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Jan 13, 2019 – I, Too, Sent My Son To Israel

A Jewish father was concerned about his son who was about a year away from his Bar Mitzvah but was sorely lacking in his knowledge of the Jewish faith. To remedy this, he sent his son to Israel. A year later the young man returned home. “Father, thank you for sending me to the land of our Fathers,” the son said. “It was wonderful and enlightening, however, I must confess that while in Israel I converted to Christianity.”

“Oi vey,” replied the father, “what have I done?” So, in the tradition of the patriarchs he went to his best friend and sought his advice. “It’s amazing that you should come to me,” his friend stated, “I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian.” So, in the tradition of the Patriarchs, they went to the Rabbi.

“It’s amazing that you should come to me,” stated the Rabbi, “I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian. What’s happening to our sons? Brothers, we must take this to God,” said the Rabbi. So, they fell to their knees and began to wail and pour out their hearts to the Almighty. As they prayed the clouds above opened and a mighty voice said, “Amazing that you should come to Me. I, too, sent My Son to Israel.”

Now I started with this story because of Who spoke last in our gospel lesson. How do we know that God, too, sent His Son to Israel?

Because, God the Father spoke from the heavens when Jesus was baptized. And when God spoke all those gathered around Jesus knew then that God had sent His son to Israel. There was no denying that God spoke from heaven and made it clear that this, His own son, was the One He’d promised to send to the people of Israel.

Look at verse 15 what does it say there about the people? Right, the people were waiting ex-pec-tantly; they were looking for the Christ, the promised one of God! The people had the expectation that God would fulfill His promise. They were seeking God to keep His word to them.

That word of promise is echoed in the Old Testament lesson today. In verses 5 -7 it says in part, Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will…bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth – everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

And the people in the gospel lesson today were wondering if John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that promise of God. They wanted God to ‘gather them’ and keep them separated from others in this world so they could glorify God. Of course, some just wanted the hated Romans to be gone, but still, such a desire was rooted in God’s promise to be called together in the name of God.

They were looking for the certainty of who John was and they were seeking certainty from God that He was keeping His word to them. This wasn’t something they did only on the Sabbath, this wasn’t just some religious observance they occasionally thought about or practiced, this was in the people’s hearts and minds. This was something they talked about among themselves.

That’s significant for us. In our coming together to worship we’re doing the same thing, we’re talking about God keeping His word and His promises. We come here to receive His gifts of word and sacrament that deliver God’s promise to us. We come and hear God’s call that we are His sons and daughters that He has created. We gather to talk, not about the hope of God’s promises but of His fulfillment of His promises.

So, we’re not that different than those people who were wondering if John was the Christ. And we are now able to see clearly the fulfillment of their hope, not in John, but in Jesus, revealed by His baptism! He, Jesus and not John the Baptist is the One in whom the longing of the people is made complete. Jesus is the One who relieves all the wondering (and wandering) of the hearts of the people in Luke and all people of all time.

Also note verse 21. Read that out loud with me, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened.” Jesus was baptized along with ‘all the people’ but at His baptism it says in verse 22, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. It also says that the voice of God from heaven spoke of Jesus and made clear to all people that this One, not John the Baptist, but that Jesus, was the fulfillment of God’s promise. This was God’s own Son whom ‘He too, sent to Israel’.

In His baptism Jesus has been revealed as the Christ as the promised one; and not only by His baptism but also by His birth and the events surrounding His birth. God used Gabriel and the angels and the shepherds and the wise men to demonstrate that His ‘ordinary human birth’ was for an Extraordinary Child.

The wise men are significant because last week was Epiphany, the day we celebrate the coming of the wise men. Christmas is our celebration of the appearance of Jesus Christ in human flesh – His appearance as true man. Epiphany is the celebration of the revelation of Jesus Christ as true God, the eternal and almighty Son of God in heaven. Again, in the Old Testament lesson God says of Jesus, I have summoned you by name, you are mine. During our Christmas celebration, we marvel that Jesus is truly human. During our Epiphany celebration, we marvel that Jesus is truly the Son of God.

And today, in His baptism, we see the beginning of His work on earth as an adult. In His baptism we see that the child born in Bethlehem is indeed the holy one of Israel and the hope of the world. He is God’s own Son sent to bring the forgiveness of sin and restoration to God that God promised long ago. What gives our baptism its power is what God does with it, not what we do.

That certainty of God’s work in us, comes to us in our own baptism according to what St. Paul said in the epistle lesson today. 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

That promise of resurrection is ours. It’s what’s poured out on us in our baptism. God does that! We don’t! God has chosen to give us that certain hope, that assurance of life new and life eternal, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We’re united with Him in death and in life through our baptism!

Let me ask, what do you want to be doing this year so that others can have the hope you have in Jesus Christ? If you had the permission what would you do so that others could share in the gift of God that is yours through your baptism?  I’m not asking you what ‘committee’ or board you want to be on, though that’s a good thing to do, but what do you want to be doing to enable us all to reach out in some way to Bolivar through Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel?.

The wise men brought gifts with which to worship Christ, what gifts do you bring? I’ll tell what gifts you bring, you bring the gifts that God, by His grace has equipped you with. But how will you use them? There are some things in life you can control and some things you can’t. But of those things you can control, you alone have the power to use your gifts or not use them. I think that God has given us great gifts and wonderful abilities in the people in this place.

There was a man in New York City some years back they called the subway superman. This guy, Wesley Autrey, jumped on the tracks in a New York subway and held another man still who was having a seizure and in doing so saved his life. When asked about why he did it he said that he had a choice to let his two little daughters see a man die or he could try and do something about it. He chose to do something about it.

Christ chose to do something about our ‘certain death’ situation and His salvation of us does not depend on what we do or what we know. We thank God for that. But that’s what Jesus coming to earth is all about. Because God, too, sent His Son to Israel we leave here today knowing we are Christians by His work. We know that our hope is in Jesus’ name and the work He has done. And we know that others need to hear that.

We are called to be faithful in telling the truth of Jesus, the Christ of God, for whom the world had waited. Jesus is the One who, by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, delivers us from our sin and from the shame of our rebellion against God. Jesus is the promised deliverer who, as we read today, the people were looking for at His baptism. We leave here today refreshed and restored by His work through our baptism and through the gifts He gives us – His word and His very life.

In Jesus Holy and life-giving name, amen.

[Sermon #998 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO]

First Reading                                                                Isaiah 43:1-7

43 But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob,

he who formed you, Israel:  “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;  the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’  Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed an made.”

 Epistle Reading                                                         Romans 6:1-11

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2^ By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3^ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5^ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7^ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8^ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10^ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 Holy Gospel                                                                 Luke 3:15-22

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

 

Jan 6, 2019 – Epiphany – Snow Closes Santiago’s.

A friend of mine this week posted on Facebook a story about Santiago’s, a restaurant, being closed because of snow. What stopped me is that the restaurant is in Bisbee, a part of southern Az where snow is highly unusual even in winter. The other peculiar thing is my friend lives not in Arizona but in Florida, having moved there from North Dakota, because, as you might guess they were tired of the snow! But it’s the uniqueness of snow of all things closing a Mexican restaurant in Arizona that caught my attention.

It’s the sort of thing to make you stop and think… And that’s sort of what epiphany is – something to make you stop and think. When you talk about what having an epiphany means …  it’s more a revelation – a moment of clarity or as some call it; an ‘a-ha’ moment. That’s what we get in the gospel lesson today, it’s an ‘a-ha’ moment.

This is a moment of revelation to the world, this moment when the magi come to Herod and ask about the place where “The King” was born. The King’s coming wasn’t some small private matter, as today’s gospel lesson makes clear. His coming as a baby to Judea, to the town of Bethlehem, this was something the whole world took note of. The universe responded to it. This Baby’s birth was no small matter.

Look at the nouns, the people, mentioned in this gospel passage. There’s Herod, magi from the east, all of Jerusalem, the chief priests and teachers of the law and Mary. This coming into the world by God in this infant Jesus was not an unknown event in some unknown town! In looking at the list of people involved the ones that stand out for us, this Epiphany, are the wise men or magi.

Looking into research on the Magi we find they belonged to a group of gifted sages, well known in the history of the Persian Empire, who specialized in everything from astronomy to religion. Magi living in Babylon doubtless came into contact with the descendants of the Jewish leaders and rabbis exiled by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.

A large Jewish community stayed in Babylon for the next 1,000 years. So, these Magi would have been familiar both with Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament as well as the star as the symbol of the Messiah. Numbers 24:17 says “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob, so their famous question upon reaching Jerusalem; “Where is the newborn King of the Jews, for we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him” was not asked out of a vacuum.

We actually know very little about these particular Wise Men. We don’t even know how many there were, the Bible doesn’t say. Though 3 is a good number, imagine having 40 Wise Men in your nativity scene. We say 3 because only 3 gifts are mentioned (gold, incense and myrrh). The early church spoke of 3 Wise Men, even coming up with names for them: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. One of the greatest scholars of the Early Middle Ages, The Venerable Bede, wrote this about the Wise Men of our lesson:

“The first is said to have been Melchior, an old man with white hair and a long beard . . . who offered gold to the Lord as to a king. The second, named Caspar, young and beardless and ruddy complexioned . . . honored Him as God by his gift of incense, an offering worthy of divinity. The third, black-skinned and heavily bearded, called Balthasar . . . by his gift of myrrh testified that the Son of Man was to die.”

So God coming into the world was not a small thing. And take note that Jesus was marked for death from His very birth by both the gift of myrrh and the actions that took place after today’s gospel reading. Remember the story that Herod had all the babies in and around Bethlehem killed in an attempt to murder Jesus as a child. So death is what the world wanted for Jesus from the time it was known that He was born.

Again, Jesus’ birth was no small event. And now, with the coming of these non-Jewish wise men from the east, because of a star in the heavens, the whole world was aroused and / “a-ha” / was made aware that things were now different… because God has come to earth.

And in typically rebellious human fashion, we sought to destroy Him. Jesus came, and He came to bring us the gift of life. But it was death that greeted His arrival. The gift of life is Christ’s offering to us. We are changed, and our view of our world is changed, by this gift from Jesus.

But remember this applies only to Christians.  Christians see the world as different because of what Jesus has done by coming and dying on the cross and rising again to give us eternal life! But most people in our world today don’t realize that’s the real truth about Jesus.

And that truth is what we get to come alongside them to help them to see and hear. We get to witness to them of the gift of life we’ve been given, a gift most of them don’t even recognize they need. But we know, and we are responsible to live in this world and share what we know – that Life eternal is in Jesus alone.

We spend ourselves, we spend our lives, as gifts to those around us, in telling them what’s been told to us. Jesus spent His life for us; He did that so that we would know His gifts of freedom, peace, righteousness, and love. We’re given this gospel so that we can be spent in giving that away to others. That’s the thing with gifts; they’re only gifts when they’re given away. Look again at the gifts given to Jesus in the gospel lesson today.

The gifts of the wise men, as we said, pointed out Jesus’ kingship, in gold; His divine nature, in incense; and His necessary death, in the myrrh. But it was through His singular death that His gift of life for the world was accomplished. Knowing what gifts, the so-called, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar brought leads me to ask you to think about this; what gift would you like to have given the newborn king?

Now, consider what gift you daily bring to Him? Give that some thought over lunch today.

It is our faith to believe that this Child the magi bring their gifts to, is both fully God and fully man, at the same time. This isn’t just some kid who later was elevated to the status of being God because He earned by His good works. NO! He was from infancy, from within Mary’s womb, He was God; He was God in the clothing of human flesh and blood.

The magi coming and giving their gifts was putting the world on notice that God had indeed, now come to us. This epiphany, this revealing of who Jesus was, was bigger than merely a simple, ‘a-ha’ moment.

The magi, these men from the east, these were not Jews (!) just as we are not Jews. But their coming was evidence that the whole earth was being awakened to a new paradigm, a new way of seeing things, it was a new thing altogether, a heavenly thing, and something such as had never happened before. But! … it will happen again, so we’re promised. It will happen when Jesus returns.

But today, in scripture we see the epiphany, the revealing of Jesus, as a shift IN the world. It’s a sea change like we would never have understood before the coming of Christ. We’ve been granted through Jesus, the gift of God’s grace – to know and understand that this Child comes to give us God’s grace and mercy through His own sacrifice. The result is eternal life for us, instead of eternal death. This change, this “a-ha” moment is not about snow falling in southern Arizona. This is not about the changes that happen in a family, a school, a workplace or a congregation, no; this change moves us beyond this world and out of ourselves.

This change comes to us because this Baby has come to us. God has come and has not left us alone. It is His gift of life to us that we are given and share freely with others. We are who we are today because Jesus is who He is today and always; He is the revealed Holy Son of God in the flesh.

In His name we pray, amen.

[Sermon #997 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO]

 First Reading                                                               Isaiah 60:1-6

60 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.  3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip.  5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.  6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah.  And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

 Epistle Reading                                                   Ephesians 3:1-12

3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

 Holy Gospel                                                            Matthew 2:1-12

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6  “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,     are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;     for out of you will come a ruler     who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

 

Dec 30, 2018 – Believing is Seeing

People like to say: “Seeing is believing!” But perhaps for a Christian we might want to consider this – “Believing is seeing!” As in first we believe, and then we see! First, by the grace of God and the power of His Holy Spirit, we believe the good news of God’s love and mercy poured out on us in Christ, then we see, with spiritual eyes, with eyes of faith, the good things that are ours in Christ. In the Christian faith “Believing is seeing!” That line reflects well the truth the gospel writer said today.

Today we have, in Simeon and Anna, the last of their kind… the last of the Old Testament… believers. We know they’re believers by what they said and how they acted. Belief is always accompanied in some way by actions.

I read somewhere that there’s a “cat and dog test” for Christians. It goes something like, “if your father and mother, your sister and brother, if the very cat and dog in the house are not happier for your being a Christian, then there’s a question as to whether or not you really are one.”  The point being that believers act like believers and people around them see that.  And that’s what both Anna and Simeon displayed. They acted differently and spoke words that showed that they were believers in the salvation of Israel that would come from God.

They spoke, and witnessed as they did, because they believed God and His word. Listen again to what Simeon did and said “He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Before we move on, did you catch that we sing or say Simeon’s words very often at communion? We use these words of Simeon because at Holy Communion, we too ‘see’ the salvation that God prepared and delivered to us. We ‘see’ that salvation in the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in, with and under the forms of bread and wine. We see this because, like Simeon, we believe God’s word.

Ok, so, that was Simeon, now listen to what Anna said and did… There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Together Simeon and Anna saw the promise of God fulfilled in the infant Jesus Christ and they gave witness to it. They gave testimony to what they saw because they believed and trusted in God’s word. They knew the scriptures and they had seen others brought to the temple for these rites of purification before. But when Jesus came, brought by His parents, they saw what they knew was the fulfillment of the promises of God that they believed from God’s word.

And they spoke their belief. They witnessed to what they saw. They believed God and so they saw God’s salvation delivered to Israel in the baby Jesus. Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing!

And that’s what you and I also get to do. We are witnesses to God fulfilling His promises. He gives you and I, like He gave Anna and Simeon the sight to see, in the baby Jesus, the fulfillment of God’s desire for all people. God wants all people to know Him and to have the perfect righteousness from Christ that allows us to be in God’s perfect presence.

Jesus is our gift of righteousness and we believe we need that because our sin leaves us no other choice. Each of knows we are far from perfect and we are far from the people we would like to be. We know that indeed our dogs and cats could probably say things about us that we wouldn’t want others, and especially God, to hear.

But that’s the point of believing that Jesus is God’s gift of righteousness to us. We need that gift and we know that. We believe that God’s righteousness is the gift that comes through the baby Jesus that Anna and Simeon were both blessed to witness to. We see Jesus Christ as our savoir because we too believe God’s word. We don’t see Jesus and believe – we believe, by the gift of faith, and so we see Jesus as the Christ, the messiah of God, the one promised to bring salvation and righteousness.

In Jesus, by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave, all people are given as a gift, the righteousness of God. All, except those who reject Him. Those who turn away from Christ do not believe God, so they cannot see Jesus for who He is. Yet though He was a baby, because Anna and Simeon trusted in God, they believed and saw Jesus as the redeemer of the world. It wasn’t seeing that led them to believe, it was God’s word that led them to see.

There’s an old story that salesmen tell that helps us recognize the truth behind believing is seeing. A shoe company sent a salesman to Africa.  After a very short time, he wrote a very discouraging note to his boss: “Bring me back home!  No one wears shoes in this part of the world!”  So his boss brought him back and sent another salesman.  After a very short time, this new salesman shipped back an enormous order for shoes and the very exciting report: “Send as many shoes as you can!  Everyone here needs shoes! “The first salesman didn’t believe what he had to offer would benefit anyone there and so he couldn’t see any point in trying. Whereas the second guy believed what he offered was greatly needed and so he saw an opportunity to meet that need.

We have seen, by faith, that God has come to us in the flesh, in Jesus, to meet our need for restoration, righteousness and redemption. As to what that can mean in our daily lives; let me quote a part of Mother Teresa’s daily prayer. “Dearest Lord, may I see You today and every day in the person of (these) Your sick (ones), and (while I) nurse them, may I minister unto You. Though You hide yourself behind the unattractive disguise of the irritable, the exacting, the unreasonable, may I still recognize You and say: ‘Jesus, my patient, how sweet it is to serve You.’ Lord, give me this seeing faith.

She prayed for ‘seeing faith.’ She prayed for faith to see Jesus in those who were the sick, filthy and unreasonable that she cared for in this life. It was her prayer to ‘see’ Jesus in these people. And I’ve no doubt she did see Him in them because she believed His presence was there in them according to His word.

Seeing Jesus in those around us, who are in need, is what she witnessed to in her love for Jesus. We serve others in this life and as we do we too serve Jesus. He asks us to serve others in His place. To serve those who need serving, to see Jesus in them is what He asks us to do.

God has granted us faith and so we see Jesus, both infant in the manger and man on the cross and resurrected from the dead, as our savior. The extension of that into our lives is that He has asked us to see Him in those around us that need to be served. And so, we see Jesus in them also.

That is what you and I now get to do. We get to serve Jesus as we serve others because we believe His word just as Simeon and Anna did. What is it we say around here, “Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel”? Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing. In Jesus name, amen.

[Sermon #996 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO]

First Reading                                            Exodus 13:1-3a, 11-15

13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”

3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand…

11 “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, 12 you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

14 “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’

 Epistle Reading                                              Colossians 3:12-17

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 Holy Gospel                                                               Luke 2:22-40

22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:  32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

 

Dec 25, 2018 – The Manger and the Basket

This morning I’m thinking about Moses. Yes Moses, you know – the Old Testament guy who wrote the first 5 books of the bible? Let me tell you why I’m thinking of him on Christmas morning. It’s because of the manger in which Christ was laid after He was born that we celebrate today. That manger of Jesus reminds me of the basket of Moses.

Remember the story? At the time Moses was born in Egypt, pharaoh was killing all the male infants of the Hebrews. Moses’ mother, to protect him, sent him off down the Nile in a basket and he floated into the life of an Egyptian woman. And not just any Egyptian, but the daughter of pharaoh, the man who’d ordered the killing of the Hebrew infants.

Now in just the birth and the basket we see many parallels to Moses and Jesus. The earthly father of Jesus and the daughter of pharaoh were neither of these infants’ natural parents and yet both did their tasks of parenting with God’s guidance. Both raised these sons in an admirable fashion and gave them the love, protection and care that they needed to become the people God planned for them to be. And both parents faced adversity and tyrannical leaders.

For pharaoh’s daughter, Hatshepsut, she was under the influence and control of the man who chose to put to death all the Hebrew babies… except the one she saved. And for Joseph, the husband of Jesus’ mother Mary, he protected this Holy Infant, born today, by taking Him, of all places, into that same Egypt where Moses was raised. Joseph did this to keep Jesus from Herod putting Him to death along with all the other baby boys in Bethlehem, in Herod’s attempt to slaughter this very Infant King.

So while Hatshepsut and Joseph each did admirable jobs of parenting it was under less than comfortable or ideal circumstances. And then there’s the basket and the manger themselves. Neither was meant for the purpose they were put to use for. Both were meant for low and menial tasks, things that certainly we wouldn’t associate with anything special or holy. And yet through the hand of God, both were transformed from common to sacred… from rude to royal. God choose to use what was ordinary to give shelter and protection to these extraordinarily sent individuals.

There is much, much more that Moses and Jesus have in common that we simply don’t have the time to review this glad morning. But I’d like to point out that from just a few verses beyond the gospel lesson today, John writes of one more parallel that’s important. In verse 17 he writes, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Both Moses and Jesus gave us what God knew we needed and at the right times we needed them. The law of God that came through Moses showed us the mind and will of God. That law put structure and form to the holiness of God in a way that we could grasp. And that form taught us… that we could not accomplish that holiness on our own.

St. Paul writes in Galatians 3, “²⁴So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” The law, then, gave us a firm understanding of how perfect, just, and righteous God is. And that understanding leads us, as Paul pointed out, to our need of Christ, our savior. He would be the truth of God for us and also grant to us the mercy that we needed in order to have the holiness required of us to have a restored relationship with God.

The law Moses gave us helped us to understand that, in our breaking the law of God, we broke our relationship with God. Jesus, on this holy day, came not to eliminate the law but to fulfill its demands. And that fulfillment is then given to us by grace through faith alone.

As John this morning points out, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The truth is that God alone could fulfill the needs of the holy law that was given through Moses. And the grace that grants us that holiness, comes through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Before I close this morning  let’s go back to that manger and basket and point out that the manger and the basket remind me of us; of you and I. As I said, these were things that were common and ordinary. By God’s grace they were transformed into extraordinary vessels that carried God’s Law and Gospel into this world. By His grace to us, that is what He transforms us into also, vessels of His Law and Gospel in this world. In Christ coming to us, that we celebrate this morning, we rejoice that He has made of us something extraordinary. He, and He alone, has come to bring us the truth, that God’s grace transforms us!

When we come to take communion today, remember that His Word and sacrament transforms us. At the manger this morning, the Christ of God comes… to us and we rejoice that we are not left unchanged by His coming. Be glad this Christmas Day for the manger, the basket and for God’s grace come to you. In the name of our Infant King, Jesus, amen.

[Sermon #995 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO]

Old Testament Reading                                        Isaiah 52:7-10

7 How beautiful on the mountains  are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. 9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

 New Testament Reading                                      Hebrews 1:1-6

1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my Son; today I have become your Father”?  Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? 6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Holy Gospel                                                               John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

Dec 24, 2018 – Christmas Eve WHAT CHILD IS THIS

 [Sermon #994 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO]

 This sermon is from the advent series, What Child is This, by Concordia Publishing House. Due to copyright requirements no print version of this sermon is available.

Copyright © 2018 Concordia Publishing House

3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118-3968

1-800-325-3040 • www.cph.org

Dec 23, 2018 – Getting Ready

There’s a story circulated on Facebook that tells about a couple, Bob and Lynne who were moved by their pastor’s message to show Christian love to their neighbors. When they got home from church, they saw a moving van in front of the house across the street, so they decided to display their Christian love. Lynn quickly prepared some homemade bread and together they ventured across the street. When someone answered the front door, Lynn said, “Hi. We wanted to welcome you to our neighborhood. Here’s some bread for you.” The woman who answered the door said, “Thank you very much for your kindness. Uh, this is embarrassing. You see, we’re not moving in. We’re moving out. We’ve lived here 8 years.”

That story reminds me of advent. So often we think we’re preparing one thing, when it is something else altogether that we should be noticing. After all, preparation is what advent is all about for us as Christians.

We’re all getting ready. We’re getting ready for Someone we all know. Someone Who is ‘moving into the neighborhood’. Yes, we’re preparing for the celebration again of Jesus coming to the manger, but we also need to remember to prepare for His promised return. So we too, like Bob and Lynn, might think about how we want to prepare for His second coming. The question then becomes, am I doing those things I want to do to get ready for Jesus’ return?

That couple in our Facebook story were prepared and excited to share the love of God with their neighbors. I like to think that that still came across in some way. That’s because excitement for sharing the love of God is something that’s infectious. In a greater way that’s what we’ve seen in the scripture readings for today. God in scripture writes to us and shares His excitement about coming to us on earth.

Another thing about Facebook; I’ve been able to connect with old friends and one of those is a seminary classmate who taught Hebrew language studies but serves now as the president of Concordia University in Chicago. He’s also a retired rear admiral of the Navy reserve chaplain corps. On one post he mentioned today’s Old Testament lesson and pointed out something that only a lover of the Hebrew language would find.

My friend took note of something in verse 5a, which closes the reading from Micah that we all recognize as a prophecy concerning the promise of the coming Messiah, Jesus. Quoting my friend he writes that “the English, is usually translated ‘and he shall be their (or our) peace.’” He goes on to say, “However, this Messianic prophecy actually reads simply, ‘and this one shall be peace’. In other words, Jesus does not just give peace – He Himself IS peace….as in “The Prince of Peace”.” He concluded his post with, “See how cool Hebrew is?”

Like I said, he’s a lover of the Hebrew language, and a very perceptive and down-to-earth one, thank heaven. By pointing out that Jesus is peace, not simply the bringer or delivery person who comes with peace, we get a glimpse of God’s passion and why the Lord came to earth. It isn’t just that God is sending ‘good wishes’ or a nice thought that, ‘peace would be a good thing for us to consider’. No, God sends us peace, His peace. Jesus is peace for this world. That is what comes to us in the manger… the whole peace of God.

You know we use that phrase when we quote St Paul who says, “the peace of God, which passes all understanding…” Well knowing that Jesus is Peace helps us to ‘understand’ why what St. Paul says is so true. It’s so hard to truly grasp that God, in His desire to come to us, decided to send His Peace to us to fulfill our need for reconciliation with Him. But that is why God made all the preparations for Christ to come! And so by His preparations through many things, including the Old Testament prophets, God tells us that the One who is coming is Himself the peace that we need to have come to us and overcome the sin and strife of our lives and of the whole world. That’s what’s delivered to us in absolution and the sacraments; baptism or holy communion. We take into our very mouths the peace of God, and that indeed is beyond our understanding.

So God prepared us for the coming of Jesus; the coming of our peace. And as the time grew closer for Jesus’ arrival God revealed more of the preparations He’d done. And that included others who also became enthused about Jesus’ coming. They too shared God’s joy and excitement. And that takes us to the gospel lesson. Elizabeth and Mary shared in God’s preparations.

We read today that Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the child we know as John the Baptist; who also, became the one who prepared the way for Jesus earthly ministry among the Jews; Elizabeth his mother shared the joy of Mary’s participation in God’s preparations for Jesus’ arrival. Elizabeth rightly recognizes Mary as the mother of her Lord and she is also rightly humbled.

Listen again to what she says, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

In contrast to the pagans of the day, Mary is not turned into some type of goddess by Elizabeth because of how God has blessed her. What matters ultimately is not Mary’s womb but the Child that she bears. This is the joy that Elizabeth shares in. This Child is Whom God sent to be peace. And like Elizabeth we honor Mary and seek to emulate her faith and trust in God.

Mary received God’s plan for her to participate in the most unique way possible in the preparations for the coming of Jesus, by being the one who bears Him into the world, for the salvation of the world.

Christ came this first time through Mary, and look at the preparation that was done for him when He came then as God’s peace. And as God’s peace He won for the world, on the cross, the peace the world needed which came through His shed blood and resurrection. The peace that passes all understanding is ours this Christmas because of all that God had done to prepare the way for Him.

So as we worship the Christ Child, whose first coming to ‘our neighborhood’, God had prepared for, for so long, we also prepare for His second coming. God now is preparing for Jesus’ second coming by having us participate through preparing room for Him in our hearts. By seeking to follow Mary’s example of willing acceptance of God’s desire to rule in our hearts and lives – by the power of the Holy Spirit – we do as the Christmas carol says and, ‘prepare Him room’. And so we join in God’s preparations for Christ’s promised second coming.

Advent is about all of us being prepared for the renewal of our relationship with God through Christ. We join Elizabeth in her rejoicing over the Peace Who Mary has borne into this world, the first time He came. And we prepare for His return when the Peace of God, Jesus Christ, comes to take us to the home that He has prepared for us in heaven. Advent blessings to you, in Christ our peace, amen.

Sermon #993 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

 First Reading                                                             Micah 5:2-5a

2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.  4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.  5 And he will be our peace…

 

Epistle Reading                                                 Hebrews 10:5-10

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;  6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 

Holy Gospel                                                            Luke 1:39-45

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

 

Dec 19, 2018 – WCIT 3 – Leap for Joy

[Sermon #992 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO]

This sermon is from the advent series, What Child is This, by Concordia Publishing House. Due to copyright requirements no print version of this sermon is available.

Copyright © 2018 Concordia Publishing House

3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118-3968

1-800-325-3040 • www.cph.org

May 19, 2019 – love love love love

When you leave here today you will not be the same as when you came in. You will be living life differently. You will be thinking differently about yourself and your congregation. You will never be the same again. Of course, the reality of 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 come to 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 about how to see Christ as the Lamb of God through reading scripture every day?

This week in God’s Word we’re looking at how that Word, which reveals Christ, the Lamb of God, how that same Word of God’s love 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 your part. 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 alone has done for you! And if you do choose to learn something new about love, that can guide you in changing how you live. In today’s gospel lesson Jesus says. 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.  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 the one word, love. Each Greek word has its own unique meaning 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.

Let’s deal with eros first. That one sounds like another word you know, erotic. And eros is generally about that sort of love. It’s self-seeking and sensual and usually sees the other person as just a means to please one’s self. But eros is the one of the 4 Greek words for love that is, interestingly enough, not in the New Testament.

So, eros is not what Jesus is talking about today. Neither is He talking about the word 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, uncles, moms, dads and grandparents 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’s phileo. And this one may sound familiar too. Ever heard of Phila-delphia? 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’s 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 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 bonding-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 know this word for love; this is the word, agape. This is the word that speaks of selfless love; this word describes love that is the opposite of self-seeking. This is love that seeks the best for the other. This is 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 is a good picture of the love we’re talking about.

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 solely 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 aloud ^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 comes within 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 is needed for the other. Agape love is love in action. It’s not 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’s not defined by emotions. Agape love is what Christ commands in vs 35. 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 the grave only after that work of full and complete atonement is done, finished and accomplished. Until then Jesus doesn’t stop acting in love. And after His resurrection He continues to act in agape. And today we are given the command to do likewise. Not that we can redeem the world, that’s ridiculous.

But we’re given the order to love  one another as Christ has loved us. That means action, movement, going, doing, participation. 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 to 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 agape toward fellow believers.

I saw two examples of this in our congregation just on Friday. One was how the women came together to celebrate Desiree’s upcoming wedding. This was an act of love done for the benefit of that particular someone our congregation has embraced in love.

And the second act of love was watching Hank mowing the grass here. Again, he was doing love. He was acting for the benefit of the rest of us, in love. Both of these were acts of ‘foot-washing’ of sorts. They were doing to benefit others, not the giver. Jesus says that in this way the world will take notice and will know that we are His.

Agape is the badge of the disciple, of the follower, of the man 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 identity we bear. It’s that, which makes us different as we leave here today. This is the self-sacrifice that Christ shows 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 leading people away from God and toward death and hell. That’s where the devil wants us to take people by selfishness and sin.

But in the doing of 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. As we follow 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 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 reflect, imitate, and witness to our risen, living Lord Jesus Christ, or we don’t. We don’t act that way to earn His agape-love, which is impossible, but rather we do that to reflect His love which is poured into us through baptism and by His Holy Spirit.

What you do with that love is your choice. You know now you are given agape love by God and so you are now different. That He loves you is beyond your choosing, because He has already chosen you; He has chosen to agape 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 #1028 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 12, 2019 – Recognizing the Lamb of God each day

4 Reasons Jesus Wants You to Unclutter Your Space – Man With Jesus Tattoo Wanted In Tattoo Artist’s Shooting – Tamar Braxton says Jesus is fine with her wearing lingerie during tour – Jesus Would Have Been Cool with Weed, Says ‘Christian Cannabis’ Pastor – My Mom Was the First Person to See Jesus in a Tortilla, and It Changed Our Lives –

All of these are actual headlines from news sources on-line just in May. 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 / Christ is risen!… That indeed, 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” and publicly 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 the 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 first 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. The good news that… Christ is risen!… 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 in today’s lessons, a daily recognition of God in their lives as He had revealed Himself to them in Christ.

Paul in the first 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. Now, 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 now are six ways for you to do that. Pick just one, two or three. 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, workspace, 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, that Word, 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 we may 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 #1027 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.”

May 5, 2019 – 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 brings Peter back into 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 on the cross 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 the places and with the people He has given to us.

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 of ‘fishless’ fishing by the disciples. That is, 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 by a different seashore, who was exploring caves. 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 wants to give to this world. It’s also 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.

We often fail to grasp our true condition of being lost to hell if not for the forgiveness that Jesus gives that restores us and returns 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 with an abundance. And His provision of such an abundance is an indicator of just how great the restoration with God is, that the blood of Jesus provides for all the world.

Our receiving of 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 alone 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 Jesus on the night He was led 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.

This shattered and repentant Peter, makes his confession of, “yes, Lord you know that I love you”; and Jesus gives to Peter the restoration of 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. Including you and I!

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 alone 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 improve in obedience to Christ so will our witness of Him 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 are to give His Word away, and then let Jesus supply the growth. We don’t put the ‘jewel’ in the clay, God does that. We simply are the clay bearing the jewel of the Word of God within us and are willing to be broken open 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 a flawed Peter resulted in Peter’s restoration and Jesus’ words to us, in scripture and in absolution, also results in continual blessing and abundant restoration for us. If they didn’t, I couldn’t be standing with you here 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’ defeat of death on the cross and by His resurrection, completely fill our need for eternal restoration with God beyond our imagining.

We’re not only given the precious gems of God’s word and 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 #1026 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.Cross references:

 

Epistle 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 21:1-14

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.