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

 

TRANSFIGURATION

March 1-3, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 9:28-36 (EHV)

 

“THE PERFECT PICK ME UP!”

1.     A glimpse of glory.

2.     The witness of the past.

3.     The word of the Lord.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

 

EPIPHANY

February 1-3, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5

 

 

“HOW TO BEHAVE IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD”

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

 

EPIPHANY 1

January 11-13, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

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

 

“BAPTISM!”

1.     It showed who Jesus really is.

2.     It shows who you really are too!

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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