October 29-31, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: John 8:31-47 “TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES!”

REFORMATION

October 29-31, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: John 8:31-47

“TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES!”

1.     At Jesus’ Time.

2.     At Luther’s Time.

3.     In our Time.

People in America have always enjoyed game shows on TV. There are some long running ones that all seem to know about like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and the Price is Right. There have been hundreds of others. One was called “Truth or Consequences.” Do any of you remember it? The contestants were asked a question and if they got it right, truth, they would go on. If they got it wrong there were consequences, usually some gag or stunt was done that got everybody laughing. As we observe the 499^th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation today it’s a good time to remind ourselves about truth or consequences in another way. However in this case, it’s not a game. And the consequences are no laughing matter.

We start in Jesus’ time. “To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”³³They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can You say that we shall be set free?” ³⁴Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill Me, because you have no room for My Word. ³⁸I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.” When Jesus first started His public ministry he seemed to be popular. Crowds flocked to hear Him and see His miracles. Those crowd gathering miracles gave Jesus the chance to proclaim the truth. He was the God sent Messiah. All were sinners and needed Him. Many did not like to hear that message. Jesus reminded the people of the importance of the truth, God’s truth. Holding to that truth proclaimed in Jesus’ teaching is a sign of authentic discipleship. Knowing that truth sets you free from the slavery to sin. If you reject that that truth there are consequences.

“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do the things Abraham did. ⁴⁰As it is, you are determined to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹You are doing the things your own father does.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on My own; but He sent Me. ⁴³Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me! ⁴⁶Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe Me? ⁴⁷He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

          At Jesus’ time many simply did not want the truth. God had given them the truth in the Old Testament through Moses and the prophets. God demanded holy living. Man could not do this. Man sinned. Sin was offensive to God. Sin needed to be paid for. Man could not do this. No offering was good enough. No amount of good deeds could make up for even one sin. God would send a Savior. He would do it. Sadly over time God’s truth was replaced by lies. If you have the blood of Abraham in your veins you are good enough to God. Only blatant breaking of the commandments mattered. Not the sins of the heart. God’s truth was rejected and there were consequences. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. ⁴⁷He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

          We know that Jesus restored the truth to God’s people. After His ascension the Apostles carefully held to Jesus’ teachings. The Devil tried many times and in many ways to substitute his lies but it didn’t work. God’s people held to Jesus’ teachings because they were really His disciples. Creeds like the Apostles, the Nicene and the Athanasian were developed to clearly proclaim the truth from God’s word in short ways, memorable ways and clear ways and to point out there were consequences for rejecting the truth. Those who did not hold to the Creeds were not allowed to be part of the Christian church. While the church was constantly fighting against the Devil who kept trying to get people to buy his lies for several hundred years it didn’t work.

          Things began to change. Just like what happened to the Old Testament church the teachings of man began to replace the truth of God. Instead of looking to the Bible for truth people looked to the church leaders called bishops. Headed by the bishop of Rome who called himself the pope various teachings were added as coming from God himself. Salvation was found in the church. While Jesus’ sacrifice paid for eternal punishment in order to pay of the temporal debt of sin man had to do things before he could get to heaven: venerate relics, say certain prayers and then of course by Luther’s time, buy indulgences, pieces of paper that promised forgiveness for a certain amount of the temporal debt of sin.

          By God’s grace and at his working a monk named Luther started studying the Bible more and more. He found the truth that set him free. We are forgiven not by what we do but because of God’s grace, his undeserved love. We are forgiven through faith in Jesus and what He has done. Only the Scripture is the truth and authority for what God says. You can see how grace alone, faith alone and Scripture alone became this simple ways of proclaiming the truth. Luther wanted everyone to know that truth and he sought to share it but his church at the time rejected it. They threatened Luther with death if he continued proclaiming the truth. Luther did anyway. He knew that it is truth or consequences. If he didn’t get the truth out many people would live their lives in fear without knowing the comfort, peace and joy of being set free from their sins. Because he was an authentic disciple he held to the truth.

          Now it’s our turn. Once again it’s truth or consequences. The truth of God’s word in America is under attack. It has been for some time with the lie of evolution proclaimed instead of the truth of Creation, with a free love instead of married love and with God’s truth about marriage of one man and one woman replaced with the Devil’s lies. And while those things certainly get us shaking our heads the worst lie was pointed out to you a couple of weeks ago by Pastor Waldschmidt Jr. All gods are equal. There are many ways to heaven. Truth is relative. What is true for you does not have to be true to me. How clever Satan is! We feel the pressure already. While there are appropriate times and places and inappropriate times and places for proclaiming God’s truth I’m sure we can all think of a time we kept our mouth shut when it should have opened. Do we let our own view of right and wrong change because the wrong is going on in our family? And so for instance when a man and woman lived together and had sex before was a sin but now when it’s my son or my daughter, my grandkids, it’s not so bad. More pressure is likely to come.

          But remember my friends it’s truth or consequences for all of us. If we give up the truth then Jesus says we are children of the Devil. If we stop proclaiming truth how will people who need to know that Jesus has set them free hear it? It’s truth  “To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Or consequences ⁴⁷He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” Let’s make sure we choose truth. Hold to Jesus’ teachings. No matter what. Then you really His disciple. And the win is much bigger than a game show prize. It’s that glory of of heaven! Amen.

October 8-10, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 2 Timothy 2:8-13 “A CHRISTIAN SURVIVAL GUIDE”

PENTECOST 21

October 8-10, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 2 Timothy 2:8-13

“A CHRISTIAN SURVIVAL GUIDE”

1.     Remember Christ.

2.     Resist the easy way.

3.     Rely on God’s promises.

2 Timothy 2:8-13 (NIV 1984) “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my Gospel, ⁹for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s Word is not chained. ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. ¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; ¹²if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; ¹³if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.”

                 In case you haven’t noticed we are in an election year. Haven’t noticed? Are you kidding? Non stop commercials. Unsolicited phone calls, e-mails, mailings. Debates bumping out your favorite shows. Almost non stop news coverage. Some people have jokingly (I think!) offered Election survival guides. They urge you to get the sleep mask, the sound deadening headphones or to binge watch every episode of Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune. Anything to get you past the November election. How am I ever going to survive? We may say that tongue in cheek for the Election but maybe we should be asking that in a more important way. How will we Christians survive? We are past the time when Christian themes and morals were dominant in our country, probably in the time when Christian themes and morals are tolerated and probably moving to the time when Christians can expect persecution. Cause for worry? Remember what we talked about last week? There’s nothing new under the sun. The word of God we get to look at today was written by the Apostle Paul nearing the end of his life to encourage a young pastor named Timothy. He provided a Christian survival guide for him that serves us too.

                 He urges us first to Remember Christ. “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my Gospel, ⁹for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s Word is not chained.” At the time the Apostle Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy he was sitting in a Roman prison. This was his second imprisonment. Unlike the first time when he was basically under house arrest, this time it seems he was in the real prison, chained like a common criminal. He took the time to pass on to Timothy truths he would need to survive. “Remember Jesus Christ!” he said. Sounds strange. Who would forget Jesus? Paul knew how clever Satan is a distracting believers. He’s still pretty good at it. Think of the many different things in life that demand your attention. Job demands. Health needs of your children or your parents.  Crime. Elections. Buzzing cellphones. Children’s activities. The latest gossip on Facebook. I’m not sure what Timothy faced but we sure have a lot of things going on and if we are not careful they distract from what or rather who is most important. I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that if I polled you on the importance of daily Bible reading most if not all of you would say that it is very important. And if I polled you to answer honestly whether it is happening or not I would get less than a majority. I think the same thing is true for weekly worship. Yet it does not always happen. Think of what prevents you. It’s not that you think it is unimportant. You get distracted. I have to this and there and this needs getting done. Remember Christ. If we are going to survive and thrive as Christians we need to deliberately Remember Christ who died but rose again. Who promised that where 2 or 3 come together there He is, who gave us a faith sustaining meal called the Lord’s Supper where we remember Him. Remember Christ.

                 And resist the easy way. “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” When things get hard for Christians because they are Christians a very natural response is to seek the path of least resistance, take the easy way out. Paul could have done that. He was in prison for proclaiming Jesus Christ as the true God and Lord, the Savior of the world. He could have gotten out of prison by keeping his mouth shut and calling Caesar Lord. But he refused to take the easy way. He endured. He stayed in prison. Why? For the sake of the elect. So that others would be saved. Even though Paul was in chains God’s word was not chained. There was work to be done.

                 Resist the easy way is another tool we need to remember so that we survive and thrive as Christians in a country that isn’t so Christian anymore. When pressures are brought to bear when there are more people belittling the Bible than believing the Bible when Christian truth isn’t popular any more the easy way is to shut up and go away. Or to practice our faith privately. Or to give in and give up what we know is true. Resist the easy way. The easy way is often not the right way. If we stop living our lives with Christ as Lord, if we stop living our lives as lights for Jesus those around us who need Jesus lose out. They need us. They need us to stay faithful to Jesus so they can be pulled to Him too.

                 But to do that we will need to rely on God’s promises. “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; ¹²if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; ¹³if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” It seems from the way this was originally recorded in the Bible that the early Christian church used this trustworthy saying as maybe a hymn or a creed, something everyone could hold on to because they needed it. If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. Notice it says “died.” Past tense. When did we die with Christ? The same Apostle Paul who is writing here wrote this to the Christians in Rome, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through Baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3-4 NIV 1984) At your Baptism you died with Him. Don’t try to figure it out. Just enjoy that it is true. God’s promise is that we will live with Him. Jesus is with us now and we will continue to live with Him in heaven. That brings us to our second promise. If we endure we will also reign with Him. Endure. Don’t give up. Don’t give up if trusting in Jesus means you have to be chained like a common criminal as Paul was. Don’t give up if you get made fun of at work or college. Don’t give up is some family members turn on you. Endure, hold on to the faith entrusted to you at your Baptism and God promises you will not just live in heaven you will reign with Jesus. Again, don’t try to figure it out, just enjoy that it is true. And to help us when the going gets rough this is also true. If we disown Him, He will also disown us. Paul is just paraphrasing what Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges me men, him will I acknowledge before my Father in heaven and whoever disown me before men, him will I disown before my Father in heaven. There is no more devastating sin consequence wise than disowning Jesus, giving him up. Young people here today, remember this. You are often the Devil’s prime targets. You go off to college. Your faith gets challenged. You get distracted from remembering Jesus. You forget to regularly worship. You forget to remember Jesus at Lord’s Supper. Somebody special comes into your life and in your love for that person who does not believe and does not want you to believe you disown. Don’t do that. You will force Him to disown you. This too is a promise from God that we can rely on. Now if some of you are worried that this has happened to your children or grandchildren hold on to this promise as well. If we are faithless he will remain faithful. He cannot disown Himself. It’s not too late. God has clearly proclaimed in His word His joy at seeing the straying return. He remains faithful to that and no disowner who returns to own will be turned away.

                 Remember Christ. Resist the easy way. Rely on God’s promises. As Paul’s life drew to a close he passed on those survival truths to Timothy who would need them. And there’s nothing new under the sun. We need those truths too. Thank God we have them. Amen.

October 1-3, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 “THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH!”

PENTECOST 20

October 1-3, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

“THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH!”

1.     An often asked question.

2.     A most certain answer.

3.     A “simple” solution.

Habakkuk 1:1-3, 2:1-4 (NIV1984) “The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.²How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? ³Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. ¹I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. ²Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. ³For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. ⁴“See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by his faith.”

          King Solomon said it some 3000 years ago. In fact God had it written down in the Bible so you know it’s true. There’s nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Things that happen today have happened before and will continue to happen. Certainly that’s true when it comes to what goes on in the hearts of God’s people. Things that you and I experience other believers have experienced too. Things that make us happy. Things that bother us. Things that worry us. There’s nothing new under the sun. How thankful we can be that God knows this about us and has provided what we need to live as God’s people in our time and our place.

          He does that for us today through a prophet named Habakkuk. His short three chapter book provides a Bible quote that was repeated in the New Testament and those of you familiar with Lutheran history hold on to and appreciate. The righteous will live by faith. Let’s see what led up to that truth.

          “The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.²How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? ³Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” Habakkuk lived about 600 years before Jesus was born. It was not an easy time for those who loved God and trusted in Him. The government wasn’t doing its job very well. There was violence in the streets. Not exactly safe for law abiding citizens to live their lives. There was injustice.  Guilty people going free. The people of God were hurting so Habakkuk voiced their complaint. It’s an often asked question. How long O Lord? How long O Lord until you do something about it? Here is the heart of the matter and why it is so important for you and I to study this word of God today. Look at what has happened to the view of God that his people back then had. Habakkuk is the emissary, the spokesman for all of God’s people but look at how he talks…to God. Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? There is an edge there. Blaming God. Resentful toward Him. Doubt that He knows what He is doing and is really in control.

          Now there is nothing new under the sun. We also live at a time and in a place where there is violence in the streets, when many people feel the government is not doing its job. We hear or voice many complaints about injustice in our country. Many of you who served in WWII or have loved ones who did wonder what’s going on. As you have seen immorality grow into blatant rejection of Jesus you say, “This is not what we sacrificed for. This is not why they died.” How long O Lord will you let this go on? How much worse will you let it get? Then it goes to our personal lives. Perhaps a loved one is dealing with cancer or addiction. Maybe there is family strife or a child dealing with difficulty or straying or disobedient. You have committed the matter to the Lord in prayer. Nothing has changed. Lord how long? Why aren’t you listening? When will you come and help me? How long O Lord?” There’s nothing new under the sun. It’s an often asked question.

          Habakkuk was trying to be a good pastor, to represent the needs of his people to God. He said, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.”       I don’t think this is the attitude of arms crossed angry posturing toward God. His heart hurt. The people’s heart hurt. They were hoping to hear from God. They were not disappointed. “Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. ³For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” God had an answer for His people, a certain answer. It was so certain he wanted it written on tablets, written in stone. That message revealed in the rest of Habakkuk was that the evil government would not last. God would topple it at just the right time with some invaders known as the Babylonians. And when God was done using the Babylonians He would get rid of them too. God had it covered. It was all in His control. He was using the evil and injustice to advance His real plan which is the salvation of souls. They simply needed to wait for the appointed time.

          Brothers and sisters, there is nothing new under the sun. When you and I see things going on in the world, terrorism and injustice, when we see things going on in our own country, dirty politics, when we find ourselves struggling in our families or personal lives, chronic issues that don’t seem to go away. People seeming to get away with ongoing evil. God has a certain answer for us. I’ve got it. It’s under control. I am working as I have always done on the primary goal of the salvation of souls. Any action that needs to be done simply is awaiting its appointed time.  There’s nothing new under the sun. God has it under control.

          And now we get to that well known phrase which offers a very simple solution to those whose hearts are hurting and wonder how long they have to wait for God to come and help. “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by his faith.” The puffed up one here refers to the evil doers that were bothering Habakkuk and his people. God opposes the proud. They would get theirs. But then that phrase. “The righteous will live by his faith.” When the Apostle Paul quoted this passage in the New Testament he emphasized the fact that we are declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ alone and what He has done for us. But there is another nuance here. Those who are righteous through faith in Jesus will live, need to live now, by faith. Faith is believing in what you don’t see. Faith is trusting in God to come through for you before He has come through for you.

          That’s why in the service folder when I wrote a “simple” solution I put simple in quotes. It really is a simple concept. It’s really difficult to consistently live. Here is the simple concept. If God said it, you can trust it, 100% all the time. So when He says He has plans for you and they will prosper you and not harm you, you can trust that all the time. You can trust it when your plans seem to go the way you want and when what you wanted to accomplish fails. It’s His plans that you can trust, not yours. When He says that He works all things for good and you have an unexpected health problem you can trust that all even means a cancer or a fall. When He says that the blood of Jesus His Son has cleansed you from every sin you can trust that even when your conscience tells you you are still guilty.  The righteous will live by his faith. He trusts what God says even when his eyes don’t see the evidence or his mind and heart tell him the opposite. A simple concept.

          But not easy to do. Brothers and sisters living by faith and not by sight is not something you can talk yourself into. You can’t go to a big faith pep rally get all whooped up and come back with the ability to live by faith. That ability is given by God through His word. “Faith comes from hearing the message,” God said. We can trust that to be true. If you are having a hard time living that simple concept, if the hurts and worries of life are driving a wedge between you and God, check your daily schedule. Is there time each day where you hear the word? Faith comes from that and then you, the righteous, will live by your faith. Amen.

September 3-5, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Philemon 1, 10-21 “LOOK WHAT JESUS LETS YOU DO!”

PENTECOST 16

September 3-5, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Philemon 1, 10-21

“LOOK WHAT JESUS LETS YOU DO!”

1.     You can stop offending.

2.     You can let it go.

3.     You can be a peacemaker.

Philemon 1:1, 10-21 (NIV1984) “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, ¹⁰I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.¹²I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. ¹³I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the Gospel. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. ¹⁵Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—¹⁶no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. ¹⁷So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.”

          It always seems to come down to people, the people in your life. People can be a source of great joy and happiness. Think of the joys parents get from their children, the happiness a husband can provide for his wife, a wife for her husband, the joy of true friendship, the camaraderie at work. It works the other way too. People can cause you great heartache and you can cause heartache to others. Think again of parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and co-workers. It comes down to relationships and because of sin many relationships can suffer. God’s Good News for us today is that with Jesus in our lives we have what we need for our relationships to be a source of joy and not heartache. Look what Jesus lets you do!

          For instance He lets you, enables you to stop offending. When a relationship goes bad it’s because one or both parties in that relationship have caused hurt or offense by sin. In the word of God before us today the offender is named Onesimus. The book of Philemon is a very short book of the Bible, just 25 verses. It’s also a very personal book of the Bible. The Apostle Paul writes a personal letter to a man named Philemon regarding Onesimus. Onesimus had offended Philemon. How? He was a runaway slave. A word on slavery. In the Bible God does not condone slavery but as hard as this might sound to American ears, He doesn’t forbid it either. What He does do is teach Christian slaves and slaveowners how to live in a slave owning society to the glory of God. Anyway, Onesimus had run away from his master Philemon. By doing so he had stolen from Philemon. Philemon was out the money he had paid and the work he had hoped to accomplish. If we read between the lines of verse 18 Onesimus probably had not left empty handed. Probably stole some money to live on as he ran away. Onesimus, whose name means “profitable” had become very unprofitable for Philemon. Onesimus was the offender.

          But he stopped offending. How? “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, ¹⁰I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.¹²I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. ¹³I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the Gospel. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. ¹⁵Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—¹⁶no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.” Somehow (we know how!) after running away Onesimus came in contact with Paul, heard the Gospel message of a Savior for all people, even slaves, named Jesus.  The presence of Jesus in Onesimus’ heart changed him. He wanted to make things right. He needed to go back to Philemon. You can imagine his fear, his worries but his connection to Christ meant he needed to make things right.

          Your connection to Christ means you need to make things right too. Look what Jesus lets you do! You can stop offending. Now I want you to think of your relationships. Are there any that are broken right now? If so take an honest look. We all know how easy it is to blame others. But as Christians we know we need to look in the mirror first, the mirror of God’s law. Do I have a sharp tongue? Were the words that I said, true as they were, not spoken in love? Have I let drugs or alcohol or pornography get a hold of my life harming the people in my life? Brothers and sisters, if the mirror shows us we are the offender we can stop. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Believers in Jesus have beat drug addiction and alcohol abuse. They have quit porn. They have learned to say and mean those hard words, “I’m sorry.” If you are having trouble, give your pastors a call. We can help you with God’s words and point you to other help if you need that as well. Don’t let those relationships suffer. Look what Jesus lets you do! You, like Onesimus can stop offending.

          And you can let it go if you are the one hurt. Most of the time when relationships have trouble there can be fault on both sides. Oftentimes there is more on one side than the other. Such is the case with Philemon and Onesimus. Philemon was living in slave owning society. He was a believer in Jesus. We are not told what kind of master he was but he had suffered loss. A successful escape would only embolden others. If Onesimus came back to him what should he do? Why make an example of him of course. The law back then allowed all kinds of punishments for escaped slaves, including death. Masters who were too easy on their slaves were looked at as inciting violence and rebellion. How should Philemon handle this? “So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.”

          What should Philemon do? Let it go. He needed to welcome Onesimus back just as he would Paul, a brother in the Lord. Why? Jesus. “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.” Somehow (we know how!) through the ministry of Paul Philemon had become a believer in Jesus. He was freed from the slavery of  sin, death and the devil through Paul’s work. In that sense he owed a debt of love. So instead of collecting on the debt owed by Onesimus Philemon could let it go. Not in the Frozen way, in the forgiveness way. As someone who had experienced forgiveness from Christ Philemon could forgive as well.

          So can you. You can let it go. In the best case scenario the person who has hurt or offended you will like Onesimus come back and apologize. When that happens there is a part of us that thinks, “Well I will, but only after you’ve paid a bit. You need to hurt like I hurt.” Make sense. But it’s not Christ’s way. Look what Jesus lets you do. You can let it go and forgive and welcome that person back into your life as a brother or sister in Christ. What if they are not sorry? Still Jesus lets you let it go. Through Christ you can put it into the hands of the heavenly Father who knows just what that person who offended you needs, mercy or justice.

          There’s one more thing Jesus lets you do when it comes to relationships. You can be a peacemaker. Paul found himself in the unique position of knowing both parties, the offender and the offended. He knew both of their stories. He knew what Jesus would let him do, be a peacemaker, one who could intercede on behalf of another. Is that you? Are you the person, neither offended nor offender, who knows both and the misunderstandings and the hurts and the fears? Nobody should be a meddler or a busybody but in some cases the one that God wants to use to bring reconciliation is you! Look what Jesus lets you do.

          Jesus is the big difference maker in all of our lives. When Pastor Martin Luther studied this letter to Philemon he concluded, “We are Christ’s Onesimi!” In other words he saw a picture of Jesus. As he read of how Paul interceded on behalf of Onesimus he was reminded of how Jesus has interceded with the heavenly Father on our behalf. We the offenders. He the offended. We know how that has turned out. God let it go. That’s what Jesus enabled God to do. And with God it’s all about people. What joy we bring to Him when we follow His lead. Amen.

August 13-15, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Exodus 20:1-6 “AN EXCITING CONCLUSION”

CONCLUSION TO THE COMMANDMENTS

August 13-15, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Exodus 20:1-6

“AN EXCITING CONCLUSION”

1.     God is serious about punishing sin.

2.     God is (even more!) serious about saving us!

Exodus 20:1-6 (NIV 1984) “And God spoke all these words: ²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ³“You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, ⁶but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

          Some of you may remember that a while ago I had to make the painful revelation that my wife, Chris, is a cheater. No, not in anything important or a bad way. She cheats at the endings. If we DVR a Packer game so we can skip the commercials and halftime and just watch the game she cheats. She finds out from another TV or her phone the ending of the game. She just can’t let it play out. Or if she is reading a book, she starts it and then just can’t wait to find out how it ends so she reads the last chapter. Maybe you can tell that bothers me a little bit. On the other hand I have to admit that I understand why she does it. The ending, the conclusion, is important. A game has to have a final score, a good book, an exciting conclusion. We’ve all felt cheated when the TV show ends “to be continued.” Today we get to the exciting conclusion to the Commandments we’ve been studying all summer. It is very important. So let’s say it together with its meaning on page 6 in the bulletin.

THE CONCLUSION

What does God say about all these commandments?

He says, “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

What does this mean?

God threatens to punish all who transgress these commandments. Therefore we should fear his anger and not disobey what he commands.

But he promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments.  Therefore we should love and trust in him and gladly obey what he commands.

          Now the first thing that probably caught your attention is that God says He is a jealous God. What? Normally we think of  being jealous as wrong and sinful. Green with envy is not good. But God is just and holy. What gives? Well it has to do with how we use that word today. Now it means feeling resentment at the blessings or good things that happen to another. Originally it simply means to want what belongs to you. And so a wife can be righteously jealous if her husband is taking the affection and attention and love that belongs to her as his wife and is giving it to another. He is wrong, not she. A farmer can jealously guard his sweet corn crop from joyriding teenagers who sneak into his field to grab a few ears. They are wrong, not he. God is righteously jealous in that He simply wants what belongs to Him.

          That takes us to the second thing that may have caught your eye. Those of you who have had the privilege of studying the Bible for a long time noticed that what we use as the Conclusion to the Commandments is actually part of the extended version of the 1^st Commandment. “And God spoke all these words: ²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ³“You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” The First Commandment tells us to only treat God as God. Give Him what belongs to Him. That part of it is used as the Conclusion is to remind us that perfect obedience to His commands is what God deserves and is owed. And He is serious about that.

          So serious He must and will punish sin.  “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me.” There you have it. God is serious about His commandments. He means what He says. He will punish sin. Not fair! We might cry. Why do the children get punished for the sins of the fathers? God is simply reminding us of the truth that children see and do. Those who hate God tend to have children who hate God. And there will be punishment. In a sense that’s good news. The militant Muslim terrorists may escape international or American justice. They will not escape God. Those who murder and rape, gang members and drug pushers who don’t get caught have already been caught by God and will get punished. God is serious about punishing sin. And it does feel good to know God cannot be mocked and the evil will get their due.

          But then there’s that part of us that remembers there are other people who sin. Our look at the 10 Commandments this summer reminded us that God doesn’t just count blatant sins. He counts them all, all the times we have not put Him first or have said “Oh my… and used God’s name, our habits of putting others things ahead of God’s word and worship, our disrespect to our authorities, the times we have thought badly of another, been selfish with money and things, reveled in the bit of juicy gossip and wanted what belonged to another. If God is serious about sin we are going to get punished too.

          Well God is serious sin but we will not be punished. We will not because God is, can we say, even more serious about saving us sinners. “…but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Did you notice the difference? 3^rd and 4^th generation of those that hate Him but a thousand generations of those that love Him? Now for the big question. Why? Why would someone love God so much that they would willingly keep His commandments? You know. Jesus! Have you ever been stopped for speeding and the police officer let you go with a warning? How did you feel? Did you ever break something really important or big, like a family heirloom, a car, the machine at work and the owner was kind and gracious to you? How did you feel? Have you ever really hurt another person, sinned against them and they forgave you and accepted you back? How did feel toward that person? We have sinned against God in more ways than we are aware of. We are commandment breakers. Even though we don’t want to, we still fall into sin. We ought to be punished to the 3^rd and 4^th generation. God is serious about punishing sin. So serious that He punished Jesus. There was no warning. No that’s OK. Jesus took for us the full punishment that we deserved. Yes, God is serious about sin but He is even more serious about saving sinners. So He gave us His Son to keep every commandment perfectly in our place and to pay the full price for all of our sins. That’s why we are people who love Him and want to obey His commandments. God graciously blesses that obedience and motivates us to more to show love for Jesus.

          And that’s also why we have come together as a church. A thousand generations. Think of all the “greats” you have to add. What if God allowed us, gave us the privilege of making a difference for a thousand generations to come. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the good old USA. God doesn’t let us peek at the last chapter. But if the Lord keeps this world going what if the reason the Gospel message, the good News of the God who saves through Jesus was preserved in our country because of what you and I do today? He trusts us! He trusts us, brothers and sisters, and He has entrusted us with His word, the Gospel message of Jesus. Even though angels could, to our thinking, do a much better job, God trusts you. He trusts me. That’s why we have gathered together as St. Jacobi Lutheran Church to work together to proclaim the true Gospel.

          And that’s why we called you, Heather, Wade and Alex. St. Jacobi owns the Gospel ministry that God has entrusted to. We have called you to serve as teachers in the public ministry of the Gospel. That means that you will serve on behalf of the congregation. You will carry out Gospel work on behalf of these people who will pray for you and support you. We don’t have a school because no one else in the Milwaukee area knows how to teach the three R’s and everything else that now is taught at the elementary level. We have it to teach children to love Jesus. It’s not good enough for your classrooms to be filled with law and order. They need to be filled with law and Gospel. It’s not enough for you to excel at teaching the subjects and grade levels assigned to you. You need to excel at teaching children to love Jesus. Wade, you helped us out last minute last year on an emergency basis and did a bang up job. I thank you for that. I know what you will continue to bring. Heather and Alex you have already blessed our campus with your kind and smiling faces and will bring your best for Jesus. When you get tired or have a hard day I want you to think of a thousand generations. You have the chance to affect a thousand generations for Jesus.

          It’s all about Jesus. That’s what the Conclusion to the Commandments teaches us. God is serious about punishing sin and even more serious about saving sinners. I guess there we are all kind of like my wife Chris. We’ve peeked at the ending even though we are not done yet. It’s a good one. At the conclusion of this world Jesus wins. And because He wins, we win too! Amen.

9th & 10th Commandments August 7th, 2016 Weekend

The 9^th and 10^th Commandments

August 7^th, 2016

I Kings 21:1-16  Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”  But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”  So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.  His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”  He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”  So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. 9 In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”  So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them.  They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.”  When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

In the name of Jesus, whose blood cleanses away all sin, dear fellow redeemed children of God,

Years ago I had a job where running errands sometimes took me to a parking ramp where which had a tire ripper.  If you were going the right way into the ramp the big iron spikes in the roadway folded down as your car rolled over them.  But if you were going the wrong way the spikes tore into tires and disabled the vehicle.  In the movies or on the news sometimes you will see policemen put down those strips of spikes to stop vehicles they are chasing. 

The 9^th and 10^th commandments seem to me to be like spike strips.  If anyone is thinking that they woven and juked and dodged their way through the first eight commandments, the 9^th and 10^th commandments stop them in their tracks.  In the 9^th and 10^th commandments God forbids coveting- in others words sinful desires for things that God has given to someone else and not to us.  These commandments pierce into haughty hearts and rip away any thought of sinners like you and me making it into heaven on our own by keeping those commandments.  They remind us again how much we need Jesus.  As we look at Ahab’s coveting today we see that our coveting doesn’t make us happy and our coveting makes God angry.

I think the naughtiest word I ever heard my mom say was “Oh that stinker!”  She might have said those words talking about us kids and our behavior or she might have been watching a TV show where the villain came up with a sneaky evil plan.  When you read this story of Ahab and Jezebel taking away Naboth’s Vineyard don’t you just want to say, “Oh those stinkers!”  It all began with coveting.  Coveting that really doesn’t make us happy.

     “Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”  But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”  So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”   This wasn’t the first time that Ahab had been sullen and angry.   As you read through the book of Kings , you get the feeling that Ahab is not a happy man.  The Bible tells us that he “did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all of the Kings of Israel before him.”  All that evil, didn’t make him happy.  He wanted to have a princess for his wife.  So married Jezebel, whose father was king of the Sidonians.  But Princess Jezebel was wicked and cruel and brought God’s anger into Ahab’s life rather than bringing true happiness.  Because of Ahab’s wickedness, God shut off the rain.  It turned Ahab’s kingdom into a dust bowl so that he could not have the beautiful crops he wanted.  He didn’t have peace in his heart because he didn’t listen to what God was saying though the prophet Elijah.  Instead of listening Ahab called Elijah the “troubler of Israel.”   Just before these verses, one of God’s prophet tried to talk to Ahab about something he had done wrong and we are told Ahab went home, “sullen and angry.”

      Jezreel must have been a pretty place.  It was on a hill so it was a little cooler there in the summer.  There was a nice spring there with cool water.  Ahab still isn’t content. He wants a vegetable garden.  He could have planted a nice vegetable garden anywhere on his vast holdings of land but instead he wanted to plant a vegetable garden where Naboth’s vieyard was.    That gives us an insight into how selfish Ahab was.  In the movie, “The Emperor’s New Groove”, the selfish Emperor wants to tear down a peasant’s house because it will make an excellent swimming pool.  Things are a little like that as Ahab wants to tear out a vineyard which takes years and years of careful tender care before it produces a crop and put in a vegetable garden where it was easier and quicker to make things grow.  The land he wanted belonged to Naboth.

       The land had been in Naboth’s family for generations.  Jezebel’s father the king of Sidon, could have just seized the land from his people.  The King of Israel didn’t have that right.  The king was the protector of the land but he was not the owner.  God sets things up differently for his people.  Each family was to treasure the land for generations as a reminder that God had given them the land and one day would send a Savior born in this land.  That’s why Naboth says, ““The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”   Naboth’s answer should have been enough to see that God had the vineyard in mind for someone else and not for Ahab.  Instead Ahab went home pouting.

     “He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.  His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”  He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”   Doesn’t sound like the coveting something that belongs to someone else is making him too happy.  Coveting sort of does that.  That evil craving for something that God has given to someone else pushes contentment and happiness out of our hearts.  In its place comes a foolish stubborn drive to get something  that we think will make us so happy.  But then when we get it, we’re not as happy as we thought we would be and we are on to the next thing to try to make us happy.  In the end it is a cycle that doesn’t make us happy at all.  That’s why God say’s “And why do you worry about clothes?...If God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”  The pagans like Ahab run after these things.  Coveting things doesn’t make us happy.

      Did your mom or dad ever say, “Don’t make me say it twice.”  That was their way of saying they were serious about something.  With the 9^th and 10^th commandments God lets us know that he is serious about us not coveting.  The policemen won’t ever slap the cuffs on you for coveting but God takes coveting seriously.  He is concerned about our thoughts and coveting doesn’t belong in our hearts and minds.  Our coveting makes God angry.

     The house that I grew up in had a milk chute.  Years ago when milk was often delivered to people’s houses, the milkman would leave the milk in this little chute by the door.  We sometimes used it to get into the house when we were locked out.  We would have my younger sister crawl through the milk chute and go and open up the door for the rest of us to come in.  One of the reasons God takes coveteous thoughts so seriously is that they worm their way into hearts and then let in the “big” sins, big in sense that they cause harm to others.  Look what Ahab’s coveting did.  Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”  Jezebel takes things from there.  “So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him.  In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people.  But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”  So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them.  They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.”  Instead of being horrified that his selfish thought had led to all of this, we are told. “When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.”  Whenever we get the idea that our evil thoughts are really no big thoughts let’s take a look at Naboth’s body with stones piled up on it.  Scoundrels lying, a family’s reputation ruined, a fake trial, corruption, a wrongful death sentence carried out maybe even with the people throwing the stones thinking they were serving God, family land lost- all of those sins were let in by coveting in Ahab’s heart.  It made God angry.   Remember God’s sentence for Ahab and Jezebel? Say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?' Then say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood--yes, yours!'"

     Coveting thoughts in our hearts tell God that he doesn’t know what he is doing.   “He should have given us more money!  He gave that person too much.   He should have given me a body that is healthy and strong!  He should have given me cooler parents, mine are the worst.  He should have given me a wife or a husband that looks like that!”  Those thoughts are there in the blink of an eye.  Those awful thoughts so often open the door for sins that hurt others to come in. Those thoughts leave out of the equation how our strong and smart God might work blessings in our lives in ways we never thought  possible through things and people we never thought would be a blessing.  Coveting thoughts fail to see the things God may protecting our souls and bodies from by keeping some of the things we want far from us.  If a scan could see wrong thoughts inside of me and inside of you sin would light up the screen.   We need a Savior.  We need Jesus.  Good thing we have a Savior.  He blocked up the milk chute of his heart and coveting out of his heart.  He did that for us.  By faith God hands that record to us and looks at us as though not even the tiniest evil thought had even entered our hearts and minds.  Jesus went to a cross and paid for not only the evil thoughts but all of the evil deeds that went along with them.  Our sins are washed away!  He gives you strength now to more and more to say with Paul “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” 

         I always found that the 9^th and 10^th commandments were the hardest to memorize.  Maybe that’s because I thinking that the 9^th and the 10^th commandments were not quite as important as the others.  I guess I wasn’t seeing that because of my sinful nature I have a heart that looks and sounds like Ahab’s heart.  I have a sinful nature all too willing to follow Jezebel around.  Good thing we have Jesus a Savior who covers us.  Amen.  

July 30-August 1, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: James 3:3-12 “ANOTHER REASON I NEED JESUS: “I’M NO EXPERT TONGUE TAMER”

REASONS I NEED JESUS #7

July 30-August 1, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: James 3:3-12

“ANOTHER REASON I NEED JESUS:

“I’M NO EXPERT TONGUE TAMER”

James 3:3-12 (NIV 1984) “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

          I tell the Confirmation Class kids that it’s always easier to learn from someone else’s mistakes. The fact of the matter is we learn best from our own, especially when they hurt. I can still remember the day. I was sitting in my college dorm room with friends and my roommate, good friend, lifting partner. He’d had a girlfriend for quite a while and had been spending more time than usual with her. Some of the guys didn’t like that and started in on him. What started as friendly teasing was getting a little personal and heated and that’s when one of the guys said to my roommate, friend and lifting partner, “Even Spud says you’re whipped.” His gaze turned to me. My face flushed because it was true. Behind his back, instead of defending him, I had joined in. I had some fence mending to do. Have you ever had that happen to you where you got busted for talking behind  someone’s back? If you haven’t, count yourself blessed because you know there are plenty of times you could have and should have.

          Sins of the tongue. We tend to downplay them. “I was only kidding,” is the excuse used to justify cruel teasing. “Well it’s true,” covers a multitude of gossiping and character assassinations. God doesn’t downplay sins of the tongue. Listen again as He reminds us how powerful our tongues actually are. “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.” Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” Little bits control huge horses.  Relatively small rudders steer huge ocean going ships. A tiny spark causes great destruction. California and other western states have experienced the damage one little spark can cause. In a recent devotion I read this. “Martin Luther once commented, “The gossip has the devil on his tongue, and the listener has the devil in his ear.” Not to improve on the Reformer’s observation, but before the devil is on the tongue and in the ear, he’s in the heart.” When we engage in those sins of the tongue the Devil is in our hearts. Hear again how serious God is. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

          Your tongue gets you in trouble with more than your college roommate. It gets you in trouble with God. And here’s another reason I need Jesus. I can’t tame my tongue. Neither can you. God knows that. He had James write, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.” State Fair is just around the corner. My wife used to help neighbors show Belgian draft horses. Have you ever been close to one? Go in the horse barn and see. They are huge draft horses with bulging muscles. And yet these slight of frame girls could easily lead them around. But they couldn’t tame their tongues. Construction workers can control massive cranes placing trusses and beams exactly where they need to go. But they can’t control their tongues. Think of how easy the lies come when you are put on the spot or justly accused. Kids murder each other with words that hurt on the playground and at school and now in text messages and posts to hurt those who are left out. Jesus gave what is known as the Golden Rule to show how easy it is to know how to love others. You can use it in reverse to show our shameful sinful hypocrisy when it comes to sins of the tongue. Do you like it when other family members tell stories about you that don’t make you look good? Why do that with others? Do you like it when those under your authority, your children, students, workers, talk badly about you and make you look bad? Why do feel like you can do that to your authorities? Think it’s no big deal? Look again in the mirror of God’s Word. If you are someone who sits around a campfire, in a dorm room, in the break room, on social media, gossiping, stirring up dissension and  making separations among friends, family, co workers, God calls you a pervert. And you thought that just applied to sexual deviants. The list of tongue sins is endless. Husbands bark at wives. Wives belittle their husbands. Parents think angry yelling is a form of discipline. Children think sass is a constitutional right. Shall we go on? And then there are the times we don’t use our tongues. You’ve heard it said that silence is golden? Silence can also be deadly. For God expects us to be the ones who stand up and defend our family, co workers, bosses, school mates.  I’m no expert tongue tamer. And neither are you.  I need Jesus. And so do you.

          And thankfully we have him. Did you notice in the Gospel lesson how Jesus used His tongue? He had it perfectly tamed. He used His tongue to bless His enemies. “Father, forgive them.” He used His tongue to give a criminal heaven. “Today you will be with me in Paradise!” Jesus is perfect. And He was perfect for us. You see there were more enemies of Jesus and people who dishonored His name on His mind than the ones right before Him. It was more than Roman soldiers who placed Him on the cross. We did too. Oh no, not that we put Him there. We made it necessary. Jesus went to the cross willingly because He loves us so. He didn’t want us experiencing the hellfire our tongues have earned so He took it for us. On our behalf He stands before the Father and says, “Father, forgive them. I have paid their debt in full. I have taken their sin and I give them my righteousness.” On our last day on earth He will come for us and say, “Today! Today is your day for paradise.” Thank you Jesus.

          Yes, thank you Jesus. In the Gospel lesson there was someone who did that! One of the criminals. Did you notice how he used his tongue to defend Jesus? We can use our tongues in a God pleasing way too. James tells us how. “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” I worked for a construction company for several years while in college. You know how they can talk. Every once in a while when someone would let off a blue streak the foreman would yell, “Do you eat with that mouth?” It was meant to be a humorous way to say, “Knock it off!” James would have us think of how we use the gift of speech and ask, “Do you pray with that mouth? Do you pray to your holy God asking for mercy and help with the same mouth that you tear down and hurt people who were created in the image of God?” And then he uses a couple of pictures. In nature fruit trees only produce the kind of fruit that they actually are. Springs of water can only be fresh or saltwater, not both. Our tongues will only spew forth what already exists in our hearts. If our hearts are evil we will trash another in order to make ourselves look better. If they are pure, we will defend. How can we get them pure?

          There was a very famous man who lived about 3000 years ago. He realized that his response to God’s mercy had been to let his heart become evil. And when he realized that he also realized he could not change on his own. King David prayed to God. We use a portion of that prayer in one of our orders of worship we haven’t used in a while. Please stand and turn to page 20 in the front of the hymnal and sing the prayer you find on the top of the page with me so that from our mouths will come praise and not cursing. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with your free Spirit. Amen.”