Wednesday, December 29, 2021

 

CHRISTMAS 1

December 26-27, 2021

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Hebrews 12:1-3

 JESUS ON DISPLAY!

1. For you.

2. Through you.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (EHV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne. Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.”

 

          One of the things I really enjoy about Christmas time is that Jesus is on display--everywhere. More than any other time of the year it is true. It’s not like the other stolen Christian Festival of Easter where you have to look hard to see Jesus on display. This time of year you don’t. Drive through any given neighborhood and while you will see all kinds of outdoor displays that have absolutely nothing to do with the whose birth it is there is usually one or more nativity scenes with Jesus on display. Everyone who drives past on Forest Home can see Jesus on display in our nativity scene. I saw one place where, on their long white fence facing the road, they had painted a huge EMMANUEL with a nativity scene in front. One of our family traditions, maybe yours too, has been to drive through Candy Cane lane each year. Each year we count how many of the displays have a nativity scene or something that points to Jesus. This year there were a record number of displays that pointed to Jesus. 36! Jesus is on display. I even get some joy that the green things on display are still almost universally called Christmas trees. Christ’s tree. And if you think about it, Christ on a tree is what we need to see at Christmas time and always.

          Then Jesus was on display as well. He just didn’t look so cute. And yet that is what God wants us to see. Jesus on display for you. Listen again to what God had written to the Christians known as the Hebrews. They were getting discouraged because people in their time didn’t like Christ so they didn’t like Christians very much. He wrote, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us.” This part of the letter to the Hebrews follows Hebrews 11, the halls of faith chapter of the Bible that lists so many famous believers of the past who lived their lives by faith, trusting what God said even when everything they saw going on around them didn’t add up. They are the great cloud of witnesses. We have more. Take the nativity scenes. The first hearers of Hebrews did not live at a time or in a world that had any of those. Christians were persecuted. This time of year we tend to think of fond Christmas memories of the past. Think of the witnesses of your past, mom and dad who lived their lives by faith. Then we are urged to get rid of the burdens and sins that ensnare us. At this time of year some of those snares are all the extras of Christmas that grab our attention away from Jesus. Well, the commercial Christmas is over so maybe it’s easier now. Forget about the parties and presents. You’ll be putting decorations away soon enough. But you won’t put away Jesus.  Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal.” Jesus is on display.  God wants us to keep looking at Him but not as the cute and helpless looking baby. But on the cross. “In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s throne. Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.”

What brings you joy? Being with family? Being with friends? Things? A favorite Christmas carol proclaims, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come!” The writer to the Hebrews points us to what brought joy to our Lord Jesus. When Jesus came to earth he was filled with anticipation of joy that would be his. The source of that joy? You. Having you with Him in heaven. That’s why He endured the cross and disregarded its shame. Jesus was on display at His birth and at his death. At his birth it was humble and lowly. At his death it was horrible and hellish. You can research if you want the pain of crucifixion at the hands of Rome. It is not for the weak of heart. You can understand the shame of crucifixion as those crucified were stripped of their clothing and helpless to defend themselves from whatever horrible things people would throw at them. What you and I can’t understand and you cannot research is the real pain of the cross for Jesus, how awful it is to be separated from God. You can’t research that because no one has come back from Hell to tell. Yet that is what Jesus endured as he was on the cross to pay the penalty of sin for all people. For you. For me. Why would He do that? In view of the joy set before Him. In view of what He would redeem for God, you and me and all who believe in Him. Jesus was on display for you.

But soon all the Christmas decorations and nativity scenes will go away? When do you take yours down? Chris and I wait until Gentile’s Christmas, Epiphany, January 6. Radio stations change their playlists today. Merchants will shift to post Christmas sales. Soon if not already whatever nativity scenes allover our community, including the one out there, will be taken down. So where will Jesus be on display? Through you. Shortly before our Lord Jesus ascended He said, “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” It is clear that He was not just speaking to the Apostles gathered before Him who went plenty of places but never made it to the ends of the earth. No, Jesus was talking to every believer in Him from that time on until He returns. He was talking to you and to me. We are His witnesses.  Jesus is on display through us.

Earlier this year we had a Bible Class series called One by One. Many of you were there. It was a great reminder of how things work with people. When it’s something important we rely on people we know and trust for advice and direction. So if you want to know a good car dealership where you will be treated fairly you will ask or listen to family members and friends you know and trust as they make recommendations to you. New in town and looking for a doctor or dentist for yourselves or the kids? What did you do? You asked people you knew and trusted. Every single person in your life needs Jesus as their Savior. They may not know it now. They may not care now. But they need Him. Who will they listen to and who will they ask when God gets them to the point they realize they need Him? Hopefully you. Why you? You know the truth that Jesus is the Savior for all. You know the truth that trying harder or living better doesn’t cut it with God. You know the way and the truth and the life and that His name is Jesus and no one gets to come to the Father except through Jesus the Son. You know forgiveness is free and what grace is. You know the real Jesus. I can’t say that the other people in their life are like you. Jesus is on display through you.

But before people will listen to you they will need to get to know you and trust you. That’s where Jesus on display through you in your every day life comes into play. Jesus sets this joy before you. Be Him to others. The ear that listens when a heart is hurting. That hand that helps when the neighbor’s garbage can when it blows over. Even or especially the grumpy neighbor. Have you spent the time yet to find out why he’s grumpy? Be the voice that encourages or puts out the fire between family members. The one that gives a ride. Or takes over cookies. Let’s have a record number of times that Jesus is on display through us until they ask that all important question, “Why? Why are you so nice all the time?” I’m glad you asked. Because Jesus is so nice to me.”

That’s how God works to keep Jesus on display all year long, for you and through you. Amen.

 

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

December 12th, 2021

December 11-13, 2021 

Philippians 4:4-7  Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

REJOICE! The Lord Is Near!

1.       Gentle Joy.

2.       Prayerful Joy

3.       Peaceful Joy

In the name of Jesus in whom we can rejoice,

This is my youngest granddaughter!  This week at church someone mistook her for a little boy.  This was the face she made.  It is also the look we sometimes have on our faces when we things don’t go quite like we expect or want.  It is the kind of look we get on our faces when watching one awful event after another from crime to weather to warfare on our news broadcasts.  It is the kind of look we can easily get on our faces when we look to the future and wonder about what things will be like in the lives of our children and grandchildren.  But Jesus changes everything.   We see that in God’s Word today as we continue to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ return and as we get ready to celebrate his coming in Bethlehem.   God’s Word assures us that we can rejoice in every circumstance.  Not with a pasted on smile kind of rejoicing but rather a heart filled rejoicing no matter what is happening around us.  God’s Word tells us, “Rejoice!  The Lord is near!  1. Gentle Joy.  2. Prayerful Joy.  3. Peaceful Joy.

      Philippi was the first city Paul visited after Jesus gave him the vision of a man from Macedonia asking him to “come over to Macedonia and help us.”  So the Gospel moved from Asia into Europe.  It’s easy to see why the man in Paul’s vision was pleading “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”   For much of its history, there was not much rejoicing in the Savior God in Philippi.  Apparently, Philippi  had only a small number of Jewish inhabitants and no synagogue. The worship on the Sabbath  was held outside the city by the river.   It was at the river that Paul met a group of women, including Lydia, to whom he preached the gospel.  The people rejoiced to here of God’s forgiveness in Christ.  There were some challenges they faced.  This was an area where earthquakes could and did happen.  That might be one reasons why the city declined.  Their city ended up in the headlines of the news for some bad things that happened there.   Brutus of “You too Brutus fame?” were defeated there after the assassination of Caesar.  After Shakespeare’s play, “I’ll see you in Philippi” became a way of saying, “ You will get yours.”   The devil was working hard to wreck things. The Book of Acts tells is that there was an evil spirit there who had taken control of a little girl.  Through Paul, God made the evil spirit leave her and that got Paul and Silas thrown in prison there in Philippi and years later, Paul himself was sitting in prison when he wrote this letter talking about our response to the fact that our Lord is coming soon.  “Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.”   Rejoice with a gentle joy.

     Thae word translated “gentleness” has the idea of someone who has the ability to rip, snort and tear but doesn’t- someone who holds back, who doesn’t take other’s actions in the worst sense.  It literally means, “super fair.”  It could be spoken of those who control themselves even when provoked.  Though it is true that Jesus is always near seeing everything that is not so much the reason for us to let our gentleness be evident to all.  The time when Jesus, the one who loved us enough to die for us, is returning to take us home is coming soon.  So now is not a time to be flying off the handle.  Now is not the time to be holding grudges.  Just before these verses we hear Paul say, “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”  So Paul urges these two women to put aside the things there were apparently arguing about.  Then he urges others to help these ladies get along.  Not because they we all so nice, but, “in the Lord”, because Jesus is so nice.  Be filled with gentle joy because Jesus was filled with gentle joy.  A famous preacher, “Charles Spurgeon” once said, ”People who are happy in the Lord, are not apt either to give offense or to take offense. Their minds are so sweetly occupied with higher things, that they are not easily distracted by the little troubles which naturally arise among such imperfect creatures as we are. Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord.”

      Is our gentleness evident to all?   Is our gentle joy evident to someone who meets us on the street? Or someone who waits on us in the restaurant? Is our gentleness evident to all in homes?  Is the joy that Jesus brings evident to all whom we disagree with as we talk with them.  Truth is- we haven’t always been gentle to all.  The truth is that we have ripped, snorted and tore over the hearts and feelings of others along the way in places where Jesus would have been gentle.  But the Savior traded places with us.  He took our record of sins and gave us his pure holy gentle record.  The Savior who is coming on Judgement Day not to condemn us but to take us to our home in heaven.  How then shall we live while we wait?  With gentle joy.

     “Do not worry about anything.”  Do you remember the “Stretch Armstrong” toy?  When I was growing up it was a toy many wanted for Christmas?  It was a rubber wrestler that you could pull and stretch the legs and arms in all directions.  The word for worry here has the “Stretch Armstrong” idea of being pulled and stretched in all kinds of different directions.  Paul points out that there is no reason to let things pull us in all different directions.   We have someone to talk to.  We have someone to lean on we have someone to rely on.  “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” 

     Peter, someone we might guess might have at one time had a problem with worrying, quoted God’s care in the Psalms and urges us, “Cast all your care upon Him for He cares for you.”  Pastor Martin Luther once said that it is the skill and and ability of Christians before all others on earth.  They know where to put their trust and lay their care….Let Christians learn more and more to cast their hearts and cares on God’s back, for God has a strong neck and strong shoulders.  He can easily carry the load.”  Friends God is good at carrying our loads.  He carried the load of our sins to the cross.  He now stretches out his arms to us and says, “Come to me all ye that labor and are heavy ladened and I will give you rest.”  Jesus brings us prayerful joy. 

     Advent is a great time to more and more grow that prayerful joy in our lives.  Now is a good time to honestly look at our prayer lives.  Are we in the habit of making our requests known to God in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving?  In other words are we thanking God in everything along with bringing anything we are concerned about to him?  Is there a pretty good balance there?  Does the joy of Jesus being near come through when we talk with God in our prayers?  Or would our prayers to our loving God sound to someone listening a little more like a conversation across the counter of a complaint department?  If we are treating prayer more like a complaint department, wouldn’t now be a good time to remember again the words of the hymn, “nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”  God doesn’t owe us anything but punishment.  Yet in Christ Jesus he gave us everything.  On top of all of it, we get to not only talk to him about our cares but trust him with everything on our hearts.  Rejoice!  The Lord is near!  Rejoice with prayerful joy.  That prayerful joy brings peaceful joy.

      “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  You might recognize those words from Paul.  Pastors often use those words after the sermon as an assurance that the peace we hear about in God’s word will guard our hearts and minds. God doesn’t get rattled.  He is God.  He is perfectly calm.  He is perfectly in control.  Read through the Bible!  Evil people and their plans do not rattle God!  The Psalmist says that when the nations rage, “the one enthroned in heaven laughs.”  He has a plan for you and me to be with Him in heaven and He is carrying it out.               

       As we wait for the Lord we have the joyful peace of knowing that God guards out hearts like protecting it in the inner chambers of a castle or guarding our hearts like a circle of secret service agents.  That joyful peace comes from the finished work of our Lord Jesus who fixed the relationship between us and God by becoming “the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”  God doesn’t look at our sins and see us as his enemy.  Instead for us who trust in Jesus, God sees us as His own dear children.  No matter what is happening in your life you can rejoice.  Even when things make you unhappy, your inside joy rests in your God.  Nothing can sperate you from His love.  That brings peace- peaceful joy.

     Getting ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth  can be a fun time but the Christmas tree and parties and presents are not where our joy comes from.  When those blessings are there, our prayer is that they just reflect the joy that Jesus brings, gentle joy, prayerful joy, peaceful joy.  Amen

Monday, December 6, 2021

December 4-6, 2021 ADVENT 2 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 3:1-6 (EHV) “REPENTANCE!’

 

December 4-6, 2021

ADVENT 2

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 3:1-6 (EHV)

 

“REPENTANCE!’

1.     Willed by God.

2.     Worked by God.

3.     Welcomed by us.

 

Luke 3:1-6 (EHV) “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 Just as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. 6 And everyone will see the salvation of God.”

 

          So if this is the most wonderful time of the year, as the song says, why is it that this time of the year statistically has more depression and mental health issues, more incidents of alcohol abuse and more reported incidences of family strife and violence than any other time of the year? I wonder if it has to do with expectations, that is, living up to what we think others expect of us. So we feel this pressure to make sure we get just the right gift, the perfect Christmas dress, the house just so when people are coming over. I feel it too. Some of you may know that each year we line the parsonage roof with white lights. I do the upper roof first before it gets too cold. I’d been telling Chris we probably need to get new lights. Fifteen years has been a good run. But one more year. Get new ones on clearance. Got the uppers on. Then started the lowers. Strings out. Couldn’t fix em. Grudgingly order new ones from Costco. Figured I could just put the new ones on the lower roof. Yeah after 16 years dimmed yellow does not look good next to new bright white. What are people going to think when they drive by? It won’t be right. Back up to the upper roof. Do it all over. Now you can all get a chuckle out of my desire to have it just right but you have your own ways as well. Giving in to the pressure to get it just right in what is honestly, just an effort to impress other people.

          The sad part about all this work and pressure, brothers and sisters, is we know better. Christmas is about Jesus. Advent reminds us Jesus is near. Prepare for him. Impress Him. Great! One more thing to do! Good news, brothers and sisters. What the Lord looks for in you, He gives to you, I’m talking about repentance. 78 times that word or a form of it appears in your Bible. Repentance is a vital part of the lives of believers in Jesus Christ. Many people mistakenly think that repentance is something you do to become a believer. Actually the Bible shows that repentance is something you do because you are a believer. It’s something that God wills and God works.

Repentance is what God wills to happen in His people as Jesus draws near. “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Luke is careful to give us the exact date following their calendar system based on who was ruling as Caesar. God picks the timing. Jesus was about to start His public ministry where people would know the Messiah was among them. They needed to be ready. So John the Baptist was sent to preach repentance. It’s what God wills to happen when Jesus draws near. And it’s the same today. In our daily walk with Jesus repentance prepares our hearts to rejoice in Him. In our preparations for celebrating His birth it does the same. It’s what God wills to happen.

          It’s also what God works. “Just as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.”   Sounds like quite an ambitious road building project. Making a straight path, filling in the low places. Taking down the hills. Smoothing the surface. We live in Wisconsin. We know it takes years to get road projects done. But this is a picture of what repentance looks like. It’s often misunderstood. What do you think? What does it mean to repent? Probably now you are thinking, “to be sorry for your sins.” Maybe you are thinking it means to stop doing sins you are aware of. Biblical repentance is so much more than that. Go back to the picture. If I gave you an assignment to fill in every valley and level off every hill and mountain just in our country you’d say “That’s impossible! Only God can do that.” And you’d be right. Only God can work true repentance in our hearts.

          The repentance that God wills and works involves a spiritual transplant that only God can do. Some people think babies are born innocent and morally good, at the worst, neutral. Not so. This is how we start life towards God (angry fist shaking baby) and this is how we end life towards God (angry granny shaking fist), unless God steps in and changes our hearts. “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from its youth,” says the Lord. “The sinful mind is hostile to God,” says the Lord. Until the Lord works repentance. Repentance is a complete change of mind, a 180 on sin and a trust in a Savior. Instead of denying sin there is admission. Instead of delighting in sin there is shame, remorse and sorrow. Instead or trying to fix it ourselves, there is “Jesus, help me!” Instead of wanting to return to our sins like a dog going back to lick up its vomit there is, “Help me to change my ways O Lord.” Repentance is a tall order. Only God can work it.

          The Good News is He has worked it in you. When you were given the gift of faith at your Baptism or through the word God created a new man or a new woman in you that hates sin and loves pleasing Jesus. It responds to the Holy Spirit in the word so that when you hear Jesus say “whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart,” you feel shame over your lust. And when the Lord tells you the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and you feel shame and remorse as realize how easy it is to praise and thank God at those times in life when money is plentiful and how quickly we fall into worry when it is tight at though God is only good in one case and not the other. It’s God worked repentance that when we take time for silent personal confession and the pastor starts speaking and you want to say, “Hey! I wasn’t done yet!” It’s why in our normal order of service when the pastor in God’s name announces forgiveness you want to respond with a hearty Amen! This is the truth. It’s why the Lord’s Supper is something you look forward to. It’s why you aren’t living your life like so many of your fellow Americans with blatant and foul outward sinning and why you at least try to control your mouth. God has worked repentance in you. He’s changed your heart and if there is anyone listening that is saying right now, “He’s not describing me,” please we need to talk. Get a hold of me. Repentance is that important.

          God wills it. God works it. We welcome it. Luke concluded his quote from Isaiah this way. “And everyone will see the salvation of God.” Repentance prepares people to see and value Jesus. It’s just three weeks until Christmas. What will you see? What will it mean for you? More pressure? Living up to expectations? Disappointed expectations? Joy in Jesus? Good News that a Savior has been born to you? Relief that you don’t have to be perfect for Jesus and that instead He has been perfect for you? As we heard last week, when Jesus drew near He humbled Himself, coming in lowly ways. When Jesus draws near to His people He humbles them through repentance. Keep listening to what God says. Let his righteous law expose your sin and need for a Savior. Let His Gospel point you to the glory of God that is Jesus. Then it really will be the most wonderful time of the year! Amen.