What Do You Do With Overflowing Love?

What Do You Do With Overflowing Love?

I Timothy 1:12-17

     We are getting to that point in the growing season when gardeners are often experiencing a surplus in their harvest.  If things have gone well and you got the right amount of rain and the temperatures were just right, you have more of some vegetables than you know what to do with.  Your baskets are overflowing and you are faced with the dilemma of what to do with all of the tomatoes or squash or whatever it is you planted in the spring.  At one congregation that I served, members were urged to bring the overflow to the church to share with those who did not have a garden.  It was called the “Garden of Eatin’”. 

     There are times in our lives when God blesses us and we have to come up with some way of handling the overflow of blessings that God has given.  A few weeks ago in the Gospel lesson, we heard about a man who had an abundant harvest and asked himself what he should do.  His solution was to build bigger barns so that he could store his abundance and then enjoy life.  Eat, drink and be merry was his plan.  That did not please God and the man was called a fool and the Lord took His life.  That was a parable about how we should share what we have with those who are less fortunate.  Our Epistle lesson for today takes that a little deeper as St. Paul writes to Timothy and describes his own situation. 

     Paul knew what kind of life he lived prior to his conversion.  It was no secret that he was active in persecuting the church.  He acknowledged that he was a blasphemer, persecutor and an insolent opponent.  He was a blasphemer because he rejected Jesus as the Christ.  He, like the leaders of the people, did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah because He didn’t fit their human idea of what the Messiah would be.  Because Jesus criticized many of their customs and traditions, they wanted to eliminate Him and His followers.  That is when Paul became a persecutor.  He had followers of Jesus put in jail and even had letters from the chief priest, authorizing him to travel outside of Israel to round up believers who had fled from the persecutions.  He called himself an insolent opponent of God’s plan of salvation for the world through Jesus Christ.  He was determined to put an end to the Jesus faction once and for all. 

     It was in the midst of that kind of life that Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and changed his life.  After a time of reflection and prayer and study, Paul came to see how wrong he had been about Jesus and came to understand the mercy of God.  He came to see the truth in the statement that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and he considered himself the foremost sinner of all.  He put himself on the most wanted list of sinners because not only had he sinned by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah but he actually worked against God’s purposes by speaking against God’s plan of salvation through Jesus, he persecuted those who believed in Jesus and fought against the spread of the Gospel.  You can’t get much worse than that and he knew it. 

     That’s why the mercy and grace of God meant so much to him.  He knew how bad he had been and therefore he appreciated the love of God that much more.  In verse 14, you can see how much he thought of the mercy of God on his miserable life.  He says, “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” 

     Remember what I said about the overflowing harvest of garden vegetables.  Sometimes you don’t know what to do with them all.  Paul recognized that the grace of the Lord was overflowing for him.  When you have an overflow, you have to find something to do with all that you have been given.  Paul knew what God’s plan was for his overflow of blessings.  In verse 16, he tells Timothy and us, “I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.”  In other words, Paul was saying that if God can love someone like me who really messed up, His love is there for you as well.

     He also then added a statement of praise to God for His great love.  “To the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen”  As a result of God’s great love shown to Paul, he wanted to express His honor and glory to God not only with words but also with the way in which he lived his life for the Lord.

     When you think about the life of Paul and all the good that he did in spreading the Gospel of Jesus around that part of the world, you might find it hard to imagine that he would call himself the foremost or chief of sinners.  Would you ever consider yourself to be the chief of  sinners?   When you hear this passage read, it certainly is something to think about.  Would I ever call myself the worst sinner in town, the worst sinner in the church, the worst sinner in my family?  Probably not.  After all I’ve been a member of the church all my life.  I have been a faithful church-goer.  I’ve tried to keep the Ten Commandments and I try to remain faithful to my Confirmation vows.  Paul could have said the same things and yet he considered himself the chief of sinners.  Another time he also considered himself to be a Pharisee of Pharisees.  He was educated in the laws and traditions of the church and as far as he knew, he had kept those laws better than anyone he knew, yet later on he considered it all rubbish.  What changed everything for him? 

      For one thing, Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  He was struck blind until he was baptized and his sight was restored.  During that time he was shown the truth about his sin and God’s love for him, a love so great that God sent His only Son into the world to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, no matter how hard we tried.  Paul recognized his sin and his need for the forgiveness that was won for him by Jesus on the cross.  He came to know the overflowing love that was given to him by faith in Christ.  He understood God’s plan for his life, namely that he was to be an example of God’s overflowing love to those who would also be shaken out of their denial of their sin and shown the love of God in Christ Jesus.  That change in attitude  comes through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Good News of the Gospel.  When he was baptized, the Spirit worked through the words and promises of God connected with the water. 

     You have had those same blessings given to you as you have had the opportunity to hear the Word and you have received the Sacraments in your life.  You have had the overflowing love of God given to you in Christ Jesus through faith and the grace of God.  In Paul’s case, he was aware of that overflowing love because he recognized what a terrible sinner he was.  He was brought from the depths of sin to the highest heights of God’s love.  When you think about your life and your sin, probably sins that no one else knows about, if you are honest, you know that you could very well have been called the foremost of sinners.  Only if you acknowledge your sin will you be able to rejoice in the overflowing love of God that has become yours through faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Without a knowledge of your sin, you see no need for a Savior.  But to know your sin, you also know the greatness of God’s love for you. 

     Now you have to consider what you will do with the overflowing love that God has given to you.  It’s more than you need.  It is overflowing.  For one thing, you can think of what Paul said. You can be an example to others of the great love of God and in that way bring them into a fellowship with their Lord and Savior.  Who better can relate to a sinner than a fellow sinner.  Who better to lead someone to Christ than one who has experienced the overflowing love of God.

     Another way to share the overflowing grace of God is by helping those who need to be aware of a bit of God’s love in their life.  His love is always there.  Some folks just need to see how it all works and that’s where you come in.  You have plenty to share because His love is overflowing in your life. 

     When you think of how your gracious God works in you and through you, you can also say with Paul, “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.”

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

September 15, 2013   

Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

Hebrews 14:8

     One of the things that I really do not like to hear is that you have to keep up with the times.  Maybe it’s a factor of my age.  That may be true because I think that in some ways I have given up trying to keep up with the times because some of the things that I see are often so disgusting.  There are some things that are certainly good about the times that we live in.  Technology has come so far.  I can remember typing out my first sermons over thirty years ago on a typewriter.  Some of you probably don’t even know what that it.  I like being able to use a computer so that I can fix my mistakes easily as I go along.  I also like having a smart phone that puts the world of information right in my hands.  A question comes up and I can look up the answer in seconds.  I have the Bible, the Lutheran Confessions and the latest sports scores on my phone.  Those are some of the good things that come from keeping up with the times.

     On the other hand there are a lot of other things that have changed over the years that are not so good.  Most of those things have to do with people’s ideas of what is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior.  Morality has become a matter of personal choice.  There is a lot of discussion and debate about how things got this way, but it finally comes down ignoring the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods.”  When you think that your own ideas carry more weight that God’s commands, you have made yourself your own god.  That would explain of lot of the modern thinking that comes to the conclusion that there are no absolute rules and that everything has to make sense to me, or at least has to have my own approval. 

     Apparently that kind of thinking is not that modern after all.  When you look at the Epistle lesson for today you will find a number of areas of life that the writer discusses.  They are just as relevant today as they were back then because they are dealing with human nature.  Each of the admonitions in this reading speak to an area of the Christian life that shows evidence of our faith and the response that believers can make that demonstrates the love of Jesus in their lives.  At the same time, you can see the importance of making each statement because the temptation is always there to follow your sinful, selfish nature and do what ever seems right at the moment.  Look down the list again.  “Let brotherly love continue.” If you don’t let brotherly love continue you will be living only for yourself. 

     “Show hospitality.”  The opposite again is just taking care of yourself.  “Remember those in prison.”  The easy thing to do is forget those in prison because after, they are just getting what they deserve.  How does that show Christ-like love?  “Let marriage be held in honor and marriage bed be undefiled.”  Is that what the world encourages you to do?  Hardly!  Godly attitudes toward marriage have been thrown out the window by many people because it can be complicated or too much work or whatever rationalizations the human mind can come up with.  “Keep you mind free from the love of money.  Be content with what you have.”  Once again the First Commandment is broken when your love and trust is in money and not God and His promises to provide all that you need.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” says the Lord.  “Do not be led away by strange and diverse teachings.”  Why would the writer say that if it weren’t for the fact that there were diverse and strange teachings attacking the faith of God’s people all the time?  In the midst of all of these admonitions, the writer reminds you that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

     The important point here is that sin is still sin.  It was sin when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.  It was sin when Jesus reviewed the Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount.  It is still sin today and sin is still sin forever.  Jesus Christ and His teaching, which are the same as the teachings that God made clear through the prophets of old, do not change.  It is still sin as much as you try to deny it or give it new names, like weaknesses or bad habits.  It is still sin when it is contrary to God’s will as He has made it known to us in His Word. 

     If it is still sin, then you are still guilty even as you try and suppress your guilt.  Your human nature is skilled in trying to talk your way out of any kind of guilt.  Blaming others is one of the top strategies for suppressing guilt.  Claiming that you have to keep up with the times is another one of the guilt suppressors.  Everybody else is doing it is one of the first tricks that you try to use to lessen the guilt that you feel because of your sin.  

     With sin and guilt then also comes the need for forgiveness.  Because of your sin, you have fallen farther and farther away from God.  Left to your own wisdom and skill, you will do all you can to justify yourself before your peers, in your own mind and you will even have the mistaken idea that you can justify your actions and attitudes before God.  How foolish you become when you are trying to avoid the guilt of your sin!  Yet the reality is that the only way that you can hope to stand before God is by having your sins taken away. 

     That brings us back to the statement that was made before.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Not only does that remind you of the unchanging message of God’s Law, but it also reminds you the unchanging nature of God’s love.  The writer takes you to the foot of the cross, outside the city where Jesus suffered in order to sanctify the people through His own blood.  Do you realize the power in that statement?  Jesus suffered.  It was not an unfortunate accident that happened to a popular, yet radical teacher, as some have tried to say.  It was all part of God’s plan for your eternal salvation.  By God’s great love that was evident yesterday, today and forever, Jesus was sent down from heaven to become one of us.  He lived the perfect life that you could not live and then shed His blood as the sacrifice for your sins.  He called people to repentance so that they could see how they had offended God with their sin.  They could see the seriousness of their sin and look to God alone for the forgiveness that only He could give.

     The result is that you are sanctified by His blood.  You are made holy.  That’s what sanctified means.  You can’t make yourself holy.  God has done it for you by His decree.  He declares you not guilty because the blood of Jesus paid the price to set you free.  That was God’s plan from the beginning with Adam and Eve after they sinned.  It was His plan when He spoke through the prophets who warned the people about their sin and foretold the coming of the Messiah.  It was His plan when Jesus came into the world.  It is still His plan today that the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ be shared with all nations so that they too can receive the blessings of forgiveness, life and salvation.  That’s what it means to make disciples. 

     Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He has to be because the devil, the world and our sinful nature are the same yesterday, today and until the final victory has been won when Jesus comes again.  Then their influence over you will end.  Until that time, you will have to be alert to the temptations that will come your way.  You will need to be vigilant in your fight against the powers that try to tell you that you have to keep up with the times.  The fight will be difficult but you know that you do not struggle against the evil influence of this world alone.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Here we have a third level of understanding of this passage.  He will be there to send you the power of the Holy Spirit to help you be strong in your faith and unyielding in your fight against the spiritual darkness that surrounds you in this world.  Just as the prophets of old were strengthened for their struggles against evil in the world in ancient times, and just as the Apostles were strengthened by the gift of the Spirit on Pentecost, so also the Spirit strengthens you for your spiritual warfare through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  The blessings that Jesus Christ has given to you and to all believers are the same yesterday, today and forever.  May we never forget that until the time when we are called to stand in the presence of God and come to know the blessed reality of the “forever” part of God’s promises.    Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

September 1, 2013 

Serving One Another

Serving One Another

Galatians 5:13b

    The summer months have flown by and now it is just about time to start another school year.  When you think about it that way it can either be exhilarating if you just can’t wait to get started or it can be kind of a downer if you wish that you could wait a bit longer before you have to get started.  I guess it just depends on your perspective.  Usually it’s the younger students who just can’t wait to find out all the new things that are going to be happening.  The older students have learned by now that although there is the promise of some new things, the reality is that it is still school and there will be schedules and early mornings and homework and tests and all the other things that make school what it is.  It’s the same for teachers.  Getting back to a routine has its benefits.  Getting to know a new group of students can be fun.  But soon the reality sets in that there will be lessons to plan, papers to grade, and the challenge of getting students back into the routine and order of a school day.  It is exciting.  When you get to be my age, you start thinking back about the good old days.  I started adding up all the years that I have spent in Lutheran Schools as a student, teacher, parent and pastor and I came up with the fact that this is my 54^th school year in and around Lutheran Schools.  And you want to know a secret.  The beginning of a new school year is still exciting for me.

      One of the things that makes a new school year exciting is the possibility of learning new things.  You would think that after all those years, I wouldn’t have much left to learn but the truth is that I have a lot to learn.  It seems like the more you learn the more you realize that you don’t know.  One of the things that makes a new year interesting is the theme for the year.  A theme is usually chosen because it makes us think about something very important, something we can all learn.  The theme for this school year at Our Shepherd Lutheran School is “Serving One Another” taken from Galatians 5:13.  It talks about an action.  It’s an action that everyone involved with the school needs to take toward everyone else.  This theme can be understood in many ways.  We could think about serving one another as it relates to students serving other students.  That is a daily lesson that needs to be taught because the natural tendency of human beings is to want to be served.  Our human nature is selfish and we often expect others to do what we want them to do.  We need constant reminders about how sinful our human nature can be.  When you have a Scriptural admonition like the theme for the school year, you will be reminded often of the God-pleasing way to treat one another.  The same can be said when we think of students serving their teacher.  There are many opportunities each day for students to serve the needs of their teacher in the classroom.  At the same time we can also think of how teachers can serve their students.  You might say that something like that happens all the time.  It is the nature of the profession.  But there are times when caring teachers will go beyond the demands of the curriculum to serve the needs of the students.  What a wonderful example that becomes for the students when they see their teacher doing some of those little extra things that make the school experience special. 

     We can also understand this idea of serving one another when we think about the relationship between teachers.  You are all working together for the good of the students and the school.  You are all individuals with your own set of demands on your time and needs in and out of the classroom, but you are also one in Christ.  You will have many opportunities to serve one another in love as you pick one another up at the end of a difficult day, as you encourage one another as the school year goes on and as you laugh together and even cry with one another at times.

     The same could be said as you consider the important relationships that develop between parents and teachers.  Often conflicts can arise when you fail to realize that parents and teachers are all working toward the same goal.  The theme reminds you that you are here to serve one another.  It goes both ways, parents to teachers and teachers to parents. 

     At this point you might be thinking that it would be great if it only worked out that way in real life.  If you try to do it on your own, by your own strength, it would be impossible.  Your human nature would take over and you would simply look out for yourself and expect everyone to serve you.  But you have a wonderful example in Jesus who not only came into the world to be an example of service but also gave His life for all your sins, sins of selfishness and greed, sins of jealousy and pride, sins of disobedience and hatred.  He came to show us the grace of God that loves us in spite of our sins.  Through His suffering, death and resurrection, we are set free from the bonds of sin and set free to love and serve one another. 

     Our service to our Triune God becomes then our response to God’s great love.  As we see ourselves in ministry together, our over-arching goal is to serve the Lord and His purposes here on earth.  That shows itself in our service to one another in love.  By the power of the Holy Spirit that comes to us through the Word and the Sacraments, we can follow St. Paul’s admonition to the Galatian Christians when He said,
“through love serve one another.” 

     As the school year progresses, it will be our prayer that demonstrations of that service to others become part of the daily routine.  We pray that they become such a part of our daily life together that we can see God’s love growing in us and that it makes a difference in our classrooms, our school, our families and in our congregations.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Opening Service of the 2013-14 School Year

Our Shepherd Lutheran School

August 25, 2013 

Speak My Word Faithfully

Speak My Word Faithfully

Jeremiah 23:23-29

     During the first full week in August, I had the privilege of attending two very important events.  The first was an extension class from the St. Louis Seminary titled, “Being Lutheran in a Non-Denominational Situation.”  The professor wanted us to wrestle with the question of what it means to be Lutheran and does being Lutheran matter in our world were there are so many different churches and where there are also churches that do not want to be identified with a particular denomination.  Of course the answer was ultimately that it does matter that the Lutheran Church continues to be dedicated to preaching the Word of God in its truth and purity and administering the Sacraments according to God’s command.  The Word and the Sacraments, of course, are the Means of Grace that God has given us to bring us to faith and keep us in saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Those important teachings are not always high priorities in many churches where the teaching has become more man-centered and less Christ-centered.  That doesn’t even take into consideration the people who have very little to do with the church at all.  Their world view is totally secular and God is not even in the picture.

      The second important event was the Regional Outreach Conference that was sponsored by Lutheran Hour Ministries.  Once again the importance of a clear message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ was the priority.  As Lutheran Christians we have a wonderful gift that we have been commissioned to share with the world around us.  Jesus, Himself, has given us the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations.  He started with a group of eleven apostles who were sent out after Easter and the Ascension and look at what they accomplished.  After many generations, the commission has been given to us.  It is not easy because the devil, the world and your own sinful nature are constantly trying to work against you to distract you from what should be your primary goal.  But that should not deter you from reaching out with the Good News of Jesus to all people, beginning right here in our own community and branching out finally to the ends of the earth. 

     Both of those special events, the seminary class and the Outreach Conference, had essentially the same theme.  It seems rather appropriate then that in the wake of those two events, the Old Testament lesson for today centers on God’s command to speak His word faithfully.  As we consider what that means for us today, may you be strengthened in your appreciation of the true Word of God and may you be moved by the Spirit to find ways in which you can share the Good News with those around you.

     In our Old Testament lesson for today, we hear the Lord speaking through the prophet Jeremiah.  That is how God communicated with His people at the time when He was establishing His covenant with them.  They did not have all of the collected Scriptures that we have today.  A prophet was one who spoke for God.  As we read the words of the book of Jeremiah, or from any of the other prophets for that matter, it is important that we remember that these are not their own words but these are the words of God.  That was one of the issues that God was addressing in these verses before us today.  He spoke about false prophets who lie and who prophesy the deceit of their own minds.  God said that their purpose is to try and get the people to forget God.  It happened many times in the past and He even mentions the times when the people of Israel turned to Baal worship.

     As long as the devil continues to tempt people with his lies and as long as there is a sinful, selfish nature in people, there will be those who try and deceive others with false prophecies that lure people away from the truth.  That is why it is so important that those who have the true word of God proclaim it faithfully.  The devil will try to get his followers to push people farther and farther from the truth.  What is happening now could be explained in verse 27 of our text, where the Lord speaks of the false prophets, “who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?”  Instead of Baal, we could insert prosperity, self-fulfillment, or any number of other philosophies that seek to draw people away from God. 

     God has warned us about those who teach from the deceit of their own hearts.  He has put us on the alert.  At the same time, He encourages us to speak His Word faithfully and then He also gives us three word pictures to tell us why and how His Word is to be proclaimed.  The first word picture comes in the form of a question.  “What has straw in common with wheat?”  Here the dreams and deceit of the false prophets are compared to straw and the Word of the Lord is the grain.  It is the grain that is of the most benefit to us.  The grain is harvested for food.  The grain is what nourishes and sustains us not the straw.  So it is with God’s Word that nourishes and sustains our faith.  The Word of God has substance that comes from a heavenly source.  It is not merely the ramblings of human minds prompted by the devil who wants to destroy your soul.   It is from the God who loves you and sent His Son into the world to reconcile you to Himself.  It comes from the God who wants what is best for you and wants you to be with Him forever in heaven.

      The second word picture that the Lord used to describe His Word also comes in the form of a question.  “Is not My Word like a fire?”  There are many applications that you can find in this little question.  Think of what fire can do.  It can consume.  When faced with the truth of God’s Word, all of the false dreams and deceit can not stand.  They will ultimately be unmasked for what they really are and will be destroyed.  At the same time, fire can be used to refine.  When gold or silver is melted down by the heat of a fire, the impurities are separated out and rise to the top and the precious metal is purified.  Under the fire of God’s Word, the pure truth remains and the dross of dreams and deceit can be eliminated.

     I learned another lesson about what fire can do when I was in Junior High shop class.  For a quarter of the year we had metal shop and the first thing we got to make was a hammer.  We had to cut a piece of metal in the right shape and file it down and drill a hole for the handle and put threads in the hole so the handle could be screwed in.  Then the hammer head was put in an oven and exposed to tremendous heat in a process called tempering.  The hammer head that came out of the oven was different than when it went it.  It was now very hard.  The metal was strengthened by the heat.  That is how the Word of God works in you.  It strengthens you.  It strengthens your faith so that you are able to stand firm when you are attacked by those around you who would try and get you to forget about God.

     The next word picture that is presented continues the question that began with the fire and the Lord says, “Is not my word like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”  That kind of hammer would be much bigger than the one I made in shop class.  This one is big and has real power behind it.  A minister once sent a number of old books away to be rebound.  Among them was a copy of the New Testament.  When he got them back he was surprised to find that on the spine of the New Testament the book binder had only enough room to put the letters “TNT” for The New Testament.  When he thought about it, he realized that it wasn’t such a bad idea.  The New Testament and all of God’s Word are real spiritual dynamite.  It has great power.  The hammer of God’s Word keeps banging away and breaking down your defenses and excuses.  The Law shows you your sins and brings you to repentance.  But it is also there time after time to bring you the Gospel of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.  You are reminded that in spite of your sins, God loves you and through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, your sins are forgiven and you are reconciled to God.  You are brought back into His loving arms where you are strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit who works in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.

     That is the Word of the Lord that is to be proclaimed faithfully.  It has been given to you through those prophets and apostles whom God has chosen as His spokesmen.  It is the Word that continues to be proclaimed by faithful pastors and teachers today.  It is the Word that you need to continue to hear all throughout your life until the time when you will hear the voice of the Lord with your own ears in heaven.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

Wisdom, Knowledge and Joy--What More Could We Want?

Wisdom, Knowledge and Joy—What More Could We Want?” 

Ecclesiastes 2:18-26
 

     As much as the world tries to paint for us a world that is happy where no one has any real problems that can’t be overcome with the right car, the right self-help program, the right medication for all that ails you, the reality is that there are many more people who are unhappy, fearful and frustrated than there are people who know real joy.  The unhappiness is most often the result of unfulfilled expectations.  You have this ideal world in your mind of the way things ought to be but when you look at the real world you only see frustration because things aren’t the way you want them to be and there doesn’t seem to be any prospect for them to get any better and certainly not any closer to your unrealistic expectations.  That frustration could come from your job, your family, or the fear of an uncertain future.  The real cause of this unhappiness is misplaced priorities.  You are looking in the wrong place for real fulfillment and real happiness and as a result, you never find what you are looking for. 

     The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, the son of David, recognized this same kind of frustration and unhappiness in his own life and in the people of his time.  When your priorities and expectations for success and happiness are only concerned with earthly things, you are going to be disappointed.  I have to think that life in the days of Solomon, around 931 BC, was certainly not as fast paced and complicated as it is for us today.  However, there was still a frustration in the minds of people when they thought about the purpose of life.  This frustration is captured in the book of Ecclesiastes when Solomon describes most of life’s pursuits as vanity.  It is a useless show of earthly accomplishments that in the end don’t mean much at all.  It’s all vanity.  To give you an idea of what he meant, he talks about working all your life only to pass on what you accomplished to someone else.  What good is that?  What benefit is that you?  You worry about what you will accumulate to the point that you can’t even sleep at night.  All is vanity.  Such a person is only concerned with the things of this world and getting more of them.

     But even today in our busy world, the pursuit of earthly things consumes us.  The dreams of having more and more earthly things keep the lottery and now the casinos in business.  The drive for increasing profits cause businesses to find new locations with cheaper labor regardless of what it means for loyal workers.  Advertising tries to convince us that we need things so that companies can profit from our vanity.  Solomon would say, “Vanity of vanities.  All is vanity.” 

     But it’s not just out there in the world.  If you are honest with yourself, you know that it is in you as well.  Your sinful nature strives after the things of this world.  The words from the Declaration of Independence, “the pursuit of happiness” have been taken to the extreme and you hear the statement made by many people, “I don’t care what they do as long as it makes them happy.”  That kind of thinking has become the excuse for ignoring the clear word and will of God in the way that many people live their lives.  If you are only concerned with the things of this world, then that kind of thinking might seem reasonable.  If you only live for the here and now, who cares what the consequences will be of your sinful, selfish attitudes and actions!

     Again, Solomon would say, “All is vanity and striving after wind.”  For those of you who are around my age, you probably remember a song that was popular in the sixties by British singer-song writer Donovan called “Catch the Wind.”  In his frustration over a love that was beyond his reach, he wrote, “Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.”  Perhaps he was drawing his inspiration from Solomon in these passages from Ecclesiastes.  Trying to find fulfillment, true happiness and peace from earthly things is like trying to catch the wind.  You can’t do it.  It only leads to more frustration.  You keep trying but it always seems out of reach.

     But that’s not all that Solomon has to say about this.  Remember that this is Solomon, the King, the son of King David, who is writing this.  This is the same Solomon who was given the choice by God to have anything that he wanted and he chose wisdom so that he could rule his people well.  That wisdom was then shared with God’s people in the books of Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes that we have before us today.  That wisdom, as we have heard so far, teaches that striving after earthly things is vanity and a striving after wind.  On the other hand, in his wisdom, Solomon also teaches us that there are great blessings when we live to please God and do His will.  In the closing verse of this section we hear about those blessings.  “For the one who pleases Him, God has given wisdom, knowledge and joy.”  Those are wonderful gifts.  Certainly Solomon could appreciate the blessing of wisdom that God had given to him so that he could be a good king and provide peace and security to his people.  Wisdom could be described as the ability to understand and apply Godly principles to the situations that are faced throughout life but especially in critical situations.  Wisdom is able to consider all the consequences and chose the best course of action. 

     Knowledge is being in touch with the will of God.  God, who is all knowing, imparts knowledge to His people through His Word.  When you hear and study His Word, that knowledge is given to you to show you God’s will.  That knowledge also helps you to make good decisions in your life that are pleasing to God.  Combine that with the wisdom that comes from God and you not only know what God’s will is, you also are able to apply that knowledge in practical situations. 

     The third gift that Solomon mentioned is joy.  This is not to be confused with the fleeting joy that comes from earthly happiness.  This is a joy that comes from the Lord that finds it fullness in heaven.  It is a joy that can only be known when you are at peace with God.  For Solomon and the faithful people of Israel, that joy was found in the promise of the Messiah   They awaited the coming of the One who would bring peace with God. 

     To us who live in the New Testament era when the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Savior has been made known in Jesus Christ, this all takes on a more clear meaning.  God’s love for sinful mankind was demonstrated when Jesus was sent from heaven to earth to become one of us.  He kept the Law perfectly when we could not.  Not even Solomon in all his wisdom and splendor and success as a king could keep God’s Law perfectly.  But Jesus took the place of sinful mankind, He took your place under the Law, and then went to the cross as the punishment for your sins.  Just as Solomon’s idolatry with the gods of his many wives caused the downfall of the kingdom of Israel, so your sins of idolatry that lead to all kinds of other sins against God’s commands would have caused your downfall if it had not been for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  Not only did Jesus suffer and die for you, He rose again to show that the Father was pleased with His sacrifice and because He lives, you shall live also.  The Holy Spirit was then sent to give you the faith to believe and trust in Jesus alone for your eternal salvation.

      You have been reconciled to God and as a result you are given the gifts that Solomon mentions as those things that God gives to the one who pleases Him.  You are given wisdom, knowledge and joy.  Think of what that means for you now.  You have wisdom from God.  With that wisdom you can see through the deceit of the devil and his tricks.  You can see through the enticements to worldly pursuits that are laid before you all the time.  You can see how they try to pull you away from God.  By the power of the Holy Spirit you can also see how you can defend yourself against the temptations of earthly pleasures using the power that the Holy Spirit gives in the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments. 

     The Lord also gives us the knowledge of His will in His Word.  With the wisdom that He also gives, you can see how important it is to make good use of the Word through regular hearing and study of the Word throughout your life so that  you do don’t become complacent and finally ignore that knowledge altogether. 

     Finally He gives the gift of joy.  This joy comes from knowing the height and depth and breadth of God’s love.  That joy is made known in Jesus and is finally made complete for us in heaven.  That joy and the anticipation of its eternal fullness will be evident in the way you live your life and give witness to God’s great love.

     Wisdom, knowledge and joy!  What more could we want?  Amen.

 

Rev. Gerald Matzke
Zion Lutheran Church
Painesville, Ohio
August 4, 2013
 

       

The Most Needed Thing

The Most Needed Thing 

Luke 10:38-42

     The Gospel lesson for today presents to us one the most important lessons that Jesus taught about the Christian life.  It teaches a lesson to every to every Christian but it especially speaks to those who consider themselves very active Christians.  It is very tempting in our busy world to equate Godliness with busyness.  This is not to say that doing good for others is not important.  The lesson here is that hearing God’s Word is most important and serving will naturally follow from that.  Being too busy can not be used an excuse to neglect the study of God’s Word.

     The sermon hymn for today is actually a meditation on the text from Luke 10.  This hymn, as we have it in our hymnal, is actually a shortened version of a ten-verse hymn by Johann Schroeder.  I’d like to have us go back over that hymn and use it as the outline for our thoughts on what Jesus said about the one thing that is needed.  Please open the hymnal again to hymn 536.  As we look more carefully at each verse may the words touch your heart and help you to see how Jesus teaches what is really necessary for your Christian walk.

     The first verse expresses Jesus’ words and identifies the “one thing” as a treasure.  The key to our understanding of this “one thing” is to know that it comes from a heavenly source.  You need to see it as a spiritual blessing.  The point of this little incident in Jesus’ life is to help us to see the distinction between earthly things and heavenly things.  Observers of our times have found that there is a great desire on the part of people today to have some kind of spiritual dimension to their lives.  For some people that can mean anything that takes your mind beyond the normal everyday experiences of life.  For some it is found in meditation on a single thought, much like the eastern religions.  To others it is found in a quiet place where you can forget the stresses of the day.  This they call a spiritual experience.  The problem with those ideas of spirituality is that they provide no lasting benefit. 

     On the other hand, the treasure that Jesus brings is lasting.  The hymn writer points out that, though these other things may bring pleasure, they can become a yoke that presses hard, that burdens us with doubt.  The heart is still left with worry and is still striving for lasting happiness.  What people are really looking for is an escape from their present world with all of its expectations.  In a way, that could be another way of referring to the Law and its requirements.  When the Law becomes a burden, we too are looking for a way to escape from that burden of guilt and the law with all of its expectations and requirements.  That escape will never be found in worldly spirituality.  The only real rescue from sin, guilt and the power of the law is found in Jesus.  Because He took our place on the cross and died as the punishment for our sins, the burden has been lifted.  We are set free.  We can find true peace and joy because we have been united with God through Jesus, our joy and our rest.  Jesus and His Word are the one thing needed.  With the hymn writer, we pray that the Lord would bless us with the one thing necessary.

     In verse two the writer brings in Mary.  She becomes our model for true devotion.  Even though she aroused the anger of her sister because she wasn’t helping out with the many preparations that were being made for Jesus and His friends, she was commended by Jesus for having chosen the one thing that was necessary.  Her sister Martha was worried and upset about many things when only one thing was really needed.  As Jesus commended Mary, He was warning Martha and all the other Marthas, both men and women, who would later hear about what happened that day in Bethany.

     The remaining verses become a prayer of the faithful regarding the proper understanding of the one thing necessary in our lives.  In verse three we pray that we will be able to live our lives according the teaching and example of Jesus.  He, after all, is the embodiment of all wisdom.  In the first chapter of his Gospel, the Apostle John called Jesus the Word.  That means that Jesus is the revelation of God’s truth.  In him we find all that is God-pleasing.  We pray that we may learn from Jesus all humility and simplicity.  What a blessing it will be for your life if you can learn to live in humility and simplicity.  What a change that would be from a life that only follows the desires of your human nature.  Imagine a life that would be free from the pressure to always be first, to always have more than everyone else, that always has to have your own way.  A life of humility and simplicity learns from Jesus that there is only one thing needed.  That one thing is found in hearing, believing, trusting, and following Jesus. When you do, you have the assurance that you have found heavenly wisdom.    

     In verse four the writer gets to the heart of the Gospel that has power to make all this possible in your life.  You come with nothing to offer for your salvation.  It is only through the blood of Jesus that you can stand before the throne of God and claim a place in His kingdom.  By the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, sin, death and the devil were defeated and your salvation was won.  You have been given the robe of righteousness that has been made white in the blood of Jesus.  You can live now in the confidence that because Christ lives, you shall live with Him in glory.  It is that wonderful Gospel message that puts all spirituality into perspective.  All earthly imaginations of reaching fulfillment through your own righteous thoughts, your own tireless activity, your own wishes for escaping the world and its demands, are exposed as false.  Only in Jesus and His sacrifice for you in love do you find the one thing that is needed. 

     The last verse then brings the prayer to a conclusion.  You have recognized that the one thing needed is found in Jesus your Savior.  In Him you find the strength and the guidance to live out your life in joyful response to His love.  You know that He will be with you to protect and defend you from sin, death and the power of the devil. He will strengthen you for your pilgrimage through life with His loving forgiveness.  Everything else in this world is a loss compared to the blessing of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

     A significant request in that last verse is that the Lord would search my heart and my behavior in order to root out all hypocrisy.  It is good to ask the Lord to do this because most of the time you are not able to recognize your own hypocrisy.  You are so good at convincing yourself that your attitudes are right that you often can not see the real truth.  That is why you need to admit in the confession of sins that you have sinned in thought, word and deed, by what you have done and by what you have left undone.  It is often those sins of thought and the things that you have left undone that you don’t even consider to be sin.  What a blessing it is then to know that your Savior sees into your heart and knows your hidden sins.  The greater blessing is to know that He also loves you and assures you that He died for those sins and all your sins.

     That forgiveness of sins that is yours through Christ is what brings you back to the one thing that is needed.  By the power of the Holy Spirit working in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, you believe and trust in Jesus Christ alone for reconciliation with God.  You are motivated to seek His wisdom and discover His will in His Word.  You can devote yourself to Him in all that you do.  You can serve Him with your whole heart always remembering to keep your priorities straight.  That may mean that you are still busy with many things but not too busy to hear the voice of Jesus which is still the one thing necessary as you live out your life in response to His love.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

July 21, 2013

It's Harvest Time

It’s Harvest Time

Colossians 1:1-14

     Life can be filled with embarrassing moments.  I don’t need to tell you about all of the embarrassing things that can happen.  You know what they are because you have probably experienced them in your life.  There is one kind of embarrassing moment that I would like to talk about because I think that it plays a role in the response to our Epistle lesson for today.  Can you think of a time when someone complimented you for something that was well done and you realized that you had nothing to do with whatever it was they were talking about.  Maybe it was the potato salad that was brought to a dinner.  Someone came up to you and said how wonderful it tasted and you received the compliment graciously, knowing full well that, in fact, the folks at the deli counter at the grocery store did a great job with the potato salad.  All you did was take it out of the plastic container and put it in a nice glass bowl.  Did you own up to your little deception or did you just let them go on thinking that you had the magic touch in the kitchen?

     As Paul wrote to the Colossians, he began his letter with the typical greetings.  He was quite complimentary as he mentioned their faith and the love they have for the saints because of the hope laid up for them in heaven.  He praised them for the way the Gospel is bearing fruit and increasing among them since they day they heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.  A letter like this would be read to the gathered assembly of believers as they came together for their weekly worship on the Lord’s Day.  Imagine the excitement when they heard that a letter from Paul had been received and was going to be read that day.  As the leader began to read the letter, the people certainly would be on the edge of their seats as they heard his greeting.  As was the custom, he began by identifying himself along with Timothy, his coworker, as the sender.  Their hearts would be warmed as he addressed them as “the saints and faithful brothers in Colossae.”  As he often did in his letters, Paul mentions how he thanks God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he prays for them ever since he heard of their faith in Christ Jesus. 

     Here is where things start to get interesting.  He writes that he has heard about the bearing of fruit through the proclamation of the Gospel in the whole world but especially among them since the day that they heard it and understood it.  Unless this group of believers in Colossae was different from most groups of believers, there were, no doubt, many in the group who honestly had to admit that they really hadn’t done anything to proclaim the gospel in their community.  The leaders, of course, did and a few of them may have been active in sharing their faith but most of them probably just went about their business and came to the worship each week.  They may have felt a bit embarrassed by the praise that was being heaped on them for the great harvest of the fruit of the Gospel that was happening among them. 

     Paul added another line to his statement by saying that all this was happening since the day they heard the Gospel and understood the grace of God in truth.  There, I believe, lies the big difference between those who simply hear the Word and those who take it to heart and respond in a way that bears fruit and increases the harvest.  That is probably why Paul continued on the way he did by explaining just what happens when the Holy Spirit works in the heart of someone who has heard the message of the Gospel and causes them to respond in a way that demonstrates an understanding of the grace of God that has been given.  He prays that they may be filled with the knowledge  of God’s will and that they walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of the Lord. 

     The reason that Paul prays so fervently for them is that he knows what a difficult thing it is to grow in good works and increase in the knowledge of the Lord as we live in this evil and corrupt world of ours.  The devil is on the prowl seeking to influence us to do just the opposite.  It takes a real understanding of the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to fight against the temptation to either ignore the Word altogether or simply hear it and let it have no influence on the way you live your life.

     You might think that I’m reading a lot more into this text than I should be but the truth is that human nature has not changed a lot since the early days of the Christian Church.  There were probably people in that assembly at Colossae who wished they could hide under the chairs when Paul’s letter was read because they knew that their everyday lives had not changed all that much.  They were not the ones responsible for the harvest and increase in the church.  They knew that they didn’t really have a good understanding of the grace of God.  Perhaps they had gotten caught up in this new religion and didn’t really know what it was all about.  Until they did, there was not going to be much of a difference in their lives.  There would be little fruit bearing.  There would be little growth in the knowledge of the Lord and their daily walk was far from a manner worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him. 

     I feel fairly confident that this was happening in the church at Colossae because it happens all the time today in every one of us.  You are all tempted to take a very casual attitude toward the work of the church and when you give in to that temptation, there is very little fruit bearing going on in your life.  There is very little growth in the knowledge of the Lord with all wisdom and understanding.  You feel unprepared to share your faith and as a result you keep it to yourself and let someone else do what should be the joyful task of all believers who have heard the Gospel of Jesus and who understand the grace of God. 

     Paul’s prayer for the Colossian Christians helps us to see the remedy for this spiritual dilemma.  In verse 11, he says, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy.”  Later he adds in verse 13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  There is the key to our understanding of the Gospel.  By the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, you have been delivered from the power of the devil and you have been transferred to His Kingdom.  The price was paid to set you free from the power of sin, death and the devil and your sins have been forgiven, especially those sins of apathy and doubt.  He gives you the understanding of His grace through the power of the Spirit working in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacrament.  When you truly understand this you see how lost you would be apart from the deliverance that you have in Christ.  That understanding also fills your heart with the kind of thankfulness and joy that makes a difference in your life.

     That is the power that the Holy Spirit brings into your life that makes it possible for you to resist the temptation to just continue on with your life as if nothing had ever happened to bring about your salvation.  That is the power that makes it possible for you to bear the fruit of good works, to gather a harvest for the Lord.  That is the power that makes it possible for you to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing the knowledge of God. 

     With that power in your life you can respond when the call goes out that it is harvest time.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church
Painesville, Ohio
July 14, 2013