SAINTS TRIUMPHANT
November 15/16, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: John 5:25-29

“TRIUMPHANT SAINTS…”
1. Hear and live.
2. Live and LIVE!

John 5:25-29 (NIV) “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

If you start a little ways north on Forest Home Avenue, around 68th St., you will see a church. It’s called St. Johns. As you come south on Forest Home you will see us, St. Jacobi, the German name for St. James. If you keep going on Forest Home and shift on to Janesville Rd and go about a mile you will go past another WELS church, St. Pauls. All of these churches remind you of a time when Christians named their churches after the saints. Perhaps as you sang hymn 552, our opening hymn, your eyes caught the names of other saints in the 25 verses we didn’t sing. Those are just few of them. Did you know there are many more? There is, for instance, a St. Paul serving us on the organ bench today. St. Richard served us with our Bible readings. You see a saint, is not just a name for a believer who has died. Saints are those whom God has made holy, declared holy, through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Today as we celebrate Saints Triumphant God’s Word helps us see that through faith in Jesus we are Triumphant saints.
Now it didn’t look like Jesus was triumphing when He spoke the words of our text. Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath Day and the Pharisees were opposing Him. They were questioning His authority to do anything. Jesus told them His authority came from God the Father. Jesus pointed out He had the authority to do a whole lot more than heal a man. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
What does Jesus mean? While we know Jesus had the power to raise the physically dead to life and used it, that’s not what He meant. Jesus was talking about His power to bring the spiritually dead to live. His power lay in His voice, His word. Surrounding Jesus were spiritually dead people, trapped by their sin, trapped by their inability to please God with righteous living. Jesus gave them life. He removed despair by forgiving sins and they lived. People who thought they had no hope with God lived and lived for God. They were triumphant saints. Maybe you think of St. Matthew who heard Jesus’ voice and left tax collecting to follow Jesus. Or St. Zacchaeus who heard Jesus’ voice and lived by paying back more than he had stolen. Maybe you think of the other sainted tax collectors or women who were trapped in prostitution or caught in adultery who heard Jesus’ voice and lived. He forgave them their sins and gave them both motivation and power to live for God instead of against Him. And they did. They triumphed.
And the neat thing is this is still happening today. Jesus’ voice is producing triumphant saints who hear His voice and live real lives. You are such people. At some point you were spiritually dead but then Jesus found you. You heard His voice at your Baptism. He marked you as a redeemed child of God and you live. “But,” you may say, “I am no triumphant saint. I still sin. I worry too much. I can’t control my mouth, or my drinking, or my thinking, or my…” you fill in the blank. Listen, your Lord Jesus knows your heart. He knows your heartache over sin and He forgives you. Your past does not define who you are or what you will be. Today is a brand new day! Keep practicing daily repentance. Keep listening to Jesus’ voice. There are plenty of folks sitting here today who can tell you how Jesus helped them defeat alcohol abuse, selfishness, adultery and many other damaging sins. Because Jesus says so you are triumphant saints. If appropriate for you to come to Lord’s Supper, do so. Listen for Jesus’ voice announcing your forgiveness and go knowing you have His power to live a life that is real life, living for Him.
Now that’s great news but there is more. Jesus went on to say, "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” It may be cliché, but it’s true. The best is yet to come. That’s why Jesus directed our attention to more amazing things than spiritually dead people coming to life on earth. On earth is not where it’s at. Heaven is. Jesus points to a time when triumphant saints who have heard Jesus voice and lived on earth will live in heaven. And don’t stumble over the doing good and doing evil part. We’re still saved by grace alone through faith alone. Those who believe in Jesus will do good. They have fruits of faith, obedience to God’s commands that flow from faith.
Those without faith cannot please God. Even their most righteous looking acts are done for the wrong reasons and rejected by the Lord and remember there is no greater evil than rejecting God’s Son Jesus Christ as Savior. The Bible compares rejecting Jesus as Savior to trampling Him underneath your feet. Yes, those who reject have done evil. On the last day they will rise. They will hear the voice of the one they rejected. Their bodies will be reunited with their souls and they will be condemned to the horrible eternity in Hell that was supposed to be for the Devil and demons. If you want to try to imagine how bad that is take the worse pain you can think of, the most forsaken, forgotten, rejected, hopeless you have felt, the guiltiest you have felt, multiply that times a billion and that’s a teeny, tiny taste of the horrors of hell that go on forever for those who reject Jesus.
Not so for the saints triumphant. On the Last Day they too will hear Jesus’ voice. Only it will be the commanding voice of their Savior. Their bodies will be reunited with their souls and they will rise to live, really live. Live body and soul with Jesus with no sin, no sinful natures, no weaknesses, no pain no disease only joy. If you want an idea of what that will be like think of your happiest moment, the best you’ve ever felt physically, the closest you’ve felt toward God. Multiply that times a billion and that’s a teeny tiny taste of what it will be like every day in heaven. Triumphant saints who have lived as believers will LIVE forever with the Lord. Now that’s something to look forward to.
Some saints aren’t looking forward to this. They have it. This past year we got to celebrate the times when some of the triumphant saints of our congregation who heard and lived got to go live with the Lord Jesus in the glories of heaven. Gilbert Manske, Irene Phalen, Peggi Scharf, Delores Schonack, Wilma Kulbe, Warren Hagen, Irene Martin, Bob Dallmann, Elda Kopitzke, Bernice Kangas. Perhaps you think now of other loved ones, not members or our congregation, who died in the Lord this past year. They too join the ranks of the triumphant saints who lived and LIVE. Oh we may miss them. Thinking of them may bring a tear of longing to our eyes but make no mistake about it, they have no tears. Because of Jesus they have triumphed and LIVE!
Hold on to your faith in Jesus and you will too. Jesus said it’s those who hear His voice who live. His voice is in His word. Listen and live. It’s that simple. Amen.

November 8th/9th, 2009

Pastor Waldschmidt
Malachi 4:1,2a
The Day Of The Lord Is Coming!
I. With Judgment.
II. With Healing.

In the name of Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, dear fellow redeemed children of God;
I’m told that in the old St. Jacobi church during the winter the temperature would not get above the comfortable mark on many winter days. Pastor Eckert has said he usually wore his suit coat under his robe when he was preaching. Some of you might remember carrying buckets of coal to the classrooms for heat in the old St. Jacobi School. Some tell of winter weddings where the temperature was awful cold in church. By God’s grace through those years when heat was sometimes hard to come by, the members of St. Jacobi have learned about the heat God’s Word talks about today- the heat coming on Judgment Day. God’s Word speaks of two kinds of heat that will be felt on Judgment Day-the heat of God’s justice and the warmth of God’s love. In this world some might scoff and say that Judgment Day is not coming or at least is a long way off. But the day of the Lord is coming. I. It is coming with judgment. II. It is coming with healing.
Over the years many people have claimed to know the date of judgment day. As soon as they say that they have it figured out, you know that they are a false prophet because Jesus said, “No one knows that day or hour.” But while the Lord does not give us the date foe judgment day he did not want his people to be without information about the Day of the Lord. He wrote these words through the prophet Malachi. Malachi means “my messenger.” “Surely the day is coming, it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evil doer will be stubble and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them.” We tend to look around the world and think that the deeds of people in the world are getting worse and worse. This week in the headlines there were two mass shootings. But did you hear the Lord say that he is concerned about both the attitude (arrogant) and the actions of the evildoer? Arrogance has reared its ugly head many times in human history. Think of Cain snapping back at God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or think of Pharaoh asking “Who is the Lord that I should obey him? I don’t know the Lord and I will not let Israel go” Or the temple guards blindfolding Jesus and punching him in the face and demanding, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” We see this arrogance in our world too. I read the words of a so called history scholar on a website about end of the world prediction. He said that Jesus “thought that the end of the world would come during his life time and he was wrong.” Talk about arrogance! Here was a human telling the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that he was wrong. But let’s check our nostrils for the flare of arrogance. How about when we think that we can do a better job of directing our lives than God? We think God should have given us different skills or more possessions. The fires of God’s judgment could rightly burn against us.
No one should think that God will just let the sin of arrogance and all other sins pass by. “All the arrogant and every evil doer will be stubble.” Surely the day of the Lord is coming! It will burn like a furnace. When I think of stubble I think of razor stubble, but the people Malachi was talking too thought of stubble as the chaff or husks and hulls of the grain after the good part has been separated out. That chaff is thrown into the fire and it makes the fire flare up. John the Baptist talks about Jesus having “his winnowing fork in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The world tends to think of the devil as a wearing a nice Halloween costume and hell as a party place. Everyday people who reject Jesus are finding out when they die that the picture of hell as a party place is not true. On Judgment Day the whole world will see that hell is an awful place where those who arrogantly reject the Savior God sent will be confined forever. “Remember Jesus’ words, “Depart from me you who are cursed into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” It would seem the worst part about hell is not the roaring flames but the loneliness of being separated from God. Remember on the cross when Jesus was suffering hell he didn’t talk about the pain in his arms or legs, instead he called out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
We deserve to have it burn like a furnace on us too. But God now changes the picture for His people from the consuming fire of God’s judgment to the warm sunshine of His love shining in His Son Jesus. My little sister ruined my older sister’s birthday party. My older sister was all set for a wonderful birthday party complete with the gift of cowboy boots and suddenly mom had to go to the hospital to give birth to my younger sister. My sisters share the same birthday, July 2nd, 5 years apart. We don’t choose the day of our birth. God is the one who decides that. That’s OK. He loves us. He knows best. We also don’t get to choose the day of our death. God decides that. That’s OK. He loves us. He knows best. We also don’t know the Day when the Lord Jesus will return. That’s OK. He loves us. He knows best. That’s why the day of the Lord is not scary for us. The day of the Lord is coming with healing.
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” One of the promises in Malachi has to do with John the Baptist. His dad, Zechariah, helps us to see that this Sun of righteousness is Jesus. Remember how Zechariah looked at his new son and his “unstuck tongue” said clearly “You my son will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him...because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Though we have been far from righteous, Jesus the Sun of righteousness has been righteous for us, keeping God’s commands in our place. On the cross Jesus took the fiery blasts of the furnace of God’s judgment on himself so that we would not be burned up by God’s judgment.
Jesus comes with healing in His wings. When Jesus comes again on Judgment Day, there won’t be any more wheel chairs or glasses. There won’t be anymore chemotherapy or insulin. Jesus will provide the healing. There won’t be any more sin sick souls. Jesus provides the healing.
Now that Sunshine of Jesus warms our lives too! We want to live for Him who comes with healing in His wings. The Bible says, “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” Until the Lord burst through the clouds let’s be about the work he gives us.
As we wait there is a nice hymn to make our prayer… “ Thy holy wings, dear Savior, spread gently over me, And through the long night watches I'll rest secure in Thee. Whatever may betide me, be Thou my hiding place, And let me live and labor each day Lord, by Thy grace.” Amen

REFORMATION
November 1/2, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: 2 Kings 23:1-3

“THE NEED FOR REFORMATION”
1. Man is weak, lazy, selfish, ungrateful,
short-sighted, self-centered, prone to apathy.
2. God’s Word gives life!

2 Kings 23:1-3 (NIV) “Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.”

Lutherans were known as people of the word, people who knew God’s Word very well and held on to that word. I can remember the farmer I worked for, Wally Ebert, being so upset when his church, my church, St. Mark’s, switched from following a one year series of readings for each Sunday to a three year repeating cycle. Why? He had the one year memorized so if a birthing cow kept him from church he still knew what his congregation was hearing. I can remember when my brother Dave and I would sneak downstairs earlier than allowed to catch some cartoons, having to pull up short, busted, because my mom was already up reading her Bible at the kitchen table. Lutherans, people of the word.
This was not always so. Before they were called Lutherans those who would be called Lutherans didn’t even have the word. Why not? Their church kept it from them. The leaders of the Roman Catholic church said people could not be trusted with the word, should not read the word. The only available Bible was written in Latin which most people could not read. A reformation, a change for the better was needed. God provided what was needed, blessing the work of Martin Luther who stood up with courage to the false teachings and threats of the Pope and provided God’s people with the word written in their own language. Lutherans, those who agreed with grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone became known as people of the word.
But you know as you read the word and study the history of the world you soon discover that there were other times reformations were needed. Our text tells the end result of a reformation. Let me fill in the details. The king who was mentioned is named Josiah. His father was Amon. His grandfather Manasseh and his great-grandfather was Hezekiah. That name you probably know because he was one of the few God fearing kings of Judah. He taught his people to fear and love the Lord, to worship Him and the hear God’s word. They were people of the word. Manasseh was not. When he became king he worshipped idols not God. He neglected the word. His son, Amon, Josiah’s father, was like his daddy, an idolater, a wicked man who neglected God’s word so by the time he handed off the kingdom to Josiah the word was lost. Think about this, in just three generations, a period of about 60 years, God’s word was lost! Reformation was needed. Josiah was 8 years old when he became king. At age 26 a discovery was made in the Temple. Someone found God’s Word. They brought it to King Josiah. He read it. God’s Word. It couldn’t stay lost. His people needed to hear it. Reformation was needed so once again the people of God could be known as people of the word.
And so we are told, “Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.” A reformation was needed and took place.
Now we flash forward to 2009. Lutherans are in the news. Lutherans of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the largest Lutheran church body go on record approving the sin of homosexuality in their people and their clergy. I have a question for you. Do you think that the grandpas and grandmas of these people sat down one day and said, “You know, we’d like to have a church that doesn’t follow God’s Word, that is filled with heresy. We’d like our pastors to shake their fists in God’s face and say, “Let me tell you what you should have said.” I don’t think so. What happened? These Lutherans became pseudo-Lutherans, no longer people of the Word.
Now let’s look in the mirror. We’ve talked about Josiah’s Jews, Luther’s Germans, slammed the ELCA. What about Jacobi’s Lutherans? Are we people of the word? Never before in history has the word of God been so easily and readily available to God’s people. Bibles are cheap for reading available in pocketsize to large print. The Bible is on tape, (kids ask your parents what that means) CD, MP3. You can download it to your Blackberry or Kindle device. It’s there for you available every day. When is the last time you read it outside of this building? Look, look at the front of our bulletin. As a quippy mission statement we call ourselves men, women and children who know Christ and desire to make Christ known. Is that really us? Do we know Christ and His word, all the teachings we are to teach them to obey? How can we make Him known if we don’t know Him? Lutherans, people of the word, are ones who at the same time hold on to the word and hold that word out to other who need it just as desperately as we do. But if you don’t know that word, if you don’t hold on to it you will soon find that what you are holding out is nothing, the same kind of loveless love the ELCA has to offer.
Reformation is needed. Why? Man by nature is weak, lazy, selfish, ungrateful, short-sighted, self-centered, prone to apathy. Now if you aren’t regularly hearing, seeing or reading God’s Word, which one of those is your reason? Are you just weak, want to but don’t? Lazy? Selfish wanting your own ease and entertainment rather that what will make you a blessing to others, short-sighted, actually thinking that earthly things are more important than eternal, self-centered being your own god, or just apathetic, I just don’t care. For whatever reason if you cannot be labeled “a person of the word” reformation is needed. It comes in the form of repentance. Please Lord, do not hold our sins against us. Do not take your word from us as we deserve. In your mercy forgive your servants and give us another chance to be people of the word. Hear God’s good news. For every heart crushed by the knowledge of a shabby treatment of God’s Word, lip service to the will of God, He forgives you. Where reformation is needed, where there is repentance God will bless with His life giving word. Before flopping on the couch for football you can flip through the pages of Scripture. Before Facebook time you can go face to face with God in His word.
He’ll bless that. Some of you are already experiencing that. You are a man of the word, a woman of the word, a child of the word and that’s great. Keep it up. It honors God and will be a blessing for you just as Jesus promised. God’s Word gives life. That word which is sharper than a two edged sword will keep you on the straight and narrow path to heaven. It will give you strength and comfort to face whatever challenges God knows are best for you. Here children is where you will find direction and strength to be true to your God, true to yourself and who God made you to be in the confusing years of high school. Here, parents, husbands, wives, you will find mercy and forgiveness when you look at the messes you’ve made in life. Here you will find peace, strength, comfort and encouragement when you face job loss, health issues and the loss of a loved one. Here you will find food for your faith that will last into eternity. Here you will find courage and strength to stand tall as a Christian soldier in the Lord’s army as Satan works in our country to undermine what God has said. Here you find the need for reformation and the solution: the power of the Holy Spirit in the word.
At the time of King Josiah, reformation was needed. The history of the Bible is written. It tells us the people responded and pledged themselves to the word. Again at Luther’s time reformation was needed. The history books are written. They tell us the people responded and ate up the word. Once again reformation is needed. But the history books have not yet been written for the Jacobians. I wonder what they will say. Amen.

Mark 10:17-27

Pentecost 21
October 25th, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt
Grace mercy and peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mark 10:17-27
The Great Teacher’s Lesson About Eternal Life
I. You need a Savior.
II. You have a Savior.
Mark 10:17-27 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
“Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."


In the name of Jesus, our Savior, dear fellow redeemed Children of God,
Imagine that you received a letter from Jesus asking you to have a rummage sale. Now at first you might think “Well good! This would be a great opportunity to get rid of all that stuff I don’t want anymore. But then you read on a little more and realize that Jesus is asking you to a really big rummage sale with all of your stuff and then to give the proceeds to the poor. “Oh” “All of my stuff Lord???” “Then give the money away?” I guessing that might make us hesitate a little bit and ask what Jesus is trying to teach us with this letter anyway? In God’s Word today, Jesus tells a man to do just that-have a big rummage sale, sell all his stuff and give the money to the poor. In his request of this wealthy young man, we see the master teacher at work. He had a lesson for this wealthy young man and he has a lesson for you and me. So let’s take a look at the Great Teacher’s Lesson About Eternal Life. I. We need a Savior. II. We have a Savior.
This week the Journal Sentinel began running teaser headlines to generate interest in a series of articles to run this week in the paper about how we deal with death. One doctor was quoted as saying, “In our culture, we have some work to do in coming to terms with death." In our sermon text last week, we heard Jesus say that those who enter God’s Kingdom have a simple child like faith in Jesus as the Savior. A child like faith in Jesus prays, “Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take and this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” That issue of eternal life was still on the mind of a wealthy young man who seemed to have everything except for peace about what happens after this life is over. “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
This young man who called Jesus a good teacher had had some bad teachers along the way. Notice the words, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The emphasis on what a person must do to inherit heaven reflects the attitude which prevailed among the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. It shows how far they had strayed from the only way of salvation offered by the true God. God had given the Children of Israel their civil and ceremonial laws to keep them as a special people from whom the Savior of the world would come-to point their eyes of faith to the coming Messiah and the sacrifice he would make on the cross. However instead of clinging to the Savior which the ceremonies pointed to, many teachers put their faith in themselves and pointed to how well they had kept the law. When Jesus came the people flocked to hear him because “he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.”
“Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.” Jesus, the master teacher stoops down to this man’s level. In effect saying, “OK, if you think that you can enter eternal life by doing something, then let’s set the standard.” Jesus wasn’t saying that he was not holy and perfect but he was trying to set the man straight by making clear that you do not earn eternal life by saying the right things to the right people. The young man as a ruler in the synagogue had given this answer to many people. “You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' If someone wants to enter life on their own, Jesus makes clear that he must keep all of the commandments- all of the time.
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." This young man no longer felt the sting of the law in the Old Testament passages he knew so well. Many thought that by outwardly observing the laws they had kept their hearts pure before the Lord, but God tells us in Proverbs, “Who can say, I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? Isaiah rejected any thought of anyone working themselves into God’s favor when he says ,”All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and our sins sweep us away.” Indeed passages in the law should have made this young man feel foolish to ask the silly and conceited question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Notice that Jesus the one whose eyes blaze like fire does not let the lightning of his burning wrath break out against this young man. Instead Jesus looks at him with compassion. The great teacher comes again with a lesson about how badly we need a Savior. He doesn’t use the Law as a club but instead tries to get the young man to see that he had not kept even the first commandment. By his command of selling everything, Jesus was trying to get the young man to see that money had a higher place in his heart than God did. The young man wanted to stay on the path of earning his way into God’s favor. He didn’t want to admit that he needed a Savior. “At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. “
Let’s take a look in our hearts. The Bible says that all of our possessions come from God, but sin has messed up our thinking. When we are little children one of the first things we learn to say if something is taken from us is “Hey that’s mine.” We don’t say “Hey that’s God’s. “ If money is not an idol, why is it that it is such a touchy item in our lives? Why is it that often inheritances meant to be a blessing end up being a sore subject within a family? What would we do if Jesus asked us to sell everything and follow him? Would we gladly give up any hint of an idol in our lives? Or would we scratch and claw to hold on? Or would we walk away with a fallen face? Let’s recognize that we have walked away just like this rich man. We need a Savior. That’s the lesson Jesus was trying to teach this young man.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" Look at how easy it is for us to have been amazingly blessed to live in the country we live in to be distracted by the things of this world. “The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" The disciples recognized that lesson. They felt the pinch of the law. They liked their money too. Sometimes they liked it more than they liked God. God’s law drives us to see that we need a Savior.
As I get older my eyes are getting bad. I have to hold the hymn book way out here. The other day, Sue had left for work and I needed a button sewed on. So I pulled out the sewing box. I tried to thread a needle to sew on a button and trying to fit that thread through the eye of that needle was like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. It was impossible. Can we sinful human beings who are so easily pulled by possessions ever enter the kingdom of heaven? No, it is impossible with man. But just when you think that something is impossible God has a way of doing the impossible. We need a Savior. We have a Savior.
That’s the second lesson Jesus the great teacher taught his disciples. Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Do you remember the other place where the Bible says, “With God all things are possible?” Those were the words of the angel talking to Mary about the birth of Jesus. God did the impossible. God took on flesh and blood and lived among his creatures. The devil tempted him with all the possessions in the world. Remember the devil’s offer that Jesus could have it all if he would just bow down and worship him. Jesus fought off that temptation and finished his life here on earth with a perfect record. Wonder of wonders God gave Jesus’ perfect record to you and me. In a great miracle of love God punished Jesus on a cross so that we would not feel the wrath of God come down on us. He gave his life so that we could have far more than the trinkets of gold and silver this world offers. He gave his life to give us eternal life.
Now that changes the way we look at our possessions in this life. They are gifts from God. They are blessings for us to take care of as stewards. But they stay here when this life is over. “We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” I’ll repeat a statement I heard years ago. “You’ll never see a U haul being pulled behind a hearse.” When possessions come and go we can say with Job, “the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”
I have the feeling the rich man would look at all we have and be convinced that we are far wealthier than he could ever dream of being. Whether you have a lot or a little, Jesus has given you treasure in heaven. Don’t let go of your true treasure, Jesus. You need a Savior. You have a Savior. Amen.


October 25th, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt

Pentecost 20
October 18/25, 2009
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Text: Mark 10:1-16
JESUS TEACHES ABOUT FAMILY AND FAITH
I Marriage Is By God’s Institution
II Jesus Wants Children Brought To Him
III Childlike Faith By All Is Blessed
Mark 10:1-16
1 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
+ + + + + + +
Last week our Mission Festival observances put emphasis on mission work. The mission we are talking about is reaching out to people - people in our immediate area, people outside of our area, people anywhere in the world. Reaching out why? So that we can sell them something? No, not to sell them something but to tell them something, to offer them something. And what is that? Not the latest technological gadget to make this life easier, but the message of truth that will make eternal life in glory possible. Please follow up our Mission Festival emphasis of last week with your continued prayers and support and efforts. There are a lot of people to reach.
How many? At the present time the world population is about 6.8 billion people, with almost 308 million of those people in the United States. From where do all of these people come? They come not from monkeys or other life as evolutionists like to think, but they come from people according to God’s command. After God had created Adam and Eve as the first people, He said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth." And exactly that is what has been happening since the beginning when mankind was created by our creator God. People come from people, and the population is constantly increasing.
But "increase in number" isn’t all that God said in His Genesis record. He also talked about how He wants that to happen. Jesus, God’s eternal Son who was there in the beginning, who was an eye and ear witness, refers to that in our text. The opening verse speaks of how He was traveling, how crowds came to Him wherever He was, and "as was his custom, he taught them," we are told. We want to be taught too. Like the crowds, let us listen closely as
JESUS TEACHES ABOUT FAMILY AND FAITH
I MARRIAGE IS BY GOD’S INSTITUTION (1-12)
1. From man come wrong ideas
a) not only are there wrong ideas about when and how marriage
should start, but the very idea of what marriage itself is has
been much in the news, with more and more states voting that a
relationship other than man and woman is marriage
b) and when it comes to the ending of a marriage, that’s not too
much different today either from the question the Pharisees
posed to Jesus about ending a marriage for almost any reason
2. But God established what marriage is (6-9)
Jesus taught: "--- at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
a) here Jesus - remember again He was there at the creation -
teaches about what the Creator said: about the starting point;
the what; and the ending of marriage
b) it starts when a man and a woman publicly leave their former
family relationship not to shack up with someone for a while
and leave when they feel like it, but to establish a new family
together; when a man and a woman in faithfulness and love and
respect share their bodies and lives as one; when they recognize
that God and not they should determine how long their
marriage should last
3. Violating God’s will does take place (2-5,10-12)
Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" "What did Moses command you?" he replied. They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied.
a) because hearts are hard to God’s will, marriages are broken;
then civil laws - in OT times as well as today - are needed, not
to approve of the violation of God’s will, but to control the
results, to protect those violated by a marriage’s wrong ending
Jesus went on in His teaching: When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
b) whenever a marriage is broken by people instead of being
ended by God, sin is always involved, either by one of the two
or by both, sin that is against God’s will, sin that calls for
repentance and a return to God
4. May we learn and live God’s will (6-9)
"But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So
they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
a) God does not demand marriage for all: some may not marry by
choice; some because God in His wisdom didn’t bring a proper
match; some because a partner has been taken by death; some
because a spouse broke the marriage - and there is nothing
wrong then with being unmarried - for some it might be better
b) but when "God has joined together" two people, they are to
receive it as a blessing from God, strive to live it according to
God’s will, live in His forgiveness for their shortcomings, and
let God determine how many anniversaries they will observe
c) may we learn well what Jesus teaches here; and now also that
II JESUS WANTS CHILDREN BROUGHT TO HIM (13-16)
1. Some see no need for this (13)
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
a) parents can put miles on their cars and pressure into their
busy lives to take children to every sporting event and all kinds
of lessons and activities, while at the same time some may not
see the need to bring them regularly to Jesus, maybe not even
bringing them to Baptism - what a sad reality!
b) even the disciples here saw bringing children to Jesus as
unnecessary - would they have objected to our DS and SS?
2. But Jesus wanted the children (14-15)
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
a) children, like adults, are sinners too and need God’s kingdom
b) Jesus’ mission on earth was for them too - to fulfill the law in
their place, to pay for their sins as their substitute, to arise from
the dead to be their life where there will be no more death
3. Do we deserve His indignation? (13-14a)
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.
a) what is our goal for our children - academic achievements,
great in sports, a job that will give money and importance?
b) such goals may be good - unless they are put ahead of God’s
will, unless we see this life for our children as more important
than the life to come, unless to accomplish such things we
neglect their souls, unless to gain the world we don’t care if
they lose true life - such parents deserve Jesus’ indignation for
throwing away His grace for children; instead of that
4. May our families seek Jesus’ blessing (16)
--- he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
a) yes, provide for their earthly needs (not all of their wants)
b) but never neglect bringing them to Jesus in Baptism, teaching
them at home with Bible stories and prayers, giving them
Christian education as they grow up, bringing them regularly to
worship, showing them with your own example that this is
important to you to keep coming to Jesus as your Savior
c) for here Jesus has promised blessings that go way beyond what
can be achieved here on earth
III CHILDLIKE FAITH BY ALL IS BLESSED (15-16)
1. The problem is that we like to be adultlike
a) instead of trusting like a child what God says, we like to apply
adult reasoning to family and marriage: "I’m not happy and
surely God wants me to be happy, so I can get out of this
marriage; - I don’t love him or her anymore, so naturally I’ll
quit the marriage instead of working at the problem; - This isn’t
what I thought marriage and family life would be, so it makes
sense to get divorced and try it with someone else;" etc.
b) in the same way adult reasoning, when God says the only way
of salvation is His Son, likes to say: "As long as I lead a
reasonably good life, try to be at least a lot better than a lot of
other people, surely that’s enough to earn life. - Jesus as the
only way of salvation doesn’t sound right. As long as people
are sincere and not real bad, that’s good enough, isn’t it?"; etc.
2. But being adultlike will keep us from heaven (15)
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
a) adultlike reasoning or efforts can never come up with the way
to life when, child or adult, we all are sinners and totally
incapable of saving ourselves, when instead we are capable only
of earning and receiving the hell that we deserve
b) not adultlike reasoning or efforts, but only the so-called
foolishness of the cross is God’s way to life: for it was only in
Christ, in His innocent life and death and victorious
resurrection, that God reconciled the world to Himself; it is
only in Christ that forgiveness is found and true life is promised
3. God help us to be childlike (15)
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
a) that is a trusting quality little children have, and a trusting faith
that children of God have by the Holy Spirit’s working
b) apply that to God’s will: what He says about marriage or being
single or widowed or wrongfully divorced; about raising
children; about how to live our daily lives; about what is right
and what is wrong; and above all about what He says with
regard to Jesus as our only and complete Savior
4. And enjoy His blessings (16)
And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
a) walking away from Jesus’ open arms because we are being
adultlike will lose blessings
b) going into His open inviting arms, arms that were stretched
out on the cross for us, that will receive His blessings - now
in His wisdom, and one day in the glory He won for us
c) for our present and eternal welfare, then, in childlike faith may
we all learn and heed what JESUS TEACHES ABOUT
FAMILY AND FAITH.
And don’t forget to share that with the millions of people around us in this world!
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Mission Festival

Mission Awareness Weekend
October 11 & 12, 2009
St. Jacobi Ev. Lutheran Church – Greenfield, WI
Sermon by Rev. Dan Koelpin
“FOCUSED ON MISSION”

In Jesus' name dear friends and co-workers in God's kingdom. "Focused" is one of those fashionable “buzz’ words that's been around for awhile. As a verb its primary and original function was to describe the activity that bends light rays so that they will converge on specific points and patterns to produce a clearly defined image. Yet in modern jargon the term "focused" is more frequently used to depict the concentration of attention and resources in order to accomplish specific objectives. A focused person is a person of purpose, someone who is not easily diverted, a person who knows what he or she wants to achieve and devotes an almost exclusive use of time, energy and talent and money in order to achieve it. Top notch athletes like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Aaron Rodgers have been described as “focused” in athletic competition. In today's world a focused business is one which has set forth a well considered and clearly articulated statement of mission or purpose and then brings every resource into compliance with it. A focused company is one in which everyone from the Chief Executive Officer to the custodial crew knows what the company is seeking to accomplish and what their part in it is.

Never before in the world's history has it been so important to be focused. Haven’t you noticed with distractions and amusements on every hand people are losing sight of what is important – their relationships with family members and with God, their sense of meaning in their lives. That’s because today the scourge of our times is purposeless living. It’s not that people aren’t busy. Their lives are a veritable blur of activity – eating at every restaurant in town, previewing every video at the video store, looking for every sale at the shopping centers, but much of this is “chasing after the wind” with no purpose or meaning to all of the activity. Having a purpose for one’s life is one of the most important ingredients of living. How many people do you know in hospitals and old folks homes that don’t die simply because they have no purpose for going on? How many do you know that haven’t known for quite some time what they’ve wanted out of their marriage? out of their job? out of life itself? -- and you wonder if they ever will. So many youth are drifting into aimlessness, because they don’t have a focus on what’s important, a sense of purpose to their lives. Is it little wonder then that one of the biggest book sellers on the market not too long ago was a book entitled “The Purpose Driven Life”?

The key to being focused is first to determine what's worthwhile in life and then to give our time and attention to it. If there are only so many books you can read in a lifetime doesn't it make sense to read only the best? If you only have so much time, isn't it far more important to give it to worthwhile purposes than to squander and waste it on the non-consequential? You and I have only one life to invest - only so many resources, so many talents, only so many years and that's it --that's all. It would be a tragedy to spend them on anything less than the most supreme, the most worthwhile of causes. We need to either be convinced or continually reminded that the supreme values, those worth seeking and having, are those which meet our deepest needs. This rules out the hoarding of money. Money can buy comfort for the body, but not peace for the soul. It can purchase a house, but it can't turn it into a happy home. It can secure a hospital room and the finest of physicians, but it can't guarantee health or long life. The same holds true for the amassing of possessions. The minute a person buys into the premise that he needs things to make him happy, then it stands to reason that he needs more things to make him more happy and he is already on a treadmill that never stops. Many of us might not believe that if we had two or three times as much as we have right now, we wouldn't be any happier, but the truth is we wouldn't. Whenever we make something outside of ourselves the source of our joy (our house, our possessions, even another person our spouse or children) we’re setting ourselves up for a fall, because it can all (any person or thing) be taken from us— and then where is our happiness? Contentment is not found in that which is without but in that which is within. Do you want to ask yourself, “How much of your time is spent working for things, shopping for things, hauling things around, trading things, maintaining things?” And what’s suffering in the meanwhile? – relationships, purpose.

Our greatest needs are not economic or material at all; they are spiritual. Our supreme needs are a quiet heart and inward peace, a freedom from guilt the steady courage that comes from faith and a life of fulfillment and meaning. Those are things only God can give us in Jesus Christ, but having them we can cope with everything else. We do find peace in the salvation he has provided and we do find fulfillment and meaning for our lives carrying out his plan and purpose for us.

In the word of God before us today the ruler of the universe sets forth that plan for us both as a church body and as individual Christians. It is the mission on which he has focused the entire church's attention. Unlike those who are always squandering their energies on the secondary, we Christians can know what is worth giving our time and attention to because Jesus tells us what it is. In his final directives to the disciples our Savior set forth in merely a few words the church's mission for all time when He said, 'therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." This mission was so all encompassing in scope, so universal in reach, so timeless in its application that it continues to stand to this day as the unifying focus of the church's activity to all who take God's word seriously. This evening we want to emphasize the importance of keeping our focus on the clearly defined mission set forth by Christ and the tragedy that occurs when we fail to do that as well as the blessing that happens when we do.

As Christians we too are involved in a mission, a rescue mission. The mission of God did not begin with these words of the Great Commission. They began in the councils of eternity when God saw lost mankind and prepared a plan to save him. His love reached out to the world in the person of his son Jesus who came to show us God’s love in human form and to provide salvation for us and all mankind through his suffering and death. He came to live the life we could not live and to pay the price for sins that we could not pay. Yet the rescue mission did not end when Jesus laid the foundation of it. Many still had not heard that they had been saved. So he sent his spirit and moved his apostles and evangelists to go from region to region, from country to country, from century to centrury. God’s grace was further shown to us in that he sent his holy spirit to bring us to faith in Jesus as their Savior of our sin. We could think about it for an eternity and never figure out why it was that God chose us to have that truth. We could’ve been born in places like India or Indonesia where people are steeped in superstition and poverty, whey the children fight with the animals over the scraps of food in the garbage dumps. By comparison we are about 8% of the world’s populace, we consume 35%s of its energy and material goods. There is nothing in us that deserved us grace. We’ll never know why we received such grace, but we do know one of the reasons for which we received such grace and truth. We received it that we might pass it on to others. Outside of the strengthening of our own faith one of the foremost reasons why we exist to spread the truth we know to others as Jesus directs us here in his commission.

A clearly defined focus is important. Much confusion has been caused in Christendom because leaders and church members have often been focused on different goals than the ones set forth by Jesus. There are those who believe that the primary focus of the church should be to provide fellowship opportunities where they can meet friends. There are others who feel that the church should be primarily focused on providing works of charity, building hospitals, orphanages, and shelters for the homeless. There are others still who are convinced that the church should be principally committed to effecting change in the political arena, but does it matter what everybody else thinks? Who has the right to set the agenda for the church's business? Is it not the one who has all authority in heaven and in earth? And his goal is the discipline of every person on earth?

Even among us who know and agree with die real intent of our Savior's instruction to reach the lost, there is often an unintentional loss of focus. Because the oceans of spiritually dying humanity are far removed from us, it’s easy to forget them and the work of the world and home missionaries who are trying to reach them. On the other hand, because our personal needs and our local congregational needs loom large in front of us, those tend to be taken care of first, at times in Cadillac style, while multitudes which might be reached with a little more concentrated effort slip into a Christ-less eternity. We establish Christian schools to disciple our youth, but if were not careful we make them havens where we can gather our kind of people, places where we celebrate our own academic and athletic talents rather than institutions where we train people to reach others. We can with the best of intentions concentrate on producing inspiring worship services and understanding the word of God properly and then fail to do what the Word has instructed us to do, namely to get on with the work of permeating the unbelieving world with the saving truth we know. We don’t only learn to know, we learn to go.

There are those who believe that throughout history Christ's followers have managed to do just about everything else but complete the basic task the Lord has given to them. Down the ages the church has fought Crusades, built huge cathedrals, conducted elaborate ceremonies, erected hospitals and established prestigious institutions of learning, but it has not yet completed the main task Christ has given to it. We have to ask ourselves some basic questions. How firmly are we convinced of Jesus’ words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”. (Jn. 14:6) or when he says “whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only son.” (Jn.3:18) They together with his directive of the Great Commission indicate we cannot assume people are going to go to heaven apart from Christ. We don’t want to be guilty of “functional universalism” in which we say we believe that people who don’t know Christ are lost and then function as though they’re somehow all going to get to heaven on their own without any attempt on our part to make sure they have the gospel.

The need for getting out the Gospel is as great as it has ever been. Never, to anyone's knowledge, has the world had such a vast mission field. The world's population is 6.8 billion is screaming for mission attention. It took from the time of Christ to the beginning of the 20th century to reach 1.6 billion in population. In just 100 years, and in spite of two world wars, over 4.5 billion people have been added to the planet. No longer are we under the illusion that we can reach the world’s millions with American missionaries. We send teams of 5 – 7 missionaries over to a country and set up a bible institute and seminary and train the nationals to reach their own countrymen and that seems to be working very well.

God will not allow us to forget those of other nations and other cultures even if we are inclined to do so, in recent decades he has brought the nations of the earth into our own neighborhoods, laying them like Lazaruses at our gate. Our own nation also cries out for mission activity. Living as we are in a country whose values have been eroded by aggressive forces promoting humanism, materialism and hedonism, the church can no longer afford to sit back and be reactive to events around it. The time in the world's history may be later than we think, the cause is urgent. Our Synod so privileged, so blessed by God, is being called upon to use its God-given resources of a pure Word, well-trained ministers and teachers, lay talents and monetary wealth for the soul-saving purposes for which they were given. There is a growing awareness in our church body that at the core of the mission of the church is the work of missions. The closer we get to the heart of Jesus, the more we will want to share in his mission of seeking and saving the lost.

We have to be careful that we don't only think of mission work as something that's being done by missionaries for us. God wants us all to be in tune with His mission. Life's highway is littered with the wounded. There are those who are economically wounded, those who are physically wounded, those who are emotionally wounded, those who have wounded themselves by making the wrong choices in life. Above all there are the spiritually wounded filled with guilt, afraid of death, unsure of what life is all about. Some of them exist right under our noses in our own families, some are among those who enter and exit our lives in the course of our day-to-day work, some wait in the shadows hoping that we will notice them and help them. Some we hear about second hand. Some are across town, some are across the country and then some are across the ocean on the other side of the world.

If we fail to take up the challenge of focusing on Jesus' mission we will be like the fig tree mentioned in one of the parables. In spite of the fact that this tree was planted in a place of special privilege where it was cultivated loved and protected so that fruit was rightfully to be expected, it utterly failed to fulfill the purpose for which it had been planted and it invited destruction. We should not for one minute delude ourselves into thinking that God placed us here in this land of affluence and provided us with the pure gospel so that we could go off and lead self-centered lives. If when the Lord returns we dig up our gospel like the buried coin and give it back to him we are inviting his wrath. To Jesus, one of the greatest sins was to remain useless when given the wherewithal to be useful.

We have to see our purpose, our mission on earth in order for us to fulfill our destiny as God's people. We are not to be like so many in our world today who are squandering their lives in watering holes and standing in line for entertainment tickets. One of the most moving and powerful illustrations I've ever heard was that of beached whales. There are a number of whales which die each year on the shores of our eastern seacoast because they had chased minnows for food and had gotten into water levels that were too shallow for them. One scientist made the comment that "here were creatures of vast power who were using their tremendous potential to chase after the trivial and perishing in the process." What a comment on many in our American society, "using tremendous potential to chase after the trivial and perishing in the process." Thank God as his children we have a purpose!

If we take an honest look at the overwhelming mission of the church, which is to disciple every nation, every person on earth, the sheer enormity of the task might cause many to throw up their hands and despair. Yet the Lord doesn't expect us to do it all by tomorrow, only to do our best each day. He gives us life on the installment plan, a day, a week, a month at a time and as we commit ourselves faithfully each day to the task he has before us we get much more done than we think. Yet too many of God's people have forgotten who they are-how special they are, how needed they are to be different, to be shining lights in this dark world. People will take note if you don’t use profanities, if you have a good work ethic, if you are honest in your dealings, if you mention the Lord as the source of your blessings. They are particularly impressed when this becomes the pattern of our lives over months and years. To such people others in crisis will turn in their times of trouble. How can I relate to all of you that the pulpits from which you proclaim the Gospel are every bit as important and the ones from which it is proclaimed in church. We know what it means to have the peace of forgiveness, the certainty of heaven, the love of God in Christ, a sense of purpose for our lives, but others may not know if we aren't concerned about having them know. If we are concerned it will make a difference in our lives. The encouragements to holy living in the New Testament are not meant to show us the way to earn heaven, but they are encouraged so that we might show others the God who loved us.

Now certainly you and I may have not been called in the same way as the 12 Apostles to leave our jobs for full-time service in the public ministry. Still, as Christian disciples, we have been called to be not merely mechanics, but mechanics who have a soul-winning purpose. Not only teachers and nurses, but men and women who have been placed in a unique position to touch lives and lead them, even if it be ever so indirectly, in the direction of Jesus. You're not merely fathers and mothers bringing home the bacon and putting the meals on the table, you're people who are in a position to shape the mindset of future generations and show them how they can be part of the great mission too. You're not only employers, managers and supervisors, you're men and women who have it within your power to help people grow. You are not merely church members, but rather important soldiers in the vast army known as the Christian church. Your efforts combined with those of other Christians in our synod's 1200 churches can accomplish together what we cannot do individually, namely to support the work of over 70 overseas missionaries and hundreds of missionaries in the U.S. God hasn’t asked us to die for others; his son has already done that. We don’t even have to go in person to tell everyone on distant shores they have a savior; we have missionaries to do that for us. Yet we can go through our purse, our offerings that support their important work.

Yes, we are all part of the mission. We even know what it is. Our challenge is to keep focused on it right where God has placed us so that every day and in every way we continue to see our important part in the great mission of God and function effectively in it. May God enable us to do so and thus further his rescue mission and thus be a vital part in helping his Kingdom to come. Amen.

PENTECOST 18
October 4/5, 2009
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Mark 8:31-35

“THERE IS NO CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT THE CROSS!”
1. Satan leads away from the cross.
2. Christ(ians) embrace(d) the cross.

Mark 8:31-35 (N V) “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

So, how would you liked to be called Satan, by Jesus? Oh, poor brother Peter! How crushed he must have been. Especially when you remember what had happened just before this. Jesus had done miracles of healing and feeding. News about Him spread. His reputation grew. He asked His disciples what people were saying about Him. Who did they think He was? The people all seemed to think Jesus was a prophet, a great prophet, but just a prophet. Then Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was. Peter, bold Peter, correctly replied. “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” What a shining moment for Peter!
Then we are told, “(Jesus) then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. . 32He spoke plainly about this.” How strange this must have sounded to Peter. This isn’t right! This isn’t what should happen to God’s Son, the Messiah. Jesus was wrong, confused, maybe going crazy. So” Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” This was a nice thing for Peter to do. He would not embarrass the Lord so he takes Jesus aside privately. And that’s when it happened. “Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Ouch! Why would Jesus say that? Why seemingly be so harsh, so cruel? Calling Peter out in public when Peter was filled with the best of intentions for Jesus and His work. It’s because God’s truth was most important for everyone. What truth? There is no Christianity without the cross.
Jesus answer seemed harsh and was public because all followers of Jesus need to know that it is Satan who leads away from the cross. The only way for the salvation of people was for God’s Son Jesus to sacrifice His life to make payment for sin. Sin is that bad that it takes that kind of a payment. In His wisdom God chose the cross as the place for that payment. Keeping Jesus from the cross then was the work of the Devil. Do you remember in the recorded temptations of Jesus that the Devil offered Jesus the world and all Jesus had to do was bow down and worship him? The temptation was to gain the world back for God the devil’s way rather than God’s way. Did the Devil know Jesus was to die on a cross? Probably not. He was simply offering an easy way, the devil’s way. Not God’s way.
Peter was being Satan because he was doing the same thing. Jesus knew the cross was waiting for Him. He had just told the disciples that. As true God He knew what was coming. As true man He must have dreaded it with every fiber of His being. Peter’s good intentions were a mask for the work of Satan. Choose a different way than God’s way. Choose what is best for you rather than for others. Maybe that helps us to understand what a cross really is. You know the people who first heard this must have been confused. Before Jesus’ death on the cross as God’s way of saving, a cross was only an instrument of execution, horrible and painful execution carried out to merciless perfection by the hated Romans. On the other side of what Jesus has done we now know that a cross is God’s way of doing things. It’s often not easy. It often is unpleasant and uncomfortable for the one whose cross it is.
And Satan leads away from it. He did for Jesus. He does for us. He tries to lead people away from the cross of Jesus. He does that by tricking people into thinking they get there based on their deeds. He does that by leading away from the truth that there is salvation only through Jesus. Like with Peter he’ll use our good intentions of not wanting anyone damned to hell to try to accept the lie that someone can be saved apart from faith in Jesus. And they can’t . Satan is leading away from the cross. He leads us away from carrying other crosses too. Remember a cross is God’s way of doing things rather than the world’s. It’s often not the easy way. It often has discomfort with it. Some examples of the Devil’s leading. You get confronted with a sin. God’s way is to confess. Repent. Rejoice in Christ’s forgiveness. Take whatever earthly consequences you must with your Savior at your side. Satan’s way? Deny. Lie. Justify. Get mad at the one who confronts you or enforces your consequences. Another. You are with friends. They start gossiping, tearing another one of God’s children down. God’s way. Speak up. Defend. Admonish the gossiper. Satan’s way. Join in. Take glee in tearing another down. Or at least stay quiet. Satan leads away from the cross.
But Christ embraced the cross. He didn’t just tell the disciples He was going to go up to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, be killed and then after three days rise. He did it! Much like our firefighters must go against their natural survival instinct and run into a burning building to save people when everyone else is trying to get out Jesus rushed into the fires of Hell even though He was righteous. And how thankful we can be! Because Jesus embraced the cross our sins are washed away. We are completely, fully 100% forgiven for all of our sins, the ones we have already committed and the ones that still lie in our future. This means we get to live our lives without fear, knowing we are at peace with God and even hardships in our life will be worked for our good. Jesus rose too, assuring us the best is yet to come. Death for every believer in Jesus is the gateway to heaven. How thankful we can be!
And this thankfulness can show. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Christ embraced the cross. Followers of Christ, Christians, also embrace the cross. We do that when we hold to the cross of Jesus as the only to heaven. It honors Jesus when we reject our own deeds as making us somehow more worthy than other people. We honor Jesus when we speak of Him as the only Savior, the only way to heaven and refuse to be part of groups like the Masons that diminish Jesus to just another prophet.
We honor Jesus when take up our own crosses too. Remember that a cross involves denying yourself, that is your own way of dealing with others. It involves doing things God’s way even if it is hard and brings you discomfort, pain, financial loss. It begins with an attitude of wanting to thank Jesus. An example. Some of you will remember our brother, Clarence Benz, who went to heaven a couple of years ago. He had a condition that made his throat raw. When we pastors would visit to bring him communion, he would wince at the sting of the wine in his throat. We offered to water down the wine, use alcohol free wine. Clarence response? “If my Lord Jesus could take all the pain I deserve on the cross I can take a little pain for Him.”
Can you, will you? You must to follow Jesus.” If anyone would come after me he must,” said Jesus. So what are your crosses? You must be carrying some if you are following Jesus. Is there a cross in your scheduling? Something that makes life a little harder, isn’t what your sinful nature wants, that’s done to follow Jesus? Are you carrying any crosses in your budgeting, not getting something everyone else has or you want because you are giving money for Christ and His gospel? Are you the one left out of certain groups or gathering because you remind them by word or by presence of God’s will? Satan’s way is to try to be popular with everyone but the cross, God’s way, means rejection by the world. Do you speak up in the presence of wrong and now they won’t let you play their reindeer games? Good for you. That’s what followers of Christ do, the embrace the cross.
And let’s not throw ourselves a little pity party over that. Woe is us. How hard we Christians have it. No we don’t. Oh it might seem like it but the best is yet to come. We have the glories and joys of heaven itself, co heirs with Christ. All because of the cross. Don’t let Satan lead you away. Embrace the cross, Christ’s and your own. Amen.