Forgiving Means Not Forgetting by Pastor Zarling

09/17/2023

Forgiving Means Not Forgetting

Genesis 50:15-21 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and will pay us back in full for all of the evil that we did to him.”

16They sent the following message to Joseph: “Before he died your father commanded us, 17‘You are to tell Joseph, “Please forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.”

Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

18His brothers also came and fell down in front of him, and they said, “See now, we are your servants.”

19Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring this to pass and to keep many people alive, as it is this day. 21Now therefore, do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them and spoke to them in a kind way.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). Amen.

Jacob treated Joseph as his favorite son. He even gave him a coat of many colors to show his favored status over his older brothers. Joseph boasted about his dreams of having his father and brothers bow down to him. All of this caused the older brothers to seethe with anger and resentment.

One day, when Joseph was 17 years old, his dad sent him to check on his brothers while they were out shepherding their flocks. When Joseph came close to his brothers, they tore his technicolor dreamcoat off his body and threw him into an empty cistern. Then the brothers sold their hated sibling to a caravan of travelers heading to Egypt.

Joseph ended up as a slave in Potiphar’s house. In slavery, Joseph blossomed as God blessed his work. Joseph was well built and handsome, so he caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife. She tried to get Joseph to go to bed with her. Joseph refused her advances. So, Mrs. Potiphar falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape.

Joseph was then thrown into prison. Even in prison, Joseph blossomed as God blessed his work for the warden. After some time, Joseph interpreted the dream of the Pharaoh’s cupbearer, whom Joseph correctly predicted would go from the prison to the palace. Joseph told the cupbearer, “Don’t forget about me” … but that’s exactly what happened.

And there he sat for another two years. Think of all the grudges that could have grown so well in the damp, dark dungeon. Against the no-good cupbearer, who forgot about the favor Joseph had done for him. Against Mrs. Potiphar and her Desperate Housewives behavior. But most of all, against his brothers, for selling him into slavery in the first place.

After no one else could interpret Pharaoh’s weird dreams about fat and lean cows and fat and lean grain, the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and he was elevated from the prisoner in charge of other prisoners to the second in command of all of Egypt. Joseph was immediately put in charge of storing food during the seven fat years of plenty to prepare for the seven lean years of famine.

During the famine, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food. Eventually, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. They were terrified that Joseph has been holding a grudge all these years and they were now going to be thrown in prison … or worse. Joseph didn’t forget what his brothers had done. He just didn’t hold it against them. He forgave them.

Forgiveness means that you’re not keep score. You’re letting it go, giving it to God instead of giving it back to them. You are leaving the scorekeeping to God.

After 17 years, Jacob died. The older brothers again thought that Joseph was going to punish them. “It may be that Joseph will hate us and will pay us back in full for all of the evil that we did to him” (Genesis 50:15). They thought that Joseph was just being nice to them while dear old dad was alive. But now they were going to get it! They sent the following message to Joseph: “Before he died your father commanded us, “You are to tell Joseph, “Please forgive the offense of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ (Genesis 50:16, 17).

Joseph was hurt by their words. He forgave them a long time ago. He forgave them – not by forgetting what they had done to him, but by remembering how God had turned their sinful actions into a way of saving many lives. Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring this to pass and to keep many people alive, as it is this day” (Genesis 50:19, 20).

Joseph did not hold a grudge. But he didn’t forget what his brothers had done to him, either. In the past, he recalled how his brothers had overpowered him, but when he was in a position of power, he didn’t do the same to them. He chose forgiveness. He blessed the ones who cursed him. He gave grain to the ones who ripped off his robe. He prayed for those who mistreated him. He warmly pressed his cheek against the faces of those who pounded their fists against his. And now, all these years later, Joseph promised, “Do not be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones” (Genesis 50:21).

While you were growing up, your father was difficult and verbally abusive towards you. Now that you’re older and have children of your own, he is much softer and wants to have a relationship with you. But you keep him at arm’s length. He hurt you too badly to have him close to you again.

On more than one occasion your teenage daughter has stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her, muttering under her breath. A time or two she has even said to your face, “I hate you!” You’ve had enough. You love her. But you can’t stand her.

Perhaps there are kids on the bus who give you a hard time on the way to school. Or you don’t receive recognition for your hard work in the workplace. Or your next-door neighbor is a pain in your backside.

What do you do?

The world will tell you to hold a grudge. To get even. To never let those people hurt you again.

Well-intentioned Christians, thinking they’re quoting the Bible or at least a biblical concept, will tell you the opposite. They’ll counsel you to “forgive and forget.”

So, what should you do?

The first is obviously wrong. But we all do it. We sinfully love to hold grudges. Holding a grudge makes us feel good. When we hold a grudge, the other person is the bad guy, and we are the righteous victims. We like to remember all the slights and wrongs people have done to us. We want to get even. This gives us a sense of power over that person and allows us to justify committing all sorts of other sins. They wronged me, so now I can speak badly about them to others. They wronged me, so now I don’t need to help and be a friend to them. They sinned against me, so I don’t need to forgive them.

As sanctified Christians, we know that’s a sinful attitude.

So, then we should forgive and forget, right? Not so fast. Is forgiving and then forgetting even possible? When someone hurts us, it isn’t like a bad soap opera where suddenly we get amnesia, we’ve forgotten everything, and so everything is suddenly better. We can’t forget. The scars are too deep. The hurts are too painful. The sins are too egregious. Our memory is too long.

Well-intentioned Christians are counseling us to “forgive and forget” … but we just can’t do it. It’s not humanly possible. So, now we have guilt on top of our grudges. There the unforgiveness sits – unresolved. It’s like a festering sore that never gets treated and doesn’t go away. It’s a constant source of irritation and pain. It ends up making us irritable and miserable all the time.

While many people believe forgetting an injury is part of forgiveness, it’s just the opposite. You can’t forget the hurts … but you can remember Christ’s forgiveness to apply to those hurts.

The way to deal with the hurts is to remove the debts others owe us. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus shows that forgiveness means no longer holding a person’s debt against them. A servant is forgiven an insurmountably large debt, but then he goes out and refuses to forgive another servant’s significantly smaller debt. The point of the parable is that we all owe a hopelessly insurmountable debt to God. But our heavenly King has forgiven that huge debt of our sins. Now we are to forgive the significantly smaller debts that are owed us by others.

Although it is humanly impossible for us to forgive and then forget, it is a divine promise that God forgives and forgets. The all-knowing God makes it clear, “I blot out your rebellious deeds for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). Again, the all-remembering God says of himself, “For I will forgive their guilt, and I will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). How wonderful that our God has divine amnesia when it comes to our sins.

Our God is like the master in Jesus’ parable. “Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, ‘Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt” (Matthew 18:26, 27).

Except that God does not forgive our debt by simply cancelling it. The King’s Son – Jesus Christ – paid off our debt. Not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. Our King has turned his mercy on us his servants, because he treated his own Son as if he was the ungrateful servant.

God unleashed his righteous anger for thousands of years of humanity’s sins – not on us – but on Jesus. Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” because his heavenly Father had turned his back on his Son, so that he might turn his face towards us in blessing. When Jesus shouted on the cross, “It is finished,” he confirmed that the payment for every sin had been made for all time. All your sins have been taken away, removed, put on Jesus. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Your sins have been considered, counted, cleansed, and cleared.

Joseph was able to forgive his brothers because he understood the heart of God. He had experienced the mercy of God in his life and reflected that mercy by forgiving his brothers.

It’s natural for you to hold a grudge and refuse to forgive. But that only makes you emotionally - and maybe physically - sick. Refusal to forgive keeps you trapped in a prison of anger. Refusal to forgive leads to a false sense of moral superiority. Refusal to forgive poisons and embitters your spirit. Refusal to forgive motivates Christ to withhold the forgiveness you need. “But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15).

Here’s a better way: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). The forgiveness of Jesus gives you the power to

forgive others, to release old grudges, and to dismiss old grievances that you have been holding on for too long.

Because God doesn’t remember your sins anymore, now you can forgive, even when you can’t forget. You can save someone from the slavery of sin when you forgive them. You can release them from the dungeon of despair when you forgive them. And when you do, you might be surprised to discover that the one who has actually been freed is … YOU! Amen.

Therefore, be imitators of God as his dearly loved children. And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:1, 2). Amen.

A Righteous Rock of Refuge by Pastor Klusmeyer

8/27/2023

Text: Matthew 16:13-20

SN: 0028

Proper 16A

A Righteous Rock of Refuge

When I was in college, I spent a summer working for a construction company. I distinctly remember one particular project. We were renovating a lake house. We redid the kitchen, added a fireplace, and turned the garage into a master bedroom suite. We also added a huge deck onto the house that overlooked the lake. I remember digging the holes to set the corner posts for the deck. We had these cement pucks that would go into the holes to serve as a foundation for the post to rest on. Because we were so near the lake, the posts filled with groundwater after only digging down a few feet. I remember dropping the cement puck into the hole and watching it disappear with a blurp. I’ve never been back to that house to see how the deck we built held up, but I can assume that by now, it’s probably crooked because it wasn’t built on a firm foundation.

Anyone who has ever worked on a house or a building knows how important the foundation is to the structure of the building. If the foundation is weak, the whole structure is compromised. Think of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which was built on a poor foundation. Nothing built on a poor foundation will endure. The same is true of faith. Any faith not built on the firm foundation of Christ, our righteous rock of refuge, will fail. The picture I used for my sermon theme is of Edinburgh Castle. Just look at its foundation. That is a firm foundation of solid rock because the builders of that castle knew they needed a strong foundation to resist the attacks of enemies. As Christians, our faith is built on a far stronger foundation. This is the faith that Peter confessed and the faith we confess: Jesus is our righteous rock of refuge. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God who destroyed the gates of hell and saved us from our sins.

Our Gospel lesson today comes toward the end of his public ministry. Jesus had been teaching and preaching for some time and now asks his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” The disciples responded with a variety of answers they had heard. Some claimed that Jesus was John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. These answers reflected the disappointment that many felt about the ministry of Jesus. He did not meet their expectations. They were looking for a savior who would be the heir of David. This new king would throw off the oppressive power of the Romans and make them a great nation again. Jesus preached the coming of the kingdom of God, a kingdom not of this world. This was not the Savior the people were looking for, but it was exactly the Savior they needed.

This same attitude still exists today. Many people, if not most people, cannot correctly answer Jesus’s question. They don’t know the truth, and they don’t know who he is. They think that Jesus was a great teacher, like many other great teachers and philosophers, or that he was simply a very good person who gave us an example to follow. They don’t believe that he is the Son of the living God who came to suffer and die for the sins of the whole world. And without faith and knowledge of the sacrifice of Christ, there is no salvation. In Romans 10, Paul describes the only way to salvation this way, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Jesus next asks his disciples who they think he is. The disciples had been with him throughout his ministry. They had heard his teaching and seen his power. They were beginning to understand, so Peter boldly confesses that Jesus is the “Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter made this bold confession when he was alone with the Lord and the other disciples, but we know that Peter was not always rock solid in the face of opposition. He doubted that Jesus would protect him when he walked on the water, he rebuked Jesus for speaking about his death and resurrection, and he denied that he even knew Jesus on the night before our Lord’s death.

But before we get too critical of Peter, we need to examine ourselves. It is easy to proclaim our faith and praise our Savior within the walls of this church, surrounded by fellow believers, but how well do we confess our faith to the rest of the world? How boldly do we confess Christ when we are out in the world? Do we confess Christ by not engaging in gossip or crude humor with our co-workers, or do we go along with the crowd? Do we confess Christ by submitting to the authority of those God has placed over us, or do we grumble, complain, and rebel when we don’t get our way? Do we confess our faith by boldly proclaiming the truths of God’s Word, or do we hide, knowing that many of God’s truths are not popular in our society today?

Dear friends, we know that we have not always boldly confessed Christ. We have not made the most of every opportunity to share our faith. We have not confessed Christ when we have fallen into sins of habit again and again. When we have found it easier to break God’s commandments than to keep them. Our faith is not a solid foundation. Praise God that the strength of our own faith does not save us. Unfortunately, our faith is sometimes like that mushy sand where I built that deck. But Christ, the Son of the living God, is our cornerstone. He is our solid ground and sure foundation. He is our righteous rock of refuge.

This is why Jesus tells us to look to the example of Peter, not as a man, but to the truth he confessed. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ. The Anointed One, the Savior from sin God had promised to send after Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden. Jesus the fulfillment of every promise that God made to his people: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peter also understood that Jesus was both true man and true God. He was the only begotten Son of the Living God.

This is the Living God who appeared in fire and cloud to the children of Israel on Mount Sinai and proclaimed to Moses that he is “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and overflowing with mercy and truth, maintaining mercy for thousands, forgiving guilt and rebellion and sin. He will by no means clear the guilty. He calls their children and their children’s children to account for the guilt of the fathers, even to the third and the fourth generation.” Our God is holy and just. He demands that everyone live perfectly, one hundred percent of the time, according to his holy will. But we all have been born in sin, and we daily sin much. All of us deserve God’s wrath and punishment.

But our God is also a God of mercy who wants to forgive his people. He wants to shower his love and compassion on us. But the debt of our sin must be paid. So, God, in his rich mercy, sent his Son to suffer and die for the sins of the world. This is the truth that Peter confessed. This is the truth that we confess: Jesus offered his perfect, sinless life as a sacrifice to pay for our sins. That by his death, we have been washed and cleansed. Our sins have been removed from us as far as the East is from the West, and God remembers them no more. We have been fully and completely forgiven by the blood of Christ. By his resurrection from the dead, Jesus destroyed the power of death and shattered the gates of hell.

Jesus praised Peter for his confession and proclaimed that his church would be built on the unshakeable rock of Christ. Even the very gates of hell would not be able to overcome the church because Christ had defeated them. Satan can no longer accuse us because when Christ died, he made full payment for our sins. Christ crushed the head of the old serpent and liberated us, his people, from the chains of sin. Christ rose from the dead and marched victoriously into hell. He shattered the gates of death and hell. Death has no power for those who trust in Jesus’s name. We know that our righteous rock of refuge crushed the power of death and opened the gates of eternal life for all who believe in his name. This is why we can boldly and loudly sing in our hymn, In Christ Alone, “No guilt in life, no fear in death this is the power of Christ in me.”

Only believers can proclaim this foundational message of truth and salvation. We have the only answer to the question Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?” We boldly confess, like Peter, that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the only way to salvation and eternal life. We proclaim the entire truth of God’s word, the Law and the Gospel. These are the keys that Christ has given to his people. We use the binding key when we proclaim that because of our sins, we are enemies of God and condemned to eternal death. No one can satisfy the demands of God’s law. This is a message that the world does not want to hear. People don’t want to hear how their lifestyle choices are offensive to God. They don’t want to hear how the constant pursuit of wealth and pleasure is contrary to the will of God. We don’t do this maliciously or with a sense of superiority. Instead, we speak the truth of God’s law in love so that we can lead others to Christ. We, too, do not want to hear how we have daily sinned and failed to keep God’s commands. But the law reminds us of our sins and shows us the need for our Savior, who alone could keep God’s law perfectly.

We use the loosing key when we proclaim the sweet joy of the Gospel. That Christ has fully and completely paid for the sins of the entire world. This gift of forgiveness is ours through grace and not because we have done anything to earn or deserve it. Salvation is a free gift. That sounds so contrary to our natures. We instinctively believe that it can’t be that easy. We need to do something to earn God’s love. But this is the sweet joy of the Gospel: whoever believes in Christ will be saved. Because we love our God and want to show gratitude for this amazing gift, we live our lives according to his will. We share the joy of the gospel with others. We practice forgiveness in our own lives by graciously forgiving those who have sinned against us. We see this in action when a father forgives a child, a wife forgives her husband, and the pastor announces the forgiveness of sins to the congregation each week.

Dear friends, we have a righteous rock of refuge. We cling to Christ as we face life's fiercest droughts and storms. Our own faith is, at times, shaky ground. We know that we ourselves are not a firm foundation. But Christ is a solid rock who crushed the head of Satan and shattered the gates of hell. Our faith is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness. We cling to the confession of Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. We cling to the certainty that Christ has paid our debt and removed our sins. We have been saved, and nothing in all creation can move the solid rock of our Savior. Amen.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen

The Church is for All People by Pastor Zarling

The Church is for All People

Matthew 15:21–28 21

Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22There a Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!”

23But he did not answer her a word.

His disciples came and pleaded, “Send her away, because she keeps crying out after us.”

24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25But she came and knelt in front of him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

26He answered her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27“Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet the dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! It will be done for you, just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Amen.

Several years ago – BM (Before the Merger), I was leading an advent worship service at New Hope. We had a teenage boy with autism at the service. His autism didn’t let him sit still, so he was walking around the church during the entire service.

I’ll admit that I was pretty nervous when the young man kept walking around the Christmas tree in front of the church. I was concerned that the tree might fall … and him with it. But we all kept on worshiping and everything was fine.

We are going to be restarting our Jesus Cares Worship at the Cross service next month. Jesus Cares is designed especially for children, teens, and adults with special needs, and their families. I’m glad we’re restarting the services because we’ll be inviting the children and their families from the Wisconsin Early Autism Project (WEAP).

WEAP has been meeting for the past year in the nursery at our Racine campus. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, parents and grandparents drop off their autistic 3–5-year-olds for one-on-one therapy with licensed teachers. The teachers are teaching the children to be ready to go into public education in a few years. My office is right next to the nursery. For three hours, there is a lot of crying and singing, teaching and patience.

I’ve talked to some of the moms and grandmoms and shown them the sanctuary. They’ve commented that they haven’t been in church for years. Their autistic children are not quiet and don’t sit still. They mentioned that they’ve seen the looks, felt the stares, and heard the whispers.

So, they’ve stopped going to church.

We at Water of Life are working aggressively to invite these special needs families, the families at WLS and Shoreland, and the families in the neighborhoods around our campuses to worship with us. These are families who probably have not been in a church for a very long time. Their children will squirm and wiggle. Their bodies may not allow them to remain quiet. The ladies may be wearing hole-y jeans – not holy as in sanctified – but jeans with rips and holes in them because these are their most expensive pants. The guys may not own a tie or even a dress shirt. The parents may speak a different language.

And that’s great! I pray they come! I pray that you pray that they come! We pray together that our sanctuaries are filled with noise and activity.

Because a quiet church is a dying church.

After all, we see in our Scripture lessons today that the Church is for all people.

Matthew beings writing, “Jesus left that place and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.” Where is the “there” Jesus is leaving? Jesus leaves the region of Galilee because of the intense opposition he is receiving from the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus and his crew head out west, far from Galilee to the region of Tyre and Sidon. That’s all the way to the Mediterranean coast, in the northwest corner of Israel. That’s over a 35-mile hike.

The Jews didn’t associate with the people of Tyre and Sidon. The religion between Galilee and Tyre and Sidon is farther apart than the miles. In his Gospel, Mark calls this woman a “Syro-Phoenician” woman, which was the more contemporary term in the time of the New Testament. But Matthew purposely calls her a “Canaanite” woman, which was the more historic Old Testament term for her ethnicity.

To call her a “Canaanite” brings with it a lot of baggage. The Canaanites were an ancient enemy of the Israelites. They were the people whom the Israelites were to drive out of the Promised Land 1400 years earlier under Joshua. The Canaanites were a pagan people, worshiping false gods of their own making. That’s what Matthew is emphasizing by calling here a “Canaanite” woman.

She is not the kind of woman who walks into a Galilean synagogue/church. She approaches Jesus as her life is crumbling. “A Canaanite woman from that territory came and kept crying out, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! A demon is severely tormenting my daughter!’”

This plea seems right up Jesus’ alley. This is exactly the kind of thing Jesus does – healing people and driving out demons. … But this time, Jesus puts her off. “But he did not answer her a word.”

The ones who speak are the embarrassed disciples. They sound like us when we are dealing with the unchurched who make us feel uncomfortable. “His disciples came and pleaded, ‘Send her away, because she keeps crying out after us.’”

Jesus also speaks like he is bothered by this woman. He tells her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Here’s a woman who needs help. Jesus is very good at this kind of help. Yet, it seems like the Savior who came to help all people doesn’t want to help this woman.

Jesus is pointing out to this woman and his disciples that his primary mission is directly and specifically for the Jews. He is fulfilling his mission as the Messiah of Israel. The mission to the Gentiles would come later through these very same disciples. … Just not yet.

The woman doesn’t give up. “She came and knelt in front of him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’” He answered her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus is saying, “I have come to bring the Bread of Life to the children of Israel. This is my Messianic ministry.”

Again, the woman cannot be deterred. “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet the dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Ah, she’s catching Jesus in his own words! And Jesus loves it! She acknowledges his mission to Israel, but at the same time she says there will be some leftovers, some scraps off the table for the Gentile unchurched people like her. Like Rahab. Like

Ruth. Like Naaman and the widow of Zarephath. Bravo! Jesus applauds her for her faith. “Woman, your faith is great! It will be done for you, just as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.

Did you see what Jesus is doing? By putting her off for a little bit, he is accomplishing two things. First, he is giving her the opportunity to express her God-given faith and persistence. Second, he is teaching his disciples who will soon be called his apostles – his sent ones. Their mission will be going to these Gentiles. It won’t just be the Jews who will enter the Church. The Church is for all people.

She rightly cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord!” This is the cry of the Church of all ages. We still cry out these words. We cried them this morning in our prayers: “Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!” We fall before our Lord, bringing our needs before the only one who can help us.

We need to receive this mercy so we can share this mercy. God’s mercy is big enough for all. For we are all sinners in need of mercy – Jews and Gentiles, Israelites and Canaanites, insiders and outsiders, saints and sinners, liberals and conservatives, those in the church and those who haven’t been in a church for years. We are all sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

We need to admit that we are all dogs who are not worthy of being seated at the Master’s table. We admit we are all dogs in need of the crumbs of mercy. We are the top dogs – the “chief of sinners.” Through his mercy, the Lord invites us to pull up a seat at the table. Not as dogs, but as children. Not drips, but the pouring of God’s grace over our heads in baptism – like Bob, Luke, and Cecelia Greco, who were all baptized on Tuesday evening. Not crumbs, but the Bread of life and the Wine of heaven in the Sacrament of the Supper. “No longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).

Jesus came to be the Savior of all people – first for the Jews and then for the Gentiles. He poured out his mercy when he was hanging on the cross – suspended between heaven and earth. Jesus won mercy between a holy Master and wicked dogs. Mercy for holy ones and those with hole-y jeans. Mercy for those who come to worship in their church clothes and those who come in their work clothes. We are all welcome in God’s Church!

Now, you who are in the Church need to go out and share this mercy with those who need it, who are crying out for it, who are lost, alone, depressed, desperate, angry, and disruptive without it.

By God’s grace, we have baptized six children and one dad already this year. We pray to schedule more baptisms with our adult confirmation classes starting next month. When God blesses his Word, we will see more families with young, squirmy, and autistic children in our pews.

How are we going to react to all the new noise and activity that will fill our sanctuaries? We will be like the disciples who said to Jesus, “Send her away”?

Will that noise and activity bother us so much that we would rather have a quiet, aging, dying church than a noisy, vibrant, and growing church?

Pastor Klusmeyer told me a story about a mom with five children under the age of 5. All five were boys. She brought them to church with her. Young children – especially boys – do not sit very well for an hour.

Can you guess what happened? I hope that you cannot.

This already struggling mother found an anonymous note in her church mailbox. It read: “If you can’t keep your children quiet in church, it’s better if you don’t bring them to church.”

That’s awful!

But our sinful natures all cause us to be equally awful. Looks. Stares. Whispers. Snide comments. Gossip. Frustration. Anonymous notes.

Do you think there’s a better way that we can handle this? A more loving, sanctified way?

As one of our members said to me the other day when talking about this subject: “We can’t be both inclusive and judgmental.” Then my former Seminary professor added: “Except Jesus. Jesus can be both inclusive and judgmental.” To which I replied: “Yes. But since we’re not Jesus, let’s just work on being inclusive and leave the judging to Jesus.”

So, what can you do to be inclusive; to help parents and grandparents who are already struggling; who feel like everyone is looking and talking about every noise.

What can you do that is loving? Caring? Supportive? That shows God’s mercy? That proves that you’ve been where those parents and grandparents are? That demonstrates that you have received the Lord’s mercy and you desire for them to be here in church to receive the Lord’s mercy?

Search them out when they come into church.

Sit by them.

Offer to help with the kids.

Give them assurance that it will get better.

Bring some healthy snacks and quiet toys with you to church.

Write a note. Not a nasty, anonymous note. A signed, good note gushing with admiration and realization that you know how hard it is. But it’s all worth it. They and their children are exactly where they need to be. They are here in God’s Church.

And God’s Church is for all people. Amen.

This is the declaration of God the LORD, who gathers Israel’s dispersed people: “I will gather still more people to my house besides the ones already gathered” (Isaiah 56:8). Amen.

Wheat with Widespread Weeds by Pastor Zarling

Wheat with widespread weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 24He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26When the plants sprouted and produced heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. 27The servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather up the weeds?’ 29‘No,’ he answered, ‘because when you gather up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds, bind them in bundles, and burn them. Then, gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

36Then Jesus sent the people away and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

37He answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the Evil One. 39The enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. 40Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to break the law. 42The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Amen.

Many of you know that I’m not a big fan of vegetables. And yet, I have a large garden. Now, it’s filled with the nine vegetables I will eat. … Plus two other veggies for Shelley and the girls.

I enjoy planting the garden or certainly picking the tomatoes, peppers, snap peas, and such. What I don’t enjoy is pulling the weeds. I don’t know too many people who enjoy weeding their garden. My issue is two-fold. As a novice gardener, I’m not always confident on what is a weed and what is a plant. Although, I did hear the helpful tip that if you pull it and it grows back, it was a weed. If it doesn’t grow back, it was a plant. … But it’s a little late by that time.

Also, when I pull up the weeds, I may accidently also pull up the plants with them.

Jesus tells a parable about wheat and weeds. He taught, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants sprouted and produced heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. The servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather up the weeds?’ No,’ he answered, ‘because when you gather up the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds, bind them in bundles, and burn them. Then, gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

In his story, a farmer plants wheat in his field. But during the night, his enemy comes and plants weeds in the field, too. Later, the servants ask if they should pull up the weeds. I like the farmer’s advice. He doesn’t want them to do any weeding. For the same reasons I don’t like to weed. The weeds look identical to the wheat. Even if the servants could identify the weeds, they might pull up the wheat along with them.

The weeds in Jesus’ story are tares that look like wheat as they are growing, but it is a poisonous weed not fit for eating. Tares are knows as bearded darnel, a species of rye-grass. Eating tares would make you feel intoxicated, giddy, and sick. It could induce vomiting, stomachache, and diarrhea. It isn’t until the harvest time that you can clearly see the difference between wheat and tares.

Jesus later gives the meaning of the parable of the wheat and the weeds. “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the Evil One. The enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will pull out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and those who continue to break the law. The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

In this parable, we as Christians are the wheat. Jesus has planted us in the field of this world. But the Evil One of the Devil has planted sin, evil, and unbelievers into this field, too.

Living as wheat with widespread weeds can be frustrating and exhausting. It can be disturbing and discouraging. Jesus himself said that the Devil is the Prince of this world. We see his reign in the spirituality of our nation. The fastest growing religious group in America is the nones – those who have no religion or faith. At the same time, Christian churches, even in our Wisconsin Synod, are closing. Many people have not returned to the pews after Covid.

We also see Satan’s reign in the evil that is tolerated, accepted, and then promoted in our institutions. There is the Wokeness in our government and military; Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our workplaces; and sexual sins endorsed in our public grade schools, high schools, and universities. At the same time, Christian speech and teachings are silenced, censored, and called “hate speech.” Hollywood and social media put out vile, vapid content.

This can all be discouraging. So, we are tempted to do one of two things. We might be tempted to hunker down and hide out in our little corner of the field. That’s no different from the monasteries of old. When we do that, we allow the weeds to take over the rest of the field.

Or we might be impatient and start pulling out what looks like weeds to us. That’s no different than the Spanish Inquisition of old. But there are times when unbelievers and evildoers appear righteous and upright like wheat. There are other times when Christians are acting according to their sinful nature and appear like weeds.

Jesus does not want the wheat to be harmed when the weeds are removed. In his divine providence, he allows the weeds to grow alongside the wheat.

Rather than being discouraged that you are wheat living with widespread weeds, Jesus wants to encourage you with this parable. Be encouraged that though the Evil One comes and spreads weeds into the field, notice how the farmer in the story isn’t surprised by it. Nor does he seem all that disturbed by it. He has a plan. It just involves time and patience.

When the Evil One came and spread his weeds of doubt and unbelief in the field of this world in the Garden of Eden, notice how God reacted. He isn’t surprised by it. Nor does he seem all that shocked. He has a divine plan. His plan involves time and patience. It also involves his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ – the teller of the parable.

Our Lord Jesus, the owner of the field, came to live among the weeds. He didn’t apply some kind of cosmic Roundup to the field, sanitizing it before he became flesh and dwelt among us. He immersed himself into the grime and grit of this sin-infested world. He lived flawlessly among the devil and all his demonic seeds so that his blood might turn sinners into saints, so that he could protect the wheat living among the weeds, so that he could convert and save, and so that he could raise the dead for his final Harvest.

Also be encouraged by the fact that you are wheat. The owner of this field – Jesus Christ – has purposely planted you as wheat in the world. He made you wheat through the waters of your Baptism. He continues to keep you as wheat by nourishing your faith through Word and Sacrament. When you appear worldly and weedy, he absolves your sins so that you continue as wheat for the final Harvest.

Also, looking physically across the field may be discouraging at the growth of the weeds in the world. That’s why you need to look spiritually at the field. Though there are WELS churches that are closing in some places, we as a church body are committed to opening 10 new churches in other places every year. By God’s grace, our own corner of the God’s kingdom has been growing lately through baptisms and adult confirmands.

With all the weeds around you in your workplace, you might be frustrated enough to want to quit to work elsewhere. You can certainly do that. You don’t want the weeds to choke out your faith. But it might also be good for you to remain there. The Holy Spirit might use your Christian witness as wheat to influence and interest the weeds in what God has to offer elsewhere in the field.

You might be frustrated by what you see in Hollywood and social media. Perhaps the screen actors guild and the writers going on strike is a perfect time for you to realize you don’t need anything they’re offering. Read a book. Play with your kids. Ride your bike.

Perhaps you also notice that Christians are finally beginning to push back on all the wokeness, DEI, CRT, and other ideas that have been influencing our culture. You as wheat can continue to spread the gospel, share your faith, bear abundant fruits.

No matter what the Evil One does. No matter how much the Devil tempts. No matter how Satan attacks. No matter how much influence the Prince of this world has. Jesus remains King of kings and Lord of lords. This is his field. This is his world. This is his Kingdom.

Jesus announces at the end of his explanation of this parable: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” We are the righteous ones, the sons and daughters of the kingdom – not because of who we are, but because we have been joined to Christ. Joined with Christ in his Church, our focus is not to yank the weeds – as if we could tell the difference! – but to cultivate the field. Through water poured over heads, Word put into ears and the Sacrament placed into tongues, we have been transformed from weeds by nature into wheat by grace. It is through these same waters of Baptism, Word of God, and Sacrament of the Supper that transforms natural born weeds into spiritually reborn wheat.

The enemy tries to sow dissension and division. He attempts to separate and segregate. He sows wrath and anger. God sows unity and love, kindness and compassion, grace and patience. When we demonstrate unity, love, kindness, compassion, grace, and patience to each other and to others, the world takes notice. They aren’t seeing any of that right now in the world. But they can see it from us. God uses us, along with his Means of Grace, to turn weeds into wheat.

Not only did I plant a garden, but I’m also raising chickens for eggs. I purposely put the chicken coop next to the garden so that when I weed, I can feed the weeds to the chickens. … But they don’t eat the weeds. They are picky little ladies.

But that’s OK. I can use the weeds for mulch.

Jesus promises that the weeds in his parable will be gathered and thrown in the fire. This means that those who have opposed and persecuted Christians in their unbelief will be gathered on the last day and thrown into the fires of hell. God will bring justice for his righteous ones. We must learn patience because that justice may not come until the judgment.

The last encouragement is that Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. He has ascended into heaven. One day, the rest of us as wheat will be harvested by the angels and gathered into the barn of heaven. So, be encouraged as you live as wheat with widespread weeds. Amen.

Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear. Amen.

Water Your Faith with the Word by Pastor Klusmeyer

Text: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23                                                                                           Proper 10C

SN: 0025                                                                                                                               07/16/23

Water Your Faith with the Word

Over the last few weeks, my family and I have spent a fair amount of time driving around Racine as we try to get to know the area. As I drive through the countryside and look at the farm fields, I always feel like something is missing. Where I grew up, nearly every field had a huge irrigation system, so fields without them looked strange to me. The region of Wisconsin where I grew up is called the Central Sands region because that is what we have, sand. Not nice soft beach sand, mind you, but harsh dry abrasive sand that gets absolutely everywhere and is not very good for growing crops. In order to grow crops in such soil, you need to have irrigation because the soil quickly dries out. Even after an extremely heavy rain, the puddles would usually be gone by the next day. Without the constant water from the irrigation systems, the crops would quickly dry out and die.

The type of soil that you plant seeds in is incredibly important if you want to have a good crop. Think of all the work that farmers and gardeners do to ensure that soil conditions are right to help the plants grow. This is the main point of comparison in the parable from our Gospel today. Jesus compares the Word of God to a seed sown in four different types of soil. As Christians, we rightly identify with the good soil where the Word of God has taken root and rejoice in our salvation. However, this parable also serves as a warning that we are in a constant battle against the temptations of Satan, the world, and our own sinful flesh which seeks to destroy our faith. Our faith needs to be nurtured and rooted in God’s living Word, which produces a harvest of salvation. And so, this morning, I encourage you to water your faith with the Word.

            The first type of soil that Christ describes is the hard and beaten-down soil of a path where the seed does not grow and is snatched away by the birds. This is the natural state that all people are born in because of sin. We are hard-hearted and hostile to God. Satan does everything in his power to keep us in this wretched state by preventing the spread of the Gospel and destroying the faith of those who hear God’s Word. Paul tells us in Eph 2 that by nature, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We could do absolutely nothing to save ourselves. We cannot by our own work the hard soil, sow the seed, or cause it to grow because we are dead. However, God, in his great mercy, sowed the seed of the Gospel in our hearts and caused it to sprout and grow. The life-giving message that Jesus Christ, the perfect and holy Son of God, offered his own life to pay for the sins of the world. This is the power of the Gospel. The seed sown in hearts that creates faith takes us from being enemies of God to being his dear children. This is the faith that is then watered by that life-giving Word, just as our OT lesson reminds us, “Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return there unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout, so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.

            The second type of soil is a thin layer of dirt over rocks. The seeds sprout quickly in this soil warmed by the sun, but as the soil dries out in the heat of the relentless sun, the plant quickly withers and dies. In this parable, the sun represents persecution. And just as the sun is constant, persecution is a constant reality in our lives of faith. In Matthew 10:22, Jesus warns us, “You will be hated by all people because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.” No one wants to be hated; we want to be liked and admired by others. Have there been times that we have failed to share our faith with others because of our fear of persecution? Have we wilted and withered in the heat of the sun? Or, when faced with hardship and trial, have we doubted God’s promises and questioned his faithfulness? Praise be to God that we have a Savior who did not wilt or wither in the heat of persecution. Think of the persecution that our Savior endured willingly for our sake. Just before the events we heard about today, Jesus was called a servant of Beelzebub, he was doubted by his own family, and many who heard his message rejected it and him. Later he would face the hatred and scorn of the Jewish leaders and be tortured and put to death. All this he did so that in love he could offer his holy precious life as payment for our sins. In this parable, Jesus warns us that if our faith is not rooted in God’s Word, it may wither and die in the face of persecution.

But just as the sun can cause our faith to wither, it can also help our faith to grow. This growth can only happen if we are regularly saturated by the water of the Word as we hear and read the Bible and regularly receive the assurance of forgiveness offered in the Lord’s Supper as we hear again and again the unshakeable truth that Christ has completely paid for all our sins and restored our relationship with God. He destroyed the power of death and hell and won for us the eternal joy of heaven that is far greater than any trial or persecution we may face. As James 1 says, “Consider it complete joy, my brothers, whenever you fall into various kinds of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces patient endurance.”

            The third type of soil is full of thorns and weeds that choke the life out of the plant. Jesus explains that these thorns are the troubles of this life and the temptations and desires that lead us away from our faith. As Christians, we honestly confess that we let these weeds and thorns grow in our lives. Perhaps we let our favorite sins gain control of us again and again. Perhaps we let our hobbies and leisure activities have higher priority than regularly studying God’s Word. Or maybe we let our desire for wealth and material blessings dictate the priorities in our lives. All of these things are harmful to our faith. They replace the one thing that is truly needful, the life-giving water of God’s Word. Praise be to God that our salvation is not dependent on how well we keep our own gardens weeded. If it was not, one of us could be saved. Instead, we have a perfect Savior who offered his life in our place. By his death, Christ has removed our sins and given us his perfect life as payment for our sins. In joy and gratitude, we tend our garden. We seek to root out the weeds and thorns that have infested our lives and live a life that is pleasing to our Father in heaven. We do his will and keep his commands because we are his redeemed children who desire to do his will.

            As God’s holy and redeemed people, we are the good and fertile soil where his Word has produced abundant fruit. It is interesting to hear in this parable how Jesus describes the seed producing different yields of crops. This does not mean that some faith is better than others; Christ tells us that even faith as small as a mustard seed saves. As we are reminded in other places in Scripture, our Lord has given us different spiritual gifts. We have all been called to sow the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of others, but we do not all do this in the same way. In our lesson from 1 Corinthians, Paul reminds us that we are all servants of God. “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are ministers through whom you believed, and each served as the Lord gave him his role. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. “ In the same way, some of us will have different roles at different times in our lives. Perhaps we prepare the soil in the hearts of others by being witnesses of our Lord. Perhaps we help others pull the weeds in their hearts by reminding them of God’s commands and in love showing them their sins, or maybe like Apollos; we water the seed that others have sowed. No matter what role we find ourselves in, we take comfort knowing that it is not our efforts that create faith but the power of the Word that changes hearts and breaks the hard soil of unbelief.

            This is the amazing comfort that everyone who shares the Gospel of our Savior has. We rejoice that God’s Word is powerful and does not depend on our feeble efforts. As Paul says, “So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but it is God who causes the growth.” Last week at my ordination, I promised to faithfully proclaim the Word of God to you in its truth and purity. This is an awesome and humbling responsibility that would fill me with dread if I did not remember that it is God who does the work, not me. Friends, I have a confession to make to you; like Pastor Zarling, I, too, am a bit of a sci-fi nerd. One of my all-time favorite shows is called Babylon 5. The main character in the show is Capt. John Sheridan and one of his quirks is that each time he takes a new command, he gives the same speech. In this speech, he relates an anecdote about having dinner with the Dalai lama, who asks him if he understands. He replies that no, he doesn’t understand. “Good beginning,” replies the Dalai lama,  “you’ll be even better when you begin to understand what you don’t understand.” Dear brothers and sisters, there is much that I do not know and do not understand about Water of Life. But I do know that God has planted salvation in our hearts. He has given each of us unique gifts and abilities that we will use together to proclaim his message of salvation to the world, and together we will sow the seeds of his Gospel and grow together as we water our faith with his powerful Word. Amen.

Come to Jesus for Rest

Come to Jesus for rest

Matthew 11:25-30 25At that time, Jesus continued, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children. 26Yes, Father, because this was pleasing to you. 27Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.

28“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The Lord promises, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Amen.

When I was in high school, I worked at Level Valley Dairy. It was the hardest daily job I’ve ever had … and that’s saying a lot.

The job consisted of standing on a platform 10 feet in the air next to another guy, with two other guys on the other side. There was a metal table in between the two teams.

A forklift would place a pallet of cardboard boxes filled with 70 lb. blocks of frozen butter onto the platform. We had to quickly and efficiently open each box with a box cutter, lift the box, and slide the frozen block of butter out and into a hot vat of melted butter. The melted butter was used to make the sticks and containers of butter.

That was long, hot, hard work. There were many new hires who didn’t return from their first break. But I took great pride in doing that job. Especially because I was a short, skinny teenager … and all my coworkers had several inches and several years on me.

I could do that job 36 years ago. … I don’t think I could do that job now.

I’m guessing most of you have had similar long, hot, hard jobs in your past … or maybe in your present. By the end of the day, you are weary, burdened, and exhausted!

There are various burdens besides work that cause weariness and exhaustion. They may include finances, the economy, illness, aches, aging, and the unrest in our nation. These are burdens we all share.

We also have our own unique burdens. An elderly parent to care for. A spouse with dementia. Children who have an active sinful nature (Romans 7:19). Our own addiction to a sin that we can’t seem to break free from (Romans 7:17). A child who has fallen away from the Christian faith. A crumbling marriage. Unable to get pregnant.

You can add your own unique burdens.

The heaviest burden we all share is sin. Sin brings strife into our relationships. We are weighed down by the guilt of our past failures. We are worn out as our sanctified spirit fights daily against our Old Adam. We are bothered by the unloving actions of those who claim to love us. We are embittered by our unwillingness to extend love and forgiveness to those same people. We are drained as we watch our world warring with itself. It is exhausting seeing the love of most growing cold.

All of us carry various burdens. These burdens are heavy. They weigh us down. We become irritable and indignant carrying these burdens with us wherever we go. We become depressed and disappointed when these burdens never lighten. We become offended and outraged when we can never seem to slip the yoke off our neck.

Jesus invites, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus describes the burdens we carry each day as being like “a yoke.” The yoke that Jesus was referring to was a heavy wooden crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces enclosing the heads of oxen to pull a plow. The yoke was an instrument used for hard work and heavy burdens. Taking up a yoke was used as a metaphor by Jewish rabbis to refer to becoming a disciple of someone.

Here the picture of the yoke refers to being connected to Jesus. His yoke is easy because he is the Savior who leads us along with him. He does all the work of saving us from sin. In the words of our Hymn of the Day, Jesus replaces the yoke of burdens with the benediction of blessing, the pardon of sins, the grace of undeserved love, the peace of reconciliation with God, the joy that has no ending, and the love that cannot cease.

Some of you are runners. The rest of you, I’m guessing, only run when something is chasing you.

Life can often feel like a race. It feels like something is constantly chasing us. We often find ourselves becoming faint and worn out from the marathon of life. We sprint for success. We are exhausted from the long days of work. We are wearied as we never seem to get ahead. This can be the experience of any person racing through life. We’re left gasping for air, holding our sides from the sheer exhaustion of it all. On top of our own daily struggle, our ancient foe of the devil and his demons are chasing us every step of the way.

Jesus invites the fainting to come to him for aid in our strife. His divine power gives us the power to keep running. His almighty strength is stronger than the strong man of the devil (Luke 11:21).

You are dirty and grimy with your daily sins. Jesus gives you the strength to carry on by baptizing you daily in baptismal waters. He refreshes you from your exhaustion as you wash away all the grime and sweat from your battle against your Old Adam the day before.

You know what a wretched person you are by continually falling and failing with the same old sins. Jesus saves you from your body of death by sacrificing his body on the cross and giving you its forgiving benefits. He gives you rest from your failures by sanctifying you and applying his victory to your life.

You are spiritually hungry and thirsty. Jesus nourishes you with his own body and blood as you find strength for your daily battle.

You feel alone and afraid, discouraged and despondent. Scripture reminds you there is a great cloud of witnesses who surround you, encouraging you to run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for you (Hebrews 12:1, 2). You find daily and weekly encouragement with your fellow Christians as you worship and study God’s Word together.

We can be like the children of Israel who grievously sinned with their worship of the golden calf. The Lord then refused to go with the people of Israel. He would send an angel, but he said he would no longer accompany his people. Moses pleaded with God to go up to the Promised Land with them. God responded in grace and mercy by promising Moses that his very Presence would go with them. We, too, have a God who is moved by our cries, forgives our sins, promises rest, and reveals his glorious goodness by promising to be with us. The Lord says, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14).

Jesus’ invites, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Or in the words of our hymn, “Whosoever cometh, I will not cast him out.” Jesus’ invitation is extended to all of us – regardless of our age or upbringing, regardless of our background or past. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we’ve done. Jesus looks each of us in the eye, holds out his hand and invites, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Carpenters in Jesus’ day would spend considerable time measuring the team of oxen – their height, width, space between them. Within a week, the carpenter would bring the finished product and fit the yoke over the shoulders of the team, watching for rubbing and chafing.

Jesus is the Master Carpenter who carefully crafts a yoke specifically for you. Do not be misled by our English word “easy.” That Greek word can also mean “good,” “kind,” or “better.” Its root word in the Greek means “suitable” or “well-fitting.” The yoke Jesus invites you to wear is one he has crafted to fit you specifically and uniquely. If you don’t fight against your yoke, it will not chafe your faith or cause a sore spirit. The Master Carpenter creates your specific yoke to fit you well.

Remember, the yoke he crafts is also made for two. It’s a yoke of kindness. Being yoked to Jesus is better than pulling on your own.

Nowhere in Scripture does God make the promise that your life will be free of problems when you are following Jesus. Quite the opposite is true. A clear example of that is in the imagery of a yoke. Still, Jesus assures you he is always by your side. He restores your strength. He renews your desire to persevere. He refreshes you with rest.

Because of his presence and his saving work, Jesus can say that your yoke is “easy”, and your burden is “light.”

See that cross laid on Jesus. There is your heavy load laid on him. There is the unbearable burden that he bore for you. He took it and bore it, and now you are freed from that load. The work is over, the labor is done. The weight is lifted. Your conscience is cleansed. God’s forgiveness in Christ is full and it is free.

The people of Moses’ day tried to find rest in a golden calf. The people of Jesus’ day refused to find rest in the Promised Messiah who was standing in front of them. The people of our day try to find rest in anything and everything except Jesus Christ.

In response to this Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, because this was pleasing to you. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.”

Though God hid his messianic truth from those who opposed him and refused to believe in his Son, God revealed his truth to little children, people who brought nothing to God but a trusting heart to receive his gifts. Jesus doesn’t say that the wise and learned are excluded. His invitation is to everyone. The difference is that the wise and learned must become like children through repentance and the recognition that they have nothing to offer, no right to dictate, nothing but a deep need and trust in the gift God offers.

If you are like this, if you are willing to become like a little child, if you are willing to receive what Jesus offers, then you will receive the gift of rest. Not a holiday weekend of recreation, but the removal of your burden of sin and the light and gentle new yoke of discipleship. When you accept Jesus’ invitation, you find rest from your burdens, rest from your battles, and rest forever in heaven.

You may have had difficult duties in the past, have wearying work in the present, or will have exhausting endeavors in the future. Quit struggling on your own. Stop trying to run the race of life on your own. Lay your physical, emotional, and spiritual burdens on Jesus. Jesus’ invitation is for you! Accept his invitation, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

The Lord promises, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19). Amen.

The Sword That Divides Families

The sword that divides families

Matthew 10:34-42 34“Do not think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.

37“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

40“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple―Amen I tell you―he will never lose his reward.”

Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:12)

During the first few lessons of my adult confirmation class, I warn everyone that the devil will come at them in ways they’ve never encountered before. I’ve seen it numerous times during my 27 years in the ministry.

I tell them that before this the devil wasn’t that interested in them because they were unbelievers who already belonged to him. Or if they were nominal Christians who believed in God but didn’t do anything with that faith, then he may not have spent much time tempting them. But now that they are growing in their faith and involved in sharing their new or renewed faith, they are encroaching on Satan’s territory. And he’s ticked! So he’s going to come at them hard!

After saying this, almost everyone has replied, “Ahh! That’s what’s been happening!” Then they explain how they’ve been growing closer to God and his Christian family, the separation between their non-Christian friends and family has also been growing. Their family calls them hypocrites. Their friends mock them as phony. Their co-workers classify them as stuck-up.

Jesus prophesied this would happen. As Jesus sends out the Twelve with a renewed emphasis in sharing their faith, he teaches, “Do not think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.”

The Prince of Peace comes to bring peace between sinful humanity and his holy heavenly Father. But Jesus promises that this heavenly peace will often be accompanied by earthly division. Satan and our sinful nature like to pit our love for God against our love for our family and friends.

Jesus comes to bring peace … but not an earthly peace where everything is peaches and cream, where life could be a dream. No, Jesus did not come to bring that kind of peace. Jesus comes to bring the sword of the Spirit which is the Bible. It is the two-edged sword of Law and Gospel.

Why does Jesus bring a sword? To unite us with God, Jesus must first separate us from all the things we hold dear on earth. So that we might learn to fear, love, and trust in God above all things, Jesus must divide us from the things that we fear, love, and trust in this world. Everything we have in our lives are gifts from our gracious God. Especially our family. But family can also become idols that interfere with our faith.

Many of you know what I’m talking about. You’ve felt the tension in your own families. Maybe it’s an adult child caught in a sexual sin. Do you call out the sin trying to lead your child to repentance at the risk of alienating your child? Or do you ignore the sin to keep familial peace?

Maybe you are dating or married to someone who is not WELS. You encourage them to come to Bible class and worship with you. But when they refuse, you are tempted to give up, come to church by yourself, or even stop worshiping and attending Bible study altogether to keep peace in the family.

Maybe you have family at your house for the weekend or friends at work you would like to invite to church. But you know they are offended by our biblical doctrine of closed communion. So you don’t evangelize them and invite them to worship to keep the peace.

We are tempted to divide ourselves from God so we can be united with family and friends. We are tempted to compromise our heavenly peace so we can have some semblance of earthly peace. But in doing that, we aren’t giving our family and friends the heavenly peace that comes through Jesus.

We need to fear and respect our earthly fathers. But we need to fear and respect even more our heavenly Father. We need to love our earthly mother. But we need to love even more our new mother of the Christian Church. We want to trust in our earthly brothers and sisters. But we need to trust ever more in our new brother, Jesus Christ. For Jesus tells us, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

The truth of God’s Word is like a sword. It is a sword can divide children and parents, family and friends. Or, in our efforts to maintain peace, we can drop the sword and the truth will be given up.

Jesus understands very well this kind of family division. Though Mary and Joseph believed in their Son as their Savior, it seems their other children did not always share in that faith. Jesus’ siblings even considered Jesus crazy and out of his mind (Mark 3:21).

It wasn’t until after his crucifixion and resurrection that Jesus’ siblings believed in their Brother as their Savior. By grace, Jesus’ brother, James even became the leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17). He was later martyred for his faith by being stoned to death by the Pharisees.

Jesus knows firsthand the division that the sword of the Spirit can cause within families. He understands the pain of a family divided. He knows the heartbreak. But for your sake, he was willing to bear it. He was in conflict with his brothers for you. He was misunderstood by his mother for you. He was essentially homeless during his ministry years for you. So, he will help you with your heartache. He will gladden your heart even in your grief. He will give you solace even in your sadness.

Jesus is concerned with rescuing you. Then he wants to use you to rescue those around you. With every one of his rescues, Jesus swings the sword of the Spirit. It divides and damns. It unites and saves.

The division in your family may be a cross you are called to bear. Jesus teaches, “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

The cross is God’s gracious means of restoration. Only through the death and resurrection of Jesus does God grant us forgiveness of our sin and restoration of life. You are called to bear Christ’s cross so that others hear of and receive Christ’s cross for their restoration and salvation.

Jesus’ desire is that you take his cross seriously. You rightly love and cherish your earthly relationships … but they cannot be at the expense of your relationship with Christ, his cross, and the sword of his Word. Do not make a golden calf out of your family relationships. Remember to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

Why is this so important?

Today we confess the words of the ancient Nicene Creed: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. … We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father … We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son …”

Perhaps some of you heard of the anti-Christian creed that went viral this week. It’s called The Sparkle Creed. Here are just a few sentences of this heretical creed. “I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural. I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads, and who saw everyone as a sibling child of God. I believe in the rainbow Spirit, who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.”

This is gross. This is demonic. This is a perversion of the Christian creed. But I share this creed with you, so you know the division out there in the world. Christ is calling for his faithful disciples to use the sword of his Spirit to cut away anything that is false, creepy, heretical, and leads people away from his cross.

The words of the Sparkle Creed would be laughable if they weren’t so damnable! This is not Christian. This is pagan. The place – I hesitate to call it a church – was filled with elderly people with gray and white hair who were confessing this demonic drivel. These elderly sheep are being led by their false shepherd away from the Good Shepherd. Instead of leading sheep to salvation like a good under-shepherd, she is leading them to Satan’s slaughter.

As St. Paul teaches, our calling as Christians is to help others “to flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” We take up the truth of God’s spiritual sword to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:11, 12).

Also this week, while I was canvassing for our Soccer Camp with some of our teens, I received a phone call from a WELS pastor in northern Wisconsin. He called to tell me that Mike and his wife had come into his office. The couple were planning on retiring up north when Mike was diagnosed with cancer. He was given only a few months to live.

Mike had been a member of Epiphany decades ago. I never knew him. He was in the pastor’s office to confess his sins and his faith. He admitted that he had been absent from the Lord’s house and Lord’s Table for decades. But he still remembered the words of the creeds and Catechism that were instilled in him by his faithful pastor, teachers, and parents.

I shared this story with our teens at lunch after canvassing. I told them this is the reason why we were canvassing in smoke and humidity. I’m telling you, this is the reason we have an Inreach Pastor and Elders to call straying sheep back into the flock. This is why we catechize our children and confess ancient creeds every Sunday. This is why we bear Christ’s cross and swing the sword of the Spirit.

The devil and his demonic forces are going to come at you whether you are new to the Christian faith or have your own self-assigned seats in the pews. They want to pit your family against the family of God. They want to create disunity in your home to disrupt your unity with God. They want to keep you silent and the sword of the Spirit still.

We use the sword that divides families so the Holy Spirit might unite us into a new family. We swing the sword of the Spirit to call our family to repentance, our friends to faith, and point all those we love to the One who loved us enough to die on the cross for us. We speak up to our father and mother to point them to God the Father. We speak out to our brothers and sisters so we can unite them with their Brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. We open God’s Word to let the Holy Spirit do his work through our words.

In swinging the sword that divides, we are brought into a family united with God our Father, Jesus our Brother and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Counselor. A family of baptized and communing believers. A family here at Water of Life. Amen.

In the name of the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and power forever! Amen. (1 Timothy 6:15, 16)

Don't Fear Those Who Kill the Body

Don’t fear those who kill the body

Matthew 10:5a, 21-33 5Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, 21“Brother will hand over his brother to death, and a father will do the same with his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22You will be hated by all people because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. 23And when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Amen I tell you: You will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a servant above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If the master of the house was called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

26“So do not be afraid of them, because there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29“Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father. 30And even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

32“Everyone who confesses me before others, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

St. Paul charges both Pastor Timothy and us with these instructions: “Preach the word. Be ready whether it is convenient or not. Correct, rebuke, and encourage, with all patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). Amen.

This week I was getting my yard ready for today’s get-together with our church’s Christian Friends group. I was using what my wife calls my “redneck burn barrel.” I was burning some brush in the barrel when I received a nasty burn on my arm from one of the branches. My daughter, Belle saw the burn and said, “Dad, that’s going to leave a scar.” I assured her, “Go ask your Mom. Ladies dig scars.”

The burn on my arm and the heat from the barrel reminded me of the story of Polycarp. Polycarp was an 86-year-old Bishop of Smyrna. In A.D. 156, Polycarp was taken custody for refusing to bow and call Caesar “lord.” City officials asked him to recant, reasoning, “What harm could it do to say Caesar is lord and save your life?” It was simple – all Polycarp had to do was say “kaiser kurios” that is, “Caesar is Lord,” and his life would have been spared. But according to early church writings, Polycarp proclaimed, “For eighty-six years I have been Christ’s slave, and He has done me no wrong; how can I blaspheme my King who saved me.” And so, Polycarp bravely went to his death in the Coliseum – he was a slave of Christ but more free than any Roman citizen watching him burn at the stake.

During times of persecution, Polycarp and other early Christians took seriously Jesus’ words: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said in his first inaugural speech in March of 1933: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” FDR was speaking the truth. Fear is one of the great tools of the devil. Fear leads to instability, unhappiness, and a lack of contentment. It saps spiritual vitality, and it paralyzes the soul. Fear is the great enemy of faith.

As Jesus is sending his disciples out into the mission field, he addresses several of their fears – the fear of persecution, the fear of death, and the fear of poverty. He taught, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Jesus knows that fear can lead us to pray timidly where others can see us and make us too terrified to talk about Jesus publicly. We worry way too much about what other people say or think and far too little about what God says and what God thinks of us. We are afraid of rejection, afraid of failure, afraid of being made fun of, afraid of offending someone. All fears freeze us into inaction, into silence, and into feeling all alone. Fear is one of the strongest of human emotions.

Fear comes from a lack of faith. Fear comes from worry and doubts. It is a failure to trust that God is in control. It is a failure to see that God has a plan. Basically, it is a failure to see that God is standing right beside you, walking with you through this worlds’ dark valley of the shadow of death.

Three times in his instructions to his disciples, Jesus tells them not to be afraid. Do not be afraid to speak his Word. Do not be afraid to live his Word before those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. And do not be afraid, because as difficult as it may seem, your heavenly Father promises that you are not forgotten, but that you are very important to him. He values you even more than he values sparrows and hairs. He knows if a single sparrow falls. He knows how many hairs you have on your head (although some of you make it easier on him than others). If he knows and cares about those little things, he cares and knows even more about the crown of creation whom he sent the King of creation to save.

“Stop being afraid” is the force of Jesus’ verbs in the Greek. Stop being afraid – not just once, but always.

Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid.” Yet, the forces we face are terrifying! We are going against Beelzebul and the members of his household. Beelzebul is Satan, the ruler of demons. Satan is also called in Scripture a roaring lion, the Ancient Serpent, and the seven-headed dragon. These are all terrifying images! The devil and his demonic forces desire to terrify us into submission and surrender. They want us to look at all the evil they have fostered in our world and all the wickedness they have cultivated into our culture and give up.  

We may not fear being burned at the stake, thrown to the lions, or beheaded like Christians in centuries past or Christians suffering presently around the world. We don’t fear a den of lions like Daniel or a fiery furnace like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or being thrown into a well like Jeremiah, but persecution abounds when we’re faithful to the Word. We lose relationships because of a biblical belief that honors the sanctity of marriage. We lose promotions because of worship priorities. We lose friendships because we won’t join in sinful behavior.

We are called “old-fashioned” for our insistence marriage being a lifetime commitment of love between one man and one woman. We are ridiculed as “backward” for our persistence that the Bible is our rule and norm for life. We are criticized as “unenlightened” for our insistence that salvation is in Christ alone. Whether it is in the college classroom or the business boardroom, the high school hallways or network news, we know we will face criticism, corruption, ridicule, and resistance.

Jesus predicts that our love for our heavenly Father and our brotherly Savior may even cause conflicts with our family. “Brother will hand over his brother to death, and a father will do the same with his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.”

Satan will use these emotional familial attachments to silence our confessions. He slows the spread of the gospel as we cower in fear. Our sinful nature doesn’t want ridicule but craves acceptance. We mistakenly imagine the world is filled with cute kitties and darling dogs, whereas, in reality, they are really ravenous wolves, red dragons, and terrifying beasts.

So, we cower, give up, and give in. We join the crowd. We don’t stand up and stand out, but sit down and blend in. We shut our mouths, keep our money in our homes instead of using it to expand God’s kingdom, and focus on ourselves instead of doing God’s mission work.

Who could blame us if we renounce our faith, ignore our commitments, compromise our loyalties, shirk our responsibilities, and take the easy way out? ... God could blame us. And he does blame us. “Whoever denies me before others, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Fellow saints, don’t be fooled into faintheartedness. Don’t be coerced into cowardice. Don’t be intimidated into isolation.

Do not be afraid because as a student and servant of Christ you are like your Teacher and Master, Jesus Christ. Jesus has given you what you need to face the opposition of Beelzebul and the members of his household. He has given you his strength to support you, his promises to sustain you, and his Word which will not return to him empty.  Jesus instructed, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”

Persecution of Christians in America is coming. But we don’t have to feel like ill-fated redshirts in a Star Trek episode. Don’t be afraid of persecution. Welcome it. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to say. He promises that the gospel will be preached to all the nations before he comes. If the government or culture or Big Tech shut down one avenue of sharing the gospel, we just find another avenue. Jesus promises that his gospel cannot be stopped.

Don’t be afraid of the Ancient Serpent. Christ has crushed the Serpent’s head under his divine foot. Don’t be afraid of the roaring lion. Christ has shut the lion’s mouth with his redemptive victory on the cross. Don’t be afraid of Satan. Christ has silenced Satan’s accusations with his blood-bought release for his followers. Don’t be afraid of the seven-headed red dragon. Christ has conquered the dragon and chained him to the pits of hell.

Rather, only “fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Only fear God, the Judge of all creation. But, when you believe in God’s Son as your Savior from hell, then you don’t even need to fear God anymore.

Throughout history we see that when Christians are persecuted … the Christian Church grows. Christians stop cowering. They proudly stand up to persecution. The pagans witness their neighbors being persecuted and feel the need to check out Christianity. The Holy Spirit creates more converts. The Church grows through persecution.

It's funny how tyrannical leaders never seem to understand – the more the Church is harassed, the more the Church grows.

As we see persecution coming upon our nation, we pray that God is using this coming persecution to wake us, move us, grow us, and revive the dying Christian Church in America.

This needs to be the confession of the Christian: “You can take away my home, my stuff, my family, my freedom, my health … but you can’t take away my faith.” Once you make that clear to yourself and to those whom are persecuting you, you and they know you are truly free. Nothing they do to you can really harm you. Like the apostle Paul, if you live, you live to the Lord, but if you die, you die to the Lord. Either way, you’ll be with the Lord.

I don’t know if it’s true or not that ladies really do dig scars. I do know, though, that Christ digs bold confessions of faith in the face of persecution. “Everyone who confesses me before others, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.”

In the face of oncoming persecution, we need to be reminded of the worst that can be done to us. Imprisonment? Jesus is there. Suffering? We desire to be counted worthy to suffer in Jesus’ name. Hatred? We need only the love of God. Loss of property? Our treasures are in heaven. Death? We die in Christ so that we are with Christ for eternity! What a comfort it is when Jesus promises, “You will be hated by all people because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved”. Amen.

May St. Paul’s confession be our own: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness.” (2 Timothy 4:7, 8). Amen.

Every day filled with God’s threefold blessings

2 Corinthians 13:11-14 Finally, brothers, good-bye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Amen.

It’s not easy going to work in the morning knowing that if you make the slightest mistake, your boss is going to berate you in front of the other employees. It’s no fun waking up in the morning dreading another day of boredom in the classroom and teasing in the hallways. It’s not pleasant going through the day concerned whether you’ll have enough money for groceries, gas, and mortgage.

It’s not easy going to sleep at night knowing that your body will be wracked with pain from arthritis and old age when you get up the next morning. It’s no fun going home to another lonely evening of binge-watching Netflix and doom-scrolling through social media. It’s not pleasant going through another sleepless night concerned about your myriad of health, marriage, and family issues.

It may not be easy to get up in the morning or go to sleep at night if you’re only relying on yourself and what you see and feel. But your Triune God gives you every reason to wake up cheerful and every reason to go to sleep content. St. Paul gives you the reasons with the Apostolic blessing written at the end of his second letter to the Christians in the city of Corinth. “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Those words “grace”, “love”, and “fellowship” may appear small, but they are really powerful and magnificent.

St. Paul was writing to Christians in Corinth who had all kinds of issues within their congregation. They were slow in forgiving their offending brother. They were disorderly in their worship. They had been consumed with the sexual sins of their culture. They were fellowshipping with pagan unbelievers. They refused to use their spiritual gifts for the edification of the body of Christ. They had a tendency to fracture in factions instead of holding together in loving unity around the gospel.

The Corinthian congregation had a lot of issues! Paul very well could have written a letter that said, “To the Church in Corinth, God has written you off! The end.”

But he didn’t. Instead, he wrote, “The grace of our Lord Jesus … be with you all.” They desired this grace. They needed this grace. They cherished this grace.

We, too, need this grace. Are we 21st century Christians really any different from those 1st century Christians? The times and locations have changed … but the sin and sinners have not changed. We still deal with sexual sins in our culture and in our own bodies. We are slow to confront sin and equally slow to offer forgiveness. We support companies and celebrities who hate us and what we believe, so we compromise our beliefs. We are lazy with our spiritual gifts for the benefit of our church. We easily and quickly splint into factions and cliques at home, at work, in school, and even in church.

We need to repent of all these sins. We desire grace. We need grace. We cherish grace.

What is grace? Grace is God’s undeserved love. Perhaps you noticed this week when we’ve finally had some nice, warm weather that we seemed to have gone pretty quickly from the cold of winter to the mosquitoes of summer. And, what to you do with a mosquito? You squash it under your hand. If the mosquito has been active, there is a bit of blood left on your arm.

God has every right to squash us like mosquitoes under his righteous right hand. We are just as guilty of drawing blood from Jesus Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the Jewish religious leaders. The blood of Jesus is on us and on our children. It was us and our sins that drew blood when we slapped Jesus with the high priest’s hand, when we tore his back with our scourge, when we nailed his perfect hands and feet to the cross, and when we pierced his side with our spear. We are worse than bloodsucking insects for we know better. We are worse than bloodsucking insects for we have drawn blood and killed the Son of God.

But God doesn’t squash us. He forgives us! He covers us with the innocent blood of his Son, Jesus Christ to pay for our sins and remove them from us. Instead of turning his righteous anger on us, Jesus absorbed his Father’s anger. Instead of squashing us, God nailed his Son to the cross. That’s grace! That’s powerful! That’s magnificent!

Now you can wake up every morning excited for another day of experiencing God’s grace. Now you can sleep soundly every evening comforted by the Triune God’s grace that’s yours through Jesus Christ.

Paul continues with his blessing, “The love of God … be with you.” Our love is often fickle and convenient. We love if it suits our needs. We love if we have the time. We love as long it fits into our schedule.

We may have difficulty waking up in the morning feeling like we are in a loveless marriage. We may have difficulty at night checking on social media and reading all the loveless comments from our so-called friends. And we often respond with less than charitable words and actions of love. We need to repent of our lack of love toward God and absence of love toward those around us.

On February 10, 1970 John Baca led his army unit through intense fire to rescue a platoon in South Vietnam. After they were successful in setting up a protected firing position, Baca and his pals started to fight back. That was when a fragmentation grenade was thrown into the middle of him and his pals. Baca covered the grenade with his helmet and then he covered the helmet with his body. … Then the grenade exploded.

That was love. Not the smoochy-smoochy type of love people celebrate on Valentine’s Day. Instead, it’s the type of love we remember on Memorial Day. It’s the type of love, which John Baca receiving the Medal of Honor on June 15, 1971.

It’s also the kind of love that St. Paul mentions in “the love of God.” It’s agape love – a self-sacrificing kind of love. The kind of love that is willing to die for friends.

That’s the kind of love John Baca had for his pals. That’s the kind of love Jesus has for us.

Well, that’s not quite right. Jesus has a love far greater than that of John Baca. You see, while Baca was ready to die for his friends, he was also willing to shoot at his enemies. Jesus, though, allowed his enemies to crucify him. These are the enemies who hated him, mocked him, spat on him, whipped him, crucified him, and sinned against him. Jesus died for his enemies. Scripture says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners [enemies], Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

That’s love. That’s agape love. The love God the Father has through Jesus Christ, his Son.

We need this love. We desire this love. We cherish this love.

Now you can wake up every morning excited to experience another day of God’s love. Now you can go to sleep at night comforted by the knowledge that no matter how bad your day was, the God of the universe loves you.

Paul completes his threefold blessing by saying, “The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” Fellowship involves sharing, partnership, and enjoying things in common.

The Corinthian Christians certainly need that blessing of fellowship. One of their bigger problems was factions within the congregation – separate cliques standing around in holy huddles, only speaking with those they were comfortable with. God’s work was not getting done. That’s why Paul urged them, “Finally, brothers, good-bye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” Paul even encouraged them to make use of the common public expression of unity, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

We need to repent of our lack of fellowship – when we separate into cliques, holy huddles, factions within the church. Then God’s work is not getting done.

Because of the grace of Jesus Christ and the love of God, now we have fellowship with our Triune God. Because of our sin, we are separated from God because a three-time holy God cannot be in the presence of sinners. But through the sacrifice and resurrection of the second person of the Trinity, we now have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have the name of the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – placed on our heads at our Baptism.

Now that we have fellowship with God, we have fellowship with each other as God’s children. We enjoy the blessings of this fellowship – a new life in Christ, answered prayers, the comfort of forgiveness, the assurance of a life that never ends, and unity with our fellow believers.

What a blessing it is for us to enjoy fellowship from the Holy Spirit. The Greek word is koinonia – communion, what we have in common. Celebrate the fellowship we have together whether it’s Christian Friends going miniature golfing this week, Lutheran Voyagers kayaking and canoeing yesterday, or the pastor mountain biking with our teens on Friday.

It’s sharing Kringle, cookies, and coffee in the Friendship Room or the narthex. It’s talking to each other at a WLS basketball game or a Shoreland concert. It’s receiving the Lord’s Supper together. It’s praying with and for one another. It’s prayerfully and financially supporting the ministries of Water of Life and the WELS.

We need this fellowship. We desire this fellowship. We cherish this fellowship.

Now we can wake up in the morning to look forward to another day of worshiping our Triune God together with our family of believers. Now we can go to bed at night comforted that our family of believers are praying with and for us.

That’s the reality of the Trinity. Every day filled with God’s threefold blessings. Amen.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

From Feast to Feast...

From Feast to Feast …

John 7:37-39 37On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. For the Holy Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Peter preached, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.’” (Acts 2:17) Amen.

The weekends in May and June are filled with feasts. There are a lot of high school and college graduation parties on weekends this time of the year. We enjoy hot dogs, brats, hamburgers, and taco bars at these feasts. We enjoy lemonade, iced tea, soda, adult beverages, and water at these feasts. We are celebrating a big day in the life of our friend or family member.

In John chapter 7, the Jews are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles or also called the Feast of Shelters. The Feast of Shelters commemorates 40 years of big days where the Lord took care of the children of Israel while they wandered in the Sinai wilderness. During that time, the Israelites lived in temporary shelters or tabernacles on their way to the Promised Land of Canaan. During these years of wilderness wandering, the Lord graciously provided for his people by giving them food and drink, even in a dry and desolate desert. God miraculously supplied them with bread from heaven and water from a rock.

The Feast of Shelters was a pilgrimage festival where Jews would travel from wherever they lived to Jerusalem to celebrate. For this festival, the Jews would live in shelters outside the city for a week. Each morning, water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam and carried in a golden pitcher to the temple. The water was poured out, the trumpet would sound, the people would sing the words of Isaiah, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3).

Jesus is in the temple courtyard on the last day of the Feast of Shelters. John records for us, “On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’” This is not just a prayer for the outpouring of water. This is a prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The Jews in the crowd probably didn’t understand what Jesus was referring to. By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. John enlightens us to the meaning of Jesus words. “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. For the Holy Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

The Holy Spirit was certainly active throughout the Old and New Testaments bringing people to faith in the coming Savior. But the special outward gifts of the Holy Spirit that St. Paul mentions in our Epistle lesson from 1 Corinthians 12 were not poured out on people until after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

Jesus promised the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit after his ascension. Pentecost was another pilgrim festival to celebrate the harvest. Pentecost was celebrated seven weeks after Passover or 50 days. Pentecost means 50. It was a celebration of the abundance of blessing the Lord gave to Israel when they settled in the Promised Land. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. Jewish people who had been spread out over the world made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. They were “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, and of Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes; Cretans and Arabs” (Acts 2:9-11). At the Feast of Pentecost, the people brought the firstfruits of their crops as an offering to the Lord.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised took place at this Feast of Pentecost. There was the sound of rushing wind, tongues of fire on the heads of the apostles, and the apostles preached to the people in their own various languages.

This Feast was the firstfruit offering from among the nations. The harvest of 3000 who were baptized that day were brought to the Lord.

You are a part of the harvest. You are an offering to the Lord. You are a reason for the angels and saints to celebrate. You come to the Feast of the altar with your Lutheran brothers and sisters. You drink deeply from the Water of Life. You celebrate that you are living in temporary shelters here knowing that God will soon be bringing you into the Promised Land of heaven.

But do you always feel like celebrating? Do you always cherish receiving the living waters of Baptism? Do you cherish having your faith fed regularly at the Feast of the Lord’s Supper? Do you cherish feeling the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing through the voices of pastor and people, blowing through spoken and sung words entering your ears, heart, and head?

Do you remain spiritually hungry at times? Do you feel parched and dry? Do you feel bored by worship? Are you uninterested in the repetition of these feasts and festivals of the Christian Church Year? Do you go elsewhere looking for excitement and refreshment? Are you restless, not knowing what you’re looking for?

The African bishop, St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you” (Confession Book 1). God has put a thirst for him in our hearts, and we will never be happy, never truly be at rest, until we come to God, and he satisfies us. We will never have our thirst quenched unless we are drinking deeply and continually from Christ’s living waters. We will not have our spiritual hunger satisfied unless we are partaking of Christ’s body and blood at his sacramental feast.

So Jesus calls to us, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” If you think about it, if Jesus was a mere man, this is an extraordinary promise. How can Jesus meet all my needs and desires if he is nothing more than a man. How can Jesus be enough to quench my thirst and satiate my hunger. … He can’t. Unless … unless Jesus is more than a mere man. Unless Jesus is true man and true God – God who came in human flesh, born among us, living, and suffering, and dying on a cross for us. And then rising from the grave and ascending to the Father’s right hand.

Because Jesus is more than a mere man – but God and man together to be our Savior – he is enough for us. Jesus has been through the worst of what this world has to offer … and he still stands before us, holding out joy and jubilation, satisfaction and salvation, to us with both nail-scarred hands. “Come to me,” he says, and we come forward. “Trust in me,” he says, and we learn to rest the weight of our hopes and fears on him – a little bit more each day. He can handle us, all of us, even the darkest and most broken parts of us. He knows what you need. He knows whom you need. He gives you himself. He gives you his Holy Spirit. “I will quench your thirst,” he says. “I will make my Spirit a river of living water flowing from my heart into and then out of your heart. You will never be thirsty again. And I will use you to share the water of life with those around you.”

God takes his people from Feast to Feast to Feast. This week, we learned that God has graciously granted us the opportunity to feast one more time. On Thursday, the Lord of the Church blessed us with Nate Klusmeyer, who will be ordained and installed on July 9 as our Inreach Pastor. After calling 16 times over 2 ½ years, we will feast. We will feast together on God’s Word in the worship service, feast on the food at the celebration meal afterwards, and then the pastors and their wives will feast at the after-party at the Zarling Jedi Temple.

Nate’s ordination and installation give us even more reason to continue to feast. I’ve told every pastor who has held our call that I feel the Lord will bless our efforts with growth in his Kingdom gathered here at Water of Life. We have every confidence that the Holy Spirit will use the spiritual gifts of Nate and me and all of you to bring our members here for the feast of Word and Sacraments. He will use and bless all of us to invite the families at WLS, Shoreland, and in the neighborhoods and communities around our two campuses. He will bring forth a harvest of souls like he began to do at the Feast of Pentecost with the apostles. He will use us to bring more people to the feasts of Word and Sacraments, the feasts of the Water of Life and the Bread from Heaven, in our two sanctuaries.

The Feast of Shelters to the Feast of Pentecost to the installation feast to the feast of Word and Sacrament to the banquet feast of salvation. That’s a lot of feasts!

Celebrate. Cherish. Come. Eat. Drink. Get excited. Be refreshed. Then invite others to come to celebrate with you. To eat, drink, get excited, and be refreshed with you. To come to the feasts with you.

From feast to feast to feast to feast … Amen.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21) Amen.