Sermons

What is preaching? St. Paul writes in Romans: “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14-15)

Therefore our Lutheran Confessions state: “It is also taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and remain forever. This is the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.” (Augsburg Confession VII:1-3)

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All Saints’ Day (observed) 2012 – Revelation 7:2-17; Matthew 5:1-12

04. November 2012
All Saints’ Day (observed)
Revelation 7:2-17; 1 John 3:1-13; Matthew 5:1-12

Today, heaven and earth dwell together. The Lord’s kingdom has come on earth as it is in heaven. The saints in heaven in bright array are singing with the saints on earth. A great multitude that no one can number, from all tribes and peoples and languages stands with us as we dwell together in this blessed place with the Holy Trinity, feasting upon His Word and rejoicing with angels and archangels. The sainted Evangelists, the prophets, the apostles, the martyr band, and all the blessed departed—the number of the sealed—confess with a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

We are children of God because of the love of the Father. God the Father gave us most precious treasure, His very Son into death for us. By His suffering, death, and burial, Christ Jesus has atoned for our sins and the sins of the whole world. The Lamb’s very blood has washed our robes clean. We are blessed because we are children and thus inheritors with Christ of his cross-bought forgiveness, life, and salvation. Salvation belongs to God and to all those who are in Him. Rejoice, O pilgrim throng! Rejoice, be glad, and sing!

That’s reality. That’s the truth. But it doesn’t look that way. It doesn’t feel that way. Is it a neurosis? Are we Christians out of our mind? How can we rejoice when more than a hundred died and much was destroyed from Superstorm Sandy? How can we sing with angels when the our lives are full of struggles, tears, and grief? It’s flat out crazy to find joy in the midst of a horrible world. You’re off your rocker. How can you sing at a time like this? How can you possibly rejoice and give thanks?

The Christian faith is built on the hope of things not seen, the expectation of things to come. What we see now is only a pale shadow of what will be. Some call our life together as living in the “now” and also in the “not yet.” The “now” is the life of a body of death in a corrupt world. The “not yet” is eternal life in a recreated and perfect creation. The old will go and the new will come.

These two realities are one. God has knit us into a single fabric of believers of all times and places. He has joined us together with His Son, Jesus Christ. We the church are joined in union with Him as one flesh, His mystical body. Our names are written in the book of Life and our song now is the song of heaven. Because we are heirs with Christ, we are already given to worship God. We already experience His blessing, His peace, and His glorious face shining upon us.

Heaven and earth dwell together. Where God dwells, there we dwell in peace and safety. God is our rock and fortress. He has redeemed our spirit and delivered us from shame. He leads us by His name in His Word. From God’s perspective, there is little difference from those who dwell with Him in eternity and we who are here in time. Both are equally saved from death, devil, and hell. Both are equally clothed in Baptism. Both are equally fed with heavenly meal and given heavenly board.

If the gifts are equal then why do we continue in this dying body? Is it wrong to desire heaven? St. Paul said he longed to depart and be with the Lord but He also knew he must remain in the flesh a while longer (Philippians 1:19ff). We are on the same journey: from death to life. We must pass through death before joining the host of heaven. We are not alone on this journey. Christ is with us. Not only does He visit us with His Word of comfort but He gives us food for the journey, the same food of saints of heaven. While we long for heaven we can persevere in the flesh a while longer. While we live in the flesh, it means fruitful labor for us in Christ’s kingdom. While we can only see our God now as in a mirror dimly, soon we will see Him face to face.

This is a message of great comfort for us at Grace. The elder said of us “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.” This time is called the “great tribulation” for good reason. There are wars and rumors of wars. Children go hungry. Storms destroy. Marriages fail. Jobs are lost. Even the young die. We are now in tribulation and then will be in everlasting bliss.

The congregation of Grace is in its own little “tribulation.” There are half as many people here today as there were in recent memory. The median age of our congregation now over 55. There are few of my generation and fewer of their children. Our resources are limited. Finances are tight. We’ve had to cut mission dollars. There’s talk of more cuts in the future. We only have seven of twelve congregational offices filled. It’s a struggle to keep the organ bench filled.

We might be tempted to panic and wring our hands. We might think this particular congregation somehow is indicative of the one holy Christian Church. Not so. Read the Epistles of the New Testament. How many of those congregations still exist? Few, if any. Does this mean that the church has failed? If Grace had to merge, close, or move, would this say anything about the Church eternal?

Congregations come and go but the Word of God remains forever. Heaven is where the holy ones of God gather to receive holy things. For some fifty years Grace has been such a place. In the future it may be somewhere else. What of that? Why weep over buildings, property, furniture, and memories? Has not God’s grace, mercy, and peace been given faithfully here? Has not God done exactly what He promised—giving forgiveness of sins week in and week out?

This is what Jesus was getting at in the Holy Gospel. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Luther said, “We are beggars, this is true.” We don’t look to the presence of a booming congregation any more than we look to our own possessions as signs of God’s love. We are blessed people of God when we come before Him as beggars, hands open in prayer to receive whatever gifts He may have for us. No matter what we have or have not the kingdom ours remains. No matter whether Grace remains small and struggling or grows and thrives, the one holy Christian church is preserved forever.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Yes, we grieve but not like those who have no hope. We believe that “that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess 4:14). We are and will be comforted in the resurrection of the dead.

No matter what this life brings we know already that we are blessed. We are made holy and righteous by Christ’s blood and have the hope of heaven. There, we will be satisfied. There, we will see God. There, we will have our great reward. For now our joys are mixed with sadness but then the Lamb … will be [your] shepherd, and he will guide [you] to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from [your] eyes. Not just then but even now as we receive the Lamb’s high feast.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana

Can You Vote for a Mormon? by Rev. Gifford Grobien

Can You Vote for a Mormon? | Blogia.

Luther is famously misquoted as saying that he would rather be ruled by a wise Turk than a foolish Christian, but this statement is utterly apocryphal. In fact, Luther deeply feared Turkish rule and wrote passionately that the empire should defend herself vigorously from Ottoman invasion. His fundamental concern was that Islamic rule would eliminate or hinder the freedom of the church to assemble and worship publicly, and that they would undermine faith in Christ by teaching falsely about Him.

What about a wise Mormon? Should a Christian embrace such rule or vote for it? Among the wider population, eighteen percent say they will not vote for a Mormon. To be sure, when such a question is asked in today’s context, most respondents are thinking of Mitt Romney, the Mormon Republican nominee for President. So some of this eighteen percent might really be saying they would not vote for Mitt Romney. Yet Gallup also suggests that the bias against Mormons is the only major bias to remain unchanged in the last forty-five years. The number of people who would not vote for a candidate because of a particular race or religion declined when considering Blacks, Jews, Catholics, and other groups. For Mormons, however, it remains effectively unchanged. Seventeen percent saidthey would not vote for a Mormon in 1967 (when Mitt Romney’s father was running for President), and eighteen percent said so in June of this year.

What is a faithful Christian to think of this? When considering whom to vote for, Lutherans typically appeal to the distinction between the two kingdoms. This distinction clarifies the authority for making such a decision. While God is the ultimate authority over all things, He exercises this authority in two ways: with law or with grace. Grace “rules” in the church. That is, by forgiving sins, God defeats sin and death and raises up believers to new life, a life that leads to resurrection.

In the secular, political realm, the law of God rules. Even the unbeliever has a limited awareness and understanding of God’s law via the natural law, the voice of reason that teaches human beings to pursue good and to avoid evil. So, when considering whom to vote for, one ought to vote for the candidate who will lead the country further toward good.

This question is obviously complicated by the numerous issues and laws that will be affected by the candidate. He may do good in some areas and evil in others. For example, some may judge that Mitt Romney will do a better job managing government finances, but are disturbed by his unwillingness to work actively toward the prohibition of abortion. Others may think that President Obama promotes an agenda that properly considers the poor, but has undermined the rule of law by his broad executive orders.

Although conventional wisdom speaks of an American separation of church and state, the practical reality is that Americans are deeply interested in a candidate’s faith. Faith is an indicator of values, and values indicate a person’s priorities, even in politics, where there are other strong influences, such as party platform, constituents, donors, and pragmatism. Indeed, this is what the two kingdoms distinction recognizes. The two kingdoms does not suggest that Christians check their consciences at the door, but that Christians participate lawfully in the secular political realm, obeying authority, but also using legal recourse to promote what is good (AC 16; Ap 16). Christians are to promote goodness in the law as they understand goodness through faith.

Perhaps faith is scrutinized heavily by some voters because they try to determine how a candidate’s faith stacks up in relation to other factors. Is a candidate’s faith strong enough to help keep him steadfast on an unpopular issue such as opposing abortion? Or is he only marginally religious, so that his espoused faith really would not play a great role in policymaking? To complicate matters further, his faith may interact differently between policy issues, so that, for example, his faith would play only a weak role in abortion policy, but a strong role in punishing criminals.

In theory, the question is simple: voters ought to vote for the candidate who will do more good, regardless of religion. In practice, however, determining who will do more good can be very difficult. Such a determination does consider a candidate’s faith and values, to what degree these will affect policy, and the relative importance of some issues over others. And such a determination requires a deep understanding of the doctrine’s taught according to the candidate’s faith, how faithful he is to these doctrines, and to what extent other factors may override his religious convictions.

Would you vote for a Mormon? The question is really better put: Would you vote for Mitt Romney? Or, would you vote for Barack Obama? Or would you vote for some other candidate? What is the faith of each of these candidates? What are the teachings of this faith? How loyal is the candidate to these teachings? What other values or loyalties does the candidate have, such as integrity to campaign promises, devotion to constituents, or allegiance to donors or party figures or policies?

As a faithful citizen you are called to participate in politics to the extent the law allows. As a dutiful citizen, these are the kinds of questions you should ask yourself and seek to answer as the election approaches. As a Christian, take part carefully yet joyfully and with thanksgiving in this process. Know that God works through means—and you are his means!—yet he directs events according to his will. He cares for his church and will not forsake her, even as the world faces great tribulation.

The Festival of the Reformation 2012 – Matthew 11:12-19

28. October 2012
The Festival of the Reformation
Matthew 11:12-19

“We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.”

The problem with expectations is that they are easily shattered. Politicians rely upon expectations of the people to be elected. When re-elections roll around they rarely meet your previous expectations. Hope and change? Not really. The entertainment industry thrives on giving you exactly what you expect with perhaps a little twist of creativity. Your first consumption is enjoyable but their products don’t live up to repeat listens, views, or experiences. The sales person plays your expectations to sell you just what you want. They know that once you get home, chances are good you’ll keep the product even if it fails to meet your expectations.

This is an important reminder for us on this festival of the Reformation. Why had the Christian church of Luther’s day departed from the Apostolic truth? Why had they stopped listening to the Word alone? Why did they believe that there was salvation not alone but by some other means? Why had faith and trust in God alone been replaced with trust in rulers and works? Why had Christ taken the backseat while the cult of the saints drove the car?

Their expectations of God were driven not by the Holy Scriptures, not by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not by His grace, and not even by faith. Their expectations were driven by their own fallen desires. The holy message given by Moses, the Prophets, and Christ himself, delivered to us by angel-apostles was sidelined in favor of the thoughts and intentions of our sinful heart. Rather than be subject to Christ, the church subjected herself to the desire for self-worked salvation, big bank accounts, and earthly kingdoms. She gauged her hopes and dreams on the ways of the world and not the intents of God.

Luther needed a true set of expectations. When he asked, “How can I stand before an angry God?” the church of  his day answered, “through works of penance, prayer, and fear.” The polluted God demanded righteousness by the Law contrary to the Holy Scriptures. The blood of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world was mixed with the bile of man’s own merit. Luther’s conscience could not bear the the torment and despair. In an act of divine providence, his confessor Staupitz directed Luther back to the Scriptures.

There Luther rediscovered what had long been hidden under a dark cloud of false piety: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Our yearly festival commemorating the Reformation is not a day to go “rah-rah–Lutheranism!” or “Boo! Catholicism!” Most of us don’t even know what the church of Rome believes today, wrongly thinking that Lutherans abandoned all the ancient practices. No, today we celebrate the recovery of the Gospel by the Holy Sprit through Martin Luther His angel. The good news is that Jesus Christ alone has saved you. He has done this through His Holy Scriptures alone which grant you faith alone to receive salvation through grace alone. Not three alone-s but one alone in Jesus Christ.

Luther’s false expectations needed reforming as do ours and as did our fathers’ of old. For example, Jesus sent His messenger John to prepare the way. But what did they go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken in the wind, that is, a false prophet who will capitulate to their itching ears and will gladly blow over if it suits them? What did they expect of John? A man dressed in the latest GQ fashion, hip, and utterly approachable? Ah, yes, they went for a prophet and Jesus gave them one. Not what they wanted nor expected but exactly what they needed.

John came preaching a hard, unlikeable message: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The sinner scum came to John from all Judea and the region of the Jordan came to be baptized by him, confessing their sins. Meanwhile the Abrahamic bourgeois come to him trusting in birthright and personal piety and he runs them off: “You brood of vipers! Even now the axe is laid to the fruit of your legalistic tree. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” No one expected a prophet quite like John the Baptizer. Yet he is precisely what God foretold: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness.”

Expectations are everything. John came neither eating nor drinking and they said, “He has a demon.” Jesus came eating and drinking and they said, “Look, a glutton and drunkard.” It’s not that John failed the expectation of their fathers. It’s not as if Jesus was something other than the Messiah promised of old. They had long since stopped listening and no longer had ears to hear.

As their hopes for the new wilderness Elijah were off-base, the expectations for the Messiah-Christ were worse. John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus asking, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” The people of Israel’s hope for change was nothing like what God had in store for them. Jesus is not the earthly Enemy Slayer but the Lamb of God who is slain by the enemy. He is not the Great Yes Man but the Great Judge with winnowing fork and fire. He is not the Bread King but the Bread from heaven. He is not the king of this world but the King of heaven. He is not the friend of elites and a rock star pop icon but the humble friend of sinners and tax collectors. He does affirm the Pharisaical law in the temple but preaches the Gospel to the poor.

Sinner’s expectations are never God’s. God is not forced to conform to our hopes but rather we conform to His. Blessed is he who is not offended by God’s expectation fulfilled in Jesus. Most expect a different kind of prophet. Most do not expect such a hard call to repent or such a sweet message of release. Most want a slick pastor with a wishy-washy message that tugs at the heart strings and addresses the felt needs. They care nothing for God’s way nor His thoughts. This is why from the days of John the Baptist, through the life and death of Christ Jesus, and even now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Jesus will not dance to our song nor lament when we whine.

The hopes and dreams of fallen men do not coincide with God’s hopes and dreams for them. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. The Jesus campaign promises would never get Him elected. The sweet voice of Christ chanting the Psalms doesn’t fit our fancy. The show Jesus puts on is a gruesome and horrible display that lacks the entertainment value of a DVD in the discount bin. And the product he procures for us we neither desire nor will receive.

God sends his messengers to reform our false expectations. His holy prophets come with confession and absolution. These prophets’ sons expose your sin and preach the good news to you. They’re not impressive and don’t submit to your strong gusts for change. The pastor-angels have received their marching orders from the Good Commander. They are clothed with the rough garments of salvation and are ready to give you the very thing you need whether you expected it or not. They are preparing and preserving the way for the Lord to dwell in you His redeemed.

Jesus reforms our sinful expectations. We think we’re worthy of salvation and he humbles us by the law redeems us by His shed blood in His body and His blood. We think we can contribute to grace and He gives us his abundant mercy and complete grace as a free gift in Holy Baptism. We think there is wisdom unto salvation in earthly gurus and He gives us everything our faith needs in the Holy Scriptures. Our sinful expectations are reformed to His, all though the giving of the gifts.

Wisdom proceeding from the mouth of the Most High reorders and governs the Christian expectation. This work of God was given by the Scriptures and through violent suffering. This work will continue until our dying day or Christ comes again. Martin Luther was without hope and true desire for God. In God’s mercy he revealed the truth of to our church’s namesake. Today, you may not have wanted Him as He has promised but now you know we need Him and you know right where to find Him. Our hopes and dreams are restored by forgiveness, life, and salvation. Jesus who dances to his own flute and sings a new song of salvation for you.

In Name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
Grace Lutheran Church
Dyer, Indiana