Epiphany 7 [Series A] - preached February 23, 2014 at St. Paul Dewberry, IN, Resurrection Centerville, IN and St. Paul Indianapolis (February 27, 2014)

 

 

Sermon Text:      Matthew 5:38-48

Title:           Be Perfect!

I.        Our search for perfection is fruitless.

II.       In Christ we are made perfect and are able to be perfect.

THROUGH THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND HIS PERFECTION APPLIED TO US WE FIND PERFECTION IN OURSELVES.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from the Gospel lesson just read. I would read again a portion of these verses…

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

Perfection – it’s what everyone is after. This past week saw perfection shattered when the Syracuse men’s basketball team lost for the first time this season taking their record to 25-1. This one loss seems like no big deal – after all they’ve still won 25 games this season. But to look at them that night you would’ve thought they lost the championship.

Here’s another story of perfection. My Dad was an avid sports fan. He won an essay contest put on by the Indianapolis Star and was made a batboy of the Indianapolis Indians and was a clubhouse boy when the Indians won the AAA version of the World Series back in ‘61.

In my Dad’s years with the Indians he met a lot of big league ball players who were either on their way up to the Bigs, in the minors for an injury or on their way down at the twilight of their career. One year he met Don Larsen who was only in the minors to rehabilitate an injury. Do you know who he is? Don Larsen was a pitcher, and in 1956 when he was pitching for the Yankees pitched the one and only perfect game ever pitched in World Series play. My Dad had a ball signed by Don Larsen – and there’s a story there that you can ask me about sometime.

Sometimes there is perfection – or what we would call perfection – in this world. A perfect baseball game, a perfect 300 in bowling, even a perfect night out with the one you love – however, all of these are insignificant and in truth imperfect. Sure they were perfect for a moment – but not forever. There will be bad games pitched and bowled, and nights out that will end in argument.

So perfection is an illusion – unattainable – impossible? Right? I mean if it were doable wouldn’t we do it? Wouldn’t we?

Wouldn’t we have perfect children who never did anything wrong – always got A’s and always scored the winning run, winning basket, or winning touchdown?

Wouldn’t we have perfect marriages with only smiles and kisses and hugs and great dinners and everything taken care of without being asked over and over again?

Wouldn’t our jobs be perfect? Wouldn’t we always be getting praised for a job well done along with raises and bonuses?

Wouldn’t we always speak well of everyone – complimenting them on their nice house and great car and wonderful kids and fabulous vacation and perfect garden?

If perfection were possible wouldn’t we do all of those things and much, much more?

I don’t know about you – but thinking of all of that perfection and the work that would go with it is really making me tired!

II.

But doesn’t Jesus say in our text…

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Isn’t Jesus asking the impossible? Yes and no.

Can we be perfect – on our own? I think we’ve shown here that we cannot.

Perhaps the question we need to ask is can we be perfect – in Christ? And the answer to that question is a resounding – YES!!!

Yes – in Christ we can and are perfect. How? Through His blood shed on the Cross we are perfected. Through His perfect life lived in our place He has done the impossible – not sinned. You and I cannot do that – it is impossible for us. But for GOD nothing is impossible and so we have Jesus Christ and His perfection.

And because we have been baptized into Christ we have what Jesus has – namely His perfection in the Law. You see we need to keep the Law – perfectly – and Jesus has done that for us. And in our baptisms when the pastor said “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” there in that moment we had the perfection of Christ’s life applied to us. It is in this application of simple water and the Word of GOD that we are made perfect.

How does this exactly happen? I don’t know – no one knows – and like Rhett Butler said in gone with the wind, “Frankly my dear I don’t give a…” Well you get the picture. It doesn’t matter how it’s done – I have the faith that it is done just as GOD says so in His Word.

Throughout our lives that baptism keeps working on us – constantly washing away the dirt and grime and filth that is our sin – day in and day out. And we not only receive this washing, but also the gift of His Holy Spirit.

That Holy Spirit dwells in us and gives us faith and the ability to act out a life lived in faith. When we are feeling low and down and alone we hear the Word of GOD here in the pulpit, and we receive the very Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion to strengthen us and encourage us. And through these the power of the Holy Spirit strives within us to help us lead Christ filled lives.

Can we be perfect? Can we do what Jesus asks of us in the Gospel today – to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect? Yes – in Christ we are presented to the Father as perfect – pure – unblemished lambs. May the Holy Spirit grant you the peace of knowing that although your life here is not perfect – your soul before the LORD is – and that alone is enough to restore your relationship with the Father and have Heaven Itself. Amen.

The Peace of the LORD – which surpasses all understanding – will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Light of the world.  Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Epiphany 6 [Series A] - preached February 16, 2014 at St. Paul Dewberry, IN and Resurrection Centerville, IN and St. Paul Indianapolis (February 20, 2014)

Sermon Text:      Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Title:          Choose Life!

I.        Oddly enough – given the choice we choose death.

II.       With the power of the Holy Spirit we can actually choose life.

THROUGH THE CROSS OF CHRIST WE ARE FORGIVEN OUR CHOICE OF DEATH AND ABLE TO CHOOSE LIFE!

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from…

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

It seems that whatever era you grow up in – especially your high school years – those are the years that most influence you. Whether it’s your favorite style of car – the way you dress – or the music you listen to – often times it is based off of the time you spent in high school.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, but it was the time between 1982 and 1986 – my high school years – that most influenced me. My hair is a little long right now but usually it’s spikey. I still own a pink oxford button down collared shirt – and wear it. One of my favorite cars is an old boxy 1984 BMW. And I still listen to groups like Duran Duran, The Fixx, and Peter Gabriel.

There was a group called Wham! around that time and in a video that most from back then would remember they wore white t-shirts with huge, black letters on them that simply stated “Choose Life!”

The designer – Katharine Hamnett – decided on this slogan because she was trying to reach the youth of the world in regards to drugs and suicide. These were both big button issues in the 80s and some of you may remember – as I do – watching lots of videos in high school regarding these very subjects.

The point she’s making is an ancient one – Choose Life! When given the opportunity to choose between a life of drug addiction or a life without it – Choose Life! When faced with the choice between ending your life or living it – Choose Life!

In our text today the LORD says something very similar – it may even be where the t-shirt fashion designer received her inspiration – the LORD says to His people – Choose Life!

In order to get a full and rich understanding of what’s going on we need a bit of fleshing out here first. Remember, the Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. By GOD’S timing, Moses led them out of slavery. Then they all watched as the LORD destroyed the Egyptians who were in hot pursuit to bring them back. The LORD guided them, led them and saved them. And what is the LORD’s thanks for this? The moment Moses leaves them alone to go and talk to the LORD they make an idol and worship a golden calf. Their punishment? Wandering in the wilderness for forty years.

And now we find ourselves in the text today standing shoulder to shoulder with the Israelites on the doorstep to the Promised Land. This rich, fertile country has been promised to them for centuries – and now after forty years of wandering they are about to enter.

Moses is about to die and be buried by the LORD, and Joshua is about to become their leader and take them into the Promised Land. And the LORD speaks directly to His Children in our text today…

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

The LORD gives them a choice – choose life or chose death.

Were this a movie most of us would be screaming at the screen, “Life stupid – choose life!” It seems the obvious answer. It isn’t the path taken.

And then we have the rest of Israelite history laid out before us in the Old and New Testaments showing choice, after painstaking choice of death over life.

And before we are too harsh and to overly critical of our Brothers and Sisters of the Old and New Testaments – we must cast a long and probing gaze in the mirror of our lives – the mirror of the Law – to see we are no different. Given the choice – we choose death.

But you say Pastor Smith, when did we do such things – when did we choose death over life? When you decide to take the LORD’S name in vain, not come to church, worship at the altars of wealth and greed and covetousness you choose death.

When you decide to defy authority, kill with your words, lust after the opposite sex, take what isn’t yours, lie and cheat your neighbors, and even when you looked the other way when given the opportunity to help your neighbor you choose death.

The sad part? Just like the Israelites of our text today – we too know better. We stinking, filthy, wretched Children of the Heavenly Father KNOW BETTER!!! And we still walk hand and hand with the devil – and choose death.

 

II.

And were we left to ourselves trying to make the right choice – and failing miserably and eternally – death would be all that we have for a future.

Thanks be to GOD He loves you enough to not leave you in such dire straits. He loves you enough to send His one and only Son – Jesus Christ – into the world to live your perfect life for you, to die your sinner’s death for you. And because Jesus was able to do so in your place – you now have what He has. Namely? Resurrection and Life.

And in that life, death and resurrection of our Savior – in the Baptism we have received – in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – we have His forgiveness earned on His Cross – all for us!!! We are remade, reclaimed, restored and redeemed. To be sure we stumble along the way – but through the power of the Holy Spirit – given to us in Baptism and strengthened in us through the Word and through Holy Communion – we can, and do answer the LORD with our choice.  The LORD says to the Israelites in our text – and to all humanity down through the ages this…

Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live…

And with that gift of the Holy Spirit we can look our Heavenly Father in the eyes and boldly say, “I Choose Life.” Amen.

The Peace of the LORD – which surpasses all understanding – will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Light of the world.  Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Epiphany 5 [Series A] - preached February 9, 2014 at St. Paul Dewberry, IN and Resurrection Centerville, IN

 

 

Sermon Text:      Matthew 5:13-20

Title:          Yeah – Jesus Just Said That!

I.        Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law

II.       Jesus came to fulfill the Law

THROUGH HIS BLOOD AND THE MEANS OF GRACE – WE ARE MADE ACCOUNTED FOR ND THE LAW KEPT.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from…

19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

We truly live in a PC world don’t we – and by PC I mean politically correct? And although I get the idea that we don’t want to offend when we can help it sometimes we just have to say we are short or fat. In other words we have to stop trying to beat around the bush about the TRUTH and just say it! I’m fat! I’m short!

In today’s world it is wrong – especially for Christians – to speak the truth. We can’t be called Pro-Life we need to be called anti-abortionists. We can’t denounce abortion or homosexuality because if we do so we are being bigots and we are being exclusionary. We cannot say ordaining homosexual pastors is sinful or we risk being called intolerant.  We can’t say that a woman should not be a pastor or we are labeled sexists.

 

People don’t like labels – unless of course it serves a particular group’s agenda and then it’s perfectly fine. Christians are labeled anti-abortionists, bigots, exclusionary, intolerant and sexists. Hmm.

 

We are told in no uncertain terms that Jesus never said that.  Or Jesus did away with the Law – and often times these ‘height challenged theologians’ [think about it] are people who have never cracked a Bible but are simply parroting what they’ve heard others say!

Why do you say that pastor? Because right here in the Sermon on the Mount we hear Jesus say…

19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Did Jesus just say that the Law still matters? Yeah – Jesus just said that!!!

 

He just said that His Law – the Ten Commandments and all that goes with them – still matters. The first table [1-3] – the one dealing with Him specifically – still matters. The second table [4-10] – the one dealing with our neighbor – still matters.

We are still to love the LORD with all that we have heart, soul and mind. And we are still to love our neighbor well beyond ourselves.

 

These are not to be relaxed says Jesus. They are to be taught just as they always have been and woe to the man who teaches otherwise.

In fact Jesus goes so far to say that He isn’t here to abolish the Law and the Prophets!

Yeah – Jesus just said that!

But before we get to high and mighty in looking down our noses at those who attack Christians and their GOD given faith – we do have to take a long look in the mirror at ourselves and realize we do the same thing.

 

We do the same thing when we crab at a pastor for pointing out our sin. We do the same thing when we prove time and again that we love ourselves more than we love GOD and neighbor. We label Christians as being too conservative, too Biblical, too narrow minded.

Yeah we do the same things to each other that the world does to us as a whole.

But Jesus doesn’t stop with saying that He came not to abolish the Law – He continues by saying He came to fulfill Law.

 

Why? Can’t I do that for myself? Can’t I just follow the rules? I mean come on I love GOD more than my things. I only say, “oh my GOD” and not GOD dammit. I come to church most of the time. I honor authority by going the speed limit most of the time. I’ve never killed anyone physically – and I only hate a few people. I’ve never slept with a woman outside of my marriage – and I only look at porn sometimes. I’ve never taken a thing in my life – and only once in awhile do I copy a CD or DVD or download music I haven’t paid for. I only say bad things about people who deserve it. And I only sometimes get mad at my sister and her lifestyle I wish I had. 

 

Isn’t all that good enough? I mean come on – there are worse people out there – I’m pretty good most of the time.

 

II.

 

No – not even close. Which is why Jesus says that He came to fulfill the Law – because we cannot do it for ourselves. Jesus has to do it for us. And yeah – Jesus just said in our text today that it is something the LORD demands that we do and continue to do. So how does that work?

 

Through His perfect life lived on this earth and His undeserved death on the Cross – we are saved! By His blood we are granted the righteousness He earned through a perfect, Law abiding, not once fudging it a little, life that He lived – for you and for me.

 

We receive this righteousness of Christ through His Word and through Baptism and through the LORD’S Supper. Here in these means of grace – our heavenly Father is reaching into our lives to make us holy and does so through His Son Jesus. I no longer have the burden of living a perfect life in order to be saved – I have Jesus!  And through Jesus I am forgiven and made perfect.

 

So yeah - Jesus did just say abortion is sinful and homosexuality is sinful, and women pastors are sinful and lying, cheating, stealing, defiance, sex outside of marriage are ALL SINFUL!!!

But Jesus also says that He is resurrection and life. Yes – GOD holds us accountable - and through Jesus and His life, death and resurrection we have an account sheet that reads ‘Law paid in full.’

 

And now the LORD calls us to be salt and light in the world – to flavor our life with the Salt of His love and then – to flavor the lives of those around us. He calls on us to shine His reflected Light out into a dark world giving the Light that will always overcome the darkness.  And through the power of the Holy Spirit Who not only gives us our faith, but also sustains it – we can be the salt and light of Christ for the world. Amen.

 

The Peace of the LORD – which surpasses all understanding – will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Light of the world.  Amen.

 

+ Soli Deo Gloria +