Monday, October 28, 2019

October 26-28, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 11:28-30 “THE YOKE’S ON YOU!”


PENTECOST 20

October 26-28, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Matthew 11:28-30



“THE YOKE’S ON YOU!”



Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”



          Some of you will remember a few weeks ago I told an angel joke that just had you rolling in the pews. You shouldn’t have done that. You should know that would just egg me on to do another. So I have. Today the yoke’s on you. I appreciate you holding it in but while that was really punny it’s actually not meant to be funny but true. You heard Jesus moments ago talk about a yoke, his yoke. He urges us to put it on and as the Word of God reveals you want that yoke on you!

          Standing before Jesus as this time were crowds from the cities of Galilee the northern part of the nation of Israel. Men, women and children, singles and families from all walks of life who had come to listen to Jesus. They had heard  John the Baptist point to Jesus as the Messiah. They had heard and perhaps seen Jesus do miracles. Likely in that crowd would be a little Jewish girl like Miriam, there with her father because Mom was home very sick. She wanted Mom to get better. She could tell by the way the adults were acting something bad was happening. She had prayed to God over and over again. Nothing had happened. She knew why. The rabbis, the teachers of the law had said that God only rewards the righteous. Only obedient children got their prayers answered. She had tried so hard to obey but her little brother made her so angry, always picking and following her. He wouldn’t leave her alone. Surely God understood how hard it was to be nice. But she must not have been nice enough. Mom was still sick. Miriam’s heart was heavy and burdened.

          In that crowd there was likely a man like David, a fisherman all his life. He worked hard to feed his family but lately the nets were mostly empty. He tried every trick and nothing worked. He knew why. God was mad at him and for good reason. The teachers of the law had made it clear that if you did not bring the full tithe to them as offerings God would not listen to your prayers. He’d been dumb last year when the fishing was good. Drank too much. Gambled a little. Didn’t have enough left over to give to God the full tithe. He was going to make it up this year, pay God back, but now, how could he with empty nets? It seemed his debt would never be paid and now his family would suffer. David’s heart was heavy and burdened.

          Perhaps also standing by hoping to catch Jesus in some mistake of the law was Simon, a teacher of the law. This Jesus was telling people that the Messiah they needed was a Savior from sin. Didn’t he know that God expected people not to sin? Did he not see from that only by keeping the covenant of the law he would be blessed. Simon knew this first hand. He was respected. People looked up to him. His house was one of the nicest houses in town and everyone wanted to be invited to his banquets. And with reason. He observed the Sabbath religiously. He fully tithed. He even gave extra to help the poor. He prayed five times a day. He was living proof of how God is pleased by holy living and rewards it. But his smug demeanor fell off of his face when the servant came with the awful news of the white blotches that had appeared all over little Moshe’s skin. Why? Could it be true as Jesus said that God expected perfect thoughts as well as actions? Was God now mad at him? Suddenly Simon’s heart felt heavy and burdened.

          And then Jesus said it. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And as the Holy Spirit did his work and rode these words of God into the souls of those there a glimmer of understanding and hope crept into the heart of Miriam and David and Simon. Rest. That’s what Sabbath means. Your relationship with God was not based on you working harder and harder to please Him but on resting, doing nothing. Who then would do the work of pleasing God? Jesus! Be yoked to Jesus.

          Most of us have not spent significant time on a farm and if we did we most likely saw tractors doing the work of pulling heavy burdens not oxen. So let’s make sure we know what a yoke is. Here is a picture. A yoke helped two animals share  a burden. Notice in this picture how a smaller ox is paired with a bigger ox who will lead and do the majority of the work. If we want to think about being yoked to Jesus maybe this is a better picture. Too often we can exhibit the characteristics of an donkey in our relationship with Jesus. Stubborn. Like a two year old trying to pour a glass of milk. “I can do it myself!” as the milk spills all over the table. And then the pouting with no acknowledgement that he can’t.

          There is a better way. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” Jesus said. The circumstances of people listening to Jesus in the cities around Milwaukee are different from the circumstances the people from the cities of Galilee but the hearts and needs are the same. We have an extra obstacle in our way. Affluence. Good times. When modern medicine is apparently curing your ills you can forget how badly you need Jesus. When you have enough money to live comfortably each month you can forget how badly you need Jesus. When you don’t have teachers of the law pointing out your sin but rather teachers of Satan saying there is no sin, no God, no one you have to please but yourself you may not feel your need for Jesus. But it’s there. God has his voice in your heart. You hear it most loudly when death knocks at your door. It speaks again when you have an accident or a financial loss. You aren’t good enough. You’ve sinned against God. You don’t deserve His help. He’s angry at sin. Even when you are fully yoked to Jesus it’s there. You’re going to screw up your kids, your marriage, your job. You’re no good. You are selfish. You don’t deserve anything good from God. And the voice speaks truth.

          So does this one. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” Jesus speaks. We listen. He offers rest for souls that lose sleep worrying over problems out of their control. He offers rest for souls who worry about kids straying away from Jesus. He offers rest for souls that can’t forget that sin of the past that set the course for your current life. He offers rest for souls that can’t fix a broken marriage and that struggle against a sin they can’t shake.

          “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” It’s that word picture. When you are connected to Jesus he does the work. Are you tired of trying to always get it right? You don’t have to. Jesus already did. He has perfectly obeyed our Father’s commands. You can count on God’s love and help because yoked to Jesus all God sees is a perfectly obedient child. When you are yoked to Jesus there are no sins to be punished for He has paid for them in full. Your sins don’t cause Mom to get sick and die and God is not refusing to answer your prayers. Her sickness and even her death comes from God’s loving hand and serves for His glory. Your job problems are not God punishing you for past sins but rather guidance from a God who loves you, knows what’s best for you and is helping you to see you need Him. Yoked to Jesus even those sins you keep falling into, that burden your soul, that you try to keep hidden, they serve to keep you clinging to Jesus so you don’t try to throw of the yoke with a two year old’s cry, “I can do it myself!”

          “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I remember times when my girls were little and they wanted to help me do some project, maybe carry a heavy table or lift a big log to the splitter. They would grab on. I did all the work. It was nice that they wanted to help me. Serving God is like that yoked to Jesus. Trying to live right, working hard to obey God’s laws is important for all of us but not because we have to, because we want to please our Father in heaven. He doesn’t need our help but is happy to have us. We get to obey without the burden of having God’s help dependent on our performance. Life really is easy when you live the confidence that God will work all for the good, even my sins and bad decisions, that Jesus is always in control no matter what it looks like to me, and that my past neither controls me nor defines me and my future is safely in the hands of the Lord who loves me.

          Brothers and sisters, all that happens when we are yoked to Jesus. And that yoking then looks a little more like this, where, as family we are yoked together to help, love and bless, to work hard for our Lord Jesus who has already done and is really doing all the work Himself. So even though it’s not all that funny it does make one smile to know, because of the gift of faith granted you by the Holy Spirit, the yoke’s on you and you are connected to Jesus. Amen.

Monday, October 7, 2019

October 5-7, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 15:1-10 WELCOME HOME!


PENTECOST 17/WELCOME HOME

October 5-7, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 15:1-10



WELCOME HOME!

AN EFFORT TO FOLLOW JESUS…

1.     In caring about the lost.

2.     In seeking the lost.

3.     In rejoicing over the found.



Luke 15:1-10 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”



          Last weekend we had a wonderful hymnfest service prepared by Pastor Waldschmidt that helped us observe the Church year Festival of St. Michael and All Angels Sunday. With hymns and the word of God he reminded us of so many of the things God has angels doing. I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t answer all the questions we might have about angels like, “How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?” “Or how do angels greet each other?” You know that one, right? No? How do angels greet each other? With a “Halo!” Okay, bad joke. I also don’t remember him telling us what makes angels happy. And that’s OK because the Word of God you just heard told you, didn’t it? What makes angels happy? Why do they rejoice? When the lost are found. When sinners repent. Today we begin an emphasis throughout our synod to welcome home brothers and sisters who have strayed from a weekly worship pattern, maybe haven’t had the blessing of Lord’s Supper, the announcement of forgiveness for their sins and the Lord’s Blessing for a year or more. It’s important that we do so with the right spirit. With a spirit that follows Christ. That’s what our Welcome Home effort really is: an effort to help us follow Christ by caring about what He cares about, by doing something about it and by finding joy where he finds joy. And we don’t have to guess the answers to any of the questions. They were answered by Him in His word.

          What Jesus cares about is the lost. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” There are three very different players in this part of God’s word. First there are the tax collectors and sinners. It’s important to acknowledge that the people in this group had done wrong and they knew it. The tax collectors used their position to regularly steal from their own people. The “sinners” mostly likely refers to women who had turned to prostitution, probably out of desperation to feed children when they lost their husbands. No matter what the reason though, sin is sin. And these people knew they had sinned because others in their society let them know. Hopefully some let them know out of love so they would repent. They were excluded from their churches and since God’s word always works I have to believe not every Jewish synagogue was bad. Some followed the intent of God’s commands. But not everyone. That brings us to the next group. The Pharisees and teachers of the law. They were upset that Jesus was hanging around people who they didn’t want back. If the Pharisees and teachers of the law had simply told the tax collectors and sinners that what they were doing was wrong they would have been at least partially right. But what they told them was what they were doing could not be forgiven. There was no coming back. The lost were just plain lost. And that takes us to Jesus. Why was He hanging around these people? Let’s let Him tell us again.

          Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

          Some parables you have to work to figure out. These are easy. When you lose something precious to you, you want it back. You try to get it back. You are happy when you get it back. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about the 99 sheep who weren’t lost. The shepherd didn’t leave them hanging. He left them in a safe spot. The woman didn’t leave the other nine silver coins out to be stolen. Both shepherd and woman were happy to have them. It’s just that they ached for what they lost. The message is clear. Jesus cares about the lost. He cares for every soul. He is so glad when believers are with Him and following Him. And at the same time his heart aches for those believers who have slipped away from Him.

          Follow Jesus. Welcome Home. Those phrases remind us to work to care like He does for the lost, those of the family of faith of have strayed from Him. Honesty is needed. It’s easier to care about things that don’t really matter. There was likely more caring done about the Brewers’ loss Tuesday night than about people we know who have left the Lord. More angst. More disappointment. So repentance is needed. Lord, don’t let us become the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Don’t let us get to the point we don’t want the lost back. Do help us change our priorities. Do help us keep the things of this life that provide momentary escape and distraction like sports in their proper place and help us care more about people.

          Do help us seek the lost. Jesus did some things only Jesus could do. Only Jesus could live a life of perfect righteousness to cover over the imperfect lives of the lost and the found. Only Jesus could take the full punishment for sin so the lost and found can be free. We can’t do that. But Jesus did some things we can do also as we follow Him. He modeled caring for all people. He assured people that God loved them and forgave them. He said the same to crowds and to individuals. He prayed for people. Welcome Home. Follow Jesus. Those phrases remind us to work to seek the lost like He did. There are many different ways. You will need to figure out what is appropriate for you. Will you pray? Is it time to have the conversation you have been avoiding? If you have been having the conversation too often so that they shut you off is it time to look for someone in their life who might be the better seeker than you? None of us can do everything. All of us can do something as we follow Jesus.

          And then we can rejoice like Jesus. Do you really think there are 99 who don’t need to repent? We all need to. And Jesus loves it when we do. The angels love it. They rejoice. They are happy.  And so are we. The Pharisees and teachers of the law didn’t want to let repentant sinners back in. In the reading from Corinthians it’s clear those believers struggled to let a sorrowful sinner back. May the Lord prevent that from happening among us. Instead no matter what the sin our family members, our church family members, have done let’s always be happy when they repent to say, “Welcome Home!”

We have three weeks to go before our Welcome Home weekend. Let’s all make an effort to follow Jesus in caring, seeking and rejoicing. May the Lord help us get back as many as we can so that the heavens are filled with a joy filled Jesus, rejoicing angels and some day a whole bunch of Jacobians. Amen.