One Body In Christ

One Body In Christ

Romans 11:33-12:8

     Whether you are new to the church or you have been a member of the church all your life, it’s good to, once in while, ask the question, “What is the church?”  We may think we know the answer to that question because we have certain preconceived ideas about what the church is but we also live under the influence of our sinful nature and the world around us and the devil who is trying to destroy the church.  It’s good to hear what Scripture has to say about the church and how it should function in the world.  As we look at Paul’s words to the church in Rome, may we be given the wisdom to apply his words to our life in the church today. 

     When your human nature tries to influence you, the strategy usually makes you turn inward.  You start asking the question, “What is in this for me?”  “How can I benefit the most from my association with the church.”  “Does this church fit into my concept of what the church should be?”  Sometimes you see churches marketing themselves as a place to make friends or a place where you can fit in.  While that may make you feel more welcome, is that really what the church is to be?  Sometimes you hear about a church that has a great youth program or a great music program.  Those things are great but is that the main function of a church?

       When you look at what St. Paul says in our Epistle lesson for today, you will begin to get a clearer picture of the real function of the church.  The reading starts at the end of chapter 11.  There we hear a great song of praise.  “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?  Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever.  Amen.”  This is a profound expression of praise to God.  When we consider how far beyond our human understanding God is, when we consider the depth of God’s love for us, when we acknowledge that we could never understand his ways completely, we are in awe of our wonderful God.  Therefore we praise Him and give Him the glory with our whole heart.  That, then is the first purpose of our life in the church, to give praise and honor to God.

     In His mercy, our God has revealed to us His goodness and love.  He has revealed to us through the sacred writers of the Scriptures that we are sinners who deserve nothing but punishment.  He also has revealed to us that He loves us so much that He sent His only Son into the world to do for us what we could never do for ourselves.  Jesus came into the world and lived a perfect life in our place.  He died on the cross to pay the price for our sins.  He rose again from the dead to win the victory for us over sin, death and the power of the devil.  He sent the Holy Spirit to bring us to faith and keep us in the faith through the Word and the Sacraments.  There we find the second important function of the church: to proclaim the message of salvation through the proclamation of the Law and the Gospel.  As people of God we need to hear that life-giving message often in order to overcome the temptations of the devil, the world and our sinful nature that would try and turn us away from the will of God and convince us that we are the ones responsible for our place in God’s kingdom. 

     The second part of our reading then helps us to understand a third purpose of our life in the church.  In verse one of chapter twelve we hear: “By the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  Along with the praise that I mentioned earlier and the hearing of the Word, you are to present yourself as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable.  This is a part of your spiritual worship.  Think about some of the words that are used in this appeal.  Present your body.  That is not just talking about a good feeling.  He’s talking about the whole thing, mind, body, eyes, ears, hands, feet.  He is talking about action.  Another word that is significant is sacrifice.  A true sacrifice is not what is left over after you have done all you wanted to do.  A sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God is one that recognizes God’s amazing love and responds with the best that you have.  Another word in this verse is worship.  Presenting yourself as a living sacrifice is a part of a life of worship.

     About this time, the human nature is ready to push back and say you’re asking too much of me.  I have a busy life and I don’t have time for anything else right now.  Maybe when things slow down I can try a few things.  That is the way our human minds usually work.  Paul had something to say about that as well.  In chapter 12, verse 2 we hear, “Do not be conformed to the this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Your human nature wants you to conform to the ways of the world.  It is a constant struggle that we all face.  Left to yourself, you tend toward the ways of the world because that is what is familiar.  That is what makes you feel comfortable.  You need a transformation.  That can only happen by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit works through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  In Holy Baptism, the Spirit began His work in you and that work continues through the proclamation of Word, the Law and the Gospel.  The Law convicts you of your sin and brings you to repentance and the Gospel reminds you of God’s great love in Christ.  Your sins are forgiven and in Christ, you can be that living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. 

       That brings us back then to your life in the church.  There you have the opportunity to follow the example of Jesus and give your life in humble service to the Lord and to one another.  The church is compared to a body.  A body has many parts and each part has an important function.  In the same way we are one body in Christ.  Each individual in the body works for the good of the whole body which has Christ as its head.  In this passage from Romans 12 we are given several examples of the kinds of gifts that God gives to the parts of the body, the people in the church.  This is not a complete list of the gifts.  There are others mentioned in I Corinthians 12 and in other sections of Paul’s letters to churches.  Here he mentions the gift of prophecy, being able to speak for God.  Also mentioned are the gifts of service, teaching, exhorting, generosity, and acts of mercy.  You don’t have to think too hard before you see how these gifts are used all the time in the church.  Not everyone has every gift, but everyone has some gift to be used for the efficient functioning of the body. 

     It is then that we hear the key statement that expresses another purpose of the church.  In verse 6 we hear, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us let us use them.”  The church is the place where we have the opportunity to use the unique gifts that God has given to each of us.  Those gifts then are used to carry out the primary purpose of the church which is to make disciples of all nations.  The church is to be a witness for Christ to the world around us beginning in our own community and then branching out eventually to the whole world.  It sounds like a big job and it is for one person or even a small group of people.  But we are one body in Christ, the whole body working together, each one using its own God-given gifts to do the work that God has given us to do. 

     When you look at a text like this you can see clearly that life in the church is not a spectator sport.  You don’t just buy your ticket and watch the show.  Life in the church is praise, hearing and studying the Word in order to be equipped for service, then using the gifts that God has given to each one to carry out the work of the one body in Christ. That is what we truly are.  We are one body in Christ, doing the work that He has planned ahead of time for us to do.  May God bless this One Body in Christ as we work together to further His kingdom.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

11th Sunday after Pentecost

Why Did You Doubt?

Why Did You Doubt?  

Matthew 14:22-33

      Do you ever worry?  That may sound like a strange question to ask.  Who doesn’t worry?  We all worry from time to time about a variety of things.  You worry about your health.  You worry about finances.  You worry about the weather.  You worry about your children.  Children worry about their parents, especially when the parents get older.  You worry about the government.  You worry about world affairs.  Did you ever wonder why you worry so much?  As we think about what happened in the Gospel lesson for today and we apply that to our own lives, I pray that you will be able to understand yourself a little bit better and that you will find that your faith and trust in the Triune God are just what you need in the times when you are tempted to doubt and worry.

     Our Gospel lesson from Matthew 14, tells us what happened to Jesus and His disciples after He had fed the large crowd near the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus sent the disciples off in boat as He sent the crowds on their way and He went off to a solitary place to pray.  Later on when the disciples were well on their way, Jesus came to them walking on the water.  This in itself was an amazing experience for the disciples.  At first they thought He was a ghost.  Fishermen on the Sea of Galilee knew about the superstitions that had been around for generations that said if you saw a phantom image out on the water that something bad was going to happen very soon.  That was their first thought.  This is a bad sign!  They did what most people would have done under the circumstances.  They screamed!  They were scared out of their wits. 

      But Jesus spoke to them and said, as He often did, “It is I.  Do not be afraid.”  His comforting words drove away their fear but at least for Peter, the fear was replaced by curiosity.  We can imagine what he was thinking.  “How does He do that?  I wonder if He would show me how He does it.”  His curiosity got the best of him and he said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  That was a pretty bold request but Jesus granted his request and said to Peter simply, “Come.”  At Jesus’ command, Peter got out of the boat and walked to Him on the water.  Imagine his surprise.  Imagine the shock and surprise of the other disciples who stayed in the boat.  We don’t often think about them and their response to all of this but they must have had many thoughts racing through their minds as they saw their companion walking on the water with Jesus.  “How could this be?  Do you suppose I could walk on the water too?”  When it was all over we are told that they worshiped Jesus and proclaimed, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  That is generally the outcome when Jesus did a miraculous sign.  That was actually one of the purposes of miraculous signs, to show people that Jesus was the Son of God and the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the Messiah. 

     We need to go back to Peter though who actually walked on the water until he began to realize what he was actually doing.  He looked around at the waves and felt the wind and must have thought to himself, “What am I doing here?”  When that thought hit him, he began to sink and cried out to Jesus to save him.  Jesus reached out and took hold of him and helped him get back into the boat.  Jesus’ word’s to Peter exposed his lack of faith.  “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  Why did Peter doubt?  Jesus described him as being of little faith.  Didn’t Peter believe in Jesus?  He was one of His strongest supporters.  Why did he doubt?  Think through what happened again.  Peter desired to do something. He asked Jesus to allow it to happen.  He did what he wanted to do.  He doubted.  He sank.  Jesus rescued him.  He believed that Jesus was the Messiah.  He had faith.  But when times got difficult, his trust in Jesus wavered.  The devil planted seeds of doubt in his mind and Peter’s human nature took over.  That sinful human nature relies too often on only human thinking that is limited to human experience and human reason.  It caused Peter to doubt and when he took his eyes off of Jesus and instead looked only at the waves and felt the wind, his trust in Jesus and His word disappeared and he began to sink into the water. 

     Before you shake your accusing finger at Peter and say, “How could you let that happen?” you have to think about how you react to the call of Jesus in your life.  When you are brought to faith through the working of the Holy Spirit, you are given the power to believe and trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  You believe and trust that God made you and has promised to provide you all that you need in this life.  You believe what the Scriptures say about how the Holy Spirit has given you the gifts and talents to serve the Lord and His Church.  Like Peter, you see the Lord doing amazing things in your life and in the lives of others.  You have heard the Lord’s command to go and make disciples.  You have heard the Lord’s promise that He will be with you always.  You have heard the Lord’s command to grow in your faith.  Like Peter, you desire to do all that the Lord commands.

     On the day of your confirmation you promised to be a faithful disciple of the Lord.  You meant it with all your heart.  Like Peter, you prayed for the Lord’s will to be done in your life.  You were filled with the Spirit and you had every intention to live a Spirit- filled life of love and service to the Lord, His Church and to those in need.  Like Peter, you also may have stepped out of the boat, out of your comfort zone, and tried something you had never done before.  You did it.  Then like Peter, you began to doubt.  You became afraid of what might happen, what others might think, you became discouraged when some of your efforts failed.  You started to rely on your own reason instead of trusting in the Lord and, like Peter, you began to sink.  In your desperation you called to the Lord and He pulled you up and placed you in the safety of His church.  There you were assured of His love and forgiveness for your doubt and fear.  You were reminded of the grace of God for fallen sinners, those who gave in to the devil’s temptations.  There you are reminded through the Word and the Sacraments, the Means of Grace, that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, you are restored.  You are strengthened so that when you hear that command of Jesus to step out of the boat, your comfort zone, and you will be ready and equipped to use your unique gifts and talents to serve. 

     As you think about what happened to Peter, you come to realize that this is actually a summary of God’s whole plan for our salvation.  God gives us His law, whether written on the tablets of stone like the Ten Commandments or that law that is written in our hearts.  Even though you know God’s will, you go your own way and fall short of what God expects.  Sin drags you down and finally you call to the Lord for help.  Your sorrow over your sin is the beginning of the process of repentance.  You call to Jesus for rescue and He pulls you up, not because of your good intentions but because of His grace, His undeserved love for you.  Your sins are forgiven and you are renewed and restored.  Like Peter, you are not allowed to sink but you have new life each time you are declared not guilty by the gracious hand of your loving God. 

     Like the disciples, you can stand in awe of the love and power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  When you realize all that has been done to rescue you from the eternal punishment that you deserve because of your sin, you are moved to worship and proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior for all to hear.  That is why we come together as people of God.  When we sink because of our sin, Jesus picks us up in spite of our little faith and our doubt.  Therefore we praise and thank Him as a church and as individuals all our days.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

9th Sunday after Pentecost

Nothing!

“Nothing!” 

Romans 8:28-39

     There are certain events in our lives that we will always remember.  For example, you often here people say that you can remember where you were when you first heard the news about some important event.  This past week marked an anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon.  I can remember watching that on television in our living room on Wayside in Decatur, Illinois.  I’m sure that you remember where you were when you heard the news about the 9-11 disaster.  I was on I-480 on my way to a meeting at the District office in Olmsted Falls, right where it goes by Hopkins Airport when the news came on the radio. 

     Another significant event for me was the first pastors’ conference I attended when I was a vicar in the Michigan District.  The first official event of the conference was a communion service at a local congregation, Mt. Hope in Grayling.  The pastor who was chosen to preach for that event, Pastor Ed Arle, got up in the pulpit and began his sermon with the most unusual introduction I had ever heard.  He said, “There is only one thing I want you to remember about this sermon tonight and that is nothing.”   He got a few chuckles from the church full of pastors but then went on to preach about this same text that serves as our Epistle lesson for today.  I have never forgotten that introduction and the way in which he directed us to Paul’s words in Romans 8, especially the last part of the chapter that you heard before, reminding us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  As we think about this passage today, may you remember nothing!

     You have to remember that Paul was writing to a small group of Christians living in Rome.  Being a Christian in Rome was not easy.  They were living in a culture that honored many gods, greatest of whom was the Emperor himself.  To worship another god above the Emperor was consider treason.  The Christians in Rome needed encouragement   They needed to know that when the world seemed to be against them and they were suffering because of their faith, the love of God in Christ Jesus would always be with them.  Nothing could separate them from that love.  Does that sound familiar?  Do you ever find yourself feeling alone in godless world?  Are you ever tempted to give up because everything seems to be working against you?  Do you ever wonder if God really cares about you when you have to put up with disappointments, health problems, losses, or perhaps subtle persecution because you are a Christian?  Things haven’t changed too much in our world.  Circumstances may be different but the feelings of frustration can still get you down.  You need to hear the words of encouragement that Paul has for the Romans and for all Christians of all time. 

     Our section of chapter 8 begins with one of the more comforting statements that Paul makes in his writings.  In verse 28 we hear, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.”  What a wonderful promise from the Lord!  Like many of the Lord’s promises, you have to understand that you may not see the good right away.  When you are struggling with health problems or the health problems of a loved one, you may want to see the good as soon as possible but in God’s good time and in His wisdom, He will keep His promises.  It may even mean that the good thing that He promises will not be realized in this life but when He calls you home to be with Him forever.  That is the ultimate good. 

     With that in mind then, Paul turns to our circumstances in this life that we face from time to time.  When you think that everything is against you and you start to wonder why God is allowing all of these problems to mess up all of your plans for your life, Paul reminds you in verse 31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  You have God on your side.  When you have the almighty, all-knowing God on your side, what do you have to worry about?   But still you do.   The example of the depth of God’s love and care for you is found in the next statement.  If you have any doubts about God’s love for you remember this, “He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  There you have all the evidence that you need to be convinced that God loves you and will give you what is best for you. He gave up His own Son so that you might be rescued from the greatest problem that you have, the problem of sin and its eternal consequences. 

     To further explain his point, Paul takes us to a courtroom setting.  There you stand before the God the Judge. On the one side is the prosecutor, ready to bring charges against you because of your sin.  He has a long list of transgressions and trespasses against the will of God.  It would seem that you don’t have a chance against all the charges.  But Paul goes on to say, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?”  The final decision rests with the judge and that is none other than God Himself and He is ready to justify, in other words to declare you righteous.  Also present is the defense attorney.  It is Christ Jesus, who not only died for you, but was raised by the will of the judge and is now interceding for you.  He is speaking to the judge on your behalf.  We can guess what He is saying.  “Remember, You sent me into the world to do for them what they could not do for themselves.  I kept the Law in their place.  I died then as the punishment for their sins.  Their debt has been paid.  You can declare them not guilty, Father.”

     That’s a pretty convincing argument.  It is not necessarily to convince the Judge.  It is to help convince you that nothing can separate you from God’s love.  Paul then brings us back to our own problems.  Knowing what you know now after that brilliant presentation, he asks, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword.?”   Paul can speak from experience because he faced them all.  It is so easy for us to despair when we face even minor inconveniences on our lives.  He quotes a lament from Psalm 44, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  It’s another way of saying, “Oh poor me.  Why does everything happen to me.  Is there a sign on my back that says ‘Kick me’?”

     In response to that lament, we hear an emphatic, “NO!  In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  Not only are we winners but we have the enduring protection and love of God, our Father.  To make that point even stronger, Paul lists ten potential sources of trouble that would try and separate us from the love of God:  Death nor life, angels nor rulers, things present nor things to come, powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation.  A list of ten is significant because, in the Bible, ten is a number of completeness.  What Paul is saying is that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Nothing!

     Again I will give credit to Pastor Arle back in 1980 at the Fall Pastors’ Conference in Grayling, Michigan and tell you that there is only one thing that I want you to remember from this sermon and that is “Nothing!”  If you don’t remember any other sermons that you have heard from me over the past eight and a half years, remember “Nothing!”  Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Nothing!   All kinds of things will try but when you are strengthened in your faith through the power of the Holy Spirit working in you through the Word and the Sacraments, the Means of Grace, you can be assured that nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Peace To All Nations

Peace to All Nations

Zechariah 9:9-12

     Whether you are a big soccer fan or just one of those people who have jumped on the bandwagon during the World Cup matches, one thing that seems to stand out is that we live in a world that is made up of many people from many different countries with many different languages and cultures.  We in the United States, considered by many to be the most powerful country in world, are just one of the many and as a nation, we don’t really care that much about the most popular sport in the world.  It has been interesting to see how nations that have harbored hatred for one another for centuries all come together to compete.  It is almost like the World Cup brings about a special kind of peace among nations for at least a few weeks.  When it is over though, everyone will go home to the same old hostilities and hatreds as before. 

     Our Old Testament lesson for today presents us with a prophecy that promises peace to all nations but it is not based on the opportunity to participate in the World Cup or the Olympics or some other world-wide sporting event.  Instead, as our reading begins, “Behold, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation is he.”  The prophet Zechariah is proclaiming the coming of a king who will bring peace.  This is the kind of prophecy that God directed His prophets to proclaim to the people when they had been oppressed by foreign powers.  The people of Israel had been in captivity in Babylon for forty years and when the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, under Cyrus, the Israelites were allowed to leave and go back to their homeland.  The problem was that after forty years, many of the Israelites weren’t sure that they wanted to go back.  Everything had been destroyed, including the temple. Forty years is enough time for whole generations to turn over and the younger people did not know what the homeland was even like in the good times.  It would be hard work to rebuild and establish their culture once again.  They needed encouragement. 

     They were still God’s chosen people even though they had to spend time in captivity.  God was going to keep His promise to them about the land He had given them.  The covenant was still in effect.  There were going to be better days ahead for them, especially when the Messiah would come.  At this point in Zechariah’s prophecy, the coming of the Messiah was going to be the subject of his words of encouragement.  In a way it would be just like a sports team that needed a stirring speech from their coach just before the big game.  Those words would help them to focus on what is really important and help them to lose their fear.  It’s all positive reinforcement for the work that would be ahead.  The same thing would be done by military leaders who were about to lead the troops into battle.  As we think about the struggles of the Patriots who fought in the War of Independence that we celebrated this long weekend, the motivating messages of the leaders helped the people to overcome their fear of a well organized military.  The patriots were fighting for liberty and freedom from tyranny.  When they were reminded of that they kept going even when the odds seemed to be against them. 

     The people of God also needed encouragement and the hope of a better time under the king who would come to save them and give them the courage to rebuild the temple and rebuild their way of life under God.  The people also knew that when the prophet spoke, it was not his own words but rather the words of God.  They lost all they had because they did not remain faithful to Lord.  Now in their repentance, the Lord would restore them.  The chariot and the war horse would be removed from Israel.  Instead they would be ruled by one who would come in humility, riding on a donkey.  Does that sound familiar?  This would happen when Jesus would enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  He would speak peace to the nations and His rule would be to the ends of the earth. 

     The promises continued as the prophet spoke of the blood of the covenant.  This brought them back to their history when the blood of the lamb would protect them from the angel of death.  It also would be fulfilled when John the Baptist declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  The result is that the prisoners would be set free, the people would be restored to their stronghold and given victory over their enemies. 

     While this prophecy was intended to bring encouragement to the exiles, it also has a broader meaning for all people of God of all time.  The reason that the Israelites were conquered and taken into captivity was their unfaithfulness to God.  They worshiped idols. They adopted the religious practices of their pagan neighbors and broke the very first commandment that God had given to His people at Mt. Sinai.  “You shall have no other gods.”  When we think of the world we live in today, there are many times when we are tempted and we fall into the trap of worshiping other gods.  They may not be idols of wood or stone.  They may not demand sacrifices in return for favorable weather and good crops but we have found other gods.  Whenever other influences in the world pull you away from God’s command to love the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself, you have turned away from the true God to follow other gods.  When you give in to the urge to skip regular worship in favor other activities, you have ignored God’s command to worship.  When you have allowed your language to match the indecent language of your friends and coworkers, you have ignored God’s command to keep His name holy.  When you have willfully disobeyed parents and other authorities, you have ignored the Lord’s command to obey those who have been placed over you.  I don’t think I need to go further.  You have disobeyed God time and time again.  You have been oppressed by the forces of the devil, the world and your sinful nature. You have become a prisoner who deserves nothing but the waterless pit.

     You need to hear the words of the prophet.  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.  Behold your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he.”  That prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came into the world.  He is our righteous King who brings salvation for the oppressed, those who are prisoners of sin.  By the blood of Jesus, a new covenant was established between the Creator and His special creatures.  That new covenant is a covenant based on God’s grace and faith which is worked in you by God’s grace through the power of the Holy Spirit.  By faith you can look to Jesus, whose blood sealed the new covenant.  By His suffering and death on the cross, your debt of sin was paid and you have been set free. You have been given that double blessing of being able to return to your stronghold, the loving arms of your Savior and you have been given the victory over your enemies, the devil, the world and your sinful nature.  You have also been given the promise of peace among nations which will happen when Jesus comes again.  In the new heaven and the new earth that will be established when the old has passed away, there will be peace because of the victory over the enemies of God and the reconciliation that has been made between God and His people. 

     Until that time comes you can live with the hope of that eternal kingdom in your heart.  The message of the prophet and the knowledge of the fulfillment of all the prophets’ messages in Christ Jesus will give you the encouragement that you need when things seem to be going against you.  When the world seems to be winning the battles, you can be assured that our King has won the final battle and the eternal victory belongs to the people of God.  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he.  He shall speak peace to the nations and his rule shall be from sea to sea.”

Strengthened by that encouragement, you can live confidently and joyfully serve your Lord all your days in the face of any opposition.  Nothing can separate you from God’s love in Christ Jesus. As Paul said in our Epistle lesson from Romans 7, “Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Amen

Rev. Gerald Matzke 

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

A Free Gift

A Free Gift 

Romans 6:12-23

    One of the most often used advertizing gimmicks is the offer of a free gift, just for stopping by.  Time shares, car dealers, magazines, even churches, offer you a free gift if you just come in the door.  Of course there is the small print that you have to watch out for but the enticement of something free gets your attention.  It doesn’t take long and you find out that the old saying is true, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”  We can become very skeptical about something that is presented for free.  That is why many people have rejected the true Christian message over the years because it sounds too good to be true.  It couldn’t be that simple.  Even many churches that bear the name Christian have had a problem with the idea that salvation could  be free and as a result they added things to the basic message that, in the end, added so many extra burdens that the real message of salvation by grace for Christ’s sake through faith has been lost. 

     That is why it is so important for us as people of God to recognize the true message of the Bible.  It is a message of Law and Gospel that must be proclaimed in the proper balance.  To proclaim only the Law, which, by the way, some people like to hear because it helps them to feel superior to the really bad sinners out there, would only leave you in despair.  To only proclaim the Gospel without the Law never confronts people with the reality sin.  If I don’t realize that I am a sinner in need of rescue, I will go along through life thinking that I’m just fine and I don’t need anyone’s help.  The suffering and death of Jesus becomes meaningless in that case.  You need to hear both of the great teachings of the Bible and you need to hear them often to keep you on the right track when it comes to understanding your relationship with God, a relationship that is based, not on human thinking but rather on the truth of God’s Word.  It is the responsibility of a faithful pastor to proclaim Law and Gospel in every sermon.  The passages of Scripture that are chosen for use in our worship services each week reflect that balance of Law and Gospel when they are correctly understood. 

     Paul’s letter to the Romans is a particularly good example of the proper balance of Law and Gospel and our Epistle lesson for today has one of the great passages in all of the New Testament because it contains both the Law and the Gospel in one sentence.  Paul’s conclusion in this section of the letter pulls together what he had been explaining about the consequences of sin and the free gift of God.  “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  The Law and the Gospel are clearly presented in this one sentence.  “The wages of sin is death.”   This takes us back to Adam and Eve.  When they doubted God and disobeyed His command, they began the process of dying.  They passed that punishment on to all mankind.  Not only would they die, their lives would be filled with sorrow and disappointment.  The influence of the devil’s trickery and lies would cause them and all those who followed them to become slaves to sin.  That sinful nature that was passed down keeps sinful mankind in that slavery to sin.  Instead of living to serve the Lord, the sinful nature looks to serve itself at the expense of others.  One sin leads to another and you find yourself in a dangerous cycle that is impossible to break without God’s help.

     Paul uses the word picture of producing fruit to further explain the consequences of sin.  Sin produces fruit, bad fruit.  It drags down you and makes you miserable with your life and you look for something that will make you feel better.  The trouble is that the things that promise relief from your sinful, miserable condition only make it worse in the end.  Alcohol, drugs, or instant gratification, only make matters worse. When the temporary fix wears off you haven’t found any real solution to your dilemma.  The bonds of slavery to sin just get heavier and it becomes more difficult to travel that road.

     When you realize that there is no hope in the things of this world, it is then that the Gospel needs to be heard.  The Gospel is the good news that there is rescue from that fallen condition, that slavery to sin.  That rescue comes in the free gift from God.  It sounds too good to be true, but it is true.  It was foretold by God’s prophets down through the ages and it came in the form of the Son of God who took on human flesh and blood and came to earth to be one of us.  He lived under the Law of God and kept it perfectly for us.  He then took the punishment that we deserved to the cross and gave up His life for ours.  The eternal punishment that we deserved was on His shoulders and he died in our place.  He showed His power over sin, death and the devil by being raised to life on the third day.  He sent the power of the Holy Spirit so that the message of repentance and forgiveness could be proclaimed and believed.  Through Him, we are reconciled to God. 

     It is truly a free gift because there is nothing that you can do to pay for your salvation   There is nothing you can do to earn it for yourself.  There is no way that the blessings of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life can be inherited from your family.  Even the power to believe, to have faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, comes as a free gift through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacrament.  That is the Gospel, plain and simple. 

     Yet there are people all over, outside the church and inside the church, who feel that they have it all figured out and if they do this or that or follow a certain pattern of life, they will have done enough to earn their place in heaven.  Either the Law has never touched their hearts to convict them of their sin or they have never really appreciated the power of the Gospel.  You might be tempted to nod your head in agreement with what I just said because you know people like that  who think they have it all figured out and they can do it alone without anyone’s help.  That may be true but the reality is that they are really you.  Each one of us still has to deal with the influence of the devil, the world and your sinful nature all the time.  You are constantly being tempted to let down your guard, forget your Christian principles, go along with the ways of the world because everyone else is doing it.  You probably heard your parents’ warning about that when you were young but it still applies to all of us today.  Because you were confirmed does not mean that you are immune from temptation and sin.  In fact you are the devil’s target.  You also need to be reminded of the power that Jesus gives you to fight against the old evil foe. 

     Each day of our Vacation Bible School this past week gave us reminders of how we are strengthened for our struggle against the evil forces that try to keep us slaves of sin.  The first day our Take Home Point was, “Jesus Calls Me.”  He calls me through the Word and my Baptism.  I become a part of His family and He provides me with the Spiritual blessings that I need as His child.   The second day we heard that Jesus Teaches Me.  Just as He taught the people near the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He teaches me through His Word.  There you find the truth about the free gift of salvation.  On day three our Take Home Point was “Jesus Keeps Me Safe.”  Just as Jesus rescued His disciples during a storm on the Sea of Galilee, He keeps us safe from the attacks of the devil, the world and our sinful nature.  His power is greater than all of that and He rescues us out of His great love.  On day four the Take Home Point was “Jesus Saves Me.”  The greatest news we could ever hear is that Jesus saves me from eternal punishment because of my sins.  Even when you become fearful, like Peter when Jesus allowed him to walk on the water, He picks you up when you sin and promises you full and free forgiveness.  On Day Five we were sent off with the Take Home Point, “Jesus Provides All I Need.”  Just as He provided a meal for His disciples after His resurrection, Jesus continues to provide us all that we need through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Means of Grace.  He gives us the forgiveness of sins and the sure promise of eternal life when He calls us from this life.  What more could we need!  In a very deliberate and enjoyable way, the Law and the Gospel were proclaimed during the week of Vacation Bible School.  The Law and the Gospel continue to be proclaimed each time we come together for worship.  It could truly be said that a free gift is offered anyone who comes here. What more could you need?  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The Second Sunday after Pentecost    

In the Name

In The Name

Matthew 28:16-20

    When you think of today as Father’s Day, probably the one thing that comes to mind, whether you have your father here with you or you have to remember the times that you spent with your father, is the word relationship.  You develop a relationship with your father that is unique in the family.  It’s different from the way that you relate to your mother or your brothers and sisters.  A relationship with your father is something that you can cherish and learn from the rest of your life.  For a young man, the relationship with your father can serve as a model for you as you become a father.  For a young woman, the relationship with your father plays a role in the kind of person that you will look for in a husband.  This is assuming, of course, that the relationship that you have is a positive one.  We know that because of sin, all people have to deal with their sinful nature inherited from their parents just as they inherited it from their parents and so on down the line.  We are all less than perfect, but in spite of that, the relationships that are built in the family play an important part in molding and shaping who we are and how we will react in our own families later on in our lives. 

     In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus is talking to His disciples during that period of forty days between His Resurrection and His Ascension into heaven.  He is preparing them for what will be ahead of them when He is gone.  He had built a relationship with them in the three years that He taught them through His words and the signs and wonders that indicated to them that He was truly the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of the world.  They would need that because He was giving them a tremendous task.  In the words of our text, they were to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  It is that statement about baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit that makes this an important text for this Trinity Sunday, a Sunday in the Church Year when we emphasize the nature of the true God, the Triune God, the Three in One.  Jesus, Himself, makes this statement and in so doing answers a question that has been confusing people for generations.  What is the nature of the true God? 

     Human wisdom will try to explain the nature of the Trinity and, by itself, human wisdom will get it all wrong.  That was happening in the early church.  It became necessary for the leaders of the early church to come together and make a clear statement, based on Scripture alone, about the true nature of God.  It is clear that there is one God, yet in describing this God, it also becomes clear from the Scriptures that there are three persons in one God.  Again, human reason has a hard time understanding this and as a result, finds itself straying from the truth that gets the relationship all wrong.  It was then that the church leaders put together a confession of faith that clarified the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity and it became known as the Nicene Creed because it was presented and adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.  About 150 years later, another document was adopted that helped to clarify this relationship and it became known as the Athanasian Creed, in honor of Athanasius, a Christian leader who was an important spokesman for the truth when the Nicene Creed was written and adopted. 

     The Athanasian Creed has been an important document down through the history of the Christian Church.  It is included in the list of writings that are known as the Lutheran Confessions contained in the Book of Concord, the definitive collection of Lutheran teachings since the time right after the Reformation.  It isn’t used in worship as much as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed because of its length but it is still an important explanation of the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity.  It has two parts, the first dealing with the nature of the Trinity and the second on the nature of Christ.  Both of these doctrines were attacked by false teachers in the early years of the church and it was essential that leaders faithful to the Scriptures came forward and presented this document. 

     I would like you to turn in your hymnal to page 319.  We are going to read this responsively today followed by a few comments.  As we get started, sometimes people are surprised by the use of the term “catholic faith.”  This use of the word “catholic” comes from a Greek word that means true or universal.  It is referring to the true church, those who believe in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.  At the time that it was written there was only one Christian church and to distinguish the true faith from the false teachers that were threatening the true church, the word catholic or universal was used.  To say these words does not mean that we agree with the Roman Catholic Church and its teachings.  We will first read up to verse 26. 

     As you can tell, the emphasis in this section is on the nature of the Trinity.  There are not three God’s but one God.  Yet we do not abandon the idea that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God.  You will also notice how some of the lines of the Nicene Creed have been incorporated into the text of the Athanasian Creed.    We continue now by reading responsively the rest of the Creed. 

     As in the first section that we read, there are many similarities to the other Creeds that we more commonly use.  There is sometimes some confusion about the last part of the Creed.  In verse 39, at first glance it seems that the judgment will be based on works rather than faith as we have always taught.  A close look and an understanding of the grammar will show that there is no inconsistency with our teaching.  In speaking of the final judgment, verse 39 says, “those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.”  The key to understand this is the word “good.”  Good is an adjective.  It describes a person, place or thing.  In this case it is describing a good thing, in other words, your faith.  That is consistent with all that Jesus and the New Testament writers said about believing and being saved by faith alone.  “By grace you are saved through faith; it is a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.”  “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  You all are familiar with those passages.  Faith produces good works but it is faith first of all. 

    

     It’s all about relationships, even in God’s family.  He is our Father just as Jesus often said.  All we have comes from Him.  The greatest blessing is His only Son who came into the world to be our substitute under the law and on the cross.  It is the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith through the wonderful Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  It is that faith that is the good thing through which you will enter eternal life.  To the Triune God be all praise and glory now and for all eternity.   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, OH  44077

Trinity Sunday  2014

Resist the Devil, Firm in Your Faith

Resist the Devil, Firm in Your Faith

I Peter 4:12-19, 5:6-11

     We all know that when we are young, our minds are taking in all kinds of information.  Everything is new and sometimes we learn about things that make us happy and sometimes we learn lessons that stay with us to help us avoid trouble later on in our lives.  For example, you all have grown up with some kind of picture in your mind about the devil.  Some time or another you heard about the devil and you knew right away that he was not a nice guy.  He was evil.  His name even has the word evil in it.  He is the evil one.  He is worse than the Grintch.  He wants to destroy everything that is good.  How you imagine the devil to be depends on the kinds of things you learned about the devil.  For some he is pictured in all red with horns and a pitchfork and a scary look on his face.  For me, the passage that I read before was the image that I had in my mind when I was growing up.  You have to understand that I went to a one room Lutheran School.  All eight grades were in one room.  One of the advantages of that kind of arrangement is that the younger kids could listen in on the lessons that the older kids were having.  When the school closed before my sixth grade year, I found myself well ahead of the public school students in many areas because I was curious enough to listen in on the upper grades.  One of the things that I heard was the description of the devil from this passage from I Peter 5:8.  It was Bible passage 260 on page 96 in the 1943 edition of the Blue Catechism.  Of course it was in the King James version.  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring loin walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  For a second grader, that was scary.  For years I lived with the fear of that lion prowling around looking for someone to devour, looking for me.  Still today, when I hear that passage, I remember being that little kid sitting in the second row of desks fretting about the devil trying to devour me. 

     It is a great word picture and it has stuck with me my whole life.  As I put together a sermon like this that is going to address the nature of the devil, I still remember my teacher describing the craftiness of the evil one.  I’m sure that it has come out in my preaching over the years.  The fact is that the description of the devil is still valid.  He is prowling around, looking for someone to devour.  He will use all kinds of trickery to achieve His evil purposes.  He will get his evil angels to do his dirty work and he will use the world to try and convince you that trying to do God’s will isn’t worth all the effort.  In the past weeks, I have been mentioning that Peter’s letters were intended to encourage persecuted Christians.  Last week I mentioned some of the words that Peter used to describe what was happening.  Here, later in the letter he lists more things that the devil will try and use to destroy your faith.  He speaks of a fiery trial, insults, and suffering.  The temptation is to give up.  He wants you to come to the conclusion that it just isn’t worth all the hassle to be a follower of Jesus.  If you give in to the temptations, your life will be free of all the fiery trials and insults and suffering.  The problem with that kind of thinking is that it only concerns the here and now.  It becomes easy to forget about the eternal aspect of your existence.  Live for now!  There’s nothing after this life.  Live it up while you have the chance.  You hear that kind of nonsense everyday.  The world promotes that kind of thinking all the time.  If you aren’t careful, if you are not alert, you can begin to believe the devil’s lies.  There is a heaven and there is a hell.  The devil wants to fill up hell and does not want to see anyone in heaven.

     We shouldn’t be surprised by difficulties that we face.  Peter reminds his readers that Jesus warned His disciples that these things would happen.  In the first verse of the reading, he says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.”  The fiery trials and suffering for the faith should be expected in this world.  But it is only temporary.  You can rejoice in your sufferings because you know that when Jesus comes again, you will have joy beyond what you can imagine.  Then you can be surprised at how wonderful it is be to be in the Lord’s presence.

     In the mean time, Peter gives you some good advice about how to deal with the problems and troubles of this life.  In verse six, he begins by saying, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of

God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.”  That is a very crucial statement.  When you humble yourself before God, you are submitting to His will.  The natural thing to do when facing difficulties is to question God.  You have all heard the statements people have made.  “Why is God doing this to me.”  “I don’t deserve to have this happen.”  “If God is supposed to be loving, why do I have to suffer so.”  That is not humbling yourself before God.  That is actually exalting yourself above God.  You see yourself in a position to second guess God’s wisdom.  You need to see the bigger picture.  In His grace, He showed His love to you by sending His Son into the world to take your place.  He lived that perfect life that you couldn’t live and then took your place on the cross and died for your sins.  That is real love.  Once again, the love is not just for now but it is for all eternity.  When you realize that, you can cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.  What a wonderful expression of God’s love and care.  All those worries and cares about the things that you might have to face in this life can be a terrible burden.  But Peter tells us to throw those burdens on the Lord.  Give them to Him because He cares for you.  Because God cares, you can be sure that nothing can separate you from His love.  He will be there for you and will see to it that you will be with Him forever.

     You still will have to deal with the devil and all his tricks while you are in this life.  But you are not alone.  Peter tells us to be sober-minded and watchful.  Be alert for the signs of the devil’s schemes to get you to fall away.  Recognize the subtle ways in which the devil uses the world and your sinful nature to doubt God’s love.  Because Jesus died for you and rose again, He defeated the power of the devil and He gives you the power to resist the temptations.  Through the Holy Spirit, He helps you to remain firm in your faith.  That’s some powerful help in the fight against the devil.  You are given the power to resist the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, and you are given the spiritual strength to remain firm in your faith.  Peter continues by saying, “the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”  He will restore that image of God that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned.  He will confirm the plan He has for you to be with Him in heaven.  He will strengthen you to be able to resist any attack from the evil one.  Lastly, He will establish you as a part of His Kingdom of glory in heaven.  Who then can make the claim that God is not a God of love?  Who can say that God doesn’t care about you?  Those are the lies of the devil. 

     As you live your life, waiting for the glorious appearing of Jesus, you are strengthened to resist the devil, firm in your faith.  As you do, you will be a witness to the power of God at work in your life.  You will be a living affirmation of God’s plan of salvation for the world through His Son, Jesus.  You will also be declaring along with Peter in the last verse of our reading, “To Him be the dominion forever and ever.”  As you recognize that God has dominion over all things, you truly can humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and live with the assurance that He will give you the strength to resist the devil, firm in your faith.  To the God of  all grace in Christ be the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The Seventh Sunday of Easter