TEXT: Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Dear Doug and Allison… parents and grandparents… other family members, friends, and fellow saints of Zion congregation…
The text for this service of Holy Matrimony is Moses’ words from Genesis 2. But even more than Moses’ words, these words are the Word of God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth. In this simple phrase, God establishes and ordains marriage. No one should take this away from God and do with it as they please. It is the Father who said, “And the Two shall become One.” I must say, that I thoroughly enjoy the banners that are displayed here in the sanctuary. They beautifully and boldly proclaim this Word of God from Genesis 2
“And the Two shall become one.”
How interesting are the series of events that led to your wedding day, the day of you becoming “one.” The Father had this day planned, and nothing was about to foil God’s plan for the two of you. And while we might be tempted to point to mere coincidence or chance as the reason for this gathering today, I am here to tell you that your wedding day is no luck of the draw or chance meeting. God, the Creator, not only spoke to Adam and Eve on their wedding day and said, “and the two shall become one,” but God is here today and says to you, “Doug and Allison, you two shall become one flesh.”
Becoming one flesh is not something that the two of you have accomplished. The union of man and woman as one flesh in Holy Matrimony is something God does. Society has played havoc with God’s beautiful gift of marriage. This holy institution has been the target of many of the Devil’s schemes. The Devil loves to see God’s holy things made unholy. Doug and Allison, don’t be fooled. This wedding service of Holy Matrimony wherein God Himself joins the two of you as one flesh is something that the Devil hates… and he will do all he can to spoil it. He will provide temptations for you that will cause divisions so that you are no longer one… but two again. And he won’t stop until he’s put asunder what God has joined together.
And while you must be aware of this old evil foe, do not fear him. For remember that even as the Father has joined the two of you together as one flesh, he has already joined each of you to Jesus in that holy sacrament of Baptism. In your Baptism, God made each of you His own dear children. In your baptisms, the Father joined you to Jesus Christ and His innocent sufferings and death. St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” In your baptism the saying is also true, “and the two shall become one flesh” because in baptism you and Jesus became one… for the Scriptures teach us that you are in Christ and Christ is in you.
To be one flesh means simply that you Doug are to be a husband to Allison… and Allison, you are to be a wife to Doug. God has said that it is good for a man to leave his father and mother and be united to his wife. But to leave father and mother does not mean that they are no longer important or should no longer be honored. No, the fourth commandment is as valid and true after marriage as it is before marriage. In marriage, you will find your parents an invaluable blessing from God in new and different ways.
To be one as husband and wife means that you are to make each other your top priority. To be one in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for the mutual help, and support that each of you ought to receive from the other through thick and through thin, to laugh with one another and to cry together. To be one means that in your married life you will find delight in one another… to enjoy each others interests. To be one means to enjoy the blessings of children and to raise them up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord.
Most importantly, to be one is to remain in Christ Jesus, your Savior. And to remain in Him simply means that you regularly participate in the profoundly good blessings that God gives to you in Word and Sacrament. As husband and wife, sincerely hold fast to the old adage to “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the Word of God. Hold fast to the salvation which is yours in Baptism and make it a regular habit to receive the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
In this way, God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Sanctifier will ever keep you two as one from this day forward and through out you married life.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Good Samaritan
TEXT: Luke 10:25-37
25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Samaritan. It’s a word of honor and glory. If you are someone who is known as a Good Samaritan it says that you have given of yourself to help someone in need. A Good Samaritan is a lifeguard who jumps in to save a drowning child or a complete stranger who pulls a baby out of a busy street. Hospitals and nursing homes are named “Good Samaritan.” And many states have passed “Good Samaritan Laws” to protect citizens, doctors, and nurses from malpractice suits when they voluntarily help those in life or death circumstances. For us in America, “Samaritan” is a word of honor.
In first Century Jewish culture, the word “Samaritan” was like dirty, 4-letter word. Samaritans had some baggage in their history that goes back to at least when Solomon’s kingdom was divided into two kingdoms. Samaria was the larger kingdom with ten 10 tribes. To keep the ten tribes from going to the Jerusalem temple, the worship of golden calves was instituted as a national religion. The great prophets Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and Hosea urged the people to return to the worship of the God of Abraham. They would not listen. For their idolatry they were exiled and replaced by a mixed race of Israelites and pagans. They were called Samaritans. Their descendants still live in Samaria, and like their ancestors, they only accept the 5 Books of Moses and practice pagan rituals. What irony then, that a hated Samaritan would be the One that Jesus would extol as an example of how you are to inherit eternal life.
American culture was not the first to give accolades to one who is a “Samaritan,” but rather Jesus. The fact that Americans extol the title “Samaritan” is a tribute to the influence of Christianity in the United States. It is a compliment unmatched… to be a Samaritan means putting all that you are and have at the disposal of an injured person, even if that person is intent on your destruction. Perhaps in the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus is asking the impossible of us. Forgiving your enemies is one thing. Helping them is another.
While it is all too easy for preachers to pick on the ineptitude of Pharisees, in one sense this Pharisee must be commended. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” At least this Pharisee had the right question. While this Pharisee was concerned about life after death, too many today are obsessed with avoiding it. The overt preoccupation with eating the right foods and with exercise might be considered a pseudo-religion. The most important question isn’t, “If I die will I live again?” but rather “Is my cholesterol under 200? Are my triglycerides under control?” Healthy living is not a sin. But when it becomes your own path to immortality… and a religious desire to live life to the fullest now…. Thoughts of God, death, life after death, salvation and mortality are made to be silly, useless things.
Death is not a disease to be caught, but a birth defect in every man, woman and child since the day of Adam. Unless we ask the question the Pharisee asked, we may never hear God’s answer of how to obtain eternal life. Jesus gives this answer - Love the Lord your God with everything you are. This simply means to have faith (believe) in the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Any other god won’t do you any good. Secondly, you must love the neighbor more than you love yourself.
Jesus preaches to you the parable of the Good Samaritan not so much to tell you how to live, but to tell you about eternal life. In Jesus vocabulary, “Samaritan” becomes a one-word summary describing all you need to know about Christianity.
Christianity is all about the ONLY true Good Samaritan. Christianity is all about who a Jew called Jesus who allowed Himself be known as a despised Samaritan… or even about a Jew who allowed Himself to assume the nationality of every man, woman, and child… red or yellow, black or white.
Samaritans may have been hated, but none of them were as hated as Jesus was and still is. Jesus, the Good Samaritan, came to His own, but His own would not receive Him. The enemy of God was sinful mankind… it was each of you. And while the sinful flesh in each of you hates the Good Samaritan and desires only the worst for Him, Jesus loved you who act as Pharisees and unfaithful priests and Levites… you who were His enemies. He loved you all the way to the cross. He loved you as He suffered for you on Holy Thursday through Good Friday. He was beaten, scourged, crowned with thorns, and pinned to a cross while priests, and Levites and even His own disciples passed Him by and would not help Him. But they couldn’t help Him, nor did He want them too. In hanging on the cross Jesus was actually helping them. On the cross He died for those who have been beaten and robbed by the Devil and His demonic thieves. The Good Samaritan’s holy precious blood became the divine currency with which He says to His Father, “I have covered all their iniquity in full.”
Today, that blood of the Good Samaritan purifies you from all sin. Drink deeply from the chalice of the Good Samaritan. In eating His Body and drinking His Blood Jesus does not pass you by, but He comes to you who are beaten down in sin and problems, and sadness. In His Holy Meal, He nurses you back to health… and He restores your soul.
What shall you do to inherit eternal life? Absolutely nothing. Jesus the Good Samaritan has done everything for you.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Samaritan. It’s a word of honor and glory. If you are someone who is known as a Good Samaritan it says that you have given of yourself to help someone in need. A Good Samaritan is a lifeguard who jumps in to save a drowning child or a complete stranger who pulls a baby out of a busy street. Hospitals and nursing homes are named “Good Samaritan.” And many states have passed “Good Samaritan Laws” to protect citizens, doctors, and nurses from malpractice suits when they voluntarily help those in life or death circumstances. For us in America, “Samaritan” is a word of honor.
In first Century Jewish culture, the word “Samaritan” was like dirty, 4-letter word. Samaritans had some baggage in their history that goes back to at least when Solomon’s kingdom was divided into two kingdoms. Samaria was the larger kingdom with ten 10 tribes. To keep the ten tribes from going to the Jerusalem temple, the worship of golden calves was instituted as a national religion. The great prophets Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and Hosea urged the people to return to the worship of the God of Abraham. They would not listen. For their idolatry they were exiled and replaced by a mixed race of Israelites and pagans. They were called Samaritans. Their descendants still live in Samaria, and like their ancestors, they only accept the 5 Books of Moses and practice pagan rituals. What irony then, that a hated Samaritan would be the One that Jesus would extol as an example of how you are to inherit eternal life.
American culture was not the first to give accolades to one who is a “Samaritan,” but rather Jesus. The fact that Americans extol the title “Samaritan” is a tribute to the influence of Christianity in the United States. It is a compliment unmatched… to be a Samaritan means putting all that you are and have at the disposal of an injured person, even if that person is intent on your destruction. Perhaps in the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus is asking the impossible of us. Forgiving your enemies is one thing. Helping them is another.
While it is all too easy for preachers to pick on the ineptitude of Pharisees, in one sense this Pharisee must be commended. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” At least this Pharisee had the right question. While this Pharisee was concerned about life after death, too many today are obsessed with avoiding it. The overt preoccupation with eating the right foods and with exercise might be considered a pseudo-religion. The most important question isn’t, “If I die will I live again?” but rather “Is my cholesterol under 200? Are my triglycerides under control?” Healthy living is not a sin. But when it becomes your own path to immortality… and a religious desire to live life to the fullest now…. Thoughts of God, death, life after death, salvation and mortality are made to be silly, useless things.
Death is not a disease to be caught, but a birth defect in every man, woman and child since the day of Adam. Unless we ask the question the Pharisee asked, we may never hear God’s answer of how to obtain eternal life. Jesus gives this answer - Love the Lord your God with everything you are. This simply means to have faith (believe) in the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Any other god won’t do you any good. Secondly, you must love the neighbor more than you love yourself.
Jesus preaches to you the parable of the Good Samaritan not so much to tell you how to live, but to tell you about eternal life. In Jesus vocabulary, “Samaritan” becomes a one-word summary describing all you need to know about Christianity.
Christianity is all about the ONLY true Good Samaritan. Christianity is all about who a Jew called Jesus who allowed Himself be known as a despised Samaritan… or even about a Jew who allowed Himself to assume the nationality of every man, woman, and child… red or yellow, black or white.
Samaritans may have been hated, but none of them were as hated as Jesus was and still is. Jesus, the Good Samaritan, came to His own, but His own would not receive Him. The enemy of God was sinful mankind… it was each of you. And while the sinful flesh in each of you hates the Good Samaritan and desires only the worst for Him, Jesus loved you who act as Pharisees and unfaithful priests and Levites… you who were His enemies. He loved you all the way to the cross. He loved you as He suffered for you on Holy Thursday through Good Friday. He was beaten, scourged, crowned with thorns, and pinned to a cross while priests, and Levites and even His own disciples passed Him by and would not help Him. But they couldn’t help Him, nor did He want them too. In hanging on the cross Jesus was actually helping them. On the cross He died for those who have been beaten and robbed by the Devil and His demonic thieves. The Good Samaritan’s holy precious blood became the divine currency with which He says to His Father, “I have covered all their iniquity in full.”
Today, that blood of the Good Samaritan purifies you from all sin. Drink deeply from the chalice of the Good Samaritan. In eating His Body and drinking His Blood Jesus does not pass you by, but He comes to you who are beaten down in sin and problems, and sadness. In His Holy Meal, He nurses you back to health… and He restores your soul.
What shall you do to inherit eternal life? Absolutely nothing. Jesus the Good Samaritan has done everything for you.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Wedding of Brian Iehl to Shayla Degner
TEXT: 1 John 4:7-12, 19
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 19 We love because he first loved us.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Dear Brian and Shayla… parents and grandparents… other family members, friends, and fellow saints of Zion congregation…
The text chosen for this wedding service is from 1 John 4: 19, “We love because He first loved us.”
Weddings and Love seem to go hand in hand. Two people fall in love, get married, have children and live out their lives together. Somewhere in the midst of all that is love.
Love is one of those “good” four-letter- words, that can be chocked full of meaning or have very little meaning at all. Love in marriage has traditionally included the life-long commitment or union between a man and a woman.
Contemporary problems have seemingly destroyed this basic understanding of love. Love all too often has no permanence. It doesn’t seem to stick. The wedding knot is not tied tight enough. Too many marriages end in divorce today, even when at one time the couple was supposed to be madly in love and made a commitment before their God, their family and one another that they would love, honor and cherish one another in sickness and in health until death they do part.
Maybe the problem is that when two people think they have fallen in love, they really haven’t. Or maybe they really have fallen in love; but that love is a love that will not last… it’s a weak, imperfect love.
For those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, we have been given a different love then the kind that the world gives. It’s not a love that has anything to do with being beautiful, or warm fuzzy feelings, or even being kind, gentle, or thoughtful. Neither does it have nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, red roses, or strolls along a beach at sunset.
God’s Love is a love that loves you to death. The Scriptures tell us that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That means that God’s love is seen most clearly and perfectly on the cross. It’s in suffering and death that God not only says, “I love you,” but He actually does it.
The Good Friday story is God’s love story to all mankind. The Good Friday story is God’s love letter to all of humanity… God’s love is a sacrificial love. It’s a love that keeps on loving even when we in our sin are unlovable. It’s a love that never fails. It lasts for all eternity.
Brian and Shayla, you have been baptized into Christ. That means you have also been united with Him in His loving sacrificial death on the cross. Because you have known God’s love in His death and in your baptism, you know of a Love which is much greater than the kind of the Love that the world gives. God has and does love you in that He died for you. He washed away your sins. He gives to you the Divine Service where He loves you in Word and Sacrament. I know your family loves you. AND… I know that you love each other. But God loves you with a perfect Love that will never fail.
Brian and Shayla, may it ever be true of the two of you that your love is forever rooted in the Love of Jesus Christ. That you forgive one another in Jesus’ Name when you fail to keep your wedding vows. That you love one another so much that you speak Jesus to one another. That you raise your children knowing the love of Jesus. That you daily remember your baptisms and are faithful in hearing God’s Love and receiving His Body and Blood given for you in His House every Lord’s Day.
In this way, you will love each other in a way that this sinful world could never love. In this way you will love each other until death do you part because Jesus first loved you.
Amen.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 19 We love because he first loved us.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Dear Brian and Shayla… parents and grandparents… other family members, friends, and fellow saints of Zion congregation…
The text chosen for this wedding service is from 1 John 4: 19, “We love because He first loved us.”
Weddings and Love seem to go hand in hand. Two people fall in love, get married, have children and live out their lives together. Somewhere in the midst of all that is love.
Love is one of those “good” four-letter- words, that can be chocked full of meaning or have very little meaning at all. Love in marriage has traditionally included the life-long commitment or union between a man and a woman.
Contemporary problems have seemingly destroyed this basic understanding of love. Love all too often has no permanence. It doesn’t seem to stick. The wedding knot is not tied tight enough. Too many marriages end in divorce today, even when at one time the couple was supposed to be madly in love and made a commitment before their God, their family and one another that they would love, honor and cherish one another in sickness and in health until death they do part.
Maybe the problem is that when two people think they have fallen in love, they really haven’t. Or maybe they really have fallen in love; but that love is a love that will not last… it’s a weak, imperfect love.
For those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, we have been given a different love then the kind that the world gives. It’s not a love that has anything to do with being beautiful, or warm fuzzy feelings, or even being kind, gentle, or thoughtful. Neither does it have nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, red roses, or strolls along a beach at sunset.
God’s Love is a love that loves you to death. The Scriptures tell us that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That means that God’s love is seen most clearly and perfectly on the cross. It’s in suffering and death that God not only says, “I love you,” but He actually does it.
The Good Friday story is God’s love story to all mankind. The Good Friday story is God’s love letter to all of humanity… God’s love is a sacrificial love. It’s a love that keeps on loving even when we in our sin are unlovable. It’s a love that never fails. It lasts for all eternity.
Brian and Shayla, you have been baptized into Christ. That means you have also been united with Him in His loving sacrificial death on the cross. Because you have known God’s love in His death and in your baptism, you know of a Love which is much greater than the kind of the Love that the world gives. God has and does love you in that He died for you. He washed away your sins. He gives to you the Divine Service where He loves you in Word and Sacrament. I know your family loves you. AND… I know that you love each other. But God loves you with a perfect Love that will never fail.
Brian and Shayla, may it ever be true of the two of you that your love is forever rooted in the Love of Jesus Christ. That you forgive one another in Jesus’ Name when you fail to keep your wedding vows. That you love one another so much that you speak Jesus to one another. That you raise your children knowing the love of Jesus. That you daily remember your baptisms and are faithful in hearing God’s Love and receiving His Body and Blood given for you in His House every Lord’s Day.
In this way, you will love each other in a way that this sinful world could never love. In this way you will love each other until death do you part because Jesus first loved you.
Amen.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Healing of the Deaf & Tongue-Tied Man
TEXT: Mark 7:31-3731
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The American educational system has a category for children with speech impediments. They call it special education. These are children who don’t talk right. They sound funny. We treat them differently. They don’t fit our definition of normal.
Now add the problem of being deaf and you have a very unusual person. IN the United States today it is estimated that 1 in 20 Americans are hearing impaired or functionally deaf. Nearly half of these are age 65 years or older.[i] Almost everyone knows someone who has trouble hearing or struggles with hearing loss themselves.
As a child I had trouble with stuttering. Children are especially notorious for picking on others who aren’t normal. It’s like the chicken that draws a little blood - the more blood it draws the more vigorously it picks.
The man who was deaf and had the speech impediment was blessed with some Godly friends. They were not typical of many who are annoyed by people with disabilities. Rather they took him to Jesus and begged Him to lay his Hand on him.
This man was a candidate for special education. He probably would have qualified for welfare and other governmental services. Most people would have overlooked him. Some would have made jokes about him. “Pretty people” would have avoided him. Few, if any, would have shaken his hand let alone touch his ears and tongue. But not Jesus.
Jesus did even more than they asked. After taking the man to the side privately, Jesus puts His fingers into His ears, and after spitting He touched the man’s tongue.
Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ear? Jesus wipes spit on the man’s tongue? If Jesus weren’t the Holy Son of God, they might have thought this was another cruel joke. But Jesus was not joking. For the Scriptures call the man who deceives his friends with jokes nothing less than a fool. (Proverbs 26:19).
And then the Lord speaks, “Ephphatha! Be opened!” In other words, “Behold, I make all things new.” Where others tear down, Jesus builds up. Where Satan destroys, Jesus recreates.
With a Word Jesus stilled the stormy seas. With a Word He brings life to little girls and grown men. With a Word, Jesus changes the configuration of nerve cells s that they would work again and the deaf and tongue tied man would hear and speak plainly. It was a miracle.
Jesus loved this many intimately. He got into his inner space, his uncomfortable zone and touched the man right where it hurt. No, Jesus didn’t destroy the man and start over. Rather, Jesus took what was imperfect and made it perfect. He made beautiful what sin makes ugly.
In 1523 Dr. Martin Luther wrote a simple liturgy for sacrament of Holy Baptism. And… as is true of all our liturgy… Luther developed it entirely from the Word of God. After reading Mark 10 (People bringing little children to Jesus so that He might lay His hands on them – hmmm…. See a resemblance to this text?), Luther instructs the priest to lay his hand on the head of the child (in the very form of Jesus) and to pray the Lord’s Prayer. Then, the Priest was to take some of his own spit and touch the right hear of the child and say the Word of Jesus, “Ephphatha, that is, Be thou opened.” Then with the same spit on his fingers he was to touch the child’s nose and left ear and say, “But thou, devil, flee; for God’s judgment cometh speedily.”
Luther saw in this miracle of the tongue-tied and deaf man the miracle of Baptism. That even as this man was physically disabled, so is every person (you and me) born in sin, unbelief, unable of ourselves to know God, unable within our own power to find God. But God finds us in the sacrament of Baptism. God calls parents to faithfully bring their children to the fount of grace just as these Godly friends brought this disabled man. And there at that font the pastor acts in the stead and by the command of Jesus. So that the pastor must decrease and Christ must increase. There in Baptism, the water is the spit of Christ and the Word of God is that re-creating, life-giving, miracle working Word which does what it is sent forth to do. “I bapize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” In other Words, “Ephphatha! Be Thou opened.”
God has opened our ears to hear His Word in Baptism… so listen, gladly hear and learn it. Hear from God Himself how he has done all things well. That He makes deaf sinners hear the Word of God. That He opens the mouths of us who are confined with the lock-jaw of sin. That His perfect life, suffering, death and resurrection is given, granted, and bestowed to us as a free and unmerited gift in Baptism.
Behold! God in Christ Jesus has done all things well.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[i] http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/1/112
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The American educational system has a category for children with speech impediments. They call it special education. These are children who don’t talk right. They sound funny. We treat them differently. They don’t fit our definition of normal.
Now add the problem of being deaf and you have a very unusual person. IN the United States today it is estimated that 1 in 20 Americans are hearing impaired or functionally deaf. Nearly half of these are age 65 years or older.[i] Almost everyone knows someone who has trouble hearing or struggles with hearing loss themselves.
As a child I had trouble with stuttering. Children are especially notorious for picking on others who aren’t normal. It’s like the chicken that draws a little blood - the more blood it draws the more vigorously it picks.
The man who was deaf and had the speech impediment was blessed with some Godly friends. They were not typical of many who are annoyed by people with disabilities. Rather they took him to Jesus and begged Him to lay his Hand on him.
This man was a candidate for special education. He probably would have qualified for welfare and other governmental services. Most people would have overlooked him. Some would have made jokes about him. “Pretty people” would have avoided him. Few, if any, would have shaken his hand let alone touch his ears and tongue. But not Jesus.
Jesus did even more than they asked. After taking the man to the side privately, Jesus puts His fingers into His ears, and after spitting He touched the man’s tongue.
Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ear? Jesus wipes spit on the man’s tongue? If Jesus weren’t the Holy Son of God, they might have thought this was another cruel joke. But Jesus was not joking. For the Scriptures call the man who deceives his friends with jokes nothing less than a fool. (Proverbs 26:19).
And then the Lord speaks, “Ephphatha! Be opened!” In other words, “Behold, I make all things new.” Where others tear down, Jesus builds up. Where Satan destroys, Jesus recreates.
With a Word Jesus stilled the stormy seas. With a Word He brings life to little girls and grown men. With a Word, Jesus changes the configuration of nerve cells s that they would work again and the deaf and tongue tied man would hear and speak plainly. It was a miracle.
Jesus loved this many intimately. He got into his inner space, his uncomfortable zone and touched the man right where it hurt. No, Jesus didn’t destroy the man and start over. Rather, Jesus took what was imperfect and made it perfect. He made beautiful what sin makes ugly.
In 1523 Dr. Martin Luther wrote a simple liturgy for sacrament of Holy Baptism. And… as is true of all our liturgy… Luther developed it entirely from the Word of God. After reading Mark 10 (People bringing little children to Jesus so that He might lay His hands on them – hmmm…. See a resemblance to this text?), Luther instructs the priest to lay his hand on the head of the child (in the very form of Jesus) and to pray the Lord’s Prayer. Then, the Priest was to take some of his own spit and touch the right hear of the child and say the Word of Jesus, “Ephphatha, that is, Be thou opened.” Then with the same spit on his fingers he was to touch the child’s nose and left ear and say, “But thou, devil, flee; for God’s judgment cometh speedily.”
Luther saw in this miracle of the tongue-tied and deaf man the miracle of Baptism. That even as this man was physically disabled, so is every person (you and me) born in sin, unbelief, unable of ourselves to know God, unable within our own power to find God. But God finds us in the sacrament of Baptism. God calls parents to faithfully bring their children to the fount of grace just as these Godly friends brought this disabled man. And there at that font the pastor acts in the stead and by the command of Jesus. So that the pastor must decrease and Christ must increase. There in Baptism, the water is the spit of Christ and the Word of God is that re-creating, life-giving, miracle working Word which does what it is sent forth to do. “I bapize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” In other Words, “Ephphatha! Be Thou opened.”
God has opened our ears to hear His Word in Baptism… so listen, gladly hear and learn it. Hear from God Himself how he has done all things well. That He makes deaf sinners hear the Word of God. That He opens the mouths of us who are confined with the lock-jaw of sin. That His perfect life, suffering, death and resurrection is given, granted, and bestowed to us as a free and unmerited gift in Baptism.
Behold! God in Christ Jesus has done all things well.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[i] http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/1/112
Lora Caroline Hartje - A Sheep of the Good Shepherd
TEXT: John 10:27-28
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Dearest nephews, nieces, other family members, friends, and fellow saints of Zion congregation…
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This morning you gather together for two primary purposes. First you come together as those who mourn the death of an aunt, a friend and fellow coworker in the Lord’s Church. You have come to this service to hear the Gospel. This morning you will sing the Gospel in hymns, speak it in the liturgy, and hear it proclaimed from the pulpit. I suppose there are other things that you could do to try to ease the hurt, but none of them compare to the comfort given to us in the Gospel of our dear Savior, Jesus.
The second purpose for which you gather is to properly care for the earthly remains of Lora. And how is it that you do this properly? It is done with the resurrection in mind. Because the Scriptures teach that at the End of the Age there will be a resurrection of the dead, you bury Lora’s body knowing that it will rest until Christ comes on the Last Day.
The text chosen is John 10, where Jesus says, “27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” This was Lora’s confirmation verse.
Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd. A Shepherd was a farmer who kept sheep. Shepherds had chores to do every day (feeding and watering and cleaning up after them). Shepherds cared for the sick sheep; they protected them from wild animals; they kept them from straying away from the flock into any kind of danger.
So it was and is with Jesus. Except His sheep is not the four-legged kind with wool. Jesus’ sheep are those whom He has called by name in Baptism. To those whom Jesus has given faith; those are Jesus’ sheep.
To those of us who know Jesus as our Good Shepherd, He is the One who does the chores to take care of us. The Good Shepherd sends undershepherds (pastors) to feed His Sheep with the Word of God and the Sacrament (His Body and Blood). When we are week in either body our soul, He is our great Physician. And He is forever preaching both His Law and Gospel so that we might not stray away from His flock, the Church, into any kind of danger.
Lora Caroline Hartje was a lady who may have lived a seemingly private life, yet her life was full and plentiful. Last evening at visitation the family remembered one story after another about Lora. One of them was about how she would call the cats to come and eat. When other family members would try to call them, the cats wouldn’t listen at all. But when Lora called they always ran to the feed pan.
What a beautiful picture this is of Jesus the Good Shepherd. When Jesus speaks, His sheep hear His voice. They know Him. They follow Him. When we hear His Word rightly taught we know that we have not simply heard the opinion of a preacher or mother or father or even an aunt. When they speak Christ’s Word, we hear Christ. When they teach that Jesus lived a perfect life for sinners, we hear Jesus. When we are taught that Jesus also died for our sins and rose again defeating sin, death and the devil, we hear Jesus. That is the very definition of the Good Shepherd… The One Who lays down His life for His Sheep. We don’t hear fairy tales or wild imaginations. Those stories are true because they are the Good Shepherd’s story.
The 23rd Psalm is a Psalm that gives us another picture of the Good Shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters.” The psalm brings to mind Lora’s weed-free garden. It’s a psalm of thanksgiving to God for keeping us on the right way, comforting and protecting us in every danger through His Holy Word. God protects us from the weeds, from the problems in this world through the Gospel. He leads us into fresh grass and cool waters. In other words, He daily drowns the Old sinful Adam in each of us though remembrance of our baptism; through confession and absolution.
Lora was known as the “automatic yard light,” (because she was always there to greet a family or friend day or night or middle of the night when they pulled up to the house by turning on the yard light) so our Good Shepherd is also an “automatic yard light.” He loves to hear our prayers. We can call upon Him day or night with the most urgent petitions or even the most insignificant ones. He is always more ready to listen than we are to pray.
Lora was no doubt a pious Christian woman. She lived her entire life always serving others. She cared for Dale, Glen, and Gary as if they were her own children. She was a nanny to others as well. She was faithful unto death and gladly heard the Word of God Sunday after Sunday. She treasured family and was known for her kind ways of serving through preparing lunches for the boys in the field and caring for children in such a way that the boys would say that their “bottom never hit the ground.”
But Lora was also quick to confess that she was by nature sinful and unclean. That she had sinned in thought, word and deed. Her good and kind deeds did not earn her heaven… no, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, did that… but her good works were certainly evidence that she had and retained baptismal faith and that she was and is a sheep of her Good Shepherd. She loved to receive the Lord’s Body and Blood. During her last communion in the hospital she said every word of the communion liturgy and sang every canticle. Lora in her Christian life exemplified the Psalmist words, “I rejoiced when they said to me let us now go unto the house of the Lord.”
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, said of His sheep, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Lora Caroline Hartje is a sheep who has been given eternal life. Not even the Jehovah’s Witness who would frequent her house could pluck her out of His hand.
Lora has fought the good fight. She has received the crown of glory. She has a new residence in heaven and sits on the porch of her Heavenly Mansion. She is there with her parents, her brothers and sisters, and all the saints who have gone on before us. She is blessed to see her Good Shepherd face-to face forever and ever.
And make no mistake. This lady whom you love is alive and well in heaven. And while we bury her body today, you will see her again at the Resurrection. It will be cancer free. It will be a glorious body that will live forever and ever.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Dearest nephews, nieces, other family members, friends, and fellow saints of Zion congregation…
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This morning you gather together for two primary purposes. First you come together as those who mourn the death of an aunt, a friend and fellow coworker in the Lord’s Church. You have come to this service to hear the Gospel. This morning you will sing the Gospel in hymns, speak it in the liturgy, and hear it proclaimed from the pulpit. I suppose there are other things that you could do to try to ease the hurt, but none of them compare to the comfort given to us in the Gospel of our dear Savior, Jesus.
The second purpose for which you gather is to properly care for the earthly remains of Lora. And how is it that you do this properly? It is done with the resurrection in mind. Because the Scriptures teach that at the End of the Age there will be a resurrection of the dead, you bury Lora’s body knowing that it will rest until Christ comes on the Last Day.
The text chosen is John 10, where Jesus says, “27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” This was Lora’s confirmation verse.
Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd. A Shepherd was a farmer who kept sheep. Shepherds had chores to do every day (feeding and watering and cleaning up after them). Shepherds cared for the sick sheep; they protected them from wild animals; they kept them from straying away from the flock into any kind of danger.
So it was and is with Jesus. Except His sheep is not the four-legged kind with wool. Jesus’ sheep are those whom He has called by name in Baptism. To those whom Jesus has given faith; those are Jesus’ sheep.
To those of us who know Jesus as our Good Shepherd, He is the One who does the chores to take care of us. The Good Shepherd sends undershepherds (pastors) to feed His Sheep with the Word of God and the Sacrament (His Body and Blood). When we are week in either body our soul, He is our great Physician. And He is forever preaching both His Law and Gospel so that we might not stray away from His flock, the Church, into any kind of danger.
Lora Caroline Hartje was a lady who may have lived a seemingly private life, yet her life was full and plentiful. Last evening at visitation the family remembered one story after another about Lora. One of them was about how she would call the cats to come and eat. When other family members would try to call them, the cats wouldn’t listen at all. But when Lora called they always ran to the feed pan.
What a beautiful picture this is of Jesus the Good Shepherd. When Jesus speaks, His sheep hear His voice. They know Him. They follow Him. When we hear His Word rightly taught we know that we have not simply heard the opinion of a preacher or mother or father or even an aunt. When they speak Christ’s Word, we hear Christ. When they teach that Jesus lived a perfect life for sinners, we hear Jesus. When we are taught that Jesus also died for our sins and rose again defeating sin, death and the devil, we hear Jesus. That is the very definition of the Good Shepherd… The One Who lays down His life for His Sheep. We don’t hear fairy tales or wild imaginations. Those stories are true because they are the Good Shepherd’s story.
The 23rd Psalm is a Psalm that gives us another picture of the Good Shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters.” The psalm brings to mind Lora’s weed-free garden. It’s a psalm of thanksgiving to God for keeping us on the right way, comforting and protecting us in every danger through His Holy Word. God protects us from the weeds, from the problems in this world through the Gospel. He leads us into fresh grass and cool waters. In other words, He daily drowns the Old sinful Adam in each of us though remembrance of our baptism; through confession and absolution.
Lora was known as the “automatic yard light,” (because she was always there to greet a family or friend day or night or middle of the night when they pulled up to the house by turning on the yard light) so our Good Shepherd is also an “automatic yard light.” He loves to hear our prayers. We can call upon Him day or night with the most urgent petitions or even the most insignificant ones. He is always more ready to listen than we are to pray.
Lora was no doubt a pious Christian woman. She lived her entire life always serving others. She cared for Dale, Glen, and Gary as if they were her own children. She was a nanny to others as well. She was faithful unto death and gladly heard the Word of God Sunday after Sunday. She treasured family and was known for her kind ways of serving through preparing lunches for the boys in the field and caring for children in such a way that the boys would say that their “bottom never hit the ground.”
But Lora was also quick to confess that she was by nature sinful and unclean. That she had sinned in thought, word and deed. Her good and kind deeds did not earn her heaven… no, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, did that… but her good works were certainly evidence that she had and retained baptismal faith and that she was and is a sheep of her Good Shepherd. She loved to receive the Lord’s Body and Blood. During her last communion in the hospital she said every word of the communion liturgy and sang every canticle. Lora in her Christian life exemplified the Psalmist words, “I rejoiced when they said to me let us now go unto the house of the Lord.”
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, said of His sheep, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Lora Caroline Hartje is a sheep who has been given eternal life. Not even the Jehovah’s Witness who would frequent her house could pluck her out of His hand.
Lora has fought the good fight. She has received the crown of glory. She has a new residence in heaven and sits on the porch of her Heavenly Mansion. She is there with her parents, her brothers and sisters, and all the saints who have gone on before us. She is blessed to see her Good Shepherd face-to face forever and ever.
And make no mistake. This lady whom you love is alive and well in heaven. And while we bury her body today, you will see her again at the Resurrection. It will be cancer free. It will be a glorious body that will live forever and ever.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector
TEXT: Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why did the Lord have regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard? Was it because God was partial to shepherds (Abel being a shepherd) more so than grain farmers? No, for God plays no favorites. Was it that Abel had a bigger, better, more valuable offering? No, for God approves even the widow’s mite. Was it that God is simply unpredictable and temperamental and He acts without reason and without conscience? No, God is holy and righteous.
Answer: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous…” Heb. 11:4
The difference between Cain and Abel’s offering had nothing to do with what it looked like. Who knows? Cain’s offering may have been a more valuable offering, humanly speaking. But God is not into price tags. It didn’t matter how pretty, or expensive the offering was, God had only one thing in mind… and that, was saving faith. Anything and everything else simply didn’t matter.
Cain’s problem was that he was like the Pharisee… he trusted in himself that he was righteous because of what a great and holy person Cain was. Cain was self-righteous and treated others with contempt. Cain was in love the lyrics, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.”
There’s an age-old problem that infects everyone… Cain, the Pharisee, even Missouri Synod Lutherans. It’s the problem of “being right.”
“Being right” may be one of the most prevalent sins known both in and outside of the church today.
The Pharisee was being right in many ways. The Pharisee was right to pray… God commands us to pray (even unceasingly). The Pharisee was right to want to avoid sin… God commands us to lead a chaste and decent life. The Pharisee was right to fast (give up food to discipline the body). “Fasting and bodily preparation are indeed fine outward training.” The Pharisee was right to give his tithe, his 10%, to the Lord and not to withhold his gifts. The Lord commends cheerful givers and commands us to not let our right hand know what the left is doing when it comes to our offerings. The Pharisee was being right. But in all his “being right” he was dead wrong about one thing… the Pharisee trusted that his own works would make him right (justify) him before God.
In the church and in the world today we spend a lot of our time either trying to be right or to prove to everyone that we are. Today’s sermon is not so much a word of Law against those who never come to church, never pray, never give their offerings or stingily withhold their gifts (yes, there have been and will be sermons for these). Today’s sermon is especially for the one who is faithful in coming to the Lord’s house, is a regular or even big financial contributor, and is a law-abiding decent citizen who is puffed up in “being right.” For you who are so right that you thank God that your not like others who are less right. You argue and argue because you’re so convinced that you’re right and the other person is wrong that… you look down on them…. You think yourself better… You even whisper in your heart… “Thank God I’m not like them!”
Repent. Turn away from being right and be made right. Confess your sin as the tax collector did, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” That’s a beautiful prayer. It’s a prayer that says, “God, I am dead in my trespasses and sins. Even my most righteous acts are as filthy rags. Remove my sin. Atone for me. Wash me. Cleanse me. Restore to me that Peace that can be found in You. I am poor and needy. Take away my pride and fill me with humility.”
“God be merciful to me a sinner” is a prayer for sinners saved by grace through faith in Christ. It’s a prayer that acknowledges that I cannot “be right” rather “You Lord, have made me right.” It’s a prayer that is prayed with both eyes staring squarely at the bloody cross of Jesus Christ. It’s a prayer that confesses that Christ is my substitute, the Lamb of God, the mercy seat of God, the propitiation for my sin.
“God be merciful to me a sinner” is the prayer for one who is truly worthy and well prepared to receive Jesus’ Body and Blood. That one is you who have received faith. Received – as in given to you, not earned, not deserved, but given as a gift in Baptism through Water and the Word. “God be merciful to me a sinner” is the prayer for the one who has faith in these words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
In Jesus’ name.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why did the Lord have regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard? Was it because God was partial to shepherds (Abel being a shepherd) more so than grain farmers? No, for God plays no favorites. Was it that Abel had a bigger, better, more valuable offering? No, for God approves even the widow’s mite. Was it that God is simply unpredictable and temperamental and He acts without reason and without conscience? No, God is holy and righteous.
Answer: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous…” Heb. 11:4
The difference between Cain and Abel’s offering had nothing to do with what it looked like. Who knows? Cain’s offering may have been a more valuable offering, humanly speaking. But God is not into price tags. It didn’t matter how pretty, or expensive the offering was, God had only one thing in mind… and that, was saving faith. Anything and everything else simply didn’t matter.
Cain’s problem was that he was like the Pharisee… he trusted in himself that he was righteous because of what a great and holy person Cain was. Cain was self-righteous and treated others with contempt. Cain was in love the lyrics, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.”
There’s an age-old problem that infects everyone… Cain, the Pharisee, even Missouri Synod Lutherans. It’s the problem of “being right.”
“Being right” may be one of the most prevalent sins known both in and outside of the church today.
The Pharisee was being right in many ways. The Pharisee was right to pray… God commands us to pray (even unceasingly). The Pharisee was right to want to avoid sin… God commands us to lead a chaste and decent life. The Pharisee was right to fast (give up food to discipline the body). “Fasting and bodily preparation are indeed fine outward training.” The Pharisee was right to give his tithe, his 10%, to the Lord and not to withhold his gifts. The Lord commends cheerful givers and commands us to not let our right hand know what the left is doing when it comes to our offerings. The Pharisee was being right. But in all his “being right” he was dead wrong about one thing… the Pharisee trusted that his own works would make him right (justify) him before God.
In the church and in the world today we spend a lot of our time either trying to be right or to prove to everyone that we are. Today’s sermon is not so much a word of Law against those who never come to church, never pray, never give their offerings or stingily withhold their gifts (yes, there have been and will be sermons for these). Today’s sermon is especially for the one who is faithful in coming to the Lord’s house, is a regular or even big financial contributor, and is a law-abiding decent citizen who is puffed up in “being right.” For you who are so right that you thank God that your not like others who are less right. You argue and argue because you’re so convinced that you’re right and the other person is wrong that… you look down on them…. You think yourself better… You even whisper in your heart… “Thank God I’m not like them!”
Repent. Turn away from being right and be made right. Confess your sin as the tax collector did, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” That’s a beautiful prayer. It’s a prayer that says, “God, I am dead in my trespasses and sins. Even my most righteous acts are as filthy rags. Remove my sin. Atone for me. Wash me. Cleanse me. Restore to me that Peace that can be found in You. I am poor and needy. Take away my pride and fill me with humility.”
“God be merciful to me a sinner” is a prayer for sinners saved by grace through faith in Christ. It’s a prayer that acknowledges that I cannot “be right” rather “You Lord, have made me right.” It’s a prayer that is prayed with both eyes staring squarely at the bloody cross of Jesus Christ. It’s a prayer that confesses that Christ is my substitute, the Lamb of God, the mercy seat of God, the propitiation for my sin.
“God be merciful to me a sinner” is the prayer for one who is truly worthy and well prepared to receive Jesus’ Body and Blood. That one is you who have received faith. Received – as in given to you, not earned, not deserved, but given as a gift in Baptism through Water and the Word. “God be merciful to me a sinner” is the prayer for the one who has faith in these words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
In Jesus’ name.
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