Here We Go Again

Here's my notes from yesterday's sermon. You can listen by clicking this link (mp3).

It’s been an interesting week, a historic week. The first time this church had an interesting, historic week was the week of its founding, in January of 1870, 140 years ago. Here are a few words from the church’s history:

While it is not possible to judge how accurate and objective the minutes were, it appears that the proceedings were self-assertive and frank.

There was a dispute at the organizational meeting of this congregation… and I quote “There arose a most unpleasant controversy… According to early members who recalled this incident in later years, the disagreement was called by dissidents who were opposed to being bound by Lutheran confessions and practices… But these persons withdrew from the meeting and ‘peace and unity prevailed.’”

When difficulty and disagreements arise, we should not panic! We should simply say “here we go again.” The God who brought the congregation safe through discussion and disagreement and division in the past—that same God will be faithful today.

And it’s clear that none of this begins with us or with our church. The scriptures assigned for today speak the truth about a complex and difficult road, but a wonderful road—the road of faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let’s first look at the scripture from First Kings—when I first read this I thought it was Elijah’s retirement! Elijah had been depressed and hiding in a cave. He’s hiding because he’s gotten in huge trouble—and he’s in trouble because he’s been obeying God.

He is depressed and in hiding… he goes in God’s strength for forty days into the desert of the Sinai peninsula… he goes to a mountain where he experiences wind and earthquake and fire… and finally hears the whisper of God’s voice. This is in First Kings 19:9 and following—page 320 in the church’s Bibles…

“What are you doing here, Elijah?” says God in verse 9… Elijah is up far away from everyone else, hiding in a cave. Have you felt like hiding lately? If so the Word of God come to you in your hiding place? What are you doing here?

Elijah answers honestly—I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAVE FORSAKEN THY COVENANT, THROWN DOWN THY ALTARS, AND SLAIN THY PROPHETS WITH THE SWORD, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.

And then the reading for today begins with verse 15.

What happens next looks like a retirement story. The Lord tells Elijah to do what looks like is going to be the wrapping up of his work. He’s to go anoint a couple kings and to “anoint Elisha as prophet in your place.” It looks like Elijah’s retirement.

But it’s not. Elijah actually continues his ministry, standing up and witnessing to the one true God—except now he has Elisha by his side as an assistant. When Elijah is so depressed—that isn’t the end… God strengthens Elijah with his Word and sends him out to do many things like he has done before. Here we go again.

And something similar happens in our gospel with Jesus.

Luke 9:51-62. Like Elijah, Jesus is standing up for a particular, specific TRUTH. Jesus is not someone who always gets along with everyone. People are leaving his meetings all the time. It’s clear from this passage that it’s important to be kind and not to call down fire from heaven on those you disagree with. It’s important, as it says in Galatians 5, to love one another and not “bite and devour” each other… but that doesn’t mean just saying every opinion is alike.

That wasn’t true for Elijah and it’s not true for Jesus Christ himself. When we have disagreements about truth, we ought to sigh and say “Here we go again…” and trust God to bring us through.

When we are dealing with matters of truth, there are going to be disagreements. It’s just how it is. It’s important to make sure that what any of us are standing up for is supported by God’s Word, but the mere fact that there are disagreements should NOT be surprising! It’s simply a time to hold even tighter to God’s hand, and in a sigh to deep for words---in a sigh that says “Here we go again” pray and pray… and ask God to bring us through.

There are many times in scripture that God’s Word divides.  That is why the Word of God is called "the sword of the Spirit." There are many times that God's Word does not unite. We ought always to be kind and gentle with one another, we ought to be way more sad than angry, we ought to LOVE those we disagree with no matter what, but that still does not always bring us together. Oh, Lord, we pray you will be with us as here we go again.

The gospel for today shows how hard it is to follow our Lord. Many times what we do will seem harsh and uncaring. When Jesus speaks to his followers he says things that seem very harsh today. There are deeper reasons for what he says in verse 60 for example, and in verse 62, but those reasons do not take away the fact that following Jesus usually, normally, time after time, it is hard. So we cannot claim that those who are “upset” or seemingly divisive are wrong simply because the things they bring up are difficult to handle. Everything will not always be peaceful on the surface or even way down deep—at least not until we reach the kingdom of God.

Why?

Why are these things of God so important that it’s worth it anyway, even though there are divisions—I mean, the words of Jesus to those who would follow him are not all that peaceful!

Why is it worth it?

Early this morning I heard a message by Pastor Mark Larson on the radio. He compares what Jesus says to what first responders—fire and police and other emergency personnel—Pastor Mark Larson compares what Jesus do to what “first responders” did on 911.

Here I quote from Pastor Mark’s sermon:

Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." These words are very blunt. It seems perfectly reasonable and proper that a man be allowed to attend the funeral of his father. These words seem harsh. Why is Jesus in such a hurry when He calls to us, "Follow Me!"?

To answer that, put yourself in the big shoes of the first responders after the Twin Towers were attacked on 9/11. Huge plumes of smoke are rising to the sky. Many people have already died. . . . And it's raining . . . raining people, people who are forced to choose between death by fire or death by jumping out of the buildings a hundred stories up. The sirens of the fire and police vehicles howl and echo back and forth in the skyscraper canyons of the city. The first responders speed toward the task appointed before them. Many in the Towers have already died, but some people still need to be rescued. The firemen and the policemen set their faces toward the Twin Towers. Their eyes are fixed on this catastrophe; I don't think they could look back if they wanted to. They could not say good-bye to their families. There was nothing more important at that moment than the task of saving the lives of those still trapped in the Twin Towers.

What an important task, saving lives. Yet this pales in comparison to the task of saving eternal lives. The brave first responders went to save earthly lives. Jesus and those who respond to His words, "Follow Me" set their faces to save the eternal lives of those who are trapped in sin. . . It's still raining. . . Raining the souls of men being lost from our Heavenly Father's tender care to a hopeless, despairing eternity. So Jesus says, "Follow Me. Right Now! Don't look back!" That's the meaning of this passage of the Bible.

Because this church will do what it always has done—preaching and teaching salvation in Jesus Christ alone—there will be challenges and even divisions. But because Jesus is the only one who can save us and the world, let us say with confidence, even in the face of disagreement, “Here we go again…” and follow our Lord.

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I invite you who are reading this to join in our prayers from June 27, 2010.

Remembering always to give thanks, let us pray for the whole Christian Church and for all people everywhere. ...

We praise you Lord, for preserving for us the saving gospel of Jesus Christ alone. Continue to raise up, strengthen, and encourage all who speak your Word for the sake of the world, that many may be saved. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, Master, many times we hide from difficulty. We panic when hard times come upon us. Remind us you are always with us, and come to us as you did to Elijah with your Word. Help us listen and believe. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, Master, many times we seek retaliation and revenge. Too often we would like to see others suffer. But you rebuke us. You reject our self-righteousness. Help us, Lord, know what it means to stand with uncompromising truthfulness and total love. Fill us with compassion. Make it our goal to change every enemy into a friend. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, Master, turn easy words of commitment into action. Eliminate excuse making. May the greater desire to follow you overcome all selfish desires. Give us ears and eyes to see those who are in need of your salvation. Give us a sense of urgency so we leave all else to follow you. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

When there is stress or tension, turn our attention to you. you promise that you will not leave us for forsake us. Help us always trust in you and your Word. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Bless and protect our youth as they are traveling and working for you in Montana. Give them a blessed experience as they bless others in your name. Thank you for Izabella Grace Bendorf. Bless her and her parents, Nate and Sarah. Grant your healing to Isabelle Mattson, to Jeff Barth, and to the many others who are injured or who are ill or in trouble. Send your healing balm upon all who are living with stress during these days. Give your peace and love to Frank Cruz and his family as they mourn his mother’s death. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the poor and needy, for those with mental illness, for the institutions that care for them, for first responders and our military, that God would work in every situation. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Others were invited to pray... then we continued…

Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

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Spiritual Battle (part 4)

I'm surprised that I haven't gotten any negative responses on the many posts related to Spiritual Warfare since Time to Pray back on May 10.  When I started writing about this and even titled a few of those posts "Spiritual Battle" (part 1, 2, 3 and now 4) thinking it might provoke some discussion.  I know there are some readers out there.  There have been a couple positive comments; over on facebook (username "stevekarl") there have been some comments and "likes," but, mostly it's been silence.  Maybe people are just taking it all in.   Maybe this topic just makes people's eyes glaze over.  Who knows?

There's a spiritual battle going on in Second Samuel 11:25-12:14. (We'll be reading this on Sunday.)  In this story, King David's soul is lost.  He took beautiful Bathsheba for his own pleasure, conspired to cover up his adultery and effectively killed her husband, the loyal soldier Uriah.

By doing this, David betrayed the purpose of God.  God had raised him up from obscurity and gave him power and influence so others could be blessed with him as their king.  Instead, several times, and most notoriously in this incident involving Bathsheba and Uriah, he uses his power to pursue advantages for himself.  When he did that, he was lost.

But God loves lost souls.  To rescue them, God prepares spiritual warriors.  The principle spiritual warrior is God the Son himself, Jesus Christ.  In the case of King David, the warrior is the prophet Nathan.  Equipped with God's Word and divinely inspired insight, Nathan disarms David.  The misuse of power was David's downfall--but David still knows right from wrong.  Through the prophet God presents David with parable.  The parable tricks David into pronouncing judgment on himself:  "The man who has done this deserves to die."

Spiritual warfare makes us face the truth.  It's not pleasant, but it's good to be real, to have our fake, false façades demolished.  Like the Velveteen Rabbit, we might ask "Does it hurt?"  Of course it hurts.  The Word of God lays us bare and makes us face what we do not want to know as sinners: the truth. But, like the the wise "Skin Horse" character in the Velveteen Rabbit story knows, "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."  It's good to be Real.  It's good to face the truth.

In the story of David and Nathan, God wins!  David surrenders with these words: "I have sinned against the Lord."  Because David surrendered, he is known as a Bible hero.  Because he surrenders to God, he is a hero, even though his life is riddled with sin.

When God comes at us, it's always good to give in.  That's how God saves our souls--by defeating us, by breaking us, by not letting us escape--by making us be "Real." And then, because of what Jesus has done, by taking our sins on himself, we are given a priceless gift in exchange--forgiveness--full and free.  We do not need to carry our past sins anymore.

So, let me ask: What in your life is a "spiritual battle" right now?  How is God not letting you escape?  How is God pursuing you with his Word?  Let him win!  Even if it hurts, it's worth it!  God's future, God's reality--It is so good!

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To Be Lutheran

To be Lutheran is to believe God's Word.  To be Lutheran is to understand that the Bible has a center--a shining life-giving center--that is, the excellent good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ.  To be Lutheran, however, means we respect and hold that the entire Bible is God's Word, that we do not pick and choose which parts are worthy of our careful attention.

Lutherans understand that the Bible is an ancient book.  We know it takes work to mine its riches.  We know it deserves careful study.  We have, however, always believed that the Bible speaks with God's authority.  Those who say the Bible is simply an old book of ancient human wisdom are neither Lutheran nor Christian.  We are the people of God's revealed Word.  We do not make up or find truth (in regard to our relationship with God) on our own.

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The Spirit of Truth

Here's a draft of tomorrow morning's sermon.  Not only are we recognizing high school graduates tomorrow, tomorrow is also The Day of Pentecost.  This festival has been celebrated since ancient times by the Jewish people as the "Feast of Weeks" or, in Hebrew, Hag ha-Shavuot, commemorating God's gift of the Ten Commandments and the harvesting of wheat.  It occurs 50 days (7 weeks) after Passover, at which time Jesus suffered, was executed, and rose from the dead.  The Christian account of Pentecost is found as chapter 2 of the New Testament book of Acts.  The assigned reading is verses 1-21.  We will also be reading Psalm 104:24-35; Romans 8:14-17 and John 14:8-27.

THIS is an important time.  High school seniors are graduating.  We're moving closer to the June 23 meeting.  And, this day, today, this is the actual day when, about 2,000 years ago, the Spirit of Truth came down on about 120 disciples, gave them courage and miraculous communication skills, and by that evening the church had grown by 2,600 percent.  And all of these things--high school graduation, our June 23 meeting and the explosive growth of the church--it's all based on Truth.  The truth we learn, the truth we know and the truth God gives us as a gift to the world.  This is an important time.  A time of Truth.  A time for the Holy Spirit of God to work within us, among us, and through us--not because we are anything special, but because we have been given the Spirit of God--the Spirit of Truth.

In our Gospel we have these words from Jesus:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

If my some miracle you can trust God's love, if you know the truth about yourself, that you are a lost sinner saved by Jesus, if you know who you are and the truth of Jesus' love, then the Holy Spirit of God's Truth has done his work!  By that work of Truth, you are born again!

It's a miracle because so often we avoid the truth.  We don't want to know who we are any more than we want to know just how much sludge and oil is pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.  We don't want to think about how our lives and our lifestyles indirectly hurt the creation and the poor of the world.  We do not want to remember how we have done damage through our pride, our stubbornness and our unwillingness to work out our differences in a peaceful and respectful way.  We don't want to know how much is hurts God when we fail to pray, when we fail to trust, when we gossip and try to control others.  But when God comes to us we come to know the truth--the truth of our damnable sin--and the truth of his far greater love.

And because of Jesus' love, we never have to be afraid of the truth.  That's what I'd like to say to our graduates this year.  You never need to be afraid of the truth.  Because God is the truth, and because God sends his Spirit of Truth, you never need to be afraid of your questions, you never need to hide your mistakes, you never need to pretend you are anything other than what you really are.  God knows all that.  God knows everything there is to know about you and God loves you just the same.  Let your minds expand.  Learn all you can.  Let your hearts be open.  Let God's love pour in like a river.  When you are hurting and wounded, come to a Christian adult who can pray for you and share this truth--God will always love you, no matter what.

I'd say something similar to the members of this church as we come up to the June 23rd vote.  You do not need to be afraid of the truth.  Let your minds and your hearts expand.  Talk with one another.  Learn all you can.  Don't come up to June 23 without doing some learning.  Think of that date as a test date for our church.  Not a final exam--this first vote on ELCA affiliation is not a final thing.  It is a first vote.  Disaffiliating from the ELCA takes two votes.  I think this vote is coming too soon because many of us just haven't learned enough yet... but our church council voted to bring this before the congregation a month from now.  There is no reason for fear, no reason to believe God will not lead us.  So take a breath, learn all you can, and come prepared for this first vote on the 23rd.  A letter from the council will be coming out to you shortly with the particulars.  In any case, hear Jesus' words: Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  Be in prayer.  Pray for faith to trust God even at this time.

Finally--about that "explosive growth" of the church.  It is the Spirit of Truth that brought that growth.  If you read through the whole second chapter of Acts, you'll see how the Spirit of Truth made that happen.  The disciples had been in hiding.  For weeks they barely moved.  Then God came and made them change!  You never need to be afraid of God's changes!  When changes come that are in agreement with God's Word, we can let our joy just explode!  That's what happened to those disciples.  When God came they just let Him in.  No barriers, no walls, no boundaries.  God came and took them where they never expected to go.  God did that through signs and wonders, miracles and gifts of deliverance and healing--and, especially, through the Truth of the Word of God.

Peter was the spokesman.  He preached a sermon that we heard just a part of from Acts 2.  The sermon goes on to speak the truth.  We human beings, no matter who we are or when we have lived--our sins, whether we meant them or not, whether we know about them nor not--our sins were the reason Jesus died.  Those sins--those sins against the commandments God gave--You Shall Not Covet, You Shall Not Bear False Witness, You Shall Not Steal, You Shall Not Commit Adultery, You Shall Not Murder, Honor Your Father and Your Mother, Keep the Sabbath Holy, Keep God's Name Holy, Love God Above All--every time we miss the mark intentionally or unintentionally on those or any other of the commandments in God's Word--it's as if we put Jesus on the cross with each one.  Because Jesus is the only one who could pay the price for our treachery, for our disloyalty, for our treason against the one who loves us more than we can imagine.  But we never need to be afraid of that truth.  Accepting that truth, and preaching that truth, it opens the door for saving, freeing, precious grace.  Grace that never ends.  Grace that brings blessing every day.

When God's truth comes to us, we, like the people who heard Peter preach, we say "what shall we do?"  And, through Peter, and through this preacher today, you hear the same message.  Do not hide from God's truth.  Admit your sin.  Ask for his grace.  Give up your games.  Take Jesus instead.  Let God be your Abba Father.  Let Jesus be your savior.  Let us pray God's Spirit into you.  And then live in this new family--this new family of believers.  This new family of prayers and lovers and givers and forgivers--people who let new beginnings come over and over again--who never hold grudges--and who are never afraid.

That's the new beginning God has to give.  And that's the new beginning we can speak to every hurting, precious soul out there.  We let the truth be known.  The truth about ourselves--we never pretend we are good--only that we have a good God.  That's the truth the Spirit brings.  And when we speak that and live that truth boldly, when each of us takes our place in letting God have his way with us, I believe God will open the floodgates for a new beginning, a new beginning based on nothing but what the Spirit of Truth gives through the precious Word of God.

Jesus died for you.  Because of you and because he loves you.  And he rose again to give you new life.  That is the truth.  The truth that brings new beginnings.  And whether we're graduating, voting, or just going out to proclaim that truth to our neighbors, we never need to be afraid.  That truth is available for you today.

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