Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

sermon-11-3-19

The Festival of All Saints is really the most comprehensive of all of the Festival days on the church’s calendar. It’s the celebration of Easter and the resurrection of those who have not only died with Christ but who have also been raised with Him and are with Him where He sits at the right hand of God in heaven.

All Saints is the celebration of the successful outcome of the Great Commission and Pentecost where the apostolic commission to baptize and teach all nations results in
“great multitude which no one can number” from every nation, race, culture and language.

All Saints also draws us into the 2nd Coming of our Lord and that blessed and everlasting life where bodies are reunited to their souls – and the chaff is separated from the wheat – and all hunger and thirst perfectly satisfied – and the scorching heat of the temptations to sin and the tears which flow from one false hope and broken promise and terrible nightmare to another are over forever and ever – and there is only light and life and hallelujahs – and the “sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).

Today, we give thanks to God for all whom the Holy Spirit gave new life through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ – and were preserved in the one, true faith until they breathed their last. We give thanks to God for bringing these loved ones and friends of ours, and for all the saints, who from their labors rest – in to the perfect rest of eternal life in heaven. Continue reading →

sermon-10-27-19

Ten people are trapped on the roof of a 20 story high burning building. The only way to safety is to jump across a 25’ chasm onto the roof of the adjacent building. One person jumps 10 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 gets a running start and pushes off the edge of the building and jumps 20 feet and falls to his death. “There is no distinction. 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 distinction. All fall short…”

And do you want to know the really crazy thing about all of this? The really crazy thing is that we keep trying to make the jump. We are all incredible optimists when it comes to estimating the human potential to save ourselves. We think that if we just do this or do that, if we try harder, if we are more sincere, we’d be able to make it. If we use this program, if we elect this person, then we’d ALL be able to make it. But “there is no distinction. All fall short…”

There are basically two ways that we try to make the jump. The first way is the way of the way of ‘self-righteousness.’ We’re convinced that there is a God and that He will judge us on the basis of our ‘goodness,’ or at the very least how our goodness compares to others. And so we try as hard as we can to be as good a person as we can be hoping that it will be enough to get us across the chasm safely.

The second way we try to make the jump is by ‘denial’. Not ‘self-denial’ but ‘sin-denial.’ Who says it’s ‘sin’ anyway? What used to be called ‘sin’ has been exposed as nothing more than a plot by the powerful to keep the masses in their place. The times they are a ‘changin, God will have to adjust. There’s no reason to jump at all – the buildings not really on fire.

But “there is no distinction. All fall short…” Continue reading →

serm-10-19-19

“Jesus love me, this I know…” There’s a note of confidence in a statement like that. “Jesus loves me, THIS I KNOW…” How do you know? Because you’re just so loveable that He just can’t help Himself? Because you feel His love in your heart? Because you’re so healthy or wealthy or happy – the sure signs that Jesus must love you? No! “Jesus loves me, THIS I KNOW, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.”

So, what makes the Bible so special that it has the authority to “bring to nothing” those feelings in your heart, and your pious opinion of yourself, and the circumstances of your life, and to say that all of this counts for nothing?

Or to put the question another way, why can you say, ‘Jesus loves me this I know….”, even when you DON’T FEEL His love in your heart; even when you’re NOT VERY LOVEABLE at all; even when the circumstances of your life ARE IN THE PITS?

The question is, what gives the bible the ‘authority’ to demand that it have the ‘final say’ in everything that it says?

In our Epistle reading for today, Paul writes to young Timothy, who is a pastor in the church, giving him strict instruction to Timothy is to preach the Bible, because the bible and only the bible, “is able to make one wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.”

That’s a bold claim to make. There are lots of books out there that promise that they are able to make one wise for attaining wealth or true happiness or marital bliss or getting into the right college or cooking a delicious dinner.

But a book that “is able to make one wise for SALVATION…” Now, that’s a bold claim to make. As bold as the claim that we just made, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so.” We want to know, what is the basis for a bold claim like that about the Bible?

Paul explains, “all Scripture is breathed out by God…” Continue reading →

sermon-10-13-19

The text for our consideration is the gospel lesson just read. There is a dark side to this stop on the journey with our Lord as He makes His way to Jerusalem and the cross. In what would otherwise have been another beautiful movement in the symphony, there’s an ‘off-note’ here that causes us to wince. There’s something that is just ‘not right’ here.

But the truth of the matter is, this account cannot be ‘fixed’ simply by demanding more ‘thankfulness.’ “Gratitude” that is forced because the Law demands it is no “gratitude” at all. Aristotle had it wrong. Good and faithful habits to not make good and faithful hearts. Luther had it right. Good and faithful hearts produce good and faithful habits.

And so we dare not miss what is good, and so full of light and harmony and heart-breaking joy in this account. This stop on the journey to Jerusalem features a miracle of restoration that Jesus does, simply by the sound of His voice – that same voice that spoke all things into existence in the beginning – that voice that called to you and me in our wretched and pitiable condition – that voice that worked a ‘restoration’ in us and ‘restored’ the ‘wretched men and women that we are’ into the ‘beautiful’ and ‘very good’ people of God that He created us to be.

“On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’”

You’ve got to wonder what they expected Him to do. How many others had they lifted up their voices to who looked the other way as they walked right by them? Leprosy was a disfiguring disease that most civilized people don’t much like to see and they look away from.

I remember hearing the story about a Sunday School teacher who was trying to teach this story to her young class and after telling the story as best as she could, she asked the children, ‘so, what would you do if you saw 10 lepers along the road?’ One little boy raised his hand and answered, ‘teacher, if I saw 10 leopards along the road, I’d shoot them.’

Thankfully, that’s not how this encounter goes at all. Continue reading →

sermon-10-6-19

The text for this sermon is the gospel reading that we just heard. Jesus is speaking to His ‘disciples.’ They are His ‘followers’ who listen to Him in order to learn from Him. Whether they recognize that He is the Christ, the Son of God yet is doubtful. But they are deeply interested in what He is saying. He speaks about God and how God wants man to live in relation to Him and to their neighbor in a radically different way than anything they have heard. And they want to ‘follow’ Him. They want to fit the way that they think and live their lives into the pattern that He has been teaching them is the right way to think and live.

And He said to His disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come.”

Those of us who would be one of His disciples want to know what this means and how we are to live our lives before God knowing that, “temptations to sin are sure to come.”

The Scriptures speak about two kinds of temptation. There is actually a ‘TEMPTATION TO GOOD.’ Temptations to good are tests that come from God for the purpose of strengthening our faith and trust in Him, and our walk and life with Him.

The Bible says that God ‘tested’ Abraham. It’s the same word for ‘tempt.’ God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. And that ‘temptation to good’ had a dramatic effect on Abraham’s faith and life.

Jesus was ‘tempting’ the disciples when told them to get in the boat and set sail, knowing that a sudden storm would threaten to drown them. By this ‘temptation to good,’ they would learn to trust Him more. Continue reading →

sermon-9-29-19

You are surrounded by myriads upon myriads who would have you believe that “seeing is believing.” But by faith, you say, “no, we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” (2 Cor.4:18) “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth…”

You are surrounded by thousands upon thousands who would have you believe that “what you see is what you get.” But by faith, you say, “…no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him…” (1 Cor. 2:9) “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of … all things visible and invisible.”

It is to the ‘invisible’ part of God’s creation – those “myriad of myriads and thousands of thousands of angels” that our attention is directed on this Festival of St. Michael and All Angels.

Today we are reminded of what we mean when we confess – that the one, true God is the maker of heaven and earth – which includes the visible and the invisible.

Which DOESN’T mean that if we had a stronger microscope or a more powerful telescope we COULD see it, but DOES mean that there is a realm of God’s creation which is altogether ‘other,’ and would be entirely ‘invisible’ and ‘unknown’ to us unless God revealed it to us and let it be ‘seen’ by us as He deems prudent.

“God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” is working out His plan for the “new heavens and the new earth” and the redemption of His “new Israel” in BOTH of these realms – “in all things, visible and the invisible.”

From his exile on the island of “Patmos” where, in this ‘visible’ realm, he has been sentenced to live, “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus,” John is given a glimpse into the ‘invisible’ realm. And what an incredible ‘revelation’ it is. What John sees is nothing less than the entire history of God’s saving and redeeming work as it is seen from the ‘invisible realm.’ What John sees, ‘no eye has ever seen, nor ear has heard, nor the mind of man imagined,’ at least as long as we are in this ‘visible realm.’

“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9) Continue reading →

sermon-9-22-19

The text for our consideration today is the gospel reading from Luke 16 – “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” In this story, Jesus introduces us to a fictitious man who is caught red handed in ‘mismanagement’ of what was entrusted to him. The story has three scenes.

Scene one opens, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.”

We’re not told any of the details of just what the charges against the manager were, only that he was being ‘wasteful’ of the what the rich man had entrusted to him to manage on his behalf. Maybe he was squandering the rich man’s possessions on things that the rich man would never have approved of. Or maybe he was hoarding the rich man’s possessions, putting them into a ‘rainy day fund’ which was never actually used.

Whatever the charges happened to be, “[the rich man] called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?”

It was one of those meetings with the boss in which he tells you to ‘close the door behind you,’ which is usually not good. The rich man order his ‘manager,’ “turn in the account of your management.” The “account of your management” is the ‘books’ that show the various transactions. There’s going to be an audit of the books.

And with that comes those dreaded words – “For you can no longer be manager.’” “You’re fired!” And with that, scene one ends.

Scene two opens with the ‘manager’ thinking about his situation. “And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do…” He looks inside himself and must feel pretty confident that an ‘audit’ of the books is not going to justify him. Rather than “saying to himself,” “once he examines the books he’ll see that those charges that were brought against me were false and give me my job right back,” – the manager begins to make plans for how he is going to survive unemployed.
His first move is look inside himself. And when he does, he concludes that there’s not much there. “I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.”

So he turns from looking inside himself to looking outside himself. “I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.”

He then “summons” those who are in debt to the rich man. They were buying on credit and paying their bills with ‘oil’ and ‘wheat.’ And the manager is determined to win their favor by slashing their bill, so that in their gratitude, they will “receive me into their homes.”

But the ‘manager’ has a problem. His problem is, he doesn’t have the ‘books.’ And so he has to ask each one what he owes. Continue reading →

sermon-9-15-19

The prophet Isaiah and the apostle John both have their visions of God seated on His throne. And in both visions, the angels are hovering over the throne, and in unending worship, they sing the ‘Sanctus,’ “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts…” “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, almighty.” (Is.6:3; Rev. 4:8)

The meaning of that word ‘holy’ is “to be set apart.” To be ‘holy’ is “to be set apart” from SIN. “Holiness” by its very nature cannot have anything to do with ‘sin.’

And so the prophet Habakkuk declares of God, “You are of purer eyes than to see evil. [You] cannot look at wrong.” (Hab.1:13).

The Psalmist sings, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.” (Ps.5:4-5).

The Law that is written on our hearts is that the Holy God is available and accepting and loving of those who are devout and obey His commandments, but evildoers who do not keep His commandments are rejected and cannot come near Him.

So, what then does it mean, when we hear in our gospel reading today that Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God, “welcomes sinners and eats with them,” and that “tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Him”?

• What it means is that the holy God so loves this world that He sent His holy Son to save sinners, like you and like me.
• It means that God intends to turn His command, “you shall be holy as I the Lord your God am holy,” into His promise, “you shall be holy as I the Lord your God am holy.”
• It means that God intends to satisfy His own holy desire that, “you shall be my people and I shall be your God.” (Ez. 34:28)

It means:
“Jesus sinners doth receive; Oh, may all this saying ponder,
who in sin’s delusions live, and from God and heaven wander!”
“Here is hope for all who grieve;
Jesus sinners doth receive.” (LSB #609:1) Continue reading →

sermon-9-8-19

I must confess to you that on this Sunday when we want to promote and encourage the ‘mission and outreach work’ that we are all called to do as disciples of our Lord, my first reaction when I saw that the Gospel text appointed for today was this one was, ‘oh boy. Not exactly the text that I would have chosen for Mission Sunday.’

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple… Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple… Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” See what I mean?

Just before this, Luke reported that Jesus told a “Parable about a Great Banquet” where everyone was invited to come. And after several refusals, the Master sent His servants saying, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Now that would have made a good reading for Mission Sunday.

Jesus turns to the ‘great crowds that accompanied him,” who presumably, are those responded positively to those servants who went out into the streets and lanes and the highways and the hedges with their gracious invitation to come to the banquet.

And wouldn’t we have expected Jesus to be so pleased with the response and welcomed them and made ‘accepted’ and ‘affirmed’ them? That would have made a good reading for a Mission Sunday. Continue reading →

sermon-9-1-19

It has been a while since we have used the national holiday of “Labor Day” as the occasion to preach on the doctrine of ‘vocation.’ But that is what we intend to do and so the text for our consideration today is from Colossians 3:23-24. Would you take out your bible and turn to Colossians 3:23-24, page 985 in your pew bible.

I. Our Labor is Spiritual Work
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Keep your bible open please. We’ll recite this together a couple of times again.

The national holiday of “Labor Day” was established in 1882 by an organization called “The Knights of Labor” which later became “The American Federation of Labor,” or the “AFL” which later merged with the “Congress of Industrial Organizations,” or the “CIO” which is known today as the “AFL-CIO.”

I highly doubt that there was any thought in the minds of those who first instituted “Labor Day,” to the Scriptural connection between the Christian life of faith and the labor that we do. But just because they didn’t see the connection doesn’t mean there isn’t one. In fact the Scriptures have a lot to say about the work that God’s people are given to do and the way God’s people are to do it.

In fact, God’s interest in our ‘LABOR’ is one of the very first things that we are faced with in the Scriptures. The very first thing that God does after He creates the world and the plants and the animals and the man, is “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to WORK IT AND KEEP IT.” (Gen.2:15).

It is as Adam does the LABOR that the Lord God has given him to do, that Adam carries out his life in faith. We need to be sure to hear that. Adam responds in faith and obedience to God by going to work and doing the job that God has given him to do, which happens to be ‘gardener.’

That may surprise us. Maybe we would have expected that the first thing that God would tell Adam is where church is and what time worship begins. But instead, God says to Adam, “I’ve got a job for you.” And the job is gardening. That doesn’t seem like very ‘spiritual’ work does it? But in fact, this is very spiritual. Continue reading →