Sermon for April 10th (Easter)

Easter is like Opening Day in baseball: everybody has hope.  When Jesus rose from the dead that Easter morning, he gave you hope for a new life.  No matter who you are or what you have done in the past, there is hope for you.  It’s a new season.  What matters now is: what is going to happen in your life from this point forward. 

I listen to a lot of sports radio.  A radio host named Scott Van Pelt talks talks on his show about “One big thing”; it’s what he thinks is the most important or interesting thing going on in Sports that week.  Now guys, when you come home from work, do you ever sit down and tell your wife, “Hey honey.  Could you please tell me every single thought you have about such and such a subject?”  Didn’t think so.  But when it comes to sports radio, I and a lot of guys just like me listen to the same stories talked about again and again in different ways by different broadcasters and somehow enjoy it.  Why?  It’s simple.  I’m a fan.  I’m a sportsfan.

When it comes to faith, there is “One big thing” for you to take away today: it’s called “the forgiveness of sins”.  What is means is this: no matter what you have done, you have hope.  That’s what Easter is all about: the forgiveness of sins and how it can change your life.    

You see, the day Jesus was crucified, nobody on Earth was a fan of Jesus.  They were haters.  They were either betraying him, crucifying him or denying him.  But on Easter Day, these same people they found themselves believing in something they never could have imagined before:  No matter how bad they were before, it was opening day all over again.  They had hope again.  And Jesus turned his haters into his biggest fans. 

When you leave today, I’m hoping for one big thing: that God, through His Holy Spirit, makes you all diehard fans of Jesus Christ.  And not just fans, but followers of this man Jesus.  No matter who you were coming in, I hope that it is opening day for you when you are sent back out. 

What does it mean to be a fan of Jesus?  I started following baseball in 1987, when I was 9 years old.  My dad and I lived in St. Paul, MN, so we followed the Minnesota Twins.   That was the year they won their first World Series—and I’ve been hooked on them ever since.   I can’t explain why I’m a Twins fans exactly—I just am.  It’s a part of my life that I can’t deny.  Being a Christian—being a fan of Jesus—isn’t necessarily something that you are going to be able to explain to your friends.  Jesus said, “You did not choose me—I chose you.”  But when you realize that your sins are forgiven by this man Jesus Christ, that one big thing might just change your life forever.  I hope it does.

But it can be difficult.  I’m not going to lie to you.  Being a fan isn’t always easy.  I may live in Iowa the rest of my life in Iowa, but I’m still going to root for Nebraska every September.  Even when I KNOW that I’m going to get picked on sometimes because of it.  That’s what it’s like to be a Christian.  Sometimes, you are going to have to stick up for Jesus even when everyone else is against you.  Being a fan of Jesus is not for the faint of heart. 

Sometimes, being a Jesus fan is like—well, it’s like being a Chicago Cubs fan.  The Chicago Cubs haven’t seen a World Series victory since they last won one in 1908!  That means that if you are younger than 104 years old, you were not even born the last time the Cubbies won a World Series.  They’ve lost 7 World Series’ since then, but, if you are a Cubs fan, you probably don’t remember many of those because they haven’t been to one since 1945—67 years ago.  To be a Cubs means “no glory”.  Jesus wasn’t a winner in his life either.  He was crucified and became a curse for us the Bible says.  He doesn’t promise his followers prosperity; instead, he says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”  To be a fan of Jesus Christ, you must be willing to suffer on account of His name.  To give all that you have not for earthly glory, but for eternal glory. 

               

But being a fan of Jesus isn’t all bad news.  Today, Easter Day, we remember that being  a fan of Jesus Christ is like being a New York Giants fan.  World Champions!  And Jesus was not just crowned champion for a year . . . he was crowned King of King and Lord of Lords for all time—talk about bragging rights!  Cheering on Jesus is like cheering on Kentucky this year in basketball—I mean, they were amazing.  When you face sin, death and the Devil as a Christian, you KNOW who’s gonna win!  Jesus Christ stands outside of the tomb like a prize fighter with his championship belt—victorious! 

But, the truth is, when people first meet Jesus, they’re NOT his fans, they’re his enemies—his opponents!   Jesus’ victory wasn’t just over sin, death and the devil . . . no, the truth is when he rose from the dead he defeated you and me.  God could have sent us all to hell, for what we did.  But then we hear that one big thing: your sins are forgiven.  And no matter how unlikely his victory may look in your life—if you are addicted to drugs, if you are riddled with anxiety or guilt, no matter if you don’t have enough money or time or hope, when you put your trust in Jesus and in His power, he wins the victory for you EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Are you a fan of Jesus Christ?  Yes, it means that you will experience suffering.  Yes, it means that you might even be made fun of.  Yes, it’s not always easy, but as His fan you are cheering on the one and only world champion of the universe! 

It’s opening day!  Today, you have the opportunity to follow Jesus.  To become a real hardcore fan.  He’s chosen you even though you once were His enemy.  And, honestly, it’s the chance of a lifetime.  Because once you start following him, all other allegiances start to fall away—they just can’t compete.  There’s nothing like cheering for a champion!  So get up on your feet people and put your hands together for Him on this day Easter Day!  Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead!  I introduce to you, your Leader, your God and your Savior Jesus Christ.  Hallelujah!

Sermon for April 6th (Good Friday)

We are stopping in the middle of the story tonight.  “It’s the deep breath before the final plunge” JRR Tolkien once said.  Soon, Jesus will say, “It is finished.” And he will breathe His last.  But we will keep on breathing.  We will keep on going.  If we don’t stop now, we’ll miss what it was all about.  What was Jesus doing on that cross?  Why didn’t He come down?  What purpose was he accomplishing?  What was it that Jesus finished?  It wasn’t the story.  We know now that his story continued, so what was it that was “finished” anyway?

                The Greek word telestai, which is translated here “finished”, can also mean “completed” or “accomplished”.  We know the story didn’t end that Friday, so what could Jesus have completed that night?  What was the purpose of all the flogging?  The gratuitous violence against an innocent man?  What did it help to have him killed?  If the resurrection is the great ending, what was accomplished on the cross?

                Jesus didn’t win his victory over death that night, no he lost that fight and gave up his spirit.  Jesus didn’t give us much of an example to follow either, for, though he went to the cross an innocent man, he became a curse for us and was forsaken by His Father.  He who knew no sin became sin.  As Jesus pointed out in the garden, if he had asked, his Father could have sent legions of angels to save him from the cross.  If God, the Father,  already knew he would raise his son from the dead after three days, could he not have done away with the death and just up and forgiven us?

                “It is finished,” Jesus said.  But forgiveness wasn’t accomplished on the cross.  Salvation wasn’t completed.  The story wasn’t finished.  The resurrection had to happen for all of that.  So why did Jesus say it?  What was finished?

                What was finished that night?  You.  You and me and all our personal salvation projects.  In the greatest fit of self-righteousness ever witnessed, God’s chosen people sacrificed their Messiah.  They did all they could and killed him.  They were finished.  The deed was done.  They were caught in the act of the crucifixion.  And so the final betrayal of God was accomplished and completed.  What happened next would be out of their hands. 

                When Jesus said, “It is finished” they story continues, but you don’t.  You end right there.  Right at the cross.  That’s our finish line.  All that is left is to weep alone with Peter or at the side of the cross with Jesus’ mother.  All that is left is to repent with Judas and yet have no hope for forgiveness.  Because, according to the story, we got our way in the end.  We won!  We murdered God and all was complete.  What would happen next would have nothing to do with us and everything to do with God.  What would God do with a cursed, dead and forsaken Jesus?    

                There will come a time for all of us to take our last breath just as Jesus did.  We will end our lives just as he did, under a curse—the curse of the law.  With sin clinging to us taunting us that we haven’t done enough, but there will be nothing left to do.  We will lie in our own tombs unable to will ourselves out no matter how free we thought we were.  Everything will have been accomplished that is possible to be done.  And then, just as with Jesus, we will have to wait and see what God has up his sleeve.  We will have to just wait and, by faith alone, trust in God’s mercy. 

When Jesus says, “It is finished” and breathes his last,we don’t keep going.  We don’t keep breathing.  We are stopped way back there at the foot of the cross.  That was our judgment day, the last day for all humankind, and God judged us unworthy.  Killers.  Betrayers.  Ungodly.  We were out of time before we even began.  When Jesus said that it was finished, so were we.  And our only hope lies in God alone.  Amen.                    

Sermon for April 5th (Maundy Thursday)

In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus Christ gives us all of himself, withholding nothing.  He says, “This is my body, given for you.  This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”  When we believe His words, we receive exactly what He says: the forgiveness of sins.  And where there is forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation.

                You might think then that when Christians talk about the Lord’s Supper, we get excited about it and yet, so often, churches fight about who can and who can’t come up for communion and whether we are doing it right or not.  My Cliff’s Notes answer to this is simple: We aren’t doing anything at the Lord’s Supper, it’s God’s promise given to us to forgive our sins.  Martin Luther said, “What is needed is simply a believing heart.”

                So then, why do Christians get so worked up about rules involving communion?  We need look no further than 1 Corinthians chapter 11 for our answer.  One sentence more than any other has people worried about what to do with the Lord’s Supper: “For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.”  Nobody wants to eat and drink judgment on themselves, right, so everyone tries to figure out what they need to do to stop that from happening.  That’s why in some Lutheran church denominations, you are not allowed to take communion unless you are a member in good standing of that church—the pastor is taking the responsibility to say that you will not eat and drink judgment on yourself by judging you worthy to partake.  It’s also the reason why many churches don’t allow children to take communion until they are older. 

                However, this sentence about “discerning the body of Christ” doesn’t stand by itself.  It is part of a much larger discourse.  Tonight, I hope to briefly show you that, as Christians, we have unwittingly done exactly what Saint Paul told us NOT to do.  Our goal in the Lord’s Supper should not be to cause people to doubt their faith, but to open the floodgates so that Jesus Christ can continue giving all He has to everyone who needs forgiveness.

                The passage actually starts several verses earlier in chapter 11 where Saint Paul says, “In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.”  The apostle is saying that there is something wrong when the Corithians meet to worship together.  “In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you.”  He explains that there will be some differences between God’s people but, and here is where the Lord’s Supper comes in, “when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your private suppers.  As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.  What shall I say to you?  Shall I praise you?  Certainly not in this matter!  For I received from the Lord what I also passed onto you:” and then he goes through the words of institution.

                It appears that Saint Paul was angry with how the Corinthians were celebrating communion.  It was more like a potluck than anything else it seems.  But the informality of the occasion doesn’t seem to be the main issue here, the problem is that some people in the church are eating their fill of bread and drinking a few glasses of wine and leaving nothing for anyone else.  It’s like their own “private dinner” he says.  Now, I like to eat with the best of them.  I have trouble with portion control myself.  That’s why I try to eat at the end of the line when my appetite won’t hurt anyone else’s chances of eating.  The problem with the Corinthian church is that while the Lord’s Supper is supposed to be Jesus giving all of himself and withholding nothing, some people in the church are getting nothing while others are getting stuffed on bread and wine.  In the very next chapter of his letter, Saint Paul says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  But this way of celebrating communion has created division within the church, the one body of Christ, instead.

                The passage continues, “So then, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.”  Saint Paul isn’t starting a new thought here, he is continuing one.  He’s been talking about the problem, and now he her refers to the problem as eating and drinking in “an unworthy manner”.  He then says, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.  For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.”  Which body of Christ?  The one he’s been talking about the entire time!  The Corinthian church!  The one that has been divided and is being torn apart!   

                Paul continues, “If we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.  So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.  Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.”  The Lord’s Supper is not about getting full on bread and wine—it’s about being fed with the bread of life, Jesus Christ himself.  That’s what is important.

                Ironically, as a church and as Christians, we have created divisions amongst ourselves rather than discerning the body of Christ especially with regards to the Lord’s Supper.  Setting up divisions about who can and cannot eat within the body of Christ.  We are called to repent of this behavior in every aspect of our lives.  Remember, coming to the Lord’s Supper is meant first and foremost for sinners, for the unworthy, for Christ’s betrayers, for those who need him the most.  The only way we can eat of this bread and drink from this cup in an unworthy manner is to start thinking that somehow we deserve it more than others; thus withholding the forgiveness of sins from those who need it most.  Don’t doubt your faith, believe in God’s good gift.  The Lord’s Supper is still for you just as it is for all believers in Christ.  Amen.  

Sermon for March 25th (Crucifixion and Resurrection)

                We start today at the cross.  Not in the garden.  Not at creation.  Not before the fall.  But with a man hanging, from his hands and feet, by nails hammered into his very bones, until his lungs collapsed under the weight of his own body.  We start here, at the cross, because we need to know why it had to happen.  Why did Jesus had to die.  Why do we have to look at Him?  It’s disturbing.  He’s disgusting to look at.  The prophet Isaiah said, “his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness”.  Jesus looks at us with arms wide open offering forgiveness and we shudder and turn away and say, “Go away Jesus.  Don’t you know there are little kids in the room?” 

                But we have to start at the cross or else we will forget that our story starts and ends here.  We need to know why he was put up there!  Why did Isaiah say, “He had no beauty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”?  We sing songs like “Draw me Close to You” or “I Want Jesus To Walk With Me” when the truth is that nobody wanted to be anywhere near Jesus when he was still alive on the cross.  “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”  We loved Jesus when he was healing or casting out demons, but when he was dying for our sins everyone—everyone—abandoned him and turned away from his hideousness.

                We start today at the cross because when we confess our sins each and every week, we need to confess that deep down we HATE this part of the service.  It exposes the truth about all of us.  Jesus Christ had to die on a cross because we didn’t want him.  Jesus Christ had to die because of our sin.  For if any one of us ever actually chose to follow God, if any one of us ever truly surrendered our will freely to God’s way, if any one of us really wanted to receive forgiveness from God rather than earning our place in heaven on our own then Jesus wouldn’t have had to die on that cross.  If you could have been saved any other way—even one of you—there would have been no need for the cross.  If we were really as spiritual as we seem, then Jesus Christ died for nothing.

                We start at the cross today to confess that, yes, he needed to die for me and for you.  He had to suffer for me and for you.  We would have it no other way.  So turn away.  Hide the eyes of the little ones.  The truth isn’t pretty.  Just don’t think that your forgiveness came without a cost.  The cost has nothing to do with your ego, or your Sunday morning, or even your life given up in service to others.  The cost of your salvation was paid with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and with His innocent suffering and death.          

The cross where our Savior suffered gives us a clear picture of our sin and its cost.  We were “caught in the act” as an old professor of mine put it—caught in the act of crucifying the Son of God.  There are no exits or escapes for sinners like us.  When Jesus was lifted up, we were caught red handed—our hands were stained with the blood of Jesus.  We know why Jesus had to die, but there is more to it.

                The prophet Isaiah said, “Surely he took our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” 

                God is holy.  Sinners, like you and me, are not allowed in the congregation of the righteous scripture says.  Why?  Because we are slaves to sin and the wages of sin are death.  We cannot live with God because we deserve only death—we cannot be alive if we are dead?  God is a God of justice and so, when a sin is committed, blood must be spilt to pay for the crime.  This is where the sacrificial system came into play in the Old Testament for the Jews.  When an Israelite sinned, instead of taking their life as payment, God was merciful to them and accepted the blood of a lamb instead.  In this way, God’s sense of justice was satisfied and the sinner’s life was saved. 

                Why did Jesus have to die?  Scripture says that he gave his life as a ransom for many.  We did not have the promise the Israelites had—animal sacrifices wouldn’t work for us.  We all deserved death for our sins, and, according to God’s justice, blood must be spilt.  We had no hope.  But, when the time was right, because God is such a merciful God, He sent us a lamb that would die for our sins.  That lamb was Jesus, the Son of God.

                That’s what the verses from Isaiah are talking about.  Jesus took the pain that we were supposed to take, he bore the suffering we deserved.  Understand this, we deserved the crucifixion, but Jesus was punished in our place.  Those who surrounded Jesus on the cross thought he was dying for his blasphemy or because he had gotten on the wrong side of the religious authorities, but the truth was that he was pierced for our transgressions.  He died because God demanded a sacrifice for sin—Jesus became the sacrifice we should have been.  The peace you have today with God, by faith, came about because of Jesus’ death on the cross. 

                The story began with the cross, but it didn’t end there.  God demanded justice.  God demanded death—the wages of sin.  And that is what the cross gave Him.  The death that we all deserved.  Just as death was brought into the world through the sin of one man, Adam, through the one man, Jesus, sin was paid for once and for all. 

                Why is the death important?  As Christians, we cannot simply lay our sins on Jesus and hope that His suffering can fix everything—it won’t.  Yes, our sins nailed Him to the cross, but don’t forget what happened next.  Your sins didn’t just put Jesus on the cross, your sins died up there with Him.  They are gone.  They are paid for.  They are no longer seen by God, but have been washed clean in the blood of Jesus. 

                I had a little green and white parakeet named Chippy when I was in Elementary school.  He was a great bird.  I also had a cat named Benjamin.  He was a bad cat.  I introduced the two of them often and hoped that they could be friends, but one day when I came home from school, I learned the truth about how friendly cats and birds can be.  Chippy had been mauled by Benjamin and only survived the rest of that evening as I cried and watched him die.  We put him in a little white box and my dad took him away.

                Some time later, I was looking for something in our garage when, lo and behold, I found the little white box with the name, “Chippy” written on it.  But he wasn’t in there.  I remembered how he had died and how it had really been my fault all along.  First, I felt really bad all over again, but then I got really mad at my dad who had just thrown my bird in the bushes behind our house instead of giving him a proper burial!  I guess I thought we’d just keep my dead bird forever, but dad understood death better than I did.  When something dies, it’s gone for good.  You don’t keep going back to take another look.

                So often, when we repent of our sins and stop doing them, even after we have heard our forgiveness and been absolved, we pick the same old sins back up thinking they are still ours.  We mull them over, feel guilty all over again and play the tapes of our mistakes again and again in our head.  We act as if Jesus is still suffering on that cross, but we are wrong.  Those sins died on the cross with Jesus.  Your forgiveness is a done deal.  The story starts at the cross, but ends with a death.  Jesus died for you.  Amen.  

   

Sermon for March 18th (Temptation)

The topic of today’s message is temptation.  The biblical passage I will be using today is from Isaiah chapter 50, “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the words of his servant?  Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.  But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze.  This is what you shall receive from my hand: you will lie down in torment.” 

                On the screen, you will see a bunch of pictures.  As you watch them, one by one, what do you think of them?  Are they things that you want?  Things that you already have?  Stuff you want more of?  Are they temptations?  Maybe.  Or are they just desires.  Desires are not always temptations.  What is the difference? 

Temptations are something we want, but we aren’t supposed to have, if that makes any sense.   A desire is simply something we want and there is nothing wrong with wanting something.  We want to eat.  We want to sleep.  We want a babies.  Those are just desires.  I would argue that what makes a temptation different than a desire isn’t THAT we want it, but HOW we want to get it.

Psalm 37 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  We can have desires, they are not bad; in fact, like any good Father, God wants to give His children what they want.  But when we stop trusting God to give us things and choose to get them ourselves, that’s when our desires become temptations.

On the TV show, The Biggest Loser, they often have temptation challenges.  Picture it, you’ve got all these obese people on the show who are presented with this huge buffet of the foods they love.  Maybe donuts are their obsession or pizza is their weakness.  Fried chicken, peanut butter cups and enchiladas.  Yummy.  And, usually, the challenge involves a prize of some sort like whoever eats the most calories gets to choose the trainer for both teams or gets a 2 pound advantage at the weigh in.  The show presents this as a food temptation, but the truth is that the food has very little to do with it.

I mean, by this point in the show, the contestants have been away from these foods and have lost a ton of weight and feel great and most of them really don’t want these foods any more.  The real temptation is the power to control the game.  During a temptation challenge, one or two contestants will stuff their face full of whatever and just about throw it up they are so disgusted by doing it—the food isn’t the temptation.  But they are so afraid of being voted off the ranch, that they will do anything to keep others from controlling their fate.  That desire to control is what makes the food the temptation in the end.

The passage from Isaiah explains that, in life, we have two choices: trust in God or trust in yourself.  When you walk through this dark world, you can trust in God to be your light and rely on Him.  Or, you can walk in the light of your own torches with fire you provide for yourself.  I believe that the biggest temptations don’t really have to do with the pictures I showed before; the temptation is to do whatever we want on our own terms.  To get what we want when we want it.  We don’t like to leave our fate in the hands of others or even in God’s hands.  When Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden of Eden, they weren’t tempted by a piece of fruit, they were tempted with the idea that they could be like God—the masters of their own destinies.  That is the temptation that we all face.

I have always struggled with being a workaholic.  And, at least for me, it isn’t a temptation to want to get more stuff by making more money.  It’s a temptation to try and control my life.  Why?  Because of fear.  I think things like:  If I don’t work hard enough at church, if I don’t spend enough time in the office, if I don’t go on enough visits, someone is going to be unhappy with me and then, eventually, I’ll lose my job.  My temptation is to try and control the situation and work so hard that nobody with ever think of criticizing me.  The Devil uses this fear to steal and destroy my life by stealing my trust in God.

The truth is that God is in control of my life just like he is in control of yours.  You can spend your entire life out there in the cornfields working, but you can’t control the weather.  You can be the most loyal employee at your workplace and still be layed off because the CEO took a bad risk.  If we choose to walk through life being guided by the light of our own torches, off the sweat of our own brow, we will lie down in torment God says—we will always be worried that we aren’t doing enough.  That’s the thing about being a workaholic.  The harder I work, the less I feel like I’ve done enough. 

The difference between a temptation and a desire is who you put your trust in: yourself or God.  God has made this world full of beautiful and wonderful things for us.  When you are always trying to get things on your own, on your own time, in your own way, these things can become the most tormenting temptations in your life, but God says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, keep His commandments, trust in His timing, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Amen.  

Sermon for March 4th (Servant Leadership)

If you’ve followed the NBA at all this year you know the name Jeremy Lin.  The story of Jeremy Lin is awesome.  He didn’t receive any athletic scholarships to play basketball out of high school.  He played college basketball at Harvard University—not exactly a big name school like Duke, Kansas or North Carolina.  Jeremy Lin went undrafted in the NBA draft, but was picked up with an unguaranteed contract by the Golden State Warriors later that year as a point guard.  He was traded from Golden State to the Houston Rockets and then finally landed to the New York Knicks where he was fourth on the depth chart.  Then, one night, since every other point guard on the Knicks was either injured or playing poorly, Lin came in and blew everyone’s mind scoring 25 points, getting 5 rebounds and having seven assists.  His point total in his first five career starts were the most of any player since the 76-77 merger beating names like Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

                But Jeremy Lin is a point guard and, as he has mentioned in interviews, scoring points isn’t really what he is called to do on his team.  His job is to run the offense and find open players to give them easy shots.  A great game for a point guard isn’t getting double digits in scoring as much as it is getting double digits in assists.  Famous point guards are people that serve the ball to others who often get much more glory getting easy layups and dramatic dunks.  Point guards like John Stockton had Karl Malone, Steve Nash has Dirk Novitski and Rajon Rondo has Keven Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.  The best point guards make the people around them look good almost to the detriment of their own fame and fortune.

                Jesus told his disciples to be point guards-not power forwards.  Jesus encouraged his disciples to serve others the ball, not be a ball hog and score bazillions of points to adoring crowds.  The problem is that in sports like in so many places in this world, those who serve get much less recognition than those who are served.  It’s just the way it is.  But Jesus said, “It should not be so with you who follow me.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” 

                The problem is that while we like the idea of being a servant, most people don’t actually like BEING servants or slaves.  No matter what Jesus says, it certainly doesn’t FEEL great.  It’s hard to just work hard while other people get the glory hoping for that day in heaven when you finally get your thanks.  Even the people in our lives who we think are the best servants often aren’t—they are standing on the backs of other people who are never talked about.

                My best example of this is very personal.  I love visiting with people who are grieving, or counseling those who are struggling through issues, or going to the hospital when somebody has been hurt at a moment’s notice.  And I often get thanked for it.  People will say how great I am for taking time from my family to go to Des Moines or for doing a funeral or something like this.  Often, pastors are looked up as being servants of their community and I believe a good pastor must be a servant to his church community.  But, along the way, I realized that I get the glory, but I really don’t deserve it.   The reason that I can go to hospital on a moment’s notice, or show up to a funeral on any day, or stay up late counseling is because my wife, Kristy, is at home with my children.  She cooks when I can’t.  She puts the kids to bed when I’m not there.  She drops everything to serve me so that I can serve the church.  But no matter how many times I say that, people see me out doing things and I get the glory.  But, in God’s eyes, I believe that she is truly getting the glory because she is following Jesus’ example.

All of you have been given gifts to serve in the church.  Some of you are called to be up front—singing in the praise band, reading scripture, leading ministry teams—while others  work behind the scenes in supporting roles such as the media team, altar guild, custodians and circles.  The only way that this works is if both types of people are seeking to serve one another.  Not to be above another person, or to stay out of the limelight, but to support each other so that the kingdom of God is nourished and grown. 

If you have spent your life serving others, have you ever realized that you are considered great in the kingdom of God by none other than Christ himself.  You are the stars of the show whether you want to be or not.  And for those of you who are leaders of the church, you are called not to glory but to servanthood.  Only in this way does our work in the church lead to the glory of God.  Amen. 

                “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”  Why.  Why would he do that? 

                Let’s change sports analogies from basketball to football.  How many of you have heard of Drew Brees?  He’s the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.  This past season, he broke the single season record for passing yards most recently held by Dan Marino who was probably the most prolific passer in the history of the game.  After the game where he broke the record, what did Brees talk about?  He talked about the importance of his offensive line and how he couldn’t have done it without them.  He said that his glory was really due to his defense which made it possible for him to play so well in every game.  He didn’t just thank his wide receivers and running backs, he credited his award to them for their hard work.   While the media was making Drew Brees look like some kind of a quarterback god, he didn’t use that to his advantage, but he humbled himself and gave the credit to everyone around him.

                In football, the quarterback MUST lead by being a servant.  In a game, quarterbacks, especially pocket passers like Brees, don’t run the ball all that much and they never catch a pass they throw.  They hand the ball off.  They serve the ball in the hands of their receivers.  The best quarterbacks are the greatest servants to the offense when you think about it.  But why do they do it?  We don’t consider them selfless, do we?  No, not really.  Because we know that they are trying to win.  Drew Brees is a servant leader because he wants to be part of something special—he wants to win the Super Bowl.  And he knows that the best way of doing it is to serve the offense in the best way he knows how.

                This doesn’t only happen in sports either.  In the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, JRR Tolkien wrote about how this works in other aspects of life.  In the story, the ringbearer, Frodo, was charged with the task of destroying the One Ring of Power so that Sauron, the epitome of evil, could not have the ring for himself.  If Sauron had the one ring, he would destroy all of Middle Earth.  But while Frodo eventually did destroy the ring, he couldn’t have done what he did without Samwise Gamgee, his trusted friend.  Why did Sam follow his friend through the horrors of the land?  He wasn’t going to win any Super Bowl.  There wasn’t a pile of treasure at the end of the journey to look forward to either.  But Sam knew that there was a reward.  The reward was to be a part of something important—to save the world from falling into the hands of evil.  So he became Frodo’s servant in order that the world might be kept safe for not only himself but for future generations.

                Jesus also gave his life for a purpose—to give you life.  That’s why he was willing to do what he did.  Because God so loved the world.  You are important enough in God’s eyes that Jesus came to die for you.  In order for you or I to follow Jesus into servanthood for others, we also need to understand what we are doing it for.  What is the reward that we are working for?  Jesus tells his disciples one of the rewards in Matthew chapter 19, “Everyone who has left houses, or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”  In other words, following Jesus will change your life and give you a new one.  But there’s more. 

                Why do mothers stay up all night to nurse their children?  Why do Sunday School teachers and our GROW volunteers take the time to shepherd tons of rowdy kids?  Why serve others as Jesus did?  Ask yourself this question: whose life will change when God works through you? 

                Judgment Day is bigger than the Super Bowl.  The battle against evil isn’t just some story in a book.  If you’ve ever wanted to become part of something big, Jesus tells you how to succeed in the kingdom of God.  “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first, must be slave of all.”  

Sermon for March 11th (A Light to the Gentiles)

                Dogs.  Has anyone ever called you a dog?  Think of the connotations.  In today’s world, if a man is called a “dog” it often means that they treat women badly.  If a woman is called a “dog” it means that she is ugly.  In Middle Eastern countries, to be called a “dog” is one of the biggest insults imaginable.  In some translations of today’s gospel, translators have changed the word “dog” into “puppy” or “little dog” to somehow smooth over the words Jesus used.  Don’t do that.  Let the name stick.  There is a reason Jesus called this woman a dog and it’s important that you know it.  Because, in God’s eyes, you are also a dog.

                God chose a particular group of people to be set apart in this world.  He called them by name and blessed them to be a blessing to the people around them.  They were called to be a light to the nations and a city on a hill to glorify God’s name through their actions.  God’s chosen people are the Jews, often called the Israelites in the Bible.  You, however, are not a Jew.  You are not a member of God’s chosen people.

                In God’s eyes, there are only two kinds of people.  Those chosen and those who are not.  Jews and Gentiles.  God’s children and the dogs.  We are the dogs.  We are God’s good creation, but we are not in God’s family by birthright.

                It’s imperative that you know this because, as a dog, you need to know your place.  What is and is not expected of you.  The Jews can talk about their pedigree, their birthright—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  “The gifts and call of God to the Jews is irrevocable” Saint Paul says in Romans, “Because of the patriarchs” because of who their ancestors were.  Just like some of you here get special treatment in town because of your last name or who your grandpa is or was.  Jews get special treatment in God’s eyes.  You do not.  You are a dog.  Ruff!  As a dog, you must come before God is a different way—through the doggie gate you might say.

                The woman in the gospel lesson knows this and so she fought for her rights as only a dog can.  Jesus said, “First, let the children eat all they want,”  He told her, “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  Some of you have dogs and you understand what this is talking about very personally.  If your dog hopped up onto the table at dinnertime, you’d yell at them and kick-em out of the room.  But when meat falls onto the floor what do we often say, “Leave it for the dog.”  We eat what’s on the table, the dogs eat what’s on the floor.

                As dogs, we get the leftovers, the trash, the stuff the chosen children of God threw away.  That is all we have a right to.  If we enter the house, it must be through this doggie doorway.  But oh what crumbs we have been left!  When Jesus was betrayed, handed over and crucified, abandoned and left for dead outside the city gates on Golgotha, the trash heap of the town, God’s kingdom was left for the dogs . . . the dogs, like you and me.

                Ironically, God’s Messiah was foretold to bring salvation to the Gentiles, but who could have imagined that it would be in this way.  Isaiah prophesied that the one called to bring back those of Israel would become a light to the Gentiles, that God’s salvation would reach as far as the ends of the Earth.  When Jesus was thrown out by the children of God, the chosen ones, it became a great day to be a dog!  Ruff!  When Jesus was crucified on the trash heap of Jerusalem, he became food for the dogs.  The Jews were meant to be a light for the nations, a city on a hill, Jesus instead became that light.  The crumbs the children left behind and discarded has become our daily bread.

                As a dog, your only hope to enter into God’s presence is by the doggie-gate.  Jesus said, “I am the gate.”  By faith in Jesus Christ alone, you are given access to the kingdom of God.  Not by good deeds or by birthright—by faith alone could you be called a child of God even though you are a dog.

                Some of you have dogs.  They are pets , they you treat them as children.  You dress them up to keep them warm.  Perhaps they sleep in the same bed as you.  You talk to them often and pay enormous expenses to keep them happy and healthy.  Other people might look at you funny for treating your pet in this way, but your dog means a lot to you.  They are like a child in many ways.  However, there are limitations even for the most beloved of pets.  You do not write them into the will, for example.  You do not leave your money to the family dog.  They don’t get a seat at the dinner table at Easter dinner.  And there are times that, if those pets forget who they truly are, there are consequences.  Even for the most beloved of pets. 

Just think of the movie, Lady and the Tramp, Lady was as loved of a dog as there ever was , that is, until a baby came along.  Then, even though she was still loved, the baby was a part of the family in a different way.  And, when push came to shove, Lady was sent out to the dog house while the baby stayed safely inside the house.  Make no doubt about it, even the most beloved dog is still a dog.

We are dogs in God’s kingdom—don’t ever forget it.  We live off the crumbs the children have left us.  We come to God by faith alone in Jesus.  We can’t point to our faithful parents and hope for any special treatment from God.  We can’t look to our denominational background and hope for help there.  Our race or the country that we live in doesn’t matter a darn bit in God’s eyes.  We are the dogs and the doggie gate into God’s kingdom is Jesus.  Nothing more and nothing less.  Without Jesus, we have no hope, we are only dogs.  We must put our hope in Jesus and in Jesus alone.  But what a gift this Jesus is for us dogs.  But Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, the kingdom of heaven has gone to the dogs.  When you put your faith in the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, it’s a dog’s day in heaven.  Ruff!