“Life, Death, and Cross Bearing”

September 5, 2010

Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 30:19-20 and Luke 14:27

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

From the moment they became a nation the Israelites struggled mightily with idolatry, often choosing cursing over blessing, death over life. Time and time again they worshipped and served other gods and time and time again the nations were sent in to punish them for their idolatry. It became so bad that the Lord eventually used the Babylonians to expel His people from the land. The Babylonian invasion was horrible: destruction and devastation, famine and death around every corner, and even cannibalism. Most of the Israelites that survived were scattered throughout the world wondering if they would ever see the Promised Land again.

As you all know, God in His mercy brought them back into the land of their fathers. What is interesting is that from the moment they were brought back they never again struggled with the kind of gross idolatry that you see throughout the Old Testament. However, idolatry can take many different shapes and forms. So even though the covenant people did not make for themselves images to bow down to, their hearts, like ours, were idol factories and made idols of other things.

This issue of idolatry in its various forms is the issue that Jesus sets before us today. Our Lord begins by calling you to hate your family. How can He do that? How can He tell you to hate your own loved ones? Doesn’t that go against the command to “Honor your father and mother…“? (Exodus 20:12) And the command “You shall not murder“? (Exodus 20:13 ) Is Jesus contradicting His own Law here?

No. Not at all. Our Lord is not addressing the fourth commandment or even the fifth, but rather the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
(Exodus 20:3) The first commandment is at the very heart of both this Gospel reading and the Old Testament reading for today. Jesus is confronting you with what it means to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things”. Your god is that which your heart entirely trusts, that which you look to above all things. For many this is their family or perhaps certain individuals in their family.

The issue here is not honoring your father and mother, or loving your siblings, spouse, or even children, but whether or not they have become idols which may separate or have separated you from Christ. Sometimes following Christ means being cut off completely from family members, perhaps even suffering some form of persecution from them. The tension and stress in a family over the Christian faith can become quite severe.

Christ calls you to see that He alone is Lord and Savior and no one, not even our mothers and fathers, brothers or sisters, spouse, or children can take His place. He does not call us to hate them in the sense of treating them badly, but in the sense that we are to love them less than Christ and are not to have them as our god. If the decision comes down to a choice between your family and Christ, Christ says that to choose your family is to choose death.

In the same verse Christ calls you to hate even your own life. How do you do that? How do you hate your very own life? The Large Catechism says, “See, here you have the meaning of the true honor and worship of God, and which He commands under penalty of eternal wrath. The heart knows no other comfort or confidence than in Him. It must not allow itself to be torn from Him. But, for Him, it must risk and disregard everything upon earth.” (I, 16)

“Must risk and disregard EVERYTHING upon earth.” Hating yourself is realizing that you must count everything as loss in comparison to Christ, that all that you have and are is nothing compared to what you have in Christ Jesus. To cling to your will, your pride, your accomplishments, all that you have, rather than counting it all as loss, is to choose death.

Next, Christ calls you to bear your cross and come after Him. Christ is the very Son of God and when He came into the world which He created, they took Him and nailed Him to a tree. Christ tells us that if this is how they treat the master, will it be any better for the disciple? To come after Christ is to suffer. Christ has no place for the “health and wealth gospel”, no place for the idea that if you believe in Jesus everything will go well for you. Jesus knows that to be in Him is to make the world, the devil, your family and friends and even your own flesh your enemy. It is to invite persecution and suffering from every corner of this earth. To come after Christ is to suffer, even at times suffering unto death for the sake of Christ and His Gospel.

Where your flesh desires comfort and an easy path free from pain and suffering, trial and tribulation, Jesus calls you to take up your cross. To help us understand what all of this means Christ gives us some comparisons – a man building a tower and a king going out to war. Now if you are like me, when you first read through or heard those comparisons you were more frustrated and confused than you were by the first few verses. Verse 33 is really the key to understanding this whole section: “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
(Luke 14:33) Renouncing everything is not about getting rid of all your possessions. Surely our checkbook reveals where our heart is, as Jesus said a couple chapters back,
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34) Jesus here though is not addressing what to do with our earthly goods: He is going a step further.

Our Lord’s point in these comparisons is NOT that you need to sit down and figure out if you have enough, if you have within you what it takes to be His disciple and then decide to follow Him. Verse 33 tells us that His point IS that you are to sit down and realize that you DON’T have enough, you DON’T have what it takes, you CAN’T do it. So He calls you to renounce all that you have, to not trust in anything – not your own power, your own ability, your own works, your own wealth and finances, absolutely nothing, but to realize your utter sinfulness and frailty and cling to Christ alone.

You see, the issue is the same as what we heard in the Old Testament reading. Before you is set blessing and curse, life and death. There is no middle ground here. As the Israelites repeatedly found out, our God is a jealous God. He will not permit His children to try to serve any other god, even if they think they can serve this other god and the true God at the same time. Since you have been baptized into Christ you are engaged in a daily battle against the sinful nature that remains, which desires to make an idol out of anything and everything. In addition, you are daily being attacked and tempted by Satan and the world which would have you abandon the one true and living God and serve idols. Jesus calls you to repent of your idolatry and for looking for salvation in anyone but Him, and He calls you to trust in Him alone.

This same Jesus who has called you to hate your family, to bear your cross, and to renounce yourself, is the same Jesus who has already suffered all things on your behalf. He came to His own people and they rejected Him, hating Him so much that they would rather have a criminal released to them than their Lord. Even many in His own family thought He was crazy and denied Him. His own disciples abandoned Him in His hour of deepest need. He was rejected and despised, so that you could be forgiven and accepted into His family.

Jesus has suffered His cross and He has suffered it for you. As we just sang, “The cross for me enduring,/ The crown for me securing, / You healed my wounds and set me free.” (LSB 453)

The fact is, Christ our Lord became on that cross the grossest and vilest idolater that has ever lived, so that all of your idolatry may be washed away and remembered no more. He became a curse, so that you may receive God’s richest blessings. He suffered death, so that you may have life and have it more abundantly. They cast Him outside the city as an exile, so that you might enter into the Promised Land.

Dear friends, all the things that Christ has called you to here in the text this morning, is nothing other than a call to trust in Him as you live out that battle – to live your life by faith in what He has done for you and is doing for you. You “hate” your family, bear your cross, and renounce everything by faith.

So here today we realize the wonderful truth as proclaimed by the Apostle Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
(Galatians 6:14) The world and all its sinful ways has been crucified to you and it to you because you have put on Christ in your baptism and are a new creation in Him. The foolishness of the cross, being the power of salvation for you.

As Paul Gerhardt so beautifully penned, “Your cross I place before me;/Its saving pow’r restore me,/ Sustain me in the test./ It will, when life is ending,/ Be guiding and attending/ My way to your eternal rest.” (LSB 453) Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“Life, Death, and Cross Bearing”

9/5/10 Vicar Andrew L. Packer

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“The Humble Life, The Christian Life”

August 29, 2010

Sermon Text: Luke 14:1-14

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is not like this was something new… that the lawyers and Pharisees gathered around our Lord in today’s Gospel text had never heard anything spoken on the topic of humility… on the divine virtue of being humble. They had the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets and the psalms.

In the Book of Exodus you have Moses and Aaron going before Pharaoh and declaring, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.”
(Exodus 10:3)

In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the children of Israel, “You shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
(Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

In the Book of Psalms, you have King David declaring to the Lord, “You save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.”
(Psalm 18:27)

Also in the Psalter, we hear these words, “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble.”
(Psalm 25:8-9)

And finally among all that I could quote here from the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaiah records the words of our Lord where He says, “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
(Isaiah 66:2)

How it must have saddened our Lord knowing Scripture perfectly… He who is, in fact, the very Word of God now made flesh, in the flesh… to see how these so-called religious men, the lawyers and the Pharisees, were acting and carrying on. It was anything but being humble, acting humble.

On the contrary it was all about power and prestige. It was all for outward appearance. It was all for show, for status, for honor and glory. For them, the name of the game was jockeying for position, fighting for the best seats, for the choicest of places. Indeed, it was all about getting ahead… getting ahead of others.

At the heart of this, of course, is the self… of putting the interest of one’s self above all others… being caught up with one’s self where the “me, myself and I” come first and foremost.

The term is “being selfish” … “being self-centered.” You can add to that “being prideful”… boastful… “being full of one’s self.” And the world out there will tell you there is nothing wrong with that… that you have to look out for yourself… that power and prestige… being noticed… being someone… are the keys to happiness and success… they are the keys to being somebody.

And I will not kid you, there is something to this. There is truth in this. You will be somebody in this world following this line of thinking, this line of being and behavior. But what you will not be… is a Christian… is a follower of our Lord.

Following this line of thinking, this line of being and behavior will get you someplace alright, but it certainly will not be with the Lord.

You want to talk about being humble. You want to talk about humility. He who is True God, the Alpha and Omega, taking on the very flesh of our flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, born in a cattle stall in the lowest of conditions and living in that condition all of His days here on earth.

He who never owned property or had any money or any possessions beyond the clothes that He wore. He who was worldly poor, who ate with the poor, who cared for them and for the sick. He who associated with “sinners.”

And then there is our Lord’s arrest, the trials, the humiliating way that He is treated and the humiliating way in which He will die… and this is in addition to the greatest of all humiliation that the very Son of God would allow Himself to suffer and die… and for the very likes of us… we poor miserable sinners.

You know, if after this sermon and service, you leave here with the idea that you need to be more like Jesus… to be or become a “mini Jesus” and really work at being humble… really work on your humility… you have missed the point of all of this, my friends.

You cannot be humble… divinely humble… on your own… by simply working at it. All that you will end up with your own efforts is a pathetic and transparent replica of the same which, if others cannot see through it, the Lord certainly will.

Being humble, truly humble is being a Christian, truly a Christian. It is woven into the very fabric of the Christian… lovingly woven, intricately woven, divinely woven BY God… not by you.

Having humility is having the mind of Christ, that which is ours by being in this His body, the Christian Church which God has lovingly, mercifully, graciously brought us into… bought us into.

We have humility, true humility in God’s Word which comes to us and in fact humbles us… really humbles us as it really reveals who we are by nature and what we really deserve. It isn’t pretty.

But the very same Word which lays us low, which slays the Old Adam in us, is the very same Word which lifts us up, builds us up… not so that we are puffed up… but that we can “humbly” get up and serve the Lord, serve others.

Do you see, being humble, having divine humility is Christ’s free gift to us from the cross as we, by the power of the Holy Spirit… keep our eyes ever fixed upon the same… realizing that it was our sinful state, our transgressions and evil ways, selfish ways which took our Lord to the cross in the first place and that on that accursed tree… right there and then… once… for all… He paid the full price for our iniquity and we are washed clean, made clean in His most precious blood.

We are now and forevermore forgiven of our sins, freed from them all… and we now have so much, have been given so much, are inheriting so much… that which we do not deserve. How humbling is that! How humbled are we when we fix our eyes on Jesus. And that is the point, my friends. That is what it is all about.

The humble life, the Christian life… this freely given to us in Christ, by Christ in this His Church, through Word and Sacrament.

The humble life, the Christian life… by no means ours to obtain, but certainly ours by the Holy Spirit to retain… to fight for… to fight to continue in… as we daily struggle against this world and our own sinful flesh that would have us leave the humble way and return to the prideful way.

And through it all the Lord is there to help us… to uphold us and strengthen us… preserving us by His Spirit in the Christian life, the humble life. How great this is! Thanks be to God. Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“The Humble Life, the Christian Life”

8/29 /10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“The Gathering”

August 22, 2010

Sermon Text: Hebrews 12: 4-24, Luke 13:22-30

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It’s a pep talk, plain and simple. The writer to the Hebrews seeks to remind dear Christian men and women throughout time that it is ok… that it is normal… it is to be expected… namely, our struggle against sin and the loving discipline which the Lord our God provides… all for the purpose of keeping us on the narrow path that we might enter through “the narrow door” which Christ our Lord mentions in our Gospel text.

We will get to that in a moment. But let’s now get back to our struggle with sin, the struggle that will always be ours in this life… we who have been made saints through the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, but who nevertheless live life in this sinful flesh, weak flesh, daily… hourly… fighting the Old Adam in us.

It is tough… our spiritual struggle… wrestling with our own flesh and that of others in this world, many of whom only have the Old Adam in them… many who only know the way of sin and Satan… the way of darkness and eternal destruction. And this includes people in our own family… among our circle of friends… those who we work with… go to school with.

And we can so easily grow weary in the faith… in fighting the good fight of faith. No… let me change that… we DO grow weary, not only of the struggle, but also at times of the blessed discipline which God our Father provides… how He humbles us and keeps us spiritually alert and awake.

But notice that our text says that by such divine action and intervention, “God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.” (Hebrews 12:7-10)

Yes, indeed, out of love… pure love… the Lord our God disciplines us that we may share His holiness and what is more… His home… our eternal home that awaits us in heaven. Let us not lose sight of what all of this is leading to… what all of this world will give way to… and that which will soon happen… namely, “the gathering.”

As we, the faithful, gather now in this holy sanctuary… so there will be, so very soon, the gathering of the faithful… all of God’s children… all of His disciples (the disciplined ones)… in heaven… before the throne and the One who sits upon it… and before the Lamb who was slain, but now lives and reigns forever and ever.

The writer to the Hebrews puts this gathering both now in time and in eternity so beautifully. He declares, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

What a beautiful view, my friends. What a beautiful state in which we live… made so by our Savior whose precious blood we have all been sprinkled with and made clean… made holy… made heirs of God’s eternal kingdom and all the treasures stored up for us in heaven.

And all this Christ won for us and all people. For He… Jesus… died for all… to save all. But then… then comes the sobering question posed to our Savior in our Gospel text and His infinitely more sobering answer.

“Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
(Luke 13:23-24)

Jesus’ answer to the question posed to Him is an emphatic “Yes”… a sad “Yes,” a tragic “Yes.” Yes, those who are saved… will be saved… are few, so very few in number… a mere remnant of all who have ever lived, are living now, and will live before the coming of the day of judgment.

At first blush, what our Lord says is not all that sobering or hard to understand… hard to take… because, quite frankly, we fully expect that the mass murders and all of the terrible people of this world, the wicked and the downright evil… will not be allowed to step foot in heaven, but rather will spend eternity in hell in everlasting anguish and torment. They will get their just desserts.

But notice what Christ is saying here… notice who else for whom the door to heaven will be locked… who else will not be allowed to step foot or even one tiny toe into paradise. It will include a great number of people who fully expected complete access to the same… entry into heaven. People who, yes, knew the Lord… of the Lord and heard His words. People who called Him “Lord” but to whom… Jesus, nevertheless, was not their Lord… not always… not at the end.

We are talking about some who have sat in these pews and in the pews of other Christian congregations. God’s Word clearly tells us that there will be

a lot… A LOT of people… who are going to be shocked… flabbergasted… that the door to heaven will be closed to them… locked shut. And they can pound all they want, but they will not gain access. Not ever.

We read, “When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.”
(Luke 13:25-28)

My friends, this could not be a clearer warning expressed by our Lord out of love for us to remain always as true believers… to remain faithful and have an active, alive and living faith rather than a dead and useless one… to remain in God’s kingdom now… here on earth… and then, soon, in heaven.

Indeed, Jesus calls us and all believers to enter through the narrow door which is none other than Himself… and He declares this in the Gospel of John where our Savior says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”
(John 10:7) He is the one and only door… the one and only way to safe pasture and eternal bliss.

Besides all of the people who will never come to faith in Jesus, you also have many who will fall into the category of the ” at one time believers”… those who for awhile were in… brought into the kingdom of God through baptism… through the Word and the teaching and preaching of the same… those who may have gone to Sunday School and who were even once “confirmed” in the faith.

But that faith did not take root. It did not flourish. Instead, it withered and died and what they are left with is no faith at all…or at best a hollow one, void of true devotion, a true confession and commitment to that which is the sole object of our faith, namely Christ Jesus.

So, what you have described in our text are those who were once in the kingdom who are eventually “cast out.” You cannot cast out that which was never in.

Is this all unsettling? Yes, and it very well should be. It should strike terror in the hearts of those whose Christian faith is but a façade…

… without substance… those whose faith is a joke, even though this is, by no means, a laughing matter.

On the other hand… for all who are true believers… who humbly seek by the Spirit’s guidance to enter through the narrow door… to enter heaven through the divine gift freely given to them of a living and alive faith in Jesus Christ… those who confess Him to be Lord, to be their Savior and King with their lips and with their very lives… all of this poses no fear or consternation whatsoever.

For their… OUR acceptance and reception into heaven is guaranteed… it is sure… it is certain… made certain solely by the blood of Jesus Christ which covers our sins… the very same blood which also fortifies and sustains you in the one true, Christian faith… saving faith.

The truth is, the door to heaven… the door which is Jesus Christ… is so narrow that on our own, none of us could even begin to enter it. It is only through the power of Christ, the power of His Holy Spirit that we can do this… enter therein and remain therein for all eternity… in heaven… in paradise with all those who have gone on before us and are, right now, with Christ Jesus in the mansions He has prepared for us… at the banquet table that is likewise prepared and awaiting our arrival.

This is not just wishful thinking or just a bunch of nice thoughts. It is all fact… all real… ALL OURS! Indeed, the gathering has happened in that God has lovingly brought you into His kingdom through baptism and here you remain… guided… guarded and protected… nourished and sustained all the days of your earthly life here in Christ’s very body, the Church.

And soon there will be the gathering of the few, the remnant, the remaining believers… God’s elect. Soon we will enter by faith… by the blood of Jesus… the narrow door that is nevertheless wide open to heaven and dwell therein forever and ever.

Grant this Lord, unto us all!

We read again, “And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 13:29)

Behold the blessed gathering to come! This is indeed a “pep talk.” Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

“The Gathering”

8/22/10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“The Merciful Lord and the Blessed Virgin”

August 15, 2010

Sermon Text: Luke 1:39-55

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Mary was not some one you would have noticed had you been walking around the streets of Nazareth. You probably would have walked right on by her without thinking anything of it. She didn’t come from a wealthy family; in fact it appears that her family was relatively poor. She wasn’t the daughter of the high priest, or the governor, or the king.

She was the daughter of a peasant family – a nobody – but God chose her to be the Mother of His Son…to be the one through whom the Savior of the Nations would come…to be the Mother of God. This is striking, is it not? Yet, it is another example of what the Lord declared through Paul:

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
(1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Now here we are today, over 2,000 years later, having the Feast of St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord. Our Confessions tell us that we have these festivals and commemoration for three reasons:

First, that we may thank God for giving such faithful servants to His Church. Second, through such commemorations our own faith is strengthened as we see the mercy that God extended to His saints of old. Third, these saints serve as examples by which we may imitate both their faith and their holy lives in the time and place where God has placed us.

So in today’s text we see the Lord’s mercy toward Mary, and we see her response of faith, humility, and praise to her Lord. At the same time we see the Lord’s mercy toward us, and that the Lord comes to those who are nothing and lifts them up and fills them with His good and gracious gifts.

Our passage today starts with Mary leaving in haste. Why did Mary get up and go with haste? Why did she leave in such a hurry? Shortly before our passage for today Mary was told by the angel Gabriel God’s plan for her. Then we have Mary’s response of faith to the words of the angel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
(Luke 1:38) Mary already trusted in her Lord for her salvation, this here was faith in the Word given to her by the angel – the Word that she would be the mother of the Savior and that her cousin was already pregnant. Mary hears this Word of the Lord, responds in faith, and then that faith takes her “with haste” in to the hill country to see her cousin, Elizabeth. She believed not only the Word concerning herself, but the Word concerning Elizabeth as well.

Right here, in the opening verse, we have Mary’s faith set before us, a faith that takes her on a rough journey through the hill country. Can you imagine being told by God that you were going to give birth to His Son? So often, it seems that it is easier for us to trust the Lord’s Word regarding our salvation, than it is to trust His other promises regarding our spiritual and physical well being.

“Yes, He has saved me, but what about the troubles I struggle with daily, in the here and now? What about this sickness, financial trouble, death of a loved one…etc. that I am going through now?” Surely, the Lord has promised to be with us through every circumstance, but it seems as if it is often much harder to trust Him on those day-to-day things.

Mary sets before us today an example of faith. Martin Luther said that, “Faith clings to God’s Word and never doubts it, but firmly believes that what God has promised He will do for us. Faith cannot exist without the Word, and on the other hand, where the Word is there faith must be.”

This is why later in Luke when a woman in the crowd calls out to Jesus “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” Jesus responds, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:27-28)

To keep the Word of God is to trust it, to believe it, just as His mother had done.

Next, we see Mary’s meeting with Elizabeth. Their whole exchange with one another is really quite fascinating. Mary speaks a word of greeting, and this causes little John the Baptist to leap for joy in the womb. Then Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and praises Mary for the child that is within Mary and for her faith. The faith and humility of both women in this passage is really quite remarkable. Elizabeth wants to know what in the world the one who has her Lord and her God in her womb, is doing coming into her house to serve her. She couldn’t fathom it.

Then there’s Mary. It is difficult to wrap our head around the kind of humility Mary shows here. Mary just found out she is pregnant with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Whenever we get the chance to get out of humbly serving others, don’t we often take it? Don’t we justify it by telling ourselves we’re too busy, too important, too smart, too rich, too old, too young…to do this or that humble service? Yet, here is Mary, bearing within her womb our Blessed Savior, and she comes to a woman entering into her third trimester and she comes to serve her. Not only that, she stayed three more months afterward so that she was even there to change John the Baptist’s poopy diapers as well. Let us not forget, that she would have been doing all this during her first and second trimesters of pregnancy!

Mary didn’t sit around Nazareth telling everyone, “You should be serving me! I’ve got the Lord Himself in my womb! I’m more important than anyone, serve me!” As we will see in a moment, Mary knew that all that she had was a gift from her gracious and merciful Lord, and so she humbly served. It wasn’t that Mary was extremely humble and so God chose her, no her humility flowed out of what God had done for her. Not the other way around.

Elizabeth praises Mary, and rightly so. Mary in turn then gives us her hymn of praise – the beautiful and elegant Magnificat. The first half of this hymn is all about the Lord’s mercy to Mary. Mary praises God and rejoices that He has looked on someone in her “humble estate” that is God looked at one who was nothing in the eye’s of the world, one who had nothing to give God and made her the mother of His Son.

Mary’s praise of God is a recognition that all that she has is from Him and on account of His grace and not on account of anything she has done. We call her the Blessed Virgin Mary, not because of who she was, but because of what God did for her and through her. Mary realized that we are all beggars before God and none of us can boast about anything that we have, for it is all a gift of His mercy and grace.

The rest of the hymn is all about how God’s mercy shows itself in mighty acts of salvation for His people. Mary rejoices in what God has done, and as she sees what God is about to accomplish through the child in her womb.

Do you remember how God acted for Israel when He brought them out of Egypt? With His strong arm He brought down the proud and mighty Pharaoh with along with Pharoah’s army. Freeing His people from captivity and bringing them through the waters of the Red Sea to make them a new people.

God does this throughout history as He scatters the proud and brings down the mighty, while at the same time lifting up those who are lowly, those who are nothing. Those who are proud and arrogant see no need for the salvation He brings. Those who rely on the riches of this world think they can either buy God’s favor or do not see their need for Him or that all that they have is from Him, so He sends them away empty, and yet He fills the hungry with good things. Those who reject the Son and refuse to acknowledge their need for Him are brought down, but God comes to those who least expect it and visits them with salvation.

We see this in Jesus’ own ministry, don’t we? Jesus dines with various lowly sinners and tax collectors, and rebukes those who thought they were the religious and mighty. He touches and heals those who were untouchable. Coming again and again to those who least expected it and visiting them with salvation.

Then in what appeared to be His weakest moment, as He hung there naked and dying on the cross for your sins, He conquered death, hell, the world, all evil and all sin.

Jesus didn’t stop there though. He has done the same thing for you as He took a sinner, who deserved nothing but death and hell, and in your baptism He lifted you up, He exalted you, putting His Holy name upon you, and gave you the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation and all the riches of His grace. Then week after week He brings you here to His table and He feeds you with His good things, His very good things, the most excellent things – His body and His blood for your nourishment and salvation. So that the lowly are lifted up and the empty are filled with good things. You are blessed, just as Israel and Mary before you.

Mary’s faith, humility, and praise are results of what God had done for her, and because of that she is called blessed. It is because of what God has done for her, not because of what she has done. This is the same that He has done and will continue to do for His people through faith. Faith is God’s gift to you to receive these blessings of Christ, and humility and praise are the fruit of that faith as you live out your life having been washed, and fed by our blessed Savior.

So then let us rejoice with the Blessed Virgin Mary:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
(Luke 1:46-49)
Amen!

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“The Merciful Lord and the Blessed Virgin”

8/15/10 Vicar Andrew L. Packer

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“Fear Not Little Flock”

August 8, 2010

Sermon Text: Luke 12:22-34

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Robbers and robberies – they certainly make for interesting reading and watching. And there is no shortage of tales about them. Many are well known, partly because their reputation has been inflated and their escapades embellished upon over the years. Indeed, they and their crimes have become bigger than life.

There is, however, one robber… although known… well known in fact… who is nevertheless not considered to be all that great… all that serious of a threat… not much of a concern in terms of damage done. And there has been little embellishing and inflating of stories regarding the same.

And yet, the truth be told, few other robbers and robberies can even begin to match the havoc, the unrest, the sadness and despair which this particular robber has caused.

I am referring to “anxiety” and the state of being “anxious.” The unbelieving world is certainly open prey, defenseless prey to the same, for they really do not have anything with which to truly counter anxiety, relieve anxiety… remove anxiety. They have nothing that will really help them overcome the feeling of being anxious.

We, on the other hand, do my friends… and His name is Jesus. And I say this not being trite or cute. It is true… thankfully true that in Jesus, through Jesus, all anxiety melts away… fades away… is no more.

It is important to note that there is no getting around… no escaping having anxiety at times… feeling anxious to varying degrees. And this is a result of the fall into sin and a now frail heart and soul, body and mind that we all possess.

Anxiety is an equal opportunity robber… attacking… afflicting… both the believer and the unbeliever. No one is immune to the same. But as believers… as Christians… as followers of Christ Jesus… we have the victory over it.

Our Lord said, “I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”

You would not know this by what people say… where their focus is… where their heart is. It is on the “worldly” and the “tangible” because they are so incredibly afraid of losing what they have… of not receiving what they need or want… of not being cared for, protected and preserved… of having to go without.

And caught up in these anxious moments which turn into anxious days, weeks and years with anxious thoughts and incessant worrying, these people are robbed of peace, robbed of precious time and life itself. Make no mistake about it, my friends, anxiety can put you in the grave in short order… in very short order. Or at the very least, leave you as a basket case.

We all know Franklin Roosevelt’s famous quote that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” But do you know when he said it and in what context? It was part of his first inaugural address to the nation… to the people of the United States of America who, in 1933, were in the throes of the Great Depression.

It was a time when it was oh-so hard not to be anxious about having food to put on the table, or clothing on your back and a roof over your head. Things looked bad… really bad and bleak. The future was uncertain.

But then, my friends, in terms of our life in this world… think about it… the immediate future is never certain. There has never been a time when it was for certain. It is never sure… never known. We have no idea what the next hour will bring… let alone what tomorrow will bring. And for some… for many… this is disconcerting… not knowing… not having a clue or inkling.

Worrying about it… any of it or all of it… being anxious about it… isn’t going to help one bit. In fact, it will only hurt you… rob you. Worrying… being anxious… gets you nowhere. Why? Because you are frozen in place… frozen in fear.

There are many who made it through the Great Depression or through other challenging times… through wars, calamities, through “9-11 like events” who will say, “Ya, it was tough, but we made it through. We endured it. We persevered.” But what they are leaving out, leaving off are the five most important words. And do you know what those are? BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

We live always… through the good times and the tough times… solely by the grace of God. We live always… through the good times and the tough times… in God’s hand… under His wing. Ok, that’s a mixed metaphor, but it is nevertheless true because God’s Word tells us so.

The one true God who created all things… who daily feeds the ravens and cares for the lilies of the field… will He not take care of the crown of His creation… namely you, me and all mankind?

He who feeds all the nations of the world, the vast majority of them being pagan… will He not feed and care for His chosen people… all who confess that Jesus is Lord?”

O ye of little faith! Jesus said it to His disciples then and He is saying it to His disciples now… right now… to all of you!

And He calls us all to repentance for our lack of faith… for our lack of trust… for allowing worrying, fear and fretting to get a hold of us… to seize us and freeze us in place where we cannot move on in faith being led and fed, guided and protected all along the way by none other than the Good Shepherd.

It is true, the sheep in His flock can become easily spooked. And so it is that with His loving voice, calming voice, reassuring voice… that Jesus says to you… to all of us… “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

It is God the Father’s good pleasure to give you… yes YOU… the heavenly kingdom with all of its treasures. And you are worrying about the things of this worldly kingdom… the things of which the Lord provides to you as well?

When we look at it all this way… with this divine perspective… it is more than just a little embarrassing when we consider how we act or overreact… the things that we sweat over… lose sleep over…that which we are oh-so anxious about.

And that’s not bad (being embarrassed that is) because it leads us to repentance where we say, “Lord, forgive me for giving into worries and concerns which come into my head and heart. Forgive me for not sending them out by Your power as fast as they come in. Forgive me for dwelling upon them. Forgive me for trying to make sure that all of life’s necessities will be mine today and tomorrow when in fact you have already promised the same to me. Forgive me for not trusting you… for not having faith… full faith in you and simply, wonderfully live each day… live each hour by your grace.”

My friends, if we were to add up all that anxiety, worry and fear has robbed us of… it would be immense. It has taken a serious toll and it needs to end.

It has robbed us of precious time with God.

It has robbed us of precious time with our loved ones – with our spouse, our children, family and friends.

It has robbed us of precious time in really serving the Lord… in really getting involved in the ministry and mission of the Christian Church and of this congregation.

It has robbed us of the joy of really giving, freely giving to the Lord and His church our offerings… a generous thank offering every week in recognition of how abundantly God has provided for us and all our needs.

And this robbery has happened… it has occurred… because we were worried and so concerned… so caught up with what would be left for us and if we would have enough for ourselves. How selfish is that. How sad is that.

Selfish… and sad… because of what we do not know… or fail to realize and remember in the way of what God has promised and what He has done and continues to daily do for us… how He tenderly provides for us and graciously cares for us WITHOUT FAIL… and how He has promised to continue providing… caring… for us… so that we can be about other things… heavenly things… seeking not the things of this world, but the kingdom of God… seeing not to our needs (God will do that) but to the needs of our loved ones and that of our neighbor… and to serve the Lord in this His body, the Church.

Jesus said “Have no fear, little flock.” And by the power of His Holy Spirit, may this be the beginning of a new chapter in our Christian lives where, like never before, we have no fear… and as never before… we trust and we move forward in faith as sheep following their beloved Shepherd. Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“Have No Fear Little Flock”

8/8 /10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“Trivial Pursuit”

August 1, 2010

Sermon Text: Luke 12:13-21

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”
(Ecclesiastes 1:14)

These words were written by no fool. On the contrary, they are the words of one to whom the Lord our God gave great wisdom. They are the words of King Solomon recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes. And they are enlightening but nevertheless sobering words.

“I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”

In other words those who strive for worldly things are literally grasping for air. It is all vanity. It is all in vain. The Hebrew word for “vanity” that is used here in our text is ????? (hebel) which means mere “vapor” or “breath.”

Ever try to hold onto vapor or really “catch your breath? You are left with a whole lot of nothing… a handful of nothing.

Striving after worldly things is truly meaningless and no more so than for the unbeliever… for these possessions, his possessions, will soon no longer be his, but will be given rather to the one who believes.

King Solomon goes on to say, “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

My friends, King Solomon spoke with wisdom and that wisdom was Christ… that wisdom, true wisdom is always Christ. So it is no surprise that we see our Lord hundreds of years later declaring in our Gospel text the very same thing regarding worldly possessions.

So get this… Christ our Lord is imparting true wisdom to all who are gathered around Him… sharing with them the very Words of eternal life.. and someone from the crowd blurts out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Wow! Jesus is in the process of relaying to all who have “ears to hear” about the eternal inheritance that is ours… that which is beyond our comprehension… that which is of inestimable worth that awaits us in heaven… and this guy is instead focused on some piddily, earthly inheritance.

One response would have been to say to the guy, “Seriously! You are kidding. Right?”

Our Lord had, of course, a better response and notice that it is not just to that one person in the crowd. Our text tells us that Jesus said to THEM… to all who are gathered around Him, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

And then he followed that up by telling a parable which hit the mark then and certainly hits the mark now… today… this very hour… with all of us.

The rich man said, “‘I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Talk about “trivial pursuit!” By the way, how many of you have played the game? Ya, it is fun… for awhile… focusing on things which mean very little now… that which is past… that which is gone. And that is point of it all. How soon we forget that which is but vapor… that which has turned to dust. It has become trivial… trivia.

But you know… a bigger question for you this hour is… how many of you are playing the game now and you may not even be aware of it? I am speaking of “trivial pursuit”… where you are focused and fixated on things below… on the worldly… on your possessions… on your position in life? Where you dwell on what earthly things you have… or the things you gotta have and want so much?

What moves you? Motivates you? Where do your thoughts invariably turn to? What are you preoccupied with? What utilizes… takes up… the vast majority of your time and energy? Think about that.

Is it on things below? On the worldly? That which you have and hold as well as that which you are reaching out for… actively pursuing? That which seems so important… but is, in reality, only “hebel” … mere vapor and a fleeting breath?

This topic… these issues warrant some real soul searching my friends. Don’t just dismiss all of this. Give it some serious thought… prayerful thought and consideration.

The truth is, we are all pursuing something… many things. And if at the top of your list… if the vast majority of the list is filled with the trivial… with the worldly… you are fools… no better than the rich man in the parable… and have no better of a fate… of a future awaiting you.

Tonight… this very night… or even before… your soul may be required of you. Do you realize that and understand the ramifications of the same?

If you think about it, all of this boils down to an issue of the first table of the Law and our love toward God in body, soul, mind and spirit… or the lack there of… the lack of love.

All of this boils down to an issue of the first commandment and our having no other gods… having nothing in our lives… in our hearts and minds that is above our fear or love toward God… our trust in God… our faith in God… our worship of His most holy name and our service to Him.

We look at all of this. We consider all of this and we are left with one sobering conclusion. We have all failed and fallen. We have all played “trivial pursuit” and been caught up in it (and we are not referring to the board came).

We get caught up with this world… the things of this world… the ways of this world… and we are rightly called to repentance… again and again.

Thanks be to God that in Christ Jesus there is forgiveness… for you… for me… for all mankind.

Thanks be to God that in Christ Jesus there is the power… the ability… to set our eyes, our hearts and minds, our desires… on “things above” as God’s Word calls us to do in our Epistle text.

We read, ^“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”
(Colossians 3:1–11)

Dearly beloved of the Lord, it is so easy for us to lower our sights and ourselves… or to have them lowered for us by Satan and this world. That is why we are here in the house of the Lord… that is why we are in Bible class and engage in personal devotion and study of God’s Word. All of this… all this keeps us from pursuing the trivial. All this keeps us focused and fixated on things above… on Christ… on heaven where our true inheritance, real inheritance… again, of inestimable value and worth… awaits us.

Indeed, we thank the Lord for so many wonderful worldly gifts and possessions which come from His bountiful hand and that which will soon be ours in eternity.

May our daily pursuit and the desire of our hearts and minds never be on the trivial… that which isn’t even “here today and gone tomorrow” because it is all vanity… all vapor anyway.

Instead may ours be a heavenly pursuit… holy pursuit… divine pursuit… all under the guidance and with the aid of the Holy Spirit. Grant this Lord unto us all! Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“Trivial Pursuit”

8/1 /10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

July 25, 2010

Sermon Text: Luke 11:1-13

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our Lord could not have made it easier or simpler in regard to praying. And yet the sad fact of the matter is, there are many who belong to a Christian church whose prayer life all is but non-existent.

For many people, prayers are said before meals and then maybe only on special occasions, say… on holidays or when there are guests present. For some, though, it is the exact opposite where they forgo prayer, even a simple mealtime prayer when others are around.

And then there are the Sunday morning prayers… that is, when these individuals happen to be in worship on a given weekend. And it is amazing, a couple of prayers on a Sunday and these men and women are good for another week or two… another month or two.

But you can be assured these individuals will be down on their knees in prayer the very instant when tragedy strikes… when their lives are turned upside down… when they have no one else to turn to and have exhausted all other ways and human means of managing a situation on their own.

For many… prayers are used only in 911 situations or as simply a “request line” … Lord, here is what I want you to do for me now and could you please put a rush on it.

Why is this so? Why is prayer life so deplorable in many instances, with many people? Well there are many reasons.

And these reasons include someone not understanding what prayer really is. It is you talking with, conversing, having a direct connection to Your heavenly Father… He who is the Creator of the universe… He who is your Creator… Sustainer… Your everything.

The very fact that we have the opportunity and great privilege to speak directly, personally, intimately to God the Father is not recognized or even partially appreciated by many people. Or that such prayer is only possible through Christ Our Savior by whose merits the Father has reconciled us to Himself where we are again His beloved children who He takes great pleasure in hearing from.

Another reason many do not have an active prayer life is because prayer was never really taught to them. It really wasn’t a big part of their family life growing up… so, guess what… it is not a big part of their life now.

It may be that they never saw their father, as spiritual head of the household, leading them and their entire family in prayer many times… in many situations. They never saw their parents praying… alone or together… even though their parents made sure all their children said their prayers at night. It’s so cute don’t you know!

Still another factor why people do not pray is because they do not see any real pressing need to do the same. Some are of the opinion that God knows everything, so why pray to Him? Why say it… why think it or verbalize it?

How many of these people do you think would be surprised to find out that it is not a matter of God knowing (which He does), but a matter of God commanding prayer. That it is not a matter of prayer benefiting God, but prayer benefiting us and in ways you cannot imagine.

Simply stated, praying is not an option for the Christian nor would the Christian every want it to be because all saints in Christ realize that it is their lifeline, the source of great peace, comfort and consolation.

Satan, on the other hand loves it. He loves when you are not praying… when you are not speaking to God because he knows how this weakens your relationship with your heavenly Father where you can easily become estranged to Him. And so many people do… slowly but surely. Their connection to their heavenly Father fades away little by little until it is completely gone

You know, dear friends, it would be one thing if prayer were something incredibly complicated and convoluted. It is neither. As I said at the beginning of this message, our Lord could not have made it easier or simpler for us in regard to praying. In fact, He has given us the very Words to say! It is the Lord’s Prayer!

You have the perfect prayer before you! Use it. Pray it. Say it. It is perfect because of its divine origin. It is perfect because it contains all that is important in prayer, including our adoration of our Father. Holy is His name. And we pray that it may be hallowed by us… in us… in all that we say, and think and do as we remain in His Word and in the Blessed Sacraments.

This prayer includes our humble but confident acknowledgement that His kingdom has come in Christ Jesus and that it reigns supreme over that of Satan who has been defeated, crushed and his days numbered… the days are indeed short before the final sealing of the bottomless pit where he and all his demons and all unbelievers will spend eternity.

Indeed we pray that God’s kingdom may come in us and rule over us… rule over our hearts, our homes, all our relationships, over this His church and everything else.

We pray that His will be done in us as we know and take great comfort and confidence that nothing happens outside of His divine will. That His will is always best for us even though there are many times we cannot see it… how it can be… yet we trust that it most assuredly is… and will be.

And we humbly, contritely, pray for the forgiveness that is ours in our Savior, Christ Jesus, and what He did for us upon the cross…

… the full forgiveness of our trespasses, our sins which are many… which are most grievous and great… as we also forgive those… all those… who sin against us, harboring no ill feelings, thoughts and resentment… but freely forgiving and forgetting as we are freely forgiven and all our sins, our debts… forgotten… blotted out.

We fervently pray that we may not be led into temptation by Satan, this world or our own sinful flesh and that when tempted… we may not give in… and that furthermore we may be delivered from all the evil that is around us… that surrounds us as we continue our sojourn here below.

And we conclude this prayer by joyfully acknowledging to our Father that His is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever.

Brothers and Sisters, if you are not praying the Lord’s Prayer daily, this is your encouragement and invitation to start today… this day and continue with it all of the days of your life… whatever is left for you… foreordained for you hear on earth.

What a wonderful way to begin each day and end it and also half way through as you take a lunch break, so also take a prayer break.

Say this prayer on your own. Couples, I encourage you to pray it together… as I do parents with your children… grandparents with grandchildren.

And then use this prayer… the Lord’s prayer… as a springboard for more and more intimate conversations with Your heavenly Father. You have so much to talk with Him about. You really do. He wants to hear it all and hear it often.

And persistence in prayer is commended as we heard quite clearly in our Gospel lesson. You may have brought something before God a thousand times. Go ahead and make it a thousand and one. Your Father wants you to. And it is not that He did not hear you the first thousand times… or that He is not interested or caring. He is… and to a degree and extent which you will never understand this side of eternity. Keep talking with Him.

Come to the Lord and give Him praise. Come to Lord and give Him thanks for all that He has given to you as well as what He has lovingly seen fit not to give you.

Come to the Lord and confess your sins… unload it all… leave it all at the foot of the cross.

Come to the Lord with all your supplications… all your petitions… all that is on your heart and mind.

Indeed, come to the Lord in prayer. As Christ taught the Twelve to pray, so He will teach you.

For all of us, it should be that we cannot wait to talk with our heavenly Father. And the good news is… we do not have to wait. He is always listening… wherever we are at… whatever the situation or circumstances. He is always there to help us… comfort us… guide us… strengthen us.

How wonderful this is. What a great privilege, honor and blessing. Thank you Lord for teaching us to pray. Thank you for always hearing us. Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“Lord, Teach Us to Pray”

6/20 /10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“Continuing in the Faith”

July 18, 2010

Sermon Text: Colossians 1:21-23

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As they made their way to the promised land… through the desert land… through one challenging situation after another… the Lord God Almighty again and again reminded the children of Israel where they had come from … and where they were going.

He reminded them how He had spared them from the hand of Pharaoh… how He had freed them from oppression and slavery… and how He was taking them… guiding them… leading them oh-so mercifully… to a land “flowing with milk and honey.”

The Lord never wanted them to forget what was done for them, is being done for them, will be done for them… to never lose sight of His mercy and grace past and present… to never lose sight of the precious prize awaiting them in the not too distant future.

And yet, among their ranks there were those who grew weary of hearing about this. I mean… come on… it was the same old thing. Ya, they were thankful what God almighty had done for them in the past, but what was He going to do now, especially about this or that problem or obstacle that they happened to be facing at the time.

“Tell us something new” is what they WANTED. But it isn’t what they NEEDED.

Instead, they needed to be reminded where they once were… reminded what once was their helpless, hopeless situation and condition… reminded what was done for them… how they were spared… how they were saved… freed… and what lay ahead for them… if they remained faithful… if they stayed the course the Lord their God was lovingly leading them on.

I ask you… are we any different? Are we any better at remembering and readily recalling what has taken place in our lives by God’s grace… what is now happening and what will soon come about, thanks to the Lord and what is ours in Christ Jesus? No, we are not any better… any different.

Sin… your sin and mine… can so easily cloud our minds and dull our memory… our understanding. It can so easily cause us to forget… to once again become ignorant about what is the real state of affairs now… what is the real situation in our lives and in our world even though it does not look that way from our limited perspective.

And the insidious thing is… sin dulls us without our even knowing it… where we still think we fully remember and understand… that we fully know. But in reality we do not.

The world and life… our own sinful flesh… crowd out what is most important and have us running around doing this, doing that… going through the motions, keeping us busy and preoccupied where… as a result, we forget what all this is about… what our life here on earth is all about.

As God through His prophets reminded the children of Israel again and again of their past, present and future… so, too, He reminds you of the same… because… again… you, dear people… ALL people… need it. You need to hear it again and again… be reminded and commit these timeless truths to heart and mind again and again.

In our Epistle text, just like the Christians at Colossae, it is so important to realize that… what does it say? “You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he [Jesus, your Savior] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.”
(Colossians 1:21-23)

Yes, you need to hear again and again just how alienated you once were due to sin… how you were alienated from God – the source of all light and love… the source of eternal life, peace and comfort.

And not only that, you need to hear repeatedly how hostile you were in mind… hostile to God… hostile to His Word… to His ways. And how all you once did was evil in His sight.

You need to be reminded again and again of your wretched condition and state… how you were held captive, powerless to free yourselves from the influence of sin and Satan… how your present and your future could not have been bleaker, darker, until…

… until Christ your Savior came to earth to champion your cause… until He gave His very body… shed His precious blood for YOU. How He… Jesus… died for you… washing away all of your sins… every spot… every stain… in order to present you holy and blameless… above reproach… before God the Father.

And that is what Christ will do with you and all the saints… all who are part of the Christian Church, His bride. He will present us holy and blameless… He who is the Bridegroom. And what is more, He will receive us unto Himself to live with Him in heaven forever in never ending joy and peace, happiness and contentment.

This will indeed happen… certainly happen… but notice that God’s Word holds up a very big “if” here. Do you see it there in our text? “IF indeed [it says] you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.”

Your faith is key my friends. Your faith… not a dead faith but a living and alive one… stable and steadfast… is essential.

It is essential that in you there is no shifting… no shwaffling of the faith in terms of what you believe and hold on to… what you confess with your lips and your very lives.

And this is only possible… only possible… if you remain stable and steadfast in the Word of God… in the preaching of that Word to you… in the teaching of the Word to you.

Notice that our Scripture text says that the Gospel that you heard has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. It has been proclaimed… faithfully preached, that is true… but it does not mean that it has been embraced, held on to, cherished and treasured by all.

Sad fact is… there are those, including maybe some gathered here… where such preaching and proclaiming goes in one ear and out the other. And you can see this total missing of the Gospel… the missing of God’s Word… in people’s lives… how these brothers and sisters act and react. How they continue in their old ways… selfish ways… petty ways… arrogant and obstinate ways…

… with poor attitudes… not putting the best construction on things, but always going for the worst… not speaking in love, acting in love, but rather being so critical and complaining… without patience… without kindness… without forgiveness and understanding.

And if all this were not bad enough, when it comes to the TEACHING of the Word, with some of you it is not even a case of it going in one ear and out the other. Why? Because it is not even going in the ear to begin with!

It cannot because you are not present when such teaching, such catechizing goes on. You are not even in earshot of the Word being taught. You are out and about doing this or doing that… keeping yourself busy with other things (just like Martha) and trying to rationalize that you have good reason when in reality, you are only kidding yourselves.

Where there is a will, there is a way, but some do not want to find a way, refusing to sit at Jesus’ feet and with Mary receive the good portion… the best portion… that which will not be taken away from her or from us… that which matters most… that which matters period… namely the Words of eternal life.

Shame on you… if you are not daily in the Word, reading it… studying it.

Shame on you… if you are not in Bible Class.

Shame on you… if you do not bring your children to Sunday School regularly… faithfully.

Shame on you… if you sit around, walk around while others are going up to classrooms…up to the sanctuary of the Lord to learn. Nice witness to our children and young adults as they see their parents and other adults not attending Bible Class, but busily being about other things or sitting around gabbing. Way to teach them priorities. Way to teach them what counts… what matters most.

To all of you, this is a call to repentance because all of us fail and fall at times, many times. This is a call made out of love and concern for your spiritual welfare… concern for your faith and how stable it is… how steadfast, sure and immovable… how deep it is, alive and active. This is nothing less than deep concern for your eternal life.

And if you have no concern about this… that should be your first clue that something is wrong… seriously wrong… spiritually wrong.

Again, the truth be told… we all fall short of our being in the Word of God to the degree and extent we should be. The call to repentance is a blanket one … to all of us… as it is a word of warning and a word of encouragement. Again, made out of love and concern that Satan… this world… or your own sinful flesh may not rob you of your faith and the life… eternal life… that is yours in Christ Jesus.

To all who are repentant… rejoice… there is forgiveness. Your faults and failures… all your transgressions are no more. They have been cancelled out by Christ’s atoning work. And you have a new start… a new beginning in Him… now… today.

Dear friends, how precious is the faith which has been instilled in you by the Holy Spirit. Give thanks to the Lord always for that saving faith. Give thanks to Lord for His Holy Word and the Blessed Sacraments… the very means which will keep you strong and steadfast in the faith as you journey on through this wilderness… all the way to, yes, the promised land.

If you would, please take a look with me again at the introit that we proclaimed a little while ago. What does it say? “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words.” (Psalm 119:105, 57)

Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“Continuing In the Faith”

7/18 /10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL

“Who Is Your Neighbor?”

Sunday July 11, 2010

Text: Luke 10:25-36

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When parables are viewed outside of or apart from Christ then they are misinterpreted and misconstrued. It is easy to do this, and it happens often, most especially when we people attempt to teach children and youth “Bible lessons.”

When these parables are understood apart from Christ, His person and work, then they become mere moral lessons. They simply teach good behaviors. They become the Aesop’s fables of the New Testament, if you will.

It is easy to do this and, in fact, we desire to interpret parables this way. We want moral lessons. We want to be taught, just like that lawyer, “what must I do to be saved?” Under his own power, sinful man will always drift toward the Law, attempting to justify himself.

And the parables have this allurement. We would twist God’s Word in such a way as to make it about our behavior and works and not Christ’s. Take today’s lesson for example. The Good Samaritan and showing love to the neighbor. Well, how are you going to be a Good Samaritan? Who is your neighbor and how are you going to love him. Jesus has an answer, right? He gives you the checklist to accomplish the second table of the law.

Look not to the ones you desire to be neighbors, your friends or those who share your common likes and interests, but be a neighbor and show love to all people.

And love those whom no one else will love, help those who cannot help themselves. Show compassion and mercy to those who have been robbed and beaten. This is not only in the literal sense, but you are to help all those who have been cast-off, all those who are in need: the sinner, the addict, the derelict. Feed the hungry, shelter and clothe the homeless. Give comfort and help to the sick, suffering, and dying.

And what is more, do these things with a true heart. Do them with pure motives. Truly love your neighbor as yourself, don’t do it out of compulsion, don’t do it out of guilt, and don’t do it for the sake of pride or self-image (do not let your left hand know what your right is doing), for that is not true love but false love, and you need true love to keep the Law.

That is how you can keep the Second Table of the Law brothers and sisters; that is how you can love your neighbor as yourself. Now, are you up to the challenge, or are you beginning to see the conundrum that you fall in to? Hopefully, you are starting to see the problem with viewing the parables as moral lessons. If our Lord is given us moral lessons, then He is just establishing another rule book that is impossible to keep. That does not make such morals arbitrary. Loving the neighbor is in fact as fundamental as the second table of the Law, but even if they are necessary that does not mean that you can keep them.

Stop those delusions right away. You cannot do it. You cannot love your neighbor as yourself. You will always love yourself more. That is the way of selfish man; he desires to please self and then others. You cannot keep the second table of the Law.

You are a sinner. You hate your brother in your heart. You use your strength to steal and your mind to covet. If you use these things, your heart, soul, strength, and mind, for such evil, then how can you expect to love the Lord Your God with them? Repent.

The only way you can understand your self, is by examining it against God’s Law. And you can only truly understand God’s Law if you understand your sinful-self, the bondage of your will, and your total spiritual depravity.

Then you will see the parable of the Good Samaritan for what it really is. Then you will understand that this parable is about you, but you are not first and foremost the Samaritan. You are the traveler.

You are the one going from Jerusalem that has fallen prey to robbers, you have been beaten, you have been broken. You have been stripped, beaten, and robbed by sin. Sin has robbed you of your will; it has robbed you of your very life. You now lie on the side of the road helpless. You cannot move, you cannot help yourself, let alone your neighbor.

What is more, you are bloody and you are unclean, and that means that your condition is contagious. The man in the parable was ceremonially unclean because of his blood. That is why the priest and Levite pass by; they do not want to “catch” that uncleanliness. For the Samaritan that does not matter.

You also are unclean, you are bloodied, you are awaiting death. You are this way because of sin, because of your sinful, fallen condition. And so you are unclean and, what is worse, you are contagious, you are infectious, you do not keep your sins to yourself, but you cause others to sin by your words and actions. That is the exact opposite of loving them you are causing them harm.

You cannot help others; you cannot help yourself, and who will come to your aid since you are unclean? Someone must come to your aid or you will certainly die. Christ will come to your aid. He did, and He does even now. He, the holy one of Israel came into an unclean world, he came to a people who were bloody and dying, and He came with mercy!

He did not come with helpful tips on how to get on your feet and clean yourself up. He did not come with a guidebook on moral ethics. He came with mercy.

For that is all the bloodied and dying can ask for, that is all you can hope for – mercy. And that is the wonderful Good News – mercy is given to you. It is given to those who have not earned it. It is given for those who cannot gain it. It is give for those who desire and cry out for it.

And so, those who lie on the sides of the road, those who lie beaten, bloodied, and broken, cry out. And you who are being tormented and killed by your sin cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”

And your Lord does. He has mercy on you. He has promised to do so; He is faithful. Christ comes to you. It does not matter that you are unclean, He still touches you, for His touch makes all things clean. He washes your wounds of sin and shame with the oil and wine of His holy Absolution, the forgiveness of your sins. He carries you because you cannot walk on your own. He gives you rest.

He shows the ultimate love in this, He lays down His life for the neighbor. There is no greater love than this; Jesus dies so that sin will not kill you. He goes to the cross to be beaten, bloodied, and left to die. And He does die. He endures all of this, even death, for you.

There on the cross He is showing the greatest act of mercy, dying so this world can live. Christ has proven Himself to be your true neighbor. He has died for you, He has risen for you, He has ascended to the right hand of the Father for you. He loves you as His own, He gives to you a new life, a new name: Christian.

And dear Christians, that mercy shown to all mankind upon the cross, is now given and distributed to you the saints of God. It is distributed week after week in the Divine Service. Here you confess that you are sinners, bloody, dying things, and you are pronounced forgiven. You are absolved and given life and peace.

Even as much as you fall into sin and disobedience, even as much as you do not love your neighbor as yourself, you are forgiven, cleaned, anointed, and fed. Christ comes to you here. He touches you and makes you clean. Here you receive the greatest mercy of all, that which was won upon the cross.

And now you go and do likewise. You go and show mercy, not because you want to please God, not because you want to make a better world, not because you want to be a better person. You don’t show mercy for those reasons. Put things into their proper perspective. You show mercy because you have been shown mercy. You serve and love your neighbor because Christ lives within you.

These are the fruits you bear in every good work. These are the things that sprout forth from faith. Do not fear if you do not do these things perfectly. We have already established that you do not keep the commandments perfectly. That does not mean that you should stray away from good works. Quite the opposite, Christ now uses you in this world for good, for works of mercy, for service toward your neighbor. You have not done these things perfectly, but Christ’s love for you is perfect. He continues to show His mercy to you through it all.

Christ has perfectly fulfilled the Law of God. He who has shown the greatest love for the neighbor upon the cross now shows perfect mercy to you. He gives you His gifts, free and without price. He forgives your sins.

Though the times and seasons change, though people (and vicars) come and go, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies and compassion never come to an end. They are new every morning, and they are present for you. He who promises these things to you is faithful, He will certainly do it. Amen.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.    

“Thy Kingdom Come

July 4, 2010

Sermon Text: Luke 10:1-20

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

How many times have you said it? The second petition that is, to the Lord’s Prayer. You have prayed countless times I am sure “Thy kingdom come.” Is that not so?

But what are you really asking for? As Martin Luther noted in the Small Catechism, “The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.”

Indeed… we pray and so desire that it may come to us and that we may abide in it… in God’s kingdom… both now in time and also in eternity.

My friends, to abide in God’s kingdom happens… it is a reality and a certainty… as we are simply in God’s Word and simply walk in God’s ways. It is ours by faith alone… by grace alone. We become beloved citizens of God’s kingdom through the waters of Holy Baptism.

None of this is our doing. Rather, it is only possible… only possible… by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. As we will see in a minute, we cannot receive it on our own, but we certainly can reject the kingdom and those who bring it to the very door of our hearts and homes.

Our Lord sends out the seventy two. He sends them out “ahead of Him,” Holy Scripture says. He sends them “two by two, into every town and place where He himself was about to go.”

He sends them with His peace… offering peace, bestowing peace upon the homes and the people who will readily receive and welcome the Lord’s disciples… the homes where the sons and daughters of peace reside… those whose hearts and minds have been opened by the Holy Spirit.

In these homes and among all who are receptive to the messengers and the message, our Lord and Master tells the disciples to “heal the sick” and if you think that refers only to the physically sick, you are mistaken.

And Jesus also told them to say to the people, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.”

It has come near… and will fully come as Jesus Himself comes to them… as He makes His way through these very same towns and places to them… He who is the very Word of God Incarnate. Most certainly, the kingdom comes in Christ! The kingdom belongs to Christ.

Now contrast this wonderful happening and blessed outcome to what will take place with all who reject the Lord’s servants… those who reject the coming of the King and His Kingdom.

Our Lord told the seventy two, “Whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

The fact is… in this world… some welcome Christ and His called servants… others… many… most… will not. It happened then and it happens now… in our day… in our own circle of family, friends and acquaintances… those who have their own thoughts and philosophies… those who have their own ways… those who have their own gods, including many who even claim the Triune God… who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior… but their actions say otherwise. Their actions clearly deny Jesus and His strong Word.

It is interesting that Christ tells the seventy-two to proclaim to all who reject them… reject Him… the very same words said to those who receive and welcome the same… namely that “the kingdom of God has come near.”

It has come near to these obstinate people, my friends, but near is not good enough. It is like the life preserver that is thrown near to a drowning person and yet they refuse to take hold of it. It is like the terminally ill patient who has available to him the cure… the antidote for what is ailing him… killing him… but nevertheless rejects the same.

In regard to these people… these men, women, teenagers and children… it says… Jesus says… that it will be better for Sodom on the last day, than for them. They will face the full fury of God’s righteous wrath spending eternity in hell… in torment.

And the tragedy of all tragedies… it does not have to be. The Lord, our Lord has seen to that. It is He who brings healing and help. It is Jesus who brings salvation. For you see, He will indeed go into the very same towns and villages as He makes His way… yes… to the cross… to Calvary… there to pay for our sins… there to free us once and for all from the clutches of death and the devil. And He will do it with His precious body and blood given up as the perfect sacrifice.

Dearly beloved of the Lord, thanks be to God that His kingdom comes and is readily ours in God’s strong Word and in the blessed Sacraments. It is through these things that we come into God’s kingdom and remain steadfast in it. By our due diligence to the reading, hearing and studying of the Holy Scriptures. By our daily recalling our Baptism and by the faithful reception of the Lord’s Supper. By our daily prayer to the one true God as we day by day praise the Almighty and serve Him through our service to others… through our service to the Church.

Oh, how glad we are that the kingdom of God has comes to us and that in Christ Jesus it is not only near to us, but rather we are in it, wherein we find forgiveness of all our sins… wherein we find true peace, the strength and fortitude to go on and fight the good fight of faith… the strength to overcome all obstacles and come out victorious in every trial and tribulation.

Ya know, today we celebrate the independence of our country… these United States of America. And how blessed we are. How wonderfully God has provided and protected us.

We are indeed thankful to be citizens of this land. But even more so… infinitely more so… we are thankful to be in God’s kingdom and have all things good, right, holy and wholesome now and even more so when His kingdom comes in full and final on the last day.

We await that day in peace and patience as we await our King. Indeed, come Lord Jesus! Amen.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.

“Thy Kingdom Come”

7/4/10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL