reading from Acts, Peter stands and, quoting the prophet Joel, says in part “God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Joel says that the Holy Spirit will be poured out in a new way and that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, and that is being fulfilled on that first Pentecost after Jesus ascended. This new thing that God was doing, while foretold from of old, is what all of Pentecost teaches us – both the old Jewish festival – and what God did in sending the Holy Spirit in that new way on this Pentecost, 10 days after Jesus was taken up into heaven that we celebrated last week. The Jewish festival of Pentecost can, like the SCC song lyrics, give us insight into what God’s mercy and grace does in our lives, daily.

Pentecost, in the Old Testament it’s called the Feast of Harvest or Feast of Weeks, celebrated the in-gathering of the first of the spring harvest and this was done by presenting a thank-offering of grain to God. God gives earth and rain the power to supply man, through the harvest, with food to sustain life. And for that, man is bound to give thanks to God. Pentecost is that time of giving thanks for the daily life that God supplies through the grain harvest.

But by Jesus’ day Pentecost had also taken on a broader meaning as well. It was also the time when the Jews gave thanks to God for supplying daily life through the power of God’s word given through Moses at Mt Sinai. That came, traditionally 50 days later; 50 days after Passover (remember Passover took place in Egypt before they left). So 50 days after Passover came the ‘Pentecost’ in the wilderness at Mt Sinai, when God gave the 10 commandments to the people through Moses.

So Pentecost by Jesus day celebrated these two things, the thanksgiving to God for life through the harvest of grain and thanksgiving to God for the power to live life set free from the bondage of slavery. They were now free, free to live life under the clear direction of His commandments, His word. Those things of the Jewish celebration of Pentecost teach us that in our Christian celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost –we too give thanks to God for the power to live our new life free of all that binds us to our past life in slavery to sin. The power of the Holy Spirit is what ‘burns the ships’ and tells us that ‘our life is here’ in Christ, ‘so let the ships burn.’

And that’s an image that helps us understand what the coming of the Holy Spirit did for the disciples. This power of the Holy Spirit was the gift of God that Christ had promised would fill them with power from on high. They now had what they didn’t have before / a new beginning / a new life and that is what Pentecost brings also to each one of us.  Today in Pentecost power we are moving forward in our daily life in Christ, Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel. By grace, our old lives have been left behind and we’ve received the power of the Holy Spirit to ‘let the ships burn’ that held us to our old lives of guilt under sin and rebellion.

We have been set free from sin, that has been done, finished, and accomplished, by Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross where He died for us. And in Pentecost, with a new coming of the Holy Spirit, we’ve now been given power to lean on that cross of Christ and to live by and to live in the peace that Jesus spoke of today. He said in verses 26-7 of the gospel lesson, “the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

Like the Jews of the Old Testament, fleeing Egypt and ending up at Mt Sinai where God’s word came to them to give them direction for life, so in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the disciples were given new power for life in the word of Christ alone. That’s what’s given to you and I at baptism, that power to live life in the Holy Spirit sent by Christ.

The power of life in Christ is the power of life for both here and for eternity. Like the Jews at Pentecost giving thanks to God for life-sustaining bread and grain, we give thanks to God for the life sustaining power of Christ’s body and blood that we take into ourselves at communion. Like the new direction for life given to the Jews in the law of God at Sinai, so we’re given direction for our new life by grace through faith in the gospel of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit sent down at Pentecost.

And so we, like Cortez’s sailors are ‘all in’, in our life in Christ, Paraphrasing the words of the song … Jesus, the One who brought us here – – Is never gonna leave us alone. So ‘Burn the ships, we’re here to stay – – There’s no way we could go back – – Now that we’ve come this far by the gift of faith – – Burn the ships, we’ve passed the point of no return – – Our life is here in Jesus Christ so let the ships burn. In His name, amen.

 

Sermon #827 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                   Genesis 11:1-9 11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

 

Epistle Reading                                                                            Acts 2:1-21 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.                                                                                                                              5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”       13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”                 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:                                                                                                 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions,     your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women,     I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below,     blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood     before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Holy Gospel                                                                                            John 14:23-31

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.

 

 

May 22, 2016 Trinity Equals Mercy

Yesterday being Armed Forces day I thought this would be a fitting story. Right after the Civil War, Senator Henderson of Missouri is said to have asked President Abraham Lincoln to pardon some men from here who were in prison for various military offenses. He admitted that these men did not deserve a pardon.

They deserved to remain in prison. But he appealed for mercy anyway. Lincoln replied: “I have often been charged with making too many mistakes on the side of mercy, but I’ll do it just the same.” And he wrote “pardon” by each name. With that stroke of the president’s pen, they were all set free.

God has done the same and so much more for us in Jesus Christ. In the story from the civil war, it was after the war that the pardons came. So also for us. We were at war with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and have been since we rebelled in the Garden of Eden. All of mankind cannot truly understand the Trinity, and so we, all of us, rail against it.

But God in His mercy after the war, after Christ’s defeat of all that is unholy – through His cross – after that battle was won, God now grants pardon to all who call on Jesus name. God’s word of pardon has been written on our indictments of sin. Just as Lincoln’s pen granted those pardons that were underserved by those men from Missouri, so God grants pardon, peace and reconciliation with us.

We each deserve death for calling God into question and for trying to make Him answer to us; that is what condemns us. We’re no different than others in that we also have questioned God and tried to put Him to our test. Think of the many disasters, earthquakes and inhumane acts we’ve seen in recent weeks in the news. We humans have wanted God to explain Himself to us to our satisfaction for allowing such things to take place. We’ve questioned if Jesus work alone is sufficient.

In the epistle lesson today Peter makes clear that God has attested to Jesus as His Son through the works that Jesus did. Through Jesus’ works, God is revealed. And in the ultimate work of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection, we see that the Trinity has revealed Himself to us by His mercy. His declaration of pardon for our rebellion is full and complete in Jesus and His words and works.

Some of you’ve heard me tell the story of the man who attended a Trinity Sunday service where the pastor carefully explained the Triune nature of God – that there are three distinct Persons, but only one God. After the service the man came to the pastor and said: “I enjoyed the service, but I’m having trouble with this concept of the Trinity. I can’t understand it and I just can’t accept it!” The pastor asked the man, “What size hat do you wear?”

The man replied: “Oh, I guess about a seven. Why?” The pastor said: “I was just wondering how you expected to put the omnipresent, almighty, eternal, Triune God into a size 7 head.” This man was not unlike the Jews in the gospel lesson today. They thought that God must fit inside their image of Him. That image did not look like the iterant preacher standing before them. And so they also wanted Jesus to justify Himself to them.

Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.

For us to try and make God fit into our definition of Him comes from our own human pride and not from an understanding of His mercy shown in the glory of Jesus Christ.

According to a 2009 survey in the Seattle Times, “the number of Americans who call themselves Christians had dropped dramatically over the past two decades to 76 percent of the population, down from 86 percent in 1990. The survey substantiated the growing number of people who say they have “no” religion. The report further said that the country has a ‘growing nonreligious or irreligious minority.’”

And this week in US News and World Report I read this. Recent events in the U.S. are destroying Americans’ ability to connect to God, according to Cardinal Robert Sarah, a native of the West African nation of Guinea. In a keynote address at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Cardinal Sarah said that in the United States, “God is being eroded, eclipsed, liquidated,” the Catholic News Agency reports.

I bring up these reports in the news to show that in our human pride we feel we need no God… other than ourselves. If there is no God ‘out there’ to believe in then we gladly put ourselves in the center of the universe and so we become our own god. That sounds like what Adam did when he choose to ignore God’s direction. Instead Adam put his judgment over Gods and took the knowledge of good and evil for himself when, on his own, he acted on what Eve gave to him and he ate the fruit of the forbidden tree.

The action we need, rather than our pride, is what Trinity, in His mercy, has done for us in Jesus Christ. Now, having received His mercy, now all our actions rest on what He has first done for us. Through repentance the Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus and we acknowledge our need for His pardon and forgiveness. As we receive God’s peace and pardon, by His mercy then we are free to act based on His grace and not on our pride. This is what His Holy Spirit empowers us to do.

It’s not as easy to live free as you might at first think, because you now choose how to live. And what then do you choose? Yes, you’re free from divine judgment by the power of the blood of Jesus when you make a mistake, though you may still have to live with the consequences in the here and now. More so, you are free to choose the ‘wrong’ but what does that profit you? What do you get from that but regret and sorrow. Yes, you are free, yet now you’re free to choose to show love for God and for each other. That was Christ’s new command on Maundy Thursday. “As I have loved you so you must love one another.”  So, how will you do that?

What will you choose to do to show Christ’s love to each other? This isn’t about warm feelings; it’s about showing love. We’re free in our daily, and hourly lives to choose to show the love of God to one another as it was first shown to us, by the mercy of God, through the actions of Jesus Christ.

We are free – each day, each moment – to live in the grace God gives us. That means we’re free of old habits, free of personal rituals that lead us astray. We’re free in ways the Jews that Jesus spoke with in the gospel lesson today, did not understand.

Listen again, Jesus said, Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am! Jesus is before Abraham was born. When Jesus said those words, I Am, those Jews knew and understood that Jesus was claiming to be God. Only God is I Am, as was made known through the burning bush to Moses. Again this is the mystery of the trinity we confessed in the Athanasian Creed. So as Jesus, the great I Am, grants us His righteousness to live before the holy God of heaven, we have His mercy to live in now!

We’re no longer bound to repeat our mistakes. By Jesus’ blood and righteousness, we’re free of the guilt of our mistakes, free to put the past, all of it, behind us. Will you recognize this from God, that we are free to live / now! Here and now.

We come as a congregation to the holy triune God with our hands open to Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel with one another. So also in our personal, daily, moment-by-moment lives we come to God and with open hands receive His divine guidance to live out His mercy in us to others.

The Holy Trinity that is God is not something we need to have explained to our satisfaction, to fit into our ‘hat size’, in order to receive His grace, pardon and freedom. Rather we live under the knowledge that the Holy Triune God has come and made Himself known to us as – the Father, the God of heaven and earth; the Son, the redeemer and emancipator of all mankind, and as the Holy Spirit, the One who gives us power and faith to live under the freedom He bestows.

Again as St Peter said in Acts today Exalted to the right hand of God, he (Jesus) has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Remember, that this mercy is ours only by grace through faith in the holy God who has revealed Himself as Trinity. He has poured out this knowledge on us, not that we might take pride in some ‘secret’ that others don’t have. But rather that we have the Holy Spirit poured out on us in our baptism so that we might live life now and forever by Jesus name.

And having that life as our own, to then humbly share that and give that away. We now live free of our past – free of our fears and our accomplishments. We are now bound by neither of those things. By grace we are set free to speak of the triune God of heaven. And we do so, so that others too might share in the repentance and life that is ours through Jesus’ death and resurrection. That is what is revealed to us in the mercy of the holy Trinity, in Whose name we pray, Amen.

 

Sermon #828 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                            Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 8 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?  2 At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind…

22 “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;  23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; 25 before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, 26 before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.  27 I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. 30 Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, 31 rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

 

 

Second Reading                                                                           Acts 2:14a, 22-36 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:…       22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ 29 “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,  “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand  35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

 

Holy Gospel                                                                        John 8:48-59

48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

May 29, 2016 Words and Works, Words and Works

Who said these three things…? I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. – You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog! – If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. That’s right Harry S Truman said all those things. (Memorial Day-Pres wartime service) Why do most people like Harry S Truman? Because he both spoke and acted in a consistent way. He used his words in concert with his works.

Now I bring up Harry because people like they way his words usually went together with his works. And that’s what we see that Jesus always does. Jesus’ works point to His words. And His words clarify His works. Words and works, words and works. There’s a rhythm to this. And we see that rhythm so very often in the book of Luke.

This new season of the church year we’re in, the one with all the green paraments, is called the season of Pentecost. In this season, for this year, we’ll be reading through much of the book of Luke. If you would, let me ask you to take the time this week to read through the entire book of Luke. Do it as quickly as you can in order to see the overall story of the book. As you read it bear in mind that Luke was written primarily for Gentile readers like you and I.

But for today let’s get back to that rhythm of words and works. And (btw) look for that rhythm as you read Luke. Note how today Luke ties the previous section of teaching, words, to this section of miracles, works, by saying; after he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Capernaum. In today’s gospel lesson Jesus’ works, in healing the centurions slave, take place after speaking the words of the Sermon on the Mount that Harry Truman referred to in our opening quotes. So here we see that rhythm, words and works. And in our lives Jesus’ words change us because His works testify to the truth that He is the Son of God.

At the heart of today’s passage is the centurion’s trust in the authoritative word of Jesus, which brings healing to his slave. Jesus’ miracles add to what He teaches, and His teaching helps us to understand His miracles. We’re not given one without the other. Words and works, words and works. When we’re baptized we’re given the words of Christ spoken to us, and at the same time we’re given the miracle, the work, of new life in Christ. It’s the Lord, not the pastor, who does the work in baptism. It is the word of God which makes the water powerful for baptism. The words of God in our life do the work of God in our life.(X2) In the same way, His Word makes Holy Communion, baptism and absolution powerful. We trust in the word of Jesus to perform what it says. His word delivers the promises it makes. His word is His work in us.

Now there’s yet another thing today’s Roman centurion can teach us in his sending a delegation of Jewish leaders to Jesus. According to one writer, a delegation sent from one person carries the legal weight of the person themselves being in attendance. That means that the centurion sent himself through the Jewish elders to Jesus.

The same is true with the Holy Spirit sent from the Father by Jesus to us. Jesus designates the Holy Spirit to represent Himself to help believers remember all that Jesus has done. The Holy Spirit helps us to remember that in Jesus coming to earth and taking on our flesh, He did that so He could die on the cross in our place and rise to new life in the flesh to grant us eternal life. Thus, in receiving the Holy Spirit we have all of God come to us. So like the centurion’s ‘coming’ to Jesus through the Jewish elders, so God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit comes to us in the sending of the Holy Spirit to us in our baptism and by faith.

So let me ask, do we reflect the faith we’ve been given in Christ as the centurion did? That is, are our actions in line with our faith – the faith we’ve been given by hearing just as the centurion had?

This is what makes the gift of faith so precious – it gives us all we need to act on, as the centurion acted. Our words, and our works, like Harry Truman’s are to be consistent. The centurion believed the words about Jesus and in faith he acted when he sent the Jewish delegation to Jesus.

Here are 2 more examples of God using words and works. In today’s epistle from Galatians Paul talks about the hearing of the gospel by the Galatian churches. Now Paul is warning them that they’re in danger of turning away from those words by listening to a preaching that is contrary to the gospel that was proclaimed by the power of the Holy Spirit. So he makes clear that listening to false words can turn someone away from the true good news of salvation in Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Again it is hearing words, gospel words, that are important for the work of God in our lives.

And secondly in the Old Testament passage from Kings – what is it that Solomon says God does? With your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it. Once again our theme is there, words and works, words and works. And more than that, what is it that draws foreign people to the land of Israel? Why do they come to worship the God of Israel?

It’s because they have heard of the deeds of God toward His beloved people. Read Vss 41&42 aloud with me please… As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name – for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this temple… did you hear that? For they will hear!

They’ve heard that this is a God, the God, who listens and who hears the prayers of His people and then He acts for them. This is one reason why you’ve heard me say that only Christians, believers, can pray and know that God hears them. The foreigners, as Solomon refers to them, hear of this God who answers the prayers of His people and that is why they come to the holy temple that he’s dedicating today.

And this brings us back to the gospel lesson. Because it’s now a foreigner, this Roman centurion, who has heard of Jesus and it is that Roman centurion’s faith, which Jesus extols to Israel as an example.

Now before I close with another story about another president, let me again remind you to please take the time to read the entire book of Luke this week. I guarantee its words will affect your work. So please do it sooner rather than later.

Now this story is about the president who followed Harry Truman into office. But this takes place much later. Billy Graham tells of visiting Dwight Eisenhower shortly before he died.

Ike said to him, “Billy, I want you to tell me once again how I can be sure of my salvation.” Billy Graham reports: “I took out my New Testament and read him several Scriptures. I pointed out that we are not going to heaven because of our own good works, or because of money we have given to church. We are going to heaven totally and completely on the basis of the merits of what Christ did on the cross. Therefore he could rest in the comfort that Jesus paid it all.” President Eisenhower responded: “Thank you, Billy! I’m ready!”

The key in that story is where Billy said, “I read him several scriptures.” There it is, the words of God again doing the works of God. In this case to fortify faith in Ike and remind him of the assurance that he needed to depart this world in the peace of Christ alone. The words of God bring about the works of God. They do that in you and they do that through you as well. Never doubt, that as you speak God’s word – He works. In His name, amen!

 

Sermon #829 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                        1 Kings 8:22-24, 27-29, 41-43 22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today…

27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place…

41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

Epistle                                                                                         Galatians 1:1-12 1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!   10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.    11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Holy Gospel                                                                                                                                     Luke 7:1-10

7 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

June 5, 2016 Resuscitation or Resurrection?

The Old Testament lesson and the gospel lesson today combine to make for some very vivid and compelling reasons to trust God. In both of these reports you have people who are dead and then made alive again! Keep your worship folders open to these lessons it’s going to be like a tennis match for a few minutes going back and forth between them.

In the Old Testament lesson you have a son who dies of sickness. We’re also told in verse 20 that the mother of this boy’s a widow. You have action taken by a man of God because of the grief expressed by this widow. And the result of his action is that..  the boy lives again!

Now look in the gospel lesson. Again you have a dead son being mourned by, again, his widowed mother. Here the dead boy is being carried out of town and his grieving mother follows along. Jesus sees her grief and addresses her with just two words don’t cry. And then He takes action. Based on His compassion for her, He revives this boy. The compassion of God, expressed by earthly action is key in both lessons.

Compare these accounts: both boys are gone from this life, both have left mothers behind to grieve for them. Both of these mothers are widows, they have no other man in their lives to help, to support or provide for them. That’s important to remember in both these cases.

Families then were your ‘social security’. They looked after you in your old age and were there to support you. A woman especially was vulnerable when she was left without a husband or son because of the way society worked regarding property.

In both of these accounts the boys were all that the women had. And both tell of these sons being made alive again in God’s compassion! These were dead sons and they live again! Can there be anything more compelling than the dead being brought back to life again!! It solves so many problems.

There’s no more separation or loneliness, no sorrow or grief. And for the widows it meant security as well. In fact these dead being raised to life again is a cause of rejoicing and celebrating, it is the occasion of occasions. One last thing though about these 2 cases is – that both these boys had to, later, die again.

But today, they were both given life again. However, they were not given a new life. They were not resurrected in the fashion that Christ was; they were resuscitated.

Jesus promises His followers resurrection-life, not mere resuscitation. That’s important as we turn and focus now on the gospel lesson. What Jesus gives the boy from Nain is resuscitation in this world. But He gives it to him after the manner by which Jesus gives us resurrection-life; He gives by His will alone.

Look in the story and tell me, what does the boy do to help Jesus? Right, the boy does nothing to ask for it. The boy does nothing to help with it. The boy does nothing to cooperate with Jesus. However, it’s the boy’s choice how he lives his life after it’s restored to him. Jesus gives him life again on this earth but how the boy lives that life from then on is his responsibility.

We’ll come back to our responsibility to live our lives now in Jesus’ gift to us of resurrection-life.

But in the story, one of the things you’d expect is that he’d now look after the mother who wept for him. Her security, as we said, is only in what that boy could provide. This is not unlike Jesus’ own mother, Mary. Jesus addressed her earthly security needs even as He was dying on the cross. That’s why in John’s gospel we’re told, in verses 25-27 of chapter 19, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother… When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” Stop here a moment and think about this act of love for His mother that Jesus does. Isn’t it interesting that though He knows He’s coming back to life, resurrection-life, He knew that it was not life of the same nature of this world that He was coming back to. And that’s different than the son of the widow of Nain in today’s gospel lesson that Jesus resuscitated.

Jesus knew that after His resurrection and ascension His mother would still need care in this world and that’s why He assigned John to look after her. Jesus was making the plans for his own mother needed for her future on earth. And He was doing that as He was also fulfilling the plan for her eternal future by going to that cross and dying for her sins and for the sins of this widow’s boy and for all of our sins.

Jesus’ resurrection-life is life that is of a different nature than before. His resurrected life is what Jesus has promised, has gifted, to His followers. And that’s what we have both now and what we’re looking forward to. Resurrection-life then will be a life… free of sin and free of the restraints that this world has on us.

Jesus’ death on the cross is what paid the debt for all sin for all time. His resurrection following His death is what guarantees to all who believe in His name life with Him forever. That resurrection-life is not what He gave the widow’s son on this day however. What this boy received was resuscitation to earthly life. Now I have little doubt that this boy and his mother both became believers in Jesus.

After all with this experience they had, when Jesus rose from the dead I’m sure their leap of faith to believe that Jesus was truly resurrected from the dead was not as difficult as it would be for others. After all they had experienced this boy’s return to life – at the word and by the compassion of Jesus. But they, like us, would’ve had to learn the difference between resurrection and resuscitation, though their learning curve was probably a little less steep than ours.

Bringing this boy to life again in the gospel today also points up another thing about Jesus and death… Death simply loses out to Life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And here at the city gate of Nain, Jesus again proves that He… Jesus… is life… and He Wins… always! The three deaths that the gospels tell us about that confronted Jesus earthly ministry, He interrupts with life. Death, other than His own, is not tolerated by Jesus.

It can’t be tolerated because He’s the creator and sustainer of all life. And now death has no part in Jesus now that He’s conquered it by His own defeat of it through His resurrection! In the text from last week, Jesus heals the centurion’s sick slave and Jesus never even went to that person. The centurion gave evidence of faith in Jesus’ authority to heal and save by his words and works, words and works.

The point is that faith in Jesus’ power over death is always vindicated in scripture. Remember in the conversation with Mary and Martha, regarding Lazarus, they talked about death and resurrection and Mary says that she believes her brother will rise in the resurrection to come. And Jesus tells her what?

That’s right I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he die yet shall he live. Again it’s important to remember that the life Jesus returned to Lazarus, like this boy today, was earthly life, not the resurrection-life that follows Jesus’ victory over death.

Resurrection-life is a different thing. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead we’re told by Paul in Colossians 1:18. Jesus is the firstborn from… from the dead. He’s the one who breaks the power of death and so He’s the one who defeats death.

In His defeat of death He overcomes sin, which brought death into this world in the first place by our disobedience in the Garden of Eden. And when that disobedience happened, on that very day, God promised that He would defeat death for us.

In Gen 3:15 God gives the first promise of death’s demise. God says to the serpent I will put enmity between your seed and her seed, and you will bruise his heel and He will crush your head. The offspring of Eve, Jesus, crushed the one who tempted mankind and so brought death in to God’s creation. Jesus crushed death.

Death came through the sin of man in the Garden of Eden. And from the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus went forth to fulfill the promise God made to Eve in Eden. Jesus went from Gethsemane to the cross and in rising from a garden tomb, Jesus defeated death. And because of His power over life and death He chose, in today’s gospel lesson to raise up this widows only son. So, let’s return to the point we said we would –  about how we live as result of the resurrection-life that’s ours in Jesus Christ being up to us.

What we do with our new life all our earthly days is in our power to control. That is our God-given responsibility. It is in your power to live your life seeking to do God’s will alone. So that’s your choice.

However, what’s not your choice is like the boy in Nain … the boy had no part in his own return to life. The boy was resuscitated by Jesus’ choosing alone. And Jesus does the same thing for us. We don’t raise a hand and ask Jesus to take it and give us resurrection life. No, Jesus reaches down in His love and He takes hold of us and He grants us the promise of new life in Him. We are not promised mere resuscitation but resurrection-life with Christ.

Jesus today doesn’t wait for the boy to ask for anything. And Jesus didn’t wait for us to act to give us His promise of new life. He acts first. He is the prime mover, the first cause. Our salvation is not dependent in any way upon our action; if it was we’d be without hope. After all it is our action, the action of man, that brought death to creation in the first place. In fact we’re told by St. Paul that we are dead in our sins and trespasses, just like that widow’s son. So we can do nothing to help ourselves.

People like to say, ‘well you have to make a choice’. However, your only choice is that of death. If you reject what Christ has done on the cross, in His victory over death, you’re saying you prefer –death. You prefer your own death in sin rather than the resurrection-life that Jesus offers in His name. So yes you do choose, but your choice is how you respond to Jesus’ gift. And that’s not what caused Jesus to offer you salvation.

You didn’t choose for Christ to go to the cross but you can choose to reject His victory there that He promises to you. We’re the ones with the opportunity to let others know what Jesus did for this widow’s son and what Jesus has done for us all. Remember we said at the outset that the compassion of God, expressed by earthly action is key in today’s lessons. That same compassion is the Gospel and we’re the ones who say we are Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel.

Like this boy had the responsibility to live his resuscitated life well, and caring for his family, so we too share his responsibility. We too live so that others may come to trust in the resurrection-life that Jesus chooses to give to all who will believe in His name. In that all-powerful Name we pray, amen.

 

Sermon #830 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 

First Reading                                                                                                                         1 Kings 17:17-24 17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”                                                       19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”                                                                                       22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”                                                                                                  24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

 

Epistle                                                                                                                                    Galatians 1:11-24 11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.

21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.

 

Holy Gospel                                                                                                                                   Luke 7:11-17

11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.