St. Andrew Lutheran Church

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Sermon Text for October 30, 2022 - "Basic How To's: How to Be Free"

“Basic How To’s: How to Be Free”

October 30, 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 we once more celebrate Reformation Sunday, and we also get to celebrate Halloween tomorrow! Believe it or not, there is a direct connection between Halloween and Reformation Day, and Martin Luther is involved. October 31^st is also known as All Hallows Evening, or Hallow E’en in Old English – which is where our word Halloween comes from. “Hallows” means people who were considered holy, especially saints. It was the night before All Saints Day, which traditionally took place on November 1^st.

Especially in Luther’s time, it was believed that before someone could enter heaven after death, they had to go through a period of cleansing in a place called purgatory, which I usually compare to showers in a locker room, where their sins would be cleaned off, so they would be considered worthy enough to go to heaven. It was also believed that the prayers and good works people did in this life on behalf of people in purgatory could shorten the time they had to spend in purgatory, and help them go to heaven faster. So, on October 31^st, people would come to church to pray for the souls of their departed loved ones they believed were in purgatory. In his own study of the Bible, Luther discovered that none of any of this was actually in the Bible: there was no mention of purgatory, and, most of all, no one was saved by any good works, including prayers – only by what Jesus did by dying and rising again. He also rediscovered the truth that God is love, and loves all people unconditionally – so no one needs to try to earn God’s love. He wrote the 95 Theses to show that many of the things the church of his time was teaching were against the Bible, and he picked October 31^st as the day on which to nail his 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, Germany, because that would be the day there would be a large crowd coming to church, who would read what he had to say. That is why we celebrate the Sunday closest to October 31^st as Reformation Sunday.

Now, all this being said, in the past this particular Sunday has been used as an opportunity to criticize, disparage, even bash other Christians. It is no longer appropriate for us to do so, because we cannot claim a monopoly on Christianity, nor do we call ourselves the only true Church. We are not more important than any other Christians, nor is our teaching the only absolute truth. Also, and especially after the major change and crisis all churches have gone through during the pandemic, we are to support and encourage each other, rather than try to tear each other apart. We are also to focus on what unites us, and makes us the same, rather than what makes us different from each other. This means that we regard all churches as being equal and Christian, all Christians as being the same, and we accept one another as such.

Yet, even all of this being said, today is not just about history, or even trying to distinguish true from false teaching. It is about freedom. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” But what exactly does it mean to be free? Well, there are things we are free from, and which we are free for.

1. We are free from guilt. But not in the way we would think. Usually, we talk about being free from the guilt of sin, and while that is true, we also have to consider that many of the sins for which we have been made to feel guilty, are not really sins. The previous pattern of preaching has also been to try to point out what is wrong with culture or society, generally based on personal opinion. We do still live in a sinful world, where people frequently choose to hurt themselves and other people, and we ourselves have done things against others. As Paul points out in our Second Reading, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yet our purpose is not to shame others, or to make ourselves constantly feel ashamed, but instead to recognize where we have not treated others the way God would want us to treat them, ask for forgiveness and God’s help in restoring any broken relationships, and move forward. Also, as I’ve said before, a lot of our religion has been based on fear – fear of God’s wrath, abandonment, judgment, or punishment. But God is not a god who wants us to be afraid of Him – He wants us to love Him instead. So rather than focusing on what we have done wrong, or what we might be doing wrong, we can instead come to God as a loving Father who desires nothing more than a relationship with us, to be our friend. He also wants to restore rather than destroy: where things are going in a direction other than what He desires, He gently brings them back around to where He wants them to go. So our relationship with God ought not to be based on being terrified of God for any reason, but on the fact He thinks we are special and valuable to Him. Which leads to the second point:

2. We are free from having to prove ourselves. If we think about it, much of life has to do with having to prove how good or worthy we are – earning good enough grades, playing well on the field or diamond, performing our job duties well enough to earn raises and promotions, paying everything well enough to earn a good credit rating, everything to earn recognition and approval. Also, much of what we have thought to be God’s disapproval has actually come from the disapproval of other people – even other members of the church. We assume that if other people, especially other Christians, disapprove of us, then God does as well. The reality is, God and humans do not always have the same mindset, and humans are also frequently wrong. We cannot confuse the opinions of what others think of us with how God actually thinks of us. The truth is, He sees all people the same – as being worthy of His love, fully accepted, and fully acceptable. In the same way, since we are also free from guilt caused by fear, and we know that God approves of us, we can also be liberated from insisting that others have to earn our approval, and instead accept others as they are. Furthermore, we can remember that the idea is not to prove ourselves right or better than others, but simply to be who we are, and let who we are

3. We are free from having to worry. This actually comes from being free from guilt and having to prove ourselves, and shows us that God is always with us. And there are a lot of things we are worried about, even right now: we may be here in church, but honestly, we’ve got other things on our minds. We’re probably thinking more about something happening this week which we might be dreading; a medical appointment; an issue with family or friends; or even what might be happening later on this afternoon. These are realities we have to deal with, but which we can put in God’s hands to take care of. Since we believe that God never abandons us, and we are always under His care, in every situation, God is always in control. He has a plan for every moment, and is causing things to happen the way He wants them to. He also is always on our side, fighting for us, and will ultimately win. We know this because of Jesus’ death and resurrection: Jesus has reconciled us to God, and has justified us in God’s sight. This means even though we face struggles, we need never worry about God’s help – He is always there for us.

Yet even as we are free from all these things, there is a reason we have been made free: to live according to a special purpose, which all begins with Jesus.

1. We are free in Christ. Our freedom is not necessarily a license to do exactly whatever we want, but is instead the freedom to follow Jesus and His direction for our lives. It is being liberated from sin’s power over us, enabling us to become more like Jesus. Who we used to be is disappearing every day, and, as we grow both in faith and age, is being replaced by thoughts and habits which reflect more who Jesus is. This is actually what God, speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah, means in today’s First Reading, where He talks about writing His law on our hearts: that who we are is not determined by rules or guidelines we follow, but instead by God working in us to change and transform us. Which means, according to how we are changed:

2. We are free to love. This is our true purpose and calling. Love also means loving without any kind of an agenda: This is, in fact, what being a mature Christian is: someone who, by the power of Jesus actively working in us, is committed to showing unconditional love and acceptance. To love means both loving and accepting ourselves as well as others, and letting who we are be the testimony to what we believe.

3. We are free to serve. We give because we have been given much, and we want for others to enjoy the same goodness as we do. Just as with love, serving also means serving without necessarily expecting anything in return, even any kind of recognition or gratitude. Even if we might be trying to show others the rightness of our beliefs, we can be more persuasive if we show people we care, rather than trying to prove ourselves right. In fact, and more than ever nowadays, we can be able to attract more people to come to our church by serving – doing things for each other and for others in the community. So let us enjoy our freedom – but let us also use our freedom the way God wants us to.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Weekly Word Podcast - Full Worship Service for October 30, 2022 - Reformation Sunday

10/30/2022 Full Worship Service - Reformation Sunday

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Community Thanksgiving Service, November 20, 2022

You are invited to the annual Farmersville Community Thanksgiving Service! This year, we will be joining together as one family of God on Sunday, November 20th, at 4:00 P.M. This year, the service will take place at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, located at 282 South Broadway Street in Farmersville, next to the town cemetery. We welcome and invite everyone from our area to join with us in praising and thanking God for all His blessings and mercies we have received this year, and look forward to having you be a part of our celebration!

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Sermon Text for October 23, 2022 - "Basic How To's: How to Guard the Good Deposit"

“Basic How To’s: How to Guard the Good Deposit”

October 23, 2022

Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

As we see from the announcements this morning, we have a lot that’s going to be happening in the life of our church family, which is a wonderful thing! In just a couple of weeks, we’re going to be having our Fall Dinner, for the first time in a couple of years, which will give us a chance not only to carry on a tradition we’ve held dear for a long time, but will also give us something we’ve really been missing out on having a lot of, also for the past couple of years: fellowship. We’re also going to be looking forward to Youth Sunday the following week; the Community Thanksgiving Service on the 20^th; getting to help with Hands Against Hunger again, with a Church Family Christmas Party later in the evening (more about that soon as well); the concert by DaMac; getting to go caroling in December; our Sunday School Christmas Program; Christmas Eve, which has generally been a large service during regular times; and then, best of all, getting to be excited about what God has planned for us in this coming year, and all the wonderful possibilities we’ll get to experience. These are fun times when we get to spend together as a church family, something which, once again, we’ve admittedly been lacking in for the past couple of years, mainly due to covid. But now, we’re looking forward to moving forward. Will this new year also bring challenges? Of course it will. One of them is certainly going to be the fact we’re still continuing to struggle financially. And really, every year has brought up new issues, but with God’s help, we have been able to face them, address them, and get through them every time. So we can look to the future with hope, because we have faith that God is going to cause good and better things to happen, just like He has before, and He always will.

Yet, undoubtedly, for the past couple of years, we have been crying out the same words as the Prophet Habakkuk in today’s First Reading: “How long?” Which can also be said as, “How much longer?” Especially starting in 2020 and continuing through 2021, that was the constant refrain: how much longer is this pandemic, and everything else it’s caused, going to go on? As a church family, early in 2020, we were asking, how much longer do we have to wait before we can open up the church and get back to worshipping together? When are we going to enjoy all the things we used to again, like our Ice Cream Social, Fall Dinner, and other times we got together? As in Habakkuk’s time, we also ask, how much more often are we going to have to hear about civil unrest, division, and hatred? Even now, we still say: is there ever going to be an end to our struggles? How long is it going to be before we see lower gas prices and costs of things start to go down again? Are we going to have to keep dealing with rising costs for our utilities, especially heating this winter? Will conflicts going on not just in Ukraine but in other parts of the world come to a conclusion? And, God, aren’t you going to do anything about it? That’s really what Habakkuk is complaining about, and what we also find ourselves saying a lot of the time. It’s not just whining: it’s a valid complaint. God is supposed to be all-powerful, in control of everything, and overcoming all the bad things that happen in the world. So why isn’t He doing anything?

Well, then, as it happens, in verse 3, God gives Habakkuk an answer: “The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” In other words, God is doing something, just as He promised He would. But what we have to do is wait. That’s what we’ve had to do all along, and, admittedly, it’s caused us a lot of frustration in the process. But look at what’s happened: little by little, as we’ve waited for the right time, we’ve been able to bring things back, and now we have a lot to plan and look forward to. Is everything going to be exactly as it was before? Probably not for at least a little while longer. But we can still trust God and wait. Which, of course, is the hardest part: when we end up in a desperate situation, we want things to happen right away. Even when we pray, we expect God to either give us an answer or cause something to happen instantly. But that’s not how God works – that’s not even how faith works.

Yet we think, especially because of misreadings of what Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, that if we have strong enough faith, and if we pray hard enough, we will be able to influence God. Again, though, that’s not how things operate. Instead, what we’re asking for when, like Jesus’ disciples, we ask for our faith to be increased is not that we would somehow gain greater supernatural powers, but that we would trust in God’s power alone. What Jesus means when He says that we could command a mulberry tree to be uprooted is not that we would have mastery over things, but that, if we relinquish any desire for control, and if we stop trying to take charge of certain situations ourselves, we would witness God doing great and powerful things right in front of us. After all, that’s exactly how and why we’re saved as it is: not because of anything we’ve done, but because God did it all. He sent His Son to die on the cross and rise again to save us from sin’s power over us, something we couldn’t do ourselves, but which He did all His own. And just as we trust that everything God did ultimately causes us to be saved, forgiven, and destined for eternal life, we also We would also be able to experience God accomplishing acts of great power through us – if we let Him lead us. Faith is not trust in facts, but in a promise: the promise being that God is always working His power.

So when we ask God to increase our faith, we are not asking that our agreement with Christian teaching and doctrine would be stronger; that our knowledge just of what God has done in the past would be firmer; or even that God would make us somehow more powerful. Instead, we are asking God to make us more trusting, more dependent on Him. This is actually the boldness of faith we are to express as Christians.

As Paul says in today’s Second Reading, verse 7, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” We are to be bold, rather than timid, in our trust, and, though it may seem to be a contradiction, be even more courageous in our letting go and letting God. When we are able to trust God and let Him lead, then we are free from frustration and the anger that comes from it. We are then free to love, to show compassion to those who are struggling along with us. We also are able to exercise self-discipline as we resist giving into temptations to sin. We are not ashamed, because we know who we believe in, and we are convinced that He is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him for the last day – our very lives. This is the deposit which has been entrusted to us: living a life of faith in God. And how does this happen? Well, Jesus gives us three important ways:

1. Watch yourself. Even though God is guarding you, you do have responsibility for making sure you are vigilant against sin and sinful influences. While we normally think of simple moral choices, the sins of falling away from trust in God are even more important. We always have to be looking forward to the good things coming, and making sure we don’t fall into pessimism and negativity which would cause us to stop believing God. All of us always have to remember that we are destined for eternal life, and that we are to live as though we were already there – hoping only in God, and living in peace with our friends and neighbors. This is the holy life to which we are called. This leads to the second one:

2. Forgive. One of the greatest sinful influences we have to deal with, especially now more than ever, is a lack of forgiveness. Whether it be trying to bring up past history, or personal grudges which you, or any of us, have been hanging on to, the inability to forgive is often the greatest obstacle both to us being able to trust God, and others to do the same. A lack of forgiveness shows a lack of being able to let God resolve whatever has caused the rift between us and the person we have offended, or who has offended us. But being able to forgive allows God to change us, and possibly change the other person . Forgiveness also helps us to see who we really are, and what we need to change in order to prevent future hurts from happening, which often means giving up those sinful influences which might cause us harm. This, however, requires letting God do His work. Which then leads to:

3. Be humble. Recognize that who you are, and what you have, is entirely a gift from God. The reason you can call yourself a Christian is not simply because you decided to, but God made you one. This means that your life is under God’s guidance and leadership. It is therefore your duty to let God lead you. Whenever you feel like you have to wait, and you’re asking, “how much longer?”, trust God. And do so with boldness and courage: tell everyone else what God has done for you, and how faithful He has been to you all along. Let us all continue, as we are all God’s righteous people, to live encouraged, and to live by our faith.