September 20-22, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19 “GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH!”

 

PENTECOST 15

September 20-22, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

 

“GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH!”

 

As part of the second lesson you heard Paul warn, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin.” and so perhaps it surprised you to see the title for today’s sermon, “God wants you to be rich!” Maybe you wondered if I got converted by the prosperity Gospel preachers. If you are unfamiliar with that term prosperity Gospel preachers are false prophets who say that if you live the right way and if you give a full tenth of all your income to God (through the prosperity preacher) then God has to make you wealthy by American standards. You will be rolling in the dough. Now, of course, if that does not happen, it is your fault. You have not given your heart fully to the Lord, shame on you. Next time give me more and God will respond! Shameful false teaching. All of us know plenty of people who are quite wealthy by American standards who live in open defiance of God. All of us know plenty of humble Christians who give even beyond their means and are not wealthy by American standards. As I said, false teaching.

          So how can I look you in the eye and tell you God wants you to be rich? Because it’s true--as long as we are talking the right kind of riches. Let’s start with what does not have to be, but can be, the wrong riches. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.” Some strong words when you live in a country like America. Do you think you could be satisfied if all you had was food and clothing? Pretty tough with what we are used to. Now let’s talk money. Not looking for a show of hands but how many of you bought a lottery ticket when it was up to $1.8 billion? Do you think the two winners were disappointed when they found out they had to share? True confession. I thought about buying one. In my mind I thought about how much good I could do if God put me in charge of that much of His money. I could fund more missionaries in countries where the door to the Gospel appears to be open. I could help all our schools update their campuses. I could help the truly poor and needy. I could support all the wonderful veterans groups. I could buy K 9 officers for every department that wanted one. So much good I could do. Just thinking about that gives me joy again. But then I read about what has happened to most big lottery winners. Most often their lives became no fun. Divorces happened. I don’t want that. You get targeted by scammers. Some have had home invasions. Others have had their children or grandchildren targeted. People come out of the woodwork looking for a reason to sue you. Could I still serve as your pastor? Or would you think I could not relate? Would my money be more important to you than the words of God I point you to? Would you be able to find joy like you do now in generously supporting St. Jacobi’s ministry or would you be led to think, “Let billionaire boy take care it.” Helps us understand the Apostle Paul’s warning. “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” No, there is nothing wrong with money itself. And if the Lord has blessed you with money riches, thank Him for that, because money is not the problem, love of money is. All of us need to watch out for that.

          And still it is true, God does want you to be rich, just rich in the more important blessings. “Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment.” If you visit my wife, Chris’ room over at our school you will find it filled with frogs. Not live ones. Despite growing up on a farm she has become fully citified, which of course, is my fault. She no longer enjoys slimy squirmy creepy crawling things. No, the frogs are inanimate, in all shapes and sizes and in different mediums. Pictures, clay, stuffed, you name it. A good challenge for you students is to see if you can find and count all of them. Not while she’s teaching you though! You might wonder why she has a room full of frogs. It’s what they stand for. Years ago when she had something to deal with a kind soul gave her a frog and told her what it meant. Fully Rely On God. F.R.O.G Every time you look at a frog remember you can always fully rely on God. This is what we want to be rich in. Rich in faith. Rich in trust in God. Living in wealthy country when standards of living are high it is so easy to do the opposite that Paul warned us about. We can become arrogant that our self sufficiency is our own doing. We can gladly proclaim trust in God but really have it in the fact that we have no debt or we have a full savings account. That’s not what we want. What we want is the be rich in faith like Job was when he said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised. And later when he said about the Lord “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” God wants you to be rich in that kind of faith and He has given us what we need to have it. His word. Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. There is no limit in how often you can visit the gold mine of God’s word! Go often. Daily devotion and Bible reading. Weekly worship. Rack up the riches of faith.

          Because when our faith account is fully funded so we can get rich in another way. “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share.”  God wants you to be rich, rich in good works. This is why the riches of faith are so important. When someone has no faith in Jesus nothing he does is pleasing to God. It might be pleasing to people. It may accomplish a lot of earthly good but God has clearly spoken, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” That means people like us, with faith, can. So let’s get rich, rich in good deeds. Good works are those things God has told us are pleasing to Him. Things we do out of love and thankfulness for what He has done for us. Things like being kind and compassionate. Things like helping those in need, like an elderly neighbor, someone needing a ride. Things like being a friend to all the kids at school. Things like being a faithful dependable worker. Things like being generous and willing to share. Parents, you have enormous influence on helping your kids get rich. You know how? By the questions you ask you are teaching what is important. So if after a game you ask how many points they scored you are teaching them that is what matters and what you care about and what you want to be rich in. If you ask them were they a good sport, did they help the team, listen to the coach, got your homework done, were you nice to someone today, that is what they will want to be rich in. And that is what God wants all of us to be rich in, good deeds.

          See, it is true, God wants you to be rich. He wants me to be rich, but not just for now. Look at what He tells us happens for those who are rich in faith and good deeds. “In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Being rich in faith and good deeds is followed by being rich I heaven. What that means exactly God has reserved for Himself. We will have to wait to find out. So, as we’re waiting, might as well spend our time getting rich in the ways that matter to God. Amen.

September 13-15, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV) “JOY TO THE LORD!”

 

PENTECOST 14

September 13-15, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV)

 

“JOY TO THE LORD!”

1.     This happens when sinners repent.

2.     This happens when I repent.

 

School years have started all over the nation. One concern on the minds of both students and their parents is friends. Students want to have friends. Parents want their children to have good friends. A piece of advice to those who want to have good friends. Be one. Be a good, loyal friend to others and you will attract good friends to yourself. The same thing can be said for joy. Joy is something all people want to have. When it is missing from your life, you know and probably everyone around you does as well. How can I get more joy? Be a joy giver. And today in God’s Word the Lord Jesus reveals to us an astounding truth. People can be a source of joy for the Lord and the holy angels.

          Let’s see how. “Joy to the World” is a Christmas favorite for many Christians. Sometimes we can get so caught up in our joyful singing of it that we forget the words. They tell us there are reasons for all people to rejoice. Verse 1, the Lord is come. Verse 2, the Savior reigns. What are the reasons that bring joy to the Lord? We don’t have to guess. He tells us.

 

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV) “All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³He told them this parable: ⁴“Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls together his friends and his neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. ⁸“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, would not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

          Five times joy or a form of it is written in these words of God. But not everyone was joyful and happy. There were some grumpy, angry people, joy stealers that Luke writes about. The Pharisees and experts in the law. What was making them so grumpy? Jesus welcomed repentant sinners. That needs some explanation. What they were really saying is Jesus welcomed people the Pharisees and experts in the law had decided were sinners who should never be forgiven. Likely the targets of their anger were Jewish men who worked at collecting taxes for the Roman government to support their families and perhaps used that position to extort money. No matter how badly they felt about what they had done, the Pharisees said there was no return. Likely this also included mothers who, in order to feed their children, in weakness or desperation, had offered their bodies in prostitution to earn some food money. But once that was found out, there was no coming back. No return to respectability. Until Jesus came along. He turned the false teaching of the Pharisees and teachers of the law on their head. He told God’s truth that He was sent to be Savior for all people, to pay the sins for all people, and that all people who believe in Him, no matter who they have been or what they have done, receive forgiveness for sins in Him. Whoever believes is not condemned. The Pharisees and experts in the law didn’t think God should be happy about that.

          Jesus set them straight with the two parables that everyone could easily relate to. If you own 100 sheep and find one is missing you leave the 99 who are safe where they are and look for the lost one and if you find it, if you get it back, you rejoice. In the same way if you have 10 coins and realize you have lost one you try to find it and if you do, you rejoice! Now it’s not like you stop valuing the ones you have. I still remember wise Dave Hackmann saying when he was still active as principal, “You know a mother is only as happy as her saddest child.” Wise words to guide teachers who need to talk with a Mama Bear and every mama is a mama bear. It’s not that moms don’t care about all their children. Her heart hurts for the hurting one. In the same way the Lord has ongoing joy for every believer who is quietly living their life with faith in Jesus, going to bed every night sadly aware of where they have let their Lord down and waking up every morning happy that His mercy is new, it’s a brand new day with no past and no guilt.

          At the same time when any soul that He died for repents, recognizes their need for a Savior and looks to Him for mercy there is great joy. It brings joy to the Lord when sinners repent. It brings Him no joy when sinners defy Him, say His rights are wrong and His wrongs are right. It brings Him no joy when people march for their right to sin or when our country passes laws that allow sin like it has done with abortion and same sex marriage. It gives him no joy when people think they don’t need Him as Savior. It brings joy to the Lord when sinners repent. That is why Jesus became man, to live perfectly in place of sinners who cannot and to pay the Hell all sinners deserve so that sinners would see His kindness and be enabled to repent. It brought joy to the Lord to do this. It brings joy to the Lord when people see His kindness and repent.

          Does it bring joy to you? Every part of Scripture we turn our hearts toward with the humble prayer to the Holy Spirit to teach us, demands that we see ourselves in the text. The Pharisees were grumpy, angry that forgiveness was granted so freely to tax collectors and prostitutes who were ashamed of their sin and wanted that better way only Jesus could give them. It’s very easy to think that we are not that way. That we will accept every repentant sinner. And we are probably pretty good at that until it hits too close to home. When someone has hurt us or worse, hurt our child, Mama bear? “And they are going to communion?” How easy it is, brothers and sisters, to think that some of us are more deserving of the Lord’s forgiveness than others. How easy we find it to be joyful that someone caught in drug addiction or alcohol abuse or some sexual sin that can grab a hold of your life like tax collecting and prostitution repents…as long as I don’t have to deal with them, forgetting how we would want to be treated if it were us! This does not bring joy to the Lord. Repentance does.

          And not just other people’s repentance. Our repentance. That’s thing about repentance. It’s personal, isn’t it? I can’t repent for you, and you can’t repent for me and just so we are clear what this means here are four signs that I am repentant the way God proclaims repentance. 1. I own my sin without making excuses. “I have sinned against you O Lord.” 2. I am ashamed of my sin. No laughing. No minimizing offending our holy God. 3. Knowing God is merciful and gracious I trust the forgiveness Jesus won for me. “Thank you, Jesus!” 4. And in thankfulness to Jesus, I want to do better. I want to be done with whatever sin I got caught up in. This is why Jesus lived for us. This is why Jesus died for us. This is why Jesus lives for us. So we can live each day a life of repentance. And it does not matter what you have done. In every age and every society there will be sins that some people say make you irredeemable, tax collectors, prostitutes, certain sexual sins, the drug addict or alcoholic. And it may be true that some of those ongoing sins irretrievably ruin relationships with people. They don’t with God. Jesus makes that so. No matter how far we have fallen or whatever we have gotten caught up in we can always run back to God and find forgiveness. This brings joy to the Lord! Amen.

 

August 23-25, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 13:22-30 “JESUS GIVES AN URGENT WARNING TO WATCH YOUR WAIT!”

 

PENTECOST

August 23-25, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 13:22-30

 

“JESUS GIVES AN URGENT WARNING TO WATCH YOUR WAIT!”

 

          There are many things that people find uncomfortable about an annual visit to the doctor for a check up. Most I would prefer not to mention. There is one that we can that is common for many people. It’s when the nurse asks you to step on the scale. You see the scales don’t lie. And you know how it goes. You step on. You watch the numbers. They go up 80, 85, 86. Hey! I’d doing pretty good. Until the nurse announces 86 kilograms. Would you like to see that in pounds? Nope. I’m going to hear it. A reminder to watch my weight.

          Our Lord Jesus does not care so much how about how many pounds we weigh, or kilograms for that matter. But He does want us to watch our wait, our wait for His return at the end of our earthly lives or at the end of the world. That came out very clearly in the Gospel lesson from Luke chapter 13 that was read a few minutes ago. Jesus was about His work as Savior. At this time that meant teaching as many as he could. Along the way as Jesus traveled to Jerusalem, this happened. “Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?” As our country has secularized, religious conversations don’t happen organically as often as they used to. When they do, they are normally the same. I call it majoring in the minors. They are discussions about morality. If it gets to the afterlife the discussions often revolve around questions out there. What will heaven be like? What age will we be? What will we look like? Will we recognize everyone? This man who questioned Jesus was no different. He wanted to talk about other people. How many would be in heaven?

          Jesus made it personal. “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” I had a foreman I worked for who if you asked him what time it was would always answer. “Ten to.” “Ten to what?” someone would normally say. “Tend to your business,” was the put you in your place response. Don’t worry about when the work day ended. Do your work. Jesus answer to the man who asked him is much the same. Don’t concern yourself with how many will be saved, concern yourself over whether you will be saved. And here we need to pause because Jesus’ answer may confuse some. The Bible clearly says that we are saved through faith in Jesus because of God’s grace and it does not have anything to do with our works. Jesus tells us to strive, that is work, to enter the door to heaven. Another translation of this passage says, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” Sure sounds to me like we are doing the work.

          This is something I can better show you than tell you. (I will pick a child from the congregation. I will give them a $10. I will then ask whether this child earned that money. I will point out that I picked the child and I gave the money. Then I will tell the child to hold on tightly to that money. I will make the comparison that saving faith is the same thing. God chose us. God gave us the gift. Jesus is saying hold on tightly to that gift. That is something we can do.)

          Now it makes sense. Jesus is urgently reminding us to watch our wait. To do what He has given us the power to do and hold on to our faith in Him. Elsewhere Jesus told us He and only He is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. He told us He is the gate to heaven. Any who try to enter any other way will find the gates to heaven shut. “Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’ He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷And he will say, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ ²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.”

          Many who were in the crowds that Jesus was teaching had the wrong idea about how they were going to get to heaven. Some thought it would be by their race. If they had the blood of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob in them they would go to heaven. In another similar teaching Jesus told the people that they would say, “Lord in your name we prophesied and cast out demons and did miracles.” But to them Jesus would say, “Away from me. I never knew you.” Why? They were trusting what they had done for Jesus rather than what Jesus had done for them.

          What is it that people can trust in today? Similar things to in Jesus’ time. It’s not quite the same as salvation by race but similar. My parents were religious. I belong to a church. I know who Jesus is. Many today think their good deeds will get them to heaven. Good deeds without faith in Jesus are meaningless. Without faith it is impossible to please God. For those who rely on themselves instead of Jesus will hear “I don’t know you or where you come from.”

          But that takes us full circle to Jesus’ answer to the man who wanted to talk about heaven in generalities. He said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” Jesus is the narrow door. Faith in Jesus is what matters. God so loved the world that He have is only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The question needs to be personal. Jesus reminds us to watch our wait for Him to come back and the question that matters is, “Am I striving, am I making every effort to hold on to my God given faith in Jesus?

          The man who asked the question of Jesus had to look Jesus in the eye when he answered. This word of God forces the issue. Can I look Jesus in the eye and honestly say I am striving, I am making every effort to hold on to the faith the Holy Spirit gave me? Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. My doctor concerned about my weight is going to talk about diet, what I’m eating. As a pastor I am a doctor of souls. To be faithful to my Lord Jesus I have to be concerned about your wait. So let’s talk diet. How often is your faith eating? The bare minimum is weekly worship. Best is weekly worship combined with daily devotion or Bible reading. Let’s talk minimums. I was gone from public worship for vacation 3 times this summer. Had to settle for online. Did some of you really have two and half months of vacation? Are you watching your wait? Can you look Jesus in the eye and say you are striving? When Jesus said,” Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” He was talking about people who received the gift of faith and did not take care of it and so lost it. The first became last. While some who received the gift of faith later but cherished it would die with faith and become first. Now don’t misunderstand me. It’s not the going to church that gets you to heaven. Jesus does. But feeding your faith through word and sacrament keeps your connection to Jesus strong and vibrant, enabling you to endure life’s storms and trials, joys and disappointments with God’s strength. It makes the wait easier, more enjoyable.

          Are you watching your wait? Recently a sister and brother entered through the narrow gate. Helen Tellier. Weekly worship as long as she possibly could for 106 years. She kept coming even when she could not hear, following along with the printed word. That’s striving. That’s making every effort. Ralph Engelhardt. Weekly worship and serving you the people of St. Jacobi as an officer, Sandy faithfully bring him to the Trustees and Council meeting just a week before he entered through that narrow door of Jesus. Those are good examples for the rest of us. And, if we could talk to them right now you know what they would tell us? The wait is worth it. Amen.

 

August 2-4, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Ecclesiastes 1:1, 2:18-26 “MONEY: FROM MEANINGLESS TO MEANINGFUL!"

 

PENTECOST 8

August 2-4, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Ecclesiastes 1:1, 2:18-26

 

“MONEY: FROM MEANINGLESS TO MEANINGFUL

 

          Money. It certainly has the potential to bring out the worst in people, including people like us. Money issues have been one of the leading causes of divorce in our country for decades. Infidelity does not even come close. Is there a lasting division in a family between siblings? Chances are money, inheritance, who gets the family cabin, probably has something to do with it. I recall the time when the man most Packers fans love to hate, Randy Moon Man Moss, was the first player in the NFL to sign a contract over $100 million. Two weeks later Minnesotans were mad at him. Why? The lottery jackpot had climbed to the hundreds of millions and a gas station owner tattled on poor little Randy for buying $20,000 worth of tickets. Didn’t he have enough? Why was he ruining other people’s chances to get more money? Money issues are a leading cause of stress and unhappiness in our country.

          Now we aren’t stuck with observations of American society to conclude that money can cause a lot of trouble. The Bible which God has provided for all people of all time tell us the same. Jesus spoke a lot about money, warning against greed. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” the Apostle Paul warned in his first letter to Timothy.

          And then there is this Bible Book called Ecclesiastes. Even though the writer of Ecclesiastes never blatantly declares who he is, there is common agreement, and all internal evidence points to Solomon, son of David. He is widely regarded as the wealthiest man that ever lived. His annual gold-based income would be the equivalent of 1.6 billion dollars today. And that was just the gold. Sadly, the Bible tells us that Solomon, who started his reign with humble reliance on God, did not stay that way. He strayed from God, grew proud and indulged every sinful desire he could think of to try to find happiness. Ecclesiastes seems to be his last-ditch effort to come clean. We pray that he died with faith. We don’t know though. But God used Solomon to teach.

          What’s his lesson for us? Meaningless!!!  "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?...22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.” Well, that’s depressing…and true. Solomon lets us have a peek at his life and heart. Just from what the Bible records we know he was shrewd in business and building. Beautiful palaces, gardens and other buildings. He had trading fleets, built up an impressive army. He had accumulated hordes of gold, silver and bronze. Certainly, his mind was not resting, always thinking about what he was going to do next. People back then marveled at him and what he accomplished. I’m guessing most people envied Solomon, wishing they had half of what he had. And yet what was life like on the inside for Solomon? Meaningless. Empty. Hollow.  No matter what he built, accomplished or owned, he felt meaningless. Kids, you know how it is when a new video game comes out and you have to have it? You get it and play it for hours and then, meaningless. It’s not fun anymore. Big kids, also known as adults, same thing with many of the things we buy: new clothes or tech or big people toys. We want. We get. We move on. Meaningless. And then wise Solomon let his restless mind go further. What is my heir going to do with all my stuff? Will he use it wisely or waste it? It will be out of my control! Meaningless!

          Boy, with all this depressing meaninglessness maybe the solution to happiness is to give away everything and just become a hermit. Actually, no. Hermits can be just as unhappy as billionaires. What’s the solution? There is something Solomon wrote that gives us some hope for his eternity and some help in avoiding a life where money is meaningless.  “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?”  Did you catch it? Did you see the key to going from meaningless to meaningful? “Without him, without God, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Solomon’s life and wealth had not always been meaningless. At one time it was very meaningful. He used the wealth his father David amassed to build the great Temple in Jerusalem. This Temple, when used as God said, helped the people see the need for a Savior and kept their hearts humbly waiting for Him to come. It taught the seriousness of sin and only the Lamb of God who could take them away. That was meaningful, affecting the eternity of millions of people. He also used his wealth to set up orderly government and a justice system to benefit His people. That was meaningful. People marveled at the wise ways Solomon did things and owned things. At one time he had a meaningful life. Now it was meaningless. What happened?

          Without God. Once Solomon sacrificed his faith in the Savior God everything became meaningless. Without God everything was meaningless. But that points us to some Good News. With God our life is meaningful. Every part of it. Whether we eat, drink or whatever we do we can do it for the glory of God and be meaningful, even money. So that money for us can be meaningful instead of meaningless, we need to remember a few things. We are all already rich. Jesus has taken care of that. We are heirs of heaven. Heaven is so wonderful that what we consider wealth here on earth will be, well, meaningless in heaven.  The fact that God gave Jesus for us gives us confidence for our earthly needs too. He who did not spare his only Son but gave Him up for us all, how will he not also along with him, graciously give us all things! Secondly we are stewards, caretakers, managers of the wealth that God places into our hands. I really don’t have anything. It’s all God’s. But I am in charge of handling some of God’s things. What an honor and what a privilege that the almighty, holy and wise God trusts me with some of His things!

          Money is one of God’s things. And with God, money goes from meaningless to meaningful. There is nothing bad about money itself. It is a thing. A tool. It helps us get things done. Money is a gift from God. When we view it that way there is great meaning. Every bit of money you are in charge of and I am in charge of is a gift, a blessing. Whether that comes from a job where an employer pays me, a social security check or retirement savings or inheritance, God is the one who gave it to us. Meaningful when you look at it that way. Fills your heart with thanksgiving and gives you purpose. I want God to be proud of the way I handle His money. Like any other tool God has given as a blessing, Satan will try to get us to use money as a curse. But he doesn’t get to win. God does. Use God’s money in ways God’s wants, and you will feel that sense of satisfaction, the conscience’s pat on the back. Meaningful! Use some of God’s money to provide a place to live. Buy food that not just nourishes but tastes good. Enjoy it with an attitude of gratitude! Meaningful. Pay the taxes God wants us to in order to have a government that takes care of its people. Meaningful. If they waste it, that’s on them, not you. You want to experience money in a super meaningful way? Ask God for the gift of generosity. Anyone can give money to a charity or to support the spread of the Gospel. Only a generous person has fun doing it. So if your giving to church or charity is fun for you, thank God for his gift of generosity. If not, something to pray for. If God made you good at making money, make lots of it, and have fun doing with it what God wants you to do. You will find that to be very meaningful. If you are struggling, ask what God wants you to learn. That too is meaningful.

          For without God who can eat and find enjoyment? Meaningless! But with God... Brothers and sisters you go with God, or more accurately, God goes with you. He loves you. He has chosen you to be His own. He gave His one and only Son for you. He adopted you into His family at your Baptism. He feeds your faith through word and sacrament. And He blesses you with a thing called money. While it has the potential to bring about the worst in people, with God it can be used for the best. Meaningless becomes meaningful! Amen.

July 12-14, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Ruth 1:1-19a “LOYAL LOVE”

 PENTECOST 8

July 12-14, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Ruth 1:1-19a

 

“LOYAL LOVE”

1.     Received

2.     Reflected

3.     Rewarded

 

CHESED. It’s a Hebrew word. Say it with me. CHESED. In your Bibles it gets translated many different ways. Love. Kindness. Faithfulness. Mercy. Lovingkindness. Faithful love. The reason for this is the simple Hebrew word has much more meaning to it than just one American English word can communicate. And the reason it is so hard is because it first and foremost is the word used to describe God’s love for people. That love is so far above what you and I can legitimately and consistently show to other people. It’s not Toyota love, based off of their old commercials, “I love what you do for me.” That is a reasonable type of love that flows from sinful people and is really selfishness. I’ll love you as long as you are doing what pleases me. It’s not the butterfly feeling that attracts guys to girls and girls to guys so they describe themselves as being in love. It’s God’s kind of love. It shows in His commitment to people even though they disobey Him, let Him down, think of Him last and themselves first. God’s love gives. It gives what people need. It’s an unconditional love and that’s what makes it so hard for people to emulate. Hard. But not impossible. So my best rendition of CHESED is loyal love. A commitment to a person and their needs that you keep doing because you are loyal and faithful and that they will see as kindness or mercy. All of the words of God that we have listened to so far pointed us to this love. The Good Samaritan. Seriously. Who does that? That is clearly a picture of our God’s love. The reading from Galatians highlighted the sinful nature/Holy Spirit battles we all know too well. Do I use my free forgiveness to build relationships on my selfishness or God’s kind of love? Then the reading from Ruth. It did not hide the hurt that God allows His people to deal with or the difficulties they may face in relationships. More importantly, it shows God’s people can show loyal love.

The book of Ruth starts out with trouble for and by God’s people. There was a famine. No food. A man named Elimelech took his wife Naomi and sons, Mahlon and Killion to Moab. Bad choice. God had told His people to avoid the idol worshipping neighbors. More trouble. Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. Now her two sons would need to provide for her. But they married Moabite women, again, forbidden by God because idol worshipping wives generally led to idol worshipping Israelites. More trouble. Both sons die. Big trouble. Back then property and means of income generally was attached to the husbands and son. Widows who did not have sons to inherit or support then were at great risk, most likely destined to be beggars.

But in all of this, God’s loyal love was at work! Naomi was a recipient of God’s loyal love. A famine was something God regularly used to call His Old Testament people to repentance when they strayed. Loyal love. Naomi and her husband had disobeyed God and put the entire family’s faith at risk by moving out of the Promised Land and intermarrying with Moabites. But God did not treat her as her sins deserved, instead He preserved her and worked in her life to get her back home. Loyal love.

And then Naomi reflected that loyal love. Back then she had every legal right to make her son’s widows stay with her and support her. Just the way it was back then. But Naomi does not do that.” But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back. Both of you return to your mother’s house. May the Lord show you kindness as you have shown kindness to the dead and to me. ⁹May the Lord grant that each of you finds security in the house of a husband.” Loyal love. The daughters in law want to stick with Naomi. But Naomi thought of the needs of her daughters in law. The most likely outcome if these women went with Naomi would be they would be beggars supporting Naomi until they died and no self respecting Jewish man would want to marry them. So Naomi set them free. As a recipient of God’s loyal love Naomi reflected loyal love.

One daughter in law, Orpah, with tears agreed. The other named Ruth did not. “But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to abandon you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you make your home, I will make my home. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely and double it if anything but death separates me from you.” Ruth, a recipient of loyal love reflected it herself. But did you notice whose loyal love Ruth had received? Naomi’s yes, but also the Lord’s! God had used the sinful decision of moving out of Israel and marrying non Israelite women for the good. Ruth knows and believes in the Savior God, the God of loyal love.

I think we’re starting to see how this works. Those who receive God’s loyal love reflect that to others. You and I are recipients of God’s loyal love. Think back in your life. Have you made any bad choices that put your faith in Christ at risk? Any times you can think of where you trusted in yourself with all your heart and leaned not on God’s understanding instead of they way it’s supposed to be? Think of how we can easily think of worship as something we have to do, a chore. What slap in God’s face! But how does He respond? Loyal love. Knowing full well what you and I would do with His grace God gave Jesus anyway. Each day His mercy is new, He keeps forgiving, keeps providing, keeps preserving, keeps working all things for good. We are recipients of CHESED, God’s loyal love.

That enables us to reflect it to others. And we won’t have to look hard for these opportunities. God will place them before us. Every relationship you have with other people is an opportunity to show loyal love, love that seeks to give to the needs of others. It may not be as dramatic as putting your future means of support at risk like Naomi did or leaving everyone and everything you know behind like Ruth did, but you will have opportunities to meet the needs of other people God places in your life. Probably the hardest ones are the closest relationships. The closer the relationship the more it hurts when we sin against each other and let each other down. And when we are hurting it is hard to show loyal love. Hard, but not impossible. God takes care of that.

I don’t know if you realized it or not but when God tells you to do something hard He gives you what you need to do it. One of the ways He helps us is to bless our efforts. I use the word reward but you need to understand it. A reward is something someone gives you for doing what you should do anyway. It highlights the generosity of the giver, not the action of the recipient. So for instance, if your dog runs away, I find it and return it to you I have done nothing special. It is what every person should do. If you give me a reward for that, you are special. God is special and He rewards loyal love. Just look at Naomi and Ruth. “When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. ¹⁹Then the two of them traveled until they arrived at Bethlehem.”

Bethlehem. Know anything about that little town? You’re right. It’s where Jesus was born. If you read the rest of the book of Ruth you will find out that God rewarded these ladies’ loyal love by placing them into the ancestry of our Savior Jesus. They are both grandma greats to Jesus! Now obviously since Jesus has already been born, none of us are going to get that honor. But we can set aside our fears that we will be taken advantage of, used or not appreciated when we strive to show loyal love. God will bless it!

Just as He has done your whole life, showing you CHESED, a love so loyal that it takes half the dictionary to describe. You have it. Reflect it. And God will take care of the reward. Amen.

 

June 21-23, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 2 Timothy 1:3-9 “EVERYONE A MISSIONARY!”

 

PENTECOST 2

June 21-23, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 2 Timothy 1:3-9

 

“EVERYONE A MISSIONARY!”

 

          It’s probably not that way for young people now. There are so many stories and exciting things that grab their attention. When I was a young boy with little to no screen time, the stories you heard at school or church got your imagination running. That was normally the case when you heard about or read about missionaries, Christians who went off to far off lands. With slow travel and no electronic communication, they were cut off from their families. They would eat strange foods, go to remote locations, have to learn foreign languages. Why would they do such things? For the love of Christ and the love of lost souls. As my mind raced to put pictures to what my ears heard or my eyes read, being a missionary seemed both scary and exciting at the same time. It also seemed so noble. St. Jacobi has a strong connection to world missions. Our sister, Kaye Eckert, who recently got to go to heaven, was the executive assistant to the Administrator for WELS World Missions for many years. Deb Koeller’s parents, missionaries in Thailand. As we saw on the WELS Connection, the Doebler’s son and family, world missionaries, now in Australia. Our teacher Lisa Terek was born in Africa. Why? Parents there as missionaries. Our new teacher Becky Birkholz and her husband, also world missionaries. Tom Strackbein spent his youth in Puerto Rico. You guessed it, missionary family. It’s almost like everyone around here is a missionary!

          And that is exactly the point that the word of God we have listened to today had made clear. In the reading from Isaiah, God said to all His people, “You are my witnesses.” In the Gospel lesson we heard how the Lord Jesus healed a man who had been tortured by demons and then sent him off as a missionary, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” And then in the second lesson we are spending our time on the Apostle Paul, probably the greatest Christian missionary who ever lived, made the same point. For those privileged to know and believe in Jesus Christ, everyone’s a missionary!

          When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter he was in prison at Rome, chained. But the power of God was not chained. “I thank God, whom I serve with a clean conscience as my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.” Paul did not whine or complain about the circumstances God let him be in. Instead, he used the power of prayer as he prayed for Timothy. At this time Timothy was a pastor in the city of Ephesus. These were not easy times for Bible believing, Christ professing Christians whether they were in prison or not. Certainly the temptation for Timothy was there to avoid Paul’s fate, to keep quiet about Christ. But he couldn’t. Paul encouraged him. “For this reason I am reminding you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God did not give us a timid spirit, but a spirit of power and love and sound judgment. ⁸ So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Instead, join with me in suffering for the gospel while relying on the power of God.”  Paul reminded Timothy of who he was, a missionary.

          But he wasn’t the only one Paul mentioned. “I remember your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it also lives in you.” How did it happen that Timothy, who had a Gentile, probably unbeliever father, had the gift of faith? Missionaries had taught him God’s truth. Missionaries named Lois and Eunice. Influencers in his live who filled the role of grandma and mom but understood they were missionaries, sent on a mission by the Lord Jesus to raise young Timothy in the way of the Lord and most likely without any idea of how God would multiply their efforts to spread the Good news of free forgiveness in Christ to many, many people. Back then everyone was a missionary.

          And nothing has changed. Today every believer in Christ is a missionary for Christ, just not all in the same way. Let me give you an example from my life. Wally and Susie Ebert. Both enjoying heaven right now. They were dairy farmers with a farm a couple of miles outside of Watertown. Through our church and school at St. Marks they had made a connection with my family and hired my older brothers and then me to help occasionally with farm chores but especially to help stack hay bales in the mow for each cutting. It was not the way it is now with large round bales or big rectangles handled by farm equipment. These were 50-60 pound bales that had to be stacked by hand. It was hard work. Sweaty work. Dirty work. But fun work. Each season we would find friends from Northwestern Prep or College to help each haying season. They paid us well. The going rate in the early 80s for farm work was $2 per hour. (Chris hates it when I tell this story because she only got $2-3 a day!) They paid us $4 an hour. We were happy and grateful. One day after the hay was up and Susie came out with the checkbook to pay us, Wally and Susie sat us down. Wally said, “Boys the Lord has given us the job of taking care of the cows. We love them and love it. But we don’t get off the farm much. You boys are studying to be pastors and teachers. We want you to tell people about Jesus for us. From now on we will pay you $10 an hour. Pay for your schooling. Preach Jesus for us.” If the inflation calculator I used is to be believed, in today’s dollars they were paying us $40 an hour to bale hay. Of the guys who worked on that crew over the years 7 are currently serving as pastors, 3 as teachers and 2 graduated Northwestern and realized God had made them good at doing other things. Each has served several terms as congregation and Board of Elders chairmen. The Eberts realized that God had made them good at dairy farming and God’s cows needed care and God’s people needed milk, but they never forgot that all people need Jesus to be saved, and they found a way to be missionaries as well as dairy farmers.

          And that, brothers and sisters, is the question and challenge I have for you. Do you see yourselves as what you are? Missionaries. And do you understand how and to whom the Lord has sent you? Is there a Timothy or Timothette in your life that you have influence on as an Aunt or Uncle, Mom or Dad, Grandpa or Grandma? Can you be Wally and Suzy Ebert and rack up treasures in heaven, souls saved, through others as you do your needed and necessary jobs that serve God and help His people all the time fully understanding that you are also a missionary? And in the words of the great mission hymn, “Hark the Voice of Jesus Crying” Let none hear you idly saying there is nothing I can do. Paul was in chains and in prison and he was busy, praying. Some of you may feel imprisoned in a body that is not working well so you are stuck having to worship online, cut off from the full worship experience of church. Is there really nothing you can do? Will you pray for me, the pastors and teachers, your church, your synod? Would you like a copy of the LWMS missionary prayer calendar to guide your specific prayers? We’ll get one for you. You are a missionary.

          Like with the Apostle Paul, Satan may try to keep you on the sidelines. But for most of us the prison and chains that Satan uses to try to stop us is not made of brick and mortar but Affluence and Apathy. Affluence. We are so blessed. So many toys and fun things to attract our attention and time. Great blessings that Satan tries to use to get us to forget our first love, Jesus Christ, and our first calling, missionaries. Apathy. Do you believe that souls who reject Jesus, who die in unbelief, go to Hell, or do you think God was just kidding and He let His Son be brutalized, hang on a cross and be forsaken for show? You know the truth. Souls without Christ are dying souls. Our mission from Jesus is to tell them the great things God has done for us. Everyone’s a missionary, somehow, someway.

          It’s summer time, a good time to make sure your fans are working. Not just the ones that keep us cool, but also the faith fans. Fan into flames the gifts God has given you. Your pastors and teachers are constantly checking ourselves. Are we majoring in Major? Are the things we are first concerned about as we seek to have a first class congregation and school first and foremost about properly proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ and are we in the word daily? How about you? If you haven’t before considered yourself a missionary, make sure that faith fan is working, pray for the Spirit’s guidance and then enjoy, the sometimes hard but eternally rewarding work of being a missionary. That is what you are! Amen.

May 31-June 2, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 17:20-26 “JESUS PRAYS FOR YOU!”

 

EASTER 7           May 31-June 2, 2025                Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: John 17:20-26

 

“JESUS PRAYS FOR YOU!”

 

          This past Thursday we once again celebrated the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. In one sense it seems to be an odd thing to celebrate…Jesus visibly leaving. But when you understand that Jesus ascended because His saving mission was completed and to continue to serve us as Savior King you understand why it’s something to celebrate. It would be like if one or Jacobi’s own went to Washington to be President only greater. One of the ways the Bible says Jesus serves us is as our intercessor. He prays for us. As one verse of the great Easter hymn “I know that my Redeemer lives” puts it, “He lives to plead for me above.” That leads to a question. What does Jesus pray for? There’s a better question. Who does Jesus pray for? He prays for you!

The portion of God’s Word we are looking at comes from what is known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. It’s part of the extended prayer He prayed in the Upper Room with His disciples the night He was betrayed. We get to listen in as Jesus prays to our Heavenly Father for us and the first thing He prays that we have is the blessing of unity. “I am praying not only for them, but also for those who believe in me through their message. ²¹ May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. ²² I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one: ²³ I in them, and you in me. May they become completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

 Unity! What a blessing. We all know the peace we feel when there is unity in the family, unity in the congregation. We all know and dislike the angst that comes with disunity. Our country is experiencing discord and disunity at a high level. There is a reason for this. Satan. The Devil knows the strategy of divide and conquer. He knows that the sinful nature of man can easily be led down the road to hatred when there are disagreements. Sadly, because we are Americans, we can fall into the Devil’s traps and this division and discord can lead to disunity in our families and our churches. I remember as a kid watching the “Battle of the Sexes” pitting teams of male and female celebrities against each other in obstacle courses and other activities. It was mildly amusing. Now our country pits men and women against each other in a power struggle that rejects the beauty of the team God set up where men and women are to work together with divinely designed roles for the good of all and to the glory of God. Despite many well-intentioned efforts to break down divisions and discord caused by focusing on skin tone those divisions seem to be magnified, not minimized. Economic or social status divisions aren’t any better either. And division by political leaning? Oi! All efforts made to improve these issues fail because they do not take into account the inherent evil of mankind and that evolution is a lie. People are not evolving into higher life forms. Something is missing. Jesus is. And without Christ the trend goes down. Good news for you the people of God! Jesus prays for you. That you have unity. Christ brings us together. In Christ we know that who God made me, male or female, or what place God has put me in, well off or poor, or the lightness or darkness of my skin tone aren’t what’s important. Serving the Lord is. And so because of Christ we get to notice we are all different, agree that those differences don’t matter so that together we serve him better. In Christ, when the hurts come, as they will when sinners interact with sinners, we have the power to forgive as we have been forgiven. What Jesus prays for you to have we can do because of Him. “May they be one as we are one.” Jesus prays for the blessing of unity.

          Jesus also prays that you have the blessing of glory. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am so that they may see my glory—the glory you gave me because you loved me before the world’s foundation.”

 There are different types of glory, some that fades and some that does not. There is glory in standing with your team as it holds up the trophy after winning the state championship. There is glory in performing a difficult musical piece well and hearing the ovation of the crowd. One of my favorite Civil War movies has the title, Glory. If you haven’t seen it and military history intrigues you, watch it. You will see a different kind of glory, the glory of struggle and sacrifice for the good of others. Jesus has both kinds of glory. He did not appear very glorious while He was visibly on earth. But His struggle and sacrifice for us and all people was. If we could see Him now….oh the obvious glory. Jesus prays for you. He said He has given us His glory and we have it and will have it. So sometimes our faithful following of Christ will not look or feel glorious. When you stay faithful to Christ’s teaching and get ridiculed or shunned or marginalized it will not feel very glorious. When your efforts to win over for Christ a family member, coworker or neighbor fails (as far as you can tell) it will not look or feel glorious. If the visible and faithful church in our country continues its numerical decline despite all our efforts it won’t feel like we are holding up the championship trophy. But the glory that Christ has given us is there and just wait! My dad had many sayings. One oft repeated one that has stuck with me is “Work first, then play.” He was teaching us priorities and responsibility. Do the work, the hard part first. Then have fun. Jesus’ prayer reminds us of the same. Have the glory of struggle and battle, then the glory that is obvious and unending. Live in the sin messed world for a short time and then have glory forever. Jesus prays for you to have it and so you do and will.

          And Jesus also prays for you to have love. “Righteous Father, the world did not know you, but I knew you, and these men knew that you sent me. ²⁶ I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them and that I may be in them.”

  Jesus prays for the love of the Father to be in us. This is not what passes for love for so many people which is “I will like you as long as you are pleasing me or giving me what I want.” That is thinly disguised selfishness. Nor is it the kind of love that says, “If I am doing or thinking something God says is wrong, tell me it’s OK, I’m right. Tell God He is wrong.” That is arrogance and rejection. It’s the Father’s love. A commitment love. A caring for the needs of others love and doing something about if we can. Like the Father did when we needed saving and so He gave us His Son. It’s important that we have it and show it. Not only did Jesus say that if we hold to his teachings we are really his disciples. He also said, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Listen to what He had the Apostle John write in his first epistle. “ 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love. 9 This is how God’s love for us was revealed: God has sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we may live through him. 10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us so much, we also should love one another.” Look for those ways to care for another’s needs, to forgive, to sacrifice. That’s the love of the Father. And it is what Jesus prays for you to have.

          Good thing He ascended! Unity, Glory, Love. Because our Lord Jesus prays for us we can have these wonderful blessings right now. Because we are sinners living with sinners, we won’t have perfectly, here. But we will have them perfectly some day, on that great day when Jesus says, “Behold, I am making everything new!” Until then let’s do what we can to be an answer to what Jesus prays for. Amen.