Category: The Weekly Message Blog

Salted with the gospel, given new life in Christ

Posted on by nfuller

The gospel lesson from Mark we have before us this morning has so much in it, so much that we could talk about that it is hard to see how everything fits together. It is a challenging portion of scripture to understand and follow and learn from.

There are teachings of Jesus here that could cause confusion to the hearer- or give the impression that there are works to do such as all in self sacrifice, that we are tasked with in which to which earn our salvation.

But Jesus is not teaching that salvation comes through the right amount of personal sacrifice. A closer look at the scripture helps us to see that our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection gives us an identity of living in Jesus’ name- and a purifying role ,just like the salt that Jesus uses as an illustration of the impact of the Christian’s life in the world.

When it is hard to see the big picture our Collect Prayer comes in handy. In this prayer today we prayed to the Lord for direction and guidance to complete the works God has called us to do.  Complete the works, finish strong, get results. 

Football season has started and a big emphasis of any team at the start of a season is to make the most of opportunities when they are before you. If you are in the red zone, you need to get touchdowns for at least a good percentage of trips. Settling for field goals time after time does not get you very far.

How do we complete the works God has given us to do?  We have a big box in the narthex to play a role as one of 16 boxes which will be collected from churches in our area by Lutheran High and delivered by a semi truck, providing much needed supplies to a relief site of a sister church in Louisiana.

We also can identify the works before us in terms of teaching our young people the Christian Faith, and building the community in Christ in our congregation that will help our church to be healthy and vibrant in faith and works of love to one another and those in our neighborhood.

Completing the works God gives us to do is a challenge, but it is also a gift and a privilege. When the Lord assigns works for us to complete- we can see this as a gift. Completing the works we are given is all about God’s mercy and grace to us.

So how do we finish strong, with these gifts of works to complete?  How do we overcome the potential result of many incomplete tasks? That takes us back to our gospel reading where we hear Jesus speaks about doing things in His name. “For no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.”

In Confirmation class we have been talking about what it means to Hallow God’s name ,and the power of God’s name.  We confessed in the Introit: “Your name of LORD endures forever, Your renown O LORD throughout all ages.” We can only finish strong or find completion when we are living to do all things in the name of our God.  When we live as new creations in Christ.

I mentioned the gospel reading can be hard to follow. However, everything Jesus is teaching is all about whether someone is in His name or is fighting against His name.  The gospel reading begins with almost a repeat of our Old Testament reading from Numbers 11 where Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp but not specifically in the tent of meeting with the seventy men who were appointed as elders.  The disciples find a man casting out demons in the name of Jesus.  This man is not one of the disciples, like Eldad and Medad, he is on the outside of the immediate circle of the disciples.

The disciples reaction is to stop him, because he is an outsider.  Jesus points out that although he is not on the inside, although he may not truly understand who Jesus is, he is certainly not against Jesus. He is the farthest thing from a persecutor of the church.

Jesus then talks about temptations to sin in a way that illustrates what is against his name. Specifically causing a child or a novice in the faith to sin, that is what it looks like to be against Jesus.  Jesus points out it is better to think in terms of self limits and sacrifice than to let sin drive ourselves or others against the name of Jesus.

Whether it is what we see or covet or what ill thought through path we walk, or what we take with our hand- we are better off cutting those things out of our lives. This is like the drug addict realizing the need to throw a phone into a trash compactor, in order to leave behind all of the numbers and contacts that cause trouble.  But of course, the real root of the sin is not with the eye or the foot or the hand, but with our heart. 

We cannot remove our own heart to keep us from sinning.  We need God’s help, we need the cleansing power of God’s Word to curb the evil in our heart.

Jesus talks about the good of entering the kingdom of heaven crippled, lame, and half blind. This is a stark and unpleasant message, but it gets the point home- even if we are humbled in a way that seems unappealing, entering the kingdom of heaven is that which is of ultimate importance.

We are humbled by God’s Word so that we can be holy and pure in His Name.  Jesus summarizes this humbling process with the phrase ‘salted with fire.’  In the Concordia Commentary Dr. Voelz expounds on the meaning of being salted with fire. “These words seem to mean that everyone will have fire applied to him that functions like the application of salt.”  Specifically the purgative function of salt, stopping and limiting putrefaction. (decaying or rotting of organic material)

The force of what Jesus is saying is defined by Voelz as follows: ‘Everyone will have fire applied that will prevent the flourishing of that which is bad or destructive, that is everything that is not congruent with the reign and rule of God in Christ. In other words, whatever holds us back, whatever does not belong, God roots out and destroys for our benefit.

In 1Corinthians chapter 3:12-14  “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood , grass, straw the work of each will become manifest, for the day will make it clear, because by fire it is revealed. And the fire will test what sort of work each has done for approval. If the work of someone will remain- that which he has built- he will get reward. If the work of someone will be burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but in this way, as through fire.

It seems the fire of the law burns up what is unhelpful in us, and what is left is a person who walks with Jesus and lives in the name of Jesus.  Next Jesus directs the focus of the work of salt as not just a fire that humbles us and purifies us, but as an agent that works against the corruption and leavening of the whole world.  Only when the sin within is burned away, can the evil in the world next be addressed.  

Specifically, it is worth asking what evil in the world is the church to slow and stop- in this agent of change role as the salt of the world?  The church is to curb any teaching that leads people in the world to pride, false idolatry and false worship. 

If the fire of salt curbs all the sin in the believer that gets in the way of our following Jesus, then the role of the church in the world is to prevent people from the decay of their sin, to salt them with the protection of God’s Word and God’s truth, as they try and live as gods unto themselves. 

We as the church are called to the good works of speaking strongly and boldly against whatever are the most popular teachings of the day.  We see that there is no shortage of evil and false teaching in the world.  Only Jesus has the power to fight back the evil of the world, and we are refined in our faith to abide in Jesus, and stand as Jesus against evil. 

This is the good work prepared for us as the church. We praise the lord for all of his gifts to us, and we look to the Lord in faith as He leads us to do mighty works in His name. Amen.

Lord unstop our ears to hear Your Word

Posted on by nfuller

“To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.”  Psalm 28:1  Have you ever felt that God is deaf to you? That even if you pray, the Lord does not seem to listen? 

Has it ever felt that God is so silent that you could just die? When we face illness we feel how frail and weak we are and we desire for the Lord to hear us, so we pray be not deaf to me. When disappointments in life pile up and we feel overwhelmed by the challenges before us, we see so clearly that without the Lord’s help we will quickly fail. O Lord hear the voice of my pleas for mercy.

And not only do we fear that Jesus is not listening to us, but we also struggle to ourselves hear God’s Word.  Why else would Isaiah chapter 35 provide a message to those who have an anxious heart, that they should Be Strong and Fear not? An anxious heart hears and sees only what an go wrong and what is dangerous and unsafe. With an anxious heart we may not hear God’s Word, on account of our sin our ears may be deaf to hear the Word.

The message for us in God’s Word today is that especially when we are weak and helpless and when we cry to the Lord for mercy- especially then is the Lord near us. Psalm 146:8 “The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.” 

In our gospel lesson we have before us a vivid picture of the care Jesus has for those who are deaf.   Put yourself there in the gospel narrative. Imagine what the world looked like and felt like for the deaf man in the region of the Decapolis near the sea of Galilee, nearly 2000 years ago who Jesus healed.

The villagers brought the deaf man to Jesus. The man saw the people begging before Jesus on his behalf, asking for Jesus to lay hands on him. The man did not communicate anything himself and before he knew it Jesus took him to a private place away from the crowds.  If you are without hearing it is unsettling to be in a large crowd where without your hearing you rely on your sight for social cues as to what is going on, and you cannot see everyone all at once.

Jesus took him aside from the overstimulation of the crowd and laid his touch on him in the quiet solitude. Jesus placed his fingers in his ears and touched his tongue as well, the very locations where the man’s body was not functioning. As the deaf man saw Jesus right in front of him working on his ears and loosening his tongue he could see and feel Jesus sigh and look up to heaven.

“Ephthatha” The power of God’s Word had immediate result, he could now hear Jesus’ message to him, ears no longer shall you be closed, be open.

There is something extraordinary about hearing restored to the deaf. Where once there was only silence, now a chorus of noise. We attempt to experience the slightest reward of hearing things for the first time in a while. During Lent we stop singing Alleluias. After 6 weeks , when we sing This is the Feast, when the organ sings that familiar melody, we are reminded of the chorus of heaven, the Revelation Song in which the hymn is based.  Imagine the joy of hearing this song for the first time that you have heard anything at all!

After the man received his hearing and had the gift of speech he heard the Son of God tell him to keep this healing miracle a secret. This act of mercy Jesus performed was a sign that the Messiah is here: We heard from Isaiah chapter 35 Then shall the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, then shall the lame man leap like a dear, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. 

The man appeared to have sung for joy after Jesus healed him as we hear in the final verse of our gospel lesson: “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Jesus says to us in His Word, “Never shall I leave you, never shall I forsake you.”  And yet too often we carry on as if we are all alone in the world, as if Jesus does not hear our pleas for mercy.  We feel as though the burdens we carry belong to ourselves alone. It is like we are wearing headphones and someone in the room says something and you don’t realize someone is talking until they enter your field of vision and wave their arms. We are listening to something else so often and our ears are closed to God’s Word.

In the hardness of our hearts we often do not hear God’s Word, just as Jesus taught about the purpose of parables

12 so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive,  and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

Have you ever noticed when your ears are stopped up? Have you ever noticed the hardness of your heart?  Maybe there is anger you are holding inside you toward someone and you don’t have a lot of space in the moment to hear God’s Word.  Or maybe there is pride, where you are so busy telling yourself why you are right, that there is not much room for you to hear the correction of God’s Word.

And just as important our ears can be stopped from hearing the good news of the gospel.  When you only hear in your mind how much you have failed everyone, when you see yourself as a disappointment, when you feel you have let God down in so many ways, you may struggle to hear and believe that you are perfectly loved by God.

You see, just as Jesus sighed and looked up into heaven before he opened the ears of the deaf man, Jesus sighed in love for you.  He sighed and groaned in agony and looked up to heaven and said it is finished, as he paid the price of our sins on the cross.

Although our sinful nature seeks to reject God, His love is unrelenting. The Father raised Jesus from the grave, so that our rejection of Jesus would not be the final word.  Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples so that their forsaking him would not be the final word. And our Triune God claimed you as His own in the waters of Holy Baptism, so that your sin would not be the final word.

Just as the curtain of the temple was torn at the crucifixion, the barrier that stops us from hearing God has also been destroyed. Jesus has taken the ultimate wrecking ball to the walls we put up.  The hardness of our hearts is broken down layer by layer as we come before Jesus in Word and Sacrament, as we take in His Body and Blood and truly hear in faith that this is his body broken for us, this is his blood shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

It has been hard going through the transition from one music director to substitute organists and waiting on who may fill the position, whether someone we have met or someone new that the Lord brings to us. It was also an unexpected road bump to receive information in recent months about the repair of our steeple.  The barriers of keeping our congregation as healthy and vibrant seem overwhelming day in and day out. But we must remember God’s Word is open to us. There is absolutely no barrier that keeps us from hearing his Word. If you do best reading on your own time make sure to clean out what stands in your way.

To prosper as a church must be centered on hearing his Word, because we cannot control how many people attend on a Sunday or how well balanced our budget is. If its just about keeping the church afloat, if that is our only focus we are missing what God has to say to us in our lives here and now. By the Holy Spirit’s power, we can hear God’s Word as if we are hearing it for the first time, with the same joy of the man who heard for the first time. 

So as we come to Jesus this day, We pray, “Lord let your merciful ears be open to the prayers of your humble servants. Lord be our strength, Lord be our Rock when we call to you.”   Amen.          

The Fear o the LORD is the beginning for us.

Posted on by nfuller

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Its such a beautiful phrase, isn’t it?  In just ten words we get a summary of the great first things first principle of life- wisdom begins with a healthy fear of God.  It is not often that fear is used in common language as a virtue, as a good thing, even as the essential thing.  But we know this is not just any use of the word fear.  It is a fundamental topic of any confirmation class to define Fear of the Lord as the healthy sense of awe and respect we have for the God who created us and upholds our being.

The Fear of the LORD in us in not a terror fear at what is dangerous and unpredictable or even hostile to us, but instead a fear that recognizes that absolutely everything depends on God’s mercy to us- and we have nothing we can supply on our own. 

Our recognition of who we are in relation to God, tells us something about who God is. When we see our complete dependence on God, we see God rightly.  In fact, ‘Fear of the Lord’ is equated with knowledge- we need only look as far as the second half of Proverbs 9, verse 10. “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” 

God is referred to as the Holy One.  This is the word the Seraphim use in Isaiah chapter 6 to describe the LORD, Holy, Holy, Holy.  Holy means set apart from anything common. And that includes us. The Holy Spirit has given us the wisdom to confess that Jesus is the holy one of God, both like us as man , and set apart from us as our Holy God.  We fear Jesus because we have been given the knowledge that he alone is holy, he alone posses the wisdom and order that created and upholds the world. It is no coincidence that we sing about our thrice Holy God in the words of the Sanctus, as we prepare to encounter God in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. 

Last year and the early part of this year, I felt in my conscience that it was not right for me to be still in the process of adjusting latex gloves while we were singing to our thrice Holy God. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a time when the Fear of the LORD rightly prepares us to come to knowledge of the Lord in the pure gospel gift of the Lord’s Supper.  And of course, adjusting gloves reminds us instead of what we do ourselves for our safety. Together we have learned a lesson of wisdom in trusting in the LORD. Sometimes you need a trial in life to be humbled and refined in knowing what is most important.

Over history some people have put forward wisdom expressions not starting with a Fear of the LORD, but based on principles of humility, learning from experience, and keen observation of how the world works and what is the best way to live in harmony with the laws of nature.

These observations provide some value because they often touch on some aspects of truth already found in God’s Word.

Encouraging statements can be helpful, they may invite us to overcome fears, lighten up, or learn to laugh at ourselves. Some people have daily inspirational quote calendars to serve as an encouragement through challenging aspects of everyday life.  

But expressions of wisdom alone cannot give us the true wisdom that is our worship and dependence on our Lord. If you try and make yourself wise on your own, it may give you worldly wisdom- but it will not give you the wisdom that is of God. Without the fear of the LORD, our idea of wisdom is self centered, and lost in sin.

King Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit understood the beginning and end of wisdom:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy one is insight.”   Wisdom always comes back to our relationship with God.  You cannot have wisdom without considering your place in creation and your relationship with God. 

Our Old Testament reading from Proverbs uses imagery to show that God has established all wisdom on the earth. “Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars.”  The earth is the house where wisdom has been built, a giant house with a number of pillars of completeness- seven. In other words, wisdom inhabits the entire world, because all of the world was created by God. 

It is true we can see much foolishness in the world and the book of Proverbs addresses the foolishness of the world “O simple ones, learn prudence, O fools, learn sense.”  Yet the world was not designed this way. The wisdom of God designed the world. Proverbs 8:22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.”

Contrary what evolutionary perspectives of science that are taught in public school claims, the world’s beginning was not chaos, it was not a big bang, it was not a hot primordial soup. Instead, the world was created through the order and purpose of God’s design. The Son of God Himself was this wisdom who seeks to rescue our world from the foolishness that sin brought into the world.

In our gospel lesson Jesus makes clear that because the order in the world comes from God, it is only through connection with Him that you can have true spiritual life. And so Jesus build on the teaching we have been hearing the previous two Sundays, that he is the bread of life. ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you.’  And later Jesus reinforces this truth: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me.” This was a difficult teaching for people to hear.  Jesus uses language about eating his flesh that is naturally offensive to hearers who are not thinking of the big picture of the Lord’s Supper. Any mention of eating of the flesh of a person is disgusting, unthinkable. And Jesus even magnifies the offense by using a word in the original Greek that signifies less eating in a ceremonial ordered way, but instead, feasting on, savoring and relishing the act of eating. It is the difference between eating something to be polite and really digging into something as your chief passion as you would a favorite meal.  To feed on Jesus is to go all in on subsisting on and surviving on Him, to feed on Jesus is to base all of your identity on Him.

This is a hard teaching because it requires that a person give up a claim to enjoy eating other things in life to get by. Feeding on the Son of Man requires that we give up any illusion that our own wisdom can get us anywhere in our life.

As the climax of three Sundays worth of verses in our gospel lesson from John Chapter 6 we hear how after this hard teaching was, as many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Jesus asks the twelve: “Do you want to go away as well?  And we know quite intimately Simon Peter’s answer. We sing it every Sunday right as we prepare to hear the potentially hard to swallow teaching of Jesus in our gospel lesson.

We sing these words and I pray that as we sing we recognize that there is indeed nobody else we would turn to, that no matter the cost, we turn to Jesus. “Lord to whom shall we go, Peter confessed, You have the words of eternal life.”

This is the wisdom given to us by the Holy Spirit, the Fear of the Lord by which we confess, as the rest of the verse reads and we don’t sing this part, so we could easily overlook: “Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and we have come to know that you are the Holy one of God.”   

Isn’t that amazing, Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit confessed the first and the second half of Proverbs 9:10. He confessed the fear of God, and the knowledge of God as the Holy One.

We see what the hard teaching of Jesus can be like. We know what it means in our sinful nature to wish that following Jesus could be one part of life, that we could put down at times and come back to Jesus when we need him.  And we see brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, friends, co-workers, neighbors among us who turn from walking beside Jesus because of hard teachings.

People want Jesus to perhaps be a good element in their lives, but they do not want to die to everything else. For many it seems that Jesus is someone who can bring joy on Christmas Eve or Easter. But they are not so sure they want the Jesus who talks about picking up your cross and following him.

Or the Jesus who insists that he alone is the one who brings us sustenance and wisdom- as he says my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink. It is discouraging to see others less involved or not involved much at all in following Jesus.  Those who marry someone who does not have a lot of interest in following Jesus completely, often find it is even harder to follow Jesus, as the example is set right in the home to seek an easier path and approach to life where Jesus is not so essential and front and center to life.

The unbelief of others is indeed discouraging. But how great is the gift that Jesus gives to us. He laid down his life for us on the cross to give us true food and drink. He is wisdom born among us who calls our foolish hearts to repentance and life in him.

May the Lord bless you all with a living faith where your fear of the LORD leads you into all wisdom in handling the fast changing world we live in. May the Lord Jesus bless you with an intimate knowledge of his steadfast love for you. Amen.

Love God’s Word more than any human creations.

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sister in Christ, we know that it is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we are able to sit here in church and focus and listen well as God’s Word is spoken to us. And sometimes our lives can be such where focus is very difficult.

In our gospel reading there are specific details about how pharisees and scribes feel about ceremonial washings and how Jesus’ disciples appeared  to them to eat with defiled hands- that is hands that were not ceremonially cleansed, or vessels like copper pots that were not ceremonially cleansed.  Without a doubt this is not one of the most exciting or captivating gospel readings. No miracle, no apparent connection to Jesus’ amazing love for us on the cross.  

Yes, there are implication for our Christian life and worship as Jesus talks about the danger of outward acts of piety without love for God in our hearts.  However, it is not the most important gospel lesson we have had this summer.  How relevant can a disagreement about the needs and motivations for ceremonial washing be for us when we have gone through a week as a nation with bitter sorrow, knowing that countless American citizens are essentially hostages under a ruthless and dangerous regime?

Perhaps it is a little difficult to be all that concerned about a disagreement about cleansing with water, when we have every reason to believe that thousands of Afghan citizens who helped the U.S. Army in the last 20 years have a bounty on their head and records from the government in the hand of those who consider it a duty to Allah to exact vengeance on such people. How do we focus on God’s Word when the world we live in is so chaotic- where everyone seems to do what they see right in their own eyes without any fear of God?

Yet the Holy Spirit is present with us as we gather for worship. We have been brought here to die to our old self and any expectations of how secular government should be for us, so that we can be born anew in God’s kingdom-  a kingdom which is not of this world.

Yes it may be hard to focus at times, yet God’s Word is always relevant for us.  Because we always have a choice whether we are to put our hope in the promises of God or in the traditions of man.

In our Introit there is a statement of faith that is as relevant as ever to our lives- regardless of what government should collapse next. “Lord I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.” 

There are a lot of things that Americans say that they love.”  Chocolate, the blooming onion ring appetizer you can get at some restaurants, going down a water slide at a water park. But usually when we say that we love things we mean we enjoy them.

I enjoy Taco Bell. It probably would be incorrect grammar to say I love Taco Bell.  Or maybe its not grammar that’s not quite right about these things we say, maybe it is our theology. How does what we say compare to what God’s Word says?

The Psalm verse does not say, Lord I enjoy the habitation of your house, Lord I generally prefer the habitation of your house as long as there are not too many things going on in my life.  It says ‘Lord I love.’ 

It is not the building we love. It’s the promise that the Lord comes to us in this building in worship, that His glory dwells with us, we love that He is there for us no matter what when we approach Him in repentance and faith. That is what we love.

We love because He first loved us. By our human nature we are enemies of God.  Yet by faith we can come into the Lord’s presence not begrudgingly, but with love and commitment and passion, because we have been given new life in Christ, because the part of us that fights against being in the Lord’s house has been drowned in Holy Baptism.

Even as we live in our Baptismal New life in Christ, we still face choices about if we are to love the traditions of man, or if we are going to love God’s Word. In our gospel reading we hear how the traditions of man became just as or more important to the pharisees than God’s Word. They challenged Jesus: “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

 As a way of promoting their self righteousness, the people took up traditions such as hand washing and other cleansing of common everyday materials, as if there actions of making things clean could make them all around better people and more holy. And they used their tradition of upholding these practices as grounds to shame and taunt Jesus and his disciples for not practicing them.

Isaiah chapter 29 describes this outward show of allegiance to God while the heart is elsewhere “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.”

Jesus quotes this passage and correctly applies the meaning of drawing near with mouths and lips as a type of false worship: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

Jesus then says:  “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”  The traditions of men were more dear to their hearts. Instead of saying Lord I love the habitation of your house, they were saying, Lord I love what we have done with this house and how we do things better than other believers. When they made it about themselves they left the commandments of God.  Instead of loving God’s Commandments and loving where God’s glory dwells they loved how good they were at their own traditions.

We have some good traditions of how we do worship. The traditions are good. But if we only see the traditions and miss the glory of God present with us, we are missing the point.  It is God’s Word that we need to treasure. And may Lord have mercy on us that our traditions communicate God’s Word more than our pride in ourselves. As Dr. Fickenscher of Concordia theological Seminary has observed in our worship theme readings this morning: “There is plenty to love and rejoice over God’s Word, without teaching as doctrine the words of man.”

There is indeed so much joy in God’s Word, that we do not need to ever put our chief focus on how well we practice traditions of piety. The appointed verse for this Sunday comes from Jeremiah chapter 15: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”

We can be thankful that in our congregation and in our denomination we do not tell people they need to work harder to be saved, or that people need to have the right emotion and feeling within to be saved. Because we understand the clarity of scripture, and the sufficiency of scripture to save us- we do not feel a need to adopt traditions where we are seeking an emotional experience or another word from God by trying to find evidence or seek signs in the world around us that how we are acting as a church is Godly.  

We believe in the power of God’s Word as an instrument of the Holy Spirit to forgive our sins and save us.  Other church bodies may see the Bible as full of important information that we are given so that we can live our lives according to God’s Will. But they do not see the Bible as what has the power to save us.

In this time in our nation when people focus so much on what our feelings tell us, it appears everyone seeks to do what is right in their own eyes. in this time when so few are listening to God’s Word, the traditions of man are more popular than ever.

May we so love your Word that they are for us our joy and delight. May we see that  we are here in worship not to follow the dictates of our hearts, but to follow God’s heart because we have been called by name. As we sung in our hymn of the day, may we treasure the catechism as Luther taught, not to get lost in traditions, but to follow an order of Christian life that always treasures and gladly receives the gift of Jesus to us.

Christ our Living Bread from Heaven for Eternal Life

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ, here we are, the second Sunday of August. Although still warm summer weather, we are transitioning toward the cultural experience of Fall. School has started for many of our youth. This is the time when whatever has been suspended for family vacations and summer holiday is on the verge of restarting.  We often as a society collectively look forward to the Fall. 

I remember a few years ago a man I had just met who came to counseling because of depression was excited about the start of the football season, “things are finally back to normal!”  That feeling of things back to normal is really a gift.  You cannot make things come back to normal in the way he meant by force of will or enough phone calls and signed petitions, it just happens with the turning of the calendar.

Our faith, our relationship with Jesus, the bread of life, also comes to us as a gift that we  simply cannot make happen on our own.  We heard in our gospel reading: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the last day.” We cannot bring Jesus into our lives by the force of our will, and clearly we cannot make Jesus raise us up on the last day- it is his gift and his will for us.

As we are gathered here this morning, I hope you can feel the excitement that the Father brings us to Jesus.  God the Father has prepared each one of us to receive and know the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. In the Bible, we have come to know Jesus as the very Word of God, the living bread from heaven.

Think of how different what we experience as believers is as compared to the secular lifestyle. Many people in our world today say they are spiritual and not religious. Perennial Lutheran speaker on the radio and internet Pastor Bryan Wolfmeuller describes this approach of being spiritual as basically meaning: ‘I don’t listen to any particular message from God in church, I come up with my own message of what God means for me- whatever I want it to be.’  Essentially for the self identified spiritual only population, God is silent.

In contrast we as Christians do not live in a spiritual silence or wishful thinking about our own intrinsic goodness.  Instead, we have a God who speaks to us in the Bible.  Listen to what Jesus says in verse 40 “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”  We know what God thinks and what God wants for us, to look to the Son in faith and live.

How amazing it is that we know what Jesus wants for us, that we can hear day in and day out from the scriptures how it is that we live our lives and how we can feed on the living bread from heaven. We know that it involves hearing God’s Word and receiving the Lord’s Supper in faith and repentance. 

Although the gospel of John does not describe the Institution of the Lord’s Supper as Matthew Mark and Luke do, Jesus’ words about the living bread from heaven foreshadow what he would later teach on the night before his betrayal.  “I am the living bread that came down from heaven, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  

Remember what Satan said to Eve, as a lie to entice her that she could eat the forbidden fruit and that it would not make her die. “But the serpent said to the woman, you shall not surely die For God know that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Satan was enticing Eve- if you eat this you will be like God. Satan made it seem like this is the best thing in the world to possess. You can’t pass this up.   

As it turns out the forbidden fruit was the worst thing in the world to possess. It brought death into the world. How could eating do such an awful thing? But it was not just the eating, it was the disobeying of God’s commands that was the terrible sin. And as  result God himself came to us in Jesus to obey where we have rebelled.

Jesus came to obey, even to the point of his death on the cross, his flesh given for the life of the world.  And now eating is something we are able to do that connects us with Jesus redeeming what was lost in the world. 

This time it is not an eating out of a desire to be like God on our own terms and through Satan’s influence- but now an eating that is a complete acceptance of God’s truth that Jesus came to save us.  As we eat his body and drink his blood present in the Lord’s Supper we are obeying what God has commanded us- to look to the Son as the living bread for our souls. 

Last Sunday as we looked at the beginning of John chapter 6 we explored what it means for us to take an active role in seeking Jesus as our bread of life.  And again today we hear Jesus invite us to come.  “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.” “All that the Father gives to me will come to me. Whoever comes to me I will not cast out.” And as we started the sermon, we reflected on how it is a gift that Jesus comes to us, it is the Father who brings us to Jesus. 

This gift is given to us because we are loved.  As we hold out our hands to receive the Lord’s Supper we come empty, bringing nothing but our repentance and our sincere need for the life and forgiveness that Jesus brings to us in the Lord’s Supper. 

When you hold out your hands to receive the Lord’s Supper know that this medicine of immortality is given purely as a gift.  CFW Walther reflects that when someone says to a person who is starving, “Come here, sit down and eat!” It is a command in grammar. A command that expects obedience.  But to the hungry it is not a command or a statement of law- it is the sweetest sounding phrase imaginable- pure gospel. Come and eat, come and be nourished with the food that brings life.

May the Holy Spirit continue to bring life to our heavy hearts so that the command to come to Jesus as the bread of life never feels like a burden or an expectation- but instead as a jubilant invitation to take hold of the food in our very mouths that gives us salvation, a food that unlike the manna in the wilderness, never goes bad or has limits.

For those who are younger and not yet admitted to the Lord’s Table, may you look forward in hope to this gift of the Lord’s Supper. And may you know that with all of us here, you already are being fed by Jesus as you hear God’s Word and as the Holy Spirit builds faith in you.

The nourishment we have from Jesus is as broad and deep as His love for us. In our Old Testament reading Elijah was so weary from his journeys and the threat to his life that he was ready to give up fighting- praying and asking the Lord to take his life that day. But in response the angel of the LORD touched him and said one phrase, a command that is also a promise of hope, “Arise and eat.”

We know for elsewhere in scripture that when we hear about the angel of the LORD we are know that God is present in a greater way than an unnamed angel or an angel with a name. The angel of the LORD is the LORD present with us. The Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds seems to be the person of the Trinity who plays this role.

Elijah was nourished two times from the Angel of the LORD and he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights. Elijah was ready for death and instead the living breads from heaven fed him and gave him strength for the journey.

Elijah’s meal of bread and water foreshadowed how Jesus would become for us the bread by which we will not hunger and the living water by which we shall drink and never be thirsty again.

The Fall is coming, change is on the way. Jesus alone is the foundation that makes the Fall a good season. Jesus alone, the rock on which we stand, while we see all around us, all other ground is sinking sand.        

God’s promise of hope for all situations

Posted on by nfuller

“I just want Jesus to rescue me.”  Have you ever thought this? Have you ever felt so discouraged by life challenges, that the prospect of working on one problem at a time seems like too much to bear.  After all problems keep coming up one after another. 

This past week at our church Board meeting I was reminded of some of the problems we face as a congregation. You know the drill: building maintenance costs, people who have left the church a few years ago and how hard it is to operate with less people than before. We also talked about a church steeple repair estimate. If Jesus would just rescue us, we would not need to worry about the inevitable building repair issues.  

Hymn 645 describes this truth: “Built on the Rock the church shall stand, Even when Steeples are falling. Crumbled have spires in every land : Bells still are chiming and calling. Calling the young and old to rest, But above all the souls distressed, Longing for rest everlasting.”  How we long for this rest everlasting that Jesus has for those of us who are weary.

In the meantime, we wait. We wait with the God’s Word strengthening us.  Like the refrain we heard from the Introit: “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.”

We do not wait as the rest of the world does with fear and trembling. We wait in hope because God’s Word is full of hope.  There are two images of hope in our scripture readings this morning, the Rainbow, and Jesus walking out on the water.

As we heard in Genesis chapter 9 the Rainbow is a sign of the promise of the unbreakable covenant between God and all flesh that lives on the earth. This past Spring and this Summer there have been two or maybe three instances where the rainbow present in the sky in the evening after a period of rain has been remarkably vivid and clear.

It is almost unbelievable looking at how big and colorful in the sky a rainbow can be. Yes we can understand the science behind the light spectrum of why rainbows look the way they do. But the science view of rainbows as common phenomenon does not change the fact that the Lord has given the church an understanding of the meaning of the rainbow.

There is no mistaking a rainbow for something else. Nobody would disagree in what they are seeing. This clear natural phenomenon is what God has used to remind us of the hope that God is faithful to us always and will not again destroy the world by a flood.  The rainbow is God’s promise to the whole world and just as much God’s promise to you. The rainbow reminds us that God has bound Himself to us with the promise of protection.

Sometimes we as Missouri Synod Lutherans mistakenly believe that we cannot get very far witnessing the gospel to people who are on the margins of society. The rainbow helps us to see that the promise of God’s love applies to everyone.

Everyone needs to know Jesus died on the cross for them- even those who would tell us that they would never come into a church because they believe the Bible and the church defines them as sinners. The rainbow can remind us that Jesus has come not just for Israel or to the Jews, but to all people. Jesus came not to save the righteous, but sinners.  

The second sign of hope in our reading this morning is found in our gospel lesson:

It was the fourth watch of the night when Jesus saw that they were struggling. It was dark and they were out at the sea.  Jesus most likely saw them working hard against the wind with his divine omniscience, his divine knowledge. Jesus would not normally show off his ability to walk on water, but in order to help others Jesus did so.  

Jesus was able to see that they were working hard at getting back to the shore. He saw their struggle and came out among them.  The disciples were afraid of him because they did not understand who he was, they thought he was a ghost. A ghost would be terrifying to see, especially in the vulnerable position out at sea.

In response to their fears Jesus speaks: “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.”  Jesus told the disciples he is in control. Because Jesus is in control of this world, we do not need to fear no matter what becomes of the world we live in.  

If we are trusting in anything else in our life to make things ok for us we should be very much afraid.  If we trust in a career or a pension, or our health, or our popularity- these all can disappear in a moment.  

But when we trust in Jesus we recognize that no matter what went on yesterday and no matter what may happen tomorrow, Jesus assures us:  ‘Wherever you are I am, my care follows with you.’  “When it is I, you have nothing to fear”

Jesus is here for you, and that is why the church is here for you. We may need to work to organize the church and keep the building in shape, but ultimately what is important is that we see Jesus is here for us, “Do not be afraid, it is I.”

 When Jesus said ‘it is I’ in the gospel of Mark we are reminded of the promises from the Old Testament about God as the great I am.  ‘The Great I am’ has designed that we should all have a church to belong to.  The church is here for this reason, to bring us to Jesus. 

Fellowship, community, soon a Carillon chime on the hour are all good things we can find here at church, but it is all about Jesus. Without Jesus we have nothing here at church.

Jesus is with us in our everyday lives. Many churches in our nation see the work of the Holy Spirit as playing a role in taking us outside of our normal everyday life activities and moving us toward a calling God gives to us. But we see that the Holy Spirit works right within our normal everyday life. 

We in the Lutheran church understand that the work of the Holy Spirit is to come into our very daily life relationships and vocations. It is not so much about leaving behind who we are, but instead letting the Holy Spirit transform us in who we are and how we live in the context of our very daily life, were Jesus tells us, “Don’t be afraid, it is I”

In the everyday challenges of life He, the Holy Ghost is with us.  The Holy Spirit does not just bring us to believe or bring us to have faith, but also to give life to our faith. Just like the rainbow is a sign that God preserves our lives and his promise remains, so we should also see in the rainbow a sign that our faith will continue to grow to make us more like Jesus as we grow in love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  Ideally we need to be practicing love toward one another to best grow in these areas.

We may wish Jesus would rescue us in our congregation. But the truth is, Jesus already has. He has already gifted us with the bond of unity as we have all been baptized into one Spirit.  Jesus gives us the faith we need to get through finding our next music director, paying off our mortgage and finding a way to care for one another after all of the changes to our congregation and all of the changes in our world.

The Holy Spirit  nurtures our faith so that we are rescued by God’s power day in and day out. We can face one problem at a time in our lives because with each challenge our faith is refined and we are made more and more like Christ. No matter how old we are, we are always growing through the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s Word gives us hope. Our role here at Christ Lutheran is to look past everyday struggles and disappointments and see how the love of Jesus changes everything.

Jesus cares for us in the desolate place

Posted on by nfuller

Have you ever had someone lead you astray from the path you were going on? I think of the college student who is all prepared to spend the evening studying for a test until a friend comes along and says, ‘you will have your whole life to study, this party is only going to be tonight.’ Or the desert you are not planning on eating until someone says, ‘are you sure you want to skip it, it is homemade with the best of ingredients.’

We have only ourselves to blame when we are no longer on the path we set out to be on.  But it can be hard to stay focused if you see what others have and you think, ‘why not me, what is the worst that can happen.’ It is like we all have this fear that if we stay on the path of righteousness, then we will miss out on some appealing and enjoyable things.

But the risk of being led astray is not only from that which is within our sinful hearts. Satan is trying us and challenging us to go astray every day. Remember the movie “Back to the Future”, where the one insult that Mary McFly cannot manage to let slide has a way of shaping his destiny. “What’s a matter McFly, Are you Chicken?”

As he chants his rally call that nobody calls him chicken- he has relented from any form of self control or composure that he would normally aspire to.  What might be the weak point that Satan uses to take you off your game? You should probably know what it is, because Satan certainly does.

The world around us also stands as a ever present obstacle to our focus on the way of righteousness.  There are people all around us with the potential to lead us astray.  Some people in our world cannot get enough of opportunities to influence and lead others in their image. Perhaps it serves to validate their sense of identity.

The directions the world pushes us to go is part of what it means to live in a fallen world, everywhere you turn there are going to be people who are looking at what you might bring to them, often seeking their own interests instead of yours.

Have you heard of YouTube channels that people run? You can find people who put on their own content up for hours each day on You Tube channels with the express purpose of getting a following of devoted subscribers.  When people are accumulating followers, we should ask, what influence do they have on their followers?  Are they encouraging their followers to abide in Christ, or is there some other path they are leading people to?

Picture what it would be like if people were following you through every step in life.  What guidance would you give to people? How do you know you if you really have their best interests in mind?

In our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah chapter 23 we hear a pronouncement of severe judgment toward those who lead others astray: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”  Who are these shepherds? Those in charge in society, heads of households, leaders of families, priests scribes, elders.  They have scattered the people in hopelessness. Following the example of Adam, they have cared for themselves before others. And soon there is more division than unity, more discord than peace.

How did the shepherds of Israel get this way?  Did they think to themselves, let’s go as far from the Lord’s guidance as we possibly can.  Not likely. Instead, what happened is that the shepherds of Israel lost sight of the Lord and tried to lead the people out of the reservoir of their own impoverished and empty hearts.  Without a connection to the Lord, they had little to offer to the people they were entrusted to care for.

The Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah that this kind of leadership would not go on forever unchallenged. The LORD promised to bring back those who have been scattered, to shepherd those who have not been attended to. Where people failed, the LORD himself acts.

And so the people were promised shepherds who will care for them.  And what is more a promise was made of a shepherd who would come from the branch of David who will bring justice and righteousness to the land.  And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Jesus of course is this shepherd of righteousness. The Lord Jesus is the only one who can shepherd us and give us security. The name ‘the Lord is our righteousness’ helps us to see that when we are in the wilderness of this world, the Holy Spirit connects us to Jesus and makes us righteous. He leads us on the right path, the narrow path of salvation and righteousness. And Jesus does this through love and mercy and kindness.

Jesus does not scatter the people who come to him. Instead, he cares for them and offers hospitality. As we heard in the feeding of the 5,000 this morning, Jesus has compassion on others in a way that could easily change or complicate his agenda for the day.  Jesus’ love puts to shame all of those other paths in life that we may be drawn to. Jesus drives away Satan one lie at a time, showing with God’s Word that His truth prevails over all.

We are much like the shepherds of Israel, the fruits of our self centered agendas in life can easily serve to scatter or destroy the sheep fold. In our human capacity we do not have what it takes to shepherd people. After all, how much provision can we give to others when we ourselves so often struggle to stay afloat- glad if we are at least treading water for the time being. 

But the truth is in Christ we are not just treading water, we are soaring out of the water. Jesus has overcome Satan and the sting of death. Whenever Satan tries to hold us down, it is only a temporary trial. We know in Christ we will soar through the air, and on the last day we will soar into the sky and meet Jesus in the air. 

In the desolate place Jesus provided to the people. We face wilderness day by day as we are tested by Satan and endure spiritual attacks. Jesus alone gives us strength to manage trials of this word- and to care for those who are our neighbors.  Only in Christ as a new creation can we live out our relationships where we care for one another day in and day out, year by year.  

Think of what it would be like to journey through an actual stretch of wilderness and desert. How much water would you need to carry with you? Think of how important it would be to know where you are going so you do not go in circles.  Consider how important it would be to have a supply of food, and how some foods with empty calories would not be worth carrying.

It is the same in the wilderness of this life. How can we afford to go in circles by looking to Jesus one day and looking to the false idol of the week the next day?  How can we afford to pack liquids that does not satisfy or quench our thirst? Only in God’s Word can we find all of the refreshment and strength we need.

We have the gift of the Holy Spirit so that the Lord is our Shepherd wherever we go. As we prayed at the start of our worship  service: “You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

Unless the Lord builds our house…

Posted on by nfuller

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127        There are two ways to look at what can be built and established in this world.  What God establishes and what man establishes.

The tower of Babel was built by people in the years after the flood, so that they could make a name for themselves. The Lord did not build this tower and the only reason we even know the tower ever existed is not that it was built so well that it remained as landmark in architectural achievement, but instead we know about this tower because it caused the scattering of the nations and confusion of languages.

As the church we don’t try and build a Tower of Babel 2.0, we recognize the folly in trying to build a name for ourselves.   No building committee would ever put forward such an ill- fated design concept.  It is self evident, that if you try and build something that is opposed to God’s design, something that tries to compete with God- it will certainly fall with a great crash!  

We don’t try and remake the tower of Babel, we know our house needs to be built on the foundation of rock- not on sand. Yet if we are honest with ourselves, we are very often in the business of building our own house.  After all we live in a world that rebuilds the tower all of the time.

Part of our American culture is that we often expect that whatever plans we make in life, they will come true because we work hard and stay determined in life. As if we are entitled to have our wishes for success come true.

We often come up with an idea of what is going to work out in life, or what we would like to see happen.  And we may pray about decisions we are going to make in life, but so often our minds are already made up. We have a good handle on what is going to work in our lives, and too much deliberation on God’s Word very well may slow us down from where we are going.

And what happens as we move forward so quickly in life with our own plans? We are of course humbled. God’s ways are not our ways. We face disappointment and failure as we see for ourselves how difficult life in the fallen world can be as we try to chart our own future.  Some of our plans may come together, but if the motivation for our plans is for our selfish gain or material pursuits, we will find empty results.

The imagery of a house does not only describe our future plans, but also our very lives, body and soul. If our house is built on something other than the foundation of

Christ the cornerstone, our labor is in vain. Apart from Christ you may build and rebuild and redesign things in your life, but there will not be a maturation of purpose and identity.

There will be no central thread of purpose or hope. Think of those who live life apart from the Lord’s promises. What gives life meaning for people who do not ‘seek first the kingdom of God’?

Maybe an inspirational quote on a calendar here and there. Some good times with family and friends from time to time. Some favorite programs or stories perhaps.  Some achievements and recognitions in society.  But what ties a life together if only for this world you have hope? What is life from one year to the next? From one day to the next even?

Our gospel reading begins with people that doubt Jesus, and in fact accuse him of being crazy. Out of contempt for what Jesus is able to accomplish, they accuse Jesus of building his foundation with Satan as the driving force for his miraculous works.

Unless the Lord builds the house… how could Jesus perform any of the works he does without the power of the Lord? What would it really accomplish? Maybe a few moments of popularity or 15 minutes of fame? But by this time in Mark chapter 3 we hear about how Jesus has cleansed a leper, cleanses a man with an unclean spirit and helps a paralyzed man walk, and healed many others. 

Of even greater significance than the healings and expelling of demons, Jesus accomplished the obedience to God’s Word that all mankind before were unable to achieve. For forty days after his baptism, Jesus took our place in the wilderness and faced temptations by Satan.  And Jesus overcame the temptations through the power of God’s Word. Clearly the labors of Jesus were built by the Lord.

Jesus answered the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, he refuted the logic of their claim that He was possessed by Satan.  “How can Satan cast out Satan?”  If Jesus was really drawing on the power of Satan, how would Satan possibly stand for Jesus casting out demons and tearing down Satan’s kingdom?

The only possible answer is that the power of Jesus is of God.  Only as the Son of God could Jesus have the power to drive out demons.  This is what Jesus means when he talks about how the strong man must be bound in order to plunder his goods.  How could anyone take Satan’s minions down a notch if Satan himself is there defending the house?

The Lord built the house of salvation in Israel through the promises of a Savior. Genesis 3:15 shows us the first promise of the Savior. Adam and Eve’s descendant will crush Satan’s head at the cost of a devastating blow to the heel.

This house was built not on human logic- it was built with a genealogy, and people who were imperfect and marred by sin. Patriarchs like Jacob who gained an inheritance though deception and greed.  The genealogy even includes the scandalous mention of Tamar who was so let down by her family that she wrongfully committed incest with her father in law Judah, as we see in Genesis chapter 38. 

The house of salvation was built by the greatest scandal of all- that the Son of God should suffer and die on the cross.

On this house of salvation, on the rock who is our Savior Jesus, nothing can harm or destroy.  Listen to the words from our gospel lesson about the forgiveness Jesus promises:  “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter.”

After the Fall Adam and Eve were afraid to be in the presence of God. They did not believe their sin could be forgiven by God. Adam tried to save himself, not by appealing to God’s mercy, but by blaming Eve.  It is hard for us to believe that our sins are forgiven, even the blasphemies we may utter such as blaming others or blaming God for our own sin.  Yet this forgiveness is exactly what Jesus is promising.

In the context of talking about how He alone is powerful enough to bind Satan- the strongman who tries to occupy our house, Jesus talks about the sin against the Holy Spirit, which alone cannot be forgiven.  

This sin is to exclude Jesus from your life, reject the confession that He is your Lord and Savior, and open the door for the strongman Satan to be unbound and be the ruler of this world to you.

As believers we cannot commit this sin against the Holy Spirit unless we become firm that we no longer wish to follow Jesus, that God’s salvation is not for us. We pray for those who become confused in their thinking to conclude that somehow building your own house is the better option than what the Lord delights to build for them.

As we journey to the last day, the Lord does indeed build our house, and our labors of faith are never in vain. Amen.

The Trinity is the truth of God’s love for us.

Posted on by nfuller

Why is it important that we are here this morning? It is Memorial Day weekend, and there are many places people like to visit to get a first taste of Summer travel and activities. Here in Indianapolis, I was reminded this week it is less often called Memorial Day Weekend, but instead Race Weekend.  Our very city the epicenter of the sports world for a day.

I remember when I was young there was a Simpsons episode that showed a nearly empty worship space on Superbowl Sunday. The church sign outside the building for First Church of Springfield had the message to the public of “Every Sunday is Super Sunday.”

Rev. Lovejoy begins to speak to a few ladies near the front and a man in the back: “Well I’m glad some people could resist the lure of the big game.” The punchline of the scene is that the man in the back stands up and says, “Oh no! I forgot the game.” And then runs out….  How important is it to be here to celebrate Trinity Sunday?

We have had Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. Isn’t Trinity Sunday a bit of an afterthought? A chance to think about the Trinity and see the big picture of scripture, that is all it is- right? Maybe in some ways this is just another Sunday.

I can imagine there have been plenty of Trinity Sundays in years past here or in other places where the temperature outside is warm and maybe there is not A/C working very well and it is easy to dose off a little bit in the warm almost stale air as the pastor talks about illustrations of the Trinity and what it means for us. The longer than usual Athanasian Creed might be confessed, and the different terminologies might also instill a bit of drowsiness. So how important is it?

Let’s take a look at the Athanasian Creed on page 319 of the hymnal. Let’s read together the first four verses:

“Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.”

How important is it that we are here today, that the church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Trinity? It is as important as our salvation. If you wish to be saved you must hold the catholic faith. And if you don’t worship one God in Trinity, you have something else than the one true faith and you have no hope.

It is important that we gather here today because many in history have tried to call themselves Christians, but they do not believe that Jesus is truly God. When people depart from the scripture on the Triune nature of our God, they inevitably err in ways that either elevate man and works righteousness as being their God, or err on the side of denying God’s love and compassion to us- such as is the case with Islam.  

I saw a headline on the news yesterday that now as the seating capacity to sports events has opened up again, fans at some of the games are getting into some ugly fights and arguments with one another. One star basketball player even had popcorn dumped on him as he was walking from the court to the locker room after being injured.

I bring this up because it makes me think how in these days of societal chaos and divisiveness stoked by the mainstream media, the passions of Americans are misguided. We have strong feelings about who is wearing a mask and who is not, but we do not have strong feelings of the importance of protecting the truth of what the scripture teaches about our God.

Certainly, Satan wants us to downplay or ignore Trinity Sunday so that we are ripe to be misled by false teachings that lead to pride or complete despair. It is good that we are here to worship and receive our Lord’s gifts, and reflect on the clear teaching of our God’s Triune nature.

Here on Trinity Sunday, it is an important activity that we worship the God who has called us by the gospel. Listen to these Liturgical texts:

“To You do we call, You do we praise, You do we worship, O blessed Trinity.”  Glory be to You, coequal Trinity, one God before all worlds began, and now forevermore.”

And from Revelation chapter 4 “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Our LSB editors summarize the feast of the Holy Trinity: “Certainly the essence of God is beyond our weak comprehension, but He has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we want to summarize all the Holy Scripture says about God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, we call Him the Holy Trinity. One title, Holy Trinity and we are confessing all of the things the scripture says about our God.”

To worship God is to celebrate and affirm the work of salvation given to us.  We repeat the deliverance God has provided for us as we remember God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

From the beginning of Genesis we hear about God creating our world from the expanse of heaven and to the close of scripture in Revelation chapter 22 we hear about the promise of Jesus: “Surely I am coming soon.” Our worship sees together all at once the beginning and the end, Jesus the Alpha and the Omega.

The doctrine of the Trinity is about God’s action in the world just as much as it is about a theology of identity of who the LORD is as one God and three persons.  The phrase actions speak louder than words holds true in many circumstances, and none more so that in the process of describing God’s love for us.  

Chapter 1 of Genesis  makes clear beyond all doubt God’s love for us in the goodness of creation.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day.”  At the end of six days what God created was delightful, and without qualification good.  The goodness of creation is a fixed truth, we cannot add to it or take away from it. 

We are part of the goodness of creation and the most beautiful of cathedrals and works of architecture and art are a continuation of the goodness of God’s creation.

Genesis chapter 1 not only teaches us that creation is good, but also that creation is the specific way in which God shows His love and care for us.  We see God’s love for us in countless ways from the food we eat, to the sunshine and morning breeze that gladdens our hearts, to the design of our bodies that allows us to accomplish so many things within this creation.

We know a great deal about God’s nature and order through what we can see of creation.  A God who created the world is a God who loves the world enough to order days and seasons in perfect balance. 

We also learn from Genesis chapter 1 that mankind was created distinct from all of the rest of creation.  We are in a class all by ourselves. We alone have been created in God’s Image and given the breath of life. 

Man was created out of the earth and has been given the specific task of caring for the earth. The account of God’s creation of the world is an account of our purpose in the world as caretakers of the earth. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God speaks about our dominion over every living thing on earth.  Not dominion for the purpose of reinforcing our own pride and self centerdness. Instead dominion for the purpose of serving God through serving those we have been entrusted to care for in creation.

We are caretakers of God’s creation, and we are also a part of His creation. In fact we are even joined in Christ with God’s Spirit. The Spirit gives us life, and unites us together as one body.  In Holy Baptism God’s Triune name has been placed upon us. We serve God not as a people who are distinct and distant from our Triune God, but as people who have been joined into God’s kingdom through Christ, a people who have all been baptized into one Spirit.                                   

 Blessed indeed be the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity, let us give glory to him, because he has shown his mercy to us.”

In the church we are a new creation in Christ.

Posted on by nfuller

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every situation everyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”  Peter opened his mouth and spoke God’s truth. Peter who on many occasions was known to act before thinking, Peter who was so often impulsive.  Who said he would die with Jesus and then days later denied Jesus three times, who even at the Transfiguration interrupted the holy conversation Jesus was having with Moses, and Elijah. This same Peter spoke after the resurrection of Jesus about God’s love for all people- Jews and Gentiles alike.

Something changed in Peter’s life. How he saw things, what life meant to him, and how God’s mercy is manifested in the world- all of these looked different to Peter. 

The month of May is for some a month that is rich with emotion. There is mother’s day, which we celebrate today, which brings awareness of change and relationships we are grateful for. 

In the month of May High school and college students typically close out their school year and about a quarter of college students are finishing a degree program. From first steps to first day of school.  First lost teeth, to first day with a driver’s license. And now walking across the stage a young man has graduated high school and is now starting a new direction in life – leaving behind the years of life with family. 

So much changes when a young man or woman goes off to college.  From mom’s kitchen to a college dorm cafeteria. New routines in life abound in this context, when you sleep and when you rise, who you spend your time with, new friends and social settings, novel class subjects and many possibilities for change in identity.

Many college students must chose for themselves to continue attending a church and abiding in Jesus. Going along with what your family does is no longer an option. How can you really know what you believe until you can choose things for yourself?

Family loyalty can be a strong thing. Yet Jesus teaches that following his commands is a choice a person needs to make apart from the tradition of family: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Apart from the tradition of Israel, Peter learned to welcome Gentiles.  Earlier in Acts chapter 10 Peter is on a roof top praying and the Lord put him into a trance where he sees the heavens opened and a great sheet being let down by four corners. The sheet holds and abundant array of animals that are not part of the designated clean foods outlined in the law- including birds and reptiles.  Accompanying this great sight Peter receives a voice that says: “Rise Peter, Kill and Eat.” Right on cue Peter answers with the obedience of one who follows God’s law: “By no means, Lord: for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Now Peter receives a more clear statement with the same message: “What God has made clean do not call common.”

Peter grew up knowing the difference between what was clean and what was unclean. He knew well what things you can eat and who you can eat with.   What once Peter knew and experienced about life is now changing rapidly before Peter’s eyes.  Next Peter has a gentile visitor, Cornelius. Peter catches on that where in the past it would be unlawful for him to receive him in his home- now this is God’s good and perfect will.  Peter learned a lesson about God’s love to all people. Jesus has made everything clean. Jesus has made everything new.  On the cross as Jesus paid for the sin of the world all of the old distinctions between clean and unclean no longer mattered- for in Christ all is made clean.

Ephesians chapter 2 talks about the change Jesus brought to the world: “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands- remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise , having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Peter experienced this change- where the separation from God was bridged, and hope now abounded.

Peter preached this change to all who would hear, including the gentiles he is addressing in our reading from Acts.  He could never go back again to the old way of seeing everyone as either clean or unclean, Jew of Gentile- all he could see instead was the righteousness of Christ adorning his people with gladness and joy.

When you have reached the next step in your life- when the movie posters come off your walls and Ramen noodles are no longer a staple-  you move on to the next things the Lord has planned for you. 

It is amazing how much you can accomplish in a new role in life. Whether you had that experience of change in going away to college or if there have been other milestones of change that have come to your mind- in either case, the novelty of a new place in life has a way of bringing clarity of purpose in life. Good intentions abound, and motivation is usually in a good place.

Sure you may look at the past and remember how things used to be- and the past does shape the person you have become, but you do not find the same purpose in the past because you have changed. In Christ you are a new creation.

Jesus knew ahead of time the changes that were coming in our lives and in the lives of the twelve disciples. In our gospel lesson Jesus is speaking with the twelve at length for the last time before his arrest and crucifixion. Jesus knew it was time to prepare them for this change where their lives would never be the same again.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Jesus asked them to remain in His love and to keep his commandments- these are one and the same things. To remain in Jesus’ love is to forsake old family loyalties for the sake of following Jesus, it is to remain as a new creation in Christ, leaving behind our sinful nature, leaving behind all of those old outdated and useless ways. Keeping Jesus’ commandments requires that we accept that he is one with the Father’s commandments.

And Jesus gives on specific example of following his commandments- of walking in the way of His love. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

  The love of Jesus changes us to the point where the meaning of love is much different than we may have been raised to think living in our culture. Love is no longer a feeling of infatuation that comes and goes, but instead it is an enduring commitment to sacrifice for one another- to look for the good of the other even to the point of laying down your life to protect another.

One of the most enduring instances of sacrificial love described in the scripture is that of marriage. “Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,”  This calling to love so selflessly is not done of our own power, but through the power of Christ.

Marriage changes us to where we leave mother and father and the two become one flesh. And this change St. Paul teaches us, is a change that points to an even more profound mystery – the marriage between Christ and the church- a relationship we are all in whether single, widowed or divorced. We are the church, we are the bride of Christ, and thanks be to God, our lives will never be the same.