Sunday, July 17, 2022
Sermon Text for July 17, 2022 - "God Still Leads"
“God Still Leads”
July 17, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen.
The very first parish I served,
nineteen years ago, was in southwestern Minnesota, and was a two point parish.
In the basement fellowship hall at one of the churches, there was this painting.
It’s a picture of an old couple praying
over a meal of bread and soup, and the woman has her Bible open. At one point,
my dad came to visit me, and we toured both the churches, including the one
this painting was in. He explained that this painting was a perfect example of
the kind of faith that the people who had founded the church over a hundred
years ago had had: a simple trust in God to help provide for them, following
Him and His Word, and thanking Him for what He had given them. And really,
that’s all being a Christian is: it’s trusting and following God.
We
can trust God, first of all, because He is the one who is supreme and is in
control of everything. That’s not always easy, though, especially when
everything seems to be going wrong. In today’s First Reading, it’s looking like
things are out of control. Elijah complains to God that nothing seems to be
going right: people are turning away from God and worshipping idols; prophets
like him are being hunted down and killed; and even Elijah himself has been
forced into hiding. Like Elijah, it’s easy for us to look around and think
everything is doomed. The world isn’t the same as it once was. We’ve become frustrated
because so much has changed. Things we once thought we could rely on are no
longer there. Restaurants don’t always have enough staff to provide service for
regular hours. The prices of gas, groceries, and even simple things we’ve
always bought out of necessity have gone up, which has meant we’re short on
funds. Stores don’t always have what we want to buy in stock. Meanwhile, war
continues to rage between Ukraine and Russia. Divisions in our own society
still run rampant – even despite repeated pleas for unity and peace. Violence
continues to erupt, sometimes in unexpected places. Bullying continues to be a
problem in schools, work places, everywhere. Even criticism on social media has
become harsher and more unloving. Things seem out of control.
But
nothing could be farther from the truth: God is still in charge. He commands
Elijah to anoint Hazael as King of Aram and Jehu as King of Israel, showing
that He, God, still has the power to raise up and depose world leaders, and so
be in charge of the course of history. He also tells Elijah to anoint Elisha as
his successor as prophet, which means God will not let His message be silenced,
nor will He allow His power, which He works through His prophets and others
whom He chooses to act on His behalf, to be stopped in the world. God then
encourages Elijah by letting him know that He has reserved seven thousand
people in Israel who have not worshipped idols – encouraging because this lets
Elijah know that what he is doing is not in vain, that he is going to get
results, and he has people who are on his side. Sometimes we may feel alone and
unsupported, especially as we try to follow God. We may feel isolated,
especially when we do stand up or speak out against anything God doesn’t want
for us or others – but we’re actually not alone. God sends people to support us
and be on our side. God makes sure we don’t feel like we’re having to fight our
battles on our own. So no matter what happens, God still rules everything– us,
the world, and everything that’s going on.
And
sometimes this means, as we hear in today’s Gospel reading, simply trusting God
and following even when we’re unsure or uncomfortable with doing so. When a
Samaritan village rejects Jesus and His disciples, the disciples want revenge
by having God burn the village down. But Jesus rebukes them, probably by
reminding them that not only is that not showing God’s love, but it means
trusting that God has another plan for them – if He doesn’t want them to preach
in that village, they’ll go on to another one, and leave the insults and hurts
they’ve just had to suffer behind, moving forward to where God leads. Jesus
then reminds a couple of men who want to follow Him that it probably isn’t as
easy as it sounds: sometimes following Jesus means going in directions we may
not expect, or we may not be comfortable with. Sometimes there are changes that
need to be made in order to go the direction Jesus is leading us, especially to
be able to reach other people. And this happens by having Jesus change us by
His Holy Spirit: by transforming us to become more like Him, and, in doing so,
to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are the very characteristics and
attitude of God Himself, and which we can live by.
Now, it would be easy to go on a
long and brow-beating lecture about all the ways the world and society is
engaging in the sinful nature, and going against the fruits of the Spirit. But
many years ago, in Northern California, I had a chance to meet another pastor
who had previously done prison ministry. He told a story about how, at one
particular prison, he and one other preacher would be leading two worship
services running at the same time. He noticed that maybe three or four people
would be going to the other preacher’s worship service, and he himself would
get a large crowd coming to his service. So one day he asked one of the guys
who attended his worship service why this was the case, why there were more
people coming to his service. This was the answer he got: “The other guy tells
us about how much we’ve sinned, we’ve done wrong, and we’re going to hell if we
don’t shape up. We know that already. But you tell us about how much God loves
us. That’s what we need to hear. We need to hear some good things, and you tell
us that.” That story is one I’ve taken to heart ever since.
That’s not to say, though, that
there aren’t still consequences for following the sinful nature. There are still
things that go wrong in today’s world because people follow sinful instead of
the fruits of the spirit, ways that we can’t ignore, simply because we’re
bombarded with them on the news, and in everyday life. Women and children
especially are abused and exploited: human trafficking continues to be a
particular issue. Jealousy leads to broken relationships and friendships,
especially if it is jealousy based on misunderstanding, suspicion, or paranoia.
Dissensions and factions lead to disunity and a lack of love and trust,
especially within groups and families. Uncontrolled rage leads to violence,
especially physical and mental abuse, and even outright murder. It also hurts
us physically and emotionally, as we lash out in anger, which affects our
mental health and blood pressure, among other things. Selfish ambition causes
us to want to fight against each other, causes competition, and is the primary
cause of war. Envy causes people to slander and gossip about each other, which
also leads to mistrust, dysfunctional relationships, and broken groups.
And all of these are to be called
for what they are: contrary to how God wants us to live and treat each other.
However, there is hope: in the death of Jesus on the cross, all of these things
which are part of our sinful nature have been put to death. So, for everyone
who repents and asks God to change heart and mind, there is forgiveness for all
these things we have done, and we are free from them to live in a new way.
This means we are to be
encouraged to live the way the Holy Spirit causes us to live, by the fruits of
the spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And, all these are not only ways
that make us better people, they are, more importantly, ways that we can make
things better for other people. By showing love and acceptance, we can help
people know God loves and accepts them unconditionally. Living in peace with
each other can help make our homes, schools, neighborhoods, churches, and everywhere
else we are, inviting, welcoming, and supportive places for ourselves and
everyone else. Being patient with ourselves and others helps ourselves and
others become better versions of who we are. Showing kindness and goodness also
helps us and others become better versions of ourselves – and it’s important
for us to show kindness and goodness to ourselves first, so we can better show
it to other people. Faithfulness means not only being faithful to God, but also
being faithful to each other: standing by each other and continuing to remain
friends and supporters for each other. Being gentle helps us to be able to
relate to other people as equals, recognizing that we are no better or worse
than anyone else, and that we are all the same, with the same struggles and
needs. Being gentle with ourselves also causes us to feel good mentally and
emotionally, which causes our physical health to be in good shape. This means
we can also exercise self-control, especially in how we think or act towards
other people.
If we really want to have some
sort of guideline for how God wants us to live, that’s really the best way to
think about it: how are we treating each other? We can be asking: is what I’m
thinking about someone treating them the best way, or the way I would want to
be thought of or treated? Is what I’m saying about them building them up in the
sight of everyone else? Am I helping others feel the best about themselves –
which is how I would want to feel? Is my attitude helping to encourage others?
All these are ways in which we can follow God’s leading, and live how He lives.
If we continue simply to trust God, we will be changed to become more like Him
– and help Him make this world a better place. God remains in charge of
everything – so let’s have Him be in charge of us.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Sermon Text for July 10, 2022 - "But Who is He?"
“But Who Is He?”
July 10, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace
and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Jesus is everywhere! Well yes, we know that already: we know Jesus is everywhere because He is God, but that’s not what we mean at the moment. Instead, if we think about it, Jesus is more a part of our culture than we realize. Pictures, images, and statues of Jesus can show up in the most unexpected places, whether it’s in a cartoon, in an ad, or in a song. Jesus is even frequently invoked to justify various opinions or causes. But what all of these do is cause confusion about who Jesus really is – different images of Jesus show Him in different ways, but few of them really show who Jesus is.
So who is Jesus? The answer is
probably easier than we imagine: Jesus is Jesus. Jesus is the one who came to
show us all God’s love by healing the sick, raising the dead, and helping
people in every kind of need. He is the one who came to tell everyone that God
is free and fully accessible to all people. Most importantly, He is also the
one who came to suffer and die to save us from the power of sin and death, to
die as a sacrifice for all our sins, past, present, and future. Jesus’
suffering had even been predicted long before by the Prophet Zechariah, whose
words we hear in today’s First Reading: in verse 10, it says “They will look on
me, the one they have pierced.” As Zechariah also prophesies, God even promises
victory through Jesus’ suffering and death, as all the enemies which come
against us, especially sin, death, and the devil, are destroyed by Jesus’
rising again from the dead. But He is more than a historical figure who just
did things in the past: He is a real person, someone who is still here with us
today. He is our King, but He is still here close to us. Just as He was when He
was on earth, He is freely and fully accessible to everyone – especially to
you. As many of us have experienced just this week, He answers prayer for
everyone who needs any kind of healing, and hears and answers prayers of
everyone who asks Him for help. He is our best friend – He is your best friend
– someone you can go to at any time, who you know always has your back,
supports you, cares for you, and loves you. He is someone who, no matter how
close you may feel to Him, always keeps close to you. He will never let you
down or disappoint you, but will always do what He promises for you.
But, here’s what each of us can
be thinking about this morning, maybe something we don’t think about all that
often: what does Jesus mean to you? When you think of Jesus, who is He to you?
Not just what has He done for you, but what kind of relationship do you have
with Him? How important is He to you? What does it mean for you to follow
Jesus? And this is actually something for which, for each of us here today,
there may not be a single answer. Jesus means different things to each of us,
because each of us have had a different experience with Jesus. Jesus has helped
us and spoken to us in many different ways. But if we were to ask each other,
and ask other people, who Jesus is and what He means, every answer we give, or
other people give, is perfectly valid. No one answer is more correct or
incorrect than the other, because Jesus helps us in many different ways, ways
that He has been able to help us best at any given time. But all of these
experiences we have had with Jesus have one thing in common: they are meant to
bring us to where He wants us to be. As we talked about last week, being
crucified with Jesus means letting who we used to be, especially everything
that has been harmful to us, die, and a new, and better self, replace who we
used to be. It means letting go of all of our old habits, thought patterns,
actions, reactions, and instincts, and letting Jesus replace them with a new
way of being. This is what it means to deny ourselves: to let go of who we are,
especially what is not where God wants us to be, and allow God to change us. Here,
we have to be clear, though: this does not mean that everyone is expected to
end up becoming the exact same way, nor are we to expect to end up exactly like
other particular Christians we know. The outcome of where Jesus is leading each
of us and how He is changing us is different and unique for each of us. We
certainly are not to assume that everyone is going to have the exact same
behavior and lifestyle as a result of believing in Jesus, nor are we to try to
impose a certain kind of way of being on each other or on everyone else.
Instead, following Jesus means freedom – giving ourselves the freedom to be
transformed by Jesus, with whatever happens being between us individually and
Him; and letting others be transformed by Jesus, becoming themselves, and who
Jesus is helping them to become. It also means freedom from having to think
that following Jesus means living according to a certain set of rules or laws.
As Paul points out in today’s Second Reading from Galatians, now that Jesus has
come, we are free from having to think that living by a law code, especially to
prove that we are good people or good enough people. Instead, it means being
free to be ourselves, who God helped us become, and allowing others the freedom
to be themselves and who God has made them.
However, this does not mean that
following Jesus is always easy. Following Jesus is a life of becoming, as well
as being. As we become who we are meant to be, there is often a lot of struggle
involved. Every day we are involved in this struggle: the best kind of example
is cleaning out a closet or a room. Our struggle is what to keep and what to
throw away, and trying to figure out what we need or don’t need any more. We
try to figure out what’s just taking up space, or what we can actually use. And
that’s what following Jesus means: throwing away what we don’t need any more,
what’s just been taking up space in our lives, something we may think is useful
or even enjoyable for us, but has been keeping us from moving forward. This
struggle might even involve pain, since some things we have held on to tightly
for so long, things we have thought were important to us, are painful to let go
of – but necessary to let go of. Sometimes, following Jesus may even mean
following Him to places we don’t expect, or maybe even in directions we may not
have wanted to go in the first place. But when we get there, we find that where
He has led us has turned out to be the best thing we’ve needed. Even though we
can’t see the end of where Jesus is leading us, we can still trust that what we
are becoming is who we are meant to be. But it means having a great amount of
trust, something which itself can be a challenge. We want to be completely in
control, to be able to make all our decisions entirely on our own, and to have
everything planned out down to the last detail. But following Jesus means
surrendering any desire to be in control, and plan out everything ourselves:
instead, it means letting Jesus take charge and determine our direction. It
does not mean that where we end up will be the same as where someone else we
know has ended up or will end up, but instead where Jesus knows we are to be.
And, when we trust and follow Jesus, where we are will often be more wonderful
than we could ever hope for. Jesus Himself, after suffering and dying, rose
again in victory. If we continue to follow Jesus, and trust where He is leading
us, we too will end up in victory. Even though not all the problems we face in
this life will be overcome, we still have the promise that, ultimately, we will
live with Jesus forever. We are also to support and encourage each other as we
each struggle, and pray for each other to be able to follow where Jesus leads.
And as we each follow Jesus in our own way, let us continue to be changed by
Him.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Sermon Text for July 3, 2022 - "Restoration"
“Restoration”
July 3, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Today, on this Sunday of the Fourth
of July weekend, there are doubtless going to be many sermons preached that
will be talking about either how great America is, or what’s wrong with
America. In the latter case, there will probably be a lot of sermons that are
going to try to point out specific sins that, in the preacher’s opinion, are
leading America astray. Such sermons are also going to try to call out specific
people, or groups of people, for bringing judgement on America, or even
outright blame certain people for the problems and struggles we are currently
facing as a society. The problem: first of all, we already have too much
division in our society right now. We already have enough judgment going on,
with people blaming the other side for what the problems we’re facing are right
now. The other problem: in doing so, we set up a situation where there have to
be winners and losers. One group has to be good, the other has to be evil. That
may be how we want to see things, but, as we hear in today’s Bible readings,
that is certainly not how God sees things. As Christians, we want to be able to
see things how God sees them, because that is the true way. And, in order to be
able to speak on God’s behalf, and speak the words He wants us to speak to
everyone else, we have to be able to see things as He sees them.
In today’s Old Testament reading, we
hear the story of what happens to David after he lusts after Bathsheba, and
arranges for her husband, Uriah the Hittite, to be killed, so he can take her
for himself. David is certainly remembered as being the most righteous king of
Israel, but he in no way is perfect. And in this case, he forgets that God has
given him more than he possibly could have expected, including being given King
Saul’s wives. So God sends Nathan the prophet to tell a story about two men,
one a rich man having lots of lambs, but taking the lamb of another, poor man,
to feed a guest. David, still being a king who desires justice, is angered by
the story, and demands that the rich man face justice for what he has done to
hurt the poor man. Nathan then gives an unexpected twist: he tells David, “You
are the man!” In other words, the very thing David is condemning the rich man
for is the very thing he himself has done. However, before we start blaming
David for his foolishness, we have to remember ourselves: very often, there
have been times when we have been responsible for the very thing we have blamed
another person for. We frequently want to blame “the other person” without
taking responsibility for our part in the relationship. We forget that if we
point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at us. This is
especially something our whole country needs to hear: that even though we may
want to blame whoever we think as being “the other side” for our problems, we
are just as responsible for bringing problems on ourselves. There are
consequences for how we treat other people, which is ultimately what sin is. Sinning
against another person means mistreating them, and there are consequences when
we mistreat other people. Relationships especially get damaged, and mistrust between
people happens. God especially points this out to David: David will continually
face violence in his family from this point on because of what he has done to
Uriah. But not everything is completely hopeless: even though David has done
this, he will still not be overthrown. Later on, his sons Absalom and Adonijah
attempt to usurp his throne and put themselves as king in his place, but God
still shows grace and preserves David’s position. He restores David to the
position He has for him. God does this because He has an ultimate plan: He is
going to cause the Savior of the whole world, Jesus Christ, to be born from David’s
royal line and family. So God does not even let one misstep by David get in the
way of what He has planned. Which means that all is not lost for us either: God
is giving us an opportunity to make things right.
In the same way, God has a plan,
and a great destiny for America. He called us into being as a nation a little
over two hundred years ago, to be a place where people could come to experience
freedom from oppression and tyranny, and be free to be themselves. Even though
we certainly have not been perfect, and during our history we have at different
times engaged in slavery, discrimination, and segregation, the purpose on which
we were founded has continued to remain the same. Many people have benefitted
from the freedoms we have offered, have come to this country seeking a better
life, and have been able to find it because of the opportunities we have been
able to give. We have also, as a country, been able to make things better for
people in other parts of the world. But we always have to remember that the
reason we have been able to do so is not because of our abilities or efforts, but
because God has given us the ability to do so. If we, as a nation, keep remembering
God, and asking Him to overcome our divisions, heal the hurts we have done to
each other and have been done to us, and free us from the consequences of all
the ways we have mistreated each other, we will be able to carry out the
purpose He has given us in even greater ways than before. But we also have to
repent, that is, look at the ways we have treated other people badly, ask to be
forgiven, and turn away from whatever has caused us to sin against another person.
That is what Paul encourages in
today’s Second Reading from Galatians. And here we have to make one thing
clear: even though God gives us a lot of freedom, that doesn’t mean He permits
everything. He does want us to live a good life, and He also wants us to help
others live a good life. Anything that keeps us from doing so is something He
doesn’t allow. Also, if we have been freed from a sinful habit, especially one
that has caused us to abuse ourselves, or treat another person badly in any
way, then we are to leave it behind and get rid of it. Simple as it sounds, the
best way to avoid consequences for sinning is to get rid of the sin that is causing
those consequences. And that is true freedom: being free from sins which cause us
to damage and break relationships with ourselves and others. It means letting
God restore us to where we need to be in life. It also means to recognize that forgiveness
of our sins can only come through what Jesus has done on the cross: only by His
sacrifice, all our sins, everything we have done, and everything others have
done to us, have been forgiven. Nothing we do, no following of rules or laws,
can earn us being forgiven – we are already forgiven. We have already been
restored.
And, because we are already forgiven
and restored, we can recognize that God has already forgiven and restored other
people, even those we don’t think deserve to be. In today’s Gospel reading,
Jesus tells a woman, who is probably a prostitute, that her sins are forgiven. He
doesn’t make her go through some sort of long restoration process, and He doesn’t
even demand that she show any kind of change right away. Instead, He just tells
her she is forgiven. This angers many of the people at the meal Jesus is at,
including Simon, His host. Simon is a Pharisee, someone who believes that
strict obedience to the commandments is necessary to be considered a believer. Like
Simon, we say, “If God knew what kind of person this really is…” and insist
that someone doesn’t deserve to be blessed because we disagree with them for
any reason. It’s hard for us to imagine God could love and accept someone just
as much as He does us. We actually say this more than we realize: this is
called envy, or jealousy. We think that someone deserves to be punished for who
they are or what they have done, and we ask God to punish them. We want to exact
vengeance on those whom we believe have done wrong, and on those whom we think
have wronged us. We want to judge. But, as with David, we are to recognize that
not only are we guilty of the same things we blame other people for, but that
others are just as equally loved, forgiven, and accepted by God as we are. We
are to ask for God’s help in overcoming envy and jealousy, and instead see
others as He sees them – the same way He see us, as people He loves equally in
need of His help.
What all this shows is that ultimately,
judgment belongs only to God. It does not belong to us. What God wants us to do
today is not to judge or blame any longer, but to restore what has been broken.
Where we have damaged our own lives, we are to ask for God’s help in removing
the sin that has caused the damage. Where we have mistreated other people, and
have wronged them in any way, whether they are family members, friends, or
neighbors, we are to try to restore broken relationships by recognizing our
part in the relationship being broken, apologizing, asking for forgiveness, and
working to move forward with restoring the relationship. If we want America to
be unified and at peace again, it has to begin with us. We have to be pursuing
relationships again: a relationship with God, and loving relationships with
each other. Instead words of blame, we are to be speaking words of support. Like
Jesus, we are to speak comforting words of forgiveness and acceptance to other
people – true words that come from God. If we are to be one nation under God,
then let us be restored – restored to live in forgiveness and peace with each
other once again.
Now may the peace of God, which passes
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.