Sermon, June 20, 2021, Pentecost 4

Printable PDF:  6-20-2021 Pentecost 04 Sermon

Pastor Jacobson  †  Pentecost 4 Sermon  †  June 20, 2021  †  Mark 4:26-34

26He said, “The kingdom of God is like this: A man scatters seed on the ground, 27and while he sleeps and rises, night and day, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28The ground produces fruit on its own: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29When the crop is ready, he swings the sickle without delay, because the harvest has come.” 30Then he said, “To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable may we picture it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is one of the smallest of all the seeds planted in the ground. 32Yet when it is planted, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.” 33With many similar parables he continued to speak the word to them, as much as they were able to hear. 34He did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.

LOOK AT THE KINGDOM THROUGH GOD’S EYES

How would you envision the kingdom of God? Pearly gates? A white-robed army of saints and angels singing, “Alleluia!”? Christ the King in the middle, sitting on his throne? This description is how the Apostle John describes the kingdom of God in heaven in his Revelation. This kingdom of glory looks amazing, but Jesus in the Gospel appointed for today describes the kingdom of God that is on earth and this kingdom of God, not a kingdom of glory, but a kingdom of grace, looks like a farm.

  1. We see the planting, but God sees the harvest.

Farmers don’t wear white, and if farmers do wear white, their white clothes won’t stay white for long. There are many sounds on a farm. You know what the cows and the roosters say. The cow says, “Mooo,” and the rooster says, “Cock-a-doodle-do.” They don’t sing, “Alleluia!” There’s also a distinctive smell on the farm, and we trust that smell is not also in heaven. Farming has changed over the last 2,000 years, but the essence of farming is still the same as Jesus describes it in his parable. 26He said, “The kingdom of God is like this: A man scatters seed on the ground.”

The man in this parable or story is Jesus. The seed is God’s Word, namely the gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ. The ground is the human heart. The farm is how Jesus describes his preaching and teaching ministry. This farming description, then, would also apply to our preaching and teaching ministry. Pretty simple stuff, a 3-step process: One person has the gospel message. That persons shares the gospel message with another person. The gospel message is received by that person who hears it.

We see this planting. We see this planting right now as I preach this sermon. We see this planting as the Pastors and Elders hand communicants the four elements of Holy Communion, the body and blood of Christ in, with, and under the bread and the wine. We see this planting when we have a baptism, and today in the 8:00 service we have a baptism.

Jesus continues, “27and while he (the farmer) sleeps and rises, night and day, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. My church office is very close to our preschool. And through the years I’ve seen about 100 styrofoam cups with a handful of dirt and a seed in each one. It’s a great lesson on agriculture because every one of those little farmers wonder what’s taking so long and whether or not they will ever see that seed sprout and grow. In between the planting and the sprouting there can be doubt. Is it working? Is the seed going to sprout and grow or not?

Preschool farmers aren’t the only ones who wonder about their planting. Gospel sharers wonder, too. You see the Baptism planting, but you don’t see how this baby is now a Christian when just seconds earlier the baby was an unbeliever. You see the Holy Communion planting, but you don’t see how you, the communicants, are more energized to produce new fruits of faith in their lives. You see the preaching and the teaching, but at times wonder what will come of it? And as you wonder these things the temptation exists to quit planning seeds, to stop sharing the gospel. Is bringing my child to church or having a home devotion with them worth it, when the little monster doesn’t seem to hear a word that is said? Is talking to my friends about my faith ever going to amount to anything more than ridicule or indifference?

While we wonder if the kingdom of God is working, the kingdom of God is working. Jesus teaches, 28The ground produces fruit on its own: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. God sees the fruit of faith. Sometimes we see the fruit of faith, and when you do see the fruit of faith, treasure it. Treasure it when the mouth of babes say, “Jesus loves me,” or, “Jesus died for our sins.” Treasure it when teenagers and young adults accept responsibility in the ministry of the church. Treasure it when life-long unbelievers are converted and when wayward Christians see the error of their way and return. Sometimes we see this fruit, but even if we don’t see this fruit, doesn’t mean it’s not there or will never be there. Keep planting! Keep planting until the harvest.

Jesus finishes this first parable, 29When the crop is ready, he swings the sickle without delay, because the harvest has come.” Some farmers only see a harvest twice or three times a year. Those harvesting times are big paydays, and they have to be if the farmer is going to think about planting more seeds for the next season. The harvesting of believers are big days, too. Jesus has told us, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Also, even on his dying day, Jesus found joy in telling a sinner, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Look at the kingdom through God’s eyes. Through the parable of the growing seed, we see the harvest of all believers into heaven and keep planting the gospel message on human hearts.

  1. We see the seed, but God sees the mature plant.

This planting is a big deal, and that’s what Jesus wants us to see in the parable of the mustard seeds. 30Then he said, “To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable may we picture it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is one of the smallest of all the seeds planted in the ground. The kingdom of God looked smaller than the Kingdom of Herod or the Kingdom of Caesar and Rome. The ministry of Jesus looked less impressive than the ministry of the do-good Pharisees or the ministry of the feel-good Sadducees. And when all of those parties conspired to be rid of Jesus through his death on the cross, they saw this small and unimpressive threat to their power coming to an end, but just as the mustard seed geminates and grows into the largest of all the garden plants, so also the kingdom of God grew and is bigger and more impressive than any other worldly power on earth.

About the mustard seed Jesus says, 32Yet when it is planted, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants …” The kingdom of God includes people from every nation, tribe, people, and language. There are no borders. There are no limitations. Everyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. A believer’s death does not subtract them from the kingdom of God. The Bible says, “Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” The kingdom of God is bigger and better than the United States of America and every other worldly government. The kingdom of God is bigger and better than any other support group or club team or do-good organization. For emphasis Jesus closes, “and puts out large branches so that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.” The Bible says, “God rules over all things or all creation for the benefit of the church.” The opposite is also truth. The Church benefits all things. All of creation continues to spin on earth’s axis and circle the sun because God is ruling all things for the benefit of the church. The Bible also talks about how all creation will be liberated when all believers are brought into the kingdom of glory.

God sees the mature plant. God sees the kingdom of God as the biggest game changer in all the world, and through this parable of the mustard seed, God wants us, as his branches, to branch out and to make a difference in the world in which we live. And we will when we look at the kingdom through God’s eyes. Amen.

Sermon – June 6, 2021 – Pentecost 2

Printable PDF:  6-6-2021 Pentecost 02 Sermon

Pastor Mark Jacobson  †  Pentecost 2  †  June 6, 2021  †  Mark 2:23-28

 

23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

FIND REST IN JESUS

When was the last time you slept like a baby? Was the last time you slept like a baby when you were a baby? How can babies sleep the way they do, dangling like skydivers in the air or scrunched like a ball of laundry on the floor? Most of us are no longer physically able to sleep like a baby, but it is my prayer that God in his Word today would grant us that kind of rest, dangling or scrunched baby-rest, for our souls.

  1. Rest in his providing care

The Gospel appointed for this Sunday starts, “One Sabbath” and before we can go any further we must better understand the meaning of Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day of the week, the seventh day. I’m not familiar with any special names given to the first six days of the week, but in Old Testament times, the seventh day had its own special name, and that name had a purpose. The word “Sabbath” means “rest.” The seventh day earned this name because on the first six days of this world’s existence the Triune God did the work of creating everything that exists, but on the seventh day, God rested. God didn’t rest from creating because God was tired. God rested from his creating work because his creating work was done. A seventh day of creating wouldn’t have made this world any better than it already was in six days.

On the seventh day God rested from his creating work, but God never rests from his providing work. God continually provides for people day after day. From a person’s birth God provides little people like babies and children with big people, like parents and guardians. From these people of responsibility God provides the basic necessities of food and drink, clothing and shelter, everything a little person needs for life. And all the while God provides for little ones, God is also developing those young minds and limited abilities, so one day (from our perspective) they can provide for themselves. This they can do with an activity called work.  

God wants people to work. God created people to work. Even in the perfect world when there was no sin, Adam was created with the God-given ability to name animals and to take care of a garden, and Eve was created with a God-given mind to help her husband. In a perfect world, people would know when they should work and when they should stop working. In a sinful world, people are not always sure. One temptation is to not work until you have to, to ride the gravy train of your providers, providers like mom and dad or government subsidy, until they kick you off the gravy train or you’re too ashamed to stay on. The other temptation is to work, work, and work and to never stop working until you are positively sure you have enough provisions for the rest of your life. For the people of the Old Testament, this largely meant they could work all day, every day from sun up to sun down. Over a hundred ago with the advent of electricity, people could work extended hours, second, and third shifts. And today, with more modern technology and COVID, more companies are finding it advantageous to have their employees work from home so that like the homemaker, their work is never done.

No wonder people are so crabby and so cranky to each other. No wonder people wake up with worry. Whether a person’s work is motivated by worry or greed, an all-day, all-night attitude of work is bad for you and is bad for the people around you. God wants people to work, but God also wants people to rest. Rest is so important to God he not only made sure he rested himself, but he also made a law commanding people to rest. This rest would not only be good for the body, but it would also be good for the soul. The rest would remind people of God’s providing care, how God as the Psalmist says, “[He] opens his hand and provides for every living thing.” The day of rest would allow for the contemplation of the birds of air and the lilies of the field, how God clothes the lilies and feeds the birds and how God is still capable of providing for all of our needs. What a wonderful law from an always giving God! Rest! Find rest in Jesus. Rest in his providing care. And as we go forward in our lesson we learn, rest in his authoritative word. 

  1. Rest in his authoritative word

In our lesson Jesus addresses a controversy about the rest law with an authoritative word. We continue our lesson, “One Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grain fields.” We don’t know if this ‘going’ was before synagogue or after synagogue, but as Jesus and the disciples were walking, Mark shares, “they (the disciples) began to pick some heads of grain.” Again, we don’t know if this picking of grain was breakfast on the way to synagogue or if it was lunch or dinner on the way home. Whatever it was, this picking of grain became a problem for the group known as the Pharisees. And the problem wasn’t the picking of grain in someone else’s field. The disciples weren’t being accused of petty theft here. By saying to Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath,” the Pharisees were accusing the disciples of working. The Pharisees equate this hand-to-mouth eating with the harvesting of grain that was sold in the market.

The disciples didn’t break the rest law, but interestingly Jesus doesn’t argue that point. Instead Jesus argues a different point. Jesus answers, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

The disciples didn’t break the rest law. Working was forbidden, not eating, but as Jesus answers notable men like David who would become the King of Israel and Abiathar, the high priest, did break the law. David and his companions ate consecrated bread. This consecrated bread, also known as the Show Bread was in the tabernacle. The Show Bread showed the people of Israel that God would always provide for his people, but at this particular time those 12 loaves of bread were the only food available. And in this unusual circumstance, the Show Bread was how God provided for his people and neither David nor Abiathar or anyone else or God made an issue about it. The consecrated bread was made for man, not man for the consecrated bread. And in the same way Jesus speaks an authoritative word. Then he said to them, 27“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The purpose of worship is rest, rest for our souls. We don’t receive this rest through an outward act.  The rest Jesus wants each of us to have doesn’t come to us simply by showing up to church, sitting down, signing in, and being counted. Attendance in worship and communion is a means to an end, not the end in itself. The end is rest. We make a Pharisaic mistake if we turn worship and communion into a sacrificial act like work. I don’t get rest from my faithfulness to God in worship. In worship I rest from God’s faithfulness to me. I get rest when I hear God forgives my worry and my greed, and the crabby and cranky attitude I’ve had toward others, towards you. I get rest when I hear that God hasn’t changed his opinion of me. That he still loves me and wants me and will always love me and want me. That authoritative word gives me rest, not through the good work of my attendance (the Pharisees were really good at attending), but the gift of rest is received through faith.

It’s interesting that most of our commandments start, “You shall or You shall not,” but not the third commandment. God did NOT write, “You shall go to synagogue on the Sabbath Day.” Instead he wrote, “Remember.” In other words, don’t do something or don’t not do something, but think about this, ponder this. God rested from his work of creating and God also rested from his work of redeeming. Think about how all your sins are forgiven. No more redeeming work needs to be done.

I don’t know how babies sleep, but I know how believers can sleep. Remember, Jesus slept during the storm. Daniel slept in a lions’ den. Peter slept while chained to guards and awaiting execution. We can sleep, too. We sleep better when we hear God’s Word and take it to heart. We also live better, too. Let the Word of God, in this long season we know as the Sundays after Pentecost, dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit, singing to God in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen.

Sermon – May 30, 2021 – Trinity Sunday

Printable PDF:  5-30-2021 Trinity – p. 38

David R. Clark  ~  Isaiah 6:1-8  ~  May 30, 2021  ~  Trinity Sunday

WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT OUR GOD?

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

          See if you know what these names have in common: Marduk, Chemosh, Dagon, Baal, Astarte. If you said they are all idols of the Old Testament, you are correct. You probably spent time in school studying Greek and Roman mythology. You know names like Athena and Venus and Zeus. Approximately ¼ of Americans see no use for any religion. A skeptic might say Christianity is no different than any other religion. Or better yet, WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT OUR GOD?

  1. Our God is three times holy. (verses 1-3)

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

People who create idols also create the way they say they should be honored. These idols are portrayed as powerful, but having the same kind of failings that you and I have. They are gods made in man’s image rather than the other way around.

Contrast that to the God of Isaiah. Isaiah was a courageous prophet who faithfully spoke the word of God to wicked King Manasseh of Judah. He was such a courageous man that we are told he died by being sawn in half. This was no shrinking violet!

So what would make him tremble? A vision of the true God in a flowing robe, seated on his throne in heaven. Special six-winged angels called seraphim – sinless creatures – were flying before the throne of God chanting about the holiness of the one true God. Their chant was so powerful that the doorposts of the temple shook. Moses had to turn away on Mt. Sinai when the Lord passed by him because no man can see the Lord and live. And that’s where Isaiah found himself!

What will your reaction be when you stand before him? This is no idol with petty human emotions. This is our God. How will this God look at you when he knows every filthy thought or careless word you have uttered? What will God say when he knows how self-centered you have been? He is “holy, holy, holy,” and we don’t measure up.

  1. Our God takes away sin. (verses 4-7)

And our Lord knows this which also sets him apart. 4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

If someone worships the idol of love, what do they get out of it? A fleeting relationship? A broken heart? If someone worships the idol of success what do they get out of it? Broken relationships? Material wealth which becomes meaningless at death? If someone worships the idol of sports, what do they get out of it? Heartache when their team loses? A t-shirt when their team wins? What meaning do they have ultimately?

What Isaiah got was far different. The angel took a coal and touched his unclean lips and declared that his sins were taken away. God atoned for Isaiah’s sin and declared him righteous.

You and I have also been cleansed by our holy, holy, holy God. Our cleansing came not from a burning coal grasped in tongs by an angel, but through the precious blood of Jesus. In the waters of Baptism, you were declared holy in God’s sight. By the power of God’s word in bread and wine you have been strengthened and assured. Our God is a god who gives, not a god who takes. He is a God of grace, who removes sin.

  1. Our God calls us to do his work. (verse 8)

God does one more thing. 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Through the forgiveness of our sins, God adopts us as his own children. He is not an angry judge against whom we can never measure up. He is our loving father because he has chosen us. He wishes us to be part of his family!

As a member of his family, he invites us to participate in the family business. He calls us to carry on his work. He does not make this invitation to angels. He makes it to you and me, just as he did to Isaiah. In a world of idols, he sends us to proclaim who the Triune God is and to offer the same forgiveness that you and I have received.

This is why we have a church. This is why we have a school. It is our purpose on earth whether we happen to be going to work, going on vacation, or playing in a Little League game. We proclaim our Triune God in all we do.

Be careful. There are still many idols in this world. They may look different than the idols of the Old Testament, but they are worshiped nonetheless. Perhaps Satan is even more devious today than then. People of this world have even made blessings like family and technology and politics idols which they worship and proclaim to all who will listen. There will continue to be idols as long as this sinful world exists, as long as Satan continues to roam. There will continue to be people who see worship of the true God as valuable only when they have a crisis or because it is a holiday tradition or because their child is being honored in some special way. But not us. Not you and me. We know who our God is and what he has done for us. So what do we do when the call comes from our Triune God? Who will go for him? Here we are. Send us! Amen.

Sermon – May 23, 2021 – Pentecost

Printable PDF:  5-23-2021 Pentecost Sermon

Pastor Jacobson  †  Pentecost Sermon  †  May 23, 2021  †  John 14:25-27

 

25“All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

How Has the Holy Spirit Changed You?

Do you like learning? The out loud answer is “YES!!!” “I love learning!”, but the correct answer is shaking your head from side-to-side. Some learning doesn’t make sense. Take spelling. The word “fun” starts with the letter “f” as does the word “fan”, but the word “phone” starts with the letter “p”. That doesn’t make any sense. Some learning is just so much information. Take math. Visualize with me the dreaded multiplication table. Can you see it? It starts easy, 1 X 1 = 1, 1 X 2 =, 2, 1 X 3 = 3, but you keep going and then you get 4 X 4, 8 X 8, 12 X 12 and you’re supposed to get the answer just like that! GROSS!!! Learning, the process of learning isn’t fun, but learning can be fun and is fun when you finally get to that blessed point when you understand what you have been learning, when all of a sudden the light goes on, the hamster turns the wheel and you get it.

  1. Where are you at on His spiritual growth chart?

In our Gospel today from John chapter 14, the disciples of Jesus, were still in that dreaded process of learning. Their learning wasn’t fun. Their learning was troubling. If Jesus had given his disciples a theological examination when they had first met him and if Jesus had given his disciples the same examination three years later, they would have scored poorly both times. The disciples just weren’t getting what Jesus wanted them to get. They didn’t understand.

The disciples didn’t understand why Jesus said he was going away. The disciples didn’t understand why Jesus kept talking about suffering and dying. The disciples didn’t understand why Jesus taught about humility and service, about giving his life as a ransom for many when Jesus had all the power to put the Roman government in their place and all the miracles to put the false church of the Pharisees and Sadducees out of business.

Not understanding for such a long time is tough on students and can be tough on teachers as well, but Jesus was patient with this learning process and Jesus wasn’t offended that another person of the Trinity would receive the credit for the disciples’ understanding. Jesus said, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

For three years, for more than 1,000 days with Jesus the disciples didn’t understand, but on Pentecost, a mere 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples understood. On Pentecost, Peter doesn’t give his opinion. On Pentecost, Peter quoted Scripture and tells us what that weird passage from the prophecy of Joel means. On Pentecost all the apostles were declaring what we heard Luke record in the book of Acts, “the wonders of God.” On Pentecost the apostles covered topics like creation and redemption and sanctification. Who were these men? For three years they had barely grown a spiritual inch but now thousands of people were looking up to them with awe and were hanging on their every word.

Parents and grandparents are often in awe of their children and grandchildren’s physical growth chart. Physical growth happens all the time for children, but it seems like most every child eventually comes across a period of time called a growth spurt, a dramatic increase in height in a short amount of time. We have all seen a growth spurt, and we have all been amazed at it.

Question: What does a spiritual growth spurt look like, a dramatic increase in faith in a short amount of time? Doesn’t a spiritual growth spurt look like these apostles on Pentecost? Quoting the Bible, relating the Bible to life events and talking to others about the great things God has done is all evidence of a spiritual growth spurt. Every believer, thanks to the Holy Spirit, has these abilities, but not every believer is giving evidence of these abilities like the apostles did.

Husbands, fathers, I am on record as saying, my goal is to have every husband and father view themselves as the pastor of their own home. Where are you at on your spiritual growth chart? Are you quoting the Bible? Are you relating biblical truths to your home life? Quoting Scripture like Peter and expressing the wonderful spiritual truths of God’s Word like the other Apostles is a great place for husbands and fathers to be on their spiritual growth chart.

Let’s not just talk about men though. Let’s also talk about mentors and mentees. A mentor can be defined as a person who is a little further along than you are. Mentoring doesn’t just come with age. Mentoring comes with experience. We don’t have an official mentoring program here at Grace, and I don’t think that we will, but if you have completed our Super Saturday instruction in the last five years, or if you have recently been confirmed as an 8th grader, to what more experienced church members are you looking as your examples of what you might become in the years ahead? I could give you names, or I could have you look at the older teenagers and adults who are seen studying the Bible and are seen serving in the church. Keep learning, I know learning is awful, but keep learning and trust Jesus’ promise, “The Holy Spirit WILL teach you all things and WILL remind you of everything I have said to you.”  

  1. Are you an advocate for world peace or Jesus’ peace?

And as Jesus continues in our verses this morning, Jesus makes his purpose clear to why he wants the Holy Spirit to come to his disciples. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” I don’t know if you have ever competed in a beauty pageant. I have not competed to be Mr. Arizona (if there is such a thing), but I have watched Sandra Bullock in her movie Miss Congeniality. If I were ever Mr. Arizona, I can assure you, I would be advocate for world peace. It sure would be nice to have some world peace, but in our lesson today Jesus advocates for a different kind of peace.

The peace Jesus advocates for is peace the apostles enjoyed on Pentecost and throughout their ministry. On Pentecost, critics complained of the apostles, “They have had too much wine,” but instead of succumbing to fight or flight emotions, the apostles kept calm and kept speaking the truth.  Later in their ministries, the critics of the apostles would threaten and physically abuse the apostles and they still kept calm and they still kept speaking the truth. The apostles had peace, not worldly peace. The apostles still had worldly drama, but the apostles had peace because the apostles knew God works for the good of those who love him, and the apostles knew that neither death nor life, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, would be able to separate them from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus their Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been through some worldly drama. And on this side of heaven, you know our lives will always be filled with one worldly drama after another. The best way to deal with drama is not to wish drama away (as nice as that would be), but to pray for the Holy Spirit. Pray for the peace that passes all human understanding. Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you control your emotions. There is nothing sinful about our emotions. We know Jesus once was sad and wept. We know Jesus got angry and got his point across to those with whom he was angry. But we also know that Jesus in his sadness and in his anger, did not sin. Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you with your reaction to worldly drama to be like Jesus all the time and like Peter and the apostles on Pentecost. The self-control of Jesus, or better-said, the spiritual-control of Jesus has forgiven us of all the times we have emotionally lost our control because of the drama in our lives. So feel what you feel, but don’t give your feelings away to sin. The Apostle Paul once wrote, “In your anger, do not sin.” The same is true for our sadness and all our other emotions. Because God through Jesus is at peace with you, you can be at peace no matter what is going on so the lesson we what to learn today is be at peace and God the Holy Spirit in his time and in his way will help us learn it. Amen.

Sermon – May 16, 2021 – Ascension

Printable PDF:  5-16-2021 Ascension Sermon

Pastor Clark  ~  Luke 24:44-53   ~  May 16, 2021  ~  Ascension Sermon

IT’S ALL CLEAR NOW


44He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 50When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Dear brothers and sisters of the Ascended Lord,

Israel is a small country. It’s 290 miles north and south and only 85 miles east and west. It’s about the size of New Jersey, the fifth smallest state in the U.S. In 1999 I was riding in a coach between archeological digging opportunities and we were touring Israel, but I had no idea where we were going. When we were at the Dead Sea or Jerusalem or the Sea of Galilee, it was clear. But when we went to the Valley of Elah (David & Goliath), I was lost. I bought a road map of Israel that helped immensely.

There is much about life that is crystal clear for us today. There is also much that is very unclear which makes us very similar to believers in the forty days after Easter. It was great that Jesus had risen, but they weren’t very clear about what came next.

  1. The Scriptures are clear. (verses 44-47)

44[Jesus] said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” 45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Jesus knew they were confused, so he made it clear. They needed to see they already had the road map. It’s called, the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. You and I would call it the Bible. The Bible had shown them all along what would happen and what it meant.

So why didn’t they understand? Ever watch one of those old movies recorded in analog Black and White? It’s so different from color High Definition. That’s what the disciples were doing. They were seeing everything in analog. Or it is like trying to talk with someone on the phone when someone is talking or playing the radio in the background. The false ideas, traditions, and the culture of their day made it difficult for them to hear clearly that Jesus was the Messiah and that all the things that had happened in his life, from his conception and birth to his life, death, and resurrection had to happen exactly as they did. They had been looking at spiritual truths in a less than spiritual way.

It would have been so easy for them to look at Jesus in a self-interested manner, to be concerned about themselves and their families and their own personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus wanted them to see clearly that he was there for everyone. He did that by making the Scriptures clear in a way it hadn’t before.

There are so many false assumptions today about Jesus. Some see him as a lawgiver, the one who will tell me how to live my life so that I can be more successful or happier. People look at Jesus as being all about their definition of love, someone who healed the sick and fed the hungry. Still others see Jesus as a rebel who overcame the corrupt politics of his day. Some see him as a special decoration you pull out at holidays or a medical insurance card you use only when you are sick.

Jesus is first and foremost our Savior. And the most important thing he came for was not to give you more laws or to point out the failures of the government. He came because of our spiritual failures. It was clear to him that we are sinners who fail each other and God every day. We act in our own self-interest and want Jesus to say just what we want him to say and nothing else. Jesus came not only to preach repentance for these failures but to overcome them. The Scriptures make that crystal clear.

  1. Our mission is clear. (verses 48-52)

That’s why Jesus came. But what about when he left? What then? What happens after the graduation service is over? At his Ascension, Jesus told them: 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” 50When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Jesus did not train his disciples to be better tax collectors or fishermen or doctors. He didn’t train them to be better fathers or husbands. They were going to be all those things, but it wasn’t their first priority. While they were being those things, they were going to be what he DID train them to be – his witnesses.

They were uniquely qualified to show who Jesus was through the Scriptures. They were also uniquely qualified to tell others about the nail holes and the spear wound. They had touched him and had eaten with him after he rose.

They also were uniquely qualified to glorify this ascended Jesus through the example they set in their lives and as the importance they put on worshiping him. He didn’t take them up the mount of Ascension for the experience. They needed to be clear about what was next.

That is why you and I are here. God has gifted us to do many things on this earth, not the least of which is to provide for our families, train our children, and be good stewards of the blessings he has shared with us. But none of them is our mission in life. Our mission is to be witnesses of the nail marks and the spear wound. Our mission is to proclaim Jesus in our words and with our lives and by worshiping and praising him.

This is the road map for what’s next. We are his witnesses. IT’S ALL CLEAR NOW. Amen.

Sermon – May 9, 2021 – Easter 6 – Sanctity of Life Sunday)

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Pastor Jacobson  †  Sanctity of Life  †  May 9, 2021  †  Deuteronomy 32:39

“See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.”

My Life Is the Lord’s

Life can seem so random. A child is conceived by a couple who doesn’t desire to have that child all the while a husband and wife can desperately try to conceive a child and are unable to do so. And on the other side of the life span an elderly adult can live on for what seems to be forever without a strong desire to live so long while the life of a younger adult or child comes to an end in what seems to be before their time. Life can seem so random, so out of our control. That’s what life can look like to our human eyes. We can all think of someone we know who fits at least one of these scenarios.

The words we have for our meditation this morning were sung by Moses in what could be described as his swan song. These words were sung by Moses on the same day Moses died. These words describe God as the one who is firmly in control even in a world that seems so out of control. And when we think of the life of Moses we see that, don’t we?

Do you remember the circumstances of Moses’ birth? At his birth Moses was sentenced to die. That was the order of the government in Egypt. The leaders of Egypt were concerned about the high birth rate of the Israelites and so they tried to control it. Their first effort was to make the Israelites work day and night. And after this effort failed they ordered the midwives of Israelite mothers to end the life of Israelite boys. And after this effort failed Pharaoh ordered all his people to throw every Hebrew boy into the Nile River. This was the chaos Moses was born into, and as Moses could reflect on many other times his life was in danger, from his confrontations with Pharaoh to his forty year journey in the wilderness, Moses knew his life and all life was subject to the Lord Almighty.

Moses sings of the Lord, “I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.” “I…I…I…I” Four “I’s” and a “my” in this sentence, all reflected the total control the Lord has over every person’s life in this world. This truth from Moses was also reinforced from our lesson from Jonah. In one day the Lord gave life to a leafy plant and the leafy plant provided shade for Jonah. Over the next night the leafy plant died. And as surely as the Lord planned the life and death of that singular plant, so also the Lord has planned the life and death of every single person.

In the beginning God gave special attention to human life. He created Adam from the dust of the earth and Eve from the rib in Adam’s side. King David in his Psalms talks of God knitting us in our mother’s womb. I have never knitted, but I have seen others knit. Knitting is tedious and time-consuming. Every stitch is made with care. God makes us different from one another, but one way God makes us the same is with a conscience. A conscience is that voice within us that tells us whether or not what we are thinking is right or wrong. A properly working conscience tells us to take care of our family. The Apostle Paul once taught, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

How can Christians, who believe in the Bible, be worse than an unbeliever, who doesn’t believe in the Bible? Simple. God has given all people a conscience, but believers have a conscience as well as the Word of God. In regards to life, the Bible says, “You shall not murder.” From the catechism, a book of instruction, we teach abortion is murder, euthanasia or mercy-killing is murder, suicide is murder.

According to Christian Life Resources there have been 62 million abortions in the United States since 1973. According to the CDC suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Every day, 123 Americans die by suicide. Why doesn’t the Lord put a stop to these sins? Has God perhaps lost at least some of his divine control to put to death and to bring to life? Is God calling on us as Christians to get political about right-to-life topics and to peacefully protest?

As citizens of this country we have the right to vote our conscience and the responsibility to stand up and speak for what we believe is best for our country. But let’s not forget the higher law we have as Christians, the law of love. Jesus taught, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). The Bible teaches us, “Anyone who hates his brother is a murder” (1 John 3:15).

And in the Bible God shows us this love. God sent Jesus to be born in our chaotic, seemingly out of control world. In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus approached a woman the people had labeled as sinful and did not condemn her. Jesus didn’t condemn her because she hadn’t done anything wrong. She was in the wrong as was the man in this adultery, but Jesus did not condemn her or him because Jesus took their condemnation of himself. Jesus willingly surrendered his own life so that he could defend her life. And what Jesus did for her, Jesus has done for you and me, too. You are guilty. Whether you have had an abortion or not, whether you have assisted in a lethal injection or not, you are guilty of breaking the 5th Commandment, but Jesus has taken on your condemnation. Jesus has taken on my condemnation. Even in the chaos of sin Jesus is firmly in control. Jesus proved that control on Good Friday and Easter morning. Jesus forgives all of our sins. And if Jesus can do that, forgive us of all of our sins, Jesus can also help us raise a child we did not anticipate raising and live our lives until Jesus decides to call us home to heaven.

And so how should we as Christians respond to this grace? Shouldn’t our response start with gratitude? Gratitude for the gift of life. Sure. Gratitude for moms who gave us birth. Of course. More than that, though. Gratitude to God for not holding our sins against us. Gratitude to God for sending Jesus to right our wrongs and to restore us as holy before God. Gratitude is a good first response. Gratitude causes us to be mindful of God and his ability to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. And yet gratitude, genuine gratitude, leads us to consider what we can do for God and for others.

What can you do to help people who need help? Can you pray for them? Will you pray for them? Can you fill a baby bottle with coins for them or cut a check for them? Will you refer a woman in need to the Alpha Pregnancy Center or another appropriate agency that helps? These are some of the simple things we can do, but maybe you are able to help in a greater way. Maybe you can be a foster parent. Maybe you can adopt. Maybe you can be an advocate for an aging adult. Maybe you can help drive someone to their appointments and make sure they take their medications. It’s important for us to help. Helping not only helps the person in need, but helps the helper, too. There comes times when roles change, when we can’t help, but instead need help. Helping others can help prepare us to receive help from others in our time of need instead of making sinful choices based on despair.

My life is the Lord’s. That was true for Moses. It was true for Moses at his birth. It was true for Moses at his death. It was true for Moses all the days of his life, and it is still true as he lives for God in heaven. “My life is the Lord’s” is true for us, too. He lived for us, and now we live for him. Amen.

 

            

 

Sermon – May 2, 2021 – Easter 5

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David R. Clark  ~  1 John 3:18-24  ~  May 2, 2021  ~  Easter 5

DO YOU LOVE ME?

18Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 19This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

 

Dear beloved of God,

          It’s a devastating question caused by a question. The question? Do you love me?

          Husbands love their wives, but if a husband forgets his wife’s birthday or their anniversary, that could cause doubt. She might ask, “Do you love me?” Wives love their husbands, but if a wife tells all her friends how foolish she thinks her husband is, it might lead him to ask, “Do you love me?” That’s uncomfortable. On the shores of the Sea of Galilee Jesus asked Peter this same question three times. The Scriptures say Peter was hurt that the question was asked. So what if Jesus asks you, “Do you love me?”

 

  1. Love Jesus’ truth. (verses 18-21)

18Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 19This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

When John talks about love, he doesn’t mean it to sound harsh. We are addressed as his “children” and “friends.” John shows we can answer, “Lord, we do love you,” because we know three great truths. The first is that we sin every day. Sin is the reason there is doubt about love. Jacob and Rebekah sinned when they conspired to steal the birth rite. Esau could easily have asked, “Do you love me?” Jacob sinned when he showed favoritism to Joseph. The jealousy of his older brothers made them question their father’s love. Where there is sin, there is no love for God or anyone else.

Which is why the second great truth is that God loves us. This is more than just words. His actions also show his love. God sent Jesus out of love. Jesus lived for our lack of love for God and each other perfectly. He paid for our lack of love through the cross. He loved us enough to rise so we could be saved. That is true love.

The problem is we don’t always feel loved. People don’t always feel forgiven. How can we feel loved when we still feel guilty for stealing a long time ago, or our acts of impurity from the past, or the times we should have shut up, but we barged right in? Even after we have been forgiven, Satan can tempt us to feel guilty for sins already taken away. That guilt keeps us from knowing God’s love.

Which is why John shares this third great truth: No matter what we think, no matter what our hearts tell us, God is greater than our hearts. His love for us is so great that even when we doubt, he remains faithful. God is more gracious to us than we are to ourselves. His love overcomes our hearts. God loves you no matter who you are or what you have done, whether you feel his love or not. That’s the truth about God’s love.

 

  1. Love Jesus with actions. (verses 22-24)

So do you love Jesus? The answer is not as simple as a card or call on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Many people at John’s time said they loved Jesus. But that’s all it was, words. When it came to putting that love into practice, it was difficult for people not to hold on to sinful attitudes or a sinful lifestyle. Yet, if asked they would say that they loved Jesus. So what does it mean to love Jesus?

22[We] receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us:  We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

It’s pretty clear that loving Jesus is more than lip service. Loving Jesus is also about what we do. That means showing love to God by believing in him and keeping his commands. Which commands? We can start with, “having no other God,” “not misusing his name,” and “remembering the Sabbath Day.” They are crystal clear.

But loving Jesus doesn’t end there. John says later in this letter: whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:20 (NIV) Loving Jesus means loving him the way he wants us to, not the way we choose to.

We can start by having the Ten Commandments direct us in all of this. But that’s not the whole story. Perhaps a better way is to look to Jesus. Jesus certainly made clear what and how he wants us to love each other. When Jesus talked about love, he wasn’t talking about an emotion. He was talking about actions. Jesus didn’t say he loved us and then remained in the comforts of heaven with a bowl of popcorn watching to see how it would all turn out. He put you and me and our welfare and our needs before himself. He honored his Father in heaven with obedience to his purpose on earth and carried it out with great enthusiasm. This is the love we needed more than anything else. That is the love Jesus means when he asks us if we love him.

In a world of deception and self-interest, man-things are not clear. It also doesn’t help when people want to define “love” to mean whatever they want. This can do nothing but cause all kinds of questions for Christians. But here is one we will always be able to answer, “Do you love me?” We can say the same thing Peter told Jesus, “Yes, I love you, Lord. You know all things.” Amen.

Sermon – April 25, 2021 – Easter 4

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Pastor Mark R Jacobson  ~  Easter 4  ~  April 25, 2021  ~  1 John 3:1-2

1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

 

Yes, The Father Slobbers Us with Love…

 

Do you have a memory of being slobbered, of being on the receiving end of frequent, wet kisses, the kind of kisses where you needed the length of your sleeve to dry off? Either that or a beach towel? Puppies and puppy love are known for slobbering, so are parents and grandparents. And it’s great to get slobbered when you’re two or three years old, maybe even four or five, but when you get to be fourteen or fifteen years old those slobbering kisses from parents or grandparents better come with 50 bucks in the birthday card.

 

  1. …because we are His children.

The Apostle John was an old man when he wrote the words we have before us in our second lesson. John had known the truth of God’s love for more than 50 years, and the truth of God’s love never got old for John. John starts our section, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us.” As John reviewed his long life he was still awestruck by the love of God the Father. For John, what started out as a day learning from Jesus with his good buddy Andrew turned into three years of discipleship! What looked like the end of the road with Christ’s suffering and death turned out to be just the beginning of the resurrection and the life! And as John carried out his ministry with one problem after another, as we see in the books of Acts and Revelation, John never got tired of watching how God continued to listen to his prayers, to deliver him from evil, and to bring his kingdom to more and more people.

John had experienced the lavish love of his heavenly Father and the result of that love is, John says, “…that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” Understandably, it’s hard for us to think of ourselves as children of God. Often, our behavior doesn’t resemble that of children of God. We defy his commandments. We fail to carry out his will. Our unloving thoughts and unkind words don’t always match what is on his heart and in his mind. God the Father should lash out at us with justice on account of our sins, not lavish us with love, but lavishing us with love is exactly what he does and he has, too. He knows us as sheep, His sheep.

Sheep are frail creatures. Their place on the food chain offers them little chance for surviving. The wolves and the other wild foes would destroy them. And it’s not just the predators that endanger the sheep. Sheep, by themselves, are their own danger. Sheep have a tendency to wander without any thought or concern about their meal, about where the green pastures and the quiet waters are.

It’s kind of embarrassing, maybe even a little disgusting to contemplate how great the love of the Father is for us. God’s love not only pays for our sins with the blood of his Son. God’s love not only raises his Son from the dead to assure us of our forgiveness of sins and of our own bodily resurrection. God’s love is with us to help us with each and every day of our lives.

God’s love understands the delicate nature of our faith. We might compare our faith to a delicate houseplant or a pet. Because faith is living, it needs our continual care and attention. If we have a pet, we need to feed it and give it water. We need to give it time to exercise and play. We need to give it the personal attention it craves. Otherwise it will cry and complain and languish, and in the worst cases of neglect, the pet could even die. The same is true for plants. Plants have differing needs, but they all need sunlight and water and the right kind of soil. Without someone attending to its needs, it cannot survive. God cares for us like I hope we care for our animals and plants.

God the Father puts out food and water for us day after day in his Holy Word. He gives us opportunities to be nourished with others in worship and Bible study. He allows us to encourage and be encouraged by one another through Christian fellowship. And in the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion he personally assures us that we are his forgiven, dearly loved children and that the gospel is in the sacraments to strengthen us and our frail faith. Yes, the Father slobbers us with love because we are his children and because of his wonderful promises.

 

  1. …because of his wonderful promises.

On earth our faith will always be a work in progress. At times we will struggle with doubts, and at other times we will fall into temptation. So often we might wish God would just put an end to the struggle once and for all. We wonder why God makes us wait for his salvation. Waiting is hard. Abraham had to wait 100 years to see the promised son, Isaac. Moses waited 40 years in the wilderness to see the promised land of Canaan. Anna and Simeon waited their whole life to see the promised Christ-child. And in our lesson today, John had to wait, more than any of the other apostles, to see Jesus again. Like them, we too wait. We wait with the same promises. John says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

Did you catch those promises? “We shall be like him.” We can understand this promise in the physical sense. Scripture speaks about this existence in negative terms. It says, “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.” Death, mourning, crying, and pain will be things of the past. “We shall be like him.” We shall have glorified bodies, patterned after the glorious resurrection body of Jesus. How glorious that day will be! But that day will also be glorious in another way.

“We shall be like him” spiritually, too. In heaven we will be confirmed in holiness, freed from the corruption of sin, so we may serve our Lord in righteousness. All our sin and all our temptation to sin will be removed. What that means I can only faintly imagine as I live in my body of sin, but I know it is coming, and it will be wonderful.

Finally John promises, “We shall see him as he is.” With eyes of faith we see our Savior on the pages of Scripture. But in heaven we will know. In heaven we will see him face to face. With the eyes of our hearts we imagine what he looks like. How do you imagine that encounter will go with the Father and the Son? Will it be a fist-bumps and a congratulatory, “Well done, good and faithful servant?” I suppose, it’s possible the return of Jesus and the in-person meeting of the Father could be a very formal exchange, like a graduation service. I think I am more partial to Jesus’ description of the Parable of the Lost Son, “But while he (the lost Son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

Our going to heaven will be like going home. He will slobber us with love. It will be awesomely embarrassing and awesomely disgusting. It will be the best thing ever. I hope we will be wearing long sleeves. Either that or have a beach towel. That’s how it will be, and brothers and sisters in Christ, that love and care is with us right now, each and every day, through Word and sacrament, under the shepherding care of our risen Savior. Amen.   

Sermon – April 18, 2021 – Easter 3

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David R. Clark  ~  1 John 1:5-7  ~  April 18, 2021  ~  Easter 3

WALK IN GOD’S LIGHT

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Brothers and sisters who walk in the light,

Maybe you have heard of the Dark Sky Association. It was begun to reserve certain places without such things as street lights so that people could stargaze or see planets. Many of our national parks are part of the association including the Grand Canyon.

If you are ever in a Dark Sky park you will notice a couple of things immediately. First, it’s REALLY dark, especially if there is no full moon. Second, if you are going to use a trail early in the morning (or even a public bathroom), you better bring your own light with you. I had personal experience with that at Phantom Ranch and the Bright Angel Trail!

Dark Sky parks aside, the importance of light is not new for anyone who has just celebrated the greatest example of walking in light in history, the resurrection of Jesus. Walking in the light is what we do! But because we live in such a dark world, it is easy to become spiritually confused or lost. St. John has the solution for us.

  1. His light changes how we live. (verses 5-6)

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.

John is using a familiar metaphor. Darkness is a symbol for sin and death. Light is a symbol for holiness and life. How precious it is for us to know that in a world that esteems shades of gray because it is still darkness, God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. God is not a light with a dimmer switch. God is not a light with a lower wattage or different color bulb. God is light. He is perfectly holy.

Through the resurrection of Jesus, God has given us his light. He has gone to great lengths to bring us into his light – even the death of his Son. As we believe, we walk in his light. To describe this walk which we all have as Christians, John uses the word, “fellowship.” It means that we have an intimate sharing based on the light.

That means there is a war going on for us. The dark world wants to be like it is and will use any means possible for that to happen. It will lure us, bully us, and confuse us. Walking in the light takes away any confusion there may be about moral or gender issues. Walking in the light sees God as the ultimate authority not a majority rule. Walking in the light sprinkles our conversation with words like, “I’m sorry,” and “I forgive you.” Walking in the light makes us satisfied with our job, our spouse, and our children. Walking in the light seeks to understand first before we are understood. The light of the gospel sets us apart from the rest of the world.

  1. His light creates fellowship. (verse 7)

Which all sounds well and good, but we don’t always stay on that path. Sometimes it seems we are running down a path with no light at all. Other times it’s like walking a tight rope over Grand Canyon with the winds howling around us. John talks about that too. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

So what hope is there for us when we want to walk our own path? Or what hope is there when we are tempted to walk the well-traveled path of our unbelieving friends or the unbelieving world? The world would tell you to think the way it does. The world will tell you it’s about what you feel or what makes you happy. The world takes the truth and spins it to say exactly the opposite of what God intends. That’s not the light! That’s darkness. So what hope is there for us?

On June 16, 2012 a seventh generation member of the flying Wallenda family was the first person to walk across Niagara Falls. He traversed the 1800 feet of the Falls on a 2-inch cable suspended 200 feet in the air from the United States to Canada. He could never have done that without some help. Certainly his wife and all the generations before him who trained him had helped. But what helped him most was a 30-foot-long pole that he carried for balance.

We also need more than generations of Christians or good training to overcome our failures. We have the blood of Jesus which purifies us from all sin. For when Jesus shed his blood, an innocent lamb led to slaughter, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he cleansed us from all of our skipping, jumping, and rolling around in the darkness of this world.

Without the blood of Jesus, people focus on the things they don’t like about each other. It’s easy to look down on other people because they are single or married, have children or have none, live close or far, are young or old. That is not the fellowship created by God’s light.

Jesus’ blood that purifies gives us fellowship with God. It also gives us fellowship with one another. That fellowship is an uncommon blessing in this life. As you have been coming back to church, this is what you told me you have missed. We need to smile at each other and rejoice with each other. We need to cry tears together as Jesus did for Mary and Martha. The blood of Jesus makes that a reality, a blood that removes all of our differences and makes us one.

To do this we need more of that light. In his Word you will find it. In his Supper, you will find that blood that takes our failures away. In Baptism we become one with Christ and each other. In these means we have fellowship with God and with each other. And all of that is made powerful by Christ’s resurrection.

You may have been wandering around in the darkness. Perhaps you didn’t even realize it. If you were lost, now you are found. Stay on the path. Walk in God’s light and never be lost again. Amen

Sermon – April 11, 2021 – Easter 2

Printable PDF:  4-11-2021 Easter 2 Sermon

Pastor Wagenknecht  ~  Acts 3:12-20  ~  April 11, 2021  ~  Easter 2 Sermon

THERE WILL BE TIMES OF REFRESHING…

12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. 17“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

 

“There will be showers of blessing…” That gospel hymn comes to mind whenever I hear the phrase “times of refreshing.” When you grow up in a dry and dusty climate, you appreciate every shower. When the rain started to fall, as a child, I would go out to my father’s work shed and listen to the raindrops falling on the tin roof, feel the cooling breeze, and smell the dust being washed out of the air. Refreshing. Good Friday and Easter are times of refreshing. I pray today’s worship will be a time of refreshing and bring you showers of blessing.

  1. …when we repent.

The events of our text take place at the gate to the Temple. Peter and John had healed a man who had been lame from birth. Acts 3:6ff: Peter said to the lame man who expected alms, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” Instantly his feet became strong and he jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with Peter and John into the temple courts walking and jumping and praising God. When the people saw this familiar beggar walking and heard him praising God, they were amazed. Acts 3:11ff: While the beggar held on to Peter and John. All the people came running to them in Solomon’s Colonnade.

Peter uses this as a teaching moment. No longer the frightened, denying disciple from a few weeks earlier, he starts out “Why does this surprise you as if by our own power or godliness we made this man walk. Men of Israel – faithful Judean worshipers, scribes and Levites, maybe even some of the Sanhedrin; people very much aware of the events of the last few weeks – The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, the God you have come to this temple to worship; has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

Peter seems to be boldly staring at people that he knew were in the Roman Praetorium and maybe even followed along to the crucifixion on Calvary. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and shouted for a murderer to be released. You killed the Author of Life! We can see here echoes of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. The accusing finger of the law before the clear Gospel message of Jesus Christ, the Servant of the Lord, the Holy and Righteous One, the Author of Life. You saw him crucified, dead, and buried. But God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

Peter is right on! Pointed! Leaving no doubt! By faith in the Name of Jesus this man was made strong. It is Jesus’ Name and faith that comes through him that has given this man complete healing. As you can see! Look at him! You know him! He is leaping and praising God after a lifetime as an invalid.

Peter has their attention. They were cut to the heart…wondering what they should do. It is time for specific, pointed, damning law so Peter declares firmly, “You crucified the King of Glory. Acts 3:17ff: Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. REPENT THEN and turn to God! Peter sounds like John the Baptist. He sounds like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Repent so that your sins may be wiped out.

On this first Sunday after Easter, it is important to notice that the events of Holy Week and Easter form the heart and core of Peter’s witness. Christ’s perfect life, his innocent sufferings and death, and glorious RESURRECTION must always be the centerpiece of our sermons, devotions, and Bible classes. Whenever we witness to our faith – law and gospel, sin and grace, Christ’s death and resurrection form our message.

  1. …when our sins are forgiven.

After the law’s call for repentance and turning to God will come the showers of blessing. Christ died and rose again that our sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Last Sunday’s Festival of the Resurrection of our Lord, with its organ, trumpets, instruments, and joyful singing was far better than the rain beating down on Dad’s workshop roof. I think we might all have felt like leaping and praising God along with the lame man in the Temple courts. 

If it is true that every Sunday is Easter all over again, then this moment is a time of refreshing through the Gospel. We are being refreshed with showers of blessing. Nothing comes from our own power or godliness. Whenever we look within our hearts we see the helplessness of our human condition. We know we cannot save ourselves. We are condemned by our own sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. We cannot pay the least drop of blood for our own atonement. We must turn to the Glorified Servant of the Lord. We look to Jesus the Holy and Righteous One. We trust in the Author of Life whom God raised from the dead.

The people who came to the Temple Courts to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have known what God had foretold through all the prophets that his Christ would suffer. While these people did not need healing from their handicaps, they did need complete healing. Peter recognized that this lame man’s jumping for joy and praising God came from faith in the Name of Jesus. He was healed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He might have felt great to be walking, but his true refreshing came from turning from his sins and turning to God so that his sins would be wiped out. He went home refreshed that day.

For times of refreshing here in Arizona, a good thunderstorm will clear the air and irrigate the flowers. If you did not grow up here, I have another picture of refreshment. When I went to school in Watertown, Wisconsin, I found that a slow, soft, snowfall in a peaceful evening was refreshing. To walk over the unmarked snow; to make the first visible trail; to see the glistening white trees is still fresh in my memory. Now I have no desire to go back up north some winter to walk in the pure, white snow. I’m satisfied with our showers of blessing. In fact, I drove home last Sunday very refreshed by the Easter Gospel. Amen