Sermon for November 14th (Speak)

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest fields.” What is this harvest that Jesus is referring to? He is sending his disciples out to bring in those who believe Jesus’ message. If that message finds good soil and is accepted, those believers will become part of the great harvest of all believers at the end of time.

“The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man” Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew. The disciples are being sent out to speak to Jews and every Jew would have already heard that God had promised them a Messiah. Those that believe Jesus is that very Messiah are the good plants that God has planted. Those who do not believe, those who reject this message, who do not believe that Jesus is the promised Savior, are not only rejecting the disciples’ words, but are rejecting Jesus himself, and therefore God’s plan for their salvation. Jesus makes it clear that there are sinister forces at work, namely the Devil, who is planting weeds of doubt and unbelief. Those who accept the message are part of the harvest and those who reject the words are not.

According to the gospel of Matthew chapter 13, “The one who received the seed that fell on the good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” I have heard this described in an interesting way once before. Jesus is teaching the disciples to be fruit inspectors. Jesus just describes what they are looking for. He is saying that they are harvesting apples. If a person accepts the message, they are an apple. If they reject the message, they are something else . . . oranges perhaps. But either way, as Jesus explains, “You shall know them by their fruits.” At the end of the age, God intends to harvest the apples and throw out the oranges.

No doubt some of you are unhappy with the direction that this sermon is going. It doesn’t seem fair that some are apples and some are oranges. God himself doesn’t seem to like that either. He spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Declares the Sovreign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” Jesus Christ came to turn oranges into apples —to turn sinners into saints—to make unbelievers believers, “Repent and believe in the good news!” he said. But how is he going to get that done?
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

I think that it is very easy for us to become comfortable with our place in history—too comfortable. Jesus promised to come again, but that was 2000 years ago, and so we’ve just figured that he won’t come anytime soon. There’s always going to be enough time for us, for our loved ones, for people who don’t care about their salvation to start caring again. But get a load of this reading from 2nd Peter, “Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Whenever Jesus came into contact with his disciples, he told them to go and speak, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything that I have commanded you.” Why does he care so much? Because the harvest is coming and when Jesus returns like a thief in the night it will be too late. So what are we to do with this borrowed time? God is calling you to speak.

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been talking a lot about faith and what it is and what it means. Faith means to trust, to listen, to follow, to hold onto God’s promises, to confess and to obey. Faith also means to speak. The problem is that we get so focused on ourselves when we start talking about faith that we end up becoming enamored with our own bellybuttons. Have you ever seen a little kid when they find their bellybutton? Suddenly, in that child’s universe, their bellybutton becomes the most interesting thing to look at and they will keep looking down until they find it over and over again. They stick out their little bellies and pull up their little shirts again and again just to make sure that it is there. And then they show it off to everyone who will look. It’s cute for a one year old, but don’t let your faith become your newfound bellybutton.

In the book of James we read, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Do you see that James isn’t saying that there isn’t faith, but that it is not a living faith. Like an dead apple tree in the backyard that never grows apples. Who cares if it is an apple tree anymore? You can show off you faith and show off your apple tree as often as you’d like to anyone who will look, but if it is dead then it might as well be a peach tree, a banana tree or a lollipop tree. No one will be able to tell the difference! It’s purpose is dead.

Remember when I told you about the harvest? And how there are some apples and some oranges and God wants the apples? Did you like hearing that or did you want to change that? Did you feel scared or even angry about it? Why? Because God is loving, right? Well, if you believe that—that God is a loving God— if you have faith in that, if you trust that and are willing to confess that out loud and follow God wherever he leads you, even if it’s to tell someone else about that wonderful promise of salvation then you will want to speak! A living faith can’t just sit back and say, “Too busy.” No! A living faith speaks because it can’t help itself. A living faith must speak because it loves all people and hopes in the goodness and power of God above anything else. Even hoping against hope that God can turns oranges into apples before the harvest day.

In the story today, Moses had many excuses why he couldn’t speak. What can we learn from his story?

His first excuse was this, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? Believe it or not, Moses didn’t seem to foresee that he was going to be a hero of the faith; in fact, he didn’t feel worthy. And he was right, he wasn’t worthy, just like you and I are not worthy. Who am I? Who are you? Who are we to be given such a wondrous message of love to give to people who are hurting in this world?

What is God’s answer to all this unworthiness? God doesn’t build Moses up talking about his spiritual gifts or about giving of his time and talents. God simply says, “I will be with you.” Having the faith to speak means trusting that it isn’t about you—it’s about God seeking his lost sheep and using your voice to call them home.

But then Moses said, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you?” I recently remembered how it felt after I received a call to seminary. How could I explain that God was “calling” me to be a pastor? How could I prove it? Was I SURE it was God or just a chemical imbalance?

In the story, Moses is told by God to prove it through a series of three miracles. We look at that and say, “Nice! If I could turn the Nile into blood people would probably believe me too! If I could turn a stick into a snake I wouldn’t be so worried about being believable!” So pray for a miracle. Why not! If you need one, pray for one. In the story of Paul and Barnabas in the book of Acts, we hear that, “they spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.” The point is, it is up to you to speak, God will provide any necessary signs. If you believe you need one, why not ask for one and see what happens?

But Moses complained, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” In today’s vernacular we’d say, “But I’m not a good public speaker! I wouldn’t know what to say!” Once again, this is not about what YOU have to say. It’s what God has to say. God spoke to Moses and said, “I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” If you don’t already have a Bible, ask us for one. If you are a Christian, you need a Bible and you need to read it. In proverbs we read that we should read God’s Word like we were searching for hidden treasure because in these pages we will find the knowledge of God. “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” God is ready and waiting to teach. Open up your Bible and listen so that you have the words to speak when the time comes.

Moses then starts running out of excuses, “Oh Lord, please send someone else to do it.” “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
God responds, “I will help you speak and will teach you what to do.” “You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you.”

This is probably the hardest part of speaking God’s message. God says very clearly, over and over to his prophets in the Bible, that he will make it so some do not hear. He told Isaiah that he would stop up the ears of the people who he spoke to, Jesus told the disciples he was speaking in parables so that the kingdom stayed hidden for some, God even hardened Pharaoh’s heart. That’s why you cannot have the faith to speak unless you have a living faith that trusts God, listens to him, follows him, holds onto his promises, is able to confess and obeys completely. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts, and even if you do everything “right” the good you expect and want may not happen.

So why bother? I will end this message with a heartbreaking note. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” If people never hear the message of Jesus Christ, they won’t be able to believe that his amazing love is for them, that his ultimate forgiveness saves them for eternal life. People need to hear the love of Jesus, because if they don’t know his love, that is hell pure and simple—in this life or after death.

What is the good news in all of this? Where is the hope? You were once an orange. But God gave people in your life the faith to speak so that you might hear and believe. Now you are the apple of God’s eye. He will give you the faith to speak as well. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” God tells us to ask him to send out his workers and so we shall, right here and right now. Let us pray . . .

Sermon for August 1st (Sent Out To Speak)

Now it’s time for the TOP TEN REASONS WHY YOUR FRIEND DOESN’T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH . . . Number 10: The church is full of hypocrites. Number 9: I like to have one day to sleep in. Number 8: Religions all teach the same things. Number 7: God loves me even if I don’t go to church. Number 6: Churches just want money. Number 5: But I’m not baptized. Number 4: But I’m not Lutheran. Number 3: I’m a good person even if I don’t go to church. Number 2: But I don’t believe in God. And the number one reason you might hear for why your friend doesn’t want to go to church: I’m spiritual, not religious.

Jesus gave this commandment, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Great. But what are you going to say? Saint Paul told us to say this, “We proclaim Christ crucified!” But what does Christ crucified mean?

Let me break this down for you a second. Christ is the term for the coming and expected Messiah. How many people you know are expecting the Messiah to return? Your Jewish friends maybe, but that’s it. No one would even know what a Messiah would look like it was standing right in front of them walking and talking like one. And what does it mean to have the Christ be crucified? It means that this long expected Messiah was killed on a cross, a most shameful death for what was supposed to be a magnificent King of kings. For a Jew, the words, “Christ crucified” would certainly be offensive, a stumbling block, but how many Jewish friends do you come into contact with each week? Probably not too many.

That means, for you and I, we are going to be focusing mostly on non-Jews, what the Bible calls Gentiles. What’s a Gentile? You. You are a Gentile. Look in the mirror. That’s a Gentile. And if you come up to a Gentile, like you, that is any non-Jewish person and tell that them, “Christ crucifed” they are going to give you a look like—what! Do you need a Kleenex or something. It doesn’t mean anything to people. Christ crucified! It’s silliness! Or as Paul says: it’s Foolishness. I have two objectives today. First, I want to help you see why you should care to be foolish and tell anyone about Jesus. Second, I want to equip you with something to say.

So let’s dig right in. Why should you care. Why. If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead YOU will be saved. And that’s nice. It’s nice to know. As Paul put it, “For the message about the cross if foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” That’s right! The power of God! And it’s for us!

Not so fast. There was just that little part in there about those who are perishing. What does perishing mean? Dying. Those who are dying. Imagine that you were walking along a beach and you looked out into the cool waters as the waves cascaded across the sand and, what’s that, someone is out there in the water, gasping for air and then they just stopped doing anything all together—and you suddenly realize: That person is perishing! They are drowning! What would you do?

Of course, if you jumped in and tried to save them they might be offended. They were probably just trying to swim all on their own. You might look foolish jumping right in there. You’ve probably never even done this before! Do you even know CPR? Shouldn’t you call the lifeguard first? But then again they ARE drowning. What would you do? Would you just let em die or would you try? What if it was your friend? Or your child? I bet that most of you would jump in and try to save them, no matter what the cost, because even if you failed, you couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. They might die if you did nothing.

Why should you care to tell anyone about Jesus? Because many of your friends, your neighbors, your children, your parents, your coworkers and your acquaintances are perishing . . . they are dying and you are just standing there watching them do it. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To you, that might be good news, because you have Jesus. But for many others it is offensive, because they don’t know why Jesus matters at all. Yes, you might look foolish, especially if your friends and family don’t realize that they are about to drown. But God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

You Savior has given you a command. “Go. Make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey my commandments.” Some of you might go and share your faith because of this command, because you desire to walk as Jesus walked, but that’s not good enough. God doesn’t just want you to “follow the rules”. Because people will know it. They will know if you are just talking to them because you’re trying to be a “good little Christian.” People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

They might think that you are foolish sometimes for caring so much, but only when we realize that salvation is a matter of death and life will we have the heart to speak up. “Faith comes through hearing” Saint Paul says in Romans. Oh that God would break our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh! That we would care, each and every one of us, enough for people, that we don’t just look onto the world like they don’t matter. Like we’ve got salvation and that’s good enough. They might not be your children, drowning out there, but they are God’s children and he is calling you to jump in, start swimming and speak up.

God has placed you in this world, in your town, in your job and in your neighborhood for a purpose. Your circle of friends is not an accident. But if you asked a friend who was struggling with their life to come to church some Sunday here at Emmanuel to meet Jesus, to get faith, and they gave you some excuse, what would you say? I’m here to help you start responding. Who knows what you or I might say in the heat of the moment. But here are some examples of how you might respond if your friend told you something like, “Thanks, but no thanks. The church if full of hypocrites.”

“Yes, the church is full of hypocrites and liars and adulterers and addicts. I go to church to hear that God forgives me even though I don’t always live the way I want to. You’re my friend and I know that you aren’t perfect just like I’m not. God loves you and forgives you too even though you’re not perfect. I want you to hear that and believe it. You don’t have to go alone, I’ll pick you up Sunday morning at 8:15.”

“But I like to have one day to just sleep in.” Me too, but I have to get up even earlier every other day of the week for work or to get the kids off to school. I choose to get up for church because it gives me the strength to get through my week. Once you get into the habit, you might even like going to church. I do. You could come with me if you want.”

“Religions all teach the same thing.” Well, a lot of religions teach you to be a good person or to DO good things for others, but only Jesus Christ died to forgive you unconditionally. Other religions don’t teach that. You know me. I’m no saint. Church is the ONLY place where I can hear that I’m forgiven and then go back out and try to love people again.”

“Listen God loves me even if I don’t go to church.” Yes, God does love you no matter what! But you know what. I know my wife loves me, but I like to hear her say it. In fact, I NEED to hear her say it. I can’t hear it often enough! That’s one reason I go to church every Sunday. I think that you’d have a great time and meet some great people at Emmanuel. Can I pick you up this Sunday?”

“Churches just want money.” Yeah, I’ve felt that way along the way. You don’t have to give that’s for sure, but, for me, I want to give money to something that is meaningful in my life and to the lives of others. I want to be a part of the vision of our church and I just wish I could give more! But just come. Don’t worry about that whole giving thing until you love doing it as much as I do.”

“But I’m not baptized.” You don’t need to be baptized in order to come to church. Baptism is just a special way to hear God’s promise of love and forgiveness. Now, if you ever want to be baptized then just ask, I would love to talk with you about that. But don’t let any of that stop you from coming. I’m going to the contemporary service this Sunday. Why don’t you ask at home and I’ll call Saturday night to see if you have any more questions.”

“But I’m not Lutheran!” Yeah, so what? You are a Christian! Jesus died for you. You don’t have to be Lutheran to come to Emmanuel. God’s promise is for everyone and you are definitely welcome. Lutherans simply believe that Jesus loves you because you have faith in him and that it’s not because you do enough good things. Why don’t you just come and see if you love it there as much as I do.”

“I’m a good person, even if I don’t go to church.” I know that. You help me out all the time. But church isn’t for good people, church is for people who make mistakes, who sometimes do bad things. That’s me and that’s you too right? Church is where you can hear that God forgives you . . . even if you’re not always perfect. But here the thing, I’m not trying to convince you. Just come and see what it’s like. You might even like it.”

“But I don’t believe in God.” Well, I do, but that’s not a prerequisite for coming to church. Church is where you hear that God believes in you! That he loves you and forgives you. You don’t have to say or do anything that you don’t want to. Just come and listen. If you have questions, you can talk with me or the pastor after the service.”

“I’m spiritual, not religious.” For me, church isn’t about being spiritual or being religious, it’s about hearing that Jesus loves me and forgives me. It’s about faith. Being inspired and reconnecting with God’s Word and others Christian people who love and support me. I just think it’d be really cool to have you come this Sunday. What time could I pick you up?

When you have the chance, listen to your friends and their concerns about faith and church. Be honest and open about your failures and your need for Christ. Talk about God’s love. Tell them about God’s forgiveness. Tell them about why faith matters to you. And, finally, either bring them here or encourage them to find another faith community.

God has commanded us to speak, but I hope that today you understand why. It’s about death and life. If you get the chance, speak up, but above all, trust in this: you are only planting the seeds. God gives the growth. You are only speaking, God gives the faith. You are only loving, God changes hearts. God does the saving, but he intends on using you to give his message. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Amen.

Sermon for February 7th

As I mentioned a long time ago, I used to go fishing a lot with my Grandpa in Kansas. We fished his two ponds and some local ones as well on occasion. Sometimes we even ate some that we had caught, but usually we just fished for pleasure. Now, every once in awhile, I consider how some of my growing up experiences have prepared me to be a pastor, but only this week, after reading the gospel text from Luke, did I realize how much fishing prepared me to do what I do. In fact, you should all go fishing sometime just to see what I mean. Now I know that some of you may know a whole lot about fishing, but I never really have and, in fact, that’s part of the reason these fishing experiences have been so helpful to me.

Imagine looking into a pond or a lake. What can you see? Nothing, right? What about in the Housatonic river? You see the currents. Maybe you even see a fish jump up trying to catch a taste of a fly, but once it goes back under that water you don’t have a clue what’s going on. Bodies of water are really quite strange and terrifying when you think about it because most of us have no real idea whatsoever what is going down underneath us. It is a mystery, especially to me as a boy fishing with my grandpa.

But grandpa taught me that if I took a rod, and hooked on some bait, and threw it out into a pond, chances were that after enough times a fish might hit and I would catch it. I have taken this fact for granted, but, truly, the fact that I threw that line in time after time was based on a very blind faith in what my Grandpa said. I have never had a clue how many fish were in a pond, or where the bottom was, or what else was in there, or what lure to use, or when to go fishing, and yet I kept doing it and, more amazing than the fact that I did it, was the fact that it worked so many times! Me! A complete fishing moron became a pretty ok fisherman after years of practice. Not because I knew what I was doing, but because I had been given the faith to keep throwing that line into that mysterious water hoping that, eventually, a fish would take the bait.

Simon Peter, Jesus’ disciple, was NOT a fishing moron like me. He fished for a living. He and his partners threw down their nets into the sea of Gennesaret and the fish they caught were probably both their livelihood and their next meal. They no doubt knew where the best places were to fish, when the best times were to fish, what fish they would probably catch and how long they’d need to do it. So when Jesus told them to “put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” he was talking to a professional. And what did this professional fisherman say? “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.” This is not the statement of a slacker, or of a neophyte fisherman who doesn’t know any better. Simon Peter had the knowledge and experience that they weren’t going to be catching anything of any consequence by casting the nets right then. If anyone should have known, it would have been Simon Peter. And yet, for whatever reason, be it simply to humor Jesus or to be an obedient disciple, he did as Jesus asked and started fishing.

Now if Jesus had asked me to throw down a net and catch some fish, I would have been happy if I had caught anything. But I would not have been “astonished” or “afraid” as the text puts it. I would have been as pleased as any time I catch a fish because I don’t have a clue how it happened! I don’t understand the mystery of fishing. But Simon Peter did. He was a professional fisherman. And when the net began to break because of all the fish they were hauling in, and when he had to call over his partners for an extra boat to help, and when both boats were sinking, Simon Peter understood something I never will ever understand completely: Jesus had done a miracle. Jesus had affected the laws of fishing and made fish come that shouldn’t have been there. And while I would have been unaffected by such a miracle, Simon Peter understood the implications. He had followed Jesus’ command and done something that was impossible. I don’t know if Simon Peter had faith at first when he let down those nets, but after he caught so many fish that his boat almost sunk, you can bet that he would trusted whatever Jesus said.

And now comes the part that I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon; the part where I realized that fishing had truly prepared me for ministry in ways that I had never realized. Jesus tells Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Imagine that Jesus had started the conversation with that statement: “from now on you will be catching people.” I’ll be you that Simon would have been clueless as to where to start, right? It would have seemed impossible! How were the disciples, a bunch of fishermen, going to make it so that people would start following Jesus? Imagine how difficult it would have seemed after Jesus had been crucified! But Simon had just witnessed a miracle of the kind of proportions only he, as a fisherman, would have truly grasped, and he would have realized that if God has the power to make fish get caught which should have never been there, he could be trusted to help him bring followers to Jesus as well, even as impossible as that seemed.

Every time I went fishing, I trusted my grandpa knew what he was talking about. I didn’t know how! I didn’t know why! But if I threw my baited hook into this mysterious pondwater, sooner or later, I’d pull out a fish! Can you understand how amazing that really is! It took a lot of trust when it comes down to it . . . or a lot of faith as some people call it. Now, as a pastor, but more importantly as a Christian, God calls me to trust him with a new command: fish for people. I understand that about as much as you do. I don’t know how to make someone believe on Jesus Christ. I don’t know why they would give up their old lives and start a new one. But Jesus tells each one of us that, as his disciples, we are expected to go out into the deep water of our lives, and start casting out our nets. The net is Jesus Christ. We’re not baiting our hooks with the latest church growth fad. We give people Jesus and he draws them into faith.

You could probably tell me 101 excuses for why people won’t listen to you and I’d believe you. New England is too liberal for Jesus, you might say. People don’t care about faith, you might argue. I don’t know what to say, you might insist. And, no doubt, as an expert in your field I bet you are right. You probably have no right to expect that your friends would come to church with you. You know your coworkers well enough to know that they’d be offended if you asked them whether they believed in Jesus Christ. I believe you! You don’t have enough time to talk to people about your faith in Jesus Christ. Just like Simon Peter knew enough to know that Jesus was asking him to do something impossible by throwing out his net into waters he knew would be empty. And yet, according to the word of Jesus Christ, his net came out with an abundance of fish.

You don’t need to understand how it’s going to happen. You don’t need to understand why it’s going to happen. But Jesus Christ has commanded us as his disciples to cast out our nets, to let Jesus loose in the world by our words and actions by bringing them to church, speaking about our faith in Jesus, sharing God’s forgiveness with them or helping them understand God’s commandments. And even though we all know that it would take a miracle for anyone to listen to us and start believing that Jesus Christ is their lord and Savior, according to today’s text, Jesus is in the habit of doing miracles. We can trust him to keep his word and do the impossible . . . even through poor fishermen like us. Amen.

Sermon for December 24th (Christmas Eve)

“Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.’”

Sometimes the most glorious events of our lives are quite scary at first. Birth, engagements, marriage. Starting a new job, going to college, retiring. Glorious and scary at the same time. The best books and movies love to set us up for these types of events, by preparing us for the big finale, the big event, heightening our expectation with every passing moment, only to throw in a curveball at the very last minute and delay our happiness until the very end. And that curveball often happens because of fear.

Over Christmas vacation, you may have a chance to watch a few extra movies like this in your free time. One of my favorites is the movie, “Runaway Bride”. In the movie, Julia Roberts plays a woman who has been engaged three times and has bolted from each of her husbands-to-be at the very last moment calling off each wedding. She wants to be married, she sees the joy and glory that are supposed to be hers, but when it comes right down to it, she is just too scared. Marriage freaks her out and so she runs. Not be outdone, in the movie, “Bed of Roses”, Lewis and Lisa fall in love and, on Christmas Day, in front of his family, Lewis asks Lisa to marry him. But, suddenly, she gets very upset and runs out the door. What happened? We had been expecting a romantic ending! What went wrong? Well, nothing, except that sometimes when things seem so perfect, so wonderful, so glorious, we can’t imagine being worthy or being ready for any of it, and our fear destroys our hopes for happiness

That’s what happened to these poor shepherds at first, who after a lifetime full of ordinariness, and a lifetime full of expectations of a coming Messiah, they find their lives transformed into something miraculous. The glory of the Lord shone around them, but instead of staring in amazement and awe, instead of praising God or smiling, they were terrified. The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying, “The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” But, at least for these shepherds, walking in deep darkness was a way of life and bringing light and hope into the equation didn’t necessarily mean that they were going to start jumping for joy. The darkness can be comforting and the light can be terrifying.

For Christians, Christmas is a time of great joy, remembering the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a time to remember all that he has done for us and thank him for all that he is for us. But recognizing the terror that the shepherds felt is important too, so that we realize that Jesus doesn’t always create feelings of joy for people. Some of you may have family members who were baptized, taught in Sunday School, confirmed, married and then never stepped foot back inside a church again. Some of you may know a friend who either rolls their eyes or scowls whenever you mention your faith. Some of you may know someone who isn’t simply bored with the idea of Christianity, but downright hostile to Christians. Perhaps it is difficult for you to reconcile you faith with the unfaith of so many others especially at Christmastime.

When I used to work in customer service at the University of Nebraska, I spoke to people on the phone about their Financial Aid packages. Some would be kind, some would be really mad, but most were just confused and frustrated. My supervisor once told me to “Speak to their fear”. Most people are loving and kind, but when they don’t have enough money for college, or think they don’t, and they feel that their child’s education is at stake, they’ll get quite upset and who better to get angry with than the Customer Service guy. Even if a student knows that THEY did something wrong, they might get angry just because they are upset with themselves and are trying to do whatever they can to make sure they don’t get in even more trouble. The promise of financial aid is a promise that should fill parents and their children with hope, right? But, instead, it seems quite scary to a lot of people.

Jesus’ birth is an event full of hope. Why doesn’t everyone want to be a part of it? A pastor told me once about talking with a man who said he believed in God and Jesus Christ, but that he didn’t want to become a Christian because then he would have to change his life. The glory of the Lord isn’t so glorious when you see God’s judgment even when you know God’s love. The shepherds were not the first people to tremble at the sight of God’s glory and they certainly have not been the last.

But the angels have given us the text to use to speak to the fears people carry in their hearts, the sadness and even the hostility they carry with them day after day toward Jesus Christ. “Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news—GOOD news—of great joy for all people.” There is more to being a Christian than judgment, there is forgiveness. There is more to being a Christian than a changed life, there is a new community. There is more to being a Christian death, there is the hope of resurrection. The shepherds stop their trembling and begin rejoicing! It’s good news they will hear today!

Faith can seem to be a very terrifying thing. It can seem like you must believe in all kinds of philosophical impossiblities. It can feel threatening to hear that you are a sinner in relation to God. There is so much history and so many traditions to understand that it’s easy to see why many people just choose to ignore it all. But at Christmas, there is an opportunity. At Christmas, you can point to how God started it all. He’s doesn’t start at the top, somewhere up in heaven, but starts the story of your salvation with a child sleeping peacefully in a lowly manger.

Christmas is a perfect time to hear God’s promises of love and peace for all people. At Christmas, you can see that God is full of glory, but also full of humility and tenderness. Tonight, you can point those you love to the baby Jesus—there is no need to be afraid of this God who has come down to share humanity, with all its fears and frailties. Tonight, you may cast your fears upon God who cares for you. So that you might hear the good news: tonight a child was born for you, your Savior, the Messiah, the Lord of heaven and earth. This child is Jesus Christ and in him is your salvation. It’s good news—do not be afraid. Amen.

Sermon for September 27th

You are bland. You are tasteless. If you are anything like me, you can easily go through the day, through any conversation, without ever mentioning Jesus Christ, without ever having to admit that you are a Christian. But maybe that’s unfair. Not every conversation needs to involve you confessing your faith, does it. If you are anything like me, though, you can easily go through the week, through multiple phone conversations with friends, meeting a few new people you’ve never met before, without ever mentioning the love of Jesus Christ, without ever having to mention that you are a Christian. But maybe that too is unfair. We all have bad weeks. There is a time and a place for talking about faith and, perhaps, you weren’t in any of the right places at the right times.

But if you are anything like me, you can easily go through the month, the year—have you gone your entire lifetime without ever mentioning Jesus Christ, without ever having to admit you are a Christian, without ever inviting anyone to hear the forgiveness of sins? You’ve heard that your sins are forgiven. You’ve been promised salvation by your loving creator. But you don’t talk about it much, do you? Does anybody know if you go to church? Your best friends? Your best acquaintances? Do you know if your friends believe in Jesus Christ? Do you know if they are being supported in a Christian community? Are they just dying on the “do it yourself spirituality vine”? Do you care enough to risk mentioning the name? Do you dare to leave the bland life behind and be a little salty?

Jesus told his disciples, “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness how can you season it?” In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus put it another way, “If salt has lost its taste, it is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” Have you become a bland Christian? Jesus says that you must be a little salty: in your conversations, in your marriages, in your relationships with your children ,even in your workplace. The taste of salt is distinctive and recognizable. Would others recognize you as a follower of Jesus? Or do you spend your life trying to fit in with others, to NOT be noticed. Do you care enough for your friends, for your family and for others to actually risk mentioning Jesus’ name? To give them the possibility to hope in His words of life? Do you dare to leave the bland life behind and have a little salt in you?

Sit back and listen to the beginning of a great song on this subject, (Play opening of song until end of first chorus)



“So maybe this time, I’ll speak the words of life, with your fire in my eyes. But that old familiar fear, is tearing at my words, what am I so afraid of. Cause here I go again. Talking about the rain. And mulling over things that won’t live past today. And as I dance around the truth, time is not his friend, this may be the last chance to tell him that you LOVE him, but here I go again.’

What are YOU so afraid of? I’m afraid that I’m going to be seen as one of those freaky Christians I see on TV, who don’t seem to be able to talk about anything but when they were saved. I’m afraid that people are going to look at me funny because I’m talking about my faith, especially around this town, and they might think that I’m either offensive or confrontational or intolerant or all of the above. I’m afraid that I’ve already known a person almost my whole life and never said anything before, what are they going to think of me if I ask them if they are enjoying the church they go to. What if they’ve stopped going? What if something in our relationship changes because of what I say? So, here I go again, talking about the rain, and mulling over things that won’t live past today . . . like who won the Husker game. Or, let’s talk about health care. Or how about the weather. And so I dance around ever having to talk about Jesus or what he means to me . . . or what he might mean for them.

Some people may be affected by the possibility of hell and damnation apart from Jesus Christ, but if that’s how you start a conversation about faith it will probably be quite uncomfortable for everyone involved. And, most people will figure that they’ve still got time. They see Jesus as a last ditch life insurance policy. Others MAY want to join the crowd of church-going Christians because their grandma did it, or because they’ve met some nice ones, or because they have a hunger for spiritual things. But a lot of people will also notice that NOT everyone is a Christian and they could do just fine without it. They can sleep in on Sundays. They can live however they choose. Why, really, would they want to join another club? There are better run, more interesting clubs to join and they don’t pass around an offering plate every time you go.

But, love is powerful. When your spouse or your mother or your friend comes up to you and they say, “I love you” It’s hard not to reciprocate, isn’t it. Love destroys the walls we put up against one another. Love is blind, as they say, and you don’t get to decide what makes the most sense—whether you’d rather sleep in on Sundays. That’s why they call it “falling” in love. And, the love of Jesus Christ is even more powerful than our love because His love is unconditional. This isn’t a “Jesus is my boyfriend” love; this is a “Jesus died on a cross to save me from death” love. And every time you speak to your coworkers, your friends, your family, your children, your spouse or someone you have just met, this may be the last chance you have to tell them that they are loved by Jesus. And if they only knew, think about what that might mean for them, for their future, for their life, for their death.

Have salt in yourselves. Be salty! Be recognized as a Christian. Why? Because people need to hear. They need to hear the words of life that come from their Savior’s lips. They need to hear that they are loved unconditionally. And how are they to hear if no one tells them? They need to hear that their sins are forgiven, not simply tolerated by others, not just accepted by society, but forgiven by a God who cares enough to tell them the truth

I recently watched the movie, “The Postman” with Kevin Costner. The movie imagined a time when the country had been ravaged by wars and had fallen apart. He was a drifter who happened to pick up a bag of mail and began delivering the letters he had found. When people received the letters, they were given hope. The main character really was just pretending to be a postman, but that didn’t matter. What mattered what that he was delivering the goods. He was giving the messages to people who needed to hear them.

Do you know someone who might be struggling with their life, or their marriage, with their kids or with their jobs. They might be a family member, or just a not so close acquaintance. They need to hear Jesus’ love and right now we are going to pray for them and for you. That God might use you to “Tell them that He loves them.” (Prayer)

Every single week here at church, we could just get together and talk about the rain and mull over things that won’t last past today. But, I pray each week, that God makes me his postman, so that I can deliver the words of life to you with God’s fire in my eyes, despite my fear that you won’t like what I must say, despite the fear that the message will fall on deaf ears because I believe that, finally, the words you hear must be recognizable enough, salty enough, that you realize your need for forgiveness—forgiveness that only God can give. You are bland. You are tasteless. You have no salt in you. But hear the good news. By God’s authority, I forgive you in the name of Jesus Christ. You’ve just received your love letter, filled and overflowing with salt. And through the power of the Holy Spirit maybe this time, maybe this week, you WILL speak the words of life with fire in your eyes and salt on your tongue. Amen.

Sermon for October 12th

Now it’s time for the TOP TEN REASONS YOU MIGHT HEAR FOR WHY YOUR FRIEND DOESN’T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH . . . Number 10: The church is full of hypocrites. Number 9: I like to have one day to just sleep in. Number 8: Religions all teach the same things. Number 7: God loves me even if I don’t go to church. Number 6: Churches just want money. Number 5: But I’m not baptized. Number 4: But I was raised Catholic. Number 3: I try to be a good person, even if I don’t go to church. Number 2: I don’t believe in God. And the number one reason you might hear for why your friend doesn’t want to go to church: I’m spiritual, not religious.

Today’s readings, but especially the one from Isaiah, refer to some amazing promises from God, but not everybody knows about them. Isaiah proclaims that God “will swallow up death forever.” That God “will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth.” “Lo, this is our God;” Isaiah declares, “we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” The thing is that many people are still waiting, they are still searching, they are alone, they are depressed and they are our best friends, or at least our good friends, and maybe we want to tell them, but we are completely unequipped to do so. We are scared to death to say anything for fear that they be offended or it might hurt our friendship or it might be awkward or we might say something wrong . . . or worse, they might just say no. Yet, how can they believe if they have never been told?

There are two purposes to this sermon. First I’d like to equip you for faith conversations. I’m going to provide you with a starting point to respond to common questions that come up about church, Christianity and worship. Second, I’d like to support your own personal faith. I’m going to remind you that your salvation and your friends’ salvation is not your responsibility. God chooses. God saves. God forgives. You and I are simply his servants, his mouthpieces, his tools, his ministers. We can’t make anyone fall in love with Jesus; all we can do is hand them Jesus’ love letter, or bring them to his post office and get out of the way.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been told that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. So, the first rule of thumb about faith conversations is to really care about the person you are talking with. In fact, the best time to tell someone about Jesus or to invite them to church is when you don’t feel like you have to. When it just makes sense do it. When you love them too much not to tell them. If your friend confesses that they are depressed, or lonely, or seeking help with life’s hard questions, then why not tell them how you have found love and support. Don’t try to convince them of anything, just ask them to “come and see”; let them hear and experience everything themselves. Invite them through the front door for church, or invite them through the side door for the Harvest supper, the prayer group, Bible study or Sunday school. And if you really want to see them here, make it a date and bring them yourself. Jesus can and will speak to them through you.

Dave Kinnamon wrote a book titled “Unchristian” that talks about the perceptions of 250,000 unchurched people who were surveyed about what they thought about Christians. Here are the top perceptions people have if all they know about you is that you are a Christian: 87% think Christians are judgmental, 75% too political, and 85% think Christians are hypocritical. In other words, finding someone you don’t know off the street and asking them to church might be very frustrating. People you care about and who actually know might still have these perceptions and for good reason, churches are full of sinners and hypocrites, but they might actually give you the benefit of the doubt.

I, personally, have no problem encouraging people to go to my favorite restaurants. I have no problem encouraging people to see my favorite movies. I have no problem encouraging people to listen to my favorite music, going to my favorite website, or agreeing with my favorite issue. Is it really that different for you and me to encourage our friends and family to go to our favorite church?

It seems to be. But why? Well, perhaps it is because you feel completely unequipped to respond to any thoughtful response to your invitation. I’m here to help you start responding. These are not canned answers for you to use on someone. Who knows what you or I might say in the heat of the moment. But, I want you to start thinking about how you might respond if you asked a friend, who just went through a messy divorce, to come with you to church and they say, “Thanks, but no thanks. The church is full of hypocrites.”

Yes, the church is full of hypocrites and liars and all kinds of really bad sinners. I go there to hear that God forgives me. I know you, you’re my friend, but I know that you aren’t perfect just like I’m not. Wouldn’t you like to hear that God forgives you too? You don’t have to go alone, I’ll pick you up Sunday morning.

“But I like to have one day to just sleep in.” Me too, but I’m forced to get up even earlier every other day of the week for work or to get the kids off to school. I choose to get up on Sundays for church because it helps me get through the week. Once you get into the habit you might even start to like going to church. I do. You could come with me if you want.

“Religions all teach the same things.” Yeah, well, many religions teach you to be a good person or to do good things for others, but only Jesus Christ died to forgive you unconditionally. Other religions don’t teach that. Jesus promises that by trusting in him, you will have eternal life no matter how many good or bad things you have done. You know me, I’m no saint. I go to church so that I can hear that I’m forgiven and then go back out and try to love people.

“Listen, God loves me even if I don’t go to church.” Yes, God does love you no matter what! But you know what. I know my wife loves me even if she doesn’t say it. But I like to hear her say it. I can’t hear it often enough! I want to hear that God loves me as much as I can. That’s one reason I go to church every Sunday. I think that you’d have a great time and meet some great people at Saint Peters.

“Churches just want money.” Yeah, I’ve felt that way along the way. But worship on Sundays is really about what God is giving us, not what we give to God. You don’t have to give anything at church. It’s not necessary. For me, giving money to the church is just one way to says thanks to God for all the blessings he gives my family and so that I can support different ministries in our church. Just come; don’t worry about that whole money thing.

“But I’m not baptized.” You don’t need to be baptized in order to come to church. Baptism is just a special way to hear God’s promise of forgiveness. Now, if you ever want to be baptized then just ask, that’d be awesome. But don’t let it stop you from coming. I’m going to the 8:00 service this Sunday. Why don’t you ask at home and I’ll call Saturday night to see if you have any more questions.

“But I was raised Catholic.” The important thing is that you are a Christian. Jesus died for you. You don’t have to be Lutheran to come to Saint Peters. Anyone is welcome at church because God’s promise is for everyone. Lutherans believes that Jesus Christ loves you because you have faith in him and his forgiveness and not because you do enough good things.

“Listen, I try to be a good person, even if I don’t go to church.” I know that. You help me out all the time. But church isn’t for good people, church is for people who make mistakes, who sometimes do bad things. That’s me and that’s you too, right? Church is where you can hear that you are forgiven for not being a perfect person. But here’s the thing, I’m not trying to convince you. Just come and see what it’s like. You might even like it.

“But, I don’t believe in God.” Well, I do, but you don’t have to believe in God to go to church. Church is a place to hear that God loves you and forgives you. You don’t have to say or do anything that you don’t want to. Church is primarily about hearing what God does for you, not saying what you do for God. If you are questioning whether there really is a God come and see for yourself. If you still have questions, maybe you can talk to our pastor after service.

“I’m spiritual, not religious.” For me, church isn’t about being spiritual or being religious. It’s about hearing that Jesus loves me and forgives me. The Bible says that we are made right with God by faith alone, not by what we think is spiritual or by what we do religiously. I just think it’d be really cool to have you come this Sunday.

These are ways to start thinking about what you might say if you asked someone to come to church and they said no and said why. You are going to come up with your own answers. But as I mentioned before, there is one more thing that I have to do before we end this sermon. I need to support your faith. You may never ever get up the nerve to invite anyone to church or mention Jesus’ name even your best friend. You may end up saying the worst thing at the worst time and end up in a shouting match. You may be surprised at how many of your friends were just waiting for you to share your faith with them. But know this, you won’t be perfect and God will still speak through you somehow. God will always love you and always forgive you.

You are only here to plant the seeds. God gives the growth. God gives the faith. God does the saving. It is not up to you to “save” anyone. You are simply God’s mail carrier. Giving people his love letters so they can know who their Savior truly is. And that is finally my job too. I can’t convince you to tell anyone about your faith. I can’t make you give anyone God’s promises. I can’t make a single one of you believe anything. But I can give you Jesus’ love letter and let the Holy Spirit work on your heart. Dear Sinner, dear lost sheep, dear prodigal son and daughter, I love you and I am determined to make you mine. Love, Your merciful Savior, Jesus.

Sermon for July 13th

It is election season. Now that the Republican and Democratic primaries are over, we are in the midst of the presidential election. No decision will finally be made until November, but as Americans it is not too difficult to eat, drink and breathe election talk day and night. Between CNN on television, the ticker on CNN.com, MSNBC, Fox news and radio talk shows, you can hear every side, every viewpoint, every criticism and every pundit day and night. Who will be chosen to be the next president of the United States? It is an election year and everybody wants to know who will be chosen.

It is also election season in the church. Did you know that? No? Well, it’s true. It is election season. Election season in every church in every denomination, or non-denomination, in every country in every language and wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ is being spoken whether in a building or not. And everybody wants to know who will be chosen.

But as you’ve probably guessed, there are differences between these two elections. While we have political elections once a year, every two years or every four years, as is the election season in the church is much different . . . it can happen anytime. It happens all the time. But the most important difference between political elections and the election season in the church, concerns who does the choosing and how.

As you well know, America prides itself on being a democracy. Every vote counts and only counts once. That’s the ideal anyway. We strive, as a democracy, to give everyone a voice so that the will of the majority will be enacted. As long as 50.0000001% of people agree, we can all go along with the decision believing that democracy is pretty much alive and well. We know that there are problems, of course, but we are always are striving for the ideal

This is not a natural way of running a system, it must be worked at to get to work properly. For instance, I’ve been to the Dineen’s house out there on Popple Swamp and seen their chicken coup. There are many hens, but only two roosters, Hank and Rufus, but let me tell you, no matter how much of a majority the hens have there, Hank and Rufus will always get what they want—it is not a democracy.

Or think about a field of crops, this might even make sense in your garden if it is big enough. My uncle Gary is a farmer in Nebraska. He goes out every year and evenly plants corn, beans and milo seeds in the dirt. He prepares the fields, he tills the soil, he plants the seeds, he sprays for bugs and often he has to irrigate. He tries to do all this in a very equal way so that his fields of crops all do equally well. However, when it comes time to harvest, no field is alike. In fact, the end of a row might look very different than its beginning. Sometimes water will have sat and drowned out some plants. Sometimes, there will be a whole dead patch of dry dirt where plants should have grown. Sometimes, despite the majority of corn plants and equal distribution of pesticides, a big ol’ weed will crop up and hassle some plants out of the way. A field of crops is not a democracy.

We can learn a lot about the church’s election season from watching the roosters, Hank and Rufus in their coup, or from the corn harvest corn in Nebraska. It is not a democracy. Your salvation is not decided by majority vote. In fact, none of us get a vote, not even one. Salvation is not going to look “fair” to you if you judge it by the standards of democracy. Salvation is not going to look “right” to you if you are striving for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is a divine election where God alone gets one vote and it is the only vote that counts.

God has made his choice and his choice is you. He elects you as his beloved. He doesn’t ask you for your opinion in the matter. Why not? Because he knows you just as he knows all people. You would never vote for him. You would never choose him. There is no one who is righteous, not even one. There is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. So, God seeks you out and elects you as his chosen one. He finds the biggest sinner that he knows of and seeks you out to tell you that it is election day and he has made his choice. You. You are God’s choice.

But that isn’t fair, you might cry out. Well, no it’s not. You have sinned against God in thought, word and deed by what you have done and by what you have left undone. God has no reason to forgive you for that. It’s not fair. God sent Jesus, his only son, to announce the forgiveness of your sins and he was killed for it. Is it fair for God to have to forgive us for that sin? No! We shouldn’t act the way we do. We shouldn’t lie the way we do. We shouldn’t be so selfish. We shouldn’t be so arrogant. But we are and so he does . . . what? Well, he does the only thing that is left to do when you and I are held captive to sin and death, he holds an election. He elects. God chooses you and says, “You, yes you, the one who doesn’t deserve it. I elect you. It is election day and I win . . . you.”

I remember waiting up until about two o’clock in the morning on November 3rd, of the year 2000, wondering about the results of the presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. I finally went to bed because I had to work in the morning, but I still didn’t know who had won. Then all week long I remember updating my CNN.com screen to see how many votes had come in from Dade county Florida until I finally just got sick of waiting to hear the news. How do you find out the election results each year? You must be told.

Do you know how people find out the election results of God’s divine election? Well, they also must be told. Sometimes they are very happy about it. Sometimes they are not. But, believe it or not, a lot of people still don’t know. Or, they think the results have changed based on something they did. They’ve been waiting for a long time wondering if anyone loves them. Maybe, they’ve heard that God judges them guilty, which is true. Maybe, they’ve heard that God isn’t happy with them for the choices they are making, this is also true. But they’ve never been told the election results. They’ve only heard the bad news and never heard the good news. God has chosen to forgive sinners and now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Madeleine L’Engle writes, “We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe. By telling them how wrong they are and how right we are. But by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

If you see or know someone with a broken down heart, or a broken down relationship, or a broken down life, do you have to tell them about your faith. No. You don’t have to. You also don’t have to tell them about God’s election. You don’t have to tell them that God has chosen them as his very own. You don’t have to tell them that God loves them more than they love their sins. You don’t have to tell them that God forgives their sins and you don’t have to encourage them to repent of their bad choices to God. You don’t have to do any of this. It’s not mandatory. You won’t get in trouble. So if you don’t want to, then don’t, alright? Alright.

But if you ever find yourself wondering, imagining, wishing you could tell someone you know about God’s election, here are a few things to keep in mind. God’s words of forgiveness, come from God mouth and goes out of your mouth. You don’t have to argue with someone, or convince them or force them to believe. God promises that his words, the words from his mouth, his election, shall not return empty, but will accomplish their purpose. God will accomplish faith, not you or I or them.

But you might ask yourself, why me? Why do I know about God’s election while there are people in the world who haven’t? Is that fair? No, it’s not fair as I’ve said before. Not only did you not deserve to hear it, but they still may not have heard about it. That’s not fair at all. So the next time you consider how unfair it is that God has not elected a particular person, it may be the time to get their address and give them the good news of God’s election yourself—in person. The less you think someone deserves God’s election, the more sure you can be that they deserve to be told of the results. Repeat after me, “Jesus loves you.”

What if you aren’t seeing any progress? What if they’ve never gone to church? What if you keep inviting them and they still don’t come? Tell them again. That’s something interesting about my uncle Gary. No matter how many times the corn has been flooded or blown over or not produced well, he keeps planting year after year. Tell them again and again and again. Tell them about God’s love for you and God’s love for them. Invite them to hear God’s election results here at church. Remember, in the church, it is always election season.

But most importantly, today is election day for you. I need to let you know again the results of God’s divine election. Jesus says, “I choose you. Yes. You. The one who doesn’t deserve it. You are precious in my sight. It is election day and I won . . . you. I win you.” Amen.

Sermon for April 6th

I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me. What does this mean? We are to fear, love and trust God above anything else. Do you break this commandment? Yes, indeed. Every time that you do not fear God and respect his power in your life. Every time that you do not love God with your whole heart. Every time that you do not trust him to provide for you. And by breaking this commandment we break them all. God doesn’t tally up our sins and good deeds and see which column is longer. One sin and we are done for. For whatever does not come from faith is sin, the scriptures tell us. And so, we are all counted among the unbelievers.

We are all unbelievers then. We are the ungodly. We are God’s enemies. But here is the good news. That isn’t the last word for you. Why isn’t it the last word? God demands that you hear more. I made a promise at my ordination. I made it again in the contract that I signed to be your pastor. I promise that I will not only preach God’s law and his commandments to you, but also his gospel. Therefore, this church is a place where you can come and hear not only that you have sinned and fallen very short of the glory of God, but you can also hear that God has chosen you on the basis of what he has done. Jesus Christ died for the ungodly, for you. While we were God’s enemies, Christ died for us. While we were crucifying Jesus, he was forgiving us.

What is the church and why do you come here? Why would you invite anyone else to come here? Is it to grow the church so that it pops out the windows and we have to build another one? Is it to pay for our bills? Is it to justify our existence to get together as a club? To see friends and feel that we are a part of something? This church was built for unbelievers, like you and me. This church was built so that you might come learn God’s laws and hear his promises. Not just the bad news that you hear all week long in the newspaper or on the radio or on the evening news. This is the place where you can hear an unconditional promise from God for you. A promise that is not based on what you do, but on what God has done.

According to our Lutheran Confessions, the church is the place where the gospel is taught in its truth and purity and where the sacraments are administered rightly. The church shows up on the road to Emmaus with two of Jesus’ followers who were unbelievers once again. They wanted to fear, love and trust God above anything else. They “had hoped” that Jesus was their Messiah. But now, they had seen him die and they were unbelievers once again. But, whenever you smell a sinner walking around, you can expect God to start building a church for them. So Jesus comes and starts preaching, to give them faith and hope once again.

But not everyone comes to church, right? What kind of people don’t go to church? Regular people. Unbelievers, just like you and me. Your friends and family. Your coworkers. Your acquaintances. The only difference between you and them is this: you know where you can go to get your belief while they might still be walking on the road. You know a place to strengthen your faith. When you are starving for hope, you can feast on God’s Word. As a pastor, many people like to tell me how often they go to church. In fact, if it doesn’t come up, I can probably guess that they don’t go to church much at all. But what kind of virtue is it? Going to church I mean.

You might be impressed the first time your three or four year old doesn’t ask you for a snack, but just goes to the refrigerator and gets it themselves; but when your kids come home from college, you don’t pat them on the back when they pour themselves a bowl of cereal. Do you really expect extra credit from God just because you know where to eat? When your soul can be fed? Church attendance isn’t something to necessarily be proud of, but it is something very important to learn.

What kind of people don’t come to church? Regular people. Unbelievers like you and me. Your friends and family. Unfortunately, most people in the world do not know where the spiritual refrigerators are, or don’t realize there is food in them, or can’t get to the food to eat. The church seems to complicated, or too demanding, or too exclusive or boring or something like this. So they starve. Or maybe they have never heard that Jesus Christ can feed their hungry bodies and souls.

If your aging mother came up to you and told you she was really hungry, but didn’t know where there was any food, what would you do? You’d tell her where the food was, you’d bring her to the food, or you would bring the food to her. Well, if your mother tells you she is depressed and feels like something is missing in her life what might you do? Point her to the closest church, pray with her, or call a pastor to share God’s Word with her so that she doesn’t have to go hungry anymore.

What kind of people don’t come to church? Regular sinners like you and me. Hungry people. Some people don’t come to church because they believe they can live without it. This includes most of us as well, when it comes right down to it. But anorexia of the spirit is very dangerous. We want to look good in the eyes of the world all on our own. We don’t want the crutch of religion, or belief or faith to fatten us up and make us anything less than perfect in ourselves. So we keep cutting weight, cutting our relationship to God and to family more and more so we can be more and more self-reliant. Until finally, finally. When we feel we have become perfect in the eyes of the world, we are so skinny we are unrecognizable. Sometimes people get used to the hunger and start believing that faith itself is a bad thing, a temptation, a crutch. When you are fed with God’s Word, it can show you how close to death you were.

Not going to church is socially acceptable. The more self-reliant you are the better, right? But the church is not a place where perfect attendance is counted, it is a place where God attends to your needs. He feeds you with himself, his very own body and blood. He gives you all he has until you are fat and happy and trusting in him alone to satisfy your hungry heart.

What kinds of people don’t come to church? Unbeleivers like you and me. Your friends and family. Your coworkers. Your acquaintances. Some people just don’t come to church anymore. Maybe they grew up in the church. They believe in God, and they know that believing is good and necessary, but they have found something much sweeter to chew on. Perhaps it is all about finding God is nature, or on the ski slopes, or at Saint Mattress by the Springs, as my college pastor would say. God is a God of love . . . only. God is a God of tolerance . . . above all else. God just wants everyone to be happy and get along. Do the right thing, be a good person and you are halfway up your own personal stairway to heaven.

Now, you can probably live a long time on chocolate bunnies, or ramen noodles, or pizza. Hey, at least you are eating, right? Or as I hear it, at least I believe in something! The question is, what would you do if your spouse skipped mealtime and only ate pie for dessert. Day in and day out. It works fine when things are going great, but when times get tough, your body needs more nourishment than what a sugar coated pastry can give you. When life hands you cancer, or diabetes, or arthritis, or depression, you need to hear from a God who has suffered on a cross with you, not just a God who hands out candy.

How do you know when someone is hungry? Sometimes they come right out and say so. They tell you they are getting a headache, or their tummy hurts or they haven’t eaten in awhile. So you tell them about your favorite restaurant or invite them over for lunch. The same is true for people who are hungry spiritually. Sometimes, they come right out and say it. But often they tell you about their depression. Or they tell you about their suffering. Or they tell you about their loneliness. Or they share their opinions about religion. Telling them about church isn’t going to get you any brownie points, but it might help them out and give them hope.

You wouldn’t go up to a complete stranger and ask them if they were hungry, neither would you ask them if they went to church. That would be both silly and difficult. God puts you in the right place at the right time. It’s not your job to argue anyone into belief. Show them a place to eat. God will do the feeding.

The church is wherever sinners gather to hear words of forgiveness from God himself. We all need to hear the words of Jesus Christ. Even when we are blind to his presence, like the men walking in the story today, even when we are unbelievers, and ungodly and sinners, God promises to feed us and give us faith to believe in him again and again.

I believe that all of you who come to church are hungry and maybe even starving. That’s why I am called to declare God’s forgiveness to you and to anyone and everyone you invite through these doors. Children, young and old, Adults, young and old. This is what it means to be a sinner. To be starving, but believing you are full. To be dead, but believing you are alive. To be blinded by darkness, but believing you can see. So, behold, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus promises to take away your sin and promises to be all in all for you, your light, your life, your salvation and your heavenly food.