Something That Hits Close to Home

A small request...please keep in your prayers the families of the young people killed by a gunman while swimming in northeast Wisconsin. Click here to read the story.

This shooting happened just outside my hometown of Iron Mountain, MI. In fact, the suspect in custody is from Iron Mountain, and my brother who is a paramedic was on the scene for this.

Considering that my wife and kids will be not many miles from there at a family cottage next week, I'm very thankful for the authorities who have caught this gunman. I'm not certain, but I think I may have swam at this place before where this tragedy occurred.

May the Lord of the resurrection comfort the families with the good news of Easter.

A Good Idea (IMHO)

Can someone tell me why we've never seen something like this in the LCMS? I don't mean that as a slam. It's an honest question. I think this is a good idea.

Kudos to our sister congregations in Lutheran Church-Canada. This is the sort of thing that should be discussed at circuit winkels and pastors' conferences. It's easy to say we're in agreement on doctrine. But how we practice that doctrine says a little more about how united we are.

How Far Is the Great Divide...

...between the ELCA and the LCMS?

A good friend of mine is an ELCA pastor and actually has served on the ELCA Task Force for Human Sexuality. Most observers seem pretty convinced that at the next Churchwide Assembly in 2009, the ELCA will officially hold the position that homosexuals should be ordained and their unions should be consecrated by the church. With that sort of departure from historic Christianity, the logical conclusion is that there will be many who will choose to leave the ELCA.

The question I then ask is, "Will those who leave the ELCA find a home in Missouri?" Or is the divide already too great? OR...has the LCMS been doing enough shifting of its own to compensate for the shift in the ELCA?

VBS Wrapup

I've kind of been away in blogging "limbo." I've had all sorts of ideas for blog posts, but have seldom had the ambition to actually sit down and write them. I just now even posted the sermons for the past three weeks. Man, am I getting lazy!

This past week, Shepherd of the Lake had its Vacation Bible School. Each year I insist that we use the Concordia Publishing House VBS curriculum. I simply can't understand the fad over Group Publishing. CPH is solidly Lutheran and, in my opinion, does a better job reinforcing the theme for the week. The one year (prior to my first call) that I had exposure to Group VBS, there were so many different themes to the daily messages that the kids had a hard time finding a coherence. This year, "Friendship Trek" focused on "Jesus, Our Forever Friend." I was afraid it would be kind of lame...Jesus is our "BFF?" Come on...

But "Friendship Trek" was really good. The kids latched on to the daily themes...all centering on how Jesus is the best friend we have, specifically through his death and resurrection. That came through loud and clear.

Again, I can't understand the trend of using non-denominational curriculum for VBS and Sunday school. Why would you want something that's expressly "not Lutheran." Why is something that is distinctly Lutheran so often considered a "bad thing?"

11th Sunday after Pentecost (July 27, 2008)

“Treasure Discovered!”
Matthew 13:44-52

INI

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Often times during the course of a sermon I will talk about the black and white nature of the Christian faith. For example, when Jesus talks about how to get to heaven, he says in John 14, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” That’s a black and white statement. In the question of how we are saved, there is one answer. Jesus is the only way. You will not find salvation in Islam…in Buddhism…in secular humanism. There is only one religion that leads to eternal life: the Christian faith. We talk about a lot of our doctrine in this way. We believe in infant baptism, because we believe that all of us are conceived in sin and all are in need of forgiveness. The Bible tells us to make disciples of all nations, and that includes little babies. Therefore we baptize them. We don’t say, “Well, it doesn’t really matter if you baptize babies or not…baptism gives them salvation. That’s not something you mess around with.

But there are other matters of the Christian faith that have a dual nature. For example, in the Lord’s Supper, what is it that we believe we receive? We believe that in the Lord’s Supper we receive both bread and wine and the body and blood of our Lord Jesus. What do we believe about the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ? We believe that he is both true God and true man. What is it that we believe about our personal nature? We believe that we are what the Latin language calls simul justus et peccator. “Simultaneously, a saint and a sinner.” In each of these cases, the Christian faith reveals a mystery to us. Two different things seem to be going on at the same time.

In order to understand the series of parables in our Holy Gospel for today, this is something we must come to grips with. Sometimes God’s Word can be telling us two things at the same time. Whenever we read something in the Bible, it’s helpful to ask that important Lutheran question you learned back in confirmation class: “What does this mean?” There are four different parables today. All of them talk about the “kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven is like: “treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” The kingdom of heaven is like: “a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” The kingdom of heaven is like: “a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.” And finally, the kingdom of heaven is like: “a master of a house, who brings out what is new and what is old.”

The obvious question before us is, “What do these parables mean?” All four of them refer to something valuable and involve a man showing great desire and care for that valuable treasure. Obviously the kingdom of heaven is very valuable…it’s when Jesus comes to bring the kingdom of heaven that he comes to forgive sins and offer mankind salvation and new life. That is, by far, the most valuable thing you and I could ever receive. Heaven is, quite simply, worth giving up everything. The treasures of heaven far surpass the treasures of earth. Each and every one of us should be prepared to give up anything and everything in a moment’s notice for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. If the choice comes between career and faith…choose faith. If the choice comes between family and faith…choose faith. If the choice comes between earthly comfort and heavenly reward…the choice is abundantly clear.

Jesus’ words place a heavy price on the kingdom of heaven…it costs everything! The man who hid the treasure sold all he had and bought that field. The merchant who found the pearl of value sold everything he had to get it. The problem is that there is nothing you or I possess that is capable of purchasing heaven for us. Even if you and I gave up all our earthly possessions…our heirlooms…our retirement funds…that would never earn us heaven. There is no good deed on earth you can perform that will earn you heaven. After all, the prophet Isaiah reminded us that all our righteous deeds are like “filthy rags” before God. It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve given to the church…it doesn’t matter if you’ve built hospitals in Africa for underprivileged children…it doesn’t matter what self-righteous deed you’ve performed or how much earthly “good will” you’ve accumulated. None of it will buy the field…none of it will buy that pearl.

And that’s where you and I find the key to these parables…think bread and wine, yet body and blood…think true God, yet true man. A man sells everything to buy the field…a man sells everything to buy the pearl…you and I are that man…and yet you and I can’t be that man. You and I have nothing to offer…nothing of value that will obtain the kingdom of heaven for us. So instead…the kingdom of heaven is not about what you and I do…but instead it’s about what Jesus does for us. You and I are the man who is to give up everything for heaven…but who have nothing to give. Jesus is the man who did give up everything in our place, for us. We are the treasure seekers…and yet we are the treasure itself that has been discovered by our Lord Jesus. These parables tell us about the lengths you and I should go to for the kingdom…and yet they also show us that the kingdom is all about Jesus going to the greatest of lengths for you and me.

St. Paul describes it this way: “(Jesus) made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” You do that for a treasure. And Jesus did that for you and me. You are the treasure…you are the pearl…you are the catch of fish…you are the valuable items put out for show. Christ died for you. He did it for you and regarded you as worthy of laying down his life. He carried all of your shame and sin and guilt upon himself and made you his treasure.

Back in June, for Father’s Day, the kids got me a DVD of the movie National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. I’m a big fan of historical adventures and I really enjoyed the first National Treasure movie. In this installment, Nicolas Cage plays Ben Gates, a famous historical treasure hunter. According to the story, his great-great grandfather, Thomas Gates, had hidden a clue to finding a lost native American city of gold called “Cibola.” The legend had Thomas Gates writing the clue to that treasure on a page of John Wilkes’ Booth’s diary. But that page was missing. Another man turns up early in the movie claiming to have the missing page to that diary, but rather than having a clue, it appears to implicate Ben Gates’ great-great grandfather as an accomplice in the assassination of President Lincoln. Ben Gates then goes on to try to find the treasure to clear his relative’s name. The treasure is then the key to his name being able to be cleared.

Many of us would like our name connected to treasure—and in the kingdom of heaven it is. Though people may look at you and me and say, “Oh that guy’s a horrible sinner,” or “This person’s a mess of a person,” God looks at us and says we are his treasure. In fact, the Bible has a special word that it uses to refer to God’s people as his treasure. That Hebrew word is segullah. It means “treasured possession.” You see it in our Old Testament reading today. “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” God first spoke that about his people Israel…they were his segullah…his treasured possession. Jesus tells us a parable about a man who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. He shows that God’s treasured possession is not just the people of the old covenant, but those of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. You and I are God’s segullah. We are the thing he values most. Jesus shows us just how much you and I are treasured by laying down his life…“selling everything” so we could be purchased as his people.

When God looks at you, he discovers a treasure…one worth paying any price to have. You need never fear where you stand in relationship to God, as long as there is Jesus Christ and his cross to pay for your sins. The kingdom that comes when Jesus dies on the cross is worth everything…and everything has been paid by the one who calls us his segullah, his “treasured possession.” In Jesus’ name…Amen.

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

10th Sunday after Pentecost (July 20, 2008)

“Wheat in a World in Need of Weeding”
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

INI

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I wonder how many people in the state of Minnesota are sitting back, very smugly right now. How many Minnesotans do you think are looking across the St.Croix River at all the “Sconnies” in a state of upheaval and thinking to themselves, “This is really nice?” Of course, the hero…the chosen one…the venerable icon of Wisconsin, Brett Favre, has caused all sort of turmoil for the Cheeseheads. First he was retired…then he wasn’t so sure…but the Packers don’t want him back…so he’s angry with the management of the Packers for mistreating him and lying about their intentions. Since Vikings fans have been tormented by Favre for the last 16 years, there’s a little bit of guilty pleasure in watching Public Enemy #1 go through all this chaos.

But there is an interesting scenario out there that has been proposed…what if Favre was somehow brought in to play for the Vikings? What if instead of wearing the green and gold with the ‘G’ on the helmet were traded for purple and a Viking horn. That would indeed be a very strange sight. He’s been the face of the enemy…the Packers for sixteen years. I know he is a great quarterback and that lots of Vikings fans would love to have him on their team. But I’m sure there are also a number of Vikings fans that aren’t so sure. How do you respond when the enemy looks like one of you? How do you know that he’s really on your side? When it’s late in the game against the Packers and the Vikings need a score, do you really know that he’s going to give it all for your team…against the team for which he sacrificed for so many years?

Though I’m sure everything will work out just fine for Brett Favre…for the Packers… and for the Vikings, it can be a difficult situation when you’re forced to distinguish the “good guys” from the “bad guys.” It can be even more difficult when the “bad guys” are wearing “good guy clothing.” Consider then the parable that Jesus tells his disciples about wheat and weeds. “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.” You will notice that it’s not until the wheat and the weeds have produced their fruit that it becomes apparent there are weeds among the harvest crop. The servants want to cut down the weeds, but the master tells them, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

The interpretation of the parable is then made clear: the man who sowed the good seed is Jesus, Satan is the one who sows wheat in the midst of the good seed, the good seed are “children of the kingdom” or Christians, and the weeds are those who do Satan’s bidding. At the time of harvest, Jesus sends his angels to gather all the evil and wicked who follow Satan to suffer eternal fires, but the children of God are gathered into heaven to live with Jesus forever. Here again, as you and I have heard many times before, there are very clear distinctions: there is Jesus and Satan…there are wheat and weeds…there is an eternal fire and an eternal rest. It’s black and white…but where there seem to be shades of grey is in the fact that both the wheat and the weeds look very similar. Until they produce fruit, there is no telling the difference between the two.

Jesus’ parable teaches us of a reality that is easy to forget. The “wheat” and the “weeds” of this world aren’t wearing special uniforms. It’s not as though “the children of the kingdom” are wearing purple and the “sons of the evil one” are wearing green and gold. No, you and I are called to look at the fruit being produced by both as the means of telling the difference. St. Paul explains very clearly in Galatians 5 what those fruits look like: “The works of the flesh are evident…sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Not all are “wheat.”

Where the wheat are planted, there are “weeds” as well. The weeds are hanging out where Christians are gathered. False teaching…false teachers…bad theology are all creeping around the Church of God…for Satan has deceptively planted them there. One of the refrains we often hear today is, “All that matters is that you believe in Jesus.” If Satan could get each and every Christian on board with that statement, he’d be the happiest thing on earth. “All that matters is that you believe in Jesus” does not say anything about what you believe about Jesus. Some people say they believe in Jesus, but they’re entirely focused on a Jesus who’s going to get rid of their sickness and give them a lot of money. Some people say they believe in Jesus, but they’re talking about a Jesus who sets the example for living a good life. Some people say they believe in Jesus, but they believe he’s just a good teacher who gives good advice. If Satan could get us all on board with, “All that matters is that you believe in Jesus,” he would have us all neglecting the details of Jesus’ ministry that were pointed at the cross where he would suffer and die for sins and the empty tomb from whence he rose to life to give us new life.

And yet the distinction between wheat and weed hits much closer to home than you might think. A closer examination of ourselves reveals that there is both wheat and weed in each and every one of us. That much was made clear on the day that we were baptized when we were put to death with Christ. St. Paul in Romans 6 says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Every time that you and I gather before the altar in confession of our sins, you and I recognize that we are weeds in need of being cut down. But when the words of forgiveness are spoken to you, Jesus says, “You are wheat…I have died for you to cut down the sin within you. I will gather you into my heavenly barn. I will free you from the evil and destruction of this world.”

The main point of this parable that Jesus has for you and me is just how much he loves the wheat. He does not allow his angels to go about the world, allowing them to strike down anything that looks like a weed. Those of us who are guilty of weed-like behavior (all of us!) can rejoice that our Lord is patient in that regard. The words of our Introit this morning capture that beautifully…Psalm 86: “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” There are times where you and I come into contact with the weeds of the world and you and I wish that God would visit his vengeance upon the world…every time there’s a story in the news about a parent who brutalizes a child…a family who is now without a father because of a roadside bomb in Iraq…I suppose you and I would rather the Lord would act quickly and swiftly in weeding out the weeds of this world. But because our Lord so loves the wheat…with a love that is expressed in the death of Christ on the cross…he shows his patience and promises that his love will be made known to all on the Last Day.

This parable sounds…at first…really negative. There’s all this talk about weeds being burned. And like one who has a twisted pleasure in the suffering of Packers fans, there is the temptation to find joy in the fact that the weeds will be burned with a “fiery furnace…with weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But in God’s love, he is patient so that all people might put to death the weed within each of them and see the wheat of God’s Word that is planted in our hearts. This parable is not about the destruction of the weeds…again…it’s about how much God through his Son Christ loves the wheat. He shows that love in his patience…he shows that love through the cross…he shows that love in the harvest when he gathers us into his barn. In Jesus’ name…Amen.

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

9th Sunday after Pentecost (July 13, 2008)

“The Father’s Outrageous Love”
Romans 8:12-17

INI

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Television is full of “outrageous” fathers. Whether it’s animated shows like “The Simpsons” or “Family Guy”…or the sitcoms that peek into the lives of dysfunctional families… the fathers that we see on the TV screen could hardly be considered examples. They are very seldom any sort of role model for their children. They are, quite often in fact, bumbling idiots who are there to produce a laugh, rather than instill the values of good parenting. Lately we’ve heard several ways in which the culture sees the place of the father disappearing. It’s now being said that single women are actually choosing to get pregnant without a father in place to be there for the child. We’ve seen studies on how problems in the father-son relationship are connected to homosexuality, and how problems in the father-daughter relationship are connected to unwanted pregnancies and abortions. One could even go so far as to say that the American father is a dying species.

All earthly fathers would do well to follow the example of our Heavenly Father. But the Heavenly Father shows us in our readings today that he possesses outrageous qualities as well. The theme for today’s sermon is “The Father’s Outrageous Love.” Now the word “love” does not occur in our text from Romans 8, nor does it occur in the other readings for today either. But as you and I glance through our three readings for this morning, it becomes easily apparent that the Father truly does have an outrageous love for his people…a love that cannot be matched by any other and a love that truly goes beyond our wildest expectations.

Let’s look first at the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 55. There the Lord speaks through the prophet about how he sends “rain and snow that come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” God does not abandon this fallen creation, but continues to nourish it and care for it, despite how mankind has destroyed it with sin. But God speaks of the rain and the snow to compare it to his Word that he gives to you and me to nourish us and feed us. And he’s persistent with that Word, saying, “so shall be the word that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God the Father persists with his Word…he does not let it return to him empty. He vows to make it do what it is supposed to do…change the hearts of people.

Our Holy Gospel for this morning gives us another concrete example of the Father’s “outrageous love.” In this parable of Jesus, the Father is depicted as a sower who sows the seed of his Word in all kinds of soil. Notice how outrageously…how liberally the Father sows his seed. I’m sure many of you have planted a garden before, or some type of flower or plant. You don’t put seeds on your driveway. You don’t put seeds in the weeds next to the house. You don’t just dump them on the corner of your yard. You make sure the soil is nutritious and prepared for producing the plant you want. That’s not how God sows the seed of his Word! He sows it on the path…he sows it in the rocky soil…he sows it in the weeds…and he sows it on the good soil. God shares his Word with the hearts of all people…he doesn’t speak his Word only to faithful children, but also to those who reject him and defile his name. He speaks his Word to the reluctant…to the weak…to the straying. He puts his Word everywhere. And as the Old Testament reading shows us, his Word works…it does things.

But perhaps the most outrageous example of the Father’s love is found in our Epistle today. And even though the word “love” isn’t found in the text, it still speaks to this very issue. As you and I saw in the Gospel for today, God doesn’t discriminate in who he shares his Word with…where he sows that seed. Not only does God share his Word with everyone…he also offers the adoption of a son to each and every person who comes into contact with that Word. God calls you and me to be his children. St. Paul writes, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Also, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

What sort of people does God call to be his children? Slaves! People who are slaves to their flesh! In today’s world where people can go to a genetics lab and predetermine their child’s gender before conception…where a woman can choose a sperm donor with all the physical and mental capabilities of her choosing…where countries order pregnancies terminated in the name of population control…God does something outrageous…he chooses the rejects. I read a quote this week from Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, who was interviewed by Mike Wallace. She said, “I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world—that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practically. Delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things just marked when they’re born. That to me is the greatest sin—that people—can commit…”

As disgusting as Ms. Sanger’s words are…they could be applied to you and me as sinners. She says having a child is a sin because that child can become a “delinquent…a prisoner…have disease.” And yet those very same words are the words that can be used to describe you and me. St. Paul today calls us “debtors.” At one time we were debtors “according to the flesh.” Because of our sin and wickedness, you and I were slaves and debtors to our own bodies…giving in to their desires and their passions. Think about that the next time you’re tempted to ridicule someone…the next time you want something in greed…the next time you lust after someone or something. That’s slavery when you give in to those things. Those things are death. Those things are wickedness and destruction that separate us from God. Those things make us “delinquents…prisoners…diseased.”

And that’s who God chooses to adopt as sons. Keep in mind that when Paul writes “sons” he’s referring to men and women alike. It was always the firstborn son who got the best inheritance. It was always the firstborn son who had the father’s favor. God makes you and me, brothers and sisters in Christ, his sons. He does that by giving us his Holy Spirit that gives us the power to call upon him…to recognize him as our Heavenly Father. Only by the Holy Spirit can you and I call out “Abba! Father!” Only by the Holy Spirit do you and I understand our right relationship with God. God has chosen each and every one of you…God has chosen me…to be his sons, delinquents, prisoners, and diseased though we are. How outrageous is that love!

If you and I are then the ones who receive the adoption as sons, freed from slavery to the flesh, to sin, to fear…that means we are heirs with Jesus Christ. It means God has promised eternity in his blessed care to each and every one of us. He chose us delinquents to be his children…his sons…by rejecting the one perfect Son he had. He sent Jesus to the cross, the one perfect Son who deserves the Father’s favor, for the sake of those of us he would adopt. When Jesus hung from the cross, he cried out to the Father. He cried out, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” And on that Good Friday, the Father turned his back on the perfect Son. He turned his back on those cries and allowed the Son to die…all for the sake of the “delinquents …the prisoners…the diseased.”

And by doing so, God the Father revealed his outrageous love to you and me. Again, that word “love” isn’t mentioned in our three readings for today, but that word is the center of the Introit we spoke towards the beginning of the service. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” That word “steadfast” describes God’s love as unmoving, unshakable, and unwavering. That God could be so slow to anger towards us and instead act towards us with such steadfast love is truly outrageous. That God could persist in placing his Word in the hearts and lives of all people is truly outrageous. That God is so generous and almost careless in the way he sows his Word everywhere is truly outrageous. That you and I can sit here today and call ourselves “children of God…even sons” is truly outrageous. Such love coming from a father is not often seen today. But you and I gather this morning in the bold confidence that the Father’s outrageous love is for each and everyone of us as sons of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, come to us through the Word of God sown generously among us. In Jesus’ name…Amen.

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