gospel

There are 37 posts tagged gospel (this is page 6 of 13).

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

“The Things that Make for Peace” – Luke 19:41-48

Old Testament: Jer. 8:4-12

Epistle: 1 Cor. 12:1-11

Holy Gospel: Luke 19:41-48

Preached by Rev. Karl Davies, retired.

The Things that Make for Peace                                                                                                                            St. Luke 19:41-48

 

And when He (Jesus) drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.

 

✠ In Nomine Iesu ✠

It has often been said that some people have an attitude about life that may be described as thinking that their cup is only half full, and others, that their cup is half empty

While there are indeed some people in this world who tend to look at the negative and others who look at things very positively, by and large, people like to complain a lot.  We often hear people complaining about all the other problems of life, weather, health and so on.  Or about our husbands and wives or our children.  Or children about their parents.  It wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t.  And, in a world that is full of problems and sins, it isn’t hard to find things or people to complain about.

The Bible, tells us to be content with such things as you have, and that Godliness with contentment is great gain.  Yet the fact is that most people are never quite satisfied and are looking for that something that will make them satisfied.  The blessings that we have and take for granted often become old and common, and we figure there’s something better out there.  Or worse, we are disappointed with God, because He does not give something that we want.

Today’s Gospel takes us back to Lent.  Jesus came to God’s people, He came to Jerusalem, the city of God.  It was the Holy City, where the Holy Place–God’s Temple was–the place thought to be where God’s presence with His people was manifest.  Everything was done right according to the Law of Moses.  But they did not receive God’s Son, they were not happy with Him, and worse, they plotted against Him.  They rejected Him and thus, as our Lord says

The Things that Make for Peace

I. No poor-mes for Jesus        II.  God’s judgment on rejection       III.  Christ’s cleansing of His Holy Temple

I

And so the Prince of Peace comes to Jerusalem, His final earthly destination.  St. Luke tells us in chapter 9, “His face was set toward Jerusalem.”  Our Lord knew what lay ahead of Him, as He told His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”   The welcoming crowds that cried “Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is He who comes in the Name ofthe LORD,” showed the high expectations that so many had for this Son of David come to save His people.  But looming ahead of Him was “Jerusalem,” not meaning everyone in the city, but in fact, the powers that be–the ruling council, the Pharisees, the high priesthood and the temple uppity-ups who were threatened by Him.

You see, it is often a misconception that those who called for his crucifixion were the same people who cried “Hosanna.”  Dr. Paul Maier makes the point that there were still those who believed in Jesus.  It was in fact a different crowd.  St. Luke even tells us, “Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people.”

On His way into the city, He stops briefly and weeps:  And when He (Jesus) drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.

His weeping is not for Himself, even though by His divine knowledge, He is well aware of what is going to happen.  No case of the “poor-me’s” for Jesus.  He is weeping for the fact that they would not accept His gracious and peaceful visitation, and for the fact that judgment would fall on them–the city and the Temple would suffer utter destruction.

I don’t know truly if Jesus in glory weeps today, although He still is true God and true Man even as our Ascended Lord.  But when Jesus weeps we might well say that He wept for all those who would reject God free gift of grace and salvation through what Jesus would do for the whole world.  The epistle to the Hebrews tells us about Jesus’ attitude: “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.”

It is for unbelief and rejection that our Lord weeps, and not Himself.  There are many sad things in the world today.  Tragedy and  evil things will continue to be part of our world.  There are many that we have seen in the last few years and months.  Even the people of God will not be spared the evils of this world.  But the greatest tragedy is unbelief.

I read recently that the most growing religion in the world today is atheism.  My wife and I visited Austria and the Czech Republic last year.  In Austria, 70% of the population is Christian, mostly Roman Catholic.  In the Czech Republic, 60% of the population is atheistic.  In the city of Wittenberg, formerly in East Germany, only 17% of the people are baptized.  Our LCMS is starting a mission there! In Western Europe, Christianity has lost much of its vitality, and has gravitated into a wishy washyness.  In the Pacific northwest of the US, only 17% of the people belong to a church.

In our world today, people don’t seem to like the idea that there is sin and disobedience, so the list of things that are sinful is getting shorter and God becoming more distant and irrelevant.

In all this there is no humble yielding to the rule of God, and no sense of accountability.  It is as Jesus once said of a crowd, people are like sheep without a shepherd.  God has visited our planet in Jesus.  God has come to redeem us from our sins and the hopelessness of unbelief.  That is our world today.

The reality may well be cause for grief on our part, but certainly not a cause for hopelessness.  For God’s call is to repentance and faith.  Jesus knew what awaited Him when He went into Jerusalem, but He continued to fulfill the work that the Father had set before Him.  He died and paid for the sins of unbelief and disobedience past and present.  He rose to call all people to Himself in the Gospel.  And, He has not given up on our world.  As long as the Lord reaches out through the Gospel in the witness of the Church, the Holy Spirit calls to faith, obedience and eternal life.  All the more should it cause us to be faithful and steadfast in our witness to Christ’s grace and love in the Gospel

II

In some very clear words, Jesus speaks of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  ”For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Now these are not pleasant thoughts to think about on a quiet August evening/morning.  We don’t have to look into the past to see what used to be called man’s inhumanity to man.  We have seen the horrors of war on our televisions screens.  How does God allow this, we might ask.  Yet that question shows an unrealistic view of the hearts of men and of the grace that God does give us.

Jerusalem was destroyed in part because it no longer became the light to the nations that God intended that it should be.  The city of Peace, became a city of political corruption and materialistic values.  And they rejected the true Temple of God that came to them in Peace.  We are told by historians that Christians in Jerusalem were given warning by prophecy to leave the city before the Romans came to destroy it.  The city rose up in rebellion against Rome, following false prophets and false messiahs.

People don’t like the idea of God’s judgment today.  God, if there is one, seems to be one that only winks at sin and disobedience, and says neither do I condemn you, go and sin some more.  The gracious visitation of God in Word and Sacrament today may be rejected, but in time all knees must bow to the Son of God when He comes again in glory.

“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Best to know by faith that Christ has suffered the judgment of God for us in His suffering and death on the cross, and that when we come in repentance and faith to God today, we hear those real words of Jesus to the sinful woman, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin NO more.”  And we know that we are by the grace of God judged righteous because our Savior has been righteous for us, and He leads us to everlasting life no matter what may happen to us on earth.

III

Christ does not condemn His Holy Temple or forsake it.  He cleanses it. “And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”  And he was teaching daily in the temple.

The high priest and his associates lived a very comfortable life living by the perks and kickbacks of those who sold sacrificial animals and changed money–and these were necessary services in a way, but it did not belong in the Temple, especially since the sellers were crooks and thieves, robbing the people.  Thus what was to be a holy place of prayer for all nations had become corrupt and evil.

By His cleansing and presence, Jesus brought the Temple back to its Holy purpose of marking the presence of God among His people–a place of peace, of redemption, of prayer, of God meeting man.  We cannot help but think how the Church of Jesus Christ on earth continues to be plagued by the sins of mankind.  People who bear the name of Christ, and claim Him as their Lord, live contrary to the will of God.  Church leaders have fallen and continue to fall prey to the Evil One’s temptations.  In the past a corrupt church hierarchy brought about the Lutheran Reformation.  Where sin and corruption rule in the lives of the people of God, it casts a veil on the holiness of the Temple of God today, which is God’s people, built like living stones into it.

But Christ does not abandon His Church.  No, it is within His Church that He cleanses His people through the preaching of the Word and the Holy Sacraments.  He washes us in Holy Baptism, and feeds us with Holy Food in His Supper, the very Body and Blood that were given and shed for us on Calvary.  We must never forget that the church is holy because Christ is Holy, and the cleansing of Christ is continuous for those who repent and call on His name.

Yes Jesus continues to teach in His Temple today.  For here we learn the holy things of God in the midst of a world of doubt and unbelief.  Here we find peace in a world which knows no real peace.  Lord, may the things that make for peace never be hidden from our eyes.

✠ Amen âœ