REAL THANKSGIVING IS…

1. Thanks in all circumstances
2. Gratitude for all gifts

Text: Philippians 4:10-20

Introduction

Finish this sentence: “It wouldn’t be a ‘real’ Thanksgiving without ___.”  For the first 25 years of my life, I would have said, “It wouldn’t be a ‘real’ Thanksgiving without going over to Aunt Jane’s house for dinner and then playing Royal Rummy with my mom’s side of the family.”  How about you?  “It wouldn’t be a ‘real’ Thanksgiving without ___.”  Dinner at Grandma’s house…turkey with all the fixings…that special side dish that mom makes every year for Thanksgiving…playing card games with the cousins after the meal…or something else?  Many of us have family traditions attached to our personal Thanksgiving celebrations, things we assumed will take place when we gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  The holidays just wouldn’t feel the same without those cherished traditions we have become accustomed to.

A liturgically-leaning Lutheran liturgist is the last person who is going to tell you to ditch your Thanksgiving family traditions.  Traditions and rituals are ways that we express significance and value when words seem insufficient to make that statement.  But what would happen if your Thanksgiving celebration took place without the usual hoopla?  No traditions, no turkey and trimmings, no tummies filled with delicious delicacies and desserts.  Could you still have a real thanksgiving celebration?  Our gut reaction might be to say, “No,” but our faith assures us that the answer is otherwise.  In fact, you could be standing in the unemployment line, not knowing where the next paycheck is coming from, and consuming nothing more than tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for Thanksgiving dinner, and yet you could still have a more joyous Thanksgiving celebration than the family next door who has more food than they know what to do with.

In this Thanksgiving sermon, we’re going to focus on the words St. Paul recorded in the First Scripture selection read earlier in the service.  Paul’s words will teach us that real thanksgiving is not attached to a meal or a family gathering.  Paul teaches us that real thanksgiving involves thanks in all circumstances, and giving with all gratitude. 

The Liturgy is important because it has repetition. It has been said that the Liturgy is boring. It is like water flowing over a waterfall and boring into a rock. Eventually the water has its way with the seemingly impenetrable rock. Repetition ingrains the Word of God deep into our minds and hearts. Thus, the Word of God is there in times of crisis, persecution, sudden tragedy, and old age to comfort us with what is familiar and sure. Times of tragedy and trial do not require novelty. Reciting the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in the Liturgy sometimes seems tiresome. Yet when the pastor gathers with the troubled, sick, and dying, their confident recitation of liturgical prayers brings comfort and often tears. Estranged spouses pray together, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” A dying Christian whose body is ravaged with cancer receives the Lord’s Supper and confesses with his pastor and family, “I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” 

“I FORGIVE YOU!”

1. Words that relieve a lifetime of guilt
2. Words that reflect the love of God

 Text: Genesis 50:15-21

 Introduction*

The topic would be perfect for Jerry Springer: “Siblings Who Sell Each Other into Slavery.”  Picture Joseph’s brothers on stage, a line up of coarse and questionable characters who openly admit to selling him as a slave.  And they’d have good reasons!  “We hated him because dad loved him best.”  “That fancy robe drove us crazy.”  “We had to stop him from getting carried away with those dreams.”  And then they’d explain how they pulled it off.  “We thought about killing him, but Reuben said no.”  “Stripped his robe right off, tossed him in a pit, and then these Ishmaelites came along.”  “Yeah – so we sold him for 20 shekels.”

Finally, Jerry brings out the surprise guest – Zaphenath-Paneah, the prime minister of world powerhouse Egypt—otherwise known as their long-lost brother, Joseph.  Jerry provokes the brothers a little bit, “Well, guys, what do you have to say to your brother now, or should I say, to the ruler of Egypt?” as Joseph strides in wearing gold jewelry, royal make-up, and flanked by hulking body guards.  Gasp!  The audience oooohs.  Once the brothers recover from shock, the dread sinks their hearts and hangs their heads.  A member of the audience hollers, “Revenge!”  Jerry sees a brawl coming.  The brothers drop to the ground in desperation and bow just like the sheaves of grain in young Joseph’s dream.  Joseph stands over them, and with a tear in his eye lifts up each one with an embrace and says, “Brothers, don’t be scared.  It’s okay.  I forgive you.  God has taken care of everything and brought us together again.”

That’s not the turn of events you’d expect on the Jerry Springer show, but that is the turn of events that took place in today’s First Lesson.  But…really?  Joseph says, “I forgive you,” and that’s it?  What about the miserable life they caused him to have for so many years?  What about the terrible things they had done to him?  Wasn’t it time for revenge?  Jerry Springer’s audience would say “Yes,” but Joseph said, “No.”  Joseph said, “I forgive you.”  And this morning we are going to see why those words of unconditional forgiveness are so remarkable, so miraculous, so amazing, so powerful.  “I forgive you.”  Those are words that can relieve a lifetime of guilt, and they are words that can also reflect the love of God. 

SIN IS SERIOUS!

1. For the ministers God calls to confront sin
2. For the sinners God calls to repent of sin

Text: Ezekiel 33:7-11

I.

You wake up one morning and your back is killing you.  It seems like it takes nothing short of a miracle to get out of bed and stand upright, except that you’re not quite up right.  The day goes on, but you don’t feel any better.  You’ve dealt with back pain before, but nothing quite like this.  So you decide that it’s time for a visit to the chiropractor.  Since you’re a St. Mark’s member, you call up Dr. LeMay.  He takes some x-rays, runs you through some tests, and asks some questions.  He’ll be able to help you, but he also has some advice.  If you want to avoid any reoccurrences of this problem, you should really take up some specific exercises that will keep your spine where it’s supposed to be, and you should think about improving your posture which might have had something to do with your sudden pain.

You’re eating lunch and all of a sudden you have pain in one of your teeth like you’ve never had before.  It seems like any time there’s pressure on that spot, the pain comes back.  You can’t eat or drink without pain, and after a day or two it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.  So you decide it’s time for a visit to the dentist.  Since you’re a St. Mark’s member, you call up Dr. Peterson.  You fill out a questioner, his assistants take some x-rays, and you have an examination.  The news isn’t pretty.  You’ve got a mouth full of cavities.  He’ll be able to help you, but he also has some advice.  If you want to avoid revisiting this situation, you’ll need to brush more carefully, floss daily, and stay on top of your dental health more faithfully.

Question: When our imaginary St. Mark’s member took these imaginary visits to Drs. LeMay and Peterson, do you think the doctors’ advice came from a general desire to boss their patients around and to make them feel miserable for not being in tip-top health?  Or maybe, just maybe, were the doctors interested in helping you avoid major problems in the future?  Of course!  In fact, if doctors are not honest with their patients—even if their honest news is not what the patient wants to hear—they put make themselves liable to a lawsuit.  We want our doctors—any doctor—to tell us what we need to hear, which is not always what we want to hear.

The point of these illustrations is not to give free advertising to medical practitioners who belong to St. Mark’s.  The point of these illustrations is to provide a modern parallel to the illustration that leads up to today’s First Lesson.  The First Lesson from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel is the basis for today’s sermon.  The excerpt you heard begins partway into a chapter.  The opening verses of the chapter, which you didn’t hear, contain an illustration that related to life in the ancient world.  Ezekiel talks about a watchman who sees an enemy coming to attack, and yet the watchman does nothing to warn the people of the city about the impending attack.  Speaking for God, Ezekiel said, “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.”  We are far removed from the time and culture in which a watchman guarded a city.  Citrus Heights is not surrounded by a wall and there is no watchman to alert us if the army of Fair Oaks or Roseville decided to attack.  But the point should still be obvious.  An ancient watchman who didn’t issue a warning wasn’t doing his job.  Even if his news isn’t what the city wanted to hear, he needed to report that an enemy was about to attack.  That may not be what the citizens of that city wanted to hear, but it is what they needed to hear.

With those ancient and modern illustrations in mind, listen to what God told Ezekiel in today’s First Lesson.  “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.  But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.” 

TOUGH LESSONS FOR TRAGIC TIMES

1. Tragedies are not necessarily God’s punishment for specific sins,
2. But tragedies always call us to repentance for our sin.

 Text: Luke 13:1-5

Introduction

“Where were you when [blank] happened?”  Every generation seems to experience one of those life-changing, world-changing events—events that you’ll never forget, and that you’ll always remember where you were and what you were doing when you found out about it.  The octogenarians here probably remember where you were on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States was drawn into World War II.  More of you are able to remember where you were on November 22, 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated.  I was in my fifth grade classroom at Calvary Lutheran School in Thiensville, Wisconsin, when the principal interrupted our class to tell us that the Challenger space shuttle had exploded on January 28, 1986.  And now to that list, we have added the terrorist attacks on our nation on that fateful Tuesday morning ten years ago.  “Where were you when 9/11 happened?”  If you are at least voting age, you can probably answer that question with a fairly vivid recollection of what happened that morning and what you were doing when the news struck our nation.

A decade has passed since the terrorist attacks shook our nation, but the aftershocks have not gone away.  The American economy has never been the same.  Passing through security in an airport is not as simple as it was before 9/11.  And then there are the many, many families for whom this day is especially bitter, because the attacks on our nation also brought the death of a loved one.  A decade may have passed, but you can still feel the aftershocks, the wounds still hurt, and the questions still remain.  Why would God allow something like this to happen?  Is this some sort of divine judgment on our nation?  What possible good could God bring out of something so evil?

I remember those kinds of questions being asked ten years ago.  I remember that the answers given throughout the American religious community weren’t always in line with God’s Word.  Those questions are still being asked, and less-than-biblical answers are still being offered as conventional spiritual wisdom.

Maybe it’s time for the conventional wisdom to stop.  Maybe it’s time for us to close our lips and open our Bibles and see if the Holy Spirit has given us concrete answers to these kinds of questions in the Word of God.  I suspect that you will not be surprised when I say that there are real answers to those real questions found in Scripture.  In fact, I can think of no more appropriate section of the Bible to turn to on this national day of remembrance than the Gospel that was specifically chosen for this service of remembrance.  So let’s turn our attention to the tough lessons for tragic times that Jesus offers us in today’s Gospel from the first several verses of Luke 13.  That’s where Jesus will teach us that tragedies are not necessarily God’s punishment for specific sins, but that tragedies always call us to repentance for our sin. 

I’m currently reading through the Lutheran Confessions using the Kolb-Wengert translation.  This edition includes the rites for baptism and marriage that Luther prepared.  As I read through Luther’s comments on his marriage service, there were a number of comments that caught my attention — some for their thoughtfulness, some for their humor!  Here are some highlights from Luther (emphasis added) and a few “for what it’s worth” comments from me.

When people request of us to bless them in front of the church or in the church, to pray over them, or even to marry them, we are obligated to do this. Therefore I wanted to offer these words of advice and this order for those who do not know anything better, in case they are inclined to use this common order with us. Others, who can do better (that is, who can do nothing at all and who nevertheless think they know it all), do not need this service of mine, unless they might greatly improve on it and masterfully correct it. They certainly ought to take great care not to follow the same practice as others. A person might think that they had learned something from someone else! Wouldn’t that be a shame?

Luther’s sarcastic humor says essentially the same thing — with a little more “edge” — that he says in a pastoral manner in the introduction to his “German Mass” and in a short letter he wrote called ”A Christian Exhortation to the Livonians” (both are found in Luther’s Works, volume 53).  Luther’s point in those writings is that there is great wisdom when congregations come to a general consensus about worship practices in a brotherly manner.  The tendency for every man (or church) to do his own thing is technically permissible but pastorally unwise, especially when we consider the confusion it causes among the laity and the tension it causes among pastors within the same fellowship.

(If you’d like to read the “Christian Exhortation,” it is an appendix included with this essay). 

Now that the fall routine has begun, I hope to chime in on this blog a little more frequently than I have during spring and summer, when I was transitioning between calls and congregations.  Other, more pressing writing projects still take precedence over the blog, but I do hope to contribute here more often.

Despite my recent silence, there have been quite a few hits each day.  Most days over the past two weeks have seen over 100 hits, and a few days have had over 150 hits.  Thanks to everyone who stopped in to visit!

During August, the total number of hits since the start of this site crossed the 100,000 mark.  As I’ve done at other milestones, I’m listing the posts that have generated the most hits.  I’ve excluded hits to blog “pages” (e.g. Info & Bio, WELS, etc.) and separated sermons from other posts.  Here are the top posts from each category, with the number of hits as of this morning. 

CHURCH GROWTH — GOD’S WAY

1. God’s Word is the tool for growth
2. God’s Word has the power for growth

Text: Isaiah 55:10-11

Introduction

Have you heard of the “church growth movement”?  At first glance, it might sound like something every Christian should be in favor of.  Who doesn’t want the church to grow?  But when pastors refer to the church growth movement, they are usually not referring to a simple desire to evangelize the lost so that the Holy Spirit might use the gospel to convert more souls to faith in Jesus.  A complete description of the church growth movement would take far more than this sermon introduction, but let it suffice to say that the church growth movement refers to a movement in Christian churches that strives to grow the church’s numbers in any possible way.

Perhaps an example will help us understand this concept.  Walt Kallestad, pastor of the Community Church of Joy in Glendale, Arizona, described his approach to outreach early in his ministry as “entertainment evangelism.”  He said, “The only way to capture people’s attention is entertainment. … If I want people to listen to my message, I’ve got to present it in a way that grabs their attention long enough for me to communicate the gospel.”  Based on comments like that, it sounds that the church growth perspective believes that the Bible’s message needs some help to gain an audience; with that additional assistance, the church will grow.

Is this the approach we should take as a congregation?  Is the church growth movement the way to go?  Would another strategy be preferable?  How should we see to it that more souls come into the kingdom of God?  The readings selected for this service address those kinds of questions, and Isaiah’s words in today’s First Lesson will help us to find out about real church growth.  Isaiah isn’t going to talk about the church growth movement.  Isaiah is going to tell us about church growth—God’s way!  God’s Word is the tool for growth, and God’s Word has the power for growth. 

METAPHORS FOR THE MINISTRY

1. A compassionate shepherd
2. A harvest worker

Text: Matthew 9:35-38

Introduction

 “So, are you new in town?  Did your job bring you here?  What do you do?  You’re a pastor?  Where are you a pastor?  Oh, St. Mark’s?  Yeah, I know where that is.  Well, that’s great!”  That’s the other half of a conversation that I have had with many people in the community over the past three weeks or so.  What I find interesting about all those conversations is that no one has asked me what the job of pastor involves.  Either everyone in Citrus Heights is a good Lutheran who knows what the ministry of the Keys is all about (right!), or everyone has their own preconceived ideas about a minister’s work based on their own church’s experience.

In the installation rite during last Sunday afternoon’s service, you heard what Scripture has to say about the expectations for pastors in Christ’s Church.  It is also appropriate for a pastor to speak about the ministry during his first sermon at a new congregation.  The readings for today’s service—especially the Gospel—lend themselves well to that discussion.  As we see Jesus discuss the need for ministers and as we see him send his disciples out as ministers, we have an opportunity to think about the ministry in this inaugural sermon.  And as we look closely at the first few verses in today’s Gospel, we will see two metaphors for the ministry that Jesus gives us.  These two metaphors for the ministry won’t exhaust everything that we could say about the work of a pastor, but they do give us an idea of what we should expect from a pastor.  Jesus’ two metaphors for the ministry in Matthew chapter nine are a compassionate shepherd, and a harvest worker.

I.

Throughout the summer and fall months, we are going to follow Jesus’ ministry in Matthew’s Gospel.  By the time we reach Matthew chapter nine, Jesus has already spent quite a bit of time in Galilee, the region west of the Sea of Galilee.  Matthew tells us that Jesus continued his ministry tour, serving as a guest preacher in the local synagogues, teaching people about the grace and mercy of God which he came to bring, and backing up his divine message with divine miracles.

I don’t think we can begin to count the hundreds of people whose lives Jesus touched on this ministry tour.  Jesus not only knew how many people he came into contact with; he also knew the spiritual condition of the crowds he dealt with.  “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Jesus sees the masses, and as true God he can see right into their hearts, and his heart went out to them.  There are three words in the original language of the New Testament that all mean “to have compassion,” and Matthew used the strongest of those three words here.  The spiritual state of the people gave Jesus a gut-wrenching emotional reaction. 

The following sermon was preached by Pastor Michael Carr (St. Peter Lutheran Church; Clovis, CA) at my installation service at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Citrus Heights on Sunday afternooon, July 3, 2011.  You can also view a PDF of the order of worship and you can watch the video of the service on St. Mark’s USTREAM page.

The pastors who participated in the rite of installation

Sermon Theme & Parts:

CHRIST’S HOLY PRIESTHOOD

1. Cleansed, clothed, and covered
2. Set apart for service

Sermon Text: Leviticus 8:1-15, 18-19, 22-24, 30

 I.

To the church of God in Citrus Heights, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

What an exciting day! You have given your finest for months: gold, linen, wood, thread. Now today, the work of the divinely gifted Bezalel and Oholiab and their associates will be unveiled. A tabernacle has been constructed. The equipment is all ready. Now you have been called together to watch something you’ve never seen before, something new. Moses speaks. It is the only words that he says: “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.”

Moses brings Aaron and his sons out as separate. Moses washes them with water. Moses takes the beautifully prepared garments, gifts from you and all the people, and puts them all on Aaron – the garments, the breastpiece the turban and crown. Then he pours oil on Aaron and everything else in the tabernacle Then he repeats with Aaron’s sons, cleaning them, clothing them Everything is beautiful. Everything looks clean.

Then things get bloody. The pattern is repeated again and again. Aaron and his sons do the thing that they do in the entire service. They place their hands on the bull then the first ram, then the second ram. Whatever their hands touch, Moses comes up to and slaughters on the spot. The blood is splattered or smeared over everything. The fresh new clothes are spattered, the altar is spattered and Aaron and his sons have blood smeared on the extremities of any exposed skin: their right ear lobe, thumb and toe.

It was a silent sermon being written by God himself and preached by Moses’ actions: Here’s what it said.