Sermon for the Day of My Retirement

Independence Day Sunday, July 2, 2017, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Texts:  Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon Theme: “You Didn’t Come Together to Fall Apart”

(Sources:  Online “Freedom in Christ”; Online “How to Say Goodbye”; Online “How a Church Survives When a Pastor Leaves”; original examples, illustrations, and Ideas; Footnotes, Life Application Study Bible; Footnotes, Concordia Self-Study Bible)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

When my mother was 13 years old, Trinity Lutheran Church in Fedor, Texas, where she and her parents attended, started up a Mission church in Dime Box, with about three families.  Fedor was not all that far away from Dime Box, but when it rained, the roads were difficult to manage even with the horse and buggy, — that was the reason for trying to establish a new church.

The church worshipped on Sundays in the one-room rural school where the kids went to school during the week.  If a supply preacher could make it on a Sunday, they would have a short, simple service; if not, then they said a prayer and went home.  In those days, each person owned his own hymn book, and there was an old piano in the school, but there was no one to play it.  Well, even at 13, my mother could play by ear, but she couldn’t read music.

Her parents wanted so much to sing the hymns that they bought her a ‘how to play the piano’ book, she studied it, and taught herself to read notes.  Every week, she would teach herself to play a new hymn.  As she learned to play, they added a few new members.

However, there were two or three disgruntled members who hated a worship service without the liturgy, so a few people drifted back to Fedor where there were “real” Lutheran services with the full liturgy, played on a pipe organ.  So my mother tried to master the liturgy, but playing the Lutheran liturgy on a piano rather than an organ was very difficult.  The new church was so small that losing even a couple members to Fedor was catastrophic.

But God had called them to be a church, and they survived.  Decades later, they had a beautiful wooden church on a hill and 300 members. – and an organ with all the bells and whistles.  Eventually they had a lovable old pastor, named Pastor Socha, who hugged everybody, and my mother couldn’t imagine life without him, — even though she almost swatted him with a fly swatter once, because he hugged her.

Pastor Socha died, and they all grieved.  And grieved.  And grieved.  When the new Seminary graduate they called arrived, they gave that young whipper-snapper the cold shoulder.  To reach out to the congregation, he held an open-house Christmas party in the parsonage, with lots and lots of homemade Christmas edibles.  Not one member showed up for his open house.  He told his sad tale to Peg and me one day.  By then, Pastor Socha had become a saint.  I guess Mama forgot she once wanted to hit him with a fly swatter!

You know, God calls people to be a church, and each church is a part of the Body of Christ.  Trinity Lutheran Church was Christ’s church, even when it was a one-room, rural school house.  It was never Pastor Socha’s church, no matter how much he helped it to grow, and how much he loved the people, and how much they loved him.  He knew that.  But I’m not sure the congregation did.

You see, what they didn’t realize was that Trinity Lutheran Church, Dime Box, was Christ’s church, and they, the members,  were the Body of Christ.  THEY were the church, but it belonged to Christ.  Pastor Socha was PART of the church, but he wasn’t the church.

Actually they were very good people; I knew them well.  They loved the Lord with all their hearts.  But no church should ever be so dependent on a pastor that they can’t make the transition from one pastor to another.  Christ works through every pastor He sends to His churches. Continue reading →

Sermon for Presentation of the Augsburg Confessions

Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 25, 2017, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Tx

Sermon Texts:  Luke 18:9-14 and Rom. 6:12-23

Sermon Theme:  “500 Years of Salvation by Grace”

(Sources:  Book of Concord, Online Website; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 27, Part 3, Series A; Reformation 2017, lutheranworld.org; Augsburg Confession Online; Wikipedia; original ideas; Luther’s Small Catechism; Online “What are the Five Solas?”)

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you look at the Lutheran calendar in the Sacristy, you will notice that this Sunday is designated as “the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession.”  Normally, we don’t celebrate that historical event as a major festival; in fact, many Lutheran today might even ask, “What is the Augsburg Confession?”  However, since this year is the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, we need to observe, or at least, recognize the major documents and events that were part of the Reformation.

In fact, our Synod has sent out messages encouraging us to make 2017 a year to observe and celebrate the Reformation, culminating with a special celebration on Reformation Day Sunday.  To be sure, Synods and Lutheran organizations world-wide have issued a call to celebrate the year of the Reformation, from planting a Luther-garden in Wittenberg to a year-long series of concerts presenting Lutheran music in other parts of Germany and the U.S.

Lutheran churches from all over the world were invited to sponsor one of the 500 trees to be planted in commemoration of the Anniversary.  This method of celebrating was motivated by Luther’s famous statement, “Even if I knew that the world were to end tomorrow, I would still plant my apple tree today.”

The worldwide kickoff for the celebrations that now continue occurred on October 31, 2016, when the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church held a joint commemoration of the Reformation in Lund, Sweden.  Pope Francis and Lutheran leaders conducted this prayer service, a rather astonishing event considering what the Reformation was all about.  It was nice for the Pope to attend, but I don’t think there was any real progress toward reconciliation.

The cry of the Reformation consisted of the Five Solas, which were SOLA SCRIPTURA, SOLA FIDE, SOLA GRATIA, SOLUS CHRISTUS, and SOLI DEO GLORIA, — Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone, and To God Alone Be the Glory.

Up until the Reformation, the confession of salvation by grace through faith alone was not preached, and preaching it and believing it changed everything.

The Reformation began when Martin Luther challenged the Roman Catholic church by nailing his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door.

Of course, that one piece of paper was not enough to explain the differences between Lutheran beliefs and Catholic doctrine, so the Augsburg Confession, probably the most important document of the Reformation, was written by Luther and Melanchthon in both German and Latin and was presented to the Diet of Augsburg on June 25, 1530, by a number of German rulers. Continue reading →

Sermon for Father’s Day, the Second Sunday after Pentecost

June 18, 2017, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 9:35-10:8

Sermon Theme:  “Preaching, Teaching, Healing, and Fathers”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas and examples; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 27, Part 3, Series A)

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

I think most of us are constantly evaluating ourselves as human beings, trying to understand our strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures.  But, it’s probably just once a year, on Father’s Day, that we examine ourselves about being a father.  Or, if we’re not a father, thinking we’re either lucky, or we missed out on something really big.  As far as life issues go, I feel I’ve been quite a bit more successful at being a father than at earning a lot of money.  And I wouldn’t trade my two daughters for all the money in the world!

They turned out pretty good.  Neither one is in jail.  They each have a job.  Both live within their means.  They are both mature women.  But most important, they both love Jesus and are active in their churches.  One even married a Lutheran pastor, — though I guess that could be a liability, — you’ll have to ask my wife!

It’s appropriate, on this Father’s Day, that in our gospel lesson Matthew lists the names of the men who are Jesus’ twelve disciples, and we hear Jesus sending them out to spread the good news that the Kingdom of God – the community of God, the close-knit family of God – has come among us!

That’s good news!  You and I are not left to drift alone in this big universe; our lives have meaning and purpose!  We’re part of what God is doing:  gathering a community of people who will care, who will love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and who will try to love each other as we love ourselves.

In his book, Loving Jesus, Mark Allan Powell says, “Don’t wait for the kingdom – experience it!  The kingdom, that is, the rule or reign of God, is already here, and people who associate it only with heaven or with life after death risk missing out on what is available here and now.”

The greatest gift a father can give his son, or his daughter, is to introduce him to Jesus and the Kingdom of God on earth, and to raise him up in that kingdom.  Of course Jesus also spoke of God’s rule as a future reality.  He told His disciples to pray for the rule of God to come.  When that happens, the poor will be blessed, the hungry fed and those who weep will laugh. Continue reading →

Sermon for Holy Trinity, June 11, 2017

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon Theme:  “How Do You Make Disciples?”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Commentary; Emphasis Online Examples; original ideas; Francis Chan Jokes about Making Disciples, christianpost.com)

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Francis Chan, former pastor of the enormously large Cornerstone Community Church in Ventura County, California, told his congregation that when he was a kid, they used to play a game called “Simon Says.”  The game involved three or more players, with one of them taking the role of Simon, who would then give instructions to the others, such as “Jump in the air,” or “Tap your head,” etc., to be done only if prefaced with “Simon says.”  The other kids would then jump in the air, or whatever the command.

Chan said this was such a contrast to “Jesus says” among Christians in today’s world.  In today’s churches, if Jesus says something, you don’t have to do something, you just have to memorize the verse quoting Him.  For example, Jesus says, “Go and make disciples” in today’s sermon text.  How many people in our churches are actually making disciples?  But they’ve memorized the verse from Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Chan uses his daughter as an analogy of many churches today.  He commands her to go clean her room, and she returns later, saying that she’s memorized his statement, “You said, ‘Go clean your room.’”  And she adds, she can say it in Greek as well.  And then she says, “My friends are going to come over and we’re going to study what it would look like if I cleaned my room.”

So the members of churches like that will no doubt meet Jesus on Judgment Day and recite those verses from memory to Him.  Do you think that’s what He had in mind?

In the short passage of 5 verses that’s today’s sermon text, John packed an enormous amount of practical theology.  Here’s what happened:  After Jesus was crucified, died, buried and rose from the dead, and was with His disciples for almost six weeks after the resurrection, He told His disciples to head back to Galilee, to a certain mountain, where He would meet them. Continue reading →

Sermon for Pentecost, June 4, 2017

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Texts:  John 7:37-39, Numbers 11:24-30, and Acts 2:1-21

Sermon Theme:  “Wind, Fire, and Water”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle A Lectionary Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas; “Sukkot,” Judaism 101; Sukkot and Pentecost, Online hebrew4christians; Wikipedia; Harper’s Bible Dictionary)

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

A woman went to a marriage counselor and told him, “I want to divorce my husband.”

“Do you have any grounds for divorce?” the counselor asked.

“Why, yes, we have almost an acre.”

“You don’t understand,” said the counselor, “what I want to know is if you and your husband have a grudge.”

“That we don’t have,” she said.  “But we do have a carport.”

The counselor shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, but I still don’t see any reason why you should divorce your husband.”

“It’s just that the man can’t carry on an intelligent conversation,” she replied.

Understanding.  How many great comedy routines weren’t built on misunderstanding?!  From Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s on first?” to the humorous misunderstanding in Lucille Ball’s television skits.  Comedians have gotten a lot of mileage out of misunderstanding.

Jokes about it aside, misunderstanding has led to divorces, to wars, and to all manner of human conflicts and difficulties.  The First Pentecost celebrated by the Early Church was instituted by God for the sake of understanding.  Even though the men proclaiming the Gospel on Pentecost were all Galileans, — Parthians, Elamites, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Arabians, Egyptians, etc.. all heard the words in their own languages.

God knew it was important for all to understand, and this was accomplished by the sending of the Holy Spirit. Continue reading →