Author: TechCommittee

March 5, 2023 Text:  Genesis 12:1-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

A man became a Christian at an older age and loved to tell others about the Lord.  One day at a meeting, he gave a beautiful witness to his Savior.  One person who had heard his words was disturbed by something.  “The man has told us God’s part,” he said, “but he forgot to tell us his part, the part before he was converted.  Tell us more.”

The aged man stood up again.  With confidence he responded, “Friends, I forgot to tell you about my part.  I sure did my part all right.  I was running away from the Lord as fast as I could for 30 years, and the Lord just took me until he ran me down.  I did the sinning.  The Lord did the saving.  And that was all the part I had.”

In our text we have the calling of Abraham.  Another old man – 75 years old – who had worshipped other idols in his past.  God called him and made a change.  You still hear his name today.  It all started here in chapters 11 and 12 of Genesis.  Abraham was . . .

“SEEING THROUGH FAITH”

Again, Abraham’s heritage and lineage was not as a follower of the one, true God.  Martin Luther writes, “If you should ask what Abraham was before he was called by a merciful God, Joshua answers that he was an idolater, that is, that he deserved eternal death and eternal damnation.”

Abraham was commanded by God to leave his country.  This meant a loss of security and protection of law.  We have people in our church this morning who have experienced the same thing.  They left their country of origin.  That takes great trust.

Abraham was commanded to leave his relatives.  The ones he left were the ones worshipping the idols.  This enabled him to be consecrated for service to the Lord.  He got away from the bad influencers in his life.  Verse 5 said he went to the land with “people that they had acquired in Haran.”  Who were these people?  Servants, laborers, and children and relatives of the same.  Luther writes, “Not simply his household but the true and holy church, in which Abraham was the high priest.”

Abraham was to go to the land God would show him.  He went “seeing through faith.”  He did not know his destination.

Have you ever left home and didn’t know where you were going?  Many of us in our marriages have probably done this with our spouses.  Toni and I have done it for each other.  Pack a bag.  It can be fun.  We go because we trust the other person.  Maybe your mom and dad did something similar.  Get in the car.  You do, because you trust.

Abraham knew a few details.  He didn’t know the place, but God gave him seven promises.  “A great nation.”  Israel has become the “holy nation” of God that spans the globe.  “I will bless you.”  God blessed Abraham in so many ways.  His grace and favor were upon him.  “I will make your name great.”  His name is still revered among God’s people.  Abram means “great father” – Abraham means “father of a great nation.”  “You will be a blessing.”  By blessing Abraham, Abraham could in turn bless others.  “I will bless those who bless you.”  Here Rahab the prostitute comes to mind.  She is in the lineage of Abraham/Jesus and the Lord used her for good.  “Who dishonors you I will curse.”  Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans all experienced the fulfillment of this promise.  “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  The Messiah came through Abraham to bless the world. 

Abraham knew these seven promises.  He had no idea how they would come about.  He needed to be “seeing through faith.”  In our Epistle lesson for this morning Paul writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  From this calling forward, faith in God would be a part of Abraham.  He builds altars when he reaches destinations.  What was important?  Worship.  Worship keeps us in the faith.

This “blessing of Abraham” continues to be a part of us through God’s grace.  The Messiah, Jesus Christ is, was, and will be a blessing to us.  When we are “seeing through faith” we know how the Lord works in our lives.  We like Abraham have God’s promises.  He forgives when we don’t put Him first.  He calls us to faith – in baptism, the journey began.  He will hold on to us when we stumble and fall.  He will guide the path.  He provides us possessions as we make our way in this world.  He even tells us the destination.  He sent his Son on ahead to be ready for our arrival.  When we get there?  We too will be around the altar of the Lord.  We get a glimpse of that in coming to the communion rail.

The Holy Spirit allows this “seeing through faith.”  Like the spouse or the child, we trust.  We will not be led to the desert when Sybaris is in sight.  We leave behind what holds us back.  We see in Christ our righteousness and the fulfillment of all our hopes.  In receiving God’s blessing, we can in turn bless others.

“And Abram journeyed on.” (v. 9a)  So do we . . . SEEING THROUGH FAITH.

Amen.       

March 1, 2023 Text:  John 13:21-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

King David’s life was filled with more drama than Game of Thrones.  One of his confidants was his nephew Joab.  Joab was fiercely loyal to David when he sent Uriah to the front to be killed so that David could marry Bathsheba.  This loyalty took a U-turn when Joab backed Adonijah instead of Solomon to succeed David as king.  David lamented betrayal when he wrote in Psalm 41, “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, who shared my bread, has turned against me.”

Is there anything that hurts more than betrayal?  We might expect office politics or someone to slam the door when canvassing the neighborhood, but we expect loyalty from our friends.  That is why they are our friends.  If a friend shares a secret, manipulates a situation or steals a spouse, the betrayal burns like the sun.

David wasn’t the first person to be betrayed and he won’t be the last.  Like Joab, Judas was close to Jesus.  He was part of the inner circle.  He broke bread with Jesus. . . and Judas lifted up his . . .

“HANDS OF BETRAYAL”

Since the 1940’s nobody names their child Adolph.  Since biblical times nobody names their kid Judas.  Was Judas instinctively evil from the womb?  Why would he do this to Jesus?  He was evil from the womb but just like we are, and Andrew was or Philip was.  Jesus called 12 sinful men to follow and to serve.  

We know from earlier in the Book of John that Judas was a thief.  As the keeper of the money bag, he took for himself instead of giving the money to the poor.

This love of money was just what Satan needed to get him to change teams.  “You’ve already stolen, how about 30 pieces of silver to hand over Jesus?”  His greed unrepented and unchecked corroded his soul over time, and eventually put Judas’ betraying hands at the table.

Betrayal hurts because it is personal.  Judas’ double life even fooled the other eleven disciples.  They didn’t see the greedy darkness in his heart.  But Jesus knew.  “One of you is going to betray me.”

For many of us when we get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we check our baggage at the door.  No politics, no news that we might see differently.  Husband and wife put on the happy face even if a fight occurred the night before.  Siblings clean up their act.  There are certain expectations, and it is a celebration after all.  Jesus is with his disciples having a celebration.  His accusation of a betrayer brings tension.  These men get defensive.  They deny.  They deflect.

My family has seen this tension.  People fought and stormed off to their rooms.  There was silence.  Nobody knew what to do.  Our family of four will never forget that incident.  It made everything uncomfortable.

That is what the disciples experienced.  Tension.  Uncomfortable.  In Matthew it says they “stared at one another.”  Jesus gave no names.  He gave only a clue – “One of you will betray me.”  That set off all kinds of thoughts.  “Is it me?”  “What does he see in my heart?”  “Am I capable of this?” 

Well, are you?  What secret sins are you hiding?  Ever sold-out Jesus for money?  Is there something unrepentant in your life that it is corroding your soul?  Greed?  What is the devil waving in your face?  We are all capable of any sin, if left unchecked or unaddressed.  

As the accusation hung in the air, they are all scrambling to avoid blame.  Peter wants John to ask Jesus who He is talking about.  “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread, when I have dipped it.”  Jesus had exercised pastoral care with Judas throughout these three years.  Now He is trying to jar his conscience by calling him out publicly.  He is trying to encourage repentance in Judas.  It is too late.  The public shame will not change his heart.  His hands except the morsel and the betrayal is set.

Judas would go ahead and identify Jesus with a kiss.  It must have hurt.  Jesus went to the cross and uttered these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  God treated Christ as though He had committed Judas betrayal, as though He had turned traitor like Joab.  God banished Christ to suffer hell’s punishment for our greed, our self-righteousness, and for every secret sin we insist on hiding.  They have been punished in full.  They have been paid in full.  “By his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

How could Jesus love Judas?  Well, He did love him and did forgive him.  Judas thought Jesus would return the betrayal.  In an act of unbelieving despair, Judas took his own life.  The Gospel teaches that God doesn’t betray sinners; instead He turned His back on His Son.  He reconciled the world.  Banish the thought that God will banish us for our sins, and don’t let Satan or anyone else convince you otherwise.  God made peace with man in Christ.  Ask not how God could love and forgive a traitor like Judas.  Ask “How could God love and forgive a traitor like me?”  In Christ alone.

Amen.             

February 26, 2023             Text:  Genesis 3:1-21

Dear Friends in Christ,

Back in 2020, a new board game hit the shelves.  It was created by Jeopardy champion and now host Ken Jennings, along with well-known game designer Richard Garfield.  The game gives you a category like, “World record holders weighing over one ton,” or “Queens of Egypt.”  It lists six possible answers.  Three are correct, three are wrong.  The name of the game?  Half Truth.  I love trivia games and it sounds like an enjoyable evening.  Want to join in playing the game of Half Truth?

Don’t we already play the game of half-truth quite consistently?  It is not a fun party game.  It is you and I trying to level the playing field of our sinful lives by offering half-truths about what we are doing.  It is not a game by Hasbro or Milton Bradley.  It is Satan’s game.  It doesn’t bring smiles and witty banter, but tears and heartache.

The devil is quite clever in our text for today.  He is spewing half-truths.  But if we lay all the blame on him, that is only a half-truth.  Eve and Adam give in to the half-truths.  We thank God for His truth in keeping his promise that day in the garden to send a Savior for our sins.  

“SAVED FROM OUR HALF-TRUTHS”

We try to cover our sin with half-truths.  “Lord, I know I messed up with those words I used back there, but look at all the other good I have done today.  I opened a door for a fellow citizen, gave my wife some love and read my devotion this morning.”  We try to compensate for our shortcomings.  God must really be impressed, isn’t He?  We try to cover our backsides just like Adam and Eve did with their fig leaves.  “Who told you were naked?”

Instead of compensating maybe we look for the easy mark.  “She had it coming, she is so difficult to get along with.”  Who me?  We start redefining our relationships as adversarial, like Adam did with his wife.  He doesn’t just blame Eve, he blames His Creator, “The woman whom you gave to be with me.”  

Here is where we have a hard time handling the truth.  As with the first man and woman, our intimate knowledge of evil brings shame of which we cannot overcome.  You’ve felt that shame, haven’t you?  Red-faced, tense, knowing what you did.  It hurts.  We can’t fool God by trying the end around play where someone else is responsible.  “Must have been my brother, he is always getting into things.”

Our half-truths leave us crying, “Officer, I know I was speeding but I’m late for my massage.”  Our half-truths leave us indignant, “Come on, do you really think I would do that to you?”  Our half-truths leave us in pity, “I’ve had a hard day.  I’m tired.  I’m sick.”  Our half-truths leave us seeking new prey, “Who can I tell on to get me out of this one.”  We can be quite pathetic at times, can’t we?  Do you think God had the same thoughts about two people who had the whole earth and couldn’t get along?

We need someone to cover our half-truths.  How about the Truth Incarnate – Jesus Christ?  Yes, we need the whole truth of Jesus who is going to cover our sin by taking the full responsibility of our sin.  He is going to crush the serpent’s head.  Christ was crushed on the cross for us.  He truly paid the whole price to compensate.  He covers our shame with Himself.  Come out from behind the couch.  The Lord forgives our blame and our excuses and our pity and our fake emotions.  He does it because we are His.

His own Adam and Eve received the same cover for their half-truths.  In verse 21, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”  He clothed and covered them, and men and women have been covered and clothed ever since.

This Whole Truth brings life.  Like Adam and Eve, we have to leave the garden, but life comes in Christ.  Amid death that would now come into the world because of these half-truths, the promise of life comes through the first female – Eve – “the mother of all the living.”  Amid death, the promise of unending life will come through the seed of the woman.  

For now, then, the life we lead is a life of repentance.  I have an inkling our half-truths aren’t over just because we heard them in a sermon.  Daily we need the Lord’s cleansing.  Daily we need the covering of His righteousness.  The Truth Incarnate works faith in us so that we know we have life.  Forgiving life, sanctified life, life eternal.

Telling half-truths might be a fun game to play but it won’t get us any closer to life.  Only Truth can bring life.  Only Jesus in the flesh is the Whole Truth.  That is the right answer.  Please advance to the heavenly kingdom.

Amen.  

February 22, 2023 – Ash Wednesday     Text:  Luke 18:9-14

Dear Friends in Christ,

Brushing your teeth.  Texting. Eating your lunch.  Opening a door.  Driving your car.  What do these mundane activities have in common?  They are most often accomplished by using your hands.  Take away your hands and these everyday tasks are very hard.

Your hands are an indispensable part of your life.  Hands figure prominently in the events surrounding our Savior’s suffering and death.  This will be the theme for our Lenten sermons, “The Hands of the Passion.”  The hands tonight do not belong to Jesus or Peter or Judas or Caiaphas or Pilate.  They are the hands of the two men in our text.

Most are familiar with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, but as we study it again, focus on their hands.  Make a connection between the actions of their hands and the attitudes of their hearts.  Then apply it to what you observe in your own life, to appreciate and embrace what it means to have . . .

“HANDS OF REPENTANCE”

The setting is the temple in Jerusalem.  Two men have come to pray.  They begin the same way, “God,” but that is where the similarities end.  The first man is a Pharisee, the spiritual elite of Jewish society.  They were reverent and obedient.

He prayed, “God, I thank you…”.  What a great beginning.  Should have stopped there.  “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”  His hands were folded but he was giving himself a pat on the back.  He had been keeping the commandments.  

He actually felt he was going beyond.  “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”  He looked good, didn’t he?  The other people probably looked up to him.  But what about beneath the surface.  What was in his head and in his heart?  

We don’t know his motivation; Luke doesn’t tell us.  He could have been blinded by sinful pride or he prayed loudly to mask his insecurity.  

Ash Wednesday is about acknowledging our sinfulness and asking God for forgiveness.  We look to Jesus as the only hope for our sin.  The Pharisee looked past his sins and saw no reason to repent.  He went home empty-handed.  

The other worshippers probably didn’t see the other man who stood at a distance.  He was ashamed of what he had done, with eyes downward and beating his breast he offered a simple prayer, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  He didn’t compare himself to others or put together a splashy resume.  He stared into the mirror of God’s Law.  He saw himself for who he was, a helpless sinner who could only beg for mercy.

It was a short prayer – seven English words – but it was powerful and genuine.  Jesus declared, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Jesus addressed this parable to the self-righteous who treated others with contempt.

Can you think of anyone who fits the description?  The classmate always telling you how great she is?  The co-worker suggesting how to do your job.  The friend who uses the Christmas letter to brag about the family.  Or, do you see someone who looks a lot like you?

If we complain about people who makes themselves out as being better than us, aren’t we making ourselves better than them?  When we criticize those who look down on us, aren’t we turning our noses against them?  C’mon, we would never stand up in church and call out another worshiper like the Pharisee did, but could God judge us for the way we pass judgement on each other in our hearts?

We can easily slip into Pharisee mode.  We need to be imitating the tax collector.  We need to fold hands and open hearts and confess every day, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Then we look to the parable and notice one more person in this little story, the person who told it.  If anyone should be boasting it is the storyteller.  He honored his parents.  He obeyed laws of the land and Ten Commandments perfectly.  Not for his own benefit.  Everything he did, He did for you.  If anyone shouldn’t be humble it is Jesus.  Yet He made himself nothing and came in human flesh.  He was a servant who allowed himself to be humiliated and executed for your sin and my sin.

He took your place so that you have a place in heaven.  He shed body and blood so you can receive it tonight and go away from this altar knowing His mercy is upon you.  His mercy assures you that you don’t have to be weighed down by guilt.  Your Savior is with you.  You know where you are going when you die.  You can leave this house of worship with humble confidence because you are in good hands.  You are in God’s hands.

Amen.         

February 19, 2023 – Transfiguration       Texts:  2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

Ever wonder where we get certain sayings from?  Are you “down in the dumps?”  “Dumps” is found in the Dutch and German languages.  In Dutch it means a “mental haze or dullness.”  In German, “heavy or gloomy.”  The earliest use of the word is found in Sir Thomas More’s A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, written in 1529.  “What heaps of heaviness, hath of late fallen among us already, with which some of our poor family be fallen into such dumps.”

Maybe you would prefer “to be on cloud nine?”  Meaning being elated, on the highest cloud, closest to heaven.  Why nine?  Most likely it comes from The International Cloud Atlas, written in 1896.  Ten types of clouds were listed.  Cumulonimbus was number nine on the list.  It is the tallest of all clouds and therefore the closest to heaven.

I can say with confidence we would all prefer “to be on cloud nine” than “down in the dumps.”  We would all like that “mountaintop experience” where we can feel good all the time.  Like Peter in today’s text, we want to find a good place.  If we could do that maybe it would change our perspective on life.  We are going to look at another saying in the course of this sermon.  We have put it in the title . . .

“THE TRANSFIGURATION WILL TIDE YOU OVER”

As we live the tension between the dumps and the mountaintop, we are to live by faith, which helps us to navigate the good times and the bad times.  There isn’t anything that isn’t touched by sin and death.  Because of this we can’t always find ourselves on “cloud nine.”

As we wait for the fulfillment of faith and hope and the eternal mountaintop, the cloud nine of heaven, we rest in the word of promise which will come to pass.  Our gospel is a mountaintop experience.  What Peter, James, and John see is not only for them, but also for us.  The prophetic Word of our Old Testament lesson from Exodus is fulfilled in our Gospel.  Peter who was an eyewitness to this miracle encourages us in the Epistle today “to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”  (v. 19b).  Like them, we have to leave cloud nine and live in the dumps of this world, but we do so with renewed faith and hope.

This glimpse of heaven we see today in the people – Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, John – and the transfiguration of the most important person on this mountain Jesus, are designed “to tide us over” until we reach the fulfillment of the transfiguration of Jesus in us.  We are “tiding over” until we become like Christ and see the Savior face-to-face.

“Tiding over” was a seafaring term and the word tide is synonymous with “time.”  The literal meaning was “in the absence of wind to fill the sails, float with the tide.”  John Smith, the captain who help to establish Jamestown wrote this in 1627:  “To tide over to a place, is to go over with the tide of ebb or flood, and stop the contrary by anchoring till the next tide.”

As we navigate our time on this benighted sphere, Christ has given us what we need to tide over.  We might prefer the wind, but the tide will have to do.  Let’s say it this way.  We want to be in heaven with Jesus and all of that glory.  That is the mountaintop.  That time has not yet come.  So, the Lord gives us His Word – the testimony of the apostles and the Old Testament – to get us through the dumps.  Like Peter, we would like to stay on the mountain, let’s build here.  But we have to move along with simply the promise of what’s to come.

We are each getting older.  Sagging skin, bones brittle, graying hair.  We live life in the shadow of death.  What the disciples see in Jesus is their future.  What they communicate to us is our future.  I love this verse, after the transfiguration, verse 8, “And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”  Beautiful.  Isn’t that what we want to see?  Luther gives this great description that moves us from “in the dumps” to “cloud nine.”  Listen:

“First, the resurrection of the dead and the future glory and brightness of our bodies are shown.  Secondly, there is added the appearance of Moses and Elijah, who prove by their appearing that they had never really died, and that there is yet another life, besides the earthly life, from which they were transferred.  Thirdly, this appearance teaches us also that we should despise death, and look upon it merely as an emigration or a sleep.  In short, this appearance proves that this life is nothing at all in comparison with the future life.  Fourthly, this appearance proves that sin is overcome.  For it necessarily follows as an incontrovertible conclusion, that, where death is overcome, there sin is also overcome.”

If you came here “down in the dumps” I pray that this good news of the transfiguration will tide you over.  This gospel should strengthen our faith and keep us from giving up when all seems to be against us.  The only God who saves us, the Triune God, is going to do it.  Your tide is in the name of the triune God, the one placed on you at your Baptism.  This will tide you over until that saving wind hits your sails and you are forever in the full majesty of Christ.

Amen.    

February 12, 2023       Text:  1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Dear Friends in Christ,

Have you ever been holding a baby that needs a change?  As that smell permeates the nostrils you may say something like, “Poowee!”  A baby needs a change.  Quite regularly, in fact.  A baby can’t change himself.  They eventually grow out of it.  In the meantime, if babies are going to grow up and be healthy, they need a change.

In our text for this morning St. Paul is calling the Corinthian Christians babies, spiritual babies.  You know what that means.  Babies need a change.  If they are going to grow up spiritually . . . 

“THEY NEED A CHANGE”

Babies need lots of changes.  We have been changed.  You and I were conceived and born in sin.  We were adorable little babies, but we were drooling enemies of God.  When brought to the faith, believers in Christ, a new person was created.  We love God.  We trust in God above all things.

This was St. Paul and the Christians in Corinth.  Paul was formerly named Saul.  Saul was a pursuer and persecutor of Christian believers.  But he was changed.  The Holy Spirit made him a proclaimer of the Gospel, a planter of churches, a traveler for the way, the truth, and the life.

The Corinthians were changed.  They heard and believed the Gospel and so when Paul addressed them at the beginning of his letter, he said this, “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” (1:2).  This change largely came through the ministry of two men – Paul and Apollos.  Each had preached the Gospel that changes people so miraculously.

How are we like these believers in Corinth?  We have been changed by the Good News.  We have been brought to faith in Christ – many of us by Baptism as babies.  Even before are memories were fully formed, the Holy Spirit was creating us to be believers in Jesus.  Back when we were needing many changes a day, we were changed!

How do you handle change?  Many of us like it or dislike it depending on what it is.  In this profession you have to embrace change.  You never know where you might be serving the Lord’s people.  But we have learned.  People are people.  Whether in Texas or Kansas or Illinois.  All have the same joys and challenges.  That change is no big deal.  On the other hand, I don’t care for technological changes.  I want to use cash and send letters and shop for clothes in person.  I am proudly an “old soul.”  How about you?  Change – yes, or change – no?

I love the way Paul addresses this church when he says, “behaving only in a human way.” (v. 3b).  These folks needed change so there could be growth.  They could no longer stay with mother’s milk.  Solid food was on the menu.  They would move from people of the flesh to people of the Spirit.  They still had rivalries – some for Paul, some for Apollos.  These men were on the same side, they weren’t divided personally.  

Do we ever behave in a human way?  Ah…yea.  Hello human, ever give in to the desires of the flesh?  Ever get jealous?  Have any rivalries?  Feed in the trough of milk when what your soul needs is the heavenly banquet?  We can still be babies who need a change.  Just follow us for a while, we will show you – “poowee!”  This all separates us from God and one another.  Infant behavior can only lead to death. 

The Son of God made the change we need.  Christ, the unchanging God, did become flesh for all jealousy, strife, for all who are behaving only in a human way.  Since “each will receive his wages according to his labor” (v. 8b), we rejoice in what Christ has done.  The wage of his labor on the cross is full and free forgiveness.  The wage of his labor in and out of the grave is life new and never-ending.  These wages of cross and tomb are delivered to us in water and Word – Holy Baptism; bread and wine, body and blood – Holy Supper.  This is the food we babies need to grow.  God gives this food, even as we are still babies.

When God changes us, we grow.  Think of going off to kindergarten.  Had to have a picture, didn’t you?  Now picture you at your high school or college graduation.  In those intervening years you were planted, watered, and you grew.  You matured.  There is growth in watering and planting.  It is taking place right now as this Word is shared.  God gives the growth.  He is the source of growth in His new creation, the Church.  The Church is God’s field.

In many parts of country, we are not near planting time.  No plowing or tilling yet for seeds to be dropped.  Even though it’s February, it is planting and watering time.  The Epiphany season – encouragement to be part of Christ’s mission for the Church.  It is always a time for God to give growth.  Every day is a Lift High The Cross day.

The Church faithfully sows the seed of Christ’s Gospel.  The Church faithfully waters what is planted.  We all want to see a great harvest.  We pray about it and then we affirm and celebrate this statement:  “only God gives the growth.”

Yes, God makes the change.

Amen.