Sermon Texts

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.  

February 5, 2023 Text:  Isaiah 58:3-9a

Dear Friends in Christ,

A big thing for people is that they want “their voices heard.”  They want people in authority to give credence to their ideas and suggestions.  An employee would like it from their employer.  A child would like it from their parent.  A player would like it from their coach.  A citizen would like it from their government.  The subordinate would like the authority to hear them and not just pay lip service to their thoughts.

In the church how do we get our voices heard?  Through worship, and prayer, and praise.  Through these means we bring our cares and concerns to our Heavenly Father.  He doesn’t just give us “lip service” but He genuinely cares about what we have to say.

In our text for today Israel wanted to be heard but they went about it all wrong.  They think that their fasting will be a means of motivating God to answer their prayers and petitions.  The Lord wants more than that.  He doesn’t just want us . . . 

“PAYING LIP SERVICE”

The people of God in our text make a great pretense of loving the Lord.  They think that their fasting ought to earn them something.  The Lord should really hear their voices now because they are following His commands.  They have been deceived into thinking they are a righteous nation and an obedient people who can expect God’s deliverance and blessings.

God only required one day of fasting and that was the Day of Atonement.  The people thought if “one day is good, why not make it all the time.  God will really love us then, right?”  What was to be an occasion for self-denial became an opportunity for self-advancement at the expense of others.  Their fasting only led to “quarrel and fight.”  The fasting put them in an ugly mood.  Their fasting was not a day acceptable to the Lord.  The Lord calls for acts of righteousness and justice, and all the people are giving Him is lip service.

Do we ever pay the Lord lip service?  Do we have an attitude that infiltrates our relationship with the Lord?  Maybe we are especially gracious or kind or loving or we sacrifice for others and then we start to think that God owes us.  Shouldn’t we earn a little extra credit with the Lord for being such a shining light to those around us?  We can’t just pay lip service.  Religious observances cannot substitute for moral integrity.  A day acceptable to the Lord is not filled with empty worship, but a day of self-denial.

Such a self-denial was first accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.  He went to the cross without revenge but with obedience to the will of the Father.  He offered up to our Heavenly Father an acceptable day.  Jesus didn’t pay lip service to our sinful plight as humans.  He did what He said He was going to do.  Pay for our sins.  Forgive our lip service.  The day of His crucifixion He became our righteousness.  Self-reliance gives way to faith and trust in His sacrifice.  Our Lord’s victory overcomes our self-righteousness.  We humbly accept this gift and claim the new life He offers through His death on the cross and His resurrection.

Because of all that He has done for us, we don’t just pay Him lip service.  We give Him a life of service.  The prophet Isaiah shows us the shallowness of the people.  They thought they could draw near to the Lord through their own righteous worship.  What the Lord wanted was for the bonds of wickedness to be loosened, the oppressed to go free, to share bread with the hungry, bring the homeless into a home and to cover the naked.  Through these acts of self-denial Isaiah writes, “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” (vs. 8-9a)

A day acceptable to the Lord, a life where we don’t just pay Him lip service, is when we embody the servanthood of Christ and look first to the needs of others.  We share the bounty of our blessings with those who struggle along life’s journey.

Look at our Gospel lesson in Matthew this day.  We “are the salt of the earth.”  We “are the light of the world.”  Light comes from doing the work of the Lord.  It keeps us out of the darkness.  “Others…may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

That always has to be our motivation.  We don’t shine so that the world will give us glory.  We don’t share for a pat on the back.  We don’t self-deny so we can take in all the accolades.  We do it as a fruit of our faith.  The Holy Spirit uses us to further the work of the Lord’s Kingdom.  By not just paying lip service our sacrificial service advances the cause of Christianity.  The good works of the Christian is still the go to play in the world’s playbook.  Where would we be if the Lord didn’t allow us to make a difference?  

Jesus didn’t pay lip service.  He paid life service.  His sacrifice became our ours.  His grace and blessing allows us to be salt and light.  Here “I am” because of the great “I am.”

Amen.

January 29, 2023             Text:  1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Dear Friends in Christ,

In the morning fog of November 6, 1632, around 25,000 Swedish soldiers knelt in prayer.  The Swedish Lutheran king, Gustavus Adolphus, led them in singing “May God embrace us with his grace.”  The Swedes under Adolphus joined the Thirty Years War to salvage portions of Northern Europe and Germany for Lutheranism.  The fog lifted and the German city of Luetzen was set ablaze by Roman Catholic troops.  The king clapped his hands and shouted, “God’s will be done!  Jesus, help me fight to the glory of your holy name!  Forward!”  The troops engaged the enemy.  When the line collapsed, the king hurried in to rally the men.  He found himself in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.  His horse got shot and then his left arm.  He kept encouraging the men.  Then he was shot in the back, fell off his horse, was stabbed and shot in the temple.  This 38-year-old warrior king who helped to save Lutheranism was now dead.  His death passed through the ranks, the troops rallied, and the Swedes won the most crucial battle of the war.  Victory in defeat.

Gustavus Adolphus was wise, powerful, and of noble birth, but even he tasted the way God works in the world.  God works with a heavenly wisdom made perfect in “weakness” and “foolishness” according to worldly standards.  Are you . . .

“A FOOL IN THE WORLD OR A BOASTER IN THE LORD?”

To find the fools in the world is easy.  They think they are wiser and smarter than the rest of us.  “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  Paul then writes, “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles.”  The world is constantly falling all over themselves with their silliness.  Crazy what the cross can do, right?

Look at it this way.  The world is dictated by Christianity.  Always has been, always will be.  We’ve numbered our years around Christ’s birth.  We’ve numbered our days – seven days in a week – since creation.  All major holidays are because of Christianity.  We talk of sin and grace and heaven and hell and good and bad and even say things like, “amen, brother” because of Christianity.  Most of the schools and hospitals and charities of the world have sprouted up because of Christianity.  We toil in work as the Bible says and still post the Ten Commandments in many of our courthouses.  And even when it looks like the world wants nothing to do with Christ, a football player gets injured in a nationally televised game and what does society do?  Everyone prays.  Where did they learn that?  Right, you know.  You see, the Lord is much wiser than the world.  He knows men and women are going to be fools.  Oh, how He must enjoy it when they think they have all the answers.  Do you ever join the foolishness of the world?  Follow after the talking heads?  Get led by the hand to believe the food you eat, the air you breathe and the Bible you follow is toxic?  Really now, is a woman praying silently outside an abortion clinic, a danger to society?  See, how foolish the world is?

God in the person of Jesus Christ came into this foolish world. Remember how many times he made the wise people look dumb.  The Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the Roman judges.  God chose the “low and despised” who is the source of our life – Christ Jesus.  The cross looked like a disaster.  But from Calvary came deliverance from death.  The mourning that came from Jesus in the tomb, actually brought forth life when He rose again.  All of this has been revealed to us who call Christ our Savior.  The Holy Spirit helps us to boast in the Lord because we know that we have righteousness and redemption and sanctification.  Call us fools all you want because we know who we are.  God’s child, saved by Him through Jesus.  We are forgiven our foolishness as we stand before His cross and eat his body and drink his blood.  God chose us to pray for the wise and the politically correct and those that are confused and caught up in the foolishness of the world.  

In South America, there lives a curious little spider which has its home underneath the water.  It forms a tiny air bubble around itself and sinks to the bottom of the pond.  It can remain for hours, living below the water, yet breathing air from above.  When it returns to the surface it is perfectly dry.  It is in the water and yet separate from it.  The spider only survives as long as it maintains contact with the air from above.

This spider survives because of its air bubble.  As Christians we only survive in the world if we remain in contact with God’s Word and Sacraments.  It insulates us from worldly thinking.  We cannot escape the world until the day we die.  The spider lives in the water yet remains separate from it.  We live in the world, but do not follow the foolishness of the world.  They see the cross as nothing or something to be afraid of.  We see it as “the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  We want to boast about the Christ of the cross and the Lord allows us to do that.  As with Gustavus Adolphus, death turns to life for us as well, and apparent defeat turns to victory.  In that, let us boast.

Amen.   

January 22, 2023 – Sanctity of Human Life Sunday Text:  Genesis 1:26-31a

Dear Friends in Christ,

Marriage is a blessing, a gift from God who created us.  Marriage promises companionship and pleasure.  But the meaning of marriage does deeper.  We are each fearfully and wonderfully made.  We each have a cardiovascular system, a digestive system, a circulatory system, all whole and fully integrated.  Only one system is not complete in each of us – the reproductive system.  When it comes to sex, we are complementary creatures.  Two become one.  Husband and wife together accomplish what they cannot do alone.  No amount of social engineering or perverted sexuality changes the fact – you need the sexual organs of a male and a female for life to be created.

God intended marriage leads to children.  Let’s recognize this – not every couple can physically bear children.  They may be past childbearing age or have infertility which can be a heartbreaking issue.  Children tie marriage together in permanence and life-long fidelity.  The Sanctity of Life and the Sanctity of Marriage go hand in hand.  This our theme for This Sanctity of Human Life Sunday . . .

“FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COME . . .”

Marriage changes things.  Our family lived it and is living it.  Friday, January 13, at approximately 5:20 p.m. we were no longer just dad and mom.  We are now also father-in-law and mother-in-law.  Our verbiage changes.  It has gone from girlfriend to fiancé to wife.  If the Lord has it in His plans we look forward to grandpa and grandma, though personally I know we are much too young for that.

Husband and wife are an extension of God’s work of creation.  They become an image of Christ and the Church.  We are not just factory parts that reproduce.  Each of us comes from the creative hand of God who loves and uses procreation to continue His good creation.  The family that arises from this gives us a higher glimpse of love and a better perspective on God’s love.  Being a dad has enlightened for me what God gave up with His Son.  The sacrificial understanding becomes all too real when the Lord blesses with children.

The problem is we mess with God’s perfect plan.  We distort the one-woman, one-man marriage with all sorts of silly ideas that we want to play house with.  When we redefine the most important relationship from the beginning of creation then problems will ensue.  All of us can lose marriage’s intrinsic link to children.  When the “be fruitful and multiply” just becomes a suggestion then we see what is occurring.  People are having less children and marriage is becoming less important.  This has societal and economic impacts.  The good news – many Christian homes are having multiple children which bodes well for our future. 

Long before the push for abortion was the agenda of sexual liberation.  Margaret Sanger wrote that “through sex mankind may attain the great spiritual illumination which will transform the world, which will light up the path to paradise.”  The ultimate taboo for Sanger was large families.  She wrote, “The most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families.”  My sociological observation on this is limited, but the ones in large families I know have been blessed and happy.  

This has been a challenge for the church.  I know of very few LCMS churches who have larger Sunday Schools today than in years past.  We need to reaffirm self-evident truths.  Children are a gift from God.  Marriage was designed so these children have a father and a mother.  This gives us hope for the church.

Perhaps as Lutherans we would do well to recover the Hebrew wedding toast, “L’Chaim,” which means “To life!” – that is – “To new life!”  Marriage is more than securing financial stability and present happiness.  Children are a gift worth more than all the money and experiences in the world.  Like I have told our boys, “Someday you will know why mom and I have been so blessed by you.”  They have to experience it and I pray they will.  Children bring joy to a congregation.  A child can light up a room.  I viewed two youngsters at the wedding dance having the time of their life.  It gave me the warm fuzzies.  No wonder our Lord loved to hold children in His arms.

This is all said with sensitivity to the barren, the widow, the orphan.  This is life in a fallen world.  Let’s open ourselves up to the love of marriage as God intended.  We rejoice when a child is born.  We celebrate when that child is baptized.  In the waters, we see hope, we embrace the future, we taste eternity.  As we care for our children, our Heavenly Father cares for us.  We thank God for male and female.  We praise God for the good gift of children.  

In this dark world, there is this message of hope.  We have a life-affirming faith that stands in wonder at the birth of the Christ Child.  We give thanks that in Jesus, through His death and resurrection, our lives – and those of our children – will have no end.

Amen.    

January 15, 2023                                Text:  John 1:29-42a

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Have you played the blame game?  The one where Adam blamed Eve for his troubles.  The same game where Eve blamed the serpent.  We even print t-shirts to put on youngsters with sayings like, “It’s my sister’s fault”, or “my brother did it, not me.”

    What if I told there are Christian churches where there is no blame game because there is nothing to be blamed for.  What if I told you this is being taught in a Lutheran Church.  Pastor Dawn describes herself as a “21st Century Progressive Christian Pastor.”  She preached on the text that we have before us today at Holy Cross Lutheran in Ontario, Canada.  She handled it differently as we see from her theme, “Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  It ain’t necessarily so!”  Oh . . . she used “ain’t.”  Sit back and listen – it gets worse.  Here is a small portion:

    “To this day many Christians believe that though you and I deserved to be punished for our sins, that God sent Jesus to absorb that punishment as a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter…The projection of a literal sacrifice for sin depends upon a pre-Darwinian understanding of creation…So, becoming one with God is not about blotting out the stain of original sin, but rather evolving into our fullness as creatures grounded in the creator and source of our being…Jesus did not die for our sins.  Jesus revealed a God who calls and empowers us to step beyond the survival mentality that warps our potential and to become so fully human that God’s love can flow through us to others.”

    I told you it was going to get worse.  If this is the Christian Church, we might as well go home.  We are wasting our time.  I pray you know; you are making good use of your time in the Father’s house this day.  We have a message that answers the question . . .

“WHO DO WE BLAME?”

    Jesus.  He is the one the Old Testament was waiting for – what all that bloody sacrifice in temple was all about.  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  Jesus.

  He was the one the whole creation was waiting for – waiting for the full payment to be made so that his new Adam might restore all things.  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  Jesus.

This is what the whole New Testament Church is still about – what goes on here today and each Sunday in fact.  Jesus.

Each of us has sinned and will sin.  We need to fess up.  Repent.  All that we do, and leave undone, is our fault.  Yet, even doing this – admitting our fault and then being allowed to blame someone else – God Himself, of all people – this would still do nothing for the guilt or consequence, would it?  Someone still has to pay.  

We know all this.  We understand justice.  God is just.  He is justice itself.  Justice must be fulfilled.  So, God tells us to blame Him as if He did all these terrible things.  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

He did, and it was finished.  He did die in our place.  He did accept all sin as His own.  He paid the penalty on the cross for the whole world.  Justice has been done.

So, yes, we are to take our sin – all of it – and place it on his head and send it with him into that bleak and desperate place to die.  Outside the city wall.  To the cross of Calvary.  Leave it there.  In him.  On him.  This is why Jesus came.  He is the Lamb of God who takes the blame.  He accepts the blame, so we won’t be blamed.  He gladly accepts the eternal consequences, so we don’t have to.

So, fess up.  And when the devil comes with his list of your misdeeds you go right ahead and tell him it’s all true.  Yes, all of it.  And remind him there is probably more he doesn’t know about because he is not God.  You can tell him you are in fact a whole lot worse than he knows.

But Jesus knows.  He came for that very reason.  He came to take the blame.  He has taken care of it.  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

                                            Amen. 

January 4, 2023 – Baptism of our Lord                      Text:  Matthew 3:13-17                                    

Dear Friends in Christ,

    At this time in the church year things can move along rather quickly.  Epiphany was Friday – the visit of the Wise Men.  Now here we are two days later and the Baptism of Jesus.  He is an infant on Friday and a 30-year-old at His Baptism.  We fast forward to this unique event, a baptism unlike any other, yet a baptism that lays the groundwork for our own baptism.

    When Ed Koch was mayor of New York City, he was famous for strolling the streets and asking his constituents, “How am I doing?”  He took his cues and set his course based on their replies.  He was pleased when they were pleased.

    How’s Jesus doing?  We have a vested interest in the answer.  In our text we will discover that answer.  

“HOW IS JESUS DOING?”

    It is an odd question for us to be asking.  Does Jesus need our approval?  What kind of focus group do we think we are?  He is Jesus, after all.

    But even Jesus had his critics.  Even Jesus had those who questioned what he was doing.  The Pharisees and Sadducees make their first appearance in Matthew.  In the verses preceding our text they are questioning John about Baptism.  They don’t think they need to repent and confess their sins before being baptized.  They had their good works.  They had their heritage.  They were descendants of Abraham.  Ironic that they would play that card because Abraham was one who lived by faith with repentance and trust in God’s promises.  If John is touting this Jesus who is mightier than him, well these folks have a problem with Jesus too.  And as we know this will not be the first time that they question what Jesus is doing.

    But why baptize Jesus?  Why does someone who is sinless need this water of the Jordan?  Jesus had no need of this.  But Jesus makes a point:  I will be baptized.  Why?  Because I have come for sinners.  I stand with sinners.  I shoulder the burden of all.  This is the start of his three-year journey to the cross.  

    The Pharisees and Sadducees would say that he has blown it.  What is he doing mixing with this crowd?  They will be a constant focus group and a pain in the side of Jesus throughout his ministry.  But their approval doesn’t count.  “How am I doing?” the question goes.  Jesus doesn’t need to wait for the polls or the election.  He has immediate feedback which is better than any exit poll.  Jesus is baptized, comes out of the water, and immediately heaven stands in solidarity.  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Not just anyone, but a “Son.”  Not just pleased, but “well pleased.”

    God stands in solidarity with Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah.  We can understand if those on the riverbank were stunned and confused.  There were messianic expectations, some quite extraordinary.  This Jesus looks ordinary.  Beware of wanting Him on our terms.  Rather, take what is given, trust what is said.  It is rude to remake a gift.

    This “Son” would come for other sons and daughters.  He would come for prodigals who left the faith.  He would come for children who never knew the faith.  He would come for you and I so that we could be accepted by the Father.  Jesus is here for us sinners.  But God in solidarity with Jesus puts things in a new Epiphany light.

    God gives His approval that Jesus is doing great.  Here is how the circle works.  Jesus in solidarity with sinners, God with Jesus, and God with us.  How so and where?  In our Baptism.  Jesus’ baptism obviously is not identical with our own.  The path for Jesus was not finished.  There are still cross and empty tomb to come.  We are baptized into that death and resurrection.  His baptism is ours as our sin is His.  Martin Luther calls this the “happy exchange” that happens in our baptism.  “Who for us and for our salvation” as we confess in the Creed.  Christ’s name is put on us.  All righteousness was eventually fulfilled in Christ.

    Have any of you read where church roofs have opened with doves descending and voices from the sky giving approval during a baptism?  I haven’t either.  There is no need for that.  Something spectacular still happens as the Father, as Christ, stand in solidarity and give the Spirit.  As the Trinity is invoked and the water is sprinkled, we stand in awe at the power of our Lord.  His salvation is our salvation.  You are watermarked.

    How is Jesus doing?  In this God is well-pleased.  That is all that matters, right?                                                        Amen.