July 20-22, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Mark 6:30-34 “THE COMPASSIONATE CHRIST BLESSES US!”

 

PENTECOST 9

July 20-22, 2024

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Mark 6:30-34

 

“THE COMPASSIONATE CHRIST BLESSES US!”

1.     With work.

2.     With rest.

 

          Last month I had a chance to talk with Darlene Brosseau who served as our church secretary for many years. She is laid up and can’t put any wait on her foot. If you know Darlene, that is a challenge for her. She made it pretty clear she was tired of doing nothing. Now this was right before Chris and I went on vacation and I said that doing nothing sounded pretty good to me right now. We both kind of laughed. She wanted what I had, to be able to be busy with work. I wanted what she had, the opportunity to do nothing, to rest. Thankfully our Lord Jesus, who is actively involved in all of our lives, is watching over us and out for us and He knows what we need. He blesses us with work and rest.

          We see that encouraging truth presented to us in our Gospel lesson. If you have a really good memory and can remember last week’s Gospel lesson Jesus sent His disciples out to work. This is the last part of last week’s reading. “They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³They also drove out many demons. They anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” Jesus blessed them with work to do. And they did it. “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.”  Can you imagine their excitement? Thomas, “Lord I don’t have any proof so don’t doubt me, I healed sick people!” Peter, “Lord no one can deny what I did. I told demons to leave and they did. Three times!” James and John likely came in with the report that some people were not receptive and what was Jesus going to do about that? Judas, “People gave me money to support you. How about I hold on to it until we figure out what to do?” and all the rest, eagerly telling all that had happened and how they had told people the Messiah had come. Jesus had blessed them with work, meaningful work to do for Him.

          Just like He blesses you with meaningful work to do for Him. “Now wait a minute,” you might say, “I’m not an apostle, a pastor or a teacher. Jesus hasn’t given me any meaningful work to do.” You are wrong. Our Lord Jesus cares about the spiritual needs of people. Our Lord Jesus cares about the physical needs of people. Our Lord Jesus cares about the emotional needs of people. As you have heard me say before, people are God’s true treasures. He uses other people to provide for the needs of His treasures and give them joys in this earthly life and so there is not a job or vocation a role you can fill that I can think of except, the sinful ones, that is not in one way or another, working for Jesus. Police and fire. Yup. Doctors and nurses. Yup.  Lawyers and judges. Yup. Babysitters and lawnmowers. Yup. Pastors and teachers and janitors. Yup. Retiree—which means you do all kinds of work without pay. Yup. Builders, contractors, plumbers, electricians, bankers, yup, yup, yup and yup and it does not end. “But,” you may counter, “mine really isn’t that important, that meaningful. I’m just a mom. I’m just a kid.” Really? Was a hammer, just a hammer when Jesus wielded it as a carpenter? Was a chisel just a chisel, a saw just a saw? Not in the hands of the Lord Jesus it’s not and you are in the hands of the Lord Jesus. So don’t fall into the me and Darlene trap of wishing to have what the Lord has given to another. Let’s each thank the Lord for the work He gives us. And then follow the encouragement given so that whether we eat, drink or whatever we do, do it all for the glory of God. It’s why we are told in Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, keep working at it with all your heart, as for the Lord and not for people, ²⁴ because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Keep serving the Lord Christ!” The compassionate Christ blesses us with work.

          And with rest. Look again at our Lord in action with His disciples. “He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” For there were so many people coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat. ³²They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. ³³But many people saw them leave and knew where they were going. They ran there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴When Jesus stepped out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. His heart went out to them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things.” Jesus had compassion on his disciples. They had worked hard at the work He had blessed them with. They were tired. So Jesus blessed them with rest. But as is so often the case, rest can be elusive. Many people made sure they were waiting for the weary disciples and their master, Jesus. So Jesus told His disciples to take care of the situation and tell the people to go away. No, He didn’t. He had compassion on the people and the disciples. Jesus did the work. His disciples had a chance to rest.

          Same thing happens in your life and my live. You likely all remember what Jesus promised in Matthew 11:28. “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” That particular rest is the rest from trying to be perfect, the rest from being in a performance-based relationship with God. The rest from guilt over sinning. “You are forgiven,” says Jesus. “You are perfect in the sight of God because of me,” says Jesus. This is the same Jesus who was there at creation when God blessed His creation with physical rest too. Jesus blesses you with rest as well. The question is, will you take it? Will you take the physical rest He has given you or will you fill every waking hour with some scheduled activity so there is no time to enjoy God’s creation or the blessings of people He has placed in your lives or the things that He has placed into your care? Will you take the spiritual rest He has blessed you with, waking up each morning knowing that you are a forgiven sinner with no past and live just today as a present to live to God’s glory or will you listen to the Devil’s voice continually telling you that you are not good enough and all the bad things happening in your life are really God’s just punishment? Will you take the emotional and spiritual rest Jesus blesses you with and stay in your lane, only concerning yourself with those things Jesus has given you to rule over, casting all other cares on Him or will you see yourself as the fixer of all things, the world’s, the country’s, the family’s next Savior? Jesus blesses you with rest! Take it!

          And remember what Jesus is like. Every once in a while, when you are going through one of those tough times that the sin messed world throws at you a well-meaning friend or family member will console you with the words, “I know just how you feel” or “I know how hard this is for you.” Please take those with the intent expressed. Love and concern. The reality is that no other person actually does know how you feel or what you are going through because they are not you. Jesus does.! Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. He has compassion on you. His heart goes out to you. He knows when you need to work. He knows when you need to rest. Whatever He gives and whenever He gives it, work or rest, take it. It’s a blessing to you from the compassionate Christ. Amen.

July 6-8, 2024 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Ezekiel 2:1-7 “THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT A PROPHET HAS BEEN AMONG THEM!”

 

PENTECOST 7

July 6-8, 2024

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Ezekiel 2:1-7

 

“THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT A PROPHET HAS BEEN AMONG THEM!”

(Or how you continue to be a blessing to the USA!)

 

          So, every so often I get asked this question: “When did you know you wanted to be a pastor?” My very quick and honest response is, “After my first year as a pastor.” That surprises people, maybe you too. See I always thought I wanted to be a pastor. My parents held up being a pastor as a noble way to live. Not realizing what a sheltered life I had I thought, “What could be easier than being a pastor? You tell God’s people what God says and they do it because that’s what God’s people do, right?” And then I became a pastor. And on the very day I was ordained I became embroiled in the most messy marriage counseling disaster I have ever experienced. I met with him. I met with her. I met with them. I told them what God said. But they didn’t do it! I was shocked. I was flabbergasted. So I kept meeting with him, with her and them. Nothing I tried worked. On top of that her dad was breathing down my neck constantly. He was a strong, aggressive gun toting native Texan. What was I going to do about that bum of a husband? When would there be relief for his sweet little darlin? It got to the point I dreaded seeing him on Sunday and did not look forward to checking my messages or answering my phone. I wasn’t sleeping well. I perseverated on this problem constantly. I remember thinking, “I didn’t sign up for this. All that time in school and now I don’t want to be a pastor if this is what it’s like.” And then God did His God thing. He dropped some information that had been hidden into my lap. I found out that not only do God’s people not always do what God says, they will lie to you too. The marriage was broken. And I learned something that day. I learned to stay in my lane. God had made it clear that He had never asked me to fix marriages other people had broken. He had called me to proclaim His word to those who like it or like it not. And from then on I knew I wanted to be a pastor. And for any of your boys here that God might use as pastors some day, I get paid good money to do this. I feel like I’m double dipping, getting paid earthly treasures while I store up heavenly ones. It’s a fun way to live--as long as you stay in your lane.

          That was something the prophet Ezekiel needed to remember and will be a great source of comfort and peace for you as you continue to be a blessing to your country. Let’s revisit God’s marching orders for Ezekiel. “He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israe^] to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. ⁴ These children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted. I am sending you to them, and you are to tell them that this is what the Lord God says. ⁵ Then, whether they listen or do not listen—for they are a rebellious house—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” And to think I was throwing myself a pity party! Up front Ezekiel was told that the people he would serve were disloyal, rebellious, brazen and hard hearted. His job was simple. Tell them what the Lord said. And did you notice the goal? It didn’t matter whether the people listened or did not listen. God had one goal. Then they will know that a prophet has been among them. The people would know what God had to say. It was not Ezekiel’s job to make the people listen. He would not be the one to work repentance. That was God’s work. He needed to stay in his lane, do the work God gave him to do, no more and certainly no less. Tell them that this is what the Lord God says. Pretty simple. If he caught on, I’m sure the work of being a prophet was fun. If he didn’t, like the early version of me, he was frustrated.

          Brothers and sisters, a similar thing is true for each of you and what we do together as a congregation. I’m sure the heart of every person here is the same. We love our country. We are saddened as we see the direction it is going. We want better for her. Also like our good and gracious God, we want souls saved! All of them. We especially want our loved ones, our family members, our friends, those people we actually know, to be saved. But we can’t do that. Only God can save. Only the Holy Spirit changes hearts. That’s not our lane. But we so want it to be, so we get frustrated. We train our children in the way of the Lord, we have the home devotions, we bring them to church and then they stray. They don’t care. They start talking like Americans instead of Christians and the loyalty to Jesus does not seem to be there. We wonder “What was the use?” Our youth get pulled into to thinking they should be a different gender, or explore same sex relationships. That’s not what they were taught! We get frustrated. Pastors try to fix broken marriages. It doesn’t work. Teachers try to clean up the messy homes and poor parenting of their students. It doesn’t work. We get mad. We get frustrated with others, with God. Why? We are out of our lane. We have stepped on God’s toes and told Him, “Move over, let me take care of this, my way.” What is our lane as individual Christians, as a Christian congregation? Same as Ezekiel’s! “You are to tell them that this is what the Lord God says… You are to speak my words to them whether they listen or they do not.” It glorifies God when, you His people, faithfully proclaim His word, His truth, to your family, to your friends, and when a congregation like St. Jacobi continues to proclaim His truth in this community. It gives glory to our God and shows His grace that He has his message of sin pointed out to people and salvation freely given through Jesus to those who listen and to those who don’t.

          And here, friends, is how you are a blessing to our country and will continue to be if you don’t frustrate yourself. Stay in your lane! It is not your job to change the behaviors of your wayward children or grandchildren. It is not your job to make your fellow American citizens love Jesus like you do. You can’t make people believe. You can’t save them. Only Jesus does. Stay in your lane! Maintain a faithful presence to God and His word where you are at. Every family gathering does not need to include a discussion of the blatant sins going on in the family. Somewhere along the line a loving conversation expressing concern and pointing to Jesus needs to happen. After that your very presence will be reminder of what God says and they will know that a prophet has been among them. God is glorified by you. You are a blessing in those people’s lives whether they listen or do not listen.

          And the same thing is true for this congregation. You, the people of this congregation, need to insist adamantly, that we hold to God’s truth in all its parts and proclaim it whether people listen or not. The dwindling desire to be in a right relationship with God that we see in our country is not a reason for us to hunker down and fortress up but all the more reason for us to be bold about being the happy people the Lord has chosen, to be examples of people who rejoice in each day that the Lord has made, in showing people by our words and actions and weekly worship habits that we follow Jesus because we want to, because He loves us, because we are forgiven. That’s what this nation needs. You, your presence as the faithful people of God. Then they will know that God has sent prophets among them. And that is how you will continue to be a blessing to the country you love.

          And who knows what the Lord will do with our faithful presence? That marriage that I told you about failed. I don’t know where those people are anymore. But that strong Texan man, Dad, who kept pressuring me, breathing down my neck with veiled threats and constant questioning? He became one of our greatest friends and biggest supporters and is now enjoying the lasting peace of heaven. We’ll have a great reunion and laugh about our first relationship some day. God can do the same for you, your family that you are worried about and for our country. Don’t judge by what you see happening right now. Be faithful, not frustrated, and you will continue to be a blessing to our nation. Amen.