Tag: Peace Lutheran church for the deaf

Rejoice with Jerusalem, rejoice with Christ’s bride the Church

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our scripture reading for this morning’s message comes from our Old testament reading from Isaiah chapter 66.  “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her, rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her, that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast, that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.”

Rejoice with Jerusalem, see for yourselves the visitation of our God who comes to meet us in the person of Jesus.  See for yourself how Jesus is the long awaited Messiah sent to God’s people, who has come to meet our every need.

Have you ever noticed how beautiful the sight is when you are waiting and waiting for someone and then finally the person arrives? When I was a boy I was at a little league baseball game that was rained out quickly after the start time.  I told the coaches I did not need a ride home because someone from my family was coming.

As I stood near the parking lot I watched cars drive away and some come in, but not the familiar sight of one of the family cars.  As the storm started to roll in quicker and quicker, my clothes getting wet, the lightning on the horizon, I wanted to see that car drive up right now and I wished I could will it into existence. What an instant relief when that familiar vehicle rolls up and the fear and the unbearable waiting are over.

When you are worried about a cat that has ventured off somewhere outside nowhere to be seen, how sweet is the sight of the familiar fur patterns walking through the crack in your fence back home.

Sometimes there is nothing like seeing evidence that things are well. Sometimes there is nothing like seeing the church come together, being reminded that you are not on your own, seeing that Satan is outmatched, like the 72 who Jesus sent out who said, “Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name!” How wonderful when you can see the results with your very eyes.

This is also a Sunday where we are celebrating the Installation of Camille as Deaconess Intern.  The Lord’s promise to us his people is that we can rejoice and be glad because of what the Lord does for Jerusalem, His church. 

The Lord sends messengers to preserve our church in peace.  The office of the pastor is the way in which the Lord cares for His people.  As a support to the pastoral office, the  office of Deaconess provides God’s people with service, mercy, and compassion. Through listening and caring, and teaching and pointing people to Jesus- a Deaconess helps build up the body of Christ. 

Today as we begin a period of time of a year with the support of a deaconess intern, we can all together as a congregation find in God’s Word the abundance that the Lord provides to His church, the abundance of mercy and Love, the very presence of Jesus that our reading from Isaiah compares to a baby nursing at a mother’s breast- receiving everything needed in abundance.

God’s people are carried upon the hip and bounced upon the knee.  And God’s Word says His people will see for themselves the comfort he provides, like peace of a gentle flowing river. The glory of the Lord overflowing like a stream that overflows and pours out onto the land.  “You shall see and your heart shall rejoice.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you see the Lord’s mercy to you? Can you see it there on the cross? Can you see it with the baptism font, and the elements of the Lord’s Supper? Can you see the Lord’s mercy overflowing to you, welling up like a spring from the ground?

I see the Lord’s abundance when I look at this church. I see the hands that change the colors of the altar and pulpit as the church seasons change. I see the dutiful work of those who set up and take down the elements of the Lord’s Supper.  I see the LWML mite box in the back and other things that ushers take care of.

I see new pieces of artwork in the church through the help of people in our church working together. I even see my own family lighting the candles, keeping the music going, and making children’s messages special.   

How beautiful the sight of a sister in Christ sent by the church to assist us in ministry here at Christ Lutheran. There is a phrase, “ Sight for sore eyes”  and when I look at Camille I see relief sent from the Lord, for me, for my wife and family, for the congregation.  When the road is hard and difficult as a congregation, when we realize that Jesus sent out his messengers as lambs in the midst of wolves- When we consider the challenges of living in a fallen world, the sight of help is glorious.  

There are so many challenges out in the world that keep us from that peace like a river, that keep us from the satisfaction of comfort like a baby nursing at mother’s breast.  There are challenges that lead us to lose sight of the glory of Jerusalem.

However despite the challenges, we will not lose sight of the glory of God in Christ Jesus, here with us in the church in Word and Sacrament.

Jesus told the 72 that the reason to rejoice was not what you can see, and accomplish by God’s power, yes the demons submit to the Lord’s name, but more important than all those sight for sore eyes moments in life that makes it feel everything is ok, more important than that momentary relief, is the permanent relief Jesus won for us in the cross, more important is the fact that our names are written in the book of life.

The true sight for sore eyes for us is the inheritance that awaits us in heaven, that is not subject to unexpected losses or failures. Just two weeks ago, our brother in Christ Lynn Hastings was here with us in worship, I believe for the first time. He even signed the guest book. It was indeed a sight for sore eyes for me to see him come in, yet one more Peace Deaf member, here in worship, in this new setting. Someone I looked forward  to getting to know. 

And then less than a week later the Lord called him to Himself to his inheritance in heaven. We rejoice that he is with the Lord, even as it would have been a pleasant sight if he were here today.

We are all God’s children, deaf and hearing alike. We see Jerusalem and we rejoice. We see the pastoral office and the reminder it gives of Jesus’ presence with us and we rejoice.  

As St. Paul celebrates in Romans chapter 10 “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  The beauty is in seeing that the messengers come from Christ Jesus himself, they come bearing his good news.  St. Paul then goes on to say: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

St. Paul is writing about both seeing God’s messengers and hearing God’s Word through them. And we have seen and heard because their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. There is no stopping God’s Word from going out.

It is just as our Introit says: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Psalm 19 gives this amazing picture of how God’s creation is told by the beauty of creation, we see the glory of creation with our very eyes all around us.  But the Psalm does not stop there. It is not just that we see that there is a God through creation, but we also hear about who this God is, through the Words God creates and delivers through his messengers. 

We know and hear about what God thinks of us, we know that we are loved by this God, we know that we are His children as he tells us over and over again in His Word, which rings out all through the earth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Old Testament Jerusalem was the very place where people could look and see the temple and the priests and the sacrifices. It was the way that God’s mercy was preached to the ancient world, people came from afar to learn about God in Jerusalem.

Jesus was born for the purpose of dying in Jerusalem, to take on our sin and make the sacrifice of his life on the cross in Jerusalem. Jesus the embodiment of God’s mercy, and how beautiful his feet are. How beautiful the steps he took to call his disciples and send them out through all the earth. 

Now we can see that same embodiment of God’s mercy that Jesus is here in the church, which is called the New Jerusalem. See the pastor’s robe and stole and know with certainty that God’s love has gone out through all the earth, and right to you. Hear anew those words Isaiah spoke thousands of years ago, fulfilled in our midst through Jesus: “13As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Jesus raises you up out of bondage

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God’s Word for us this morning describes the bondage that sin brings in our lives. Our Introit talks about the troubles we face as if we are buried in the depth of the earth.  “You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.”

Some Christians feel guilt ridden when day after day they feel buried beneath the earth with troubles or despair or depression. They blame themselves for the bondage they find themselves in.  People think, “if I feel this bad, I must be doing something wrong. A good Christian is joyful and not sad and weighed down by grief.”

This is a mistake to feel this way, to feel this guilt over the amount of troubles present in your life. Your guilt means that you think you can free yourself from the bondage of sin. “I should do better, I have a strong faith.” 

This guilt keeps you from seeing that Jesus alone is who frees you, who brings you out of the depth of the earth. This morning God’s Word loudly proclaims that Jesus and Jesus alone has set you free!

In our gospel lesson we can see how helpless a person can be to free himself from the chains of sin.  Jesus and the disciples are in the place called Gerasanes, a land just outside of Galilee. Jesus had not yet made it into the city when already a man possessed by demons met him.  This man’s bondage to the demons and bondage to his own sin was so great that he no longer even lived in the city. He no longer took part in society at all- so great was his torment, no clothes, no interactions, using the cavernous tombs as a place to stay.

It is clear that this man is not in control of his own life, he is a slave to the demons who posses him. Even when people tried to guard him and contain him with chains and shackles he broke out of them- so great was the power of the demons within him. 

One of the signs of a demon in the New Testament is that they know who Jesus is from the start. The Legion of demons greet Jesus in this same way, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 

The demons see Jesus as the Son of God, but they do not see him as someone who can heal them or save them. It’s amazing to think about this, the demons see Jesus for who he is, and instead of worshipping him or repenting before him and asking mercy- they dig in with their defiance and scoff at Jesus. 

This is not much different than what we do in our sinful nature.  We see only the power God has over us to destroy us and we scoff at God, we do not in our human nature have the ability to come to God and trust in God’s goodness to us. That is why we confess in the explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles Creed that “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus as my Lord or come to him.”

But Jesus did not turn his back on us while we were enemies of God.  He set us free from our bondage.  He gave us new life in Him so that we could live for the first time in a freedom from the drive of our sinful human nature.  Now for the first time we are able to live to serve God instead of living to serve our sinful nature.

Sometimes you might doubt if you really are free in Christ, because all you see is your sin and how it holds you from being a child of God in your actions. If you doubt how much different your life really is because of your faith- if you feel your attempts to bear good fruit in God’s kingdom are second rate at best then how important it is that you  see there in the gospel lesson how without hesitation Jesus commanded the demon to leave the victim.

To Jesus there is no reason for a man to stay in bondage and slavery to sin and the forces of evil.  Jesus came to free us from all that would leave us chained up and buried under the earth.

The demon begged Jesus to not send him into the abyss but to enter into the pigs. It is not easy for us to understand why Jesus agreed to this, or for what purpose this served. Jesus knew that the demons would have a harmful impact on the herd of pigs, and that this attention would drive people of the town to be afraid of him.

However, for our benefit this sacrifice of the herd of pigs to the evil demons gives us a clear image of the destructive nature of the demons, that from the time of the possession they drive the pigs to jump off a cliff and destroy themselves. This is such a clear picture for us of the destruction of Satan. 

Many people today, especially younger generations are drawn to have sympathy with witchcraft or satanic arts- almost as if it is a good thing because it is the underdog type of belief that nobody would give a chance for. This is part of the lie Satan tells to our young people, that Christianity is the largest religion in the world, that it doesn’t give a fair view of witchcraft. It is the lie of Satan that the Majority will always oppress the minority.  But here the destructive nature of demons is visible for all to see.

In the same way, what destruction we can invite into our lives when we chose the chains of sin over the freedom of Jesus.  It may not be as dramatic as a herd of pigs falling off of a cliff, but without the shield of our faith the impact of Satan’s influence in our life has the same destructive results.

In our Epistle reading we heard St. Paul talk about how before Jesus was born into the world we were like children or slaves who were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. Living only for this world leads us to play right into Satan’s hands.

If you only have hope for this world, then whatever deal Satan offers can be hard to pass up.  ‘What do I have to lose, I might as well have what I want while I have the opportunity.’  

I am grateful that God’s Word has led me on a course in life where every decision I make in life is not driven by the slavery of what I think I want for myself regardless of any understanding of what good things God prepares for me in his kingdom. This is the freedom Jesus brings us from servitude of our sin.

Here at Christ Lutheran, as of late many of our members struggle with challenges of health and we struggle with building repairs and other needs to keep a congregation moving along.  It is important that we can see a bigger picture, that it is not only for this life that we live, that our church is investing in more than just managing a building and paying of a building loan, or targeting attendance numbers. We are building up treasure in heaven as our faith grows and as we seek to share the gospel- especially now with the Deaf Community.  Being a part of a church is more than just keeping up with what needs doing.  It is participating in the freedom and joy of life lived no longer as slaves to sin, but as heirs of our Heavenly Father.

By the end of our gospel reading, the man who was possessed by the demon Legion ends up in a blessed state.  He went from someone who was an outcaste to the extreme to someone who had the pleasure of sitting at the feet of Jesus. 

He wanted to follow Jesus and continue in the blessed freedom from slavery that Jesus just brought to him. Instead, Jesus tells him to stay in his home town and declare how much God has done for him.  And that is exactly what he did, he told everyone in the city what Jesus had done for him.

You also can speak about how Jesus liberated you from slavery to your sin.  You can tell people that without God’s Word living in you, that you cannot imagine where you would be in life.

You might look at your life and see ways in which Satan had his way with you and you feel like you have not met your potential in your life, that you could be such a greater servant in God’s kingdom if you made better decisions.

The man possessed by demons was healed and all of the damage was undone, he was a new creation in Christ. And in the same way you are a new creation, he heals you of the mistakes from your past, he forgives you and restores you- so that you can tell others about him.    

Brothers and sisters in Christ, know today that Jesus has set you free from bondage. He has raised you up out of the deep pit of your own sin and despair. Even as he will raise you up on the last day. Amen.

Clear speech from Jesus: First trouble then joy- but always peace

Posted on by nfuller

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”  What a firm promise from the LORD! There is no double talk our veiled language, instead a clear promise of how Jesus will take our burdens and carry us through.

Last week I was talking to someone about how unfortunate it is that we don’t always say what we mean in our society.  “We should get together sometime” Sometimes this is an accurate statement, other times a promise may be made, I will call you sometime and we will get together, and you are kept waiting and waiting, and you realize you have never been called. Sometimes a statement is not always followed by an action, what people say may not always be what they really intend.

Sometimes you can hear yourself making promises that you are not sure you will keep. It seems we use our words to hide the reality that we never know when our sinful human nature will dictate life priorities in such a way that we will let others down. So we settle for a temporary fantasy that we will never let others down. Perhaps it is just an innocent misdirection we use to cover harsh realities about the limitations of life

Of course, our society is adept at all kinds of words that use misdirection. Pre owned vehicles, a well loved piece of furniture, companies use words like downsizing and reducing costs as a way to say firing. I will not even get into all of the misdirection words that are used for political purposes. The end result is that the world can feel cold, uncaring and exploitive.

Jesus does not use misdirection in his speech.  Jesus speaks plainly to his disciples in John chapter 16 to give them peace in Him. Before the departure to the cross, Jesus speaks to the disciples about the difficulties that await them. Jesus uses the truth because he cares about them and he has no sinful motivations to lift himself up by what he says.

He tells them he is leaving. Jesus knew with certainty what suffering awaited him. And he knew this from the start. It was for this purpose that Jesus came into the world.  Jesus has compassion on the disciples that even in the midst of this great suffering he will undergo, he thinks of their interests, he tells them that he will depart from them for a while- so that they are ready for the trial and do not face it as a crisis of faith.

He tells them they will fail him. Of course they protested that they would never fail Jesus, never disown him or abandon him. “They would never say, call me anytime- we will get through this together”- without really meaning it.

But Jesus knew what was in man.  He was honest with them about the extent to which the human heart fails. That no matter the good intentions we sin against God, we love ourselves first.  We gladly let Jesus suffer instead of suffering ourselves. 

And he tells the church that we will have trouble in this world. Jesus is clear to them if the world hated me, they will hate you.  The world will not encourage you to thrive in your faith, instead the world encourages you to turn inward to your own selfish desires.  While Jesus gives us peace, the world will find ways to bring division and strife and even danger.  

We know the devil, the world and our sinful flesh will try and keep us from being the disciples Jesus promises we can be.  And Jesus speaks plainly about what he has done for us in the midst of these distractions and temptations.

“I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus is telling us that despite all of the challenges and difficulties we can have peace because he has surpassed all of the troubles in the world and in our lives, by who he is as the Word made flesh who resisted the temptations that we failed to resist and has overcome the world.

What does that mean to overcome the world.  Verse 28 gives a summary of all of the movements in Christ’s ministry to us. “I came from the Father.’ Jesus is sharing the truth we confess in the Nicene Creed that he is begotten of the Father before all worlds, that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

“And have come into the world.”  The Incarnation, God coming to us by taking on our flesh. “Now I am leaving the world”  The crucifixion.  “And going to the Father” the Resurrection and the Ascension.  

Jesus has overcome the world not just because he said so, but because He is God, and he has joined us in the flesh of this world in His Incarnation, and he has redeemed the fallen nature of this world on the cross.

That is why Jesus can say that he has overcome the world. Because of what he has done, no foe is too strong for us that what Jesus did for us can be undone.  No tribulation can take on a greater importance in our lives than Jesus does, no type of cancer, no type of virus can change the fact that Jesus has overcome the world.

Jesus brings this victory over the world right to us. In Word and Sacrament we receive the peace that Christ’s victory has won.  Jesus brings peace as the sin that separated us from God is forgiven.  The waters of baptism bring us this peace, and our presence at the Lord’s table reassures us of this peace. Even the sins of falling away from Jesus as the disciples did, even our falling away out of selfish pursuit, this sin is today forgiven you.

And as we live in this peace Jesus gives us, we respond in faith: “Until now you have asked nothing in my name, ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”  We can ask in the Father’s name for the strength and the support to handle any loss in life. And the promise of Jesus is that so great is the support and love of Christ mediated to us in the church that we can still have joy in the midst of the sorrows of this world.

Listen again to the words of the Introit, “Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. But I call to God and the Lord will sustain me.” This is direct, plain and simple talk to us from the Holy Spirit.  What a gift it is for we who are weary from the changes and chances of this life, that the LORD will sustain you when you seek his support and aid. 

There is no mystery of how we are to get through difficult times, the Lord spells it out for us.  We get through by the power of God’s Word, by the presence of Jesus made known to us in the Sacrament of the Altar, by the compassion of Jesus made known to us in the care of fellow Christians the body of Christ. The Lord sustains us by making it so that we are never alone.  

Our God levels with us and tells us the truth about the nature of life in this fallen world. There is no sugar coating, we will face tribulation in this world. But an even more important truth is that Jesus tells us:

“Take heart I have overcome the world.” Our God has made provision for the hardest things we can face in this life, and even provision for the threat of death itself.  His life is our hope, his life is our steady source of joy. Amen.