Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.

To download the mp3 file, right click the image below and “save as.”

I. There Is No Difference - All Fall Short Ten people are trapped on the roof of a 10 story high burning building, and you’re one of them. The only way to safety is to jump across a 25′ chasm that separates this building from the one next to it. One person jumps ten feet and falls to his death. Another jumps 12 feet and falls to his death. One jumps 15 feet and falls to his death. One jumps 20 feet and falls to his death. “There is no difference. All fall short…”

It does no good to compare one person to another. One may have jumped twice as far as another. One may have tried a lot harder than another. One may have been much more sincere than another. One may have worked all his life getting ready for this jump while another never gave it a thought until the very last minute. “There is no difference. All fall short…”

And do you want to know the really crazy thing about all of this. It’s not that we all fall short. The crazy thing is, we keep jumping. We keep thinking that if we just do this or do that, if we try harder, if we really, really mean it, if we are sincere, then we’ll be able to make it. But “there is no difference. All fall short…” (more…)

Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.

To download the mp3 file, right click the image below and “save as.”

“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Those are words that should make the hair on the back of every neck in this room stand up because we all have wealth. And if you think that when Jesus says “difficult” He means “doable but not easy,” then think again. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus invited the rich man to “come, follow me.” But he went away disheartened and sorrowful. Why? “Because he had great possessions.” There’s something about wealth that can stand in the way of our eternal life. That is, that can cause us to walk away from Jesus.

We saw Act 1 of this drama last Sunday. It ended with the man carrying his possessions over the horizon and out of sight. We wish Act II opened with this man coming back. We wish he were like the prodigal son, who came to his senses and returned to his father. But there’s nothing in the script like that, and so this play is a real tragedy.

Act II opens with Jesus looking at His disciples. He wants them to learn something from this tragedy. “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is easier than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (more…)

Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.

To download the mp3 file, right click the image below and “save as.”

I. Good Teacher

A man came to Jesus in search of eternal life. That’s a good thing. He came to the right place. But the same man left Jesus, disheartened and sorrowful. He didn’t like Jesus’ answer. It wasn’t what he was looking for.

“As he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”

Before Jesus answers the man’s question directly, He challenges him to think about what the way he addressed Him. “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” He was probably just being polite and showing respect. Maybe he was complimenting Jesus on His effective teaching skills. Jesus stops the man right there and wants to make a lesson out of the word ‘good.’

There is a reason why, when we come into God’s house where He is present, we begin by saying, “we are not good. We are sinful and we sinned a lot.” So Jesus wants to know, ‘when you say that I’m good, what do you mean? Are you saying that I’m not like you, that I’m different than you, that I’m not sinful and I don’t sin, that I am truly good? And do you realize there is only One who does not sin, who is truly good - God alone. So when you call me “good teacher,” are you saying that you recognize that I am God? Or were you just being polite?” (more…)

Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.

To download the mp3 file, right click the image below and “save as.”

I. Marriage and Divorce

This is the 18th Sunday after Pentecost as the Church counts time. I recall that on the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, the sermon text was Ephesians 5 and we talked about the way that marriage is supposed to work. “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church. Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord.”

Now, just six weeks later, we’re talking about divorce. That didn’t last long, did it? What happened? We were talking about what God had joined together and now we’re talking about what man has rent asunder.

Regardless of whether you believe that the bible is the very word of God or not, you’ve got to appreciate it for it’s honesty. The bible is realistic. No rosy picture of an ideal life that doesn’t really apply to any of us but would be nice if it did.

When you read the bible you get the feeling that the author was living right in your house and listening in on your thoughts and that He knows you better than you know yourself. It’s as though the author of the bible “shared in our flesh and blood, and he himself partook of the same things” as we do. It’s as though the author were “made like his brothers in every respect.” “He himself has suffered when tempted.” And so “He is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:14,17). He knows what your life in this world is like and how it goes for us, and He’s not unmoved by it. (more…)