Sermons

September 17, 2017                                                              Text:  Genesis 50:15-21

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

As human beings we enjoy stories of sweet revenge.  My dad tells the story of being on the JV basketball team in a small south central Illinois town in the late 1950’s.  The team he was on was pretty good.  They would win some games by quite a lot.  My dad, his friend and a few other teammates were the bench players.  Unfortunately, even in their blowout wins, they would not get a lot of playing time.  The coach liked to keep his starters in the game.

During their last game at home that season, they had another game where they were way ahead.  With very little time on the clock, the coach started to empty his bench and send the bench players into the game.  My dad’s friend took his warm-up off, checked into the scorer’s table, and then proceeded to run not into the game, but straight into the locker room.  The coach stood there dumbfounded.  He had no idea what was going on.  This was the player’s chance to get back at the coach for never getting him into a game.  I laugh every time my dad tells this story.

If someone had the right to sweet revenge it would be the main character in our text – Joseph.  We will get into his story and see how . . .

“THE LORD CAN TRANSFORM EVIL INTO GOOD”

Our text today is actually the end of a long story about Joseph and his brothers.  Joseph was the eleventh of twelve brothers and the most beloved by his father Jacob.  Joseph did some things to his brothers they didn’t like so they conspired to kill him and throw him down a pit.  The brothers made it look like Joseph had been killed and Jacob grieved for his dead son.

Except, Joseph wasn’t dead.  He was sold and served Potiphar.  He ended up in prison but interpreted some dreams for Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, and then for Pharaoh.  Pharaoh put Joseph in a place of leadership and he controlled the flow of grain during the famine and the years of plenty.  This is what brought Joseph’s brothers to him.

With that background then, our text, “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.’” (v. 15)

Do you ever have those thoughts?  You want to get back at someone who has wronged you?  A co-worker takes credit for your work and it puts you in a bad light with the boss.  Later, that same co-worker struggles hopelessly with a project due tomorrow.  What do you do?

A fellow student bullies you mercilessly.  Later, she’s accused of cheating on a test, but you know she’s innocent.  What do you do?

Your sister talks your aging mother into giving her a precious heirloom that she promised you many years ago, and then she sells it.  Now your sister needs help with groceries for her family.  What do you do?

The music director asks you to sing a solo for Christmas Eve.  After practicing for several weeks, he asks his grandson to do it.  Months later, with only a week’s notice, the music director wants you to sing several solos for Easter because his grandson backed out.  What do you do?

Joseph brothers threw him in a pit, let his father think he was dead, and now they come to him for much needed grain.  What will he do?  These brothers had lived with guilt and had never had a good talk with Joseph about what they had done to him.

Sometimes instead of talking with our families or friends, we have the idea that past hurts and sins will just go away if we don’t bring them up again.  They are not confessed and forgiven, just forgotten…for a while.  But if the topic comes up again, the scab is picked and the bleeding starts all over.  Even if we cover it up with “That’s okay,” or “don’t worry about it.”  The healing never happens.

The brothers make up a story about Jacob to Joseph and how the father wanted Joseph to forgive them.  Their contrition is not genuine but a desperate attempt to save themselves.

Do we play this game with a cake or flowers or a trip away?  That’s bribery, not repentance and forgiveness.  We need to articulate the wrong and be forgiven.  Hearing the words of absolution from the Pastor in church, as well as remembering our Baptism and receiving Christ’s body and blood “for the forgiveness of sins,” is hearing the voice of God loud and clear that God has forgiven us through the sacrifice, the cross, of our Savior Jesus.

This is the truth that Joseph knew.  He wasn’t in the place of God, but God could bring good out of evil.  From a blood-stained cloak and the bottom of a slimy pit to a leader in Egypt with his brother’s future in his hands.  He could have gone to the scorer’s table, checked into the game and then kept on running away, leaving his brothers standing there dumbfounded.  But He didn’t.  Joseph explained that the Lord had a purpose in the brother’s evil.  God meant it for good so that this family could be reconciled and many people would be kept alive.

Those who hated and killed Jesus meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, the saving of many souls.  The persecution and unjust treatment and the killing and the burial and the emerging from the tomb were all part of God’s greater plan of ultimate good for you and me.  Our sins are no more!

Jesus speaks to us today through Joseph.  Can we see the good that can come from the evil in our lives?  Do you have relationships still hanging in the balance?  Through the power of the Holy Spirit make that phone call, write that letter, let go of your anger and be reminded of the precious love the Savior has for you.  You have been reconciled to Him and He wants you to be reconciled to others.  The Lord can transform evil to good and we were blessed to see it today.

Amen.

 

August 27, 2017                                                                    Text:  Matthew 16:13-20

 

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Dorothy Leigh Sayers has been described as “a renowned English crime writer, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist.”  She died in 1957.  Concerning our Lord Jesus Christ she wrote the following which I have always found interesting:

“The people who hanged Christ never accused Him of being a bore; on the contrary, they thought Him too dynamic to be safe.  It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround Him with the atmosphere of tedium.  We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him ‘meek and mild,’ and recommended Him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.  To those who knew Him, however, He in no way suggested a milk and water person; they objected to Him as a dangerous firebrand…But He had a ‘daily beauty in his life that made us ugly,’ and officialdom felt that the established order of things would be more secure without Him.  So they did away with God in the name of peace and quietness.”

But have things remained quiet and peaceful when it comes to Jesus?  Hollywood, part of the scientific community, the humanists and liberal “theologians” can’t do enough to do away with Jesus!  And us?

“WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH HIM?”

Jesus is traveling again this morning and He comes to Caesarea Philippi.  He gets into a discussion with the disciples about who He is.  You know the answers they gave of what people thought – John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah.  Maybe the soul of one of these entered Jesus.  Ridiculous, you think?  No more so than the ridiculous thoughts of our day.  Jesus the example.  Jesus the “son” of God in the sense that we are all sons and daughters of God, goes the liberal drivel.  Maybe a womanizer.  Maybe a lowlife.  A liar.  A scam artist.

There now.  The genius of human wisdom can reduce Jesus to a zero – with little or no scholarship – and thus safely, or so it thinks, ignore His Words:  “You are of this world; I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:23-24)

The world is evil and sin has made it so.  Why doesn’t someone step up and say those words when we have all these killings and disasters and people hating one another?  Because that is too simple, and anyway, everyone has their own thoughts and are not afraid to express them.  God help us!

The world is going to be in the world in their unbelief.  What is before us is:  What are we going to do with Him?  Who is this Jesus?  On this day, Peter seems to know.  “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

God the Son Who is God in the flesh.  He comes to pay for every sin and secure eternal life for those who believe.  Human wisdom will never, ever make this reasonable to sinful thinking.  Listen carefully:  It’s a matter of faith.  Hebrews reminds us:  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1)  That is what brings us here:  faith.  Saved by grace through faith, say Paul.  The greatest miracle you could ever receive in this world and you possess it.

Jesus accepts Peter’s confession of faith at face value.  Not a word is disputed.  God put these words into Peter’s mouth.  The Lord then says, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Please hear this:  Jesus is not building the church on this smart theologian Peter.  If he was, he would have said, “Upon you I will build my church.”  The church of Jesus Christ is not to be built either on a man or on the confession of a man, but on the saving revelation of God’s grace in the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  This is not Peter’s church; it is the Lord’s church.  Christ is the builder.  He builds His church so solidly on the Gospel revelation of his grace that all the forces of hell, huffing and puffing combined, will never destroy it!

What are we doing with Him?  This prayer request came across the desk of one of the Pastors at my home church in Decatur.  It stated:  “She thought she had allergies and sinus problems and whamo!  She has cancer in her sinus, colon, gall bladder, numerous other places.  She had gone to Barnes, St. Louis, but they are sending her home tomorrow and she will be on hospice.”

Life can do a U-turn just that quick.  No plans for next year’s vacation or birthdays or…whatever.  Just the reality of what this world is and our need of God’s love through Christ.  The Holy Spirit guides and lifts us through the sacred Word and Sacraments.  Allows our faith in Him to grow and prosper in spite of the mud and crud that people want to throw in our face.  Peter had his challenges after this wonderful confession.  We too will have ours.  We will prevail through “Christ, the Son of the living God.”               Amen.

August 20, 2017 Text: Matthew 15:21-28

Dear Friends in Christ,

One subject that we all have an opinion about is parenting. And the reason for that is because we are parents or we have had parents. We’ve experienced the good and bad and form our thoughts. You know how I feel about being a parent but my experience might be different than yours.
One thing we probably do agree on is the care of our child. When they were sick when they were younger, especially in the middle of the night, you agonized over whether to take them to the emergency room or medicate them at home. Not an easy question but certainly easier than what the Canaanite woman faces in our text
Her daughter is possessed by a demon. Emergency rooms don’t quite have the answers for that. If you have a child that is physically or mentally challenged you know how you agonize over their care. What should I be doing? Lord, please give me some answers. Where should we be turning . . .
“WHEN LIFE DOESN’T WORK THE WAY YOU THINK IT SHOULD”
It’s a wall we run into quite frequently, isn’t it? When life doesn’t work the way you think it should. The facts are these: Change and disappointment and heartache are familiar scenarios. They make up those moments we find ourselves “up against a wall.”
The Canaanite woman is “up against a wall” with her daughter. She is desperate for help. She has probably sought help and not received it but she does not give up hope.
She turns to Jesus for help and hope. She seems to be a God-fearing person by the way she addresses the Savior. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” But she doesn’t expect help because she is a Canaanite, ancient enemies of the Israelites. Jesus has come to the region for rest. The disciples want to turn her away.
Jesus responds by testing her faith. He seems a little cool to her request when he says he was only sent for the “lost sheep of Israel” and he should not take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. “Dogs” is a reference to the non-Jew, which this lady certainly is. Why is Jesus treating her this way?
Do you ever feel like the Lord is treating you like a dog? Run here and there and everywhere chasing your tail until you spin out of control. Like Norm said on Cheers, “It’s a dog-eat-dog world and I’m wearing Milk-Bone underwear!” We laugh because it’s true. We pursue the things of this world that end up biting us in the backside. Why isn’t life working out the way I think it should?
The mother could have had that pity party right there in Tyre and Sidon but she didn’t. She stayed persistent in her humble and confident faith. She seems to understand the point Jesus is making but she is more than willing to settle for a few crumbs from the master’s table. She believes it would take just a few crumbs of His power and kindness to make her daughter whole again.
Of this situation it has been said, “…as Jesus looked on the woman, He did not see her as an interloper as did the disciples – an unwelcome intruder on His time and energy. Rather, he saw her as a woman of great personal faith, and His conversation with her was designed to test that faith . . .”
She passed. “’O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” (v. 28)
The Lord tests our faith when life isn’t going the way we think it should. He may be silent for a time. He may be waiting for the right time to respond. He may be strengthening our faith. He wants us to be persistent in faith and prayer and to know His mercy and help. He often speaks in the midst of silence.
The silence of His miracles. The silence before His accusers. His silence on the way to the cross. His silence that was finally broken with, “It is finished.” His silence when He came out of the grave. His silence when He forgives and loves and heals. “Have mercy on Me, O Lord.”
Several years ago the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sponsored a hymn-writing contest. One entry that never won a prize and probably never made it into any hymnal was entitled “God’s Grip Don’t Slip.” That is not good grammar, but the message is clear. No one can snatch us from the grip of our loving and powerful Savior. Jesus has rescued us from the grip of Satan through His perfect life, victorious death, and triumphant resurrection. We are safe and secure in His almighty grip, now and forever.
We live in confidence with the assurance that “God’s grip won’t slip.” He will never let go of us even when life doesn’t work the way we think it should.
Amen.