Tag: Matthew 13

The church looks forward to one Great Day.

Posted on by nfuller

What are you looking forward to? The holidays? The next congregational voters meeting? The next vacation? High School Graduation? Maybe a better question to ask is, what does the church look forward to? We heard the answer in our Introit: “We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” Put quite simply, the church waits for Jesus, the church longs for Jesus to return.

There are a lot of voices in our world that say it is a bad idea to think about the future too often, and that the best thing to do is live in the moment. They say if you can’t live in the moment there are too many regrets from the past that will weigh you down, and too many worries about the future that will make your heart tremble.

However, looking for the return of Jesus in the future is a faithful action, and an undeniably good thing. This longing for the future does not introduce an undue extra stress or worry into our lives.  Instead as we look forward in hope we are grounded in our current life challenges with the sure and certain hope of Jesus as our hope and joy.  

When Jesus returns our role is to take in the unsurpassed joy of the Last day. Until that time Jesus urges us to stay spiritually vigilant. Stay awake!

There are no shortage of examples in the scripture of the followers of Jesus falling asleep and missing the mark to be ready in faith. Our sinful human nature draws us to see much more of the task and challenges of everyday life before  us- so that we can relegate watching for Jesus to return as an afterthought.   

It is perhaps even hard for us to picture this day, because we have not had any day like what it will be.  You can think of past Christmases that brought joy and wonder to your heart, past Easter services, weddings and school graduations. Or perhaps world events you watched on tv,  the coronation day of a king or queen.  Maybe you remember watching the scenes on the news the day the Berlin Wall fell down, and the surprising relief that after so many years the cold war was over just like that.

The Day of the Lord is different than any holiday or big event in history because it will change everything about the world and our lives. It will be the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation, our faith will become sight. We will be with the Lord forever, the final act of the Bible will play out before us as Jesus is in the air with all of the Saints in the great resurrection.

What was thought of as long dead and broken, and decayed will be brought to life, the bodies of believers and the church itself will have her faith now as glorious sight.

Listen to the word of Scripture in 1Thesalonnians: 4:16 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” What a picture of the future that awaits us, of what we have to look forward to!

In our gospel lesson Jesus gives another perspective of what there is to look forward to or more precisely what t here is to expect. Namely complete destruction until the time Jesus returns 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

The same things was prophesied by Isaiah: Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

 The earth and even the heavens will be destroyed, but God’s Word remains, Jesus remains as he comes down from the clouds and makes all things new. It is important for us to remember and pay attention to the reality Jesus gives about the sun darkened and the moon not giving its light, because it helps for us to fully grasp that this world is passing away, that our emotional attachment cannot be for the things of this world.

As a result we are prepared to look forward to a new heaven and a new earth that Jesus creates. Once we clearly see that this world is passing away, we are truly prepared for Jesus to return.

Our congregation is going through a difficult period for our worship attendance. A few have been called to the Lord, a few people moved out of the area, some have stopped attending worship since Covid, and health problems have created a barrier for  attending regularly for some of our brothers and sisters in Christ who would like to be here.

Virtually every congregation has dropped in attendance after the events of the past few years, but the difficulty is particularly felt for us as a small congregation. It is hard to come to a nearly empty sanctuary and not feel a little outnumbered by empty pews. It can be discouraging to be here without those who were once with us.

But despite the discouragement, we are here as an outpost of Christ’s love and truth in a world where the lies of Satan so often seem to rule the day. God’s kingdom grows in ways we do not always see and expect and God’s Word has the power to grow this congregation again because the Holy Spirit is always working in our lives and in the world.

And we are part of a larger Lutheran church that also walks with us. In a few weeks our choir ranks will double as St. Paul joins with us again in Christmas Caroling.  Our children’s choir has provided extra life to our ministry to our youth, with participants from 3 other Lutheran congregations and counting.

I have talked with some of you already about the mission possibilities of outreach to the deaf community through Peace Deaf Lutheran. 

We need to know that although this world is passing away, God’s Word remains, and His church will remain no matter what the situation.  

In 1Kings chapter 6 there is an account of how the king of Syria has sent and army with chariots to surround the city where Elisha and the King of Israel are. When the servant of the Lord felt overwhelmed by the danger Elisha told him:

“Do not be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

7 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Just like the nation of Israel under siege all those years ago, we are in a time where it looks like we are outnumbered. We need to pray that our eyes are opened to see the Lord’s armies supporting us. We need to see the great scope of support we have in the Lord Jesus who now reigns over heaven and earth.

We need the Lord to open our eyes to see how we are not alone, how the Lord and the entire heavenly host cheers for us. We will soon be in the joy of being counted with people from every tribe and nation coming before the throne of the Lamb.   

The 3rd stanza of our hymn of the Day, Lo! He comes with Clouds Descending paints a picture of the bliss we will have in seeing the Lord Jesus in his exalted state after the resurrection. We will see the marks of his crucifixion as the greatest of all pictures of love.

“Those dear tokens of His passion, still His dazzling body bears, Cause of endless exultation To His ransomed worshipers. With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture gaze we on those glorious scars!

The joy of finding what is lost

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ it is easy to resent those who don’t play by the rules.  We have all seen those who drive up in lane closures to merge at  the very front of the line instead of waiting with everyone else.  It is easy to mistrust those who have such different values in life that little things you value seem to mean nothing to them.

In our gospel reading from Luke, the Pharisees and Scribes are struggling to see Jesus befriending those who don’t [play by the rules or value what they value.  Jesus is eating with tax collectors, and sinners!

They begin to criticize the choice Jesus makes to eat with sinners and tax collectors. To their reasoning, why should Jesus eat with these sinners when there are plenty of righteous people to dine with? They don’t understand the choice Jesus made, and they assume it was a poor choice. They have made their choice long ago to only spend time with those who appear to be flawless like them.

 Jesus answers with three parables that illustrate how what looks to be an undesirable  choice from the self righteous is actually a clear the choice.  The clear choice is for God to seek after and rescue those who are lost.

Jesus shames their hasty choice to cast off any consideration for the outcasts of their day.  He states in his parable of the lost sheep that it is self evident that any of them would seek after one of their 100 lost sheep and bring it safely back in the fold. The value of the 1 sheep is significant, and the 99 are not necessarily in greater danger in seeking after the one.   

A shepherd will without hesitation seek after the 1 lost sheep out of 100. Likewise Jesus describes the woman seeking after the lost coin, and states that it is a given that anyone in the same position as the woman will look for the lost coin.

The Pharisees likely did not have seen things that way.  They might count their losses and conclude that having 99 sheep that are safe is good enough.  Their perspective on the scenario is about self interest or business management. 

Jesus is providing a divine perspective that is grounded not in self interest but in God’s steadfast love.  Finding the lost one out of 99 is a cause for celebration not because it represents a recovery of 1% of the owners assets, but because it means everything to that particular sheep which is lost. 

To any one person who is lost and without a right relationship with Jesus, being found and rescued by Jesus brings a complete change of fortune.  For this reason when a person who has been lost, is found by Jesus, it is cause for great rejoicing.  The choice for God is clear cut, spare no expense to save the lost. There is no comparison or cost benefit analysis about how the person who is lost is worth less than all those who are safely in the fold.

The lost are not simply those outside of the church, but can also include us.  Recall St. Paul’s confession of faith from our Epistle lesson: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

Every Christian must like St. Paul be able to recognize the ways in which you can see yourself as chief of sinners in need of God’s mercy.  Satan wants us to think of ourselves in the church as firmly entrenched in the ranks of the righteous 99, in no danger of falling away.

But the reality is that we are safe only in our faith in Christ.  It is a mistake to assume that simply belonging to a church and having an identity as a Christian is what makes us  among the 99 described in the parable.  If we are secure in our own righteousness and have no need of Jesus, then we are no different than the lost.  Without the mercy of Christ, we are in a manner of speaking right at the edge of a cliff, susceptible to falling off and becoming one who is lost and separated from the fold. 

When we recognize that we also can be among those who are lost, we appreciate even more the mercy of God that saves us.  When we appreciate how Jesus has given everything to go after us and find us in our state of lostness, we desire to show the same to others.

Our gospel reading implies a few application takeaways for us the church. First of all, don’t take for granted the joy Jesus has in us, as he rescues us from our state of lostness and celebrates that we have been found.  It would be a mistake to think that God does not take joy in us because of our failures to live our lives in unwavering faith.  When we repent of the mistakes we make Jesus welcomes us back with great joy.  The joy is not confused with emotions, of, “well I’m glad you are found again, but you never should have ran off in the first place.” 

When my wife and I only had our oldest son, he was at the age where he liked to hold onto a car or two on a shopping trip or whatever errand we went on.  Since I remembered these cars from when I was young, I was sad when it seemed like they were gradually disappearing one by one.  I checked under couches, in our cars and in his room and only found one or two more-but probably at least 7 unaccounted for.  Son, did you ever put any of your cars in the garbage? Have you been leaving them at stores? Do you remember where you put them?  Week and weeks passed by and I concluded that one way or another I would not see them again.

Until one day my wife began a yoga or pilates video in our family room.  While laying on her mat she was face to face with a hot wheel car- inside our bass speaker. The bottom of the speaker was just wide enough for a 2 year old arm to fit in. A few shakes of the speaker and everything lost and then some was found.      

How much greater is the joy when a person who was lost is found!  There is joy in telling the lost about Jesus.  The joy of sharing the good news of the gospel with the lost is that some people do respond in faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.  And even if we do not see people repenting in response to God’s Word, as we share God’s Word we are giving ourselves the chance to internalize in our lives the good news of the kingdom.  Nothing helps us to know and understand Jesus love for us more than learning how to describe to others what we believe Jesus does for us.  

Who in our surrounding community do we tend to write off as lost causes in our world today? Those who say they don’t believe in God? Those who simply give no thought to spiritual matters in their life?  Those who are bitter over life circumstances and feel they would not trust others in the church- they will hurt me like everyone else has hurt me in my life.

Do we consider any of these people lost causes? Jesus does not.  Lost causes are His specialty. Lost causes are the ones who really give great reason for celebrating and rejoicing when they are found through repentance and new life in Christ.

Prior to the gift of saving faith in our baptism, we were enemies of God on account of our sin. Jesus sought us out and called us through His Word and through the gift of new life in Holy Baptism.  We were sought after as hopelessly lost causes- and great was the rejoicing in heaven when we were found.  Remember the words from our Old Testament reading from Ezekiel: “I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.”

God sent his own Son to us to search for us and rescue us. Just like in the parable of the lost sheep and coin, Jesus considered us so important that he rejoiced over finding us.  This unsurpassed worth in which God places the lost is described well in the short parable of the merchant in search of the pearl of great worth in the gospel of Matthew chapter 13: 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

We often read this parable as a lesson about valuing our relationship with God above all else, as in we should be like that merchant and recognize that our relationship with God is more valuable than any other pearls out there in the world.  However in the context of all of the scripture and the rest of the gospel of Matthew it is clear that the most accurate meaning of this parable Jesus told is that Jesus himself is the merchant in search of us.  The church is that pearl of great price that Jesus gave all he had to posses.   

This is a wonderful perspective on how God sees us.  An invaluable perspective in our proclaiming the good news of the kingdom to the lost.  We can let those who seem like lost causes know that in God’s eyes they are of unsurpassed worth. They are to Jesus a pearl of great worth for whom Jesus gave up everything without a moment’s hesitation. Not just a lost coin but a lost jewel in the radiant setting of the church’s crown.   May God grant us faith that helps us to speak about this love of Jesus and show this love in our lives.

The church is the Pearl of Great Price, which Jesus gave all he had to obtain

Posted on by nfuller

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46

In the past the church often assumed that the pearl of great value represents Jesus, and we as believers give up everything we have in order to obtain Him. Recognizing that He is worth more than anything else in the world.  In a basic sense it is true that God’s kingdom is worth more than anything else we could have or desire.

But nowhere else in the scripture is it the case that people can make a financial transaction to possess God. God is not our possession. We are God’s beloved possession.  Instead the rest of scripture indicates that Jesus sold all he had to buy us. He paid for us with his precious blood. Jesus did not hesitate, out of love for us, the pearl of great price he gave up his life on the cross.

We as the church are the treasure that is buried in the field and purchased with eager marvelous joy.  We are hidden among the world, we are the wheat hidden among the weeds.

As a child I like to collect things. Baseball cards, comic books, action figures. A common wishful thinking daydream of mine was that I would some day find an old crate or lock box in a dusty attic somewhere, maybe left behind from a previous owner of a home, maybe somewhere else. In my daydream that box would contain old baseball cards from say the 1920s or 30s, and maybe some old valuable comic books.

Now as an adult I realize that finding such a treasure would only be of limited value to me, and would only bring temporary joy.  Now I know the real treasures of this world are not what we can find, but instead true treasure is God finding us and showing us His perfect love.

God knows how precious we are.  Because of God’s love we have become a treasure, beloved for eternity.

The small daughter of a famous artist was once asked which child was her mother’s favorite.  The little girl replied: “She loves Jimmy the best because he’s the oldest, and she loves Johnny the best because he’s the youngest. And she loves me best because I am the only girl.”

Parents have their own imperfect way of loving each child best. Even more so, God loves us personally, no matter what our life experience is or what we have accomplished in life.  Jesus wants us to recognize that we are all precious in His sight, all the pearl of great worth. 

But Jesus also wants us to know that the entire church is the pearl of great price, not just me. Jesus did not die on the cross so that I could go on about my life secure in my salvation without any further thought about my life in God’s kingdom.  As Luther writes in the explanation of the 2nd article of the Apostles Creed about Jesus purchasing us with his blood:

All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness, just as he has risen from death and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.

The church is the pearl of great price because being his own people means receiving the gifts of Jesus through the means he intended- gathering for the divine service as one body in Christ and receiving his gifts.

When you know someone loves you, it makes you feel your worth so much more. Even more so we feel our worth knowing that we have such worth in God’s eyes as the church, His spotless and perfect bride.

If young men and women in our churches could understand what great worth they have as individuals and as part of the church, how different might the decisions be that our youth make. If youth were properly taught what a treasure they are to Jesus, how much less would be the temptations of the treasures of popularity with peers, material pursuits and pursuits of vanity.

If parents understood the worth they are to God, how much more confidently and joyfully might they raise their children in the faith!  How sad that the joy of God’s kingdom is so often hidden among us through our failing to see how precious we are to God and what an unsurpassed gift of grace we have in the church. May God grant many more to see the big picture of following Jesus, who has paid with his life for us the pearl of great price.