Sunday, December 30, 2012

What Does Tomorrow Hold?

From the moment you are Baptized into the Christian faith, the holy Christian Church—indeed into the very body of Christ—these are God’s words to you, “Depart in peace.”
God is not just preparing you to leave the temple building. From the time of your Baptism you have seen the salvation of the Lord and can leave this world in peace.
This is what Simeon was singing about. He could die and leave this world in peace because the Word he had heard had been fulfilled.
And thanks be to God in Christ Jesus, you too can sing with Simeon and all of Christ's church here on earth and in heaven: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace."
To hear the entire sermon preached for the First Sunday after Christmas, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3072
 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

And This Will Be a Sign for You

This baby born in Bethlehem is the Word of the Lord--and Him made flesh to dwell among and in us to defeat sin, death, and the power of the devil.
He had to be a man. So He became a baby. And now you have been joined to that man. Jesus born in Bethlehem is now born in you by Holy Baptism to dwell with you, and Him with you.
Merry Christmas to you all for another ten days. Then on to the Epiphany of our Lord on January 6.
To access both audio and text of the sermon preached for Christmas Eve, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3067

Sunday, December 23, 2012

His Mercy Is for Those Who Fear Him

That tiny little fetus (which simply means, "little one") conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary is in charge...! We see in today's Gospel that Jesus--just a couple of tiny little cells at the time--led His own mother, Mary, to where she needed to be and where He wanted her to be that day, while he was still but a tiny little mass of cells like those that are all too often deemed unviable tissue today by the wisdom of the world and thrown away.

And thanks be to God in Christ Jesus, there is forgiveness for even such a sin and any other you may think is beyond the compassion of our Lord.
 
To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3055

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Rejoice?! Really?

Rejoice!? Really? And just how is that we are supposed to be reasonable when God is allowing such senseless and unreasonable stuff to go on all around us. It seems every week, sometimes every day brings something senseless and unreasonable into our worlds. Sometimes it's in a little more distant place like Connecticut, or Afghanistan, Liberia—or even with something like Pastor Chambers year long battle with a horrible bacteria. Other times it's closer to home in our own communities and neighborhoods: law breakers shooting our police officers (maybe we even know some of them or their families), police officers shooting law breakers (again maybe we know some of these lawbreakers or their families), murder suicides involving young children. Things like cancer touching people in our own families, and other health problems that result in losing a friend or loved one far too soon at too young an age to even remotely consider such a thing reasonable.
How is all this reasonable? How is God being reasonable? And yet He is telling us to rejoice and be reasonable?

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for Gaudete, the Third Sunday in Advent, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3042

Sunday, December 2, 2012

"For You I Wait All the Day Long"

We all have our own problems waiting. That's sin at work in us. That's the whole point of the temptation of the evil one in the Garden and in our world today—to get us to stop waiting for God and take life and the pursuit of happiness into our own hands rather than waiting for the Lord to do what He always does and always has done, give us everything we need to live and live life to the fullest.

Because we can't wait, God teaches us to wait.

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the First Sunday in Advent, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3018

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Life Is In the Blood

Leviticus 17:11 is informative of life both in the world and in Christ's church.

"The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life."

Let the reader understand.

You Know Neither the Day Nor the Hour


Having once spoken and born witness by prophets and angels, the Holy Spirit now fills the lamps of faith gifted to each of the Baptized with the Word of God through the preaching, teaching, and Sacraments of His bride, the Church, to which He joins us.

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3009

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Any Questions?



Thanksgiving Faith

Living in repentance, confessing our sin and receiving God's  absolution, His forgiveness, is the life of highest thanksgiving. We have nothing to offer Him in thanksgiving that He hasn’t first given  to us – except for our sin. So He simply calls on us to believe in His  Son, so that He might continue being your God and supplying your every  need forever. This is why the Lord’s Supper is also called the  Eucharist, the Greek word for thanksgiving. As we come to receive His  body and blood we also offer our sins to him in faith and thanksgiving  for the forgiveness we are certain to receive in His holy meal.

The life of thanksgiving faith is lived in simple service to all of  those around us, not in order to earn anything before God, but because He already has given us everything we need. Honoring and serving our neighbors we both receive what we need and provide what our neighbor needs for daily bread and life.

If you would like to read or listen to the sermon preached for Thanksgiving Eve, click on this link:
http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3003

Sunday, November 18, 2012

My Brothers, My Sheep

When Jesus teaches that you who believe He died on the cross to save you are His brothers and His sheep, He is teaching the same thing. For disciples, His brothers, are like sheep following the voice of the Shepherd. They live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

If you would like to read or listen to Sundy's sermon--"My Brothers, My Sheep"--preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Layton,Utah for the Second-Last Sunday of the church year, click on this link:http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2993

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"These My Brothers"

Here follows a stark warning, call to repentance, and exhortation to Christians from Pastor Martin Luther in his sermon on the Sheep and the Goats according to our Lord Jesus Christ's explanation of Judgment Day in Matthew 25:31-46.

"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

Luther on Matthew 25:31-46
 
10. For Christ himself shows that he is speaking of the works of believing Christians, when he says: "I was hungry and ye gave me to eat," etc.; "what ye have done unto the least of these my brethren ye have done unto me." For there is no doubt that he who performs such works of mercy to Christians, must himself be a Christian and a believer; but he who does not believe in Christ, will certainly never be so kind toward a Christian, much less toward Christ, so that for his sake he would show mercy to the poor, and needy; therefore he will refer to these works at the judgment, and accordingly pronounce the verdict to both parties, to those who have done, and those who have not done these works, as a public testimony of the fruits of their faith or of their unbelief.

11. It seems as though he meant hereby to show that many Christians, after receiving the preaching of the Gospel, of the forgiveness of sins and grace through Christ, become even worse than the heathen. For he also says in, Mat. 19, 30, "Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." Thus it will also be at the end of the world; those who should be honest Christians, because they heard the Gospel, are much worse and more unmerciful than they were before, as we see too many examples of this even now.

Aforetime when we were to do good works under the seduction and false worship of [works’ righteousness to earn salvation and the kingdom of heaven as taught by] the Papacy [and every false teacher], everyone was ready and willing; a prince, for example, or a city, could give more alms and a greater endowment than now all the kings and emperors are able to give. But now all the world seems to be learning nothing else than how to estimate values, to rake and scrape, to rob and steal by lying, deceiving, usury, overcharging, overrating, and the like; and every man treats his neighbor, not as though he were his friend, much less as his brother in Christ, but as his mortal enemy, and as though he intended to snatch all things to himself and begrudge everything to others.
 
12. This goes on daily, is constantly increasing, is a very common practice and custom. among all classes of people, among princes, the nobility, burghers, peasants, in all courts, cities, villages, yes in almost every home. Tell me, what city is now so strong and pious as to be able to raise an amount sufficient to support a schoolmaster or a preacher? Yes, if we did not already have the liberal alms and endowments of our forefathers, the Gospel would long ago have disappeared in the cities on account of the burghers, and in the country because of the nobility and peasants, and poor preachers would have nothing to eat nor to drink. For we do not love to give, but would rather take even by force what others have given and endowed. Therefore it is no credit to us that a single pulpit or school is still maintained. Yea, how many there are among the great, the powerful, and the rich, especially in the Papacy, who would like to see nothing better than all preachers, schools, and arts exterminated.

13. Such are the thanks to the blessed Gospel, by which men have been freed from the bondage and plagues of the [works’ righteousness of the] Pope [and other false teachers within Christendom], that they must become so shamefully wicked in these last times. They are now no more unmerciful, no more in a human, but in a satanic way; they are not satisfied with being allowed to enjoy the Gospel, and grow fat by robbing and stealing the revenues of the church, but they must also be scheming with all their power how they may completely starve out the Gospel. One can easily count upon his fingers, what they who enjoy the Gospel are doing and giving, here and elsewhere; and, were it only for us now living, there would long since have been no preacher or student from whom our children and descendants might know what we had taught and believed.

14. In short, what do you think Christ will say on that day, seated on his judgment throne, to such unmerciful Christianity? "Dear Sir, listen, you have also pretended to be a Christian and boasted of the Gospel; did you not also hear this sermon that I myself preached, in which I told you what my verdict and decision would be: 'Depart from me, ye cursed?' I was hungry and thirsty, naked and sick, poor and in prison, and ye gave me no meat, no drink, clothed me not, took me not in, and visited me not. Why have ye neglected this, and have been more shameless and unmerciful toward your own brethren than the Turk or heathen?"

Will you excuse yourself by pleading: "Lord, when saw we thee hungry or thirsty?" etc. Then he will answer you again through your own conscience: Dear Sir, were there no people who preached to you; or perhaps poor students who should have at the time been studying and learning God's Word, or were there no poor, persecuted Christians whom you ought to have fed, clothed and visited?

15. We ought really to be ashamed of ourselves, having had the example of parents, ancestors, lords and kings, princes and others, who gave so liberally and charitably, even in profusion, to churches, ministers, schools, endowments, hospitals and the like; and by such liberal giving neither they nor their descendants were made poorer. What would they have done, had they had the light of the Gospel that is given unto us? How did the Apostles and their followers in the beginning bring all they had for their poor widows, or for those who had nothing, or who were banished and persecuted, in order that no one among them might suffer for the necessities of life! In this way poor Christians should at all times support one another. Otherwise, as I have said, the Gospel, the pulpit, churches and schools would already be completely exterminated, no matter how much the rest of the world did.

Were it not for the grace of God, by which he gives us here and there a pious prince, or godly government, which preserves the fragments still left, that all may not be destroyed by the graspers and vultures, thieves and robbers; were it not for this grace, I say, the poor pastors and preachers would not only be starved, but also murdered. Nor are there now any other poor people than those who serve, or are being trained to serve the church; and these can obtain no support elsewhere, and must leave their poor wives and children die of hunger because of an indifferent world; on the other hand the world is full of useless, unfaithful, wicked fellows among day-laborers, lazy mechanics, servants, maids, and idle, greedy beggars, who everywhere by lying, deceiving, robbing and stealing, take away the hard-earned bread and butter from those who are really poor, and yet go unpunished in the midst of their wantonness and insolence.
16. This I say, that we may see how Christ will upbraid the false liars and hypocrites among Christians, on the day of judgment, and having convicted them before all creatures will condemn them, because they have done none of the works which even the heathen do to their fellows; who did much more in their false and erroneous religion, and would have done it even more willingly had they known better.

17. Since now this terrible condemnation is justly pronounced over those who neglected these works, what will happen to those who have not only neglected the same, have given nothing to the poor Christians, nor served them; but robbed them of what they had, drove them to hunger, thirst and nakedness, furthermore persecuted, scattered, imprisoned, and murdered them? These are so unutterably wicked, so utterly condemned to the bottomless pit with the devil and his angels, that Christ will not think or speak of them. But he will assuredly not forget these robbers, tyrants, and bloodhounds any more than he will forget or pass over unrewarded those who have suffered hunger thirst, nakedness, persecution and the like, especially for his and his Word's sake. He will not forget those to whom mercy has been shown, even though he speaks only to those who have shown mercy and have lent their aid; for he highly and nobly commends them, when he says. "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me."

18. On account of this judgment fear and trembling might well seize our great spiritual prelates, as they call themselves, the popes, cardinals, bishops, canons, priests, and then whole diabolical rabble of the anti-christian crowd at Rome, and everywhere, in their monasteries and brothels, if they were not altogether hardened and deliberately given to Satan, body and soul. They think and act as though they were especially appointed to snatch to themselves every thing that belongs to the poor church, and in their own wantonness to consume, spend, waste, squander, in dissipation, gambling and debauchery, in the most shameful and scandalous manner, whatever has been given for the maintenance of students, schools and the poor people. They mock God and man, 2 Pet. 2, 13; yea, they publicly murder innocent, pious people.

19. Yea, woe, another and eternal woe, to them and to all who side with them. For it had been, better for them, had they never been born, as Christ says of Judas. Therefore they ought rather to wish that their mothers had drowned them in their first bath, or that they had never come forth from the womb, than that one of them should have become pope or cardinal or a popish priest. For they are nothing else than merely desperate and select ones, not highway robbers, but public country-thieves, who take, not the goods of the mighty and the powerful that really have something, but of the poor and wretched, of the parish churches, schools, and hospitals, whose morsels are snatched from their teeth, and whose drink is torn from their mouths, so that they are unable to maintain life.

20. Therefore let every man beware of the Pope, the bishops, and the priesthood, as he would beware of those who have already been condemned alive to the abyss of perdition. Truly Paul did not prophesy in vain, 2 Tim. 3, 1, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Yet all the world moves along indifferently and gives no heed to this terrible judgment that has already been decided against such unmerciful robbers, thieves, and murderers of poor Christians, but especially against those who pretend to be Christians, who after having received grace slide back again, and like a dog eat their own vomit, or as the swine wallow in their own filth, 2 Pet. 2,20-22, and thus, having been first, become last before anyone is aware of it….
34. Right unwillingly do I prophesy; for I have often experienced how it came true; but the same conditions, alas, prevail now everywhere; and I fear and must almost resign myself that Germany may have the same experience as Sodom and Jerusalem, and will be a thing of the past; it will either be destroyed by the Turks or it will crumble by its own hand, unless the last day overtake it soon. For the present conditions are altogether unbearable and so exceedingly bad that they cannot become worse; and if there be still a God, he cannot thus let matters go on unpunished.

35. And now the world will not take heed, nor recognize that it must die and stand before God in judgment, but it rages against recognized truth. Let us give heed and take it to heart, that the wrath of God may not also sweep us away. For what else would God need to do to that end, than let loose both the Turks and Satan against us. The Turk would be compelled to cease doing what he has done and is still doing, were we not so hardened in blindness and impenitence, and so completely ripe for judgment. The reason is that we rage so blasphemously against God's Word and his proffered help, and then in addition make our boast against the Turk.

36. And I hold that, if we Lutherans, as they call us, were only dead, the whole world would immediately cry, "Victory," as though they had already devoured every single Turk. But it shall happen to them also that a hundred shall be slain by one Turk. And when the cry of murder is once heard, how unmercifully the Turks will cut in pieces all people, men, women, and children. Then shall we also begin to cry and lament. It shall come to pass that we shall do as did the Jews, put Christ out of the way. When he has been crucified, we shall be able to take care of the Turk, as Squire Caiaphas and the Jews took care of the Romans; thus the younkers at Jerusalem thought, if they could only put the prophet Jeremiah out of the way, they would surely be safe from the king of Babylon. What happened? After they had cast Jeremiah into the dungeon, the king came and led them all into captivity.

Thus I can also see that God has spun a web over Germany as it is determined to be guilty in the same manner of willful blindness, defiance, wickedness, contempt, and ungratefulness in opposing the precious Gospel. It is determined to be guilty of foolishness before God, for which it will have to pay dearly. May God preserve us, and grant us and our little flock that we may escape this terrible wrath, and be found among those who honor and serve our dear Christ, and await the judgment at his right hand joyously and blissfully. Amen.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Blessed Are You

The bottom line is this, our elections in general and this one in particular are mixed blessings and necessary evils that proceed from and are guided by the sinful hearts and minds of men. Whoever is elected, we will still have our poor, and our rich, among us [Matthew 26:11]. In all likelihood these will be pretty much the same people no matter who is elected.

So, the people of God do their best to elect those who most closely administer according to that which is conduciv...
e to good, i.e. godly, conduct, and a terror to bad conduct. For that we look to the Ten Commandments, particularly the Second Table regarding our neighbor.

All that said, it is but a lengthy introduction to the election that really matters for us and for the world. That is the election this feast day we celebrate today is all about. God's election.

If you would like to read or listen to Sundy's sermon--"Blessed Are You"--preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Layton,Utah for the observance of All Saints' Day, click on this link: http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2976

Sunday, October 21, 2012

I Had Mercy on You

"And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt." Matthew 18:33-35

Where does the servant go wrong? You may answer, in not forgiving his fellows servants. And this is true enough. But it begins with his own refusal of forgiveness in saying he will pay back everything. For this is what he has in mind in demanding his debtors repay him.
In essence, the servant is not letting the master be who and what he is—a merciful and gracious lord.

For the full audio and manuscript of this sermon preached October147 at Trinity, Layton, go to http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2954.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

And God Sad, ... And It Was So

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Genesis 1:3-4a

God creates everything necessary to sustain the life of man even before He creates man. That’s Gospel. That’s love. That’s pure grace. That’s unconditional. There is nothing left for man to do but live in the gracious provision of the Lord. Even the work he is given to do in God’s gracious creation is Gospel because it cannot help but produce good fruit. Man’s work doesn’t create but reaps the harvest of the creation.
Genesis and creation is not just an academic argument, or legalistic exercise. It is fundamental to the Gospel. God speaks and it is so. God gives and we receive.

For the full audio and manuscript of this sermon preached October147 at Trinity, Layton, go to http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2950.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Chosen

"For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14

Isn't it great to be chosen? For that is what it means to be baptized and dearly beloved of God. It means you have been chosen by God to have a place in the kingdom of heaven and a seat at the wedding feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
... being chosen is even better than choosing, although as our text reminds and warns and even comforts us, most people would rather choose than be chosen.

For the full audio and manuscript of this sermon preached October 7 at Trinity, Layton, go to http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2945.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

O You of Little Faith

Here on the Mount, Jesus chastises and scolds in a way that is Here on the Mount, Jesus chastises and scolds in a way that is both tender and firm, serious yet playful. And He gives those gathered to hear Him speak of His Father in heaven a nickname-- O you of little faith. In the Greek of the New Testament, it is one word—oligopistoi. How's that for a nickname? "Oligopistoi." It is a combination of "oligos," meaning little; and "pistis," meaning faith. It sounds rather ugly, even foul to our American ears, but it is both gentle admonition and loving exhortation to the ear of faith—as little or oligo as that pistis faith might be. It is a word invented by Jesus for us—a nickname He gives to us like parents calling their mischievous toddlers "little stinkers"—in order to get the point across that we are doing something wrong, something that might well prove dangerous to us, but He still loves us and scolds us because He cares. [Thanks to my father confessor, Rev. Jonathan Lange, for the sermon inspiration as per above.] To hear or read the entire sermon preached for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "O You of Little Faith"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, go to http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2916.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Blessed Are the Eyes That See What You See!

Schools are starting across the nation this week--if they have not started already. Teachers will be telling students there are no wrong questions, only wrong answers. Well, maybe. More and more there seem to be no wrong answers either.

But our Gospel text today shows us that there are indeed wrong questions as well. That is, questions that proceed from unbelief and the rejection of the Christ Jesus, the Messiah of God and Savior of the world.

25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

The ones who do not see, or hear, or follow Jesus are the ones who want to inherit eternal life by what they do rather than by what they receive. No one ever inherits anything by what they do, but by what their benefactor does.

So the ones who go through life asking the wrong question, what must I do, get an answer that is impossible.

In asking Jesus, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" the lawyer is missing the distinction between Law and Gospel. Eternal life is a gift of the Gospel, thus not a matter of man's works but the saving work of God in Christ Jesus.

Thus, the lawyer is also missing who it is standing before him--this teacher. And he is missing the blessing he so eagerly seeks--the blessing Jesus speaks of to his disciples to open our Gospel lesson.

23Turning to the disciples [Jesus] said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

And just what is the "what" the disciples see? The glory of God and the salvation of the world that is no what, no act of man, but the person of Christ the very Son of the living God.

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. John 5:37-40

No, the lawyer, like the Jewish leaders to whom Jesus spoke about searching the Scriptures for eternal life does not see that the One standing before them is the fulfillment of all Scripture and the promised Messiah, the Savior that is all about giving the eternal life the lawyer insists upon achieving by his own work.

26He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" 27And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." 28And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." 29But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

The lawyer is all about showing himself to be righteous and demanding what is due him. And this is what every Christian, and especially every pastor, must be wary of, for it is so easy and so tempting to turn the Divine Service into what we do and a demand for recognition and reward from God and neighbor. We see this happen with those denominations that turn the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion into decisions and actions of men toward God, rather than primarily God's gracious service to us. We even see it among ourselves in
  · "contemporary praise worship;" that focuses on and proceeds from human emotions and feelings that show God and each other how much we love God and how dedicated we are to Him rather than on "the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd" with pastor leading the liturgy, preaching and teaching the Word, and administering the Sacrament in the Divine Service. [Smalcald Part III, Article XII. Of the Church.]
  · laity demanding and being given roles in the Divine Service contrary to our confession of Scripture which teaches "that no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called;"
  · open communion practices (along with performing baptisms, weddings, funerals, confirmations) where anyone who comes demanding they be served receives the body and blood of our Lord (or other gift) even though they come demanding their reward rather than begging for God's mercy and grace.

So Jesus tells a parable that if the lawyer had eyes to see and ears to hear would reveal to him the blessing the disciples have seen, but that he and so many religiously Christian people miss in their desire to prove their godliness and Christianity. 30Jesus re

plied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." Luke 10:23-37

Clearly this is not something the lawyer was likely to do. It would be inconvenient. It would be dangerous. It would even make him unclean.

Yet this is the requirement of the Second table of the Law--not only that we do "not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need [in every need and danger of life and body]."--Small Catechism Explanation to the Fifth Commandment

Lest you and I think we would never be so smug and uncaring as the lawyer and the priest and the Levite, think about who your neighbor really is and where that starts:
  · In the home honoring father and mother, "that we not despise or anger our parents and masters, but give them honor, serve them, obey them, and hold them in love and esteem."-- Small Catechism Explanation to the Fourth Commandment
  · If that is not enough, "help him to improve and protect his property and business."-- Small Catechism Explanation to the Seventh Commandment
 ·  "defend him, ‹think and› speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything." -- Small Catechism Explanation to the Eighth Commandment
  · To give us the practical "What does this mean?" for how the baptized Christian is to live his daily life (that is, to fully answer the lawyer's question), the Small Catechism lists as a TABLE OF DUTIES (LSB, p. 328) of the various neighbors in our daily lives and just how we are to live in relation to them.
FOR BISHOPS, PASTORS, AND PREACHERS
WHAT THE HEARERS OWE TO THEIR PASTORS
CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT
WHAT SUBJECTS OWE TO THE RULERS
FOR HUSBANDS
FOR WIVES
FOR PARENTS
FOR CHILDREN
FOR MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS, HIRED MEN, AND LABORERS FOR MASTERS AND MISTRESSES
FOR YOUNG PERSONS IN GENERAL
FOR WIDOWS
FOR ALL IN COMMON
The commandments … are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9) "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people." (1 Timothy 2:1)
  · Ephesians 5:21 sums up baptized believers in faith live their lives "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."

Clearly, submitting to and sacrificing for others is not a strong suit for us any more than it was for the lawyer who fancied himself as putting Jesus to the test.

But this is the Law. And the Law does not save us. It shows us our sin. There is another way to understand this parable--the Gospel way.

The man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho is none other than Adam and every man born into his sin.

The Samaritan is Christ Jesus. The inn is Christ's church, and the innkeeper His servants of the Word.

34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'

Dear people of Trinity, dear baptized children of God, the words Jesus spoke privately to His disciples in today's Gospel lesson are words He speaks to you as well. Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For your eyes of faith see here in the Divine Service the same glory of God and the salvation of the world that is no act of man, but the person and work of Christ the very Son of the living God. You will depart in peace today and sing with Simeon, "mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel." All of this is so for you today because The Good Samaritan is the One who shows mercy and He is the One you are hearing today; the One whose very body and blood you have come to eat and drink; the One in whom you live and move and have your being; the One who lived, died, rose, and ascended for His neighbor; the One who has sent the Holy Spirit to forgive you all your sins and keep you with Him in the inn of His holy Christian Church until He "comes back" and gives you eternal life as your inheritance--in the name of the Father ,and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen


Sunday, July 22, 2012

It's Left Over Time

Text: Mark 8:1-9

"For some reason the grace of God is a stumbling block to the majority of people who hear it and a veritable millstone hanging around the necks of pastors, preachers, and priests who exchange it for a sugar sweetened, or vitamin fortified version of the Law, as if somehow since Christ died for you and you are forgiven you now you can somehow close the deal by living as good and trying as hard you can to help and save others until the day that you die."

 

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "It's Left Over Time"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, click on the following MP3 audio link. “It's Left Over Time"

 
If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.
 
 
 
his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

Dear Creatures of God,

I don’t know about you, but I have to wonder what they did with those leftovers.

Oh, boy! It’s leftover time.

Sacramental imagery/typology.

When is the last time you paused to consider The Miracle of Daily Bread? Have you ever?

I would suggest that in order to impress this upon your own sinful hardened heart, clouded reason, and misdirected desires pray this prayer of David before your family meal as we find presented to us by Dr. Martin Luther in the Small Catechism [Read LSB p. 327 with the Explanation to the 4th Petition in place of the entire Lord’s Prayer].

As you have just confessed together here, in THE FOURTH PETITION of the Lord’s Prayer we beseech our Lord: Give us this day our daily bread.

LARGE CATECHISM EXPLANATION
72 Here, now, we consider the poor breadbasket, the necessities of our body and of the temporal life. It is a brief and simple word, but it has a very wide scope. For when you mention and pray for daily bread, you pray for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread. On the other hand, you also pray against everything that interferes with it. Therefore, you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to the oven or the flour bin, but also to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and brings to us daily bread and every sort of nourishment. For if God did not cause food to grow and He did not bless and preserve it in the field, we could never take bread from the oven or have any to set upon the table.

Furthermore, do you think God the Father created you, delivered you into this world, had His only begotten Son suffer and die for you, and has born you into the kingdom of heaven by Holy Baptism would then be negligent in seeing to your ongoing needs of body and soul?

"The earth would have to run out of bread or the heavens would have to run out of rain before a Christian would die of starvation.; indeed, God Himself would have to starve to death first." Luther's Works, Vol. 21, p. 207 on Matthew 6:33

Scripture is full of examples of how the Lord takes care of the bodily needs of those who look to and abide with Him as they hear His Word. Today we have two such examples set before us—Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and a great crowd of 4000+ who had followed Jesus on a three day journey and had virtually run out of food as they were gathered in that “desolate place.

And so we pray and sing with David: The eyes of all look to You, [O Lord,] and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. If only every living thing would let Him! That is His desire—to satisfy your desires.

Eden was a garden of food—with only one tree off limits. 8And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . . . 15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Of course that was the one that the devil used to attract Adam and Eve and lead them into sin.

Surrounded by luscious life giving food—not to mention having 24-7 in-the-flesh access to the One who created that food and them—our first father and mother listened to a deceiver and decided they just had to have something else. And ever since Adam and Eve and their children down through the ages and still in these Latter Days have been making bad, that is to say evil and deadly decisions based upon the fact that they get caught up in lies and are never satisfied.

It is into this very world of dissatisfied children that our Lord steps once again in our Gospel lesson.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:15-19

So, the same God who walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden has been walking and talking amongst the crowd gathered around Him for three days.

He has been feeding them the Bread of Life—the very words that proceed from the mouth of God to identify the lies that they have been following, call them to repent of their sinful dissatisfaction, forgive them their sin, and deliver them from the lies to the truth that gives real satisfaction and everlasting life in the kingdom of heaven.

The same Lord from whom Adam and Eve fled, thus bringing a curse upon the earth that causes us to this day to labor for our daily bread and suffer and die from the very things we eat and put into our bodies, this same Lord once rejected in the Garden of Eden and who will once again be rejected in the Garden of Gethsemane and put to death on a cross has compassion on those who have been listening to His preaching the kingdom of heaven and feeds them earthly food as well.

He takes from the meager supply left among the thousands—seven loaves of bread and a few fish—and feeds them all so that would not feint from hunger on their long journeys home.

Now certainly this a great and wondrous miracle that our Lord performs and a great display of His compassion for the children of God. But how He does it is also important and instructive for us today. “He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.”

The Lord gathers the people and has them rest. He takes of the dwindling supply the people have brought with them and multiplies that supply because He is the one from whom those loaves and fish came in the first place and with the Son of God comes an endless supply of all that is truly needful for both body and soul.

But Jesus doesn’t just take the fish and loaves and cause them to fall out of the sky into the people’s mouths, or to appear out of nowhere before the people, or transport them telekinetically through the air into their laps. No, he takes the loaves and fishes and breaks them into pieces and gives them to “to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they ate and were satisfied.“

Dear children of God, that is still how our Lord works today. It is why you are here, why our Lord has gathered you in this “desolate place” today. It is why He continues to gather people around His Word and Sacraments in otherwise “desolate places” all over the world--to feed you with His Bread of Life that sustains you for eternal life. And He does it through servants into whose hands He has placed the pieces He Himself breaks off to feed to you.

In the hands of our Lord is an endless supply of all that you need—and more! And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

He sent them away to go back to their homes and their families and their neighbors and their daily work to tell others of the wonderful things He had done--to establish churches where God’s ministers preach the Word among them for eternal life, and to serve their neighbors (that begins with the closest of neighbors, aka family members) that they also might have the food and other necessities of life here in this world and for the world to come.

Deer creatures of God, what you see in our Gospel text today is Christ’s restoration of what was lost in Eden—at least the beginning of that restoration and “foretaste of the Feast to come.” And our Lord gives you an even greater and more miraculous taste of that restoration and “foretaste of the Feast to come” as often as you come to the table of the Lord in His house, He has more than enough to feed you and send you away back to your daily life to serve your neighbor--just as He has for thousands of years and billions of people. So come often to eat and be satisfied. Our Lord always has enough grace and mercy to forgive the sins of those He has brought to repentance. He always has enough water to pour over another sinner’s head to baptize them into the kingdom of God. He always has enough bread and wine to feed you His very own body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. For from the beginning of creation God has established that there will always be daily bread for all of His creatures—especially you whom He has created and redeemed to be in His image—with plenty of leftovers for every generation to come, even unto the Last Day and life everlasting— in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Last Penny

Text: Matthew 5:17-26

"For some reason the grace of God is a stumbling block to the majority of people who hear it and a veritable millstone hanging around the necks of pastors, preachers, and priests who exchange it for a sugar sweetened, or vitamin fortified version of the Law, as if somehow since Christ died for you and you are forgiven you now you can somehow close the deal by living as good and trying as hard you can to help and save others until the day that you die."

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "The Last Penny"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, click on the following MP3 audio link. “The Last Penny"

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

Dear Baptized Children of God,

Have you paid the last penny?

Imagine you bought a house with a 40 year mortgage on it. Imagine you had faithfully made every payment for over 39 years of your life, scrimping and saving to do it, going without cable, internet, smart phone, car, even meals at times. Imagine when you came down to the last payment things had gotten so tough that for the first time you were unable to make your house payment on time, you were coming down to the last day to pay before repossession/auction and found yourself a penny short, caught in one of those red tape nightmares wherein for want of a penny you lose the house you have worked so hard to own and keep up for you entire adult life.

What would you do if someone then offered you the penny you lacked?

Are you kidding me Pastor?

No, I’m not kidding you at all.

People do this all the time with God. For some reason the grace of God is a stumbling block to the majority of people who hear it and a veritable millstone hanging around the necks of pastors, preachers, and priests who exchange it for a sugar sweetened, or vitamin fortified version of the Law, as if somehow since Christ died for you and you are forgiven you now you can somehow close the deal by living as good and trying as hard you can to help and save others until the day that you die.

It’s like a little comic I came across on Facebook yesterday. The voice of God comes to a man from above telling him what he is about to get into by bringing the grace of God to the people of a particular congregation. God asks this man who desires to become a servant of the Word, “Are you up for the challenge of bringing grace into the community there?”

The man naively replies, “I think so, after all, how hard can it possibly be to help a church understand and live by Your grace?”

God immediately breaks out in laughter, “Hahahahaha!” but seeing the man is startled, confused, and troubled that God is laughing at his good intentions and best construction on the hearts of men, God stops short and says, “Oh. Sorry, John, I thought that was a joke.”

Now you know that I very rarely use stories, jokes, or internet theological ditties in preaching the Word of God to you. That is because neither preaching nor the Divines Service of Christ’s Church is a game. This is truly a life and death business in which God engages us—a business totally run on His terms and completely carried out in His currency, that is, as we confess in the Small Catechism explanation to the Second Article of the Creed:

[Jesus] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. He did this not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that I may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

How did Christ, the Son of God who took on human flesh and became man, pay for your sins? Please confess it with me by repeating after me:
“He did this not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that I may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.”

And again, according to the Third Article:

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

How is it you believe in Jesus Christ and come to Him? Please confess it with me by repeating after me:
the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

Yes, dear baptized, “This is most certainly true.”

And this is what Jesus was telling His disciples, and is telling us today in our Gospel text.
17[Jesus said:] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:16-26
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying,“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him,“If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:16-26

The apostle Paul actually tells us how God makes it possible in today’s epistle reading.

5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:1–11

And that brings us back to our little cartoon. “How hard can it possibly be to help a church understand and live by Your grace?”
The rich young man went away sorrowful. The disciples were perplexed. The religious leaders of the Jews, who like the rich young man counted themselves and were seen by their people as having kept all these things, were angry and bitter.

Christ’s merit is obtained not by our works or pennies, but from grace through faith, without money and merit [Ephesians 2:8–9]. It is offered not through [any man’s power, be he clergy, or lay], but through the preaching of God’s Word [1 Corinthians 1:21]. -- Smalcald Part II, ARTICLE II: The Mass

Now that preaching of God’s Word is the delivery of the forgiveness of sins purchased down to the last penny by Christ Jesus on Calvary. The purchase of this forgiveness—your forgiveness and mine--was complete and the mortgage on your life paid in full the moment the Son of God in human flesh declared “It is finished! ” and commended His Spirit into His Father’s hands. And it is received by you only through Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the preaching of the Word to forgive your sins and deliver you from their evil-- --in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen





Monday, July 9, 2012

Al Qaeda threatening to start wildfires in US | Video | abc7.com

What was reported in advance as a "mere thought" has become something of an unreported mere coincidence in the present.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

I Am a Sinful Man


"Dear Simon Peter,

It is very good, it is certainly true, and it is most beneficial that you say, 'I am a sinful man.' Or, as we hear and pray together every Sunday here at Trinity in the Proper Preface, 'It is truly meet, right, and salutary.'

"Why? Because your saying, 'I am a sinful man,' is the beginning of your giving thanks at this time and in this place to the one holy Lord of us all--almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, who has called you by His Holy Spirit to gather you with others who also say with you, 'I am a sinful man.'"

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "I Am a Sinful Man"--beginning with the Old Testament Reading and concluding with the Prayer of the Church, click on the following MP3 audio link. "I Am a Sinful Man"

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

8But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. -- Luke 5:1-11

Dear Simon Peter,

It is very good, it is certainly true, and it is most beneficial that you say, "I am a sinful man ." Or, as we hear and pray together every Sunday here at Trinity in the Proper Preface, "It is truly meet, right, and salutary."

Why? Because your saying, "I am a sinful man," is the beginning of your giving thanks at this time and in this place to the one holy Lord of us all--almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, who has called you by His Holy Spirit to gather you with others who also say with you, "I am a sinful man."

Again, why? Because, as we heard in the 15th Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke two weeks ago, "This man [at whose feet you have fallen] receives sinners and eats with them."

Furthermore it is *only* sinners, and those who say, "I am a sinful man," whom this man Jesus, the Son of God, receives now and seats with Him at the right hand of His Father in heaven to: • bathe in the Living Water of His Baptism; • nourish with the Living Bread of His Word; • refresh with the Living blood of His Communion; • and eat with again on the Last Day at the Resurrection of all flesh.

Yes, dear Simon Peter, it is indeed very good, certainly true, and most beneficial that you say, "I am a sinful man ."

And by Simon Peter I mean each one of you and include myself as well.

You see, the name Simon was a very common Greek name given him by his parents meaning, "flat nosed." And Peter is a rather unique Greek name given him by His savior Jesus meaning, "Rock."

And this is why I call each of you, as well as myself, this morning, by the name Simon Peter.

For what each of us, indeed what every single human being born of two human parents since Adam & Ave first sinned in the garden have in common with Simon the flat nosed one is that each of us is most certainly a sinful man.

And what each of us Baptized children of God who have been splashed with His Living Water have in common with Peter the Rock is that each of us now bear the name of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and have been delivered from all our sins to do the work that has been prepared for us to do in Christ Jesus.

It is interesting what caused Peter to say, "I am a sinful man ." [Back to Text.]

The circumstances for each of us flat nosed ones is different for each of us.

Yet, ultimately, it is only the Word of God that caused him and us to say, "I am a sinful man ."

Christopher was examined and absolved yesterday according to the confession of the faith that has been handed down to us even from the early church, the apostles, and the very Word of God:
"it is not usual to give the body of the Lord, except to them that have been previously examined and absolved. And the people are most carefully taught concerning faith in the absolution," [AC XXV]

1. Do you believe that you are a sinner?
Yes, I believe it. I am a sinner.

2. How do you know this?
From the Ten Commandments, which I have not kept.

19. What should admonish and encourage a Christian to receive the Sacrament frequently?
First, both the command and the promise of Christ the Lord. Second, his own pressing need, because of which the command, encouragement, and promise are given.

20. But what should you do if you are not aware of this need and have no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament?
To such a person no better advice can be given than this: first, he should touch his body to see if he still has flesh and blood. Then he should believe what the Scriptures say of it in Galatians 5 and Romans 7. Second, he should look around to see whether he is still in the world, and remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say in John 15-16 and in 1 John 2 and 5. Third, he will certainly have the devil also around him, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let him have no peace, within or without, as the Scriptures picture him in John 8 and 16; 1 Peter 5; Ephesians 6; and 2 Timothy 2.

All of this was true for Simon Peter just as it is for Christ, and just as it is for you. And each of you have been examined and absolved in the same way as Chris.

What is also true for you, dear Simon Peter, yes each of you and me is Jesus said to …, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." 11And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

No, not all of you will be catching men in the same way. But you will be catching men, because this is the good work prepared for you in Christ Jesus to do—usually w/o your even knowing it. [Matt. 25; Wittenberg beer]

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:28-31

So all of us who have been called with Simon Peter to say, "I am a sinful man ," are once again gathered to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins; to live in the kingdom of heaven; and to be seated the table of our Lord now today and even forevermore-- --in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Pains of Childbirth

"Here, in Paul's little sermon for us this day, lies the answer to the age old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people." Or, more accurately, why do baptized, believing Christians suffer after they have come to faith?"

To hear the entire sermon preached for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity at Trinity, Layton, "The Pains of Childbirth"--beginning with the Gradual Hymn and concluding with the Prayer of the Church. click on the following MP3 audio link. "The Pains of Childbirth"

If you would rather just read the sermon, or read along as you listen, the preaching outline/manuscript follows below. However, please understand some transitions are filled in and bullet points fleshed out from the pulpit that are not included in the ms.

"The Pains of Childbirth"

Dear children of God,

The Lord God, having found the man and his wife hiding themselves from His presence among the trees of the garden, said to the woman, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children." Genesis 3:8, 16

And so it has been to this very day…

Certainly so in the bearing of children into this world--not just in the delivery room, but in the whole rearing and nurturing of children.

That said, The Pains of Childbirth are even more acute and true of our birth as sons of God into the kingdom of heaven. This is what the apostle, Paul, is preaching to the children of God being born in the church at Rome then in our Epistle reading for today--as well as to all the children of God who were yet to be born, and yes to the children of God being born into the kingdom of heaven in His church called Trinity here at Layton, UT.

Here, in Paul's little sermon for us this day, lies the answer to the age old question, "Why do bad things happen to good people." Or, more accurately, why do baptized, believing Christians suffer after they have come to faith?

To better understand, let us go back to the preceding verses, where Paul preaches:
".. if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." Romans 8:13-17

Our suffering is the Spirit of God putting our sinful flesh to death, and eventually burying it on our last day in this world to raise us in that incorruptible and imperishable flesh of which Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 15. It is the suffering of The Pains of Childbirth.

Recall from four weeks ago Nicodemus' question to Jesus in the dark of night: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" John 3:4

Here in out text today, Paul is preaching about Jesus' answer to Nicodemus.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' John 3:5-7

Amidst all the blessings of this life, as we receive our daily bread we also suffer the pains of childbirth as we are born into the kingdom of heaven, which birth will not be complete until the day of Resurrection.

So with this in mind let us consider the inspired preaching of St. Paul, the apostle of our Lord, and martyr for the faith who knew better than anyone the pains of childbirth—both the pains in his own body, and the pains he bore for those to whom he preached as a mother and father feel for their children when they suffer and even die.

18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.


19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.


20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it,


in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.


22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.


23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Dear Children of God, as we groan and wait eagerly for the completion of our adoption and the redemption of our bodies, we live in the womb of Christ's holy bride, the church, where each one of us sings those words of our Hymn of the Day:
Baptismal waters cover me.

As we approach on bended knee; not only do we our Father in heaven's mercy plead, but the Holy Spirit delivers His mercy to us. By His Baptismal waters the Holy Spirit covers us, bathing us with and immersing us in the Word of God by the wounded hand of Christ that sets us free--absolving and delivering us from all of our sins, and even giving us His very body and blood to eat and drink and nourish us in His body, the Church, which was taken out of His side on Calvary and formed out of the water and blood that poured forth as He was pierced by the Roman sword.

In these Baptismal waters, which continue to cover you in the holy Christian Church, you are indeed held in our Father in heaven's strong embrace that shields you and delivers you from The Pains of Childbirth now and even until the redemption of you flesh on the Last Day as you are born in your own resurrected flesh into the kingdom of heaven--in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen