Sermon for Pentecost 8: "Competing Voices" (Amos 7:7-15)

LISTEN

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“This is what [the Lord God] showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb line’” (Amos 7:7-8).

 

The meaning of this vision is clear. The Lord is picturing Himself as a mason laying brick or stone. The wall represents Israel, the people He created to receive His covenant. The plumb line is His Law, the standard laid down at Mount Sinai for Israel’s life as His covenant people. But this Law, this plumb line, also reveals Israel’s sin. For the people are like a sagging, crooked wall, that is in need of being torn down. 

 

God’s people were crooked as they flaunted their unfaithfulness to the Lord. They were crooked as they abandoned the plumb line of God’s Law. You see, it is only through the Law that we become conscious of sin (Romans 3:20). So, without the Ten Commandments before them, to measure what they thought, said, and did, their lives were “out of line,” like a crooked wall ready to be torn down. So, the prophet Amos pronounces judgment against the perverse worship of the Kingdom of Israel and divine judgment against the house of King Jeroboam. But God’s Word is not heeded but hated. Amos is told to pack his bags and go back to where he came from: Judah. 

 

In our Gospel reading (Mark 6:14-29), John the Baptist has been preaching repentance. He has been calling all people to repent of their sins for the Messiah has come and the reign of God is at hand. Like Amos, John is calling God’s people to repentance. And like Amos, he has called upon a specific person as well, King Herod – to specifically repent of his sin of marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias. But like Amos before him, God’s Word is not heeded, but hated. For his call to repentance, John’s head is cut off and paraded at a party on a platter.

 

Throughout the Scriptures, the triune God reveals an intense concern that His voice, His true and life-giving voice, be heard and heeded. And throughout history, God’s voice has more often not been heeded, but rather hated. Generation after generation, twisted heart after twisted heart, fallen man prefers to listen to any other voice but God’s voice. 

Our fallen nature demands that God’s voice be silenced, be set aside, and moved far off. Our fallen nature would rather see God’s messengers sent back home, cast in a pit, sawn in two, beheaded, and crucified. 

 

Throughout Bible history, God would have His Word be primary and uncontested. In the Garden of Eden, God rebukes Adam, saying, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17).

 

Later on, God covenanted with Israel at Mount Sinai saying, “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples” (Exodus 19:5). Then what happened? The next thing you know, Aaron is no longer listening to God’s voice, but to the voice of the people, and before you know it, the people are worshipping a golden calf. 

 

Eventually, God’s people desired to be like their pagan neighbors with a king. They demanded God give them a king. They thought a king would surely fight for them and give them desired unity. But by swearing loyalty to an earthly king would only be breaking covenant with their Lord, who was already fighting on their behalf as their King. God warned them that an earthly king would only be for earthly gain, but He grants them an earthly king.

From the start, King Saul feared the people more than he feared God. Saul ignored God’s voice and listened to the voice of the people.

 

Prophet after prophet warned God’s people as they proclaimed God’s Word: “‘Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by My servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God” (1 Kings 17:13-14).

 

This theme continues into the New Testament times. When Jesus’ teachings became too difficult, many of his followers turned back and no longer walked with Him. Jesus then asked the Twelve: “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67). Then Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

 

So, why is it so difficult to heed God’s Word? Why is it that we would rather hate God’s voice? 

Well, that answer has to do with our evil foes: our sinful nature, the fallen world, and Satan himself. You see, Satan uses our sinful nature and this fallen world to lead us sinners away from hearing the Word of God. He wants to keep you from hearing and taking seriously what God has to say. Satan’s agenda is to prevent you and others from hearing the life-giving voice of your Maker and Redeemer.

 

So, how does Satan do this? Well, just look at today’s reading from Amos. One of Satan’s approaches is to fill the arena with an umpteen number of false voices to drown out or marginalize the true voice of God. Throughout the Bible, we read of false prophets, counterfeit voices. In fact, these false voices outnumbered the true prophets. These false prophets would tell sinners what they wanted to hear, and as a result, they were popular. That way sinners would basically only listen to themselves. The true Word of God is never the only voice in the arena. It was – and still is – a competitive environment. 

 

Besides drowning out God’s voice, another approach by Satan is to silence God’s life-giving and life-saving Word. That is what Satan led Herod to do with John the Baptist. Satan, the ruler of this fallen world, strives to prevent sinners from hearing the true Word of God. He leads people to discount it, to trivialize it, to ignore it, to dismiss it as only human speech and human opinion.

 

In fact, in Amos’ time, the northern kingdom of Israel was more political than religious. The Israelites were only loyal to King Jeroboam. They listened to the voice of their earthly king, rather than to God’s voice. And like that golden calf in Exodus, Jeroboam erected a golden calf at Bethel where he told the Israelites to come and pay their homage. Israelites pilgrimed there to show their loyalty to King Jeroboam.

 

To this false worship, Amos prophesied God’s judgment upon Israel and its king. Would God’s Word be heard and heeded? No, it would be hated, because to proclaim judgment against Bethel was to oppose the king. You see, the king of Israel and the temple at Bethel were united. So, to proclaim against one was to proclaim against the other. The Kingdom of Israel supported and promoted this perverse religion as the false priest Amaziah of Bethel said to Amos: “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom” (Amos 7:12-13).

 

In other words, “Get out of here Amos! You don’t belone here! You are disrupting the peace! Let us do what we want! Go back where you came from!” Does this sound familiar? 

More and more today, Christians are demanded to keep quiet. To keep our faith secluded from public life. Those who preach and confess God’s Word often face opposition. Christians are opposed by political means and by public opinion. Jesus too, warned us, saying: “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

 

So, as Christians, we must always be prepared to face opposition in heeding God’s voice. We must always heed the Lord’s voice in studying, hearing, and applying His Word in the Bible. Faithfulness to God’s Word should be every Christian’s concern as we train the next generation of Christians. And we must be ready to heed God’s Word against earthly authorities and popular opinion. But all too often, we’d rather listen to competing voices, including your own voice, and refuse to hear God’s voice. We may find God’s voice of Law and Gospel to be irrelevant and boring.

 

So, why does God say that His voice must be heard? Because through His voice, we hear His promises. And His promises are trustworthy and true. The promises of false voices, the promises of this fallen world, only mislead. They direct us to believe in illusions. But only the one true God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – fulfills promises. Those are the promises to actually listen to, take to heart, inwardly digest, believe, and trust in. They are true promises given by the Lord God Almighty Himself. 

 

In the fullness of time, every promise that God’s prophets foretold was fulfilled when “God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).  Jesus embodied Israel and went through death just like the Kingdom of Israel. But Christ’s death was more severe as He suffered the just punishment of God against all sinners. God the Father laid upon His Son the iniquity of us all. Jesus suffered in place of sinners and for sinners. He suffered and died in your place. But He conquered the grave three days later!

 

Where we have failed, Jesus has prevailed! Where we have been foolish and slow of heart to believe all that God has spoken, Jesus prevails. So, let us heed God’s voice, not hate God’s voice. Let us not be proud and foolish, but humble and wise. That chastening rebuke of the Law along with His resurrecting Gospel is what this fallen world hates. But let us heed by God’s grace with repentance, faith, and joy. Let us heed His Word and feast on His promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

 + SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for Pentecost 7: "Strength in Weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

LISTEN

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: 

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

 

St. Paul appears to put his own story in the third person. Here, Paul speaks of another man who went up into heaven. But clearly, he is speaking of himself. Paul appears to be somewhat afraid to boast about this, because every time he has thought well of that experience, it seems that the devil sends him another “thorn” for him. It’s almost like he thinks that he might get jinxed by speaking positively about this experience.

 

He says, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows” (2 Corinthians 12:2). Paul doesn’t really understand how – was he dreaming? Was he bodily in heaven? Was he spiritually in heaven? But it’s clear that he is talking about himself.

 

He is clearly talking about himself, because he speaks of the consequences and how those consequences have affected him. He speaks of a “thorn” in the flesh. He never speaks of what that “thorn” actually is, except that it was sent to him by a messenger of Satan to harass him. But that not knowing doesn’t keep us from guessing.

 

Some theologians believe this “thorn” must have been some kind of chronic physical problem. Others have said the “thorn” was malaria. Others still speculate this “thorn” to be vision problems, or a speech impediment.

 

The truth of the matter is that we do not know and will not know on this side of heaven what Paul’s “thorn” was. But what we can certainly infer is that this “thorn” was a sharp pain of some sort. We can infer that this was some sort of a reoccurring, nagging pain. This “thorn” in his flesh was certainly tormenting him.

 

Whatever the “thorn,” Paul prayed three times to the Lord to take it away from him. After these three times, the Lord answers his plea: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a).

 

God answers prayer. Through His Word, He answers in His own time and in His own way. At Gethsemane, Jesus prayed three times for His cup of suffering to be removed. God the Father’s answer was not to remove the cup but to send angels to strengthen Jesus to drink it. Paul, too, prayed for his “thorn” in the flesh to be removed. The Lord’s answer to Paul was not to remove the “thorn” but to assure him that His strengthening grace would enable him to cope with it.

 

For both Jesus and Paul, God the Father brought positive good out of both situations. By drinking the cup – His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus paid the ransom price to win forgiveness for the world. God hung on the cross, but this is a God who chose to submit Himself for our sake. And by continuing to suffer with his “thorn,” Paul kept the spotlight shining on Jesus rather than himself. For Jesus said to him, “My power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

So, as people looked at and listened to the weak, frail, thorn-in-the-flesh Paul, they would be led to believe there must be a greater power behind this man to enable him to do all the things he is doing. Of course, this power was Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

But even so, how many of us like to boast about our weaknesses? Who finds strength in weakness? 

 

We would rather boast about our talents, our abilities, our attitudes, and our insights. Paul certainly had many strengths, and his greatest strengths were his missionary passion and his amazing perseverance. Paul sailed across the Mediterranean Sea and crossed Asia Minor into Europe to bring the message of Christ crucified and risen to countless peoples and places. And when his message was not received, he would just move on to the next place. Through it all, Paul persevered. He would not let any negativity keep him away from sharing the good news of Christ.

 

Like Paul, we also have many God-given strengths. The Psalmist King David writes about these God-given strengths: “I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). So, each one of us has been gifted and talented to the glory of God.

 

However, even with all our God-given strengths, we remain sinful and unclean in thought, word, and deed. So, no matter how much talent and ability we have, that will not erase the effects of our sinful nature. So, we cannot rely on our abilities, our talents, our skills. Our abilities and strengths can never justify ourselves before God the Father. Just “being a good person” can never justify yourself before God. 

 

True strength requires seeing our weaknesses. St. Paul says that he can only boast about his weakness. He says, “On my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses” (2 Corinthians 12:5).

 

Paul would have us experience the weakness, experience the difficulty, experience the hardship. Whatever it may be. But then he would have us say, “That is not the last word! That is not the final say!”

 

As a first-year seminary student, I was blessed to receive a temporary “thorn” in my flesh known as a kidney stone. At first, I tried to ignore the pain. I thought, it would surely go away. And it did, but it would return with a vengeance. After I researched my pain on WebMD, the results came up that I was dying of some disease (which I did not have). So instead of dwelling on that result, I went to the hospital. I knew that I could not fix it alone. I prayed for relief. All I could do was put my faith in God to heal me. Thanks be to God that that “thorn” was only temporary, but for many people, your “thorn” may be reoccurring.

 

No matter what, Jesus uses our weaknesses to show us where true strength lies. If we are honest with ourselves, we all have to admit that there are certain things in life that don’t come along easy. And there are certain things that we have a hard time dealing with. These things may be physical afflictions, emotional trials, family challenges, stress at work. Like St. Paul, you may be “pleading with the Lord” to change or take away whatever afflicts you. But that affliction remains. It could be that it is a way for Jesus to demonstrate that His grace is sufficient for you.

 

By that “thorn” in your flesh, the Lord is attempting to draw you closer to Him. He is using that “thorn” to encourage you to lean on Him and to help you see that His grace is all sufficient. This grace is His undeserved mercy won on the cross and by the empty tomb. His grace is constant. His grace is with you now and forever. 

 

When our weaknesses get overwhelming, you will discover the Lord and how much He has done and is doing for you in His uncompromising love.

 

You see, your true strength is none of your personal strengths, but in Christ.

 

Our daily lives bring us constant reminders of some of our greatest weaknesses – impatience, greed, selfishness, thanklessness, and on and on. All of these, and so many more, are only characteristics of our sinful nature. The effects of this fallen nature also weaken us. Our health is threatened. Our loved ones die. Communication breaks down in marriages. Our bills pile up faster than our financial resources. All of these are characteristics of this fallen sinful world that we live in.

 

We all embody life’s weaknesses. As Christians, we ought to see everything through the cross. Remember, it was in this weak state that our Savior Jesus Christ became man, so that He could save us from the weakness of sin through His perfect life, His suffering, and His atoning death via crucifixion. In our weakness, Christ saved you and Christ saved me. In our weakness, Christ gave us mercy, love, forgiveness, peace, and certain hope.

 

While some of our weaknesses may never go away in this life, our true strength is found in Jesus Christ. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus does not merely sympathize with our weaknesses; He has overcome them. So, we, like Paul, boast in the Lord.

 

Christ has overcome the power of sin, and He shares His victory with us in our weakness. Today, He comes to us through His Means of Grace – Word and Sacrament – to forgive our sins and strengthen our faith.

 

Our greatest weaknesses are God’s greatest strength. Jesus has taken care of the greatest need that we will ever have – our salvation. His grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in our weakness. So, live in God’s grace, where you receive strength through weakness, for when you are weak, He makes you strong. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Lorna Nemitz Funeral Sermon: "Forever Joy! Forever Life!" (John 6:27-40)

Sermon Audio

Terry, John, Nancy, and Janey, family and friends of Lorna: 

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

A host of angels their voices did raise
In loud hallelujahs of glory and praise
For the little Lord Jesus who on Christmas
Was born
To save all us sinners and all the forlorn.

The magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense
and myrrh
But the gift of Jesus is a joy forever.

 

The gift of Jesus is both forever joy and forever life! As many of you may know, Lorna was a poet. She may not be nationally or worldly known, but her poetry was indeed published from time to time. In fact, that rhyme I just spoke were her very words. Lorna, indeed, lived her life not just knowing of Jesus, but holding onto Him, since in Him was the gift of joy and life. She firmly trusted that Jesus rescued her from her sins. Just as she knew Jesus in her earthly life, she now is in His presence as on Tuesday, June 25^th, her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ led her from death to life as He welcomed her into the Church Triumphant.

 

When I served First Lutheran Church as the associate pastor, I welcomed the opportunity to meet our many homebound members. Each homebound member became my family. Many had not set foot inside First Lutheran Church in years, but I – as their pastor – served as their lifeline to Christ’s Means of Grace, His Word and Sacraments, so they would be sure of their forgiveness, life, and salvation in Christ.

 

Oddly enough, my first visit with Lorna back on July 27^th, 2017, was a little rocky. I was fresh out of seminary as I was still trying to figure out what it meant to be a pastor. I was nervous. Rightfully so. As everything was new. On that first visit with Lorna, I introduced myself and she to me. But then I began the Communion Liturgy from my Pastoral Care Companion. I began praying, “Gracious Father, You have assured us that we shall receive strength every day of our lives. Grant your servant Lorna, who is homebound…”

 

Suddenly Lorna interrupted the prayer and said, “I am not homebound.” I was startled. I immediately thought, “Uh oh.” I didn’t know what to say. Eventually I said something, but that “I am not homebound” stuck with me. In fact, those words are still underlined in my Pastoral Care Companion.

Now, for any of our shut-in members, they know that I never said that phrase in that prayer again. I thought that prayer would be perfectly fine without that phrase. So, I have left it out ever since.

 

As much as I thought I may have offended Lorna that day, she still answered my phone call to schedule our next visit that next month and every month since until I accepted the Divine Call to Prince of Peace Lutheran in West Salem, Wisconsin. And yes, I even visited Lorna during the dreaded Covid pandemic.

 

Each time we met, I learned more about her, and she learned more about me and my family. She shared stories about herself, Orville and her kids as they trekked all about Minnesota, first beginning in Glencoe, then to Cokato, then to Hutchinson, to Darwin, and then back again to Glencoe. Her family albums would come out on various occasions.

 

Then usually sitting on a recliner was her cat, Katie. According to Lorna, most of the time, Katie would hide from her guests, but not from me. Maybe Katie just knew that my family would one day adopt her. That day would come when Lorna moved to Grand Meadows in 2020. For Terry and John, they will never forget adoption day and how such a mellow cat turned into a wild beast. But ironically enough, Katie would return to her house when Melissa and I purchased Lorna’s house. Katie also taught our other cat Gigi a thing or two, especially how to beg for water from the bathtub spout.

 

But what I will remember most about Lorna was her talent for poetry. I did say that she was published. But there were times when the Senior Perspective newspaper would forget to publish her latest poem. I did hear about those moments. They always assured Lorna that it would be published in an upcoming issue.

 

Poetry was one of her God-given talents. She rhymed about God’s creative acts, His redemptive acts, and His sanctifying acts. She rhymed telling of her sure and certain faith in Jesus Christ as her Redeemer and Lord, who was crucified and died for the forgiveness of her sins and yours and my sins, which begets eternal life and salvation, and how He rose from the dead three days later for our justification. This gift we receive by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

 

Today, Lorna is resting from her labors as she has received the promise of eternal life. In her later years, Lorna certainly struggled with the effects of sin that we all daily face, including especially back spasms, macular degeneration, and strokes, but now she no longer suffers the effects of sin as she has joined the Church Triumphant with all the saints in heaven!

 

At the same time, today, all of us are experiencing the loss of Lorna. With any loss, we mourn. Some mourn publicly, while others mourn privately. We mourn because every human being has inherited that dreadful disease known as the original sin of Adam and Eve and has died because of it. Were it not for sin, there would not be death. So, we long for the day when Christ comes again to finally defeat death.

 

Until that day, we mourn, but mourning is a good and godly work. Remember, Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus. Jesus wept, because He loved His friend, so weeping and mourning the death of our loved ones is a good and godly work.

 

We mourn because of the reality of death. We mourn because we were all intended to live forever. But we do not mourn as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). So, we mourn, but our mourning is mixed with certain hope. Our tears are mixed with faith. Our sadness is mixed with joy, because one day in the future “we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed … [as] this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51b-52, 53b).

 

As I began our sermon, I said that the gift of Jesus is both forever joy and forever life. That is what Lorna believed and confessed. 

 

Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Each time Lorna received Christ’s Body and Blood under the bread and wine for the forgiveness of her sins and to strengthen her faith, she received the Medicine of Immortality, which is the antidote to eternal death, that bestows eternal life in Jesus Christ. 

 

Jesus’ own mission and work is the Giver of Life. For just as simple bread satisfies hunger for a time, Jesus gives eternal life. As the Bread of Life, Jesus is the source of life and the very content and substance of life. So, eternal life is possessed when Jesus is possessed.

 

Jesus as the Bread of Life leads us to the Messianic Banquet that we heard about in our reading from Isaiah 25: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 25:6-8).

 

Until that day, everyone who clings to Jesus has the Bread of Life. So, what does it mean to have the Bread of Life now? Well, it means that we cling to Jesus as our Teacher. It means that we are committed to Him and trust Him. You see, only when we adhere to Jesus, we have eternal life. This adherence which is of faith is true and salvific. And this adherence is only made possible by Christ and His Means of Grace: Word and Sacrament. So, if you would like the same eternal life as Lorna, follow her example by receiving Christ’s Means of Grace through His Word, which we gladly hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest, and through His Sacrament at the Lord’s Table as He serves forgiveness, life, and salvation!

 

Today, Lorna has come out of this great tribulation of our life now and is now clothed in Christ’s Robe of Righteousness as she is before the throne of God where she hungers no more, neither thirsts anymore as she is in the presence of her Lord Jesus Christ. But as much as we may believe that heaven is the end, it isn’t. For all the faithful in heaven, there is still something more on the horizon. St. Paul writes, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

 

Death does not have the final say. Life has the final say! Since Christ has been raised from the dead, we too, will also be raised! So, Lorna’s grave will be as empty as the grave of Jesus! The body buried will be the body raised on that glorious resurrection day!

 

I would like to leave you with some thoughts on one of Lorna’s favorite hymns, “Just as I Am.” Each stanza of that hymn begins with the same phrase “Just as I am.” That simple word “just” warrants our attention. That word “just” is not a coincidence. It is on purpose. It is speaking of the doctrine of justification, which is the doctrine by which the Church stands or falls. Justification is the grace that all have received when Christ took upon Himself our dirty rags of sin and gave us forgiveness, life, and salvation in return, so that just as we are poor, wretched, and blind, Christ’s cross has pardoned and cleansed us. His immeasurable love has set aside every barrier, and the believer is His alone by grace through faith, just as I am. This is why this hymn was beloved by Lorna and so many of us.

 

May you also receive the same forever joy and life that Lorna knew on earth and is now fully revealed in the Church Triumphant with the angels and archangels and her fellow saints in the Church Triumphant! Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Lorna Nemitz's Obituary: https://hantge.com/obituaries/lorna-nemitz/

Sermon for Pentecost 6: "Faithful Generosity" (2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15)

LISTEN

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine” (2 Corinthians 8:8).

 

I would like to describe two Christian congregations to you.

 

The first congregation lived in poverty. They paid high taxes and had only few jobs. Most in this congregation had very little to live on. On top of that, this congregation experienced extreme persecution. This congregation was not welcomed in its own city, as their members experienced unemployment, exclusion, and physical beatings for their faith.

 

This congregation would appear to be a prime candidate for another congregation’s help. But there, you’d be wrong. Despite poverty, exclusion from society, and beatings, this congregation gave generously. This congregation gave more than they could afford. They gave joyfully. They gave generously. They gave to fellow Christians they had never met and likely would never see.

 

Now, I’d like to describe to you another congregation. This congregation had members who had financial resources and were well known in the community. This congregation began a collection for another congregation in need about a year earlier. This congregation had a plan. They set aside money every week so that they would meet their financial goal to assist their sister congregation.

 

This second congregation sounds like a place that would have members who would be generous. But there, you’d be wrong. This congregation had fallen behind in their collection. They had slacked off. Their giving became irregular and then petered out. 

 

The poverty-stricken congregation gave generously, more than they could. The wealthier congregation failed in this act of grace; they slacked off.

 

Both of these congregations were very real. That first congregation is simply called “the Macedonians.” Since there is no “Epistle to the Macedonians,” who are they? Believe me, you have heard of them. 

The Macedonian congregations were located in Philippi and Thessalonica. St. Paul wrote of their faith and example in his epistles. The second congregation is the Church in Corinth.

 

Today, on this Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, St. Paul encourages the Corinthian Church toward generosity. So, in his plea for generosity, Paul is holding up the Philippians and Thessalonians as examples to the Corinthians.

 

Again, these churches in Macedonia were not wealthy. Yet, from the depths of their poverty, they overflowed in an abundance of generosity toward others in need. Plus, these Macedonian congregations were adamant about generosity. They begged Paul so that they could participate in the grace and fellowship of helping others in need.

 

Meanwhile, the Corinthian Church, which was financially well by earthly standards needed to be persuaded to assist their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who were in need. Now, Paul is very careful about this. Paul isn’t commanding and demanding the Corinthians to give. Rather, Paul is flattering the Corinthians as he says that they excel in many things and that they should also excel in generosity. So, using the Macedonian congregations as an example, St. Paul is attempting to persuade the Corinthians toward generosity. 

 

Generosity and stinginess – or “tightfistedness” – are not determined by how much wealth a person has. Generosity is a matter of the heart, a matter of trust, a matter of faith. So, St. Paul seeks to open the hearts of the Corinthians to trust in God more than in their earthly wealth, to trust in their Lord more than what’s in their bank accounts.

 

Congregations like the Macedonians and the Corinthians also exist today. 

 

Some are like the Macedonians. They want to give. They want to help. They can’t be held back from generosity. Other congregations are stingy. They are selfish. They can’t be persuaded toward generosity despite being abundantly wealthy.

 

But these aren’t the only types of congregations. There are also congregations that exist in the middle. They wish they could increase giving, but when the opportunity comes to increase giving, their minds turn to something else – a home remodel, a new car, or a dream vacation. 

 

Now, there is nothing sinful with remodeling a home, a new car, or a dream vacation, but more often than we may be willing to admit, these things that serve our own desires are quicker to reach our minds and hearts than the needs of others. Sin has us curved in upon ourselves. Sin leads us to give our scraps, rather than our first fruits to the church. This had happened to the Corinthian church, and St. Paul was encouraging them to bend away from their own self-interests and toward God and their neighbor.

 

Today, too many congregations struggle with unmet commitments, budget shortfalls, and lack of financial support. To this, St. Paul would say, “If you’re not giving generously each week, something has gone awry.”

 

Now, bending away from our own self-interests is not a painless endeavor. It requires sacrifice. It requires denying oneself.

 

Generous givers are not born that way. Generous giving is an attitude of being “reborn.” It is the salvation in Christ that inspires the sinner to a new life of service that includes unselfish, generous giving.

 

The Macedonians were not pressured into giving. It was out of “their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty [that they] overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part” (2 Corinthians 8:2).  They begged Paul to take part (2 Corinthians 8:4).

 

The Macedonians considered it a privilege, a gift of God’s grace, that they could be part of this offering. They saw this sharing of generosity as Christian fellowship. They saw this giving as a display of Christian unity.  These Macedonian Christians were expressing their fellowship, their unity in Christ, with their brothers and sisters in Christ through this offering.

 

For Paul, these Macedonians served as a great example and model for the Corinthian Church. However, Paul’s emphasis is not on the amount of giving, but on their attitude, an attitude that looks up on giving as a privilege, an attitude that says, “I give myself, and that includes my offerings, as a thank offering to my Lord who gave Himself first for me.” That, St. Paul says, is an example worth emulating.

 

So, what should we do here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church? Should we post financial giving statements on a church bulletin board to encourage each other to give more? No! That is not an example of generous giving. That only serves to puff up some and hurt others. 

 

Thanks be to God that we have both an example to follow and a Redeemer to save us from our sins of selfishness and stinginess: Jesus Christ. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Just think about that!

 

Jesus left the riches and glories of heaven to come down to earth. Jesus emptied Himself and took on our human form. And He didn’t live in any royal palace here on earth. He didn’t overthrow Rome so that He could take Caesar’s palace. No, Jesus had no place to lay His head. He wandered from town to town relying on the generosity of others.

 

And that wasn’t enough. He was arrested, beaten, mocked, and sentenced to death. He could have stopped it all. He had the power to stop it, but Jesus went to the cross stripped and bleeding to die a criminal’s death. A death that He did not deserve. But by Jesus’ poverty, we are made rich. By His wounds, we are healed. By His shed blood, we have peace. By His atoning death, we are given life everlasting.

 

From the depth of His poverty, His crucifixion on a cross surrounded by criminals, Jesus purchases and wins us from all sins, from eternal death, and from the power of the devil. Not with silver or gold, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.

 

Now, we are His. As forgiven and redeemed, we continually live under Him in His kingdom, serving Him in the everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness that He alone has given to us. So, like the Church in Corinth, you may have been less generous in the past. But the past is the past. In Christ, all sins are forgiven. And in Christ, we have the example of a generous attitude, who in His poverty, He has made you rich!

 

Jesus’ act of grace on the cross is the reason we ought to excel in generosity. Generosity ought to become second nature to us. Financial generosity should be seen like forgiveness. We give and we forgive, because Christ first gave of Himself everything for us! Generous giving in an act of faith knowing that the Triune God is the Giver who always provides our needs of body and soul! Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Voters' Meeting Devotion: "Imitating God the Father"

In Ephesians 3, St. Paul writes: ¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every father in heaven and on earth is named. 

All Fatherhood is named after the heavenly Father. Fatherhood is modeled after the heavenly Father. What does God the Father do for us? He created us and He protects us.

Fatherhood is a good gift of God given for the protection of children. Just like God the Father, earthly fathers protect their children. Earthly fathers find the perfect example for their own fatherhood in the Fatherhood of God the Father. It is God the Father who shapes, forms, and orders the fatherhood of man.

Yet, so often, instead of forming our fatherhood in God’s image, we end up with a skewed view of God’s Fatherhood because of our twisted image of earthly fatherhood. Modernism and modern life have made fatherhood optional at best, and at worst penalized it. Fallen man has redefined marriage and reconstructed fatherhood in our image and after our likeness, instead of God’s image and His likeness.

Our sinful flesh is destructive. Our sinful flesh is selfish. God the Father is not destructive. God the Father is sacrificial. He asks for nothing in return but faithfulness. He gives and gives and gives. He is selfless. 

As earthly fathers seek to imitate God in His Fatherhood, earthly fathers are to protect their children. Earthly fathers are to protect their children from fatherlessness. God the Father has ordered life in a very specific way. So, we must not pretend that fatherhood is optional or unimportant. 

Earthly fathers protect their children from Satan, who is waging war against the children of God and is seeking to devour our children (1 Peter 5:8). So, just as the father must be present at the supper table at home, the father must be present at the Lord’s Table. Satan is at war against fatherhood. Satan has caused his fallen world to call into question whether human fathers are necessary at all.

Fathers protect their children from Satan. This is the duty of fathers: to take their children to the Divine Service, raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, teach them all the Lord has done for them in redemption from slavery to sin, and instruct them in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). In these ways, fathers protect their children from the assaults of the devil.

This is the duty of fathers. Let us give thanks to our Heavenly Father from whom our human fatherhood is named who also protects the souls of His blessed children.

Let us pray. Compassionate Father, from whom all fatherhood is named, we give You thanks for earthly fathers. Give them confidence in their station and zeal for their task to care for their families faithfully. Make them examples to their children of godly life and love of Your Word. Bless their work of bringing up children in the fear and instruction of the Lord, and give them the comfort of Your absolution over all their shortcomings. Amen.