All Saints, Beatitudes and Christian Living

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon title is ABC: All Saints, Beatitudes and Christian Living. My focus is our gospel. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

All Saints’ Day is a Christian festival celebrated in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. In Western Christianity, it is celebrated on November 1^st by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran and other Protestant churches. Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost and others on the first Friday after Easter.

All Saints’ Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the "Church triumphant") and the living (the "Church militant"). In many historically Catholic countries, it is a national holiday. In Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden, the Day assumes a role of general commemoration of the dead, and usually takes place on the first Sunday of November. Lutherans celebrate All Saints' Day after Reformation Sunday, and in many congregations, we remember the dead while celebrating Christ's victory over death.

Lutherans do not believe that saints can receive prayers or intercede for a petitioner because, according to the Lutheran Church, there is no evidence to support this in the scriptures. In the Lutheran Church, a saint is anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, tries to live an exemplary life and is an example of what everyone else can aspire to become.

The reason that Lutherans do less with saints is Luther’s belief that in Christ’s kingdom all the baptized are saints. All received the same gift of grace and are equal and not better than anyone else. Luther was cautious about a hierarchy where some could be seen as better than others. He was also cautious about praying to saints as intercessors for us before God, believing that in Christ we have direct access to God and need no intercessor.

In his essay on Public Worship in 1523, Luther wrote, “All the festivals of the saints are to be discontinued. Where there is a good Christian legend, it may be inserted as an example after the Gospel on Sunday. The festivals of the Purification and Annunciation of Mary may be continued, and for the time being also her Assumption and Nativity, although the songs in them are not pure. The festival of John the Baptist is also pure. Not one of the legends of the apostles is pure, except St. Paul’s. They may either be transferred to the [closest] Sunday or celebrated separately, if one so desires.”

Luther made similar remarks in his revision of the Latin Mass, “If any desire to approve the introits (inasmuch as they have been taken from Psalms or other passages of Scripture) for apostles’ days, for feasts of the Virgin and of other saints, we do not condemn them. But we in Wittenberg intend to observe only the Lord’s days and the festivals of the Lord. We think that all the feasts of the saints should be abrogated, or if anything in them deserves it, it should be brought into the Sunday sermon. We regard the feasts of Purification and Annunciation as feasts of Christ, even as Epiphany and Circumcision. Instead of the feasts of St. Stephen and of St. John the Evangelist, we are pleased to use the office of the Nativity. . ..  Let others act according to their own conscience or in consideration of the weakness of some—whatever the Spirit may suggest.”

In general, Lutherans kept the feasts associated with the life of Jesus, as well as those saints from the Bible, particularly the New Testament. For example, on June 24^th, we observe the Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist.

The Lutheran Service Book adds a few more feast days for Saints, including Michael the Archangel, Paul, Barnabas, Joseph, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Timothy and Titus. It also includes a list of commemorations for Old Testament saints – Abraham, Samuel, Esther – and other saints from the history of the church – Polycarp, Lawrence, Anselm, Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz and C.F.W. Walther.

We do not have strict rules governing which saints we must celebrate and which ones we cannot. Much of this is left to the discretion of the pastor. In general, we don’t want to obscure the work of Christ or detract from the main message of the gospel. We certainly should not spend more time talking about the saints than we do about Jesus. And when we do speak about the saints, the focus is still on Jesus. The Apology to the Augsburg Confession mentions three particular ways that we remember the saints: Thanksgiving – When we remember the blessing that these people have been to the church and world, all thanks and glory goes to God alone. Examples of Mercy – In the saints we see how God used sinners like us as His servants. Moses, David, Peter, Paul and the rest were forgiven for their many failings, and that gives us hope. Examples of Faithfulness – God gives us examples to follow through the faith shown by the saints and by their acts of service. You can remember Saints’ Days as part of your daily devotions, school chapel services or devotions at church meetings.

Since the role of the Saints is never to distract or detract from the work of Christ, but to give examples where we can see Him at work throughout the history of His Church and today, we move from A to B, from All Saints to Beatitudes.

We usually consider The Beatitudes as the eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. Each is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative. Luke reiterated four of the blessings in the Sermon on the Plain followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. In all, Matthew and Luke contain 28 of the 44 beatitudes that appear in the New Testament.

The Greek word for blessed or happy is makarios. Beatitudes have roots in the Greek world and in the Hebrew world to connote praise or the act of blessing.

In the Old Testament, blessedness refers to persons experiencing the fullness of life because of trust in the Lord, deliverance, prosperity or justice.

We read in the Psalms, “Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!”^[1] And later, “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.”^[2]

In the New Testament, beatitudes, such as those in today’s Gospel, focus on the paradoxical reversal of human values. They require openness in faith, which is the appropriate context for understanding the challenge of the Beatitudes.

The Sermon on the Mount, the wider context of the Beatitudes, is a compilation of sayings that Jesus used in different settings. It was also the basis for his ministry. Matthew adapted Jesus’ Sermon and Beatitudes to the changing needs of the Church separated from Judaism and the synagogue.

The Beatitudes shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life, and are paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations. They proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples.

They respond to our natural desire for happiness. We all want to live happily. In the whole human race, there is no one who does not want to be happy. So, what does it mean for us to be happy?

To answer that, and to segue into my third point, Christian Living, let me tell you about a book I read this past summer entitled Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers by Christopher Hall. While Luther’s Small Catechism does not cite Church Fathers, all of the other documents in the Book of Concord do. The first Lutherans quoted the Early Church Fathers against the new (false) teachers of the Roman Church, in order to show that Lutherans were in line with the historic creeds and teachers.^[3] They also turned to the Fathers for help in the arguments against radical protestants – Anabaptists, Zwinglians, Calvinists – who rejected infant baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Hall points out that the Ancient Fathers heard music in Scripture where we remain tone-deaf. Despite their occasional eccentricities, theirs was a hearing refined through long listening in song, worship, teaching, meditation and oral reading. And like true masters they challenge and correct our modern assumptions as they invite us to tune our ears to hear the divine melodies of the Bible.

Hall writes about the Fathers quoted in the Book of Concord who offer insight into how Christians today can live the Beatitudes. One of them, Augustine, wrote this:

We must search out the life of happiness, we must ask for it from the Lord our God. Many have discussed at great length the meaning of happiness, but surely, we do not need to go to them and their long drawn out discussions. Holy Scripture says concisely and with truth: Happy is the people whose God is the Lord. We are meant to belong to that people, and to be able to see God and live with him forever, and so the object of this command is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and a sincere faith.^[4]

I quote Augustine because many people view the Beatitudes as a guide to happiness. Some even rename these verses as the Be-Happy-Attitudes. In his succinct analysis, Augustine was correct when he cited Psalm 144: Happy is the people whose God is the Lord.^[5] We don’t need to seek every spiritual writer or worldly-wise person offering happiness in a twenty-dollar book or a two-hundred-dollar seminar. Happiness comes freely for the asking from God.

Happiness comes freely for the asking from God. If you ask God for happiness, God will give it freely, even in the midst of your greatest troubles and difficulties. I say that because one of the people I wrote to as I was preparing this sermon was Peg Durachko. I have known Peg for more than 30 years. The two Beatitudes that stood out for her when she responded to me earlier this month are Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied; and Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. She said that for her the former stands out because of how Mother Teresa of Calcutta dedicated her life to serving God, and the latter because at the beginning of this Millennium, Pope John Paul II declared the Second Sunday of Easter Divine Mercy Sunday.

Now, you may be wondering why I am quoting a devout Roman Catholic’s musings on the Beatitudes in a Lutheran Church, a week after Reformation Sunday. One reason is because our observance of Reformation Sunday need not replicate the Lutheran Church of the 16^th century. In spite of those who remain steadfast, many Lutherans and Catholics live harmoniously in the same neighborhoods, work cooperatively in the same business, serve the same community as firefighters and coaches, and sometimes even pray for one another and with one another. The second reason is because Peg Durachko was married to Richard Gottfried, the dentist murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, two years ago.

Richard was a devout Jew, a community servant, a loving husband, a connoisseur of fine wines and full-bodied cigars, a dedicated dentist and a friend of mine. Through many conversations and activities, Rich taught me lessons of life and happiness. And when I think of Happy is the people whose God is the Lord, I think of Rich, for he lived his religion not on his sleeve, but in his heart and in his home, in his dental practice and in his community. In other words, Rich and Peg offer us an example of my third point, Christian Living.

They each studied the Scriptures and their faith. Rich even leaned Hebrew so he could serve as a cantor. He was the president of New Light Congregation and chair of its religious education committee.

Rich and Peg introduced me to personal development seminars, Marriage Encounter and his rabbi at New Light. This led to me leading a session at their adult education class, and Rabbi Harvey leading one at my congregation. Ecumenical, open-minded and loving, they prayed for everyone’s needs. And when people asked Peg what they could do to help, she replied, “Do not let his death be in vain. Drive out evil from your own life and help another to drive it out of their life. The only way to combat evil is with love.”

Drive out evil from your own life and help another to drive it out of their life. The only way to combat evil is with love. My friends, as you observe All Saints’ Day, contemplate the Beatitudes and consider how you will live the Christian Life today, open yourself to those who might offer you a lesson on the latter, no matter what his or her religion, and then, for others be an example of Christian Living by living the Beatitudes and becoming a saint for them, for when you do, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Psalm 40:4.

[2] Psalm 146:5-7.

[3] https://lutheranreformation.org/history/lutherans-early-church-fathers/

[4] From a letter to Proba by Saint Augustine, bishop (Ep. 130,12,22-13,24; CSEL 44,65-68)

[5] Psalm 144:15.

REFORMATION SUNDAY

 

Everyone knows that October 31^st is Halloween. But did you know that the word is made up of 2 words: Hallows' Evening? Halloween is a 3-day celebration of the Church remembering all the people who have died – saints and sinners. It used to be that before children dressed up as astronauts and animals, superheroes and first responders, they dressed up as their favorite saints.

Do you know what else happened on October 31^st? In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on All Saints’ Church door in Germany. For many, October 31^st is known as Reformation Day. I will talk more about this in my sermon.

Did you know that the word reform means change? Do you ever ask God to change or reform you? You know, it’s possible. God is not going to change you into the person you dress up as on Halloween, but God can change your heart. You stay the same person, but you can do things that you may never thought you could do.

When I was your age, I never thought I could stand in front of people and talk about Jesus, but God changed me so that I am no longer afraid to talk about Jesus in front of people.

As an illustration, let’s use this sheet of paper. If I tried to move it 10’ from where I am standing, I could not do it. But if I changed it into a ball, I could throw it a little further. If I made it into an airplane, I could fly it.

So, as you celebrate Halloween, remember how Martin Luther changed the Church by allowing God to make him brave, and ask for that change in your life.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Revelation, Reformation, Reformed

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My focus is Revelation 14:6-7: “I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

My sermon has three R’s, but nothing to do with what I learned in school. The first R stems from Revelation. The second R from Reformation. The third R from a Roman reformed.

First, Revelation. Revelation began where the Gospels ended. The Gospels narrated Christ’s incarnation, life and paschal mystery. Revelation narrated His second coming into eternity. Therefore, always read Revelation through Christ.

We can sum up Revelation’s purpose in a word: preparation. Christians were to prepare for persecution. Preparation through baptism or washed in the blood of the Lamb strengthened Christians to accept the Church’s mission on earth while they waited for the Lord to return.

The more prepared Christians were, confident by faith that they were going to heaven because of Christ’s merit, the more the Spirit moved them to enter heaven. The more Christians desired the glory of God in heaven, the more the Spirit moved them to witness through hope, which is, if you recall from last week, a personal living relationship with someone who will vindicate you.

Revelation revealed much about the suffering and judgment of the human race and the world, but it also recorded a great celebration of God’s people, who believe in the triumphant, exalted Christ. We read throughout the book how the saints confidently sang and celebrated their worship of God and Christ, which is even more striking when viewed against the terrible suffering and warfare they endured.

Today’s passage describes the first angel flying in mid-heaven proclaiming the eternal gospel to all people. Normally, we associate Gospel with the forgiveness of sins through faith in the work of Christ. We read in Romans that the Gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Here, however, the Gospel includes the somber news of judgment, for the angel’s cry is, “Fear God and give him glory … the hour of his judgment has come … worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

John’s aim was to move people to heed God’s judgment (Law) and worship (Gospel) for Christ’s return would be the final deliverance of His people from the dragon, its two beasts, and their hosts. Hence, John based the eternal Gospel or eternal message of God’s judgment and grace on Christ’s saving work.

In view of his coming judgment, the purpose of these verses was to move people to fear, glorify and worship God. Fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, comes from learning about God through hearing His word, and is an essential part of contrition over sin and repentance. To worship God is the result of fearful repentance through the redemption wrought by Christ.

To worship God results from fearful repentance through the redemption wrought by Christ. That brings me to my second point, Reformation.

When we talk about the Reformation, we mean the 16^th century movement in Europe that aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in the establishment of Protestant churches. Martin Luther did not intend to establish a new Church. He attempted to reform it. He attempted to reform it through repentance, which is why I chose the reading from Revelation.

To reform means to improve an existing institution, law or practice by altering or correcting abuses. Individually, we experienced personal reform when we gave up a reprehensible habit or immoral way of life. When Doctor Luther posted his 95 Theses, he intended true reform in the Church and in every member. He intended that we take steps to form again our corporate and personal lives and give glory to God.

The posting of Luther’s Theses was a moment hastened by the darkest centuries in the history of the Western Church. The papal monarchy was a bloated bureaucracy with an insatiable appetite for money and power. The clergy corrupt. Religious life corroded. The need for reform was universally acknowledged, but thwarted by self-interested church hierarchy and secular rulers who profited by the abuses. As a result, dissatisfaction and anticlericalism assumed threatening proportions, creating a powder keg awaiting Luther’s spark.

Luther and other protagonists saw the Reformation as the recovery of the pure revelation of primitive Christianity, the “word of God undefiled,” while the Catholic Church saw it mainly as a rejection of Christian truth. From my perspective, it was a happy fault, for the Reformers sought the pure gospel and succeeded in presenting it to Christians in the face of grave deformations. In many ways, they simply re-asserted ancient Catholic truths, for in Church history; reformatio also meant renovatio, or renewal in the double sense of back to the original form and a new start. Like Revelation, Luther based the eternal Gospel or eternal message of God’s judgment and grace on Christ’s saving work.

Read Jeremiah. “The Lord said, ‘Behold, I put my words in your mouth. I set you over nations and kingdoms, to pluck up and break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.’” Or Romans. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Or Revelation. “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

We can sum up what Luther sought in one word, metanoia, a theological term for repentance and a transformative change of heart. Read his 95 Theses from October 31, 1517. Notice the first one reads, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

Repent. Be prepared for the eternal message of God’s judgment and grace based on Christ’s saving work.

Rightfully, Luther taught that every baptized person had the right and duty to teach and spread the word of God. His visits to churches revealed great ignorance among people, which he corrected through his Large and Small Catechisms and hymns, making Luther the great religious instructor of his day.

Luther affected politics, religious practice and theology. While some seized the moment for political gain, others welcomed Luther’s call to return to our Christian roots, while Calvin and Zwingli separated themselves from Luther over their understanding of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The Reformation was not a single event, but began with a moment that changed the Church forever. We could and should spend a year studying the Reformation and the Counter Reformation, only then would we begin to appreciate Luther’s contributions, but we cannot do that in a Sunday sermon. So, to quote Forest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

That brings me to my third point, a Roman reformed. By Roman reformed I mean I was a Roman Catholic. I was baptized, confirmed, educated and ordained in the Roman Catholic Church. My undergraduate and two of my three graduate degrees are from Catholic institutions. I served as a Catholic priest for 21 years. I know more about the Catholic Church than all your Catholic friends know. Nevertheless, like the Reformation, there was a moment in my life that changed all that.

Moments change people’s lives. We define moment as a brief, indefinite interval of time; a specific point in time, especially the present; or a particular period of importance, influence, or significance in a series of events or developments. Its root is the Latin word momentum meaning movement, motion, moving power, alteration or change. An event that lasts only an instant can change world history – the Resurrection, signing of the Magna Carta, posting 95 Theses. A moment on a particular date can change a nation – July 4, 1776; December 7, 1941; September 11, 2001. Personally, I experienced moments that stay with me because they changed me – my ordination on May 23, 1987; my mother’s death on November 1, 2006; our wedding on August 7, 2010. Now, this Roman reformed will unite Revelation and Reformation to our personal lives.

If Reformation means not only that moment in 16^th century Europe that resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches, but also personal reform when we gave up a reprehensible habit, then we’re onto something. I suggest we read Reformation’s most influential books – Bondage of Will, Pilgrim’s Progress, Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Book of Concord and so on, but start with Luther’s 95 Theses and ask ourselves how his first thesis applies to my life.

When Luther wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance,” do you think the Doctor had us in mind? Do you think Jesus had you in mind when He cried, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”? Do you think John had us in mind when he urged persecuted Christians to be prepared and cling to Christ, their hope who would redeem them? My friends, the Christian life is all about repentance. It is all about repentance, but not understood in the sense of gaining merit. Rather, in the sense of being motivated by love for Christ and what He did for me, for us, for all humanity.

If Christ willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance, and He did, is repentance evident in my life? Is repentance evident in our life as Church, as a denomination, Synod or congregation? If, as Luther and others have said, that the church is always to be reformed, what does that mean for us as Church and for me individually?

Reform, repentance or change came at the price of great anguish for Luther. For that matter, it comes at a great price for anyone who heeds God’s call. Luther posted no bill haphazardly. His theses came after searching his own heart and soul. Fortunately, for the Roman Catholic Church, what he did created an opportunity for reform that occurred outside the Roman Curia and Papacy. Luther’s act gave rise to Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila – vital figures of the Counter Reformation.

Luther’s visitations led to an educated clergy for all of Christendom. His catechisms led to a simpler method of learning the truths of Christianity. His translation of the Bible did for the German language what Shakespeare did for English. Luther’s initial achievements affect the Roman Church today, through a seminary system, catechesis and a renewed sacramental system. For that, all Christians should be grateful to Luther and celebrate Reformation Sunday.

That is the good news. Now, here is what I want you to do to celebrate Reformation Sunday: Read something on Martin Luther, the Reformation or the teachings of the Lutheran Church. You do not have to buy anything. You can start with the magazines or the pamphlets we provide in the lobby or go to the LCMS website. As you await the return of our Lord, be prepared through joyful repentance. Prepare yourself with a joyful repentance that would make Luther and our Lord Jesus proud. And may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Who Are You Imitating?

 

It’s close to the World Series. The first World Series I remember was 1966, when the upstart Baltimore Orioles swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to none. It was historic since the Dodgers were the stronger team and were favored to win.

But growing up in Western Pennsylvania, my favorite players were not Orioles or Dodgers, but Pirates. And my favorite Pirates were Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski. I even imagined myself as them. When I played Little League, I imagined myself as Maz at 2^nd base. When I played the outfield, I tried the basket catch that Clemente made famous. My brother and I wear our Maz and Clemente T-shirts even to this day.

It’s great to imitate our favorite athletes, but more importantly, it’s great to imitate other people we admire and teach us Christian values. These people may be our parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, bosses, pastors or neighbors. How many parents became teachers, nurses, machinists, accountants or pastors because they wanted to imitate people they admired? You should ask that question to your parents.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul encouraged the Christians to imitate him. This may sound like that Paul had a big ego or a swelled head, but when you read his letter to them in the proper setting, you know that he wanted them to be like Jesus, as he wanted to be like Jesus.

Have you thought of being a holy person? Have you thought of being a great reformer like Martin Luther? Have you thought of being an ideal saint like Paul or Peter, Mary Magdalene or Martha? Who is the holy person you admire and want to imitate?

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Imitate, Image, Importance

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is entitled Imitate, Image, Importance, and my focus is 1^st Thessalonians 1:5-6: “Our gospel came to you … in word … in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. … You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

My sermon has three I’s, but nothing to do with new age thinking. The first I is from Thessalonians – Imitate. The second I from Matthew – Image. The third I from experience – Importance.

First, imitate. I recently heard a podcast that challenged pastors to echo Paul when he exhorted Christians to “imitate me.” The speaker’s point was simple. If pastors do not encourage their congregants to imitate them, whom should they imitate? So, imitate me. How? I will save that for my third I.

To imitate means to try to follow the manner, style or character of someone. Many writers imitated the language of Shakespeare. It means to mimic, duplicate or counterfeit, or to resemble or simulate. Mike Ditka’s achievements in business imitated his earlier successes in football.

What does imitate mean in regards to 1^st Thessalonians? This is the oldest Christian document, written about 50 AD. If we walked into a meeting of Paul’s converts in Thessalonica when this letter was being read to them for the first time, would we recognize we were among Christians who had the same faith that we have? Would we know that we were not in a Jewish synagogue or a pagan meeting place but in a Christian church? It would take two minutes to decide, for in the first verses there is mention of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the work of faith, the labor of love and endurance in hope. Basic catechism material.

1^st Thessalonians is Christianity 101. Paul reminded his converts to recall what he taught them. Acts 17 offers us a view of what else occurred in Thessalonica.

Paul walked into a city that enjoyed peace. He taught in the synagogue that Jesus is the Christ. He converted Jews and Greeks. Paul claimed that Jesus, not Caesar, was king, and drew the attention of city leaders who did not want Caesar’s troops to visit them.

Thessalonica’s neophytes, those new to the faith, needed to be encouraged because the people who persecuted Paul, Silas, and their gracious host, Jason, were now persecuting them. Hence, the letter’s aim reminded the audience much of what they already knew.

To enhance their knowledge and understanding, Paul used a method we use today. We call it memory work. Others call it epideictic oratory. Whatever term, the method helps people remember, understand and learn.[1]

Paul wanted the Thessalonians to embrace the truth – that the gospel that came to them in word, power, the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. He taught what the Scriptures revealed about Jesus, and exhorted them to commit it to memory.

Because the city leaders incited thugs to harass and attack Thessalonian Christians, Paul was gentle with his new members. Yet, he reminded them to turn from idols, even if it meant turning away from family, friends, festivals and fun – like organized sporting events – and even if it meant losing business clients.

Let’s face it, God’s call to the Thessalonians demanded they turn from their former ways of life to one ruled by God. To be holy is to be different. … To be holy is to be different.

Paul stressed that Christians work, and not be a burden to society. As a model, he set up his tent-making business in the open market so he could work and teach simultaneously.

Finally, Paul stressed that persecuted Christians establish their hope in the Lord Jesus, for Christian hope is a personal living relationship with someone who will come to vindicate them.[2] … A personal living relationship with someone who will come to vindicate you … because to be holy is to be different … and if you believe, as Paul did, that your call is from God, people will persecute you, even if they are members of the Church.

From imitate to image, from Thessalonians to Matthew. The definition of image is a reproduction of a form, person or object. In the Gospel, we find Jesus fending off a ruse concocted by the Pharisees and Herodians regarding payment of taxes. Jesus met their question, prefaced by feigned admiration – “We know you are true and teach the way of God truthfully. You do not care about opinions and are not swayed by appearances” – with disdain – “Hypocrites, show me the coin.”

Regarding this passage, my New Testament professor, Bonaventure Hayes, would cut to the chase. Caesar had more rights and powers than any US President. He could mint coins imprinted with Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. That’s executive power.

The conspirators totally missed the point. First, no Jew carried anything bearing the image of a god, including Caesar, for the Law prohibited them. We read in Exodus, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”[3] The coin the Pharisees and Herodians produced attributed divinity to Augustus or Tiberius; and when they identified the image of coin as Caesar’s, Jesus said, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

What things are God’s? Let me direct your attention to Genesis 1:27. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

God’s image is imprinted on you … on me … on every one of us. We owe taxes to our government, but our lives to our God. I am sure you have paid Uncle Sam what is rightfully due him. That is not my concern. Have you paid God what is rightfully due Him? As pastor, that is my concern. Hence, my 3rd point, importance.

Importance is defined as the quality or state of being important. It comes to us from the Latin importare meaning to bring in, convey, bring in from abroad. When we import, we carry something from the outside into our lives.

A synonym of importance is consequence. Consequence generally implies importance because of probable or possible effects. Since consequence is a deduction or conclusion. The recent passing of Eddie Van Halen at age 65 reminds us that drug use, smoking and drinking to excess over a long period of time has consequences, that is, an early death. On the other hand, if you eat fresh fruits and vegetables, have faith, socialize and don’t stress, as well as other healthy habits, that will lead to longevity.

Now, form a mental picture and imagine meeting yourself in 20 years. You have gray hair and crow’s feet. You lost a step and gained a pound. That is not my concern. My concern is your relationship with God, the depth of your spirituality, your personal living relationship with Christ who will vindicate you for being persecuted for your faith. In 20 years, will your faith life be any deeper than it is now?

So, let me return to my first I – Imitate me. When I say, “Imitate me,” I am not asking you to enjoy everything I do. I enjoy roasting coffee and playing fetch with our Golden Retriever, Travis but I am not asking you to buy a coffee roaster or adopt a pet. Our Father in heaven has no need of caffeine and already has a Golden Retriever.

I want you to imitate my prayer life. I want you to pray daily. I want you to read Scripture and think about the passage. I want you to recall or record your thoughts and feelings when you reflect on Scripture. I want you to imagine meeting yourself in 20 years, and thanking yourself for praying daily over two decades. In short, your prayer life today is of great importance for it has consequences later.

Will you be a different person in 20 years if you pray daily? Will prayer change you? Will you better reflect the image of God? My experience tells me, yes, especially if you expect to encounter any hardship or heartache in life.

When faced with adversity – religious harassment, ethnic persecution, war, death, divorce, faithless family and friends, unemployment, poverty, sickness, incurable disease and impending death – we have the opportunity to witness for Christ, our Master and Teacher. In order to do so, we need to develop a regular prayer life. We need to set aside as much time for prayer, Bible reading and study as we do for any other activity – eating, exercising, watching TV, surfing the web and so on.

Martin Luther saw prayer as crucial to human life, a life created by the relationship to God. In this relationship God starts a conversation, communicating God’s words of law and promise. Prayer is a part of the human response to God’s speaking, a response shaped by the words of command and promise. Luther thought that God’s promise to hear prayer defined both the nature of God and the nature of the human relationship to God, as well as the human approach to life. Luther’s comments and instructions on prayer permeated his work. Luther sought to build an evangelical prayer practice that reflected the key insights of his theology. Just as God redeems the unworthy human, so God promises to hear and respond to the one praying, despite his or her unworthiness. Humans respond to God’s actions in law and promise when they pray regularly, forthrightly, honestly, and frequently. Freedom in Christ sets humans free to use prayer practices that help them to do this.

If you need a prayer guide, you can find plenty on the web regarding Luther and prayer. If you are looking for something more contemporary, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Portals of Prayer. If you prefer websites, apps or podcasts, I encourage you to go to the Missouri Synod website (www.lcms.org). There you will find plenty of resources. You can also adopt the Five P’s of Prayer that I have previously mentioned: Passage, Place, Posture, Presence and Passage. I practice this on a daily basis. I suggest you imitate me as I imitate Paul who imitated Christ.

Because God has stamped His divine image on you, spend time in prayer daily for the rest of your life. Develop that deeper relationship with our Triune God, and when you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Ben Witherington III, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2006), 21.

[2] Ibid, 59.

[3] Exodus 20:4.

Polish Weddings

 

MATTHEW 22

Do you like attending weddings? When I was a boy, my parents would take me to all the weddings of their friends and family members. Because my mom and dad had lots of siblings and cousins, we went to a lot of weddings.

As a pastor, I have attended many weddings at country clubs, church halls, in people’s back yards and parks. The most fun I had was attending Polish weddings where there were polkas, stuffed cabbage and pierogies, sauerkraut and kielbasa. You may not enjoy this music and these foods, but I love them.

Yet, there was always one person who sat in her chair with a scowl on her face because she was not enjoying the party. We all know that aunt (or uncle). While everyone else was having fun, she was the one with crossed arms, expressing to everyone her dissatisfaction with … whatever.

This is like the man who attended the wedding. He came dressed in the wrong garment. But not wearing the right clothes is not the issue here. He came with the wrong attitude.

It would be like attending church and sulking. People who sit with their arms crossed and scowled faces tell everyone this, “I don’t want to be here!” It doesn’t matter if you are seven or seventy-seven. If you are in our Father’s House listening to God’s Word and attending the Lord’s Supper with that attitude, how do other people, and, more importantly, how does God see that?

If I have that attitude, and then when I need God, beg Him for help and healing, for forgiveness and assistance, for mercy or a miracle, how would you respond to that person if you were God? So, let’s change our attitude and approach God as God.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Challenge, Change, Choose - A sermon on Matthew 22:2

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon in entitled Challenge, Change and Choose, and my focus is on Matthew 22:2: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Everyone has wedding memories. Some are preserved in movies, scores of movies. Some good, others not. Father of the Bride, Runaway Bride and Bridesmaids. The Wedding Singer, The Wedding Planner and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Weddings are in The Godfather, The Deer Hunter and The Sound of Music.

No one has produced a movie with a wedding scene like the one in today’s parable. That is because the parable is not about a wedding. It is about the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us view the parable through three lenses: Challenge, Change and Choose.

First, Challenge. When I read Scripture, I want to know why. Why did Paul write this? Why did the prophet say that? The answer is often revealed in the greater context. Today’s passage is no different. Jesus did not speak this parable in a setting vacuum-sealed from sin. Jesus spoke his words in Jerusalem’s Temple before the crowds and his disciples to the chief priests and elders who questioned his authority to expel moneychangers and to heal the blind and lame just days before his passion.

Rightfully, the chief priests and elders challenged Jesus’ authority because they oversaw teaching and worship. They wanted to know where Jesus got His authority because they certainly did not authorize Him.

In rabbinical style, Jesus responded with His own question: Did the baptism of John come from heaven or man?

Because Israel’s leaders and people did not respond to the Baptist’s call to repent, they admit ignorance and condemn themselves. They could not answer because of ignorance; Jesus chose not to answer because his teaching authority was superior to these incompetents. Jesus then pronounced judgment on Israel’s leaders and people; and He did so with parables.

Jesus spoke six parables. Today’s Parable of the Wedding Feast is the third in that series. Like the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, father and son appear vis-à-vis a hostile group, but now the father is a king, an obvious symbol for God. The Feast is the eschatological banquet – the banquet at the end of time – that God prepares for His Son.

The parable opens on a joyful note, but closes on a somber tone. The king sends two groups of slaves (prophets) with a request to attend the wedding feast. The first refusal is met with divine patience and a renewed attempt to win over the headstrong guests who insanely refuse a gift. The second time, while most of the invited guests (Jewish people) go away to their private concerns, some (the leaders) kill the slaves. The divine wrath is kindled, and the King destroys the village (Jerusalem) and its murderous leaders.

Since those originally invited showed by their deeds that they were not ready and worthy, the invitation is now spread to the roads going out of the King’s city (to the Gentiles). New slaves (early Christian missionaries) bring in everyone, good and bad alike, and the hall is filled. This would be the church as a worldwide mixture of good and evil people.

The whole narrative neatly outlines salvation history. What the murderers lost is handed over to others, who had no previous claim on it. And although there is no mention of the death of the Son, Matthew’s Church knows the Father honored him from the beginning.

Now, returning to chief priests’ challenge of Jesus, we see clearly how Matthew impressed on early Jewish Christians that Jesus transmitted His authority to the Church.[4] This is why Matthew added a conclusion that shifted the emphasis from Christ to salvation and the Church. Now, the Church remains the subject to judgment as Jerusalem was.

The King entered the wedding hall to inspect the guests. The boor without the clean wedding garment was the baptized Christian who accepted the missionary call to believe but did not prepare himself for the banquet by repenting from his sinful life and living the fruits of the Gospel.

Speechless because he had no excuse for his sordid state, he was as unworthy as the originally invited guests, and suffered the same fate. Excluded from the banquet, they threw him into the darkness of lament and pain. (No soup for you!) The three parables are summed up in the words – The called are many, the chosen are few.

My second point, change. Early Christians referred to themselves as “the called.” They made no distinction between call and election. God’s call would naturally result in glorification. After all, Romans 8 reads, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Those whom he predestined he called, and those whom he called he justified, and those whom he justified he glorified.”

First Peter reads, “As he who called you is holy, you also must be holy in all your conduct.”

Standing at the end of the 1st century, Matthew wisely distinguished between call and election. Verses 11-13 emphasize this is not simply a question of distinguishing between Jews and Gentiles, as verses 1-10 indicate. The church, a mixture of good and evil, was under judgment, and the judgment shows who was chosen for the feast and who belonged with the rejected outside.

Matthew emphasized that responding to God’s call meant change. Matthew recorded Jesus’ first words as He preached: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Repent! Change! God called us to live holy lives, extraordinarily holy lives. This was Matthew’s message to his members and to us. The good news: God called me. The bad news: I deserve to be bound hand and foot, thrown into the dark where I hear only weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why? Because I have not changed. I have not changed.

A Buddhist monk goes up to a hot dog vendor and says, “Make me one with everything.” The vendor hands him a hot dog with everything on it. The monk hands the vendor a twenty-dollar bill. The vendor sticks it in his pocket. The monk stands there waiting for change. After a minute, the vendor says, “Change comes from within.”

Folks, if you are waiting for change, the choice is yours because God gave you everything. God gave you a life with everything you need and eternal life to boot. …If your life does not suit you, ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart from within.

My third point, choose. To choose means I select someone or something as the best or most appropriate of two or more alternatives. Its roots stretch back to the Latin word gustāre meaning to taste.

This past week, I had my first taste of a virtual district conference in the Eastern District. When introduced to my brother pastors as one who served the Church as a Roman Catholic priest for 21 years, several pastors inquired about my history, asking, “What led you to the Lutheran Church?” My answer: My wife.

Yes, my wife was instrumental in my embrace of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. More importantly, it was the teachings of the Synod that lead me here, primarily, its understanding and interpretation of Scripture, the Lord’s Supper and Christ’s true presence in, with and under the bread and wine. Equally important are the Synod’s teachings on marriage and when life begins and ends. Not all Christian denominations espouse what Scripture teaches regarding Word, Sacrament, marriage and life. I chose to embrace the Christian Faith in the Missouri Synod because I believe it to be proper, true and most appropriate.

Folks, each denomination has someone who wrote a book with a title that begins with “Why I am a ….” Tom Nettles, John Krumm, Garry Wills and Daniel Preus all wrote why they are Baptists, Episcopalians, Catholics and Lutherans.

My choice to become a pastor in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church was based not simply on taste. I could not resist but to choose the embrace of God – the embrace of love, mercy and forgiveness – and His invitation to enter His Kingdom. Hence, I prepare for the eschatological banquet, the heavenly banquet, the wedding banquet appropriately. I arrive sinful and beg God’s mercy before I approach the Table of the Lord – the table of His Word, the table of His Supper.

My friends, here is the best news you might hear all week. God invites you to embrace His Law and Gospel. I challenge you to change and choose to attend an unforgettable feast. To help you prepare, I close with this anonymous meditation.

 

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife,

Whose judgment upon you must pass;

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest.

For he's with you clear up to the end,

And you've passed the most dangerous, difficult test

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years.

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be the heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass. …

 

If you are attending the wedding feast of the Lord, meditate on this prayer; and as you approach His banquet table, may the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.