Sermon-Sunday-May 27, 2007

Pentecost Sunday
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don’t give my sermons titles like some pastors like to. I really have nothing against that practice, in fact I used to do it, but at some point when I was in seminary I stopped. I didn’t like any of the names that I came up with, and I really don’t think it’s necessary. But if I was going to give this week’s sermon a title it would be "Whose your daddy?" As today’s Gospel lesson opens, Phillip seems to be wondering that about Jesus.
The lesson this week opens with Phillip telling Jesus that if He would just show them the Father, then they will be satisfied, as if Jesus is going to allow Phillip to dictate just how the Father reveals Himself through Jesus. But we all do this. We promise God that if He would just give us this job promotion or, or somehow provide for our financial needs, or protect us from harm in a dangerous situation, or keep us from trouble, then we will be faithful.
But in Jesus’ reply to Phillip you can see that indeed God does not reveal Himself on your terms. Jesus does not tell Phillip that if he believes strong enough then God will reveal Himself by giving Phillip whatever he wants. Jesus makes it simple when He tells Phillip that whoever has seen Jesus, has seen the Father. Jesus is sitting right there in front of Phillip and He doesn’t merely tell Phillip how he can see the Father, He tells Him that the Father is revealing Himself to Phillip right in front of his eyes in Jesus.
Phillip, like us is resistant to seeing God even as God reveals Himself to Phillip in His Son Jesus right before Phillip’s eyes. Phillip, like you seeks comfort, good, and delight from his own efforts rather than by fearing, loving, and trusting in His Lord who is revealed to Him in Christ Jesus. You are like Phillip when you doubt that human affairs are ruled by God’s council. When you measure things by what pleases you, you are like Phillip. Like Phillip you are a sinner.
But praise be to God, you have something else in common with Phillip. You have been claimed in baptism by God’s Son Christ Jesus in whom God the Father reveals Himself. As Paul tells you in Romans 5 while you were still sinners Christ Jesus died for you and you have been justified by His blood and saved from His wrath.
But you know this. You know this because you hear it week after week. But you need to hear it week after week. You need to hear it daily. If Phillip who walked with Jesus and saw Jesus perform great miracles, still needed convincing and needed to be reminded that it is through Christ Jesus that God reveals Himself then so do you. But our Lord does not leave you in doubt, He comes to you daily in His Word and reminds you of the claim that He has made on you in the waters of baptism. He comes to you in the sacraments and reminds you of the sacrifice of His death that was made on your behalf, and the new life that was given to you in the resurrection.
He comes to you daily in His Word and reminds you that His Word is the Father’s Word, He and the Father are one. In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus tells Phillip that the works that Jesus performs are the works of the Father.
The union that Christ Jesus shares with His Father is not some mystical private union. Quite the opposite, it is very public. It was revealed first when Jesus was born, and then that revelation was emphasized even stronger during Jesus’ life on earth through His words and the great works that He performed, and the love that He showed to those around Him who followed Him, many of whom of course were among those who would have been considered outcasts and in some cases, literally untouchable. And that union was then glorified in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
Now, through faith in this one who lived, died, and was resurrected for you, and who claims you in baptism as His own, you are brought into this union between the Father and the Son. In baptism you are brought into this union and through the Holy Spirit, by whom you are sealed in baptism you are kept in this union.
That is what Pentecost, which we celebrate today on this Pentecost Sunday, is all about. In this great Pentecost story which we just read in our lesson from Acts for today, the Holy Spirit arrives and fills all of the disciples that had been gathered in the upper room and soon all of these disciples are given the ability to proclaim the Gospel in languages that that they don’t even speak. Through this miraculous event God is revealing Himself through His word to people from nations that had never even heard the Gospel. Through this miraculous event God reveals that the revelation of Himself that began one night in a manger is not going to be an exclusive revelation.
It will not be contained by national or language barriers. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ Jesus is revealed not just to Jews, Greeks or Romans, but to all of God’s people from all nations. Indeed in the lesson from Romans today we see that through the Holy Spirit, whatever barriers we place between ourselves because of language or heritage or whatever are cast aside as we are brought into the union that Jesus shares with His Father as, by the Spirit of God, we are made to be children of God.
Through the Holy Spirit, the task of revealing God the Father that Jesus spoke of and demonstrated to Phillip in the Gospel lesson for today, continues in us. We are called to continue the work of showing and revealing the Father’s love to the world. And we show the Father by proclaiming the Gospel of the Son Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Gospel and guides us and nurtures and sustains us in our faith as we seek to live out this calling.
Indeed in our Gospel lesson, Jesus promises that those who believe in Him will do the good works that He does, in fact He promises that we will do greater works than He does, because He is going to the Father. By greater, He does not mean bigger or of a more grand scale. He does not mean that, at will we are able to perform miracles that can rival the feeding of the five-thousand or any of the healings that Jesus performed.
They are greater not because of anything that we do, but because of what Jesus has already done. When Jesus walked victoriously out of the tomb, He also brought about a new age and through baptism you have been ushered into that age. The works of the Body of Christ today are greater not because of us, but because in us the Holy Spirit is at work revealing the completion of the Word made flesh.
Jesus also promises that He will do whatever you ask in His name. Does this mean that you can ask for whatever you want and as long as you say "In Jesus’ name" at the end of the prayer then, whatever you ask for, you will get? No. Because such a prayer would not truly be in Jesus’ name, but rather in your name. Jesus follows this promise up by saying the very reason that He makes this promise when He says "…so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
That is how you know you are asking for something in Jesus’ name, when your focus is on that which will glorify the Father through the Son. There are people all over who, like Phillip are yearning to see the Father, and you are called to be a part of the revelation of the Father by pointing people to the Son Christ Jesus, so that through the Holy Spirit they can be called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified in faith and receive the Spirit of adoption that we read about in our lesson from Romans for today, so that they can be made children of God, like Phillip, and like you and like those all over the world who’s faith is in Christ Jesus.
Amen

Sermon-Sunday-May 20, 2007

Seventh Sunday of Easter
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our lesson from Acts today, a jailer asks Paul and Silas what they must do to be saved. This jailer has just experienced something that had to be pretty amazing. There was an earthquake that was so huge that it shook the foundations of the prison and all the doors came wide open. When the jailer saw this, he was about to kill himself because he assumed that all of the prisoners had escaped. Paul and Silas could have just let the guy kill himself and then escaped, but Paul shouts out and tells the jailer not to hurt himself and that he and the rest of the prisoners are all there. He probably didn’t score any points with the other prisoners by doing that, but Paul is clearly not too concerned about that.
And then the jailer asks that question "..what must I do to be saved?" So what do they tell him? Do they tell him recite a prayer or make a decision for Jesus or join a certain church, no they make it simple. They tell him to "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved; you and your household." And then they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and his household, washed their wounds and then they baptized them, without delay.
Now obviously when Paul says "Believe on the Lord Jesus.." he is not just talking about believing that Jesus is real. This jailer would have been very aware that Jesus was a real person. He would have been aware that Jesus had been crucified. And there was probably a pretty good chance that was aware of Jesus’ resurrection. At the very least, he had probably heard the reports of it.
But Paul was not just talking about believing that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were real and that they happened, but that they happened for you. That is faith. That is the faith that saves you. It’s the faith that you are called to in the waters of baptism when you are claimed by Christ Jesus.
That is why Paul baptized them without delay, because he understood that God is the actor in baptism. Paul understood that in baptism you are brought into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Paul understood that the very God who had appeared in their midst and shook the very foundations of that prison in a way that would cause the doors to be flung wide open, is the same God who comes to you in baptism. He comes to you and claims you and brings you into the death and resurrection of His Son Christ Jesus, and in baptism calls you to the faith that frees you from bondage to sin, death and, the devil.
Even in the midst of your doubt and despair and denial of that reality, He still comes to you. Even in the midst of the sin that you give into everyday. Even as you daily fail to live out your calling to your neighbor, your Lord comes to you daily as you live out your baptism. Even as you prioritize the desires of your body before the needs of your soul, your Lord comes to you daily.
In baptism your Lord comes to you daily in word and sacrament and puts one more nail in the coffin of your sin even as you daily try to revive that sin. In baptism your Lord comes to you with the same urgency that he showed that night when He shook the very foundations of that prison and flung the doors wide open. He comes to you with that same sense of urgency because your justification, redemption, and forgiveness is just as important to your Lord as the justification, forgiveness, and redemption of that jailer, his family, Paul, Silas or any other of God’s people.
And so what happens after they were baptized? They went to the house, they set food before Paul and Silas, and they rejoiced. They rejoiced because the jailer had become a believer in the redeeming work of Christ. He became a believer. He didn’t make himself a believer in Christ. He didn’t just up and decide he was going to be a believer. It was passive. His becoming a believer was something that happened to him through word and sacrament, as they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and baptized him. And as he was baptized, the same Lord who had just made this great earthquake, now came to this jailer and claimed him as his own, in the same way he did for you at your baptism, and in the same way that He comes to you daily as you live out your baptism.
OK now you know that it is through faith in the Lord Jesus that you are saved. And now you know that faith means more than simply believing that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus really happened, but that they happened for you. And now you know that it is through your Lord coming to you daily in baptism, and calling you to faith in Christ through word and sacrament, that you are made a believer and sustained in your faith.
In light of this, how is your Lord calling you to live out your faith? As a baptized believer in Christ, you have the security and comfort of knowing that one day you will walk in the glorious and eternal light of the resurrection, but how does your Lord call you to live out your faith now, in light of that glorious promise?
In our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus makes a prayer to His Father. This prayer takes place in the final days before Jesus’ crucifixion, and He makes this prayer on behalf of His disciples; past, present, and future. He is not just praying for those whom He is currently surrounded by, but it says that He is praying for those who would believe in Him through their Word. That’s us, that’s you. He prays that we would be brought into the unity that He shares with His Father. And the reason that Jesus wants this is so that the world will believe that He has indeed been sent by His Father.
It’s the will of our Savior that we be united. But notice that He does not put that unity in our hands. He entrusts it to God the Father in prayer. Our unity is not built upon denominations, it’s not built upon ecumenical agreements with other denominations, it is built by God’s drawing us together through faith.
The future of the church is in God’s hands and is not dependent upon you, but you are called and invited to be a part of it. That calling is to continue the work that we saw in Paul and Silas from today’s lesson from Acts. Paul and Silas found themselves arrested, beaten, and placed in prison and they did not lament or complain over their situation. Instead they prayed and sang hymns to God.
And when the earthquake struck and the doors to the prison were flung wide open, Paul and Silas did not try to flee the scene, but instead they remained united in their faith, and in light of this the jailer got a glimpse of the glory that was given to Paul and Silas by God in faith and was prompted to ask them what must he do to be saved? In that moment he saw these two faithful disciples being held together in unity through their faith, and that revelation made him realize that this Jesus whose name they proclaim had in fact been sent by God the Father.
Providing the answer to that question of what one must do to be saved is at the heart of how we are called to live out our faith. Through the faith that we are called to in baptism we are brought into the unity that Jesus shares with His Father, and we are sent out to boldly proclaim in faith that Jesus was in fact sent by His Father and that it is through the faith that we are called to in baptism that we are saved. There are many people out there just waiting for the answer to the question of what one must do to be saved. Some of them are probably included among your neighbors. Amen

Sermon-Sunday-May 13, 2007

Sixth Sunday of Easter
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus says those who love Him will keep His word. He says this in response to a question that He is asked by a disciple named Judas, but not Judas Iscariot. Jesus has just explained to His disciples that the world will not see Him but that His disciples will see Him. Judas can’t wrap his mind around this.
It wasn’t just the idea that they would see Jesus and others wouldn’t that the disciple struggled with, but it was who would see Jesus and who wouldn’t. He couldn’t grasp the idea that Jesus doesn’t make distinctions between people in the same way that the world does. The world likes to categorically rank people according to income, popularity, influence, intelligence, celebrity etc.
This disciple could not understand why those whom were being called upon to continue the work of Jesus, to spread His love and message of forgiveness and redemption, were not among those whom the world saw as the elite. Jesus did not seem to be calling upon those who would have been considered to have been learned, excellent and holy persons. This would have included the Pharisees, the scribes, the priests and the rulers etc.
This disciple was thinking "Why give this task to this collection of tax-collectors, and fishermen, and other sinners?" "Why not give this message to people of real influence and power?" "That will get the message out." And let’s be honest. From our worldly perspective, this logic makes sense.
As Christians we are called to live out the great commission to go therefore and make disciples of all nations, by baptizing them and proclaiming the Gospel, through word and deed to our neighbor. Wouldn’t this be a lot easier if the Gospel were more embraced by people that have the greatest influence in our culture? If all the well-known "A-list" celebrities believed in the Gospel and were outspoken about their faith, or if it wasn’t so common for leaders in the scientific community to dismiss the idea of a divine creator simply because they have not physically seen the divine Creator, then wouldn’t it be that much easier to spread the Gospel?
But when Jesus says that those who love Him will keep His Word, as usual He is talking about something that is impossible to understand when looked at from a human, worldly perspective. He is laying out the parameters of His kingdom. He is making it clear that in His kingdom there is no rankings by class or income or estate.
Your status and place in God’s kingdom is not dependent upon wealth or fame or prestige or influence or getting into the right college or getting the right job. It is determined by faith. Jesus makes it real simple. Those who love Him keep His word. And it is through His word, that Christ Jesus speaks to us in the Holy Spirit. So those who want to know Jesus better will love Him. They will Love Him, trust Him, cling to Him, and not be ashamed of Him. Regardless of how much money you have or what kind of job you have. Psalm 85:8 reminds us that the Lord promises peace to those who listen to what He has to say.
So the question that you might be tempted to ask yourself now might be "Do you love Jesus?" or maybe even "How do you know if you love Jesus?"
We get a clue in the question that Jesus was asked which was how it was that Jesus would not be revealed to the world but He would reveal Himself to those early disciples. And in verse 27 from today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus says that He does not give to us as the world gives to us.
From that you can see that Jesus makes a clear distinction between Himself and the world. And one could rightly assume that Jesus includes you, as part of His kingdom, in this distinction that He makes between Himself and the world. To love Jesus is to love Jesus more than you love anything in the world.
In 1st John chapter 2 the author writes of the dangers of loving the world more than Christ. He includes among that which is in the world; the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has done. Essentially the author here is referring to greed, lust, and pride. Those who are of the world or have been seduced by the world are those who put their own interests before anyone else’s interests. They are guided by that which serves their own desires and their own quest for personal comfort and satisfaction.
Of course you could probably all think of someone who you know who fits this description. And that is the easy way to have this text speak to you; apply it to someone else. It would be real easy to point the finger at the filthy rich and use this text as a basis for condemning them for their harboring of their own wealth. And many of our wealthy people are probably in need of an accountability check.
But the truth is the tendency to put your own interests before others is apparent in all walks of life. None of us can claim complete innocence in light of God’s indictment of the greed, lust, and pride that is so prevalent in the world. When you steal or look the other way to someone else’s theft, or you look the other way to someone in need, you condemn yourself. When you neglect the needs of your spouse or anyone else whom God has seen fit to place in your life, you condemn yourself. When you lie, cheat or steal you condemn yourself. When you resist making peace and hold onto grudges you condemn yourself. In all of this you reveal your capability and tendency to be of the world.
The devil does not give up after you have been baptized. Quite to the contrary he comes stronger slinging his arrows of doubt, pride, greed, and lust. But you have One who has claimed you as His own in that very same baptism. And He comes to you daily calling you and reminding you of the place that has been reserved for you in His kingdom. It is a place built not on your wealth or intelligence or influence but on the faith in Christ Jesus that you have been called to through God’s Word.
John 3:18 tells us that whoever believes Jesus is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already. To love Jesus is to believe Him. It is to believe Him when He tells you of the futility of this world. It is to believe Him when He warns you of the dangers of sin, pride and lust. It is to believe and trust Him when He says that He is the way, and the truth, and the life and that nobody comes to the Father except through Him. It is to believe that His death on the cross, to bear the penalty for the sins of all mankind, and the victory that that was revealed three days later when Jesus walked out of the tomb, was for you.
It is this belief, this faith that you have been called to that gives you the assurance that you are indeed a part of that kingdom that Jesus speaks of which is not defined by wealth or power or prestige. Your place in the kingdom that our lesson from Revelation refers to; the New Jerusalem which we anticipate will come down out of Heaven, has been secured. In this kingdom there is no need for light or lamp or sun because the Lord will be our light.
In the meantime, the Lord has sent the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who speaks to you and calls you to faith through the Gospel. The Holy Spirit nurtures and sustains you in your faith as He comes to you through God’s Word and the sacraments and in fellowship with each other.
The Holy Spirit then sends you out to your neighbor so you can bring the Gospel to them, and through the proclamation of the Gospel reveal Christ Jesus to them. Indeed you are called to shine that light of the Lord to them, and through word and deed bring them Jesus, because it’s through His Kingdom, which you have been brought into, that Jesus reveals Himself, and not the kingdom of the world.
Amen

Sermon-Thursday, May 6, 2007

Fifth Sunday of Easter
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our Gospel lesson for this morning, Jesus gives you an impossible command . He gives you an impossible command when He commands you to love one another just as He has loved you. It’s impossible, you can’t do it. You can’t possibly show the same love for each other that Christ Jesus has shown for you, in His life, death, and resurrection. Yet that is exactly what He commands you to do in this new commandment that we read about in this morning’s Gospel lesson.
Maybe your thinking "What’s so new about a command for us to love one another?" And you would be right, there is nothing new about that. I mean we can trace the command to love your neighbor as yourself back to the old Mosaic law from Leviticus.
So again what is so new about this command to love one another? In John 14:31 Jesus says that the world must learn that He loves the Father and that He does exactly as the Father has commanded Him. Jesus’ obedience to God’s commands are His proclamation to the world that He loves the Father and that through Jesus, God loves the world, as it says in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.
What is new about this commandment is that Jesus is bringing those whom He has claimed as His own into that love that marks the relationship that He has with His Father. Jesus says that people will recognize you as disciples of Christ by the love that you show for one another. That is a promise, it's not a conditional statement.
Through faith you are brought into the love that marks the relationship that Jesus has with His Father. And as you seek to live out this baptismal calling of having love for one another you are displaying the identifying marks of discipleship in Christ.
As faithful Christians claimed by your redeemer in the waters of baptism you are called to love all people, even your enemies, in the name of Christ Jesus. You are called to cast aside your petty prejudices, jealousy, envy pride etc. and love even those whom you might find to be absolutely unlovable.
You are called to follow the example of Peter from our first lesson for today who did something that would have been absolutely unthinkable to a lot of people in his time. He associated with gentiles. He taught them, proclaimed the Gospel to them, shared the love of Christ with them, and over time many of them were brought to faith. He put aside his fear and prejudice in favor of his faithfulness and devotion to his Savior, and in doing so long standing barriers began to be broken down.
In the fourth chapter of Acts there is an example of what can happen when a community of faithful people unite in their baptismal calling to have love for one another. In this chapter the author writes of the spirit of cooperation that was present among the early believers who laid the foundation for the church. It says that all the believers were of one heart and mind and that no one claimed any possessions as their own, and that they continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It says that there was no needy among them because when those who owned land or houses sold them they brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles, and it was distributed to anyone as they had need.
We get another reflection of the type of love that Jesus calls us to in the third chapter of Galatians. In this chapter we read of Paul painting a picture of a united community that has risen above any barriers of race, economic status or gender.
But as inspiring as those examples might be they still don’t even come close to being a reflection of the love that Christ has shown for you in His life, death, and resurrection, and all of these examples ended up being fairly short-lived. Obviously the early church survived, but that early spirit of cooperation and unity would eventually dissipate.
Peter, who would help to break down barriers between Jews and gentiles by proclaiming the Gospel to gentiles, and sharing the love of Christ with them, would again isolate himself from gentiles, particularly in an incident at Antioch, out of fear of how another group of disciples would act if they saw Peter eating with gentiles. And, despite Paul's promising words, the church in Galatia would allow themselves to be taken in by a group of Judaizers who proclaimed a false Gospel that was built not on God’s promise of forgiveness and redemption in Christ but on a legalistic dependence on Jewish law.
Again this reminds you and confirms for you that this new command that Jesus gives you; to love each other as Christ has loved you is impossible. On the cross Jesus bore the penalty for the sins of all humanity. That is how much He loves you and that is how far He has gone to show you that He loves you. You can’t do that.
Indeed, right before Jesus gives the disciples this new command, He tells them that where He is going, the cross, they cannot come. You can’t duplicate the love that Christ Jesus showed on the cross. Even in your most pious moments, you still fall way short. Daily, in one way or another, you fail to live out your baptismal calling to love each other as Christ has loved you, be it through the petty grudges that you hold against people or each other, be it through prejudices that you hold, be it through gossip, be it through selfishness or whatever, you allow yourself to be taken in by the slings and arrows of the devil.
But God does not leave you in sin. He does not leave you in the clutches of sin, death, and the devil. Indeed Christ Jesus went to the cross and showed a degree of love, devotion, and faithfulness that you could not even begin to duplicate. And He did this for you. He did this to bring you into the love that marks the relationship between Jesus and God the Father. He did this to save you and free you from sin, death, and the devil. He did this to free you from your attempts at attaining your own salvation that you might delude yourself into thinking you could achieve.
Through faith in Christ Jesus, you are not left alone. Indeed in the lesson from Revelation for today we read "See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Our Lord promises that He is making all things new and that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end and it is done.
In Christ Jesus, it is done, the promise of forgiveness, redemption, and new life has been fulfilled. The new commandment to love one another as Christ has loved you is not a legalistic burden, it is a call to the freedom that you have in Christ. You have been freed to take the focus off yourself and set aside all your prejudices, or jealousy, or fear or whatever self-imposed barrier is keeping you from sharing the love of Christ with each other and those around you through word and deed.
Indeed you cannot do what Jesus did on the cross. But by the grace of God, Jesus went to the cross, and now you can go to your neighbor and show the marks of discipleship that come from the love of Christ.
Amen