241110 Sermon on the extraordinary nature of faith (Pentecost 25) November 10, 2024

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In our Gospel reading we meet a woman with whom we might think we have little in common. She’s old. She’s a widow. She’s extremely poor. The most unusual thing mentioned about her is that even though she is poor, she made a contribution for the poor. Which aspect of this woman’s life would you like to emulate? Probably nothing. We want spouses who are living and helpful. We want money and power. However much we have, we are not interested in giving it away.

But whereas Jesus might not be all that impressed with us, he definitely was impressed with this woman. He called over his disciples and pointed her out. “She’s put in more than all the rest, even though other people put in much larger amounts.” Whereas we might be impressed by donations in the millions, Jesus was impressed by a donation that would be about $2 in today’s money.

We might not want to be like her, at least not at first, but Jesus admires her. That gives us reason enough to consider her. We should learn from this woman. She might teach us something we need quite badly.

The first thing we must consider is why this woman gave what she did. She herself was poor, and yet she contributed to the poor. How can this be explained? A person might simply say that she was insane, or perhaps even wrong to have done what she did. She shouldn’t have given that money. She should have kept it for herself. But Jesus doesn’t seem to think that she’s insane or that what she did was wrong, so there must be some other explanation.

It seems to me that the only reason why she could give what she did was because she didn’t think she needed it. We might think she needed it, but she didn’t. We aren’t given her exact thoughts, but maybe she believed that two more dollars would come to her in some other way. We are prone to think in terms of luck or karma, but I don’t think this woman believed in those false gods. She believed in the Lord God of Israel. She believed that he would give her that day her daily bread. She was free to give what she did, because she knew God would still take care of her.

This faith caused her to be like another creature whom God has made. She was like the birds of the air. Have you ever thought about what kind of life birds live? They’ve got their little nests, but that’s about it. Every morning they wake up not knowing where their food is going to come from. They do not have pantries or storehouses. You might think that they would be very worried about this, but they are not. The first thing they do when they wake up is offer up a cheerful song of praise to their Creator. A new day of grace awaits them. This woman must have been as cheerful and free as the birds.

Now you might ask: “How?” From a certain perspective it looks as though everything is going wrong with her life. She’s old. She’s poor. She’s powerless. She lost her husband. What more is there to live for? No great change in her fortunes appear to be forthcoming, especially if she keeps giving her money away. But these are ugly thoughts, prompted by our reason and common sense.

Faith has little to do with reason and common sense. The examples of faith that we read about in the Scriptures strike us very often as being close to insanity. This poor woman giving all she had to the poor can seem insane. The similar actions of the woman in the Old Testament reading can strike us the same way. She took the flour and oil that should have fed her son and gave them to Elijah. A classic expression of faith that defies not only reason but even morality was Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. Reason and common sense fight against faith because they operate according to different rules.

We are given this rule regarding faith: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” Those who believe are grasping and holding on to God, whom they can’t see. They don’t know where the path will go that God puts them on. They don’t know the quantity or the quality of the daily bread they will receive, but what is important is they know that the one who is in charge of their lives is their heavenly Father. They know that he loves them. He sent his Son to die as the sacrifice for them. If God has given his Son, his dearest treasure, how can he not give them whatever else they need?

Therefore, whether a Christian is rich or poor, healthy or sick, young or old, powerful or powerless, it is all the same. God is unchanging with his will and his promises. God will take care of them even though their circumstances might change.

Paul says in Philippians chapter four: “I have learned whatever the situation I am in to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Oftentimes that last part, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” is taken from its context and used for decorations or for sports teams. I’m afraid that when it is read apart from its context that our reason and common sense might interfere so that it is not understood correctly. “I can do all things” sounds as though I can do anything. If I can do anything, then I would like to be some kind of superhuman. I can have a fabulous life. I can win at all athletic contests. I will have a charmed life because “I can do all things though him who strengthens me.”

But as you heard the context of that passage, it is clear that Paul is not telling us that we can be some kind of superhero. Our reason might chime in here and say, “Here we go with all the hedging and managing expectations. Of course it sounded too good to be true.” But believe it or not, he is actually talking about something greater. A superhero is only happy when he or she is winning. What happens when the superhero gets old? What happens when the charmed life is no longer charmed? What happens when your spouse dies? What happens when your kid dies? What happens when you become poor? Included in the “all things” that I can do is to lose, to suffer, to have my life turned upside down.

Consider, again, the old woman. We know that she has suffered. We know that her husband has died. We know that she is poor. Being poor carries along with it all kinds of annoyances and irritations. Nevertheless, she cheerfully put in her last two dollars. God, who had taken care of her thus far, would continue to do so. Through faith in him she was doing “all things through him who was strengthening her.” And it was marvelous. Even Jesus was impressed.

This power to do all things, even to suffer negative things, through Jesus, is an important corrective for today’s world. We live at the end of a period of time when reason and common sense have been used to great effect. Technology has been developed through reason and common sense that enables us to do things that previous generations would have regarded as magic. We have accomplished so much. All of us are extremely rich compared to this woman who only had two dollars to her name.

Given all these abilities and all these accomplishments, you would think that we would be happy. But instead it seems that we should be swamped with sadness. There is so much hopelessness. There is so much despair. People wonder what the point of living is. Our birthrates are plummeting. Our liveliness seems to be withering on the vine.

Isn’t it strange that at the very time when we have reached the pinnacle of what human being have been able to accomplish thus far, that we are swamped with sadness? For what ails us, I do not think that more technology, more reason, and more common sense will help us. I have reason to believe that that would only make a bad situation even worse.

We have a spiritual problem. Spiritual problems need spiritual solutions. We need what human beings have always needed, which is God’s love. We need faith in this God who loves us, to set us free from our fears of suffering, our fears of loss, our fears of the paths that God might set us on, the outcome of which we cannot see. Faith in God’s love enables us to be cheerful, and sing like birds, not only when we are winning, but also while we suffer. Paul says “I can do all things.” He means that. Included in those “all things” are loss and sadness, while knowing that we will have the ultimately victory because of our God.

Jesus gives us great spiritual abilities. Jesus gives us the ability to say, “Even though I am a sinner, yet I am forgiven and holy.” “Even though I am poor, yet I am rich.” “Even though I die, yet shall I live.” Jesus makes the future bright!

Therefore, do not be afraid. Be bold and very courageous like this woman in our Gospel reading. The God who has taken care of you thus far, will take care of you until the supreme adventure begins in heaven.

241103 Sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 (Observation of All Saints' Day) November 3, 2024

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When we think about being blessed or being happy we usually think about wealth, abundance, security, contentment, and so on. Happiness goes together with strength, ability, and freedom. If we have the wherewithal and if we have the opportunity, then we can do what we want. If we should be constrained with our resources or freedom, then we might not be able to do what we want. We most easily and naturally believe that blessedness or happiness comes from being able to do whatever we want. We usually associate not being able to do whatever we want with sadness.

Did you notice how Jesus’s teaching was strange along these lines? What we usually associate with sadness, Jesus declares as blessedness or happiness. Let’s look at a few of the things Jesus said.

He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Is being poor ever good? It’s always better to be rich. Even if Jesus is not talking about money, doesn’t it sound better to be rich in spirit? Someone being rich in spirit sounds a lot more interesting than someone being poor in spirit.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn.” If someone is mourning, then things haven’t gone their way. Someone has died whom they would prefer were still alive. Something has gone wrong that they wish wouldn’t have happened.

“Blessed are the meek.” The meek are humbled. They can’t be impressed with their own importance. We enjoy the feeling of being impressed with ourselves.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” If I had to choose between being hungry and thirsty for righteousness and being full of righteousness, I would much rather be full of righteousness. Then I could feel good about myself.

From these examples, you can see how Jesus teaches strange things. If we would turn Jesus’s statements into their opposites, then they would make much more sense: Blessed are the rich. Blessed are those who are having a great time. Blessed are powerful. If the world would have its own set of beatitudes, or blessings, they would sound like this: “Blessed are the rich, because they can buy whatever they want.” “Blessed are those who are having a great time, because they are making the most of this life.” “Blessed are the powerful, because nobody is pushing them around.”

Don’t these worldly beatitudes make more sense? We more easily and naturally live our lives when we don’t have to rely on God. If we can see to things ourselves, then God doesn’t matter as much. What does matter is having the necessary resources and freedom. You better make sure you’ve got enough of that. And what must be feared above all else is lack and loss. Lack and loss are surefire recipes for misery and sadness.

That’s one way of thinking, and it’s pretty persuasive. It’s what comes most easily and naturally. But one of the ways that Jesus is spoken of in the Gospels is that he has come to “proclaim good news to the poor.” The poor don’t have anything. The good news is that they are going to get stuff. Where there was lack and loss there will be abundance and life. Jesus will bring this about. Or, at least, that’s the claim.

Is there a way that I can prove it? No, I’m sorry, I can’t. The promises of abundance and life in Jesus can be only either believed or disbelieved. Either Jesus is God and Lord and he will bring about what he has promised, or he is wrong. The poor aren’t blessed. Those who mourn aren’t blessed. The powerless aren’t blessed. Either the rules of life that are laid down by Jesus are how things are, or how things are is governed by the rules that we much more easily and naturally believe. Either a person will put his or her trust in Jesus or a person will put his or her trust in those worldly recipes for happiness.

Today as we observe All Saints’ Day we must consider this faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus is how a person is a saint, which means a “holy one.” Only those who become holy are in heaven. Saints receive their holiness through faith in Jesus. They believe that he will keep the promises that he has made—promises like you find in the beatitudes. All of the beatitudes, or blessings, that Jesus spoke of contain promises. They are really glorious promises, if you will challenge yourself to think about what they mean and believe that they can actually come to pass.

He says, “Yours is the kingdom of heaven.” God’s kingdom in heaven can’t be described. The Scriptures say that it is beyond us, no matter how hard we try.

Jesus says, “God will comfort you.” How good do you think God is at comforting someone? You perhaps remember the comfort that comes from being in the arms of your dad or your mom or your husband or your wife. God will comfort those who mourn.

Jesus says, “You will inherit the earth.” World history is full of vain and ambitious men and women who have strained every fiber of their being to attain mastery over the earth. Jesus says you will inherit it.

 “You will be filled with righteousness.” Instead of temptations being victorious over you, you will be victorious over temptations.

Jesus says, “You will receive mercy.” We hear about God’s mercy all the time, but now we only know his mercy by faith. What will it be like to have our empty sack filled up with the undeserved good things of God?

Jesus says, “You will see God.” The Scriptures emphatically state that no one has seen God. “No one can see God and live,” it says over and over again. What will it be like to see God?

Jesus says, “You will be called sons of God.” This is not a slight or an insult to you female saints. Jesus is the only Son of God. By being called “sons of God” Jesus is saying that you will be like him.

These are good promises. But then Jesus makes a different kind of promise. He promises us that we will be persecuted. He says that we will be reviled. That means that people will say that you are a fanatic. You are impractical. You are a fool about money. You are a fool to love your enemy. They will pronounce curses upon you that you will be poor and miserable and abused because you don’t follow the rules of this old world. That is what you will get for following Jesus.

It can be scary to be reviled and persecuted and to have all kinds of evil spoken against you. And this will not be done just by strangers. Elsewhere Jesus says that this will come from our nearest and dearest. Households will be divided. Families will be divided. This last promise is so bad, that we might think that we should just leave off with all this. It’s not nice. It’s disturbing. It’s divisive. Religion is supposed to be peaceful and serene.

Except it’s not. Jesus said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Jesus is on the warpath as king against the devil and against all his falseness. Whenever Jesus drove out demons, they convulsed their victims and cried out and put up a mighty fuss. They didn’t want to lose control of their victims, and so it is with all the false rules and false gods that possess people today. They don’t want to lose their grip. They want to hold us captive. They don’t want us to believe in this who has come who proclaims good news to the poor.

But these false rules and false gods are bad. They don’t keep their promises. They couldn’t, even if they wanted to, because their power is limited. They only pretend to be almighty.

No matter how rich you are, no matter how powerful you are, no matter how many memories you make, no matter how good of a life you believe that you can make for yourself, none of these things can forgive your sins. None of these things can defeat death. None of these things can fill you with God’s love. None of these things can prepare you for seeing God. Only Jesus can do these things.

Believe in him! Are you poor? Will you become poor? Are you poor in spirit—kind of dumpy and something of a nobody? Believe in Jesus! He has good news for you even though you lack so much: “Yours is the kingdom of heaven.” Are you mourning? Are things not going your way? Did you imagine that your life would be altogether different? “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Thus and so you can do with all these statements of Jesus. There are promises in there for those who will believe.

Faith, therefore, makes all the difference. John says in his epistle: “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” The saints who have gone before us all have this one thing in common: They believed in Jesus. You believe in him too. Believe, and then just wait and see how all the promises he has made will come true. Jesus keeps his promises.

241020 Sermon on Growing Up in the Love Christ Commands (Pentecost 22) October 20, 2024

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On my day off last week I was at my dad’s farm near Albert Lea. I was there to help with the harvest, but in a different way. My sister and her family were visiting from Florida. She has a son in the sixth grade who loves running machinery. So my help was not so much me doing stuff. I was more riding along, supervising, and coaching my nephew who isn’t quite experienced enough to run the tractor all by himself.

As I was sitting next to my nephew I couldn’t help but remember when I was his age. That was when I was learning how to run machinery. I was seeing the tasks we were doing through his eyes. Some of those tasks are intimidating: Backing up to wagons. Pulling full wagons. Gears could grind. Stuff could break. There is an element of fear. Stuff could go wrong.

Not all fear is bad. Fear goes together with learning new things. Fear happens when you leave the safety of what is familiar to master the unknown. Life without fear would be a life without challenge. That would be pretty boring.

It is not uncommon for people to think that being a Christian is pretty boring. When was the last time you were afraid to be a Christian, a disciple of Jesus? Maybe never! But if that is your experience, then your experience would be different from the disciples we heard about in our Gospel reading. They were frightened by what Jesus said.

First of all, Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” It says that the disciples were amazed. Maybe another way to say what was going on is that they were saying to themselves, “What are you talking about Jesus?”

But Jesus did not back down. He went on: “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” It says that the disciples were “exceedingly astonished.” “What in the world are you talking about? How could you say something like that?”

The third time the disciples are spoken of as being astonished or afraid is at the end of the reading. As I read that, try to picture the scene in your mind’s eye. It says, “And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” Jesus is up ahead. Nobody’s walking with him. The disciples slink along behind. They’re afraid. They’re afraid to be Jesus’s disciples. New experiences are in store for them based on what Jesus said.

The challenge that Jesus says down for his disciples is not to cling to wealth. How does a person not cling to wealth? There’s really only one way: You have to be willing to give it away. You have to be willing to give more and take less, or maybe even to give it out freely for no services rendered. That is a new experience. No one has to teach us to snatch and grab and horde. We’ve been doing that since we were toddlers. As we get older we are often trained by teachers and authorities that what’s ours is ours, and we don’t have to give anything to anybody, and the more that we can accumulate for ourselves the better. Therefore, in the pursuit of ever-increasing wealth, you should give as little as you possibly can, and take as much as you possibly can, and that is how the game is played. I suspect that none of you have been frightened by this philosophy that I have just laid out. It is utterly familiar.

What might be frightening—if you are willing to take Jesus seriously—is his statement: “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” And again, he says: “How hard it is for anyone to enter the kingdom of God.” This is new. I thought it was easy to enter the kingdom of God. I thought no change was necessary to enter the kingdom of God—the church word for that is “repent.” I didn’t know I had to change. I didn’t know that I had to repent to enter the kingdom of God.

Now, one way that you could take Jesus’s words is that he is slamming the door on all who have wealth: “Get out and stay out!” But there is another way that you can take Jesus’s words. You can see them as a challenge to grow up. We can’t stay babies forever. We can’t remain in our merely natural state where we are grabbing, snatching, and hording. If you want to remain like that you are basically saying that you would like to go to hell, because hell is the place where people go who practiced their whole lives to be masters of snatching, grabbing, and hording. The only problem is that you, also,  would be snatched and grabbed, and you probably won’t like that.

If we are going to enter the kingdom of God we have to become different. We have to learn from our teacher and master, Jesus, the ways of love. This will be something new. We have to learn about giving, suffering and bearing the cross. We are all naturally afraid of suffering and pain, but Jesus and the Holy Spirit can teach us that the fear of suffering doesn’t have to control our lives. If we suffer, we know that we will be comforted. Even if we die in our pursuit of love, we know that we will be resurrected.

These are not childish teachings. These are very grow-up, Christian teachings that require courage. These are the teachings of the Kingdom of God that will prepare us for heaven instead of hell. Heaven is a place of love. God dwells there, and God is love. The love of heaven is so pure and rich that we can’t even begin to grasp it. Maybe we could try by saying that everyone in heaven loves so purely and richly that they would do anything for you. They would suffer the loss of everything for you. But they won’t have to. Because heaven is the place where all things have been made new. It is the place where, as Revelation 21 puts it: “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

To arrive at the place where God dwells, where love dwells—what might a person give for that? Let’s say you have 100 million dollars. Is that what you are going to hold on to? It’s just a bunch of zeros in some Edward Jones account somewhere. You can’t even lie on it like the dragons of old who liked to sleep on their heaps of gold. You would rather have those zeros on a piece of paper than to be kind, to be generous, to be merciful? It’s a no-brainer which is better! That is not to say it isn’t a challenge—a change—which brings fear, but the challenge is worth it.

Suppose I said to my nephew: I know that you want to run the tractor, but just think of all the stuff that could go wrong! The steering could fail. You accidentally drive into the ditch. You could fall out the window and be crushed to death when the tractor rolls on top of you. Those are foul, ugly thoughts. They falsely inflate fears, which might cause someone to remain in immaturity, to remain in safety.

Jesus does not want his disciples to remain immature and without fruit. We all have to grow up. We all have to change. We all have to repent. We might be afraid, but let’s all agree that a boy learning how to run a tractor is a good thing. How much more, then, is a disciple of Jesus growing up in the love that Jesus teaches a good thing? Jesus’s teachings and Jesus’s commands set us on an adventure, but that adventure is totally worth it.

And you do not go on that adventure alone. If you get rejected, Jesus accepts you. If you suffer, Jesus will comfort you. If you die, Jesus will resurrect you. Therefore, there is no reason why you should ever give in to your fears. You, understandably, might be afraid to give away wealth. The voice of fear might say: “What if I end up being miserable?” Your wealth enables you to do a lot of nice stuff for yourself.

Or take another command of Jesus’s: You might be afraid to love your enemy. Enemies have been known to do some hurtful things. Don’t be afraid. Jesus, your teacher and master, teaches good things, not bad things. You can’t go wrong if you will take the risk of being obedient to him. But you can’t know that goodness until you take the plunge.

But suppose you try to carry out Jesus’s commands and you fail. What then? Should you wish that you had never tried in the first place? That’s a loser’s mentality. If you fail, then ask Jesus to forgive you. Then get right back up on that horse. It’s inevitable that a person will get bucked off while learning to tame a horse. How can we expect that it should be easy to tame ourselves? Or what kind of ride might we have if we make up our mind to love our enemy? Who knows what might happen!

On these adventures it's almost certain that mistakes will be made. Gears will accidentally be grinded. My nephew, by the way, didn’t grind the gears even once this past week. I was the one who accidentally grinded the gears—but don’t tell dad. On second thought, maybe you can tell him. I think he would forgive me.

Right next to the forgiveness of sins, growing up in love as Christ’s disciple and student is the best of things. It sets us on adventures already in this life, and those adventures will continue on into the next. Don’t be ruled by your fears. Put your trust in Jesus. He will protect you. He will pick you up when you have fallen. He is your Lord and Savior.

241006 Sermon on Jesus's commands requiring faith (Pentecost 20) October 6, 2024

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Jesus’s commands can seem unreasonable and unrealistic. Let me give you an example. In Luke chapter 6 Jesus commands that we give to those who ask of us, and if our goods should be taken away that we should not demand them back. Upon hearing that we are to give to anyone who asks, and that we should not demand back what has been taken, there is a part of every one of us that rebels against this command. It doesn’t seem like it will work out very well for us. All our stuff will be taken away. So we don’t do it. We set Jesus’s command aside.

But there is another way of looking at it. A person could believe that Jesus’s commands are good. A person could believe that things will go better if we follow Jesus’s command, if we give to those who ask, and not demand back from those who take. God must be the biggest factor in this scenario. God would have to protect you. God would have to repay what was taken from you. Can you trust him? In order to accept Jesus’s command about giving and not demanding back we have to believe that God loves us and will take care of us. Jesus’s commands require faith. Hearing his commands with faith changes our perception of them.

We heard Jesus’s commands concerning the irrevocability of marriage and the unsuitability of divorce in our Gospel reading. Divorce is very emotional, painful, and complicated. Nobody gets married with the hopes of getting divorced. I won’t be covering all aspects of this topic in this sermon. Pastor Bertram and I would be happy to speak with you more about any questions or thoughts you might have one on one. For the purposes of our time together today, though, I’d like to look at Jesus’s commands regarding marriage and divorce as requiring faith.

When Jesus was asked about the permissibility of divorce I think his answer surprised both his opponents and his disciples. His opponents, the Pharisees, knew that Moses allowed for divorce. I think Jesus surprised them when he told them that that was an accommodation for their hardness of heart. A hard heart is an unbelieving heart. Husband and wife are not supposed to separate. From the beginning man and woman have been joined in marriage so that they become one flesh. What God has joined together, let not man separate.

It seems that the disciples were surprised by this command also. They asked Jesus about it afterwards. Jesus did not soften his stance on the irrevocability of marriage. If a husband divorces his wife and marries another, he is committing adultery against his first wife. If a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she is committing adultery against her first husband. Marriage, in God’s sight, is not ended by a certificate of divorce. It is ended by God when he brings about the death of one or the other of the spouses. If God ends the marriage, then the surviving spouse is free to marry another.

Upon hearing Jesus’s teaching our immediate reaction might be that all of this is way too black and white. What about this circumstance and that circumstance? And there might be validity to those circumstances. Not every divorce is sinful. Some divorces are justified. Jesus himself, in a parallel passage, says that divorce may be granted when adultery has been committed by the other spouse.

But we all know that not all divorces are because of adultery or abuse or abandonment. Many divorces happen because husband and wife do not get along. That is not unusual or surprising. We all have our sinful flesh that is as wicked as can be. We also have the devil who is always ready to blow any sparks he can find into a raging, consuming fire. Divorce is not irrational. It seems like it is a good solution to an all too common problem. Why should two people be chained together when they no longer want to be together?

Although this seems reasonable, it doesn’t seem to play out this way in actual experience. Becoming one flesh with someone is not merely biological or social or economic. As Jesus shows in our reading, God is involved in this union. God joins together. Divorce pulls apart. Those who divorce often feel lingering pains. Maybe some problems have been solved by the divorce, but new ones arise. The happiness that was hoped for doesn’t always come or doesn’t always last.

When Jesus teaches about the irrevocability of marriage and the unsuitability of divorce, he is actually showing us a way for happiness, for blessedness. If you have experienced difficulties in your marriage, or if you are currently experiencing difficulties in your marriage, then Jesus’s commands might seem to be offering the opposite of happiness or blessedness. It might seem as though Jesus is only making the situation worse. Now not only can you not have the hope of happiness from getting divorced, if you do get divorced, then you’ll have to feel guilty about it.

Although this might be a common way of hearing Jesus’s commands, it isn’t the only way. Consider again the commands that I began with. Jesus commands us to give to those who ask, and not to demand back from those who take. One could interpret those commands in such a way that Jesus intends to make us miserable. Jesus wants us to lose all our money. Jesus wants us to be abused by evildoers and have no recourse so as to defend ourselves.

But is this what Jesus really wants? Does he want us to be miserable? He wants just the opposite. He wants us to be happy and blessed. He promises that if we follow his commands that we will be blessed. Strangely enough, if we were to follow his commands we might end up with less money, but we will nevertheless end up with more. Undertaking Jesus’s commands with faith makes the scenario appear altogether different.

So it is also with Jesus’s commands about the irrevocability of marriage and the unsuitability of divorce. If you leave God out of the picture it can seem like the gloomiest of commands. It can sound like God is cruel and wants to take away all joy and happiness by keeping people stuck in miserable marriages. But that is not the only way it can be looked at. We can look at these commands with faith.

Looking at your marriage with faith is to realize that God has been and is completely involved. God has joined you together with your spouse. We know that because you have not just been dating or going steady. You have made your promises before God, to one another, and to society. You have promised that you will love and cherish this person for better for worse, for richer for poorer, and in sickness and in health until death parts you. Because God has put you together with this person, you know that that is where you belong. Because God has put you together with this person, you know that God will care for you even if you are going through some troubles.

Now, I wish that there weren’t any troubles. I wish that everyone always got along splendidly. I wish that everyone always had more than enough money so that they would never have to ask another person for money. I could wish for a lot of things along these lines, but my wishing wouldn’t make it so. We live in a broken world with much suffering. How should we respond to this brokenness? Jesus’s commands direct us in the way that we should go. His commands help to undo brokenness. We don’t have to sit idly by with brokenness, believing with the rest of the world that nothing can be done. We can demonstrate our faith by cheerfully giving when called upon to do so. We can demonstrate our faith by cheerfully looking to the future with the one to whom we have been joined by God to be one flesh.

I understand how what I have said could be painful for those of you who have difficulties in your marriage. To be cheerful about your marriage seems like something you gave up on a long time ago. You haven’t been looking forward with cheerfulness. You’ve only been trying to survive. But this is where Jesus’s commands can be the most helpful. Although you might not be able to see any light at the end of the tunnel or anywhere else for that matter, God is the creator of light. What might God do if you were to believe? What might God do if you joined yourself wholeheartedly to his teaching? There’s no telling what might happen—what adventures God might put you on—but I’m sure that it would be good!

There is no way for me to prove to you that obeying Jesus’s commands, being his disciple, will be good for you. The only way you can know that is by taking the plunge yourself. You have to believe that giving to the one who asks will do you good. You have to believe that not demanding back what was taken from you will bring you happiness and blessedness. You have to believe that Jesus will protect you and lead you in the way that you should go, even if that path might be filled with painful sacrifices and frightening challenges.

What is good for you to know, though, is that you are not stuck. Jesus’s commands and promises open up possibilities that are so often deemed to be impossible. Jesus is Lord. All things have been put under his feet. Therefore, there is always hope. Nothing that we do in faith will be in vain. Listening to Jesus brings us on the right paths that bring about love and healing.

Hopefully today you have seen that none of us believe as we ought. None of us are as convinced as we should be that Jesus’s ways. Therefore we can all change our ways. We can all repent and believe the good news that Jesus is Lord. Jesus forgives and will set right all that has gone wrong. In the mean time be led by Jesus’s good commands and promises.

240922 Sermon on being the greatest (Pentecost 18) September 22, 2024

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Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Being recognized is a deep human need. Being recognized is when a person is accepted and appreciated for who they are. People can be recognized for all kinds of different things: “You are talented.” “You are hard working.” “You are funny.” It feels good to be recognized. Usually people cultivate their lives in such a way that they can continue to be recognized. Funny people enjoy being recognized as funny, and so they are always coming up with new bits. What do you want to be known as? Smart, successful, caring, hard-nosed, charming? You’ll do what’s necessary to continue to be known and recognized as such.

This is simply how we are. There would be no sense in trying to get rid of this impulse. We need to be accepted and appreciated. To try to do away with this would be as silly as trying to do away with sleeping, eating, or drinking. That said, the desire to be recognized can go awry.

For example, what often happens is that a person not only wants to be recognized, he or she doesn’t want others to be recognized. Let’s say a woman is pretty. Maybe she’d like to be the prettiest. That means she’d like it if nobody was even close to being as pretty as her. Or let’s say there are many children in the family. Which of them is the favorite? There can only be one favorite. To be the child that mom or dad loves most feels good. I think you can see where problems arise. Being the prettiest can bring about meanness and conceit. With favorites in families there can be lifelong resentment. It’s not hard to see how these things can be bad.

What is to be done? I think a lot of people believe nothing can be done. We have no other choice than to accept things as they are. The best will be the best and the worst will be the worst. Since that is the way things are, you should try your hardest to be the best. Then you’ll get that recognition you crave. If someone is not getting recognition, then it’s because they aren’t trying hard enough. If they tried harder, then they’d be recognized too.

This is a very powerful philosophy. It makes sense. It’s assumed to be correct. It’s everywhere. To learn something different, therefore, will require effort. You’ll have to learn new and different rules. Take Jesus’s statement in our Gospel reading. He said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” To be first be last. It almost sounds non-sensical. Those are opposites of one another. If the first are last, then they can’t be first. The first are first and the last are last.

But Jesus helps us with what he says after that. “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Being the servant of all throws a different light on things. It shows us a different way that we might use what has been given to us. What comes naturally to us is to use whatever we have to promote ourselves. We try to make the case that we are the greatest. But if we would serve, then we would use what we have for others—to lift them up, to do them good.

Consider something I’ve already mentioned—prettiness. It can seem to be something that is only good for the girl who has it, but it doesn’t have to be used that way. A pretty girl can give her prettiness to her man. She wants him to enjoy her prettiness instead enjoying her prettiness for herself or using her prettiness to distinguish herself from others. Or a pretty girl can love the girls who have not been given what she has been given. She can forget about her prettiness and associate with the lowly—not in some ostentatious, obnoxious, ugly way, but in a genuine, friendly way. Thereby she gives away her prettiness to those who are less so, and who might be somewhat shunned because of it.

Boys can do this too. Boys often value different things than girls. Athletic boys can hang out with non-athletic boys—bearing with them, not ridiculing them and demeaning them. Boys who know how to use guns or tools or other desirable things can take in those who don’t. In this way a boy gives cover to another.

You know how it usually goes, though, don’t you? A hierarchy is what comes naturally. The best are at the top. The worst are at the bottom. Those at the top differentiate themselves from the rest with their greatness. They are not like them. They are best. The rest are not. Those at the bottom should know their place and burn with envy. That’s the way it is—so so many say.

That’s not correct if Jesus is correct. Maybe Jesus is a fool. Lots of people don’t believe him. But he says that greatness is not when you use what you have for yourself. Greatness is when you are the last of all and the servant of all. Greatness is when you lift up others, when you help and improve others. The lowlier the people you can help, the better, because when you are helping really lowly people you are being like Jesus.

Think of the way that Jesus is. If ever there was anyone who is the best, then that would be Jesus. But how does Jesus use his greatness? Does he point at disappointing people and say, “Look at how much better I am than you!” “Look how sinful you are and how righteous I am!”

No. Jesus doesn’t do this. He could if he wanted. He truly is so much better and so much more righteous than we are. But he doesn’t use what is his to stare at himself in the mirror, admiring himself, comparing himself to those who do not have what he has. He uses what is his to help those who are without. He makes others better.

And there’s no one who’s too low for him. There’s no one about whom he says, “Ach! That one is too disgusting!” He rejects no one. The rejection is always on the other end. The sinner says he doesn’t want to associate with him. The proud one says, “I won’t have your condescension and charity!” But as far as Jesus is concerned, he is willing to be last of all. He is the servant of all. The word “all” means without exception. He will help you.

You can see how Jesus’s friendliness, Jesus’s reaching out, Jesus’s free acknowledgement, acceptance, and approval of people is beautiful, helpful, and good. Another word that we could use to describe all this activity of Jesus is “love.” Jesus loves us, therefore we should love others. The apostle John has written, “We love, because he first loved us.”

There are a lot of people who want to be recognized. They are aching for it. You can give them that. Now I’m sure you could come up with excuses for why you shouldn’t. I’m sure that if you used your eagle-eye glasses for fault-finding, you could find faults in anyone. Thank God Jesus didn’t do that to you. If Jesus were looking for faults in you, so as to excuse himself from help you, I’m sure he could have. But he didn’t. He loves you, so you should love others.

And, as I mentioned before, the lowlier the person, the better. The more like Christ you will be. So love that person whom you have found to be distasteful. Love that person from whom you will get no benefit in return. Jesus says that we should love even our enemies.

Jesus’s saying is a strange recipe for greatness: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” You might be saying to yourself, “That won’t make me happy. That will make me miserable.” Don’t be so sure. Loving and being loved are the highest things in life. The more you love the more you’re loved. There’s no limit to how much you can love. Jesus says that he can become the water of life in us so that we become like a spring. A spring of water just keeps going and going. Life and love bubble up even unto eternal life.

To do the opposite of this cannot turn out well. This is an important warning. People think it is neither here nor there if they are as vain and conceited as peacocks. Not so! James warned us in our Epistle reading that jealousy and selfish ambition are demonic. Demons hate and hamper and destroy life. So do the proud and cruel self-promoters. Hell, because it is the opposite of heaven, would seem to me to be the place where there is no love—a truly terrifying possibility. No love!

You know how good love is, so don’t shut yourself up away from it. Do not strive to be the greatest by comparing yourself. Greatness is when you use what has been given to you to make other people better. Greatness is being like Jesus. Love like him. Be the last of all and the servant of all.

240908 Sermon on being "opened up" to God (Pentecost 16) September 8, 2024

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If you can imagine what it would be like to be deaf and unable to speak, then you might understand why Jesus said “Ephphatha,” which means “be opened” in our Gospel reading. Deafness and muteness close a person in on himself. It is difficult to take in the thoughts of others because you cannot hear them speaking. It is difficult to communicate one’s own thoughts because the speaking is not clear.

Hearing well and speaking well can easily be taken for granted. We don’t know a good thing until it's gone. Restoring losses like blindness, deafness, lameness, or muteness dramatically improves people’s lives.

Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 35 talks about changing lives for the better. Isaiah lived more than 700 years before Christ, but he talks about things that Jesus did: “The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame man shall leap like a dear, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.” Jesus did many miracles having to do with precisely these ailments. Think of how their lives were changed for the better.

There are several videos on the Internet that show something similar. Perhaps you’ve seen them. The videos show little kids getting glasses for the first time, or hearing aids or implants for the first time. These kids already know mom and dad, but they had never seen them clearly or heard them clearly. The first time they can see or hear they are filled with awe. Joy comes over their faces. Sometimes there are tears. The world opens up for them. That’s life and liveliness. It is as Jesus said, “I came so that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

Jesus’s bringing of abundant life is, again, fulfilling what Isaiah wrote. All of Isaiah 35 is about the restoration of life that the Christ brings about. Dry, dead, and barren places like the desert will come to life and bloom. Fraud, violence, and death will be no more. The redeemed will enter into Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

What features most prominently in Isaiah 35, however, is life with God. It says, “They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.” We heard at the beginning of our Old Testament reading these words, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’” Those are bracing words if you have the guts to believe them. “You will see God,” and “God is coming for you.”

If you think about it, isn’t it the case that we need to be “opened up,” so to speak, to this reality of God—that we should see him, that he’s coming for us? Blind people need to be opened up to the reality of seeing. Deaf people need to be opened up to the reality of hearing. It’s not like sights and sounds don’t exist when someone is blind or deaf, it’s just that they cannot perceive what’s actually there. So it is with God. Our inability or unwillingness to acknowledge him doesn’t mean that he doesn’t exist. To no longer be severely hampered—to no longer be blind, deaf, lame, and mute when it comes to God—requires a miracle along the lines of the man whom Jesus helped in our Gospel reading. We need to be opened up, otherwise we won’t even know what we are missing.

So it can be also for those who are physically blind, deaf, lame, or mute. Those conditions can be lived with. They are not fatal. It’s just that large swaths of reality and joy are withheld. We can be that way with God too. In fact, that is our natural predisposition. We by nature are closed off from God, and we think that’s just normal.

Consider your daily routine. It’s so easy to go through an entire day without hardly giving a single thought towards God. We just follow our routine: Get up, make coffee, take a shower, go to work or school, come home, watch Netflix, go to bed. God is there the whole time, but we have nothing to do with him. It’s as though we were blind, deaf, lame, and mute towards him without even knowing it.

I could almost see Jesus groaning over us like he did with the man in our Gospel reading. “Wake up you sleepy head!” I could see Jesus saying to us, “Be opened.” Life is more than food and drink. Life is more than work and vacation. Life is more than amusing ourselves to death. We can be as unthinking and uncaring as livestock, consuming what’s given to us, oblivious to the coming slaughter. That’s not how we are to be. We are much greater than the other animals. We have been made in the image of God. That makes us capable of high and divine things that we should take in, consider, and interact with. We can know things like truth, justice, mercy, peace, sacrifice, hope. On top of all these things we can even know God.

Now, I can hear some critics saying that all that stuff about truth, mercy, and so on is a waste of time and money. There are a lot of people—the most powerful people in our society—who think that jobs, money, business, technology, and so on are the only things that matter. All that other stuff is too high-falutin’. These people usually pride themselves for their practicality and for living in the real world.

They’re wrong! They don’t live in the real world. They’ve made for themselves a world that doesn’t have a Creator in it who daily and richly provides me with all that I need. The real world has God in it. The real world has God’s commands and curses, his promises and blessings. Just because a person is unable or unwilling to acknowledge that, doesn’t make it so.

Imagine if there were a blind man who didn’t believe that such a thing as sight exists. He’s utterly convinced of that because he’s never experienced it. Thus this arrogant man would like to impose his lack and his poverty on everyone else. So it is with those who scoff at God’s Word, who scoff at Jesus’s sacraments, who scoff at truth, love, beauty, and so on. Why? Because it’s work that’s important. Or amusements are important. Or it’s simply a matter of being anesthetized and vegging out to pass the time.

I know a lot of people like this. I know myself. I know that I can very easily pass my days without much thought regarding God. I know, as another example, that I do not love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and with all my mind. A spiritually blind person might respond, “Well, no one can do that, so who cares?” But what if we really are supposed to? What if we really can? What if Jesus was sent to cure our blindness? What if Jesus is meant to open up in us a closed-off-ness that we just thought was normal?

Jesus says, “I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.” Jesus turns back the curses that hamper life. He heals physical blindness, deafness, and so on. Everyone can see the goodness of that. What is not realized as frequently is that Jesus opens us up spiritually to things we wouldn’t otherwise know. We wouldn’t otherwise know these things, because these things are only learned from the prophets, from Jesus, and from the apostles. Just as the blind man doesn’t know what it means to see until sight is given, so also we do not know what it is like to know God until Jesus opens us up to that.

We can know God by his Word. We can learn how to live with him in his creation from the Psalms. We can learn about our future from prophesies like Isaiah 35. We can begin to love God by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can think about God more often than never or twice a day. We can call upon him in prayer. We can restrain ourselves when we know that going further down the path of temptation would bring us into sin. We can begin to live a new life. What some can’t see or hear we can begin to see and hear.

But, as the apostle says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now we know in part, then we shall know fully, even as we have ben fully known.” Paul is talking about how we only get an inkling in this life. I suspect an experience awaits us that is something like those videos that I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon. Those little kids never knew that they could see so well until the first time those glasses were put on their faces. They didn’t know how beautiful Mom’s voice was until they heard it. So it will be also for us.

What will it be like to see God? What will it be like to look Jesus in the face? Jesus opens us up to this hope with his Gospel. No one has seen God except Jesus who came from God. And yet, because of Jesus, we will see God in his holiness and splendor. I suspect that just a moment of that will contain more living in it than our entire life here below.

Therefore, do not be deceived. Don’t be tricked out of this healing. Jesus warns us against following those who are blind: “If the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the pit.” Do not be blind to God. Do not be blind to truth, love, righteousness, sin, justice, redemption, and many other spiritual things. Our world is full of people who say that none of that matters. They are blind. They are closed in on themselves. “Ephphatha!” Be opened to God and to one another. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

240901 Sermon on Jesus's teaching concerning clean and unclean food (Mark 7:14-23) Pentecost 15 September 1, 2024

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Let’s begin by defining a couple words: defilement and sanctification. These words are opposites. Defilement is when someone is made unclean and unholy. Sanctification is when someone is made holy. Whether we are defiled or sanctified is of utmost importance for how God regards us. If we are defiled, then we are unacceptable before God. It’s like having something rotten in your home. It stinks. Put that stuff outside. It doesn’t belong in the house. That is how are we before God when we are defiled.

Being sanctified is the opposite. When we are holy, we belong with God. One of the ways that the Bible talks about holiness is by being properly dressed. When we are properly dressed we have no need to be ashamed. If we were found in our underwear, or naked, we would be ashamed. But when we are properly clothed we are acceptable. We can be seen. So it is for those who are holy.

Defilement describes a state of being where we have no business being together with God. Sanctification describes a state of being where we belong together with God.

Understanding defilement and sanctification is essential for understanding the religion that God gave to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai in the Old Testament. God wanted the Israelites to be holy so that they could be with him and he could be with them. To make the Israelites holy God instituted many laws, rituals, and practices. Moses wrote these down in Exodus, and, especially, in Leviticus. The entirety of Leviticus is God’s instructions for avoiding defilement and what is to be done if someone has become defiled.

One of the regulations that God gave at that time was about clean and unclean foods. Clean food could be eaten without defilement. Unclean foods would defile the eater. For example, beef and lamb could be eaten. Pork, shellfish, and several other animals would defile the eater. We won’t get into the whys and wherefores of this. You can read about that yourself in Leviticus 11. What I’d like to point out is that according to the laws God gave to the Israelites, there was such a thing as unclean food that would defile the Israelites if they ate it.

This is important background information for our Gospel reading. For the nearly 1,500 years, from Moses to Jesus, the Jews observed the distinction between clean and unclean food. But then in our Gospel reading Jesus says: “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Let’s apply Jesus’s words to unclean food. Unclean food is something from outside. It defiles. Is Jesus rejecting the distinction between clean and unclean food? Yes, he is. Jesus is even clearer, later, with his disciples when they asked him to explain himself. He said, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus Jesus declared all foods clean.) Jesus said, “All foods are clean.”

There seems to be an obvious contradiction between what Leviticus 11 says and what Jesus says in our Gospel reading. Leviticus 11 says that there are several foods that what will defile you. Jesus says, “Nothing from the outside can defile a person. What defiles a person is what goes out from a person.” The Pharisees and scribes—always quick to point out any faults they find with Jesus or with his disciples—thought that Jesus was taking away from what God had commanded. We heard in our first reading that nothing should be added or taken away from what God has said.

But instead of thinking that Jesus is contradicting the Scriptures or taking something away, it might be helpful to think of what he is doing as fulfilling the Scriptures. The Law that God gave to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai was binding for a time, but that was not meant to be an arrangement that would last for all time. Something new would take its place. This was, in fact, already prophesied at that time.

In Deuteronomy 18, which is at the same time as Mt. Sinai, Moses speaks of a mysterious Someone who is to come, who will be like him, but even greater. Moses calls this one the “prophet.” He says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brother Israelites. Listen to him.” Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Moses says, “Listen to him.” The people had listened to Moses. Now we should listen to this Prophet. Moses says so. So if Jesus declares that all foods are clean, then we should believe all foods are clean. Jesus is Lord.

In order to do this, however, you must understand who Jesus is. You must correctly identify him as the prophet spoken of by Moses. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees was that they didn’t believe, or didn’t want to believe, that Jesus is this prophet. They didn’t want to listen to him even though Moses told them that they should. Because they didn’t want to believe that Jesus is Lord, having authority over all things in heaven and on earth, they instead saw him as an enemy. They thought that he was contradicting Moses, taking away from Scripture, leading people astray. They became convinced that they would be doing God a favor if they got rid of him, and eventually they crucified him.

This question, of who Jesus is, is important and highly consequential for every human being—not just for those scribes and Pharisees. We know what they thought of Jesus. What do you say about Jesus? Your answer is of eternal significance. The Catechism teaches us the correct answer for what we should say about Jesus. It says, “I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord.” That is the shortest creed in Christendom. What does it mean to be a Christian? Being a Christian is believing that Jesus Christ is your Lord.

When it comes to what we’ve been talking about today—defilement and sanctification—Jesus being your Lord makes all the difference. The Catechism goes on to describe Jesus’s lordship, what he does as my Lord: “I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.”

You can hear defilement language and sanctification language in that description of Jesus’s lordship. We hear defilement language when we are spoken of as lost and condemned persons. We are defiled by what is in us and what comes out of us. It is as Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “What comes out of a person defiles him… From the heart comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

Does what Jesus says describe you? Do you have evil thoughts? Are you guilty of sexual immorality, which in the Greek is porneia, which is where we get the word pornography? Do you covet? Do you lie? Do you gossip? I, unfortunately, have done these things and more, which means that I am a lost and condemned person. As far as how I am in myself I am defiled and have no business being together with God. I should be swept out and put with the rest of the trash.

But there is sanctification language too—the opposite of defilement. The Catechism says that Jesus has redeemed me—a wonderful word! I am redeemed! I have been purchased. I have been won—not with gold or silver, but with the holy, precious blood and the innocent suffering and death of my Lord and your Lord. The sacrifice of this Lamb of God has brought about an eternal redemption so that all who trust in him will be clothed with holiness so as to live together with God.

In conclusion, defilement and sanctification might not be the most common words. But whether we are defiled or sanctified is of eternal significance. Whether we are defiled or sanctified determines our relationship with God. When we are living in sin and unbelief, we are defiled. When we call out to Jesus in faith and say, “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” we are sanctified.

The stakes have been raised, so to speak, from what was given at Mt. Sinai. Jesus reveals that our defilement is much deeper than we would otherwise think or imagine. It goes all the way down into our heart, the core of our being. But the remedy is also deeper. God has sent his Son to be the Lord who redeems us.  

Jesus is the one about whom Moses prophesied. We should listen to him. What he has to say is not bad for us sinners, but good and life giving. As Jesus himself says, “I have not come in order to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through me.” Listen to him.