Wake Up! It's Advent

Wake Up!  It’s Advent

Romans 13:8-14

     Have you ever overslept!  What a horrible feeling it is to wake up and realize that you have only a few minutes to get somewhere or worse that you are hopelessly late!  If this has ever happened to you then you know that you live with the constant fear that since it happened once, it could happen again any time.  If something important is coming up, you will probably toss and turn all night, worrying about oversleeping.  If you do get to sleep you will probably dream about the disasters that will surely happen when you oversleep.  It all comes down to a desire on your part to not miss something very important.  You want to be up and prepared for whatever special event is coming in your life. 

     Today we begin a new church year.  As we observe the first Sunday in Advent, there are a few things that are different.  Some can easily be seen in the church.  We light the first Advent candle.  The colors have changed from the green of the Pentecost season to the blue of the Advent season.  Where the green reminds us of the new life that is ours through the power of the Spirit, the blue now calls us to look to the sky and be prepared for the coming of the Lord.  We prepare our hearts to celebrate the first coming of Christ but we are also called to prepare for the time when He will come again.  The hymns we sing also call us to prepare for the Lord’s coming.  There is something else that has changed since we last celebrated Advent and even since the last time we came together to worship.  Paul says in our text that our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  Now I know that Paul wrote those words over nineteen hundred years ago but they are still true.  Our salvation is closer than when we first believed.  We don’t know when Jesus will come again but we are closer to that time than we have ever been in our lives.  As we heard last week, the Lord is patient with us.  He is giving us more time to get ready.  We can react to that in two ways.  We can just relax and figure that we will always get more time or on the other hand we can give thanks to God for His mercy and use the time that the Lord gives us wisely and prepare our hearts for His coming.

    As we begin another church year, we know that we will be starting over in the cycle of observances of important times in our Lord’s life.  Advent reminds us of the first coming of the Messiah and at the same time calls us to awaken from our spiritual slumber because the time is coming when the Lord will come again in all His glory to judge the world.

     Awaking from our slumber is another way of saying its time to get our act together.  Did you ever think about what that statement implies?  Get your act together.  You might think of children who want to put on a show for their family or friends.  They have every intention of putting on a great show but they just weren’t quite ready when show time came.  They hadn’t practiced.  They didn’t know their parts.  They needed more time to get their act together.  That describes many people as they get ready for the time when Jesus comes again.  They have every intention of straightening out their lives.  They have every intention of coming to church more often.  They have every intention of being more generous with their material blessings.  They have every intention of doing a lot of things but they never seem to get around to it.  They are still in the dark about what they are going to do next.  Paul tells us to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 

     The light comes from the Lord and the armor of light would be those things that would be useful for us in deflecting the attacks of the devil, the prince of darkness.  Since this is the beginning of the new church year, it would be a good time to put on the armor of light and make some new year’s resolutions that would reflect the light of Jesus Christ.  Where would you start?  One resolution would have to do with the use of our time.  You would certainly want to dedicate time for worship.  The people of the Old Testament dedicated a whole day to the Lord.  The hour or so that you come to God’s house can be just the beginning.  You can worship the Lord any time that your thoughts are directed to the praise and worship of our God.  That could be in private or family devotions, Bible study in a group or by yourself or simply listening to music or reading books that give honor and praise to God.

     Another resolution could be that you dedicate more of your talents to serving the Lord.  Whenever you see work that is not getting done for the church, for example, you can be sure that someone is not using the talents that God has given.  Scripture tells us that each one has been given gifts and talents that are to be used for the common good.  God has distributed those gifts and talents as He sees fit so that the work of the church can be done.  Is the Sunday School in need of teachers?  If it is, it is because someone is not using their gifts.  Does the nominating committee have to struggle to find willing people to fill the spots when the church has elections?  If that is true it is because someone is not willing to use the gifts that God has given.  The same thing can be said of any area of work in the church.  If the church is not able to carry out all of its functions, each part of it needs to repent and look to the Lord for forgiveness and then use the power of the Spirit to discover and put to good use the gifts and talents that have been given to everyone. 

     A third new church year resolution would be to grow in your understanding of generosity.  As you look through the New Testament, you find that Jesus spoke about this often and so did St. Paul in the Epistles.  This really describes a life-style and an attitude that understands that the Lord has given you many blessings to manage while you are here on this earth.  First and foremost, you are to return a portion of those blessings to the Lord for His work.  You then need to look around you for those who are in need.  You also have responsibilities to your family to provide what is needed not only now but also in the future.  This gives new understanding to the term stewardship.  You use the wisdom that God has given to you to be a good manager of all that He has placed in your care. 

     Another image that Paul uses to help us understand what it means to be prepared for Christ’s coming is that we are to put on or clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.  A new year means a new wardrobe.  If you are going to have a wardrobe makeover you have to start with the basics.  When you think of your clothes, you have to begin with undergarments and then you also consider the outer garments.  The undergarments are generally not seen but the outer garments are chosen with great care because people will see them and learn things about you based on what they see you wearing.

    If we think of the things that people can not see, we can compare that to our faith.   Your faith helps you to see who you really are, a child of God who has been declared righteous by God’s grace for Christ’s sake.  You see yourself as the servant of the Lord, responding to His love.  You look for ways to serve others instead of expecting people to serve you.  That is an idea that is radically different from your sinful human nature and its selfish attitudes. 

     The outer wear in your new wardrobe can be seen as your witness to your faith by the things that you say and do.  When you put on Christ, you are putting on the attitudes and actions of someone who is dedicated to following Jesus’ great commission to go and make disciples of all nations.  Your new wardrobe includes the power of the Holy Spirit who works in you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments. 

     A new wardrobe often indicates a new lifestyle.  As we start a new church year, that’s not such a bad idea.  That is what Paul is saying in our text, “Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  Wherever you are in your spiritual maturity, you can all stand to grow.  There are old ways that can be put off and new things to put on.  The image of waking up from your slumber is another way of saying that it is time to grow.  If you would rather just stay the same, you are on the brink of falling asleep.  The new church year is a time to wake up.  Greet the new year with its challenges and opportunities for growth.  Wear your new wardrobe with confidence and joy.  Wake up!  It’s Advent!  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio  

First Sunday in Advent    

Contentment With Thanksgiving

Contentment with Thanksgiving                             Philippians 4:6-7

     In some ways, Thanksgiving is very different from the other special days that we celebrate as a church.  Most of our special services focus on special events in the life of Jesus.  Christmas, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter are good examples. But Thanksgiving doesn’t fit the pattern.  In fact, Thanksgiving is a day that is celebrated by a proclamation of the government, originally by President Abraham Lincoln.  Just because it is not about something in the life of Jesus does not mean that there is not a religious reason for us to give thanks for all our blessings.  As we give thanks, we, as Christian people realize that all thanks go to God.  That may seem like an obvious statement.  Of course we give thanks to God.  We stated that before as we read together Luther’s Explanation of the Fourth Article of the Lord’s Prayer.  We remember that God gives us our daily bread so that we receive it with thanksgiving and daily bread is everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body.  While it may be obvious to us, what does the unbelieving world think about a day of Thanksgiving?  What does someone who considers himself a self-made man think about Thanksgiving? 

     This is a time for God’s people to come together and truly be thankful to our Creator for all the blessings that have been showered on us by our gracious God.  It is more than just a day for turkey and football and family.  It is a day to reflect on God’s mercy and the abundance that has been given to you.  Actually it is something that you ought to be doing everyday.  If you only wait until the fourth Thursday in November to be thankful to God, you are running the great risk of having the devil fill your mind with all sorts of problems.

     When you do not think about all that God has done, is now doing and promises to do for you in the future, you begin to worry about things.  Worry is one of the greatest enemies of God’s people.  The devil tries to fill the minds of people with worry.  When you look around you can find a lot to worry about if you want to.  The evening news is filled with potential worries.  When your eyes are not fixed on God and His blessings, the only thing left for you to do is worry.  There is a little poem that speaks to heart of this problem:

Said the robin to the sparrow,

                                                           I should really like to know

                                                           Why these anxious human beings

                                                           Rush about and worry so.

Said the sparrow to the robin,

                                                           I think that it must be

                                                          They have no heavenly Father

                                                          Such as cares for you and me.

                                                                        Elizabeth Chaney  1859

     That poem expresses the same thing that Paul was telling us in the Epistle lesson for today.  This is found in the last chapter of the letter.  It is part of his final instructions to a church that was experiencing many persecutions because of their faith.  It is thought that Paul himself was in prison at the time he wrote this letter.  Imagine, he was a prisoner writing to persecuted people and some of his final words to them are “Don’t worry.”  It takes great faith to be able to say, “Don’t worry,” in the face of difficulty.  Paul reminds them though how they can overcome worry and doubt in their lives and what he says to them is just as appropriate for you as you pause and give thanks to God.  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.”   

     God has given you the wonderful gift of prayer as a way for you to  unload all of your worries and cares, your frustrations and disappointments.  You do not have to carry them alone.  Your prayers can also include praise to God and you can simply talk to Him as dear children talk to their dear Father.  Paul adds an interesting phrase to his instructions for prayer.  Did you catch it?  “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

     That brings up an interesting question.  How can thanksgiving as a part of prayer keep us from worrying?  The connection becomes clear when you remember that the devil would like to have us stop giving thanks because then you can more easily forget the many blessings that God has given you.  When you forget about how God cares for you, you begin to worry.  Giving thanks is the first step in your recognition of God’s goodness.  If you stop to give thanks each day, you are more mindful of God’s blessings.  Giving thanks can change your whole attitude toward your life and what may seem to be your problems.  Even those problems can be viewed as blessings when you have an attitude of thankfulness from the beginning.  Some people have even stopped using the word “problem” and instead have used the word “challenges.”  That takes some of the negative feelings away and exchanges them for hopeful feelings. 

     That kind of positive outlook is also encouraged a few verses later in this reading.  He encouraged the Philippians to think about things that are true, that are noble, right, admirable, excellent and praise-worthy.  In other words, don’t dwell on negative things but rather on positive things.  When you give thanks to God for your many blessings, you can’t help but have positive thoughts.

     The greatest blessing from our God should also be in our thoughts everyday.  That is the blessing that is yours through Jesus Christ. When you give thanks for the forgiveness of your sins through Jesus, your outlook about your eternal life can only be good.  With your sins forgiven, you need no longer worry about whether you have pleased God enough so that you can go to heaven.  You know that you could never do that on your own.  You do have reason to be thankful when you consider your sin and God’s forgiveness because Scripture tells you that your forgiveness is a gift of God’s grace.  That then gives you courage and strength to face any trial or temptation that may come your way.  Your troubles can seem insignificant when you realize that the greatest troubles, namely sin, death and the power of the devil, no longer have control over you.

      Paul also tells you the result of this prayer with thanksgiving.  He reminds you that the peace which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  As you go to God in prayer, with thanksgiving, you will have peace, a peace that is beyond human explanation.  It is a peace that keeps you close to God.  It is a peace that keeps us safe in His loving care.  It is a peace that comes from knowing that your sins are forgiven and that heaven is your home.  It is a peace that is possible because Jesus came to earth and died so that you might be called the children of God, or as we heard Sunday, His treasured possession. For that peace, you can give thanks to God.  For that gift of a Savior, you can give thanks to God.  For the gift of forgiveness, you can give thanks to God.  For the many other spiritual and material blessings, you certainly can give thanks to God.  The list could go on and on.

     When you make thanksgiving an important element of your prayer life, you can follow Paul’s admonition.  You can stop worrying.  You can present your requests to God and see those troubles in your life in whole different light.  When you come to God in prayer with thanksgiving in your heart, your problems become opportunities to grow in your relationship with God and grow in your Christian maturity.

  Our National Day of Thanksgiving is a special day.  It is a time to give thanks but it is also a time for you to be reminded of the importance of giving thanks everyday of your life.  It is a time for you to experience greater peace and contentment through the giving of thanks.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke
Zion Lutheran Church
Painesville, Ohio
Thanksgiving 2013

My Treasured Possession

My Treasured Possession

Malachi 3:13-18

     Today is the Last Sunday of the Church Year or as it is sometimes called, Christ the King Sunday.  As you have heard in the last couple of weeks, this is the time of the year when our focus is on the end times, the time when Jesus will come again.  The whole Pentecost season, which began in May and now comes to an end today, directs you to consider the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as a Christian.  Jesus called His followers to always be ready for the time when He would come again.  It will come as a thief in the night when you least expect it.  There will be signs  that remind us that the end is near but the exact time will be unknown.  The signs have been happening all throughout history and they remind us that the Lord wants you to be ready.

     As you wait, you may become frustrated by things that happen in the world around you.  When you hear about typhoons and tornados and volcanic eruptions like we have recently, you may be tempted to question the will of God.  That kind of questioning is not unique to our time.  Often in the New Testament Epistles, the writers address the issue of the Lord’s return.  In II Peter 3, for example, the Apostle  explains that the Lord is not slow in keeping His promises as some understand slowness.  Rather He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but to come to repentance.

     Our text for today takes us back into the Old Testament.  Even there the prophet speaks for the Lord and exposes the frustration and complaint of the people.  Their complaint is similar to the complaint of God’s people today. You have probably expressed that same complaint either openly or at least in your thoughts.  As we look at this complaint and God’s response today, may you be strengthened in your faith as you continue to wait patiently for the coming of the Lord.  May you see how you are a treasured possession of the Lord and may that assurance strengthen you for the tasks that Lord has given you as you wait.

     I mentioned earlier the complaints and frustrations of the people.  In the Old Testament reading you heard the kind of typical complaints that are still heard today.  “It is vain to serve God!  What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?  And now we call the arrogant blessed.  Evil doers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.”  It’s not too hard to put that into modern language.  The complaint is still the same.  “What good is it to try and do the right thing?  You only get left behind.  Look around in the world.  The good guys lose and the bad guys win.  If dishonesty gets you what you want, go for it.  It just doesn’t pay to be a Christian.  There is no profit in that.  It’s a lot easier to follow your natural instincts and do whatever feels good.  People get away with stuff all the time.  Where do Christians fit in all of this?  We miss out on all the fun because we try to do God’s will.  It just isn’t fair.”  Does that sound familiar?  It should because it is the voice of your human nature talking, trying to convince you that there is no benefit for you in trying to be prepared for the Lord’s coming.  The devil plants the seeds of doubt in your mind just like he did to Eve in the Garden.  He tells us to ignore the will of God.  “Think for yourself.  Don’t worry about the consequences of your actions. Think for today.  Take what you want.”

     The devil makes it sound so attractive.  When you listen to the enticements of the devil, the world and your own human nature, it sounds like it’s all good, all pleasure, and no consequences.  But when you compare the temptations to what is actually found in God’s Word, you find that the devil’s way is sadly lacking in any lasting benefit.  For example, the world teaches us that if you do the right things, if you try to live a good life, then things will always go your way and you deserve to be rewarded in this life and you surely will have a fine place in heaven.  Is that what the Scriptures tell you though?  Not quite. In God’s Word you are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  You are told that you are justified, declared righteous, by God’s grace, not by your good effort.  You, therefore, cannot earn your salvation.  It is a gift.  It was earned for you. 

     The purpose of your life is not then to try and live to please God so that you can be rewarded in the end for all your good deeds.  If you hope to stand before Jesus on the last day with that as your hope for heaven you will be sadly mistaken.  That kind of attitude is only an off-shoot of your sinful, selfish nature.  It comes from an attitude that is looking out only for yourself.  “I’ll do good works but I’d better get rewarded for it. I will help someone else only if I’m going to benefit from the time I had to spend.  I’ll volunteer for some job down at the church as long as there is something in it for me.”  You end up asking the same questions as the people in our text.  “What’s the use of doing good?  It is futile to serve God.  What did we gain by carrying out His requirements?”

     One thing that those who asked the questions fail to see is that your life is not lived only for the here and now.  You live not just for yourself but you live for God.  Life here on earth occupies only a short time in your existence.  You have an eternity ahead of you.  There are two options for the rest of eternity after this life is over.  When Jesus comes to judge, there are two possible verdicts: Righteous by virtue of God’s declaration by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, or Unrighteous in spite of all your persistent efforts at self-righteousness.

     When Jesus comes to judge, you will be judged by God’s standard and not by any kind of human standard.  Those who have tried to make themselves righteous by their own efforts, by their attempts to appease their own idea of God, or by their delusion that they are good enough, will be found lacking and will be sent to hell for all eternity.  All of their earthly gain will have no value in the final judgment.  What seemed to be their earthly advantage turned out to be completely useless.

     On the other hand, the prophet continues by describing those who fear the Lord and honor His name.  “They shall be mine”, says the Lord of hosts, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession.”  What an honor!  Those who fear the Lord and honor His name are His own treasured possession.  A treasure is something that has great value because it was obtained through a great sacrifice. You are the treasured possession of the Lord because your salvation was obtained through a tremendous sacrifice.  The Lord sent His only Son into the world to sacrifice His life to rescue His treasured possession from the power of sin, death and the devil.  He sent the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of His treasured possession so that you could believe that Jesus Christ is the one who saved you by His blood.  The Spirit convinces you through the Law and the Gospel that you are a sinner whose only hope is Jesus.  By the Spirit’s power through the Means of Grace, you are free to give up on all your human efforts at saving yourself and you can trust completely in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  You are His treasured possession whose eternal future has been assured.  

     The last verse of the text reminds you that even though in this life the ungodly may seem to get all the breaks, when the last day comes, “You shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.  God’s justice will be revealed on the last day.  There will be no time for excuses.  It will be a simple matter of faith in Jesus or no faith.  Those who serve and honor the Lord follow His ways.  That includes, first and foremost, faith  and trust in God’s plan of salvation through Jesus.  The Christian life of response to God’s love follows from that. 

     It will be a joyous time for the treasured possession of the Lord.  There will be praise and gladness for all eternity.  You don’t know when that will happen but you are called to be ready.  You are ready when your heart is filled with faith and trust in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  By God’s grace you are His treasured possession.  With that assurance, you can joyfully pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, take your treasured possession home.”   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

The Last Sunday of the Church Year 

Stand Firm

Stand Firm 

II Thessalonians 2: 1-8, 13-17

     This is really an interesting and exciting time of the year.  When you hear a statement like that you probably are thinking about all of the things that are going to be happening in the next couple of months.  In a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving and as soon as that is over we are immersed in the Christmas season.  The Boar’s Head Christmas Festival is coming soon and some groups have already begun practicing.  It is an exciting time of the year.  But that’s not what I meant when I started out with that statement.  This is an interesting and exciting time of the church year.  We are coming to the end of the church year.  This is a time for us to be reminded that Jesus is coming again and that we need to prepare our hearts to be ready for His coming.  The Bible tells us that when He comes, it will be a time of judgment.  The dead will be raised and those who believe in Him as Lord and Savior will be taken to His heavenly kingdom and those who have rejected Him will be thrown into the eternal fires of hell.  It is important that we have a time in our church year to have that important Biblical teaching brought forward so that we don’t forget about it. 

     St. Paul’s words to the Christians in Thessalonica bring to us a warning about the schemes of the devil who would try to draw us away from God.  Paul also gives us some good words of direction as we wait for that time.  From the time that the angels told the disciples that Jesus would return after He ascended into heaven, the faithful have been waiting.  When you have to wait a long time, it is very easy to become distracted.  It is especially difficult to remain vigilant when there are forces that try to get your attention and draw you away from your trust in the Lord’s words and promises.  That was the case in the early years of the Christian Church and it continues to be a challenge to believers today.  That is why Paul tells us to stand firm in the things that you have been taught.  As we think about what it means for us to stand firm in our faith and why that is so important, may the Holy Spirit strengthen you for the spiritual warfare that you will face as you wait for the Lord’s return.

     Our Epistle lesson for today starts off with a very serious warning about what will come as the end draws near.  To briefly summarize what Paul says, there will be worldly philosophies that will try and deceive God’s people into questioning and even losing their faith.  These philosophies with try and deceive the faithful with clever words that will try to shake the foundations of your faith.  Those who promote this kind of deception will even try to use the disguise of the church in order to accomplish the devil’s purposes.  You don’t have to look into the history of the Christian church long before you can see how this has happened time after time as one false teacher after another has appeared and brought some new teaching that was contrary to the teachings of the Bible.  Hungry for power, these false teachers led many of God’s people astray.  We can be thankful for teachers like Martin Luther who brought the true Church back to the teachings that came from Scripture alone. 

     Yet even in our own time there are those who teach a message of self-reliance, a message of prosperity, a message of salvation by good works that hardly ever mention the name of Jesus.  The danger in this is that the faithful are drawn away from the truth that we are all sinners who need to repent and trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness that was won for us by His perfect obedience and His all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross.  Your human nature likes to hear a message that places the responsibility for your salvation on yourself.  That way you maintain control.  You can take credit for your accomplishment.  Your ego thrives on that but it drives you away from Christ.

     Paul urges the Thessalonian Christians and Christians of all time to stand firm in what you have been taught from the Scriptures.  To reinforce his admonition to stand firm, Paul reminds us of God’s grace in our Lord Jesus Christ that brings us eternal comfort and good hope.  As a result of Christ’s work in us and for us we have comfort and direction for our lives of response to God’s great love, lives established in every good work and word.

     There are several reasons why you need to stand firm in your faith as you wait for Christ’s return.  It begins with your faith as I have mentioned before.  Since your faith is grounded in Christ Jesus and His work for you, you know that anything that tries to lead you away from that has its source in the father of lies, the devil.  As a result, the first reason to stand firm is for the sake of your faith in Jesus. The other reasons to stand firm have to do with our life in the Church.  While our faith is a personal faith, in other words, you can not expect to be saved by someone else’s faith and at the same time, your faith will not save someone else, you do not live in a vacuum.  You are a part of the body of Christ.  Each part of the body works together with the other parts for the good of the body.  The three-part description of the life of the church that our Synod has set forward under President Matthew Harrison, has a real application to the admonition to stand firm in our faith. 

    The first part of that is that we stand firm for the sake of our witness to the world.  In the face of all of the other philosophies and false teachings in the world today, we stand firm together for the sake of our witness to the truth.  The world needs to hear that truth but they won’t hear it if no one tells them about it.  A strong witness to the truth gives opportunity for the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of people who have been deceived by the lies of the devil.  Jesus gave his disciples that message before He ascended into heaven.  “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”  As we stand firm in our faith, our united witness will be able to touch more hearts with the truth.

     The second consideration for standing firm is for the sake of our service to one another and to those around us in need.  The mercy ministry that God’s people are called to carry out is an important part of the life of the church.  As we stand firm in our reliance on the Scriptures, we are reminded again of Jesus’ words, “Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it unto me.”  Mercy ministry can be more effective and far-reaching when we work together and we work together when we stand firm together in what God’s Word tells us. 

     The third part of the description of the church is our life together.  We therefore stand firm in our faith for the sake of the way that we care for one another, build one another up, rejoice with one another and weep with one another.  The devil would like nothing better than to see our life together disrupted by arguments over doctrine and practice that could lead to division in the church.  When we stand firm in the teachings of the Scriptures and in our faith, we understand that the preservation of our life together in the church needs to be an important priority.  Once again, the word picture of the Body of Christ describes the importance of our life together.  It has an effect on the other two parts of that description.  If we do not care about maintaining our life together, that will have a negative effect on our witness and it actually works against the way that we show mercy to others. 

     When we stand firm in our faith, we will be more effective in preparing ourselves and the world around us for the time when Jesus comes again.  That is what the Church is called to do.  We are strengthened for that task by the power of the Holy Spirit who works through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  Any consideration of preparing for the return of Christ would be useless without the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us.   When we make use of those means, we will be able to follow Paul’s admonition and stand firm.   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

November 10, 2013

The Eternal Gospel

The Eternal Gospel 

Revelation 14:6-7

     Our annual celebration of the Reformation is one of special times of the year for me.  I can remember those times when my family would go to a special service where we would get together for worship with many other Lutherans from around the area and recognize the work of Martin Luther.  It was a big deal for me, especially when I was old enough to sing in the combined choir that made a joyful sound like I had never heard before.  It was truly a celebration.  I can remember going to a theater in town and seeing the 1953 Martin Luther movie for the first time.  It made quite an impression on me.  Little did I know then how many times I would see that movie again later in my life as a teacher and pastor.  Each time I see it I am impressed again how the Lord blessed Martin Luther with wisdom and the courage to speak the truth and return the eternal Gospel to the church.  Reformation is not simply a time for us to have a pep rally to cheer on Team Lutheran.  It is a time for us to remember how important it is for us to remain committed to the eternal Gospel message as we wait for the time when Jesus comes again.

     In the passage from Revelation that serves as our first reading for today, we hear about an angel in John’s vision that flew overhead with an eternal Gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth.  Of course there is only one eternal Gospel that has been proclaimed since the beginning of time.  When God confronted Adam and Eve and the serpent after the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, the Gospel message was proclaimed in the condemnation against the serpent.  In Genesis 3:15 we hear, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  That is the first Gospel promise in the Bible.  The seed of the woman would be the Christ.  The devil would bruise his heel, but the Christ would bruise or crush the devil’s head.  The message of Christ’s victory over the devil and the rescue of God’s people would continue to be proclaimed through the prophets of old.  The promises of salvation from the devil’s power and eternal punishment were fulfilled when Jesus came into the world and became our substitute under the Law and then took our place when He died on the cross and rose victorious from the grave.  That is the message that has been proclaimed by God’s messengers ever since and will be proclaimed until Jesus comes again. 

     The ultimate victory over sin, death and the devil has been won but until Jesus comes again, we still have to deal with our sinful human nature.  One of the results of that human nature is the inclination to try and take things under our own control and use them to our advantage as we see them.  Human nature is basically selfish and self-centered.  When you hear the Gospel message that you are declared righteous by God’s grace because of what Jesus has done for you and that the blessings of that salvation become yours by faith alone, the temptation is always there to nod your head and say, “Yes, but…”  There are all kinds of things that you can say to finish that sentence and down through the years there have been all kinds of endings that reflect the desires of human nature.  In doing that the eternal Gospel has been changed by human thinking and the result is that the Good News of salvation has been watered down, has had additional baggage added to it and the true joy of that eternal Gospel had been lost. 

     One of the early “Yes, but…” ideas was that I have to somehow cooperate with God in order for that salvation to be mine.  When that happens, the individual becomes responsible for their own salvation and that takes away from the truth of the Scripture that tells us that it is by God’s grace alone that we are saved.  It is not your own doing so that no one can boast.  Paul in our Epistle lesson calls it a gift.

     Down through the years, the church corrupted the eternal Gospel by adding requirements to that gift of God in order for the forgiveness that is freely given in Christ to be finally received.  It was another “Yes, but…”  The church taught that you have to earn the forgiveness that Christ won for you through your good works, that would be assigned to you when you confessed all your sins before the priest.  It was a clever way for the church to gain full control over the lives of the people.  In their human nature, their quest for power caused them to pervert the Gospel even if it meant contradicting the Scriptures. 

     Even yet today our human nature tempts us to say, “Yes, but…” In a time when people are more apt to question authority and are  encouraged to think for themselves, the eternal Gospel can become polluted by human thinking.  “Yes, I hear what you are saying, but it seems to me that....” and then your human mind, influenced by your sinful human nature, begins to question God, just like Eve did in the Garden.  Do you see how the devil continues to work today.  God’s truth is made clear to us in the Scripture but human nature is never satisfied until you can twist things around to suit your own thinking.    Modern philosophy that ignores the Bible has come up with all kinds of exceptions to the eternal Gospel.  Unfortunately much of that kind of thinking has made its way into the attitudes and beliefs of people of influence in our society and we all have been touched by it.  We see it on TV, in the movies, in music and books.  “Yes, but…” has touched every one of us. 

      While that is true for our time, it was also very evident at the time of Martin Luther in the 1500’s.  Through His study of the Scriptures, Luther was able to identify the ways in which the eternal Gospel had been perverted by a desire for power and greed in the church.  When he spoke out against some of the abuses that he saw in the church of his day, he was put on trial and declared an outlaw, which meant that anyone who found him could kill him with the blessing of the emperor.  Again, God’s hand was protecting Luther and he was able to continue his work of bringing the true church back to the message of the eternal Gospel.  It can be simply summarized in three statements that have become the motto of the Reformation.  Grace Alone, Faith Alone and Scripture Alone. 

      The eternal Gospel, the Good News of salvation is that you are saved from the eternal punishment that you deserve because of your sin by God’s grace alone.  It has nothing to do with your goodness, your good intentions, or your good works.  He has chosen to save you because of His undeserved love for you.  He accomplished that by sending His only Son into the world to do for you what you could never do for yourself.   The blessings of that sacrificial work of Christ become yours by faith alone which itself a gift from God that comes to you through the work of the Holy Spirit, through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  All of this is made known to us in the Scriptures alone.  It is not based on human reason or logic.  It is not based on the human rules of any church.  It is not based on the decrees of any human leader.  It comes from God’s Word alone.  Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone. 

     Our Reformation observance is one way of helping us to realize the importance of remaining true to that eternal Gospel.  In the passage from Revelation, the angel that proclaimed that eternal Gospel also spoke of the final judgment that was soon to come.  At first that may not sound like good news.  It will not be for those who have rejected Christ.  It will be good news though for the faithful who have had to suffer here on earth because the coming of Jesus will mean that their suffering is over and that they will be in the eternal joy of heaven in the presence of God.  That is an important message as we near the end of the church year when our readings will be reminding us of the end times. 

     May this Reformation observance be a time for us to give thanks to God for faithful servants such as Martin Luther and may we resolve to stand firm on the principles of the Reformation:  Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone.   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

Reformation 2013

Are You Ready To Die For Jesus?

Are You Ready to Die for Jesus?

II Timothy 2:1-13

     I would like to have you think back to the day that you confirmed your faith.  Confirmation Day is a big event in the life of a young person as well as in the life of an adult who is ready to publically confirm their faith before God and the congregation.  It takes a lot of study and preparation before you are ready to stand before the Lord and answer those questions about what you believe.  Do you remember what you promised on that day?  You can find the questions on page 272 in the hymnal.  Do you acknowledge the gifts that God gave you in your Baptism?  Do you renounce the devil?  Do you renounce all his works and all his ways?  Do you believe in the Triune God as described in the Apostles’ Creed?  Do you hold the Scriptures to be the inspired Word of God?  Do confess the Doctrines of the Lutheran Church as you have come to learn them from the Small Catechism to be faithful and true?  Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?  Do you intend to live according to the Word of God in faith, word and deed and to remain true to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit even to death?   And now comes the last question that gets to the heart of what we heard in the Epistle lesson for today.  Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it? 

    Whether you made that solemn promise on Confirmation Day a few months ago or ten, twenty, thirty or maybe even eighty years ago, the question still needs to be asked, “Are you ready to die for Jesus?”  That can be a difficult question to answer especially since you are living in a time and place where you are not really in danger because of your faith, much less be threatened with death because of your connection with a Christian Church.  The truth is that your faith is being threatened all the time by the attacks of the devil.  Most of the time those threats are so subtle that you don’t even recognize them. 

     The question still needs to be considered.  “Are you ready to die for Jesus?”  What does it take to be strong enough to stand against the attacks of the devil?  First of all it takes a strong faith.  Faith is actually a rather complex thing.  It involves knowledge of the Triune God and His plan for my salvation.  But there is more than just a knowledge of God.  The devil knows the facts and that makes him that much more determined to work against God’s plans.  True faith also involves trusting that what Jesus did was for the forgiveness of my sins and that eternal life in heaven is mine because of what Jesus did for me.  Even the power to believe comes from God as the Holy Spirit works in me through the Means of Grace.  If you can say that you are ready to die for Jesus, it is only because God has given you the faith to trust in His Word and promises.  One of those promises is eternal life with Him in the perfect joy of heaven in His presence. 

     As you read God’s Word further you also find that eternal life is not the only blessing that God give to you as a result of your faith.  You also have the gift of new life now.  That new life comes when you die with Christ and are raised to new life with Him through His resurrection.  Through our Baptism, your old self, that old sinful nature, dies with Christ and the new self arises to live for God.  You still have to face the temptations of the devil but you do not face them alone.  You now live with Christ and you have His power, a power that was able to defeat the devil.  That power will help you when the challenges to your faith come. 

     Paul uses several images that help us to see what this struggle is all about.  In the first one, he says, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”  When you think about a soldier you can see many parallels to your life as a child of God.  For one thing a soldier is disciplined.  A soldier learns to follow orders.  A good soldier knows the rules and also knows the consequences of failing to follow orders.  Strict discipline is essential for the continued effectiveness of the army.  A good soldier is prepared through the proper training and practice in skills that are necessary for battle.  A good soldier is also loyal to the cause and to those who are in command.  Most importantly, a good soldier is willing to sacrifice everything, including life, in order for the higher purpose to be accomplished.

     Think about how that applies to your life as a soldier of Christ Jesus.  Not only would you have to consider the question of being ready to die for Jesus, but also are you ready to live for Jesus.  I started by talking about discipline.  The root word for discipline is disciple.  Christian discipline includes an on-going study of God’s Word.  It includes making regular worship a priority because that is part of what God expects of those who are disciples.  A good disciple also knows that worship is not just following a command.  It is also an opportunity to thank and praise God for His goodness and mercy and an opportunity to grow through the regular use of the Word and the Sacraments, the Means of Grace. 

     A good soldier is also prepared for life in the world because of good training and practice in the skills that are necessary for dealing with the challenges that will come as we live in a world influenced by the devil, the world and our own sinful nature.  That training and practice come from a thorough study of God’s Word where you see how the Lord worked in the lives of His people and prepared them to face the world.

     A soldier for the Lord Jesus is also loyal.  When I started I mentioned the Confirmation vows that included a statement about remaining faithful to the Lord and the Church.  In this world you are pulled in many directions and there are influences that try to pull you away from a life of discipleship.  It can be difficult at times to remain faithful to the Lord when friends, worldly interests and the tug of your human nature try to influence you to let your loyalty to the Lord slip.  That is when your Christian training and discipline that come from the power of the Holy Spirit are so important. 

     The final point brings us back to my original question.  A soldier for the Lord is willing to suffer all, even death, in service to the higher calling as we heard in the Epistle lesson last week.  Certainly no one wants to suffer but the reality is that in this world there will be suffering as we face the enemy of our faith.  Think, though, of the strength that you have as a soldier for the Lord when you know that the victory is already yours.  Jesus has won the victory over sin, death and the devil.  Knowing that, you know that you can’t lose if you remain loyal.  In writing to Timothy, Paul says to him, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.”  His victory is your victory.  Serve Him with confidence.  The Word of God is not bound, even though, as Paul said, we may be bound for a while by the world, “but I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”  

     As a good soldier for Christ Jesus, you remember that you are serving the Lord’s purposes and that means that the good of others is your primary concern, especially their eternal salvation.  Like Paul, you can endure suffering for the sake of the elect so that they can come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Take heart in the midst of the battle.  The victory has been won. Now I ask you again, “Are you ready to die for the Lord?”  By God’s grace and with His power, we can say confidently, “Yes!”

Amen.

     

      

     

      

 

Fan Into Flame the Gift of God

Fan Into Flame the Gift of God

II Timothy 1:1-14

    What do you do when you have a problem and you can’t figure out what to do?  Most people usually go to someone with more experience and ask for their advice.  When that kind of help is easily available and is intentional, we often call that mentoring.  The idea of mentoring has been used in a number of situations.  It can be used to help young people who do not have a good adult role model as in the Big Brother, Big Sister program.  It is often used on the job when entry level employees are assigned a mentor to help them get acquainted with policies and procedures.  Your Board of Elders spend several months reading and discussing a book called The Mentor Leader as a way of helping them see the ways that intentional mentoring can help to improve the work that they are doing now and help them as they look to the future as new elders join the board. 

     As you read and hear the Epistle lesson for today you can see how St. Paul served as a mentor to young Timothy who was growing as a leader of the church at Ephesus.  Paul wanted to emphasize the importance of remaining faithful to the teachings that he had learned and to make use of the sources of strength that God would provide for him as he did his work.  His words of encouragement can be good words for you as you seek to remain faithful to the teachings of Scripture and at the same time seek to serve your Lord and Savior by serving His Church and those around you.

     The key words that stand out as I read this passage are found in verse 6, that I read before.  “Fan into flame the gift of God.”  If you have ever tried to build a fire, whether at a camp-site or in a fire place, you know what a difference it can make when you fan the flame.  Sometimes when the fire seems to be dying out, all you need to do is fan the flame a bit and soon the flames will grow.  Perhaps the best example of that can be seen when you watch a blacksmith.  Fanning the flame is an important part of getting the iron hot enough to make it workable.  A blacksmith will use a device called a bellows which blows air at the embers of the furnace to make it hotter.  The fanning of the flame makes his work more effective.  

     Paul tells Timothy that the gift of God that had been given to him needs to be fanned so that it can grow and be effective in the spreading of the Gospel and the leading of God’s people.  That will happen when Timothy continues to follow the pattern of sound words that he had been taught, both by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice and by Paul himself, words of faith and love in Christ Jesus.  Behind all that good teaching, those sound words, was the Holy Spirit who would also be with Him to help him guard the good deposit, as Paul called it, that was entrusted to him.  That’s an interesting way to describe the teachings that you have received.  It is a good deposit, deposited in you so that it can grow. 

     As Timothy’s mentor, Paul also felt that it was important to warn him that there would also be suffering for the sake of the Gospel.  Paul was actually writing to Timothy from prison in Rome.  Scholars feel that this was the last letter written by Paul.  Paul knew about suffering for the Lord.  Yet he also boldly proclaimed, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.”  He knows that there is no other to whom he can turn for his eternal salvation and he is convinced that the Lord will keep his faith strong until that Day when Jesus comes again. 

     As you read the letters to Timothy, it should be fairly easy to identify with him and in a way see the Apostle Paul as a mentor for your Christian life as well.  He could be talking to you, giving you encouragement for the times when you will be called on to undertake something that may seem at first to be beyond your comfort level or too hard for you.  When those times come, and they happen all the time to the people of God, the same words could be said, “Fan into flame the gift of God.” 

     Think of when that gift of God was given to you.  For many of you it was given to you at your Baptism.  God gave you the gift of the Holy Spirit who would continue to work in you as you heard the word of God and grew in your faith in your early years.  Like Timothy, the foundations of the faith were taught by family members. For Timothy it was his mother and grandmother.  For you it may have been the same or perhaps someone else who taught you the first prayers, told you about Jesus, encouraged you to grow in your knowledge and trust in God’s saving love.  They were fanning into flame the gift that God had given to you.  The flame continued to grow as you had your first experiences with Sunday School.  Your Sunday School teachers fanned the flame so that it would grow.  Your faith grew as you became more and more aware of what it meant that Jesus died for your sins and that through His suffering and death and resurrection your sins were forgiven and you were given the gift of eternal life in heaven. You became aware of more of the gifts that God had given to you as you grew older and through the pattern of sound words and teaching, you came to understand the calling that you have as a child of God.  Paul talked about the holy calling that you have, not because of your works but because of God’s own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.  That’s a long sentence from verses 9 and 10, but he essentially tells us that God’s plan for us, by His grace, was to carry out a holy calling of sharing the Gospel of Jesus, a message of Law and Gospel, of sin and grace, that will bring new life to people now and eternal life to those who believe.

It truly is a holy calling because it comes from our holy God. 

      But you also know what happens when the embers of a fire are left alone for too long.  The fire goes out.  When that happens, it can become difficult and discouraging to try and carry out that holy calling in a world that always seems to be saying just the opposite.  That is what Timothy was going to face as a leader of the church in Ephesus where the Christian church was a very distinct minority among many pagan religions.  That is what you are facing in the world today.  The world around us doesn’t like to hear the message of Law and Gospel.  It has become pagan in many ways.  You may become fearful to the point that you chose to do nothing with that holy calling that you have.  Yet the encouragement that Paul gives to Timothy can be the same for you.  “Fan into flame the gift of God.”  Make use of the ways that God has provided for you to fan those embers of faith that have been given to you.  The Holy Spirit works to strengthen your faith through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  As you hear God’s Word, meditate on it, study it, take it to heart, the embers of your faith are being fanned and your faith is strengthened.  As you remember your Baptism, you are reminded of how the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to you to help you grow in your faith, all the time fanning the flame.  When you receive the Lord’s Supper, the Spirit is fanning into flame the gifts that God has given to you so that you are strengthened and given the courage to carry out your calling as a child of God.

     Some of those gifts include various talents and abilities that can be used for the good of God’s Kingdom here on earth.  God gives those gifts as He chooses in every congregation so that His work in each place can be done and can succeed.  When God’s people continue to fan into flame the gifts that God has given, great things can happen.  The church will be carrying out God’s plans and more and more people will be blessed as the people of God share the grace and love that are in Christ Jesus.  You can be the one who fans into flame the gift of God for someone.  That good deposit has been given to you.  By the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, guard that the good deposit entrusted to you.  Fan it into a flame that touches everything around you.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

October 6, 2013