God's Building Project

Ephesians 2:11-22

     There can be times in the life of a Christian when you may wonder where you fit in the church.  You may feel alone or alienated from the rest of the group.  You just don’t feel like we are a part a what is going on.  It is at times like this that some people drift away from the church and are seldom seen again.  It is sad that something like this should happen, especially when we consider the importance of staying close to the Lord, close to our source of spiritual strength in the Means of Grace and close to the rest of the Body of Christ. It is often necessary that we be reminded of our place in the Lord’s Kingdom.  We need to see that we have not only the privilege of being part of the Lord’s kingdom but also that we have responsibilities as part of that kingdom.  That is just what the Apostle Paul was trying to show Christians in Ephesus in our Epistle Lesson for today.  As we follow Paul’s line of thinking, may we see our place in the church more clearly and may we seek to be a growing part of God’s Building Project that Paul describes.

     In order for us to fully understand who we are, we have to know something about where we came from.  That is the value of studying history in school.  Paul is primarily addressing a Gentile audience in this letter.  He has to then begin with an acknowledgment of the ancient difference between the Jews, the chosen people of God, and the Gentile world.  Gentiles were essentially anyone else besides the Children of Israel.  The Jews were God’s special people.  They proudly traced their ancestry back to Abraham.  God had made the covenant with Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and that through his descendent, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.  The covenant was reaffirmed through his son Isaac and in turn through Isaac’s son Jacob.  Jacob was renamed Israel by God and through his twelve sons we see the origin of the twelve tribes.  The Old Testament shows us how God continued to provide for His covenant people. Throughout the years, a separation developed between the children of Israel and the rest of the nations of the world.  The children of Israel had the Law given through Moses and the promises of a Messiah.  Later they had the temple and the privilege of God’s special presence, His guidance through His prophets and the continued promises of the Savior.  The Gentile world knew nothing of this.  If they did know, they were only seen as outsiders, strangers and aliens. 

     Paul then presents the good news that in Christ, the Gentiles were no more foreigners and aliens, they are no longer far off but they have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  He has broken down the barriers of separation between Jew and Gentile and there is no longer to be a distinction.  The two are made one in Christ.  Now all believers are one body.  Distinctions like Jew and Gentile are no longer an issue.  The issue is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Through faith, all believers are fellow citizens and members of God’s household.  To illustrate the unity of faith and purpose in this household of God, Paul uses another word picture that we could call God’s Building Project.  When we see the church in this way, it becomes clearer to us what our place is the whole scheme of things.

     Paul calls the people of God a holy temple, a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.  This is a pretty spectacular picture when you consider the splendor of the temple in Jerusalem. Even if these Gentiles had never seen the temple in Jerusalem, they were familiar with the temples of the many false gods in their cities.  Ephesus was a major city of Asia Minor and the home of the temple of Artemis, considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  To speak of the whole number of believers as a holy temple in the Lord left an impressive image in the minds of the Christians there.

     Paul went on to explain how this holy temple was built.  It begins with the foundation of the apostles and prophets.  Every building must have a foundation, especially if it is going to be one as impressive as a temple.  The foundation this case is the teaching of the apostles and prophets.  When we think of the apostles, we have to remember that Paul is also considered to be one of the apostles because Jesus Himself called him and sent him out to the Gentiles. The testimony of the Apostles is the message that was given to them by Jesus.  The messages of the prophets of the Old Testament were also given directly by God. The word prophet means one who speaks for God.  The foundation then of this holy temple is the revelation of God as it was proclaimed by His messengers, the Apostles and Prophets.  Upon this foundation the holy temple is built.

     There is something that is necessary though before this temple is ready to be built.  The cornerstone needs to be in place.  The cornerstone of God’s Building Project is Jesus Christ.  Today a cornerstone serves as a ceremonial piece that marks a significant step in the building project.  For the people of Jesus’ time though, the chief cornerstone was very important to the proper construction of a building.  The cornerstone was very carefully chosen so that it had perfect angles.  The rest of the stones or bricks that would make up the building would take their line from the angle fo the chief cornerstone.  If it was faulty, the rest of the build would be off line.

     This holy temple that is the subject of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is to have Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone.  Applying the same standards as a regular building project, you can see how essential it is for us to have Jesus as our cornerstone.  It is the perfect example for us.  Without Jesus, the walls of the holy temple would not be straight.  All that we are and all that we do as people of God must be in line with Jesus.  If we ignore the cornerstone, we will soon find ourselves out of line.  We lose the proper perspective on our priorities.  Even our life in the church can drift away from the true purpose the Christ has established.  Jesus sent His disciples out as you heard last week to preach a message of repentance.  He gave them also the great commission to make disciples of all nations.  When we work toward those goals, we are staying in line with our chief cornerstone.  When the purpose of our lives in the church strays from tasks that Jesus has established, then we are building walls of the temple without regarding the alignment of the cornerstone.  If your religious life is not aligned with Jesus, the chief cornerstone, your faith is on shaky ground.  Look at the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  They considered themselves to be very religious, yet they missed the whole point of their relationship with God because they rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior.  That can happen to you as well.

     But when you are built on the solid foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, you become part of a great building joined together by a common faith and confession that rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  Paul describes this building as one that grows into a holy temple.  It is a building that grows!  When we think about growth in the church we can think of it in two ways.  First we can see the church grow as more people become disciples according to the Lord’s command.  Jesus didn’t tell His disciples to sit around and wait for the world to come to them.  He said, “Go.”  Go and make disciples by baptizing and teaching.  In that way the building will grow.  We can also think of growth in the church the individual building blocks grow.  You need to grow in your faith.  You need to grow in your knowledge of the Lord and His ways through a life-long study of His Word.  As you grow in knowledge, you also grow in your trust in the Lord for all that you need.  This is what faith is.  It is not just knowledge of some facts.  It is a trust, first of all in Jesus as Lord and Savior from sin, death and everlasting punishment and also a trust in God to be with you and watch over you every day of your life.

     If fact, Paul mentions that in the last verse of our text.  We are built together to become a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.  Think of that!  God lives in you.  What blessing that is!  Usually we think of God looking down on us from His throne in the sky but Paul tells us that His Spirit is in us.  That means that He is with you all the time.  He is there to guide you, to protect you, to comfort you, to plead for you and to strengthen you.

     When you think of God living in you, you also have to be moved by the fact that you have a great challenge and responsibility as the dwelling place of God.  As the dwelling place of God, does your life reflect that fact to others?  Is God pleased to be dwelling in you?  Would He approve of all your actions?  I’m afraid the answer to that question would have to be no.  You fail often to live up to God’s expectations for you.  He continues to dwell in you though because your sins and short-comings have been forgiven by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross.  Through the power of the Spirit, you are renewed and strengthened each day of your life to be a part of that holy temple, that dwelling place of God.  It is an on-going building project.  It is one that will go on in you until the day when you are called to your heavenly home.  May you always be open to the continued growth that is a part of the divine blueprint for your life.  May you always grow together with the rest of the holy temple so that our God, the Master builder, may receive all the glory.  Amen.

And the peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke
July 22, 2012

Boasting in My Weakness

Boasting in My Weakness

II Corinthians 12:1-10

     When pastors get together, like people in any profession, they like to talk shop.  The question is often asked, “What’s going on in your church?”  You know how it is, you ask that kind of question just so you can tell all about all the good things that are happening in your church as soon as the other guy tells his story.  Usually the discussion centers around the success stories like how attendance has increased or how many new members you have.  It’s hard to keep from bragging about the great things that are happening.  It’s not often that you hear someone talk about all the problems they are facing in their church.  St. Paul faced some of these same challenges in his ministry as a missionary to the Gentiles.  As he writes to the Corinthians in our text for today we can see how he puts these successes and challenges into perspective.  His words are not just good for pastors but for everyone who struggles with our human nature to take credit for our successes and who at the same time tries to blame God for the difficulties that we face.

     To understand this passage completely, you have to look back into the previous chapter.  There Paul recounts the many difficulties that he and his companions faced in their missionary journeys.  It is a rather long and impressive list.  His point was not to brag or boast about how resourceful or resilient he was in the face of trouble.  He speaks of beatings, stoning, a shipwreck, being adrift a sea, dangers everywhere, hunger and thirst.  He says that he could boast about all of this but he would rather boast about others and keep his focus on the Lord.  He recognized the devil was at work when he was tempted to boast.  The devil wants us to focus on ourselves and turn our attention away from the Lord and his work in our lives. 

     We are no different than Paul when it comes to the temptation to boast of our accomplishments.  We may not have had to face the beatings and imprisonments and the shipwrecks and all of the other things that he faced but we have had our share of things that have happened in our lives that could give us reason to boast.  Success in school, success in sports, success in our job or outstanding accomplishments in our hobbies or other pursuits could be reason to boast.  They may be all true, just as Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, but boasting in the flesh, as Paul said, often presents us to others as a fool.  Even the pastors I mentioned a few moments ago can often forget that it is only the Lord who changes hearts.  Only through the power of the Holy Spirit will people’s lives be changed so that they seek to grow in their faith through the Word and the Sacraments.

     Paul goes on to tell us that he would rather boast in his weaknesses.  Even though great things were being accomplished and people were coming to the Lord, he did not want people to think more highly of him than they should.  This can be a great danger in the church where the personality or charisma of the pastor is what attracts people.  When that pastor is no longer around, people soon lose interest and the ministry of the church suffers.  The good example of that was the Crystal Cathedral in California.  Many people were drawn to the church and the teaching of Robert Schuler.  They had a thriving television ministry and a huge staff of people.  When the leader retired, the ministry faltered and there were factions within the church that caused many people to lose interest and now recently the building was sold to the Roman Catholic diocese.  Paul did not want people to think that he was the one responsible for their faith.

     He also recognized the Lord’s hand in trying to keep him humble.  He said that in order that he would not become conceited, a thorn in the flesh was given to him, a messenger from Satan to harass him.  We don’t know exactly what that thorn in the flesh was but it was something that was enough of a bother that he seemed to be aware of it all the time.  When it is described as a messenger of Satan to harass him, the word that is translated actually means something like a punch in the face.  It got his attention.  It bothered him to the point that he asked God to remove it from him three times.  Each time the Lord’s answer was no.  He was told. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  For Paul, if that was God’s will, then it must be for his good and he recognized himself that he would be content then with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

     It is truly in our weakness that we see that God at work in us make us strong.  We are truly strong when we forsake our own strength and trust in God’s power for our lives.  That way when we are weak, we are truly strong. 

     That brings us to the real questions for us in this reading.  What temptations do you face to boast in your accomplishments?  I’m not necessarily taking about earthly accomplishments although often our boasting is about earthly things.  In the bigger picture of our life in the Lord those are relatively minor.  What I am concerned with is your understanding of your eternal salvation.  It would come down to the question, why do you think that you will be in heaven some day.  If your answer to that question begins with “I,” you are in a real sense boasting where boasting is foolish.  If you ever try to take credit for your eternal salvation, you have fallen victim to the temptations of the devil to take credit for your place in God’s kingdom.  It is only through God’s great love that you can even have the hope of heaven some day.  It is only through Christ’s suffering and death and resurrection that you can stand before God as righteous.  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit working you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, that you have the faith to believe and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal salvation.

 

     With that clearly established, then you have to ask yourself the next question that comes from this passage.  What is the thorn in the flesh that keeps you from becoming conceited when it comes to your faith?  Since we don’t know exactly what this thorn in the flesh was for Paul, we can use our imagination and look at the things in our lives that keep us from becoming conceited or complacent.  Maybe it’s a physical illness that reminds you daily that you are not in charge of your life like you sometimes think you are.  The daily pain reminds you of your weakness, your vulnerability, your imperfection and you are humbled before God.  When you are, you are also reminded of your dependence upon God’s grace for all that you do have.  This keeps you from trying to take credit for your faith and your Christian life.  Following Paul’s example, you are led to say, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ then I am content with my weaknesses.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  When you are weak, then you see how much you need the Lord’s strength.  When you know that you have the Lord’s strength to deal with your weaknesses, then you are truly strong.  You are strong through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is a quiet strength that gives all glory to God and then uses God’s strength to carry out His plan for your life.  You live to serve the Lord with the gifts and talents that He has given to you and you can be strong in using those gifts because you know that in spite of your weaknesses you are strong, not strong in the way that the world might view strength but strong in the Lord.  Amen.

And the peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

July 8, 2012

Welcome to My New Blog

     Welcome to my new blog.  As usual it takes me a few years to catch up to the rest of the world when it comes to technology but eventually I get there.  I'm not sure what you will find on this blog in the future.  From the title, you might get the idea that I am a golfer who hits it right down the middle every time.  While this is not exactly true, I guess I have a reputation among my golfing friends of being pretty accurate with my driver most of the time.  It might even describe my attitude on many subjects.  I don't like to take a hard line one way or the other because it is usually the case that strong opinions on either side are often proven to be wrong.  I do not like to jump to conclusions.  I would rather weigh both sides before I commit.  You might find sermons on this blog.  Who knows, you might learn something.