November 16-18, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 2 Kings 2:1-12a “WELCOME HOME!”

SAINTS TRIUMPHANT

November 16-18, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 2 Kings 2:1-12a

“WELCOME HOME!”

1.     That’s what the death of a believer is.

2.     That’s not what it always feels like.

3.     But that is what it is!

Children here today, has it happened in your family that you can remember that one of your grandpas or grandmas died? Do you remember kind of how that went? I’m guessing it went something like this. So one of your parents got a phone call and you could tell they were upset. Maybe they started crying but they didn’t tell you what was happening or why. Then maybe a little later your parents talked to you and told you that Grandma or Grandpa went to heaven to be with Jesus. And of course you were happy for them. Maybe you even said something like, “Well that’s good!” before you went back to playing or whatever it was you were doing. Then later you noticed that Mom or Dad was still sad or crying so you were trying to figure out. Why were they sad when something good has happened like Grandpa or Grandma getting to go to heaven? Well that’s what we are going to talk about today, how the death of our loved ones who die believing in Jesus is something we are happy about and sad at the same time.

Probably one of the best illustrations of that in the Bible comes at a special point in the lives of two well known Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha. Elisha was the prophet that God had picked to replace Elijah and we are the point where it is time for Elijah to go to heaven. The job of a prophet was to tell people what God said, kind of like a pastor today. “People of God, this is what God says.” So both of the prophets were daily using God’s Word. What a blessing that was for them! The Holy Spirit worked through that word just like He does today. The Holy Spirit was strengthening their faith daily just like He strengthens the faith of everyone in this room who studies and meditates on God’s word. That’s important to remember because we are going to see two different responses to the upcoming death of the prophet Elijah.

Now some of you are now thinking, “Hey, wait a minute! I know that story. Elijah doesn’t die. He gets taken right to heaven in a whirlwind!” You’re right. But maybe we need to understand death a little better. The Bible uses the word death for separation. When Adam and Eve sinned, they died immediately. Not physically but spiritually. They were separated from God and it showed. Before sin they walked and talked with God. After sin they hid from Him, made excuses and played the blame game. A separation had taken place. At physical death a person’s body and soul separate. The body goes back to ground from which God originally made Adam and the soul goes to heaven or sadly for those who reject Jesus, Hell.  When people die they are separated from their loved ones. So keeping that in mind let’s look at how both prophets, Elijah and Elisha, deal with separation as Elijah gets to go to heaven.

“When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”  Now if you are following along here Elijah knows he is going to get to go to heaven. This younger prophet, Elisha, whom Elijah mentored, knows it too. Elijah is trying to make it easier by not letting Elisha see the separation. But Elisha wants to hold on. “So they went down to Bethel. ³The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “but do not speak of it.” Ah, this is so classic! This time we meet some objective observers. They are not emotionally tied to Elijah. Did you know Elijah is going to heaven? They are able to talk about it factually. But look at the one who has the heart strings attached, Elisha. “Let’s not talk about it!” It happens again.  ⁴Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. ⁵The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “but do not speak of it.” Interesting. Elisha is a strong prophet of God, but even for him, death, separation, was hard. I don’t want to talk about it! “Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. ⁷Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. ⁸Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. ⁹When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. ¹⁰“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.” ¹¹As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹²Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more.” No matter how much Elisha wanted it not to happen, it did. But wait, what about Elijah? Did you notice how he kept going? He was eager for that separation. Why?

          Welcome Home! Friends, that is exactly what happens when a believer in Jesus dies. Many of you have seen this or a similar picture and it helps us to understand why the death of believers is something to celebrate and be happy about. Elijah was an Old Testament believer. He got a miraculous ride to heaven in a whirlwind. The chariots and horsemen sound like angels to me. We don’t need to figure out the details of Elijah’s body and how God separated his sinful nature from him. That’s God’s business. What we can see and understand is how happy Elijah was to be home. His life had many struggles with Ahab and Jezebel and all the other ungodly kings. How good it was for him to be home in heaven. No wonder he kept marching toward it. He wanted to be home.

          Welcome home is exactly what will happen to you and me and has happened to our loved ones who died in the Lord. We too celebrate. Elijah believed in the Messiah that would come. We and our loved ones believe in the Messiah who has come. We know His name is Jesus. We know how He undid the sin of Adam. We know He lived perfectly for us. We know that His death paid for our sins in full. Welcome home! That’s what the death of believer is. Now think of how good it feels when you have been away from your earthly home and you get to get back. Heaven is so much better. Peace, joy, happiness, full knowledge. Let’s pause now to remember the St. Jacobi members who got that welcome home since the last time we celebrated Saints Triumphant. James Ortiz, Rayleen Schultz, Ursula  Arney,  Maynard Wagner, Otis Krebs, Terry Wegner, Pat Bauknecht, Judy Wantuch, Lucille Henning, Robert Zirbel. All of us know the names of many more from the past or other loved ones who died in the Lord.

          They got welcomed home. But for those left away from home, those on earth, the death of a loved one does not always feel like it. Children, that’s why Mommy and Daddy still cry even though they know Grandpa or Grandma are in heaven. That’s why Elisha didn’t want to talk about Elijah going to heaven. Remember death is a separation. Separation hurts. Separation is a consequence of sin. That’s why Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus. He saw the hurt caused by sin. Sometimes it seems even our wearing down bodies don’t want to give up because they seem to know God did not create them for that purpose. Sin is the reason we may not always be able to celebrate a believer’s death. Sin is why it may not feel like a welcome home.

          But it still is a welcome home. Jesus proved it. Remember when He died in our place? After He had finished defeating sin by paying for it in full, what did He say? “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” He was going home. You will too. That’s why the death of a believer really is something to celebrate. Like Elisha there will be times when we won’t feel like it or someone else won’t feel like it either. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is. The little ones with the true child like faith know it. That’s what got me thinking a few years back after we had observed a Celebration of Life Sunday. I said to Pastor Waldschmidt, “You know life is a great gift from God but death is too. It’s how God takes us to heaven. Why don’t we have a celebration of Death Sunday?” So here it is. Maybe more accurately it’s a celebration of eternal life Sunday. The time when God says, “Welcome Home!”

October 26-28, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Matthew 11:28-30 “THE YOKE’S ON YOU!”

PENTECOST 20

October 26-28, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Matthew 11:28-30

“THE YOKE’S ON YOU!”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”



          Some of you will remember a few weeks ago I told an angel joke that just had you rolling in the pews. You shouldn’t have done that. You should know that would just egg me on to do another. So I have. Today the yoke’s on you. I appreciate you holding it in but while that was really punny it’s actually not meant to be funny but true. You heard Jesus moments ago talk about a yoke, his yoke. He urges us to put it on and as the Word of God reveals you want that yoke on you!

          Standing before Jesus as this time were crowds from the cities of Galilee the northern part of the nation of Israel. Men, women and children, singles and families from all walks of life who had come to listen to Jesus. They had heard  John the Baptist point to Jesus as the Messiah. They had heard and perhaps seen Jesus do miracles. Likely in that crowd would be a little Jewish girl like Miriam, there with her father because Mom was home very sick. She wanted Mom to get better. She could tell by the way the adults were acting something bad was happening. She had prayed to God over and over again. Nothing had happened. She knew why. The rabbis, the teachers of the law had said that God only rewards the righteous. Only obedient children got their prayers answered. She had tried so hard to obey but her little brother made her so angry, always picking and following her. He wouldn’t leave her alone. Surely God understood how hard it was to be nice. But she must not have been nice enough. Mom was still sick. Miriam’s heart was heavy and burdened.

          In that crowd there was likely a man like David, a fisherman all his life. He worked hard to feed his family but lately the nets were mostly empty. He tried every trick and nothing worked. He knew why. God was mad at him and for good reason. The teachers of the law had made it clear that if you did not bring the full tithe to them as offerings God would not listen to your prayers. He’d been dumb last year when the fishing was good. Drank too much. Gambled a little. Didn’t have enough left over to give to God the full tithe. He was going to make it up this year, pay God back, but now, how could he with empty nets? It seemed his debt would never be paid and now his family would suffer. David’s heart was heavy and burdened.

          Perhaps also standing by hoping to catch Jesus in some mistake of the law was Simon, a teacher of the law. This Jesus was telling people that the Messiah they needed was a Savior from sin. Didn’t he know that God expected people not to sin? Did he not see from that only by keeping the covenant of the law he would be blessed. Simon knew this first hand. He was respected. People looked up to him. His house was one of the nicest houses in town and everyone wanted to be invited to his banquets. And with reason. He observed the Sabbath religiously. He fully tithed. He even gave extra to help the poor. He prayed five times a day. He was living proof of how God is pleased by holy living and rewards it. But his smug demeanor fell off of his face when the servant came with the awful news of the white blotches that had appeared all over little Moshe’s skin. Why? Could it be true as Jesus said that God expected perfect thoughts as well as actions? Was God now mad at him? Suddenly Simon’s heart felt heavy and burdened.

          And then Jesus said it. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And as the Holy Spirit did his work and rode these words of God into the souls of those there a glimmer of understanding and hope crept into the heart of Miriam and David and Simon. Rest. That’s what Sabbath means. Your relationship with God was not based on you working harder and harder to please Him but on resting, doing nothing. Who then would do the work of pleasing God? Jesus! Be yoked to Jesus.

          Most of us have not spent significant time on a farm and if we did we most likely saw tractors doing the work of pulling heavy burdens not oxen. So let’s make sure we know what a yoke is. Here is a picture. A yoke helped two animals share  a burden. Notice in this picture how a smaller ox is paired with a bigger ox who will lead and do the majority of the work. If we want to think about being yoked to Jesus maybe this is a better picture. Too often we can exhibit the characteristics of an donkey in our relationship with Jesus. Stubborn. Like a two year old trying to pour a glass of milk. “I can do it myself!” as the milk spills all over the table. And then the pouting with no acknowledgement that he can’t.

          There is a better way. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” Jesus said. The circumstances of people listening to Jesus in the cities around Milwaukee are different from the circumstances the people from the cities of Galilee but the hearts and needs are the same. We have an extra obstacle in our way. Affluence. Good times. When modern medicine is apparently curing your ills you can forget how badly you need Jesus. When you have enough money to live comfortably each month you can forget how badly you need Jesus. When you don’t have teachers of the law pointing out your sin but rather teachers of Satan saying there is no sin, no God, no one you have to please but yourself you may not feel your need for Jesus. But it’s there. God has his voice in your heart. You hear it most loudly when death knocks at your door. It speaks again when you have an accident or a financial loss. You aren’t good enough. You’ve sinned against God. You don’t deserve His help. He’s angry at sin. Even when you are fully yoked to Jesus it’s there. You’re going to screw up your kids, your marriage, your job. You’re no good. You are selfish. You don’t deserve anything good from God. And the voice speaks truth.

          So does this one. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” Jesus speaks. We listen. He offers rest for souls that lose sleep worrying over problems out of their control. He offers rest for souls who worry about kids straying away from Jesus. He offers rest for souls that can’t forget that sin of the past that set the course for your current life. He offers rest for souls that can’t fix a broken marriage and that struggle against a sin they can’t shake.

          “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” It’s that word picture. When you are connected to Jesus he does the work. Are you tired of trying to always get it right? You don’t have to. Jesus already did. He has perfectly obeyed our Father’s commands. You can count on God’s love and help because yoked to Jesus all God sees is a perfectly obedient child. When you are yoked to Jesus there are no sins to be punished for He has paid for them in full. Your sins don’t cause Mom to get sick and die and God is not refusing to answer your prayers. Her sickness and even her death comes from God’s loving hand and serves for His glory. Your job problems are not God punishing you for past sins but rather guidance from a God who loves you, knows what’s best for you and is helping you to see you need Him. Yoked to Jesus even those sins you keep falling into, that burden your soul, that you try to keep hidden, they serve to keep you clinging to Jesus so you don’t try to throw of the yoke with a two year old’s cry, “I can do it myself!”

          “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I remember times when my girls were little and they wanted to help me do some project, maybe carry a heavy table or lift a big log to the splitter. They would grab on. I did all the work. It was nice that they wanted to help me. Serving God is like that yoked to Jesus. Trying to live right, working hard to obey God’s laws is important for all of us but not because we have to, because we want to please our Father in heaven. He doesn’t need our help but is happy to have us. We get to obey without the burden of having God’s help dependent on our performance. Life really is easy when you live the confidence that God will work all for the good, even my sins and bad decisions, that Jesus is always in control no matter what it looks like to me, and that my past neither controls me nor defines me and my future is safely in the hands of the Lord who loves me.

          Brothers and sisters, all that happens when we are yoked to Jesus. And that yoking then looks a little more like this, where, as family we are yoked together to help, love and bless, to work hard for our Lord Jesus who has already done and is really doing all the work Himself. So even though it’s not all that funny it does make one smile to know, because of the gift of faith granted you by the Holy Spirit, the yoke’s on you and you are connected to Jesus. Amen.

October 5-7, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 15:1-10 WELCOME HOME!

PENTECOST 17/WELCOME HOME

October 5-7, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 15:1-10

WELCOME HOME!

AN EFFORT TO FOLLOW JESUS…

1.     In caring about the lost.

2.     In seeking the lost.

3.     In rejoicing over the found.

Luke 15:1-10 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. ⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”



          Last weekend we had a wonderful hymnfest service prepared by Pastor Waldschmidt that helped us observe the Church year Festival of St. Michael and All Angels Sunday. With hymns and the word of God he reminded us of so many of the things God has angels doing. I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t answer all the questions we might have about angels like, “How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?” “Or how do angels greet each other?” You know that one, right? No? How do angels greet each other? With a “Halo!” Okay, bad joke. I also don’t remember him telling us what makes angels happy. And that’s OK because the Word of God you just heard told you, didn’t it? What makes angels happy? Why do they rejoice? When the lost are found. When sinners repent. Today we begin an emphasis throughout our synod to welcome home brothers and sisters who have strayed from a weekly worship pattern, maybe haven’t had the blessing of Lord’s Supper, the announcement of forgiveness for their sins and the Lord’s Blessing for a year or more. It’s important that we do so with the right spirit. With a spirit that follows Christ. That’s what our Welcome Home effort really is: an effort to help us follow Christ by caring about what He cares about, by doing something about it and by finding joy where he finds joy. And we don’t have to guess the answers to any of the questions. They were answered by Him in His word.

          What Jesus cares about is the lost. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” There are three very different players in this part of God’s word. First there are the tax collectors and sinners. It’s important to acknowledge that the people in this group had done wrong and they knew it. The tax collectors used their position to regularly steal from their own people. The “sinners” mostly likely refers to women who had turned to prostitution, probably out of desperation to feed children when they lost their husbands. No matter what the reason though, sin is sin. And these people knew they had sinned because others in their society let them know. Hopefully some let them know out of love so they would repent. They were excluded from their churches and since God’s word always works I have to believe not every Jewish synagogue was bad. Some followed the intent of God’s commands. But not everyone. That brings us to the next group. The Pharisees and teachers of the law. They were upset that Jesus was hanging around people who they didn’t want back. If the Pharisees and teachers of the law had simply told the tax collectors and sinners that what they were doing was wrong they would have been at least partially right. But what they told them was what they were doing could not be forgiven. There was no coming back. The lost were just plain lost. And that takes us to Jesus. Why was He hanging around these people? Let’s let Him tell us again.

          Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. ⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

          Some parables you have to work to figure out. These are easy. When you lose something precious to you, you want it back. You try to get it back. You are happy when you get it back. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about the 99 sheep who weren’t lost. The shepherd didn’t leave them hanging. He left them in a safe spot. The woman didn’t leave the other nine silver coins out to be stolen. Both shepherd and woman were happy to have them. It’s just that they ached for what they lost. The message is clear. Jesus cares about the lost. He cares for every soul. He is so glad when believers are with Him and following Him. And at the same time his heart aches for those believers who have slipped away from Him.

          Follow Jesus. Welcome Home. Those phrases remind us to work to care like He does for the lost, those of the family of faith of have strayed from Him. Honesty is needed. It’s easier to care about things that don’t really matter. There was likely more caring done about the Brewers’ loss Tuesday night than about people we know who have left the Lord. More angst. More disappointment. So repentance is needed. Lord, don’t let us become the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Don’t let us get to the point we don’t want the lost back. Do help us change our priorities. Do help us keep the things of this life that provide momentary escape and distraction like sports in their proper place and help us care more about people.

          Do help us seek the lost. Jesus did some things only Jesus could do. Only Jesus could live a life of perfect righteousness to cover over the imperfect lives of the lost and the found. Only Jesus could take the full punishment for sin so the lost and found can be free. We can’t do that. But Jesus did some things we can do also as we follow Him. He modeled caring for all people. He assured people that God loved them and forgave them. He said the same to crowds and to individuals. He prayed for people. Welcome Home. Follow Jesus. Those phrases remind us to work to seek the lost like He did. There are many different ways. You will need to figure out what is appropriate for you. Will you pray? Is it time to have the conversation you have been avoiding? If you have been having the conversation too often so that they shut you off is it time to look for someone in their life who might be the better seeker than you? None of us can do everything. All of us can do something as we follow Jesus.

          And then we can rejoice like Jesus. Do you really think there are 99 who don’t need to repent? We all need to. And Jesus loves it when we do. The angels love it. They rejoice. They are happy.  And so are we. The Pharisees and teachers of the law didn’t want to let repentant sinners back in. In the reading from Corinthians it’s clear those believers struggled to let a sorrowful sinner back. May the Lord prevent that from happening among us. Instead no matter what the sin our family members, our church family members, have done let’s always be happy when they repent to say, “Welcome Home!”

We have three weeks to go before our Welcome Home weekend. Let’s all make an effort to follow Jesus in caring, seeking and rejoicing. May the Lord help us get back as many as we can so that the heavens are filled with a joy filled Jesus, rejoicing angels and some day a whole bunch of Jacobians. Amen.

September 14-16, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 13:22-30 (NIV 1984) “MAKE EVERY EFFORT!”

PENTECOST 14

September 14-16, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 13:22-30 (NIV 1984)

“MAKE EVERY EFFORT!”

1.     The Feast is ready!

2.     The entrance is narrow.

3.     There are no second chances.

Luke 13:22-30 (NIV) “Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. ²³Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, ²⁴“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. ²⁵Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ²⁶“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ ²⁸“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

          It’s one of those really important questions that you kind of hesitate to ask because of the answer you might get. Like, “Is it cancer?” As Jesus continued to teach on His way to give His life in Jerusalem an unnamed someone asks, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?” I don’t know why this man asked it but I hope it weighs on each of our hearts. We want everyone to be saved. Will they? While He does not answer that question here Jesus certainly did in His Sermon on the Mount where in Matthew 7 He said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Sad! Here though Jesus turns the man’s question back to where it belongs, to his heart and so to each of our hearts. He doesn’t answer how many will be saved but instead looks the man in the eye and says, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” This man, it seems, was making an assumption, that he was one of the saved. Was he? That depends. Where was he placing his hope? More importantly, where are you placing your hope? Today let’s listen carefully as Jesus looks us in the eye and says, “Make every effort.”

          Make every effort because the feast is set. “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” God uses the picture of a feast or banquet many times to help people think of and look forward to the joys of heaven. When I hear the word feast I think back to growing up in Watertown where a restaurant called Amber Lantern had a $2.99 pizza smorgasbord, a buffet. We would make sure to go in hungry and oh the offerings! Or I think of Thanksgiving dinner that’s a feast. Or at Bible Class there is the feast of God’s word and then the people bring cheese and sausage, and deviled eggs and Danish pastries and ham and rolls and yeah some that fruit stuff too. It’s a feast you don’t want to miss. Heaven is pictured as a feast. It’s all set go. It’s happening. Only good things. No sin. No pain. No death. Happiness. Joy. Face to face with Jesus. Life eternal with every other believer, yes, all our loved ones who have died in the Lord. Of course we want to make every effort to be there.

          Jesus has a warning though. The entrance is narrow. “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. ²⁵Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ ²⁶“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” Again we return to the picture of a great feast. There is an owner of the home where it is held. There is only one entrance, a narrow door. Now remember we are really talking about heaven here so the door is the way to heaven, how people get there. You know as well as I do that most people think the way to heaven is by being good. Good people should get to go to heaven. We feel that pressure too. You probably know someone in your life that does not profess faith in Jesus Christ but they are so nice and so good and the thought of them not being in heaven just doesn’t make sense. But you know what? What you think and what I think and what others think does not matter. There is an owner of the house of heaven and what He says goes. What does He say? The door is narrow. It’s only through Jesus who testified “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Most of you are probably familiar with John 3:16 which is known as the Gospel in a nutshell. Have you ever read the verses right after? The full context of what Jesus said there is this, “For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because He has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Only through believing in Jesus is the way to heaven open. The people of Jesus’ day who could say, “Hey, I saw you once. I liked some of what you said,” didn’t enter through Jesus. People in our day who say “I knew Jesus once. I used to belong to a church. I try to be a good person,” have not entered through the narrow door.

          And there are no second chances. “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ ²⁸“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” This is a picture of the last day. People who thought they were going to heaven aren’t. They plead but it’s too late. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth because those on the outside don’t just stay on the outside looking in. Their fate is hell. How it must have hurt the people around Jesus to hear that others, non Jews, would be welcome into heaven and they would not. Those who had the Good News of Jesus first were last. Those who got it later became first. Why? They believed. I don’t know what would top your list of vile and offensive sins but the top of God’s, the ones He calls evildoers, are those who reject His Son as Savior. There are no second chances then.

          But there are now. That’s why Jesus spoke to the crowd and why He speaks to us today. Remember what Jesus’ first response to the man’s questions was. “Make every effort.” He’s not asking us to do what we can’t. He’s  not asking us to save ourselves. He is urging us to do what we can do and what He has given us to do, to feed and guard our faith in Jesus. He’s urging us to look at our lives to see if we have become spiritually lazy or apathetic. He’s making each of us do that gut check and answer the question “So why do you think you will go to heaven?” What’s your answer? “I try to be good.” “I’m WELS.” “I go to church—not as often as I should but…” None of those are the narrow door. How about  “Because Jesus died for my sins.” There it is, the narrow door. The efforts we can make include things like daily repentance, prayer and devotion. The efforts we can make include weekly worship and Bible Study. The efforts we can make include tuning out the false messages so prevalent where people make God out to be what they want Him to be rather than what He says He is and carefully and humbly accepting only what God says instead.   “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” a certain someone asked Jesus. To which He replied, “Make every effort.” Are you?

Amen.

August 24-26, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:18-26 (NIV 1984) THE MEANING OF LIFE

PENTECOST

August 24-26, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:18-26 (NIV 1984)

THE MEANING OF LIFE

                                  1. Without Christ It Is Meaningless

                                  2. With Christ Everything Has Meaning.



Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:18-26 (NIV 1984) “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” ^2:18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²²What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. ²⁴A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”



          I begin with an apology to anyone familiar with British comedy group, Monty Python. You saw the sermon theme “The Meaning of Life” and it took your mind to where you did not want it to go. So wipe it away and realize that long before that group existed the Book of Ecclesiastes was written to carefully expound the meaning of life here on earth. And a good thing. It’s one of the basic needs of all people to know that their life has meaning. That is why philosophers new and old spend so much time trying to figure it out. What a waste. Their work is already done for them contained in this book of the Bible we call Ecclesiastes. Now if you have read that book of the Bible recently or choose to soon you might come away feeling down or depressed. It does a good job of demonstrating how meaningless life can be. And yet Pastor Martin Luther wrote this about Ecclesiastes. “It is a book of comfort.” How does that work? Let’s find out.

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon. Remember him? He’s the son of David that asked for and was given by God great wisdom for ruling the nation of Israel. He’s the one who told us the fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. It seems later in life he left the Lord out of his life. Ecclesiastes seems to be his fruits of repentance, his teaching to others to help them learn from his mistakes. What had he discovered? Without Christ life is meaningless! "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."  That’s how the book starts. Solomon calls himself the teacher and goes on to describe how he had tried to find happiness, meaning in life, by pursuing the best knowledge the science of his time could provide. But when he learned it all, he was still feeling empty. Meaningless. Then he tried to find meaning by pursuing pleasure. First he tried neutral pleasures, laughter and entertainment, building projects and gardens and parks. Still his life was empty. Meaningless. He amassed great wealth. Still he felt meaningless. Then he tried sinful pleasures of all kinds. He summed it up this way in chapter 2:10-11 “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”

In this part of Ecclesiastes Solomon Teacher contemplated something that takes up a good portion of our lives, working and acquiring things. “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.” I guess that about sums it up. You work hard all your life. You save and take care of your things. You die and someone else gets your things. They may not value them like you do or take care of them. You can be frugal and save money and your heirs might waste it. That's it. What good did all that saving do? Meaningless.

Now we probably haven’t gone down all the roads to meaningless that Solomon did but you can recognize the times we have been heading there. You know how when you make a purchase and you got a great deal and how good you felt? But that feeling doesn’t last. Kids, remember that toy you had to have for Christmas, or that video game you had to have? Still using it? Oh yeah and how about that work thing. If all there is to life is an endless cycle of working to pay bills and keep your head above water and stress about things all night, life is meaningless. Working hard and saving up and building things only to have the next generation ruin and waste it all is meaningless. What did Jeffrey Epstein find with his pursuits? Meaningless. If that’s all there is to life then let us eat and drink and try to be merry for tomorrow we die life has no meaning. Meaningless!

But that isn’t all there is Solomon went on. “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Did you catch it? “Without him who can find enjoyment.” Without whom? The Savior God. The Lord. In Old Testament times the Teacher, or Solomon, simply knew their Savior as the LORD, the powerful God how saves and promised to send a Savior. We know that Savior is Jesus Christ. While everything really is meaningless without Jesus everything becomes meaningful with Him!

With Him, with Jesus in our life we can find enjoyment now and know the best is yet to come. With Jesus in our life everything has meaning. Let’s take some of the things Solomon pursued and found meaningless. Knowledge and learning. Science. With Jesus in your life you are led to an awe and amazement of how wise God is putting this world together. That may lead you to a vocation where you will use your knowledge to help people in the medical field realizing God loves people and wants certain things cured or healed. You see that there is good entertainment and things that make you laugh and often the best laughter is at yourself. Laughter can really be the best medicine because it is a gift from God. There are pleasures in this world that aren’t sinful. Whether you eat drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. You can thank God for chocolate or coffee a good tasting wine or beer. None of that have to be used sinfully. Think of the gift of friendship as a gift from God. With Christ even amassing wealth is meaningful. A nice home or vacation home can be enjoyed with a grateful heart. You can use money to do the work Jesus gave you to do not only now but when you go to heaven with your will. With Christ my job is a gift from God, a mask He wears to provide for me. With Christ the job lost is an opportunity gained, the house offer that fell through a needed guidance from God who has something better for me. With Christ I realize that the people I am coming into contact with every day are there for a reason and who knows but I am the one through whom God will work to reach them. Think of what it would be like to deal with a sickness or hardship without knowing it too is guided by the hand of  a loving God. How can you deal with those things without being able to look at Christ on the cross to know your sin are forgiven and God has a good plan. Some people ask me how do those who don’t know Jesus as Savior deal with death and I say I don’t know. Without Christ it is meaningless. With Him the door to heaven.

With Christ everything is meaningful because with Christ the best is yet to come. No matter how hard I work at taking care of this body it will be destroyed. No worries. I’ll get a new one. A better one. A perfect one. All things amassed on earth will not only go to someone else but will ultimately be destroyed. I’ll lose this home and get a better one. The meaning of life then is to know Christ and to make him known to others. Because only with Christ does this life matter. Your job is to cling to Him above all else so you can share Him with others at all times. Amen.

August 10-12, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Sermon Text: Colossians 3:12-17 "KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL REMODELING/EXPANSION"

PENTECOST 8

August 10-12, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Sermon Text: Colossians 3:12-17

"KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL REMODELING/EXPANSION"

1. Clothe Yourself with Christ.

2. Immerse Yourself in the Word.

 Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV 1984) “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”



          This weekend brings us to an exciting point in our building expansion program. After services on Sunday our construction firm, Catalyst Construction, will be meeting with you to let you know how each of you can be involved in our building expansion and narthex remodeling project. With all their experience they have the keys to successful church projects. The word of God before us today also gives us some keys to some more important remodeling and expansion, the remodeling of our sinful selves for the expansion of Christ’s Church. Let’s see what they are.

          The word of God before us today comes from Paul’s letter to the church in the city of Colossae. Paul, the great missionary Apostle, was in prison at the time he wrote his letter, but even with Paul on the sidelines the work of the Church would go on through the Christians in the church at Colossae, like it does with us. But for that to happen there needed to be some remodeling done.

Paul first addresses why remodeling and expansion was important. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.” It’s been a long process so maybe you’ve forgotten. How would you answer this question? Why are we doing a building expansion and remodeling project? Some possible answers: To have a bigger, more open welcoming space coming into church. To get those bathrooms up to code. Because the current MPR is often too small and overused. To have a modern EC center. All good answers but not the ultimate answer. The ultimate answer is because we are God’s chosen people. He picked us for His family. We didn’t pick him. He made us holy by giving His only Son Jesus to take our sins away. He dearly loves us. How else can we respond but with our best? We want to do the best work for Jesus we can. Buildings serve ministry so we are building together to serve God better. That’s why. It’s also why we need to remodel ourselves daily. We can’t be content to let sin have a place in our lives. We can’t be content to look, talk and act like people who aren’t God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Only our best for the Lord will do.

How to remodel? “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” There’s a word picture here. Putting on clothes. Kids, have you ever read the story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes?” It’s a good one. You have to read it. In it a couple of tailors convince the emperor to wear invisible clothes so he ends up walking around naked. Can you imagine? As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, we don’t want to walk around naked. The clothes we are to wear is Christ. All the characteristics listed are really Him! Compassion, that’s caring when someone else is hurting or in trouble. Kindness which leads to doing things that bring a smile to someone else’s face. Humility, thinking of the needs of others first, gentleness, staying calm in dealing with other people, having a smily face not an ugly one. Patience, absorbing life’s yuck without getting yucky in return. Bear with each other. This part of God’s word always makes me smile. The ones we have to put up with, God says, are each other, not the unbelievers. He knows us so well! Forgive as we have been forgiven. Be at peace. The reason we need to put on Christ is because our sinful natures are the exact opposite. Without Christ on we are irritable, uncaring, arrogant, quick tempered and prone to bitter feelings against each other. Kind of reminds me of a great prayer I read. It goes like this: “Dear Lord, So far today I’m doing alright. I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, thoughtless or selfish. I have not whined or complained. But I will be getting out of bed in a minute and I need your help.”

How do we get it? Immerse yourself in the Word. That’s our second key for a successful remodeling and expansion. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Three times this word of God urged an attitude of gratitude. “Be thankful, with gratitude in your hearts to God, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” We are urged to teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. But there is only one way we are equipped to do that. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Richly. Not miserly. Richly. Not a little bit. Richly. Why did Eli finally tell Samuel to say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening?” What did Jesus say was the one thing needed? It’s God’s word. What did God use to create? His word. Why is the Devil working so hard in your life and my life to distract us from the Word? He knows where God has placed His power. It seems so unassuming. Words in a book. But they come from the mouth of God and they are filled with His power. They are faith food. Some of you may remember a story I told years ago of how one of our Apache brothers in faith described to some of his friends how his life was different as a Christian. He said, “Before Christ came into my life only a black dog lived in my heart and it was mean and nasty and liked to get drunk and fight and so that is what I would do. But when Jesus came into my heart He brought a white dog to live there too. And the white dog loves Jesus and wants only to please Him and so now the black dog and the white dog they fight in my heart over what I will do.” To that one of his friends replied, “Well how do you keep the black dog from winning.” To which our brother replied, “Ah, the white dog I feed.” So smart. A sinful nature. A Christian nature inside each one of us. How do we keep the sinful nature from winning? The Christian nature we feed with God’s Word. After service I’ll share some ways to help you do just that.

But let’s go back to why. Why is it so important for us to do the daily remodeling of our sinful selves. Let’s say that after we build they come. They meaning people from our community. They bring their children to our brand new Early Childhood Center. They enter our brighter more open welcome space. They come to some community outreach or service event that we hold in our new beautiful and large multi purpose room. Now remember again why we are doing this. Our best for our Lord Jesus with the express purpose of drawing souls to Jesus so they can be saved. But what do you suppose will happen with those folks if when they come they find people who don’t seem to care, who bicker and fight, who are grumpy and  complaining, who have no attitude of gratitude and appear not to even like each other. How’s that going to go? On the other hand what if they find a bunch of people who kind of look and act like Christ? Remodeled Christians get many more opportunities for expansion of Christ’s kingdom. And like our other remodeling/expansion it takes work and planning and daily diligence and we all can be involved as we follow the keys presented in God’s Word. Clothe yourself with Christ and immerse yourself in the word. Amen.

August 4th, 2019 Luke 10:25-37 Pastor Waldschmidt

Luke 10:25-37  Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “What do you read there?” 27He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.” 28He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” 29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31It just so happened that a priest was going down that way. But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 33A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was. When he saw him, he felt sorry for the man. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’ 36Which of these three do you think acted like a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” 37“The one who showed mercy to him,” he replied. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

DON’T WALK ALONE ON A DANGEROUS ROAD

In the name of Jesus, the hero of the story, dear fellow redeemed  

    I would imagine that most of us have had the experience of walking on a road where we didn’t feel very comfortable.  Maybe there are roads that you don’t like to travel on for all kinds of safety reasons.  God’s word has a message for us today.  DON’T WALK ALONE ON A DANGEROUS ROAD.  Jesus tells the story of someone who got hurt that way.  Except the main point Jesus is making is not about staying on street where no one will rob you and beat you up or where you might get hit by a car.  Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan as he answers a question about the road to heaven.  Remember the man came asking “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus makes clear that the road to heaven is a dangerous road if we sinners are going to try to walk it alone.  Don’t walk alone on a dangerous road.

    “Just then, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Just then” always sets off the radar to ask, “what just happened?  Jesus had just been talking with his disciples about the road to heaven, “the Kingdom of God.”  He sent out 72 of his followers.  They experienced joys and frustrations of living and sharing the good news of the Savior in a sinful world.  Through that whole experience they had their hearts more and more centered on Jesus as the way to heaven.  Jesus told his followers, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see; for I say unto you, “Many prophets and kings desired to see the things that you see and hear." And along comes a man who is thinking that he can walk the road to heaven without any help.   That is a dangerous road.  If one is going to try to get right with God on their own.   Jesus reminds him what God requires.  “What is written in the law?” he asked him. “What do you read there?” He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.” He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” Martin Luther wrote, “Christ shows him that he has as yet done nothing, when he allowed himself to think he had done everything.”  Yes, do this and you will live.  The problem is that we have not and we cannot.

    But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”   Jesus makes clear that if he is trying to get to heaven on his own he will need to keep the law.  The man is bold enough to try to parse down God’s law into what he thought would be a manageable bite.  “Who is my neighbor?” I  recently heard a joke about a conversation in a jail conference room where the attorney tells the accused, “I have some good news and some bad news.”  “What’s the bad news?” asks the accused.  “The bad news is, your blood 
is all over the crime scene, and the DNA tests prove you did it.”  “What’s the good news?”  “Your cholesterol is 130.”   There isn’t much good news there.  This lawyer might have thought he had done a pretty good job of outwardly keeping some of God’s commands.  But that was a little like having a good cholesterol count when there is incriminating evidence all around.

     In his love, Jesus doesn’t just wave the man away and move on.  Instead Jesus tries to get the man to see that God expected perfection in every single interaction with God and with every single person.  He tells  story that would probably have made the news in our day.  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.”  You would think that someone would be easy to spot and could easily get help.  Here comes a priest.  “It just so happened that a priest was going down that way. But when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.”  Maybe we might think that he didn’t want to take the chance of contaminating himself and thus not be able to serve on the priestly duties that day.  But he wasn’t headed to Jerusalem he was headed away from Jerusalem, like the man who was beaten up.  Well maybe it was just a bad apple and someone else will help.   “In the same way, a Levite also happened to go there, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.”  We are looking for a hero here.  The hero in Jesus story ends up being someone no one would expert-a Samaritan.  “A Samaritan, as he traveled, came to where the man was. When he saw him, he felt sorry for the” man.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, when he left, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. Whatever extra you spend, I will repay you when I return.’ 

     Jesus audience never would have expected a Samaritan to be the hero in Jesus’ story.  Racism and hatred are not brand new thoughts to our world.  At Jesus’ time, there was bad blood between the Jews and Samaritans, even though they were related, which went back over 700 years.  When the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians they mixed everybody up.  They moved  some of the people out to far away land, left a few farmers behind and moved in new people.  They left behind a mixture of people and customs. When the remnant from the South returned to Israel after their captivity in Babylon, the friction began.  In America we take pride in calling ourselves the great melting pot, even though so often we don’t do very well at getting along. The Jews and the Samaritans didn’t like the idea of a melting pot and many hated each other.    That’s why it probably took everyone by surprise that a Samaritan was the hero in Jesus story. 

      Martin Luther King Jr once said, "I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' The good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”  The Samaritan didn’t pass by on the other side of the road.  He stopped and helped.  He bandaged wounds.  Put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn.  He paid for the injured man’s stay and provided for his future care from his own pocket.  By telling this story Jesus was trying to get the man to see that God doesn’t just expect us to treat our family and friends well.  He expects us to love all people, even our enemies.  Who is our neighbor?  Everyone! It’s pretty easy for me to be nice to my friends.  It is quite another for me to be nice to those who hate me- who have been mean to me.  Truth be told I haven’t always been kind to my friends and family-let alone showing kindness to those who hate me.  If you honestly examined your life too, which would you find selfishness or selflessness?  Would you find that you have passed by on the other side when you saw someone in need?  Would you find grudges held tight?  Those sins make traveling alone on the way to heaven a dangerous road.  Those sins crush any hope of making it into heaven if we are traveling alone.

       Who is the hero in Jesus’ story-one who sees someone in need and helps?  Jesus is the Good Samaritan.  He saw our need. He saw the damage sin did to us and he helped. He could have passed by on the other side.  Instead he traded places with us.  He put his perfect love on our record.  He took our selfishness and callousness, our shame and hatred upon himself.  He bound up our wounds and provided for our eternal care in heaven.

      That changes everything!  We don’t travel on the road to heaven alone.  Our substitute goes with us.  Our Savior’s loved changes the way we treat others.  We might think to ourselves.    But if I’m kind to others that’s a dangerous road too because I might get taken advantage of.  But our Savior goes with us.  His compassion toward us opens our eyes toward the needs of those around us.  We don’t have to think that there are so many people out there, I can’t help them all.  Help the people God puts in front of us in our lives.  God says, “as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  The Bible says that God has prepared in advance good works for us to do.  I wonder how many I missed along the way.  But my Savior and your Savior goes with us.  He helps us on the road to heaven.

     There is a quote from Mother Teresa I saw the other day, “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love and there is a hunger for God. …I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”  Many people try to cure that hunger for God on their own like the man who asked the question of Jesus.  That’s a dangerous road.  But we know there is one who stopped to help us.  Yes, this world is a dangerous place but we don’t walk alone. Jesus walks with us.  One who showed compassion.  One who showed love.  Let’s show his love.  Let’s share his love.  Amen.