Category: Sermon Page

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 14, 2022

“By Faith Let Us Also Run the Race” (Hebrews 11:1 – 12:3)

Whether you like it or not, you are in a race. It’s a long-distance race, more like a marathon than a sprint. It will not be easy. It will take endurance to complete the course. Do you have what it takes? That’s an important question, because it is imperative, it is absolutely necessary, that you make it to the finish line. If you don’t, if you drop out of the race, you lose everything. But if you do cross the finish line and reach the goal, you will gain a victory that is better than any other. That’s how important this is.

So to find out that there are others who have run the race and reached the finish line, you might want to know what their secret was. And, surprisingly, it’s not because they were all such talented runners. In fact, they were people just like you and me. Which gives us hope that we too can make it to the end. And so our theme this morning: “By Faith Let Us Also Run the Race.”

Our text is from the Book of Hebrews, a combination of last week’s Epistle, the first part of Hebrews 11, along with today’s reading, the rest of chapter 11 and the beginning of chapter 12. It makes for a long reading, but then, this is a long race we have to run.

Hebrews 11 is the famous chapter known as the “Hall of Fame of Faith.” It is a remarkable run-through of the whole of the Old Testament, highlighting the well-known heroes of the faith that you may recall from your Sunday School lessons. Abraham, Moses, David, and many more, are cited as examples of those who accomplished amazing things as they ran the race set before them. But what is it that enabled them to do these amazing things?

Well, look at the refrain that runs throughout this chapter. Do you see it? Take a look: “By faith Abel. . . . By faith Enoch. . . . By faith Noah. . . . By faith Abraham. . . . By faith Sarah. . . . By faith Isaac. . . . By faith Jacob. . . . By faith Joseph. . . . By faith Moses. . . . By faith Rahab. . . .” In all, the phrase, “by faith,” or its equivalent, “through faith,” occurs over twenty times in the forty verses of Hebrews 11. It seems a point is being made.

And the point is not that all these people were superhuman golden saints who had no flaws. No, not by a longshot. You know, sometimes we refer to these folks as “heroes of the faith.” Well, that’s something of a misnomer. These Old Testament characters did not always live such heroic or virtuous lives. One of the distinctive features supporting the authenticity of the Bible, compared to texts from other religions, is that the Bible lets us see these people in their full humanity, warts and all.

For instance, Abraham at one point got impatient waiting for God to deliver on his promise, so he took up with a concubine and had a son by her. Sarah laughed at the idea of her having a child at her age. Jacob was a trickster who cheated his brother out of his birthright and blessing. Moses killed a man in anger. The people who crossed the Red Sea worshiped a golden calf and were always grumbling and complaining. Rahab had been a prostitute. Samson let himself get seduced and lost his strength as a result. Jephthah made a rash and impetuous vow that cost the life of his daughter. David–David, for goodness’ sakes!–King David was an adulterer and a murderer!

So these were not perfect, faultless superheroes. No, in many ways they were people just like you and me. And yet they overcame many obstacles and pressed on and eventually reached the finish line. So there’s hope here for stumbling saints the likes of us. I know I’m no superhero. Oftentimes in my life I have taken a wrong turn before getting back on course. Oftentimes I have tripped and fallen, or just felt like giving up, and then I had to pick myself up and get going again. Maybe you can look at your own life and see the same.

I know I’m no superhero, but I also know I have the same thing that enabled those saints of old to run the race and finish the course. And that’s faith. Now the faith that enabled them and will enable you and me to run the race–this faith is nothing that you have to come up with on our own. Faith is not some magical quality in you that you have to muster up by dint of your determination and firm resolve. If that were the case, you could never be sure that you had faith enough. It would be a rather shaky foundation on which to build.

Rather, the firm foundation for your faith is found in God’s almighty, infallible, and trustworthy Word. God’s word of promise is utterly reliable. You can stake your life on it. You can stake your eternal salvation on it. “How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!”

The saints of Hebrews 11 were not perfect people, and neither are we. But they and we have God’s perfect promises to rely on. That’s what it means to run the race and reach the goal “by faith.” God’s word of promise will sustain you and strengthen you as you look toward the finish line and see the goal that is in store.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.” That’s the way it was for those Old Testament saints. They had received God’s promises, but they were still waiting for the arrival of the things promised when they died. “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar.”

God had given the promise of a Savior to come, who would stomp on the serpent’s head and reverse the curse of death–God had given that promise ever since the fall into sin. And that promise was reinforced and refined time and time again over the centuries. To Abraham the promise was that through Abraham’s seed–that is, through Isaac and Jacob and the tribes of Israel–all the families of the earth would be blessed. To King David the promise took further shape that David’s son, one of David’s descendants, would reign as the great messianic king, who would rule over an everlasting kingdom of glory and blessing. These Old Testament saints had the promise of the coming Christ, and by faith they were looking forward to his coming, but they didn’t live long enough to see him arrive.

We in the New Testament era have seen him arrive. But even for us, we still need to live by faith. We have not seen with our eyes Jesus performing his miracles of healing. We have not heard with our ears Jesus preaching and teaching. We have not seen Jesus risen from the dead, like his apostles did. But we have their testimony. And their New Testament witness–along with the testimony of that whole cloud of Old Testament witnesses–their witness rings true to ears opened by the Holy Spirit. God creates faith in our hearts through his living. life-giving, and efficacious Word.

“Therefore,” our text says, as we move into chapter 12, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” This is a spiritual race, so even an old guy with achy knees like me is able to keep going. But it being a spiritual race doesn’t mean it’s any less challenging. In fact, it is more so. You have the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh working against you. They would pull you off course, discourage you, and get you to quit and give up. Don’t listen to them. Keep on running. If you fall, get back up. God will help you. Keep on running, keep on running.

And keep your eyes on the prize. Keep your focus on Jesus. “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus came to complete the race set before him, and how blessed we are that he did! Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. He knew the suffering and agony that awaited him there. Still, he went. He was determined to do the will of his Father and to win your salvation. It meant the way of the cross. But this was the only way for him to gain your forgiveness, by shedding his blood on your behalf, as the sacrifice for your sins. This is how Jesus defeated death for you, as his own resurrection shows forth. Knowing what his sacrificial death would accomplish–namely, the salvation of the world and your eternal life–this was the joy set before him that gave Jesus the strength to endure.

Now risen, ascended, and seated at the right hand of God, our Lord Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. He is the founder. His life, death, and resurrection–this is the sure foundation of our faith. He is the perfecter of our faith. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, keep attentive to his word, as week after week you come here to receive his forgiveness and be strengthened in your faith. Keep looking to Jesus, and you will be amazed at how God is able to keep you–like the saints who have gone before us–how God is able to keep you running the long-distance race set before you with endurance.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
August 7, 2022

“Do Not Be Anxious about Your Life” (Luke 12:22-34)

In the Holy Gospel for today, Jesus says, “Do not be anxious about your life.” Really, Jesus? Are you kidding me? “Do not be anxious”?? How can you say that? I mean, look at my life. There’s so much to be anxious about! Take my personal finances, for instance. Since January 1, year-to-date, in just seven months my individual retirement accounts are down almost $9,000. And this, for an individual approaching retirement! In these past seven months, I’ve had to buy a new phone and a new used car. During this same time, I’ve had to have a health checkup, dental work, and two eye surgeries, which were not all covered by insurance. Gas, groceries, rent–all up, substantially. Inflation this year has been the highest it’s been in decades. Well, you get the picture. And for many of you, the picture has been equally as bleak.

And what about all the people in our area who have suffered major losses from the torrential downpours and the flash flooding of the last couple of weeks? Are you going to tell them to cheer up and put on a happy face? How in the world could Jesus say, “Do not be anxious about your life”? Was he just being the Pollyanna of Palestine? Out of touch with reality?

No, far from it. In fact, Jesus was and is very much in touch with reality. It’s just that he sees a far greater reality than we often take into account. He sees the bigger picture, both for our present life and for our eternal future. And so now let’s see what Jesus sees and takes into account when he tells us, “Do Not Be Anxious about Your Life.”

Jesus says to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” Well, that’s true, I guess. Think of the rich fool, from last week’s lesson. He had all the wealth anyone could want. His only problem was, “Where am I going to put all my stuff?” So he said to his soul: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him: “Thou fool! This night thy soul shall be required of thee! Whatcha gonna do with all your stuff then?” Or think of the rich man and poor Lazarus. The rich man wore fine clothing and feasted sumptuously every day. But when he died, he went to hell, while poor Lazarus was escorted into heaven by angels. I guess life really is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

But still, there is this matter of having enough to live on in this life. And even though we complain about losses on our investments and the rising cost of living–even so, we Americans are still better off than 99% of folks throughout human history and even in our world today. That’s part of the bigger picture, too.

And Jesus broadens our view beyond that. He says, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” Last week Susan and I got to consider the pelicans. We would see them flying overhead, looking down at the ocean, and then they would circle back and suddenly dive-bomb down into the water to grab their supper. That’s how God provided for them. And God provides for us too. Maybe we can’t dive-bomb into the ocean like the pelicans, but we still eat pretty well. Maybe too well! We get anxious about our waistline!

So then we get anxious about our clothing! Should I buy new clothes now or wait until I can lose some weight? Of course, I’ve been asking that question for three years now! Or the wife asks, “Do these pants make my butt look big?” Husbands, do not answer that question! It’s a trap!

Man, we do get worried about the picayunest of things, don’t we? We’ve got it so well, and still we’ve got things to kvetch about. But even if our situation was more serious–and for many people it is–Jesus would direct us away from anxiety and toward faith in our Father to take care of us: “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”

“Little-faith ones”: That’s who we are, and that’s our big problem. We don’t trust God to take care of us. That’s been man’s problem from the beginning. God gives us a whole garden to live in, with plenty to eat, and yet we think that God is holding out on us. The Lord provides food and drink in the wilderness, and yet we grumble. This lack of trust in God and his goodness is our basic problem.

But Jesus would instill faith in us. He directs our attention to God and his care for us. If God provides for the birds and the lilies, how much more will he care for you! God created man in his own image, in own likeness–not the ravens. God made man as the apex of his creation–not the lilies of the field! Your heavenly Father cares for you! That’s the bigger picture. That’s the reality that Jesus sees–and he shows us!

“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” The people of this world are obsessed with material possessions and having enough stuff. That’s all they can see. But we who are followers of Christ–we have had our eyes opened to see a bigger reality. We know a heavenly Father who loves us and takes care of us. We don’t have to guess at that or grope around in the dark. We have had our eyes opened. We have seen the light, the light of Christ our Savior. In him we know a gracious God.

And so we have a higher priority than just food in our bellies and clothes on our back. Those are important, and our Father knows that we need them. And he will provide, sometimes in ways we don’t know at the moment. We have our daily bread, and even if we don’t know where next week’s bread will come from, it will be there when we need it. Trust in God to provide. He will.

But the higher priority is to seek God’s kingdom. How does God bring us into his kingdom? Through Christ. In him. As sinners, we were outside of God’s kingdom. We were lost and didn’t know the way in. We were under the sway of Satan, stuck in his domain of darkness. But God loved us so much that he sent his own Son to rescue us, to redeem us, to liberate us from death and hell and the devil. Jesus came in the flesh to do the job. Which he did, by living the holy life that God requires. By dying the sinner’s death that we deserve. His blood, shed on the cross, cleanses us from all sin and wins our forgiveness. Heaven is now open. Baptized into Christ, we have changed kingdoms. We have entered a new and much greater reality.

“Seek his kingdom”: This is our new priority in life. And we seek God’s kingdom by seeking out where he is giving out his gifts on a regular basis. We find these kingdom gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation–we seek them and we find them here at church, in and through the means of grace, Word and Sacrament. Seek, and ye shall find.

What’s more, the big picture gets even bigger: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It’s a gift! We didn’t do anything to merit this new kingdom. It’s all by grace. The kingdom is ours, and it’s purely out of God’s good pleasure in Christ. When Jesus was born, the angels sang, “Peace to men out of God’s good pleasure.” When Jesus was baptized, the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” The source of our salvation is God’s good pleasure, not our good works. And this makes it something we can rely on, because the promise depends on God, not us. Jesus moves us from fear to faith.

From fear to faith, and thus to freedom. Knowing that God will take care of our needs in this present life, and knowing that our Father has gifted us with his eternal kingdom, now we are free to live life in faith and hope and love. As Jesus says: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a treasure the world does not know. We have a life that consists in far more than food and clothing and the things the world worries about. We have been given life in God’s kingdom. We have been given the life of Christ: forgiveness life, resurrection life, new and eternal life. That changes things. That changes us. We have a new outlook. God has opened our eyes to see what Jesus sees. And so it is not crazy talk when Jesus tells us, “Do not be anxious about your life.” No, because Jesus moves us from anxiety and fear to faith and hope and love.

Guest preacher: Rev. Kevin Robson, LCMS Chief Mission Officer

Old Testament Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26

Epistle: Colossians 3:1-11

Holy Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Grace Lutheran Church (LCMS)

Guest Pastor: Rev. Robert Zagore, LCMS Executive Director of National Mission.

Sermon Text: Luke 11:1-13

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” ² And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
³ Give us each day our daily bread,
⁴ and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
July 17, 2022

“Distracted Discipleship and the One Thing Needful” (Luke 10:38-42)

Are you anxious and troubled about many things? Does your busy-ness distract you from the one thing needful? If so, join the club. That’s where I find myself all too often. But if that’s you too, then our message today is what you need to hear. For Jesus is in the house today, and when Jesus speaks, we need to listen. And so our theme this morning: “Distracted Discipleship and the One Thing Needful.”

Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, from Luke chapter 10. Jesus enters a village. We know from elsewhere in the gospels that this village is Bethany. Two sisters live there, Martha and Mary. I mention Martha first, because she seems to be the one running the household. It says that Martha welcomed Jesus “into her house.”

What else do we learn about Martha? Well, I’m going to go ahead and call this woman “the Martha Stewart of Bethany.” Like Martha Stewart, this Martha is “the hostess with the mostest.” She pulls out all the stops for her honored guest. She’s busy, busy, busy, getting things ready. I can just see her in the kitchen, preparing the hors d’oeuvres: crab cakes, deviled eggs–no, wait, scratch the deviled eggs. And ixnay on the crab cakes too; they’re not kosher. Better go with the gefilte fish and chopped liver paté.

Martha is hustling back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room: getting out a nice table runner, putting a beautiful hydrangea arrangement on the table as the centerpiece. So many things to do to make things nice for Jesus!

Meanwhile, what is her sister, Mary, doing to help? Nothing! “Are you kidding me?” Martha thinks to herself. “I’m out here slaving away, while my sister is in the living room, just sitting on her behind!” Yeah, Martha, your sister Mary is sitting is in the living room, alright, because that’s the room where the living Lord Jesus is, and he’s giving out his words of life to those who will listen.

But Martha doesn’t get that yet. She’s preoccupied with all the preparations. So she goes and complains to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” Yeah, you tell him, Martha! Then he can tell Little Miss Lazybones to get off her duff and get out to the kitchen!

But no, Jesus does not do that. Instead, he’s got a word to say to Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

This is a rebuke from Jesus, but it’s a gentle one. He’s not blasting away at her, like he does with the scribes and Pharisees. He’s giving her a kind correction. You can hear it in his voice: “Martha, Martha,” he begins. When someone does that repeating of a name in the Bible, it usually conveys an attitude of care and concern and love. Think of David saying of his son, “Absalom, Absalom”; or Jesus saying to Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon”; or Jesus lamenting over the city, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.” Here it’s “Martha, Martha.” What Jesus is about to say is prompted by love.

Dear friends, when Jesus has to give you a mid-course correction, even a gentle rebuke, he’s not doing that out of anger. He’s doing it out of love. He’s not rejecting you; he’s correcting you. And sometimes we all need that. Your good shepherd knows you by name, and when you go astray, he loves you enough to call you back on the right path.

Which is what he does with Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,” he says. You see, that was Martha’s problem here. You’ve seen those warning signs on the highways about the dangers of “distracted driving”? Well, Martha is having a problem with “distracted discipleship.” Martha, Martha, forget the hors d’oeuvres and the hydrangeas! At least for a bit. Your priorities are out of whack. Oh, there will be a time for all that. But something else is more important right now.

Which Jesus now gets to: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.” Note the contrast between the “many things” and the “one thing.” There are so many things that Martha is anxious and troubled about. But in the process, she’s missing out on the one thing she really needs.

And what is this one thing needful? Jesus tells us: “One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion. . . .” This seems counterintuitive in a way. It goes against our way of thinking. We usually think, “Don’t just sit there; do something!” But Jesus turns it around: “Don’t just do something; sit there!” There is a time to sit, and there is a time to serve. Just don’t get them confused. And this was a time to sit. Because Jesus was doing the serving.

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The one thing needful is to be served by Jesus. It’s like what Jesus said to Peter when Jesus came to wash his feet: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” We need to be served by Jesus. That’s the number-one priority. All things else, including our acts of service, fall in line after that. Martha needed to learn that.

And so do we. How has Jesus served us? By going to the cross and giving his life there as our ransom, as our redemption. We needed that above all. For we were lost and dead in our sin, and all our activity, all our busy-ness, could not rescue us from that. Only Jesus could. And he has. Our beautiful Savior has purchased our forgiveness by his holy, precious blood. God counts us righteous for Christ’s sake. It’s nothing we did. It’s what he has done for us. We have forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation in his holy name. And Jesus’ words give us what he won for us.

Mary is soaking up those words of Jesus. And Jesus isn’t going to let anything interfere with that. He tells Martha: “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” “Martha, you may have been preparing a five-star, six-course meal. But Mary has already chosen the best portion on the menu. And I’m not going to let you take that away from her. In fact, you would do well to sit here and join her.”

Friends, do you ever let your busy-ness or your being anxious and troubled about many things–do you let that distract you from the one thing needful? For instance, any time you let something else get in the way of your coming to church on Sunday morning and receiving from Jesus–unless there’s an ice storm or you’re sick or something like that)–any time you choose to skip out on church when you could be here, you are making the wrong choice. You’re pulling a Martha, when Jesus would have you be a Mary.

It’s Third Commandment stuff: “The Third Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” “Hold it sacred”: That means, Don’t let anything else get in the way. I’m going to be on vacation the next two Sundays, but I’ve already scouted out where I’ll be going to church. Because it will be Sunday morning, and that is sacred time. It’s the Lord’s Day, when Jesus is giving out gifts, and so that’s where I want to be. No matter how long I live, I will always need the one thing needful. By the way, if you are ever going to be out of town on a Sunday morning, and you need help finding a good church to go to, I can help you with that.

Today you are here in this church, in God’s house, where Jesus is giving out his goods. You have chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken from you–not now, not ever. Jesus is here in the living room, and you are sitting and listening to his words of life. Jesus is doing the serving, and you are on the receiving end. That’s a good place, it’s the best place, to be. Here Jesus has prepared a table for us, the Lord’s Table, where you will receive from his hand his very body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. This is a foretaste of the feast to come, for our risen Lord has ascended into heaven and is preparing a place for us to be there with him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ–including you sisters Martha and Mary–when you get distracted in your discipleship, remember this: The one essential thing, the one thing needful, is to be served by our Lord Jesus Christ and to receive from him.