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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The International Jesus Rally Convention – Luke 17:11-19; Galatians 5:16-24

09. September 2012
The Sunday of the Ten Lepers
Luke 17:11-19; Galatians 5:16-24

* Despite the audio quality, I’m including it because of the changes I made as this text was preached. This is typical and I always encourage you to listen and read along or simply listen.*

Every fall, after a summer of leisure and holiday, the call rings out: “it’s time for Sunday school again!” That’s right, today is the so-called Rally Day. And by rally, we mean something like what the Republicans and Democrats just finished. It’s our annual church convention when we again commit ourselves to studying God’s Word and teaching the faith to our children.

It’s kind of strange really. What have we been doing all summer? Did we vacation from Jesus? Did we ignore our fatherly duty and let the catechesis of our children lapse? I pray not. I hope this strange practice is simply born of a want to give the Sunday school teachers a break.

You may have noticed that we never stopped Bible class this summer. Just as our faith compels to hear God’s Word and received His body and blood regularly, ought not this same faith commend us to stick around for an hour and consider this same Word in study, in contemplation, and mutual conversation? It seems to me there is a time and season for everything but there is always time for a Sabbath rest.

Are Sunday school and Bible class optional nice things to do if one so desires? That’s not how Luther understood God’s Word nor is it what you promised with an oath to do. Do you remember the Third Commandment? Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

And then at your confirmation, you were asked: “Do you confess the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, drawn from the Scriptures, as you have learned to know it in the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true?” You responded: “I do.” Part of that vow included that you would gladly learn that Word. Thus, we’re back to this silly notion that we can either ignore or the regular study of God’s Word or take a break from it until we’re good and rested.

Luther said in his Large Catechism: “We Christians should make every day a holy day and give ourselves only to holy activities—that is, occupy ourselves daily with God’s Word and carry it in our hearts and on our lips. However, as we have said, since all people do not have this much time and leisure, we must set apart several hours a week for the young, and at least a day for the whole community, when we can concentrate upon such matters and deal especially with the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Thus we may regulate our whole life and being according to God’s Word.”

These few hours that we dedicate to the hearing, receiving, and learning of God’s Word govern our whole life and the rest of our week. Luther also said: “Since so much depends on God’s Word that no holy day is sanctified without it, we must realize that God insists upon a strict observance of this commandment and will punish all who despise his Word and refuse to hear and learn it, especially at the times appointed. Therefore this commandment is violated not only by those who grossly misuse and desecrate the holy day […] but also by that multitude of others who listen to God’s Word as they would to any other entertainment, who only from force of habit go to hear preaching and depart again with as little knowledge of the Word at the end of the year as at the beginning. […] Remember, then, that you must be concerned not only about hearing the Word but also about learning and retaining it. Do not regard it as an optional or unimportant matter. It is the commandment of God, and he will require of you an accounting of how you have heard and learned and honored his Word.”

Maybe then Rally Day is silly after all? If we’re going to meet on Sunday to hear preaching, receive the Sacrament, but neglect to learn this Word and take it heart, what will happen? It’ll be a lot like the last two national conventions. All buzz and excitement and then days later, no one remembers anything that happened but some vague recollection of Clint Eastwood and Bill Clinton. There’s a big hoopla, with special snacks, installation of the teachers, and renewed commitment to the faith as it is confessed in the Catechism, and then what?

Repent. Do not fall back into your old habits. You who desire to be led by the Spirit need to receive the Spirit where He’s promised to be, in Holy Absolution, Baptism, and Supper, in the Word preached and taught. Attend to these and do not neglect one of them.

Perhaps you need an analogy? Consider the Ten Lepers of today’s Holy Gospel. These ten all were sick, ritually unclean and spiritually damaged goods. They knew well enough and believed that Jesus could make them right. [They] lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourself to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

Just so, you are too well aware of the sinful baggage you brought with you through those doors. When it comes to sin, each of us pay outrageous fees for all the checked sin luggage. The desires of [your] flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against [your] flesh. These works of the flesh are evident. You know them well. You feel their weight upon your conscience. Sins against the home and marriage: sexual immorality, sensuality, idolatry. Sins against true religion: idolatry, sorcery. Sins that destroy society, first creating hatred: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger; and then disunion: rivalries, dissension, divisions. Your flesh seeks to overthrow the Spirit with evil: envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like.

But you are a Christian! You know the works of the flesh. You know there is a real battle and you must be on your guard. You have named these sins publicly and privately saying “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess!” You confess you are a sinner, something only someone who has the Holy Spirit can do. You lifted up your voice just like the ten lepers and said Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 

And so He has! He has forgiven you your sins. You are cleansed. As we began the Introit, you enter into worship cleansed and whole again. Go and sin no more. Follow the commands and live. But the war is not over. The Divine Service is the continual battle of the Lord’s Spirit against your flesh. And how does your flesh perceive our worship? Just like that. It’s our worship—what we do for God—and not His service for us from start to finish. You’ve heard the Word of absolution but Jesus is not done with you yet. He gives you more Law and Gospel in the Introit, readings, Gradual, Verse, and Gospel, to kill the old Adam and bring to life the new man according to the Spirit.

The battle continues even now as your flesh struggles with the Spirit. The flesh says: “I’m in a hurry, I’ve got better things to do than sit in a boring Bible class.” But the Spirit of Jesus says within you: “I really should study the Word more, especially from my pastor who God has given me.” Sin was crouching at the door and already polluted your clean heart. So you will sing, “create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me.” And so, the Lord will once again forgive you and grant you His Spirit to guide you into the kingdom of God. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with it passions and desires. Those who belong to Christ have nailed to Christ’s own cross their every opposition and resistance to faithful hearing and study of the Word.

You will recall that of the ten lepers who went away cleansed, only one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. It’s not simply that only one was thankful. While this is true, also only one wanted to worship God in truth in purity. All his fellow sinners went back to their old ways, doing worship according to the Law but not responding according to the Spirit. They fell back onto the Law with its great what-must-I-do-to-be-saved question. Go to the priests, follow the purity rules, be restored.

You might say they received this totally awesome gift in cleansing from God himself but rather than respond with thankfulness, praise, and attention, they saw fit only to jump through the necessary hoops, and go back to their business. That’s how many of us approach God’s Word. He blesses us with a great gift of forgiveness. He speaks into our ears and onto our tongues. We listen, eat, and drink. But what next? Say a prayer, receive a blessing, sing a hymn, and then go back to our humdrum life.

Not so with the one Samaritan leper. Just like last week, it wasn’t the priest or Levite who knew better that helped the man in the ditch. Nope, it was the one who simply acted according to faith. He saw a man in need and helped without compulsion or obligation but compassion. So today, this Samaritan, who had no idea about right worship — all the proper hand motions, rising and sitting, singing and praying, who stumbles through the service each week—this outsider and weirdo acts in great faith.

He’s not thinking about his work. He’s not thinking about the Sunday buffet. He’s not thinking about the Bears game. He’s not even worried about whether he’ll be an embarrassment. Seeing himself clean, he does the thing clean people do: he sits at the feet of the giver who is master and Lord. The priest thing can wait. Right now, its all about Jesus. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.

And so He is commended by Jesus: Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise and journey; your faith has made you well.” The now-healed Samaritan wanted as much Jesus as he could get. Never satisfied but always desiring to kneel at the master’s feet and hear, listen, receive, and learn. There is nothing more profitable to our salvation that to be with Jesus. To meditate upon His precepts. To fix your eyes on His way. To never wandering from His commandments.

On this Rally Day, there’s nothing wrong with a renewed call to be attentive to God’s Word. Today, as we begin another season of catechesis, I urge you to be like the Samaritan leper, who after being healed, did not simply go back to the old way but turned over a new leaf in Jesus. Crack open your Bibles each day. Struggle to read and understand. Memorize again your catechism. Pray these chief texts of our faith back to Jesus and let His Spirit work new fruit in you. Use the prayer guides. Pray for each other. Come to Bible Study. Pop in for Lutheran Catechesis on Mondays and Old Testament Catechesis on Tuesdays. Let the Spirit return you to the Word and so be commendable to Jesus. Arise and journey on the way; your faith has made you well.

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

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

Funeral of William Herbert Black – Psalm 130

07. September 2012
Funeral of William Herbert Black
Psalm 130

Dearly beloved, Kay, Bill, Teresa, Karen, Terry, friends, and all the fellow redeemed—Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for our meditation is from the second Psalm, especially these words: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope (Psalm 130:5).

Dear Christians, Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead. Just as He died and rose, so too, all who are in Him die a death like His but will also receive a resurrection like His. Bill has received this death, as all men do. He now rests for what will seem to be a mere three days, only to be called forth in the resurrection of the body on the last day. From the beginning, Jesus Christ, was begotten of the Father to love you, show you mercy, and and give you the grace of God.

To be sure, the Holy Trinity has been gracious, merciful, and loving to Bill in many ways. God showed Bill great mercy by sparing his life in wartime while serving in the US Army in the Pacific Theatre. God gave him a treasure in his lovely spouse Kay. Bill was blessed by God with three children who stood by him to the end. God equipped Bill with talent and passion for printing. These are examples of God’s loving providence for Bill.

While Bill was thankful for these blessings, he did not put his hope in them. Being spared from death is a cause for thankfulness yet many lose their lives each day in battle. What of these soldiers, children in the womb, cancer victims? Does God still love them if they are not spared from death? And Bill loved his wife Kay always. Is her companionship, service, and motherhood God’s chief gift to Bill? What if one’s wife is not faithful in her vocation? Is this God punishing you? What if you are not blessed with children or those children abandon you? Does God still love you? What if you unable to work or find no joy in the work you have? Has God been unfaithful to you?

Absolutely not! Earthly blessings including our very lives come and go, just like the flower fades and the grass withers. What will never die? What treasures from God never see rust or decay? Jesus endures forever. The Word of God endures forever. If we put our stock in anything other the Jesus, when the market crashes, we’re bankrupt and hell bound. We run around in a panic, impatient, anxious, worried about today and tomorrow, and ultimately doubt the Lord has us even in the corner of eye.

A few weeks ago, none of knew this is what today would bring. We were all wringing our hands, desperately trying to figure out what would be best for Mom and Dad, Kay and Bill. The children were anxious. Kay was in the hospital and not getting better. Bill was concerned and busy, what with the house and all the other needs. The finances were tight, the lawyer situation a mess, no nursing home was available for Kay, and we all were wondering whether Bill was beginning to succumb to dementia himself.

Yet, I’ll never forget my conversations with Bill himself during this time. Whether in the hospital or at church, he always had a quiet confidence. He was not in a visible panic. He was worried but never to the point of despair. He was concerned but not anxious. I’m betting you children chalked this up to early dementia. But perhaps we ought to consider another explanation.

Bill’s strength was not from within, nor in the blessings of this life, but in His Lord. How many times in eighty six years of life do you think Bill cried out from the depths for the Lord to listen? How many times did he pray that he would be safe in war? That he would be faithful to his wife? That he would love his children as God loved him? That those children would remain in the faith as he taught them? That he would not be lazy or rude but work diligently and provide?

Bill prayed day and night for the Lord’s ear. He may not have shown it in his stoic facial expression. He may not have always spoken in the kindest way. You may not have seen his head bowed or hands folded. Yet, he knew his faults and did not hide them, at least from God. Every week he faithfully confessed his sins to the Lord and was forgiven. Bill said, “Kyrie Eleison—Lord, have mercy” from his baptism until his death. No doubt, he heard those words—If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared (Ps. 130:3-4). Bill heard those words and never trusted in his iniquity-laden self but always in the Lord and especially his forgiveness.

And if you think this is just a lucky guess, consider Kay. Kay, you shocked your children in the same way. After Bill had his fall and was in intensive care, we expected his death to be immanent. Do you remember that we came to visit you? All the children met you at the home and gave you the bad news, not knowing how you would respond. You floored them by saying: “He’s going to a better place. The Lord’s will be done.” What they had seen in Bill weeks before while you lay in bed, they saw again in you, Kay: a quiet confidence in the midst of things we cannot understand. Hopefulness when it seems all hope is lost; patience and trust when our instinct is the opposite. This unnatural response isn’t unique to just Kay or Bill but is the confident hope of every Christian.

Bill did not look to his country, his wife, his children, or even his work to know God loved him. These blessings from God do not stand on their own. They flow from the greatest blessing the world has ever known. God the Father has so loved you that He gives you His son to forgive you, grant unto you life, and take you into His eternal home. This good news is a gift, freely given, and more amazing than anything we could possibly imagine.

Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of Bill’s iniquities was the source of his every hope. Bill, a child of God, adopted into the Lord’s Israel, knew the source of every blessing. Bill hoped in the Lord, knowing that no matter what came in this life, with the Lord there is mercy and with Him is abundant redemption. Just as the Psalmist prophesied, [the Lord] shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities, Bill saw clearly in faith that every sin, every rude tongue to his family, every error of judgment, every struggle, and even every pain is redeemed in the blood of Jesus.

While Bill’s own father served as a negative role model, his mother handed down the faith to him, instilling this same confidence. She wrote in the Bible given to him on Christmas Day 1938: “Take care of this book, do not abuse it, don’t leave it lay, but use it.” And I know that Bill hopes even now the same for you, his wife, his children, and his friends. He faithfully attended to the Word of God, confessed his sins, receiving divine pardon in Holy Absolution, attentively listened to the Word proclaimed (although often comforted by the Gospel to the point of dozing off!), and received the life giving food and medicine of immortality that is Christ’s body and blood. This was not secondary but integral to his life with Christ. At the center of his whole life sat the forgiveness of sins—given, proclaimed, eaten and drunk. In this word he hoped. In this word, Dad confidently waited for the Lord.

Kay, Bill, Teresa, Karen, Terry, friends, and all the fellow redeemed—the Psalmist said: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. Do not grieve as those with no hope. Do not mourn without the promise. Jesus died for sins of the whole world. Jesus died for Bill and thus Bill lives. Jesus shed His blood for Bill and washed him clean in Holy Baptism, naming his child forever. Jesus is the promise of the Psalmist fulfilled for Bill and for you. In Jesus there is mercy and with Him there is abundant redemption for His servant Bill and for all who believe. Bill has been redeemed from all his iniquities. His daily cries from the depths are over. The Lord has heard his voice. Thanks be to God!

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

William Herbert Black

June 16, 1926  +  September 3, 2012

 Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. Let us remember with thanksgiving what God has done through His servant William Herbert Black.

William was given life by his creator and was born on June 16, 1926, the child of Albert and Helen Black. He received the gift of Holy Baptism and became a child of God on August 1, 1926. On July 9, 1939, he publicly confessed his faith and was confirmed at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dr. Martin Luther in Chicago. He regularly received the gracious gift of the Lord’s life-giving body and blood in the Holy Supper.

On April 29, 1950, William received the gift of a beloved companion in his wife, Catherine neé McCalmont. They were blessed with the gift of three children: William Jr. (Teresa), Karen, and Terry. God blessed William’s life with many special people as he served God in his vocations at home, church, work, community, and country.

Finally, on September 3, 2012, God blessed William with a holy death and took him home to rest in the arms of Jesus to await the resurrection of the dead. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  We give thanks to God our Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord, for our brother, William.

“The Idiot Only a Samaritan Could Love” Trinty 12 2012

02. September 2012
Trinity 13
Luke 10:23-37; Galatians 3:15-22

Everyone cares about their reputation. No one wants to be the village idiot. Churches are no exception. The worst is when you’re the fifth leg at the fellowship table or the moron at Bible class. Better just to run away and hide than subject yourself to that again. And then life throws you another slider, you swing, and totally miss. Unemployed and broke, you’ve got nothing to offer. Your fellow pew-sitter gives you the evil eye as the plate is passed. I’d rather stay home. And then there’s your voice. Never trained apart from in the shower or while driving, you know that if you even gave this 16th century hymn a shot it’d sound worse than a bird in a bag squawking.

You care about your reputation. You don’t want to be made the fool, left alone, ashamed, or silently mocked.  At first its easier to run than deal with it. That only lasts for a while. Eventually you’ll resort to ego boosting. There’s no stopping your self-improvement goals. Maybe you go home trying harder, working like a madman, cracking your Bible open a couple times, and trying to open up with strangers. You try and still fail.

It’s no different for our church. We keep trying every strategy, technique, and improvement goal to grow, live, and thrive. We greet each other with “welcome to Grace!” We shake hands and put on a smiling face. We tightened the budget belt and encouraged better stewardship. We sit at booths, put up banners and signs, and send letters. We print resources for prayer. We broadcast our services live on the internet. Events and picnics round out the self-help fest.

We try to improve, to grow, and to thrive. And what do the congregation have to show for it? More members dying than joining. Less money coming in than going out. A sparse sanctuary and a wasteland for Bible study. Same with your personal life. People still don’t know who you are. Your life isn’t getting better. No more money is in the wallet than yesterday. Your prayers are weak. You still hate those old hymns.

Whether your reputation or the church’s, you’re tempted to ask the question: What must I do? How can I fix it? How can I and we as a church break free and live? On the surface these are fair questions but underneath utterly broken. If you are the subject of the verbs then you are responsible for the doing. Can you cause the rain to fall or the sun to shine? Can you grant faith to the unregenerate to become Christians and grow the church? Can your Protestant work ethic make any of this right? Did God promise success to people and churches that try harder, work harder, or pray harder?

So asked the lawyer of Jesus. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” What can you do? Can the dead restart their heart, open their casket, unbury themselves, and draw deep breaths of fresh air again? What can you do? Claim an inheritance from a father who you neither deserve nor know? The age-old question has an age old answer from God: “What is written in the Law? … You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself… Do this, and you will live.”

Completely and utterly dedicated your whole life—heart, soul, strength, and mind—to the Lord… oh, and, love your neighbor as yourself… and you’ll live. Do this. This is the Law of the Lord. This is your self-improvement plan, the way of success, and the church-growth model for this congregation. Don’t just try harder but be perfect as your Father is perfect. Do this, and live. Do this, and inherit eternal life.

Right. By this truth, how do you stack up? How does God think of you? What about the neighbor? Are you Good Christian People? Is everything you do, say, think, and love for God and neighbor? Completely, all, wholly? I can’t speak for you but I can speak for God and His holy Law. You are dead in trespasses. Your flesh hates God and ignores the neighbor. Your reputation is worse than awful. You are criminal and murderous. You have stolen from God and abused your neighbor. What must you do to inherit eternal life? Not a damn thing. Game over, man, game over.

It was a false and misleading dream that man himself could redeem. We latched onto God’s holy Law and forgot the promise. The promise given to Abraham that came 430 years before. The promise of the offspring who is Christ. We’re no different than the lawyer testing Jesus. That’s a law question and gets from Jesus a law answer. What must I do? Do this and live. Where does it leave you? An utter wreck. Miserable. Hateful. Dead. A sinner.

We ask the wrong question. What must I do? Stop your piss poor attempts to justify yourself. Repent and remember the promise. Believe. What must you do? Nothing. Nada. Zippo. Remember the promise: “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. What has Christ done for you? Everything. He did not look upon you based on your work. When it comes to saving you, he doesn’t care about how lovely you are, how nicely you sing, how much money you put in the plate, or how friendly you are.

He gave you the Law in the Scriptures but to utterly imprison you in sin: to strip you, beat you, and leave you half dead in the ditch. You’re not on the path. You’re not moving towards eternity. You sick and bleeding. You’d pull up your bootstraps if those hadn’t been take from you, too. The Law robs you of your self-esteem, your pride, and your idols. You are exposed to God’s holiness and lay dying. This is God’s work.

Is it contrary to the promises of God? Absolutely not! God doesn’t want you to work out your own salvation. You are sinner and for you there can be no inheritance and no perfect obedience. Why bother, then? Not for life nor for righteousness. Why? For faith. To stop trying and start receiving. To believe and trust that only in the promise is there salvation. Only in the offspring do you inherit. Only in Jesus is there eternal life.

Nobody else can save you. Not the pious pastor. When he sees you dying, he’ll slip casually to the other side of the road. Not the pious family. When they come to your ditch of misery, they too will care more about their reputation or cleanness than to help you. Nope, not a single good person, with smiling faces, awkward handshake, or “welcome to Grace!” will get you or them eternal life. Even your neighbor ultimately cares more about themselves than your salvation.

You have one neighbor who cares more about you than even Himself. When He sees you, His bowels churn with compassion. When he sees you, he ignores your reputation and helps you anyway. You lay there naked before him, stinking of the ditch, and dead to the world, and he takes you up and bandages you. He chooses you and cleans you with holy oil. His beast shoulders you to the His holy inn where His innkeeper cares for you. Even then, do you pay the inn for these services? No, they are gift. No offering required. No service. Nothing but receiving healing and life from the blessing of the Samaritan. Nothing but receiving mercy.

Do not be like the lawyer, seeking to test Jesus. There is no life or righteousness in the Law. Believe and trust in the promise, the offspring, the Christ. Teach Him. Proclaim Him. Confess Him. What must you do to inherit eternal life? Nothing. What has Jesus done that you may inherit eternal life? Everything.

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

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