pril 2, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Luke 23:26-31 THE WAY OF SORROWS—A PLACE OF TEARS

 

MIDWEEK LENT 5       April 2, 2025        Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Luke 23:26-31

 

THE WAY OF SORROWS—A PLACE OF TEARS

 

          So when it the last time you had a good cry? What was it about? Kind of depends on what season of life you are in. For you children tears come easy and often. Physical pain brings tears. Frustration can bring you to tears. A mean classmate can bring you to tears. Disappointment will cause tears. And when you get a little older, loss brings you to tears. People cry when they are temporarily separated from a loved one going off to college or overseas for a job. People cry when they are temporarily separated from a loved one at death. There are many reasons for tears. Our Lenten journey with Jesus brings us to a place of tears. It’s called the Way of Sorrows. If you visit Jerusalem you can walk it. While likely not the exact path, it marks the path that Jesus walked from the place of His sentencing to the place of His death. As was Roman custom those sentenced to die by crucifixion carried their own crosses to the place of crucifixion, one last Roman cruel joke. At some point the soldiers compelled a man named Simon from Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross for him. If you watch the Passion of the Christ move it suggests the reason for this was that Jesus was already too weak from loss for blood from the cruel scourging and crown of thorns. Likely a good guess.

          The Way of Sorrows became a place for tears. “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.” We aren’t told who this large number of people were. Were they followers of Jesus who knew Him already? Were they citizens of Jerusalem who regularly protested Roman cruelty? Were they Passover passerbys who got caught up in the spectacle? We don’t know. We do know what they were doing. Shedding tears. For Jesus. Compassion is a great quality. Compassion for Jesus, appropriate. It is difficult to feel no compassion for Jesus on Good Friday. That is the day when we spend time with our Savior, remembering His time on the cross. The words. The hymns. “Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted. O Sacred Head now wounded. Were you there?” Whether the tears come or do not, if you feel no compassion for the Holy Son of God who takes your place, you may very well have a heart of stone.

          And yet in a way that only the Lord Jesus could do on the Way of Sorrows, a place of tears, Jesus says that tears for Him are misplaced!  Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” What’s up with that?

 

THE WAY OF SORROWS—A PLACE OF TEARS

 

          Sorrow over Jesus is admirable yet there is a different kind of sorrow that Jesus wants. Basically He said to these women, “If you want something to mourn and wail about, don’t look at me. Look at yourselves. Look at your sins and their consequences.” Jesus pointed them to the time when the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. It was the consequence God announced for the peoples’ rejection of their Savior. After Jesus died, rose and ascended to heaven, faith in Him spread among the Jews. Those who rejected Jesus persecuted believers, so they left. An action God used to spread the Christian faith even further. The Jewish Zealots who had rejected Jesus because He didn’t rebel against the Roman government led their own rebellions. Rome came with her legions. They trapped the normal 500,000 citizens of Jerusalem plus 600,000 additional Jewish pilgrims in the city and starved them. Food became scarce. People looked at each other in ways they should not look at each other. Blessed are the barren women. Those who have no babies to eat or be eaten. When the walls were breached the Roman soldiers had their way. “Mountains, fall on us. Hills cover us!” The Jewish historian Josephus reports that 1,100,000 Jewish people were slain. Jesus’ cryptic words became clear. If this is how they treat me, the green living tree, the way the truth and the life, how do you think it’s going to go for the spiritually dead rejecters of God? You see while the destruction of Jerusalem was great, the eternal unending destruction and despair that awaits the spiritually dead rejecters of Christ Jesus is far worse.

          So while sorrow for Jesus’ suffering is admirable it is sorrow over sin and its consequences that He would rather see. Do we do that? We give ourselves plenty of opportunities. Children disobey and are mean to each other. Even if we are pretty good at controlling our actions our words condemn us. God’s name is abused, misused or not used when it should be. Even if we cut out all filthy talks there are the times when we should have spoken up to defend another or to testify on the side of Gods’ truth but didn’t. Even if we always speak up our hearts betray us for the Lord sees that the NFL’s draft day, baseball’s opening day, March madness, and Spring clearance sales cause our hearts to beat much faster than the thought of worshipping His Son.

          And that is why Jesus walked the Way of Sorrows. So there will come a time when there are no more tears. I know that Johnson and Johnson Baby shampoo promises such a thing. Only Jesus delivers. He walked the Way of Sorrows to Golgotha, a place we will talk about next week. He walked the Way of Sorrows to put the Good into Good Friday by pay for our sins in full to open heaven to all believers so the time can come for each of us that there will be no more tears but only Heaven, a place of happiness. PICTURE Thank you, Jesus! Amen.

 

March 22-24, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 13:1-9 (EHV) “THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT BAD NEWS!”

 

LENT 4

March 22-24, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 13:1-9 (EHV)

 

“THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT BAD NEWS!”

 

          Perhaps you already know or have figured out that our way of worshipping the Lord is set up as an ongoing dialogue. Most of the time the pastor serves as a messenger for God, speaking His words, and you the people listen to what God has to say and respond to it. So we begin singing praise to our God. We are called to worship with humble yet joyful hearts as we confess our sins and hear again that we are forgiven. The meat, the main part of the worship service, centers around God’s word. That’s important because the Lord has told us, “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” We need, we want faith, so having a huge opportunity to hear God’s words is super important. As the pastor reads God’s word and you, God’s people, listen, there is also a dialogue going on. At the end of the reading the pastors says, “The word of the Lord.” And you say, “Thanks be to God!” Very fitting! God give you something good, you say Thank you! The dialogue of the Gospel lesson which focuses on the words and work of Jesus when He walked this earth is just a little different. The pastor says, “The Gospel of the Lord.” And you say, “Praise be to you O Christ!” Gospel means Good News. Of course we are going to praise Jesus for the Good News. Every once in a while, though, it kinda seems out of place. Like when there is a Gospel lesson that Jesus is teaching about the Last Day. And the Gospel reading ends with something like, “Depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” And I say, “This is the Gospel of the Lord.” The Good News. Doesn’t seem to fit. Oh, but it does. Today in God’s word our Lord Jesus sets us straight. God’s ways are not our ways, and we do Him wrong when we impose our way of thinking on Him. Today Jesus shows us the Good News about what we consider to be Bad News!

Jesus had been talking very pointedly to a large group of people urging them to tend to their own spiritual well-being. He warned against hypocrisy, senseless worry, trusting in things rather than God and apathy towards the reality of eternity. You know how it goes when someone’s words start to hit too close to home. You Change the subject! So that’s what they did. “At that time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²He answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? ³I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all perish too. ⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse sinners than all the people living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all perish too.” Some Jews from Galilee had come to worship at the Temple. In a display of Roman cruelty Pilate had some of them killed while worshipping. Did this bad thing, this murder, happen because those people were in trouble with God? Jesus goes down their road.  In another widely known incident a tower had accidently fallen and killed 18 people. Surely God was getting them for something. That’s the way people think. When bad things happen to people, whether at the hands of evil people or by accident, they must have done something wrong. That’s where the pagan concept of karma comes from.

 

“THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT BAD NEWS!”

 

Jesus turned things back around. “Unless you repent, you will perish.” Here is the Good News about Bad News. When people die too early it is bad news to our ears. It happens by accident. The 67 who died in the DC plane/helicopter crash. 24 dead in the recent California wildfires. 39 dead from the storms that swept across our nation. Bad news. It can happen because of the evil people do. The Waukesha parents murdered by their son. The numerous citizens of Milwaukee murdered by reckless driving. Bad news. Did they die as punishment from God? “No,” says Jesus. Focus on the Good News. Untimely deaths are God’s loving call for living people to repent. No one is promised another day of life. Each day is a gift of God’s grace. Each day is an opportunity for all people to believe and be saved. And while this call is for all people, the person I am to deal with is me. And the day I need to be concerned about is today. Today, do I recognize my sins and need for Savior? Today am I looking to Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus for my forgiveness? You need to ask the same questions for yourself. Every bit of bad news is evidence of the Good News that God is still working. God still cares. God still wants you and everyone else to believe in His Son and be saved. Heaven is real. And Hell is too.

And while God is a patient God, there are limits to His patience. A time when it comes to an end. That’s the truth Jesus taught with the parable He told next. “He told them this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it, but he did not find any. ⁷So he said to the gardener, ‘Look, for three years now I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and I have found none. Cut it down. Why even let it use up the soil?’ ⁸But the gardener replied to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it. ⁹If it produces fruit next year, fine. But if not, then cut it down.’” The parable’s meaning was pretty obvious for the original hearers. Probably for us too. If you plant a fruit tree you do so with purpose. That it produce fruit. If the tree is not fulfilling its purpose, at some point the tree planter says “Enough!” and moves on. In the parable I am the fig tree. You are the fig tree. God is the owner looking for fruit. Jesus is the gardener pleading for more time. As long as we live Jesus pleads for us and works to make us Christians who produce fruit, repentance, which includes lives lived for the Lord.

 

“THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT BAD NEWS!”

 

What do you suppose the digging up and fertilizing are in people’s lives? What about the pruning Jesus talked about in another word picture? Well the fertilizing is food for a tree so that brings us right back to God’s word which is food for our faith. Digging up around a tree, wouldn’t that disturb the roots, maybe cut off some? Pruning, there you are cutting living branches off of a tree. What’s that like in real lives of real people? Bad news! At least that’s how we would label it. Car accident or house fire. Even with insurance, a pain. Broken arm or leg. Heals…but. Job loss. Medical bills. All bad news. Except it isn’t. We think that way because we are short-sighted and have our minds set on earthly things. It’s all we know. God loves us too much to leave us to ourselves. He is deliberately using the bad news we hear about others and the bad news we deal with personally to keep us God dependent, in a state of repentance, so we are ready for our end or The End which, with living faith in the living Jesus, turns into the beginning of the way things were supposed to be, a perfect life with God and others. So bad news isn’t really bad news. It’s Gospel, Good News that the Lord cares and is watching out for us.

Kind of reminds me of a great coach I had. I remember him addressing the team at the beginning of a football season when we had the two a day practices in the heat of the day. “Boys,” he said, “Don’t get mad at me when I push you and correct you and even yell at you when you deserve it. I am only doing that because I know you can get better. Get upset if I leave alone. Because that means I’ve given up on you.” Brothers and sisters, God has not given up on you. When you face the bad news of another challenge that pushes you to run to the Lord in mercy and prayer, when the bad news of hardship, loss, and hurt comes into your life, especially the kind that make you cry, “Father, I don’t understand,” hold on to the Good News that God only chastens those He loves and digs around and fertilizes those He knows can get better. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not ours. They are so much better, so know this truth. Whatever He allows is for your good. This is the Gospel or the Lord! Amen.

 

March 12, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Mark 14:32-42 PLACES OF THE PASSION Gethsemane: A Place of Temptation

 

MIDWEEK LENT 2

March 12, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Mark 14:32-42

 

PLACES OF THE PASSION

Gethsemane: A Place of Temptation

 

          As we follow our Lord Jesus in His walk to the cross this Lenten season we are pausing at various places along the way to worship and learn. Last week we paused in the Upper Room. Today we join Jesus and His disciples as they leave the Upper Room and go to the Garden of Gethsemane, a place of temptation. This is a picture of what the Garden of Gethsemane looks like today. Pretty average. Filled with olive trees. Nothing special about the garden, except what happened there almost 2000 years ago.

 

Mark 14:32-42 ^“They went to a place named Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ Then he took Peter, James, and John along with him and began to be troubled and distressed. ³⁴ He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, even to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” ³⁵ Going forward a little, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ He also said, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

 

          The Gospel lesson for this past Sunday included the Devil’s temptations of Jesus at the beginning of His public ministry. Those were not the only times that the Devil tempted Jesus. That account concluded with these words. “When the Devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.”  This was one of those opportune times. It’s Maundy Thursday, the night before Good Friday. As true God, Jesus knows exactly what will happen to Him the next day. He will be forsaken. He will make payment in full for the sins of the world. As true man He dreads that and wishes there could be another way.

          I have heard people say that bunion surgery and recovery is extremely painful. In fact some have refused a second surgery because of what they went through in the first. Knowing what it would be like is too terrifying. Imagine the raw fear coursing through the heart of our Savior Jesus as he stands at the precipice of making payment for the sins of the world. He knows what the wages of sin really means: cut off from God and His goodness, forsaken, despair. There is no way for us to begin to imagine the agony and angst Jesus felt as He prepared Himself to face the cross. Certainly the temptation was there to turn away from it.

          But there was more temptation taking place in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus’ disciples faced temptation too. Jesus, their Lord, their Savior, had told them to keep watch. This is what happened. ^“When he returned to the disciples, he found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Were you not strong enough to keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ Again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. ⁴⁰ When he returned, he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. They did not know what they should answer him.”

          You want to cut them a break. We have all been there too. It is late at night. The day had been long. The Passover meal filling. Staying away when you are just sitting there doing nothing is hard. You want to cut them a break. How could they have known the gravity of the situation? How could they understand how difficult this was for Jesus? You want to cut them a break. But you can’t. What part of  Jesus’ heartfelt command, His plea to his friends of “Watch and pray” is difficult to understand? They did not need to know how dire things were for Jesus. They were not supposed to be sitting there doing nothing. They were to watch and pray. Even Peter, who had a short time before this boasted that he would sooner die than disown Jesus, fell asleep. “Watch and pray,” Jesus had said. But they ignored the heartfelt command from their Savior and slept.

          You want to cut those disciples a break, you want to excuse their behavior. But you can’t. And just like there is no excuse for the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, there is none for the disciples gathered here today who pause at the Garden of Gethsemane. What part of “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God” is hard to understand? Yet “O my” and God’s name comes flying out, not just from the pagans in America who despise Him, but also from the mouths of those who are privileged to be called the children of God. What part of “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” is hard to understand? Yet how often have the people of God chosen treat their beds as holy by attending St. Mattress on a Sunday morning or remembered to keep their sports events holy while having trouble remembering that at this church there are worship opportunities on Saturday and Monday evenings as well as Sunday morning. There is no excuse for failing to give our Lord the worship due His name. For his disciples Jesus said, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Oh that he could say the same of us. Or might it have to be “The flesh is weak and the spirit is unwilling.”

          In the time of His temptation Jesus turned to his Father. “Abba, Father.” He prayed to be spared from the cup of punishment He would face. Yet He resisted this and every temptation by simply trusting the will of God. For our temptations we turn to Jesus and say, “Thank you, Jesus.” We understand that Jesus faced temptation because of us. Our need for a Savior is desperate. Even when our spirit is willing, the weakness of our flesh means we will not successfully resist temptation. So we rejoice that Jesus was tempted for us. His perfect resisting of the temptations in the Garden of Gethsemane is mine. It’s yours. He won it for us.

          When Jesus finished fighting His battle in the place of temptation we call the Garden of Gethsemane we are told, “He returned the third time and said to them, “Are you going to continue sleeping and resting? It is enough. The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise, let us go. Look, my betrayer is near.” On to the next place of His passion for us.  Thank you Jesus! Amen.

March 1-3, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 9:28-36 (EHV) “THE PERFECT PICK ME UP!”

 

TRANSFIGURATION

March 1-3, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 9:28-36 (EHV)

 

“THE PERFECT PICK ME UP!”

1.     A glimpse of glory.

2.     The witness of the past.

3.     The word of the Lord.

 

          Every once in a while you need a little pick me up. Most here can relate. Maybe you had a really hard day at work or a bad night of sleep. Maybe you got some news letting you know difficult days were ahead. Maybe it’s just your body’s circadian rhythm and there are times you need that energy boost. For centuries people have used coffee and tea to provide that pick me up. In more recent times there are a myriad of energy drinks like Red Bull available. One of the first jobs I had was cleaning store floors at night when grocery stores actually used to close. We would go in and scrub the dirty floors, scraping off stickers and gum. By the way, who does that? Who spits their gum out onto the floor in a grocery store? Knock it off. That’s gross! Anyway, then we would put on a nice shiny coat of wax so that you, the customer, would want to come in and spend money. It was a process. Took a lot of time. Normally we were heading back home in the predawn hours. Eyelids would grow heavy. Most of the time the preferred pick me up was Mountain Dew. I still have a taste for the stuff. But then came Jolt Cola with probably the best advertising line I have heard for young people who were not thinking about what they were putting into their bodies. “Jolt Cola: All the sugar and twice the caffeine.” It was a great little pick me up at 4:30 in the morning!

          The Transfiguration of Jesus serves as a perfect pick me up for disciples of Jesus. As you heard in the Gospel lesson it was about 8 days after Jesus said some very important things. What things? He had revealed to the disciples that He would suffer many things, be killed and then rise again after three days. But wait there was more. Faithful followers of Jesus could expect suffering too. There would be crosses for them to bear. In other words, “By following me, you have signed up for suffering.” You can imagine on hearing this the disciples were confused, maybe afraid, they no doubt had many questions. They needed a little pick me up to raise their spirits. It came in the form of the Transfiguration. “Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰Just then, two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him! ³¹They appeared in glory and were talking about his departure, which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem.”

          The Transfiguration of Jesus served as the perfect pick me up for Jesus’ disciples. First it gave them a glimpse of glory. Not a full taste. They could not handle it, nor could we, as our worship theme box explained very well. Jesus appeared in a way that showed some of His true glory as God. What a blessing this was for them as they followed a Savior who looked like a normal Jewish man. What a blessing this was as they grappled with the truth that faithful following of the Son of God would not get them an easy earthly life but it would give them a glorious eternity. A perfect pick me up for confused and questioning disciples. Secondly the Transfiguration drew their attention to the witnesses of the past. Moses and Elijah. Peter James and John grew up hearing about these heroes of faith in Sabbath School. Here they were alive, talking with Jesus. And what were they talking about? Jesus’ departure that He would bring about. Later they would be able to understand that the events in the Garden of Gethsemane and Good Friday did not happen to Jesus but happened because of Jesus, according to God’s plan. There was no need for them to worry. A perfect pick me up!

And there was still more. The first part of Jesus’ Transfiguration set up the last. Peter, James and John had grown sleepy while Jesus and Moses and Elijah were talking. That gives me some comfort for when your eyes glaze over. But when they were fully awake, this happened. “While he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them. They were afraid as they went into the cloud. ³⁵Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” ³⁶After the voice had spoken, they found Jesus alone. They kept this secret and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.” How do you think He said it? God, I mean, when He said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” A whisper? A bold booming voice? Something in between? You can use your imagination and you have to because we are not told. That’s because how God said it is not as important as what God said. Disciples. Followers of Jesus, listen to what Jesus says. It will pick you up when you have doubts, questions, fears, when you are tired.

The Apostle Peter sure learned that lesson! This is what he wrote in his second letter. ^“To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹ We also have the completely reliable prophetic word. You do well to pay attention to it,” (2 Peter 1:16-19)

Brothers and sisters, the Transfiguration of Jesus serves as a perfect pick me up for you too. Like Jesus’ disciples at this point in their lives we will find ourselves dealing with things that are too big for us. Confused when faithful following of Jesus brings us suffering instead of glory. Afraid when we don’t understand God’s plan for us or our loved ones. Dealing with doubts over what God says. At those times it’s important to go back to the glimpses of glory God lets us see, to revisit the witnesses of our past and to pay attention to the words of our Lord.

Let’s start with a glimpse of glory. Jesus let the disciples see a taste of what was coming to help them endure when faithful following didn’t yield the results they wanted. We see Jesus’ glory through the eyes of Peter, James and John but that is not all God gives us. Our faith is not blind. Each of you, can think of times when God gave you your own glimpse of His glory. The medical miracle. Some extra money at just the right time. An impossible broken relationship restored. Don’t gloss over that glimpse. Hold on to it as Peter, James and John would do. There is no need for us to complain or through ourselves pity parties when faithful following of Christ brings hardship. We have an eternity of glory coming. We also have the witnesses of the past to pick us up. In addition to the biblical heroes of faith we have in common with all followers of Christ God gives us more. You may call them Mom or Dad, Grandpa or Grandma. Younger people especially. Think! Why did they care about their faith so much? Why was church so important to them? Like Moses and Elijah, they enjoyed their time talking with Jesus. God gives you their witness of faithful Christianity to hold on to, to teach you the importance of your relationship with Jesus.

And then remember, like it was with Jesus’ disciples, the glimpse of glory, the witness of the past, are all designed to do one thing, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” The focus stays on Jesus, what He has done. The eyes and ears read and listen to what He has to say. It will provide the perfect pick me up. When you doubt God’s truths, when you worry for your future, when you wonder about God’s love. Listen to Him!

I still have fond memories of my high school and college jobs. Using Mt. Dew or Jolt Cola when needed did the trick. But now as I have taken half a step toward maturity I’ve discovered how nice it is to have a daily pick me up. You’ve seen the coffee cup in my hand. That works physically but not spiritually. For that I use God’s words. Every day. Will you? Amen.

 

 

February 1-3, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5 “HOW TO BEHAVE IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD”

 

EPIPHANY

February 1-3, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5

 

 

“HOW TO BEHAVE IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD”

 

          In the Bible God tells us to love one another and to bear with one another, to put up with each other. While you might think that God is urging us to put up with our fellow citizens who are out of step with our morals or beliefs, that’s not the context of the admonishment and encouragement. No, this instruction was given to congregation members toward each other. Make sure you love each other. Be ready to lovingly put up with one another. Why? Because while members of a congregation are united by common faith and beliefs we all come from different backgrounds and the way we are raised matters to us. And we all naturally expect other people to be like us and conform to us. But we are different and have been raised differently so we have to bear with one another in love and lovingly put up with each other’s differences. As an example I am guessing that for some to see a sermon theme on how to behave in God’s house made you say, “Finally!” You see we have in this congregation many people who have been raised conservative Lutheran and have been going to church weekly all their lives. We have many new to the Lutheran stripe of Christianity and maybe rarely if ever went to church as kids. This is wonderful! But it means we have to put up with each other and to try to empathize, both with those who didn’t grow up going to church for whom this is all really new and different and takes some getting used to and those who did and are used to things to be done in a certain way. I did grow up going to church weekly, so for those newer let me tell you a little bit of how many of your fellow members 30 and older were raised to help you put up with us and if we give a look we shouldn’t, this is why. If you grew up Lutheran, church is an hour. You know that. So you and your kids go potty before church, so you come in once and you go out once and if you dare leave church in between, it better be an emergency! Crying kids are shushed immediately. Many of us got the pinch on the thigh or the Vulcan death grip on the neck and we liked it so you should too. If the pastor should say something funny during the sermon, and he shouldn’t, but if he does, you don’t laugh, you smile as loudly as you can. Clapping is of the devil and will only lead to sinful pride. If you don’t do 10 up downs in a service, you feel cheated. Some can remember a time when there was this thing called your Sunday best. Every man was expected to wear a suit and a hat to church and every woman a dress and a hat. Men’s hats came off in church. Women’s stayed on. When I was a pastor in Texas and circumstances warranted a discussion with the Elders about how to behave in church I recall one of them saying, “Pastor, I can guarantee you that my jeans cost a whole lot more than your suit, so what’s my Sunday best?” And he didn’t even know I got that suit at a thrift store. Made me think. Cultural expectations change. So when it comes to how to dress or behave in church, we have to put up with each other.

          Actually though, the word of God before us today is not instruction on how to behave in God’s house. It actually says how to behave in God’s household, that means in the Church, Christ’s church. Since every believer here is a member of that church it’s important for us to know how to behave in God’s household. This will result in blessings for all of God’s people. So how do you behave in God’s household? A good summary would be “All of this. None of that.”

          All of what? “I am writing these things to you even though I hope to come to you shortly. ¹⁵ But if I am delayed, I wanted you to know how it is necessary to behave in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. ¹⁶ Undeniably, great is the mystery of godliness: He was revealed in flesh, was justified in spirit, was seen by messengers, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” In God’s household, in Christ’s Church, of we are a part, all of the main focus is to be on the truth of Jesus and what has done for us and will do for us. Verse 16 seems to be either the verse of a hymn the early Christians sang or a simple creed, a statement of beliefs they used. It focused on the mystery, things that had to be revealed by God. Jesus, true God, became flesh. His resurrection justified him, proved Him to be the true Messiah. He was seen by those who became His messengers to the nations. He is believed and ascended to glory. What God expects in His churches, in this church, is that we will proclaim God’s truth, all of it. Even if it makes the church unpopular. Why? Because when people hear God’s truth they are blessed. You are blessed. Your faith is built up. You receive comfort knowing you are forgiven, you get confidence for hard times when you hear Jesus never leaves you, nor forsakes you, that He lives to silence your fears, wipe away your tears. Every person here who has recently done the hard work of dealing with the death of someone they love knows how quickly so many of the things we spend our time on fade away and all that matters at that time is Jesus and what He has done and to be able to look forward to that mansion He has prepared and to be able to know your loved one is there. This is how you behave in the household of God. You proclaim God’s truths, all of them, with the main focus always on Jesus and what He has done. Every one of you here has the right and the responsibility to make sure your pastors and this church are doing just that. It’s how we are to behave in the household of God.

          All of this and none of that. None of what? “The Spirit clearly says that, in later times, some will fall away from the faith, because they devote themselves to deceitful spirits and the doctrines of demons, ² in connection with the hypocrisy of liars, whose own consciences have been seared. ³ They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ In fact, everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” What is it that constitutes bad behavior in the household of God? False teaching. Adding your own ideas to what God says, changing clear truths He has said. Some things jump out at us here. In later times. After Paul wrote this letter, including our time. Some fall away from the faith. False teaching is no small matter. Left unchecked bad things happen. People lose faith and die eternally. Deceitful spirits and demons are behind false teachings. Paul even gives some examples of what to look for. Forbidding people to marry. This is not talking about same sex marriages. The Bible clearly teaches that marriage is to be between one man and one woman. It’s talking about people who have every Godly right to get married, like for example if our WELS said that men who want to serve as pastors can’t get married you would know that is a teaching of demons. Forbidding people to eat certain foods. If I would tell you that for the next 40 days you can’t eat meat or you can’t ever eat ham or bacon you would know I was deceived by evil spirits. And God says, “None of that!” That’s bad behavior in the household of God. Things that God has meant to be blessings, to make life in a sin filled world a little more bearable and enjoyable, that are to be used and enjoyed with thanksgiving to God cannot be forbidden. So while we can be free to have our own opinions on certain matters, it is not right to force individual likes or dislikes on others and hide behind God when you are doing it. None of that.

          So, that how you behave in God’s household. Never put up with false teaching. Always proclaim God’s truth. As for how to behave in church, love one another, put up with each other. We want everyone here in church listening to God’s words which will tie hearts and lives to Jesus. Can we put up with some kids making noise as parents do the hard work of teaching them how to worship? With gladness. We are so happy children are here. Can we put up with some of us old time Lutherans cringing if younger parents are not doing things the way we did? With gladness. We are so happy they are here. Why? Because God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Only one way for that to happen. Hear the Word, regularly. Amen.

 

 

 

January 11-13, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (EHV) “BAPTISM!”

 

EPIPHANY 1

January 11-13, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (EHV)

 

“BAPTISM!”

1.     It showed who Jesus really is.

2.     It shows who you really are too!

 

          “Who am I?” It’s the question of identity. It is an important one, so important that all major philosophers and systems of philosophy have sought to answer that question. Ancients like Socrates, Aristotle and Plato, and more modern philosophers like Kant and Sartre and Descartes all waxed eloquent and used up a lot of ink trying to answer that question. Who am I? It’s not just one that philosophers want to know. It’s one we need to know. Young people want to know where and how they fit in. Older people want to know they make a difference. Our identities can mistakenly be tied to our careers or our children, our accomplishments or lack of them. If you are not comfortable with who you really, are, if you do not like who you think you are, it can lead to bad behaviors and difficult relationship. Who really am I? What makes that question difficult to deal with is that sometimes what you think of yourself or what you look like to others isn’t who you really are. Take these guys for instance. PICTURE OF STAFF Now you look at that and say, “Man those 8^th graders keep looking older and older. That’s a manchild right there.” Then you look a little closer and realize, “Wait a minute. Those aren’t 8^th grade boys wearing onsies for some spirit day at school, those are our teachers and principal wearing custom made St. Jacobi onsies during a school day!” You may think, do I really want them teaching our children? I am here to tell you that you absolutely want them as spiritual leaders for our children. What they look like is not their identity. More on that later.

          Making incorrect assessments based on outward appearance is nothing new. It happened on a grand scale when Jesus walked the earth. Luke tells us, “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ.” Many men before the time of Jesus had claimed they were the Christ, the God sent Messiah. Most of them had tried to lead rebellions against whatever government was ruling the Jews at the time. They, of course, failed because they were not the Christ. Then John the Baptist came along. He was different. Instead of poking at the Roman government he punched the Jewish King Herod in the face, telling him plainly his marriage lifestyle was a sin against God. He needed to repent. Instead of pointing out all the wrongdoings of the rulers in Rome, he pointed out the sins of his own people. He called the pastors and teachers a bunch of snakes! Who is this guy? What was his identity? Was he the Christ?

“John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” No! Not the Christ. John did not fail to testify clearly. He was the Baptizer, not the Christ. He was the forerunner, the preparer of the way. He was not the Christ. Someone else was. Who?

“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. While he was praying, heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.” Jesus is the Christ. If you lived back then you likely would have made wrong assumptions about who Jesus was. For 30 years He had been known as the carpenter’s son. Likely He was a carpenter himself. He had brothers and sisters. He ate and drank and slept like everyone else did. He put his sandals on one at a time just like everyone else did. How were people supposed to know He is the Christ, the Messiah, the God sent Savior? PICTURE OF JESUS BAPTISM God said so. At His Baptism. The sinless Son of God was identified by His Baptism. “This is my beloved Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased.” And you know what happens when God says something? It’s true.

That takes us to our Baptism and to the question “Who am I?” There are some differences between our Baptisms and that of Jesus. Jesus was perfect and sinless. He had no sinful nature. He already was the Son of God. Jesus was baptized, as He said, to fulfill all righteousness, so that He could cover us with the robe of His righteousness through faith. Ours is different. I read some online articles recently where researchers we trying to figure out if some people are born bad and some born good or all just morally neutral. They obviously don’t listen to what God says and probably never had kids. If you do both of those you need no further research. We start out sinful from the time of conception and it does not take all that long for the sinfulness on the inside to show on the outside. One of the blessings of Baptism is the forgiveness of sins, another is the gift of the Holy Spirit. What I want to focus on today is the gift of identity.

Who am I? There are lots of different ways to answer that question. You might think about roles you have, jobs you have done. You might think of family relationships. What you can say very simply is Child of God. God’s own child. Why are you God’s own child? How do you know? God says so, at your Baptism. Some of you are sitting here today feeling like a hypocrite. You have the smile pasted on your face. You’re dressed up. But you know you. You know what you have done. You know what you are continuing to struggle with. You feel like garbage, outside of God’s love and maybe your hard life is proof to you that you are not loved by God. Not true. You are dearly loved by God. At your Baptism God named you His child and He has not changed His mind. Your status as God’s child is not dependent on what you do but what God has done for you. Your past and ongoing struggles does not define who you really are. God does. He says you are His child. And do you know what happens when God says something? It’s true! I suppose also there could be someone here today or listening that thinks they are all that. Who honestly gets a little bored hearing about God’s forgiveness and Jesus because you really are a good person. You do things right. Well at your Baptism God named you his child too and it had nothing to do with you. Did you hear what you were told in the second reading from Titus today? More importantly did you listen and apply it to yourself? “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, ⁵ he saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit.” You are all that. You are God’s own child. But not because of you. Because of Him.

Child of God. That’s who I really am. That’s who you really are. We need no flowery fluff from philosophers. We have the word of the almighty God proclaimed at our Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Every other role, everything we do gets affected by that truth. I can live as a husband, a father, a grandfather, a pastor in a way that serves God and others. You can too whether working or retired, young or old, married or single. The Holy Spirit and His power are yours. God says so. Which takes us back to those onsie wearing wonders I showed you before. PICTURE OF STAFF. Don’t let looks deceive you. They are exactly who you want leading and teaching our kids. They know who they really are, children of God. Then know His love and forgiveness and they are really good at modeling it and passing it on. And they don’t mind having a little fun either. We all can, when we know who we really are. Baptized children of God. Amen.

 

 

CHRISTMAS DAY 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Matthew 1:18-25

 

CHRISTMAS DAY 2024         Pastor Timothy J. Spaude        Matthew 1:18-25

 

“THE MIRACLES OF THE MANGER”

 

Matthew 1:18-25 (EHV) " This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother, Mary, was pledged in marriage to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her. So he decided to divorce her privately. ²⁰ But as he was considering these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this happened to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “Look, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son. And they will name him Immanuel,” which means, “God with us.”²⁴ When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife, ²⁵ but he was not intimate with her until she gave birth to her firstborn son. And he named him Jesus.”

 

“THE MIRACLES OF THE MANGER”

 

          Miracles! God is doing them all the time. By definition a miracle is something wonderful and extraordinary, something that can’t be explained by the laws of nature God Himself established or human reason and experience. They happen when God steps in and does the impossible. The word has gotten watered down a bit by overuse. The “Miracle on Ice” USA Olympic hockey win over Russia was extraordinary and welcome but was not against the laws of nature. True miracles have no explanation and God does them all the time. The complete cancer cure that goes against medical experience. The lack of injuries in a terrible accident. Those are and many more are miracles and because God does them all the time they don’t catch or hold people’s attention very long. Now there are miracles and there are Miracles. From my reading of Scripture God’s best and most impossible ones come at specific times. When salvation is at stake. God’s desire to have all sinner, to have you and me with Him forever is so strong that He gladly breaks His rules when your salvation is at stake. This quiet Christmas morning let’s return to the manger with wonder and awe at the great miracles of the manger.

 

          The first miracle is that Jesus was born of a Virgin. Matthew records it. " This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother, Mary, was pledged in marriage to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.”  Can you imagine being Mary? Here you are getting ready for and looking forward to your wedding day with Joseph when an angel appears to you and says you will be pregnant, though not by Joseph. We certainly can’t blame her for being troubled and asking Gabriel “How can this be?” She was a virgin. She had never had sexual relations with a man and everyone knows that that’s the only way she was going to get pregnant. Someone forgot to tell God. God did the impossible. He did a miracle. The power of the Holy Spirit allowed Mary to conceive without a human father involved in any way. God did a miracle because salvation was at stake. It’s precisely because of the impossible nature of this miracle that Christmas time has become the season of miracles. A late night comedian quipped, “You stick ‘miracle’ in the title and it automatically becomes a Christmas special.” He used that for comedy fodder. You and I know it to be the truth. The miracles of the manger began with a virgin being with child. But wait, there’s was more!

          The second miracle of the manger is that Isaiah the prophet predicted the Virgin birth 700 years before it happened. We are at the time of the year for predictions, aren’t we? Whenever we get close to a New Year all kinds of people roll out their predictions for the new year, how the stock market will fare, home prices, sporting events. Call 1 800 Psychic to get a personal prediction of your new year, for a fee of course. One predicter who still gets a lot of play is a man named Nostradamus. If you ever read any of his you know how vague they are. That’s not the case with the miracles of the Manger. It was not one year but 700 years before Jesus was born. Isaiah was one of God’s prophets. He was told by God to go to a man named Ahaz who was king over God’s people in the country of Judah. Ahaz was commanded by God to ask for a sign by which God would prove He would deliver Ahaz from his enemies. Ahaz refused to ask. Isaiah gave him a sign anyway. It went like this. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel.” You heard Matthew quote it. No shotgun predictions here.  No vague ones that could refer to almost anything. Just an impossible one. A miraculous one. 700 years before it happens Isaiah saw it and said it like he’d seen it happen. A virgin is with child. She gives birth to a son. He’s called Immanuel. God is with us.

 

Let’s sing about these miracles in the manger as we join in the carol, “Away in a Manger!”

 

          The third miracle of the manger: God became a man. The Maker became what He made. The King of kings chooses as His first throne a manger. It’s part of the essence of God that God is God and man is not. God is holy and pure and sinless. God is uncreated. Man is created. When God first created Adam and Eve they were holy and pure and sinless too. The Bible tells us that God came to them in a personal way and walked with them and talked with them. Then they disobeyed. They sinned against God. They were no longer holy and sinless and pure like God. They were filled with shame. As a consequence of sin sinful man is not able to see God in His heavenly glory and live. So God did a miracle in the manger. God became a man. It’s like the second verse of the carol “Now Sing We Now Rejoice” where we sing, “Come from on high to me, I cannot rise to thee!” So He did. God became one of us. The beauty of this miracle is in the reason behind it. For God to maintain His justice and His love a substitute for sinful people was needed. Man to be obligated to the law and to be able to suffer the wages of sin. God, to be able to keep the law perfectly and to be worth enough to pay for every sin. Salvation was at stake so God did the impossible and became true man. The third miracle of the manger.

          The fourth miracle is that Joseph believed all this. Poor Joseph! We can tell from his reactions that he was an upright man, an honorable man. He only wanted to do what was right before God. That’s why he and Mary refused to jump the gun and show marriage love when they weren’t married. It seemed to Joseph that Mary did not want to wait. Matthew tells us, “Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her. So he decided to divorce her privately.” You can imagine what he was going through. He was looking forward to his marriage to Mary. She was a sweet girl. And then she comes with some news. She’s pregnant. You can just imagine the hurt, the betrayal, then the anger and bitterness as his emotions ran their course. And then, and then, Mary has the unmitigated gall to say that she had been faithful and she was pregnant by a miracle of God. She would have God’s Son! I think we all know how we would react. Yeah right! And that’s how Joseph reacted at first too. Until God did another miracle. Matthew points us to it. “But as he was considering these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” God sent an angel in a dream. That’s a miracle but an even greater miracle is that Joseph believed. I don’t know any of us who act on what we see in our dreams, but Joseph did. Joseph did because God did a miracle in Him. Faith to believe the words of God is a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Faith to act on the words of God is a miracle of the Holy Spirit too. God did those miracles in Joseph. He showed his trust in the words and promise of God with careful obedience to what God told him to do. “When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife, ²⁵ but he was not intimate with her until she gave birth to her firstborn son.  And he named him Jesus.” He took Mary as his wife even though he would face mockery and snickering and “See, I told you Joseph did it.” Even though he was married he had no intimate relations with her until after Jesus was born so that the miracle of the Virgin birth was not tarnished. He named the boy Jesus, Savior, just like God had told him to do. Joseph believed! The 4^th Miracle in the Manger.

 

Hymn - #343

“Once in Royal David’s City”

 

          Now you may recall that I said there were 5 miracles of the Manger. One, that Jesus was born of a Virgin. Two, that the prophet Isaiah had predicted this 700 years before it happened. Three, that God became man. Four that Joseph actually believed all this. And five? The fifth miracle of the Manger? The fifth miracle that happens at Christmas? The fifth miracle, the fifth miracle, is that we believe it too. We’ve seen no angel choirs. We’ve had no special angel appearances to tip us off. We’ve seen no star in the East. And yet we believe. That’s why we’re here this morning. We believe. And that, my friends, is a miracle! It’s a miracle of God that even though our faith is challenged by the sheer impossibility of it all; even though our faith is challenged by the skeptics of this world; even though our faith is challenged by our own reason which says, “How can this possibly be true?“ we believe. God did a miracle in our hearts so that we believe in His Son and are saved. God did a miracle so that we recognize Christmas as a season of joy and a season with a reason named Jesus. And why? Because your salvation is at stake. There is only one way to heaven, not many. Only one who brings us back to God. Only one who fills the God sized hole in our hearts. Immanuel. God with us. Jesus who saves us from our sins. Yes, when salvation is at stake God does His greatest miracles because to Him you’re worth it! Amen.

 

Let’s sing a newer Christmas Carol using an older tune “Love Has Come!”