Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent

December 4, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon Theme:  “Old School Lutherans and the Root of Jesse”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Commentaries; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas and examples; “You Know You Are a Lutheran If . . .”; “Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen”; Anderson’s Cycle A Preaching Workbook; Wikipedia)

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

One of the many reasons I loved coming here to serve this congregation in 1988 was the fact that my home congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church, Dime Box, reminded me so much of this church.  The parallels astonish me.

Like St. Paul’s, whose historical recognition we celebrate today, my home church was also established in 1900.  You know, thousands of German Lutherans came to America, many of them to Texas, in the mid to late 1800’s, so by 1900, there were many immigrant churches being founded in Texas, — a blessing to those who probably spoke some English by then, but were not proficient enough in English to easily understand a sermon preached in English or the Bible read in English, or the hymns sung in English.

One of the older members of this church, Anita Mayer, now deceased, told me when I first came on board as pastor here that even though her parents were quite proficient in English, they were opposed to switching from German to English.  And even though she herself could read and speak English much better than German, her father insisted that she learn Luther’s Small Catechism in German, and that the pastor confirm her in German.  The pastor went along with her father’s wishes, a fact that made the Confirmation class about three times as hard for her.  She said she was glad when this church finally did change to English.

Trinity, Dime Box, and St. Paul, Wallis, held German services from 1900 until about the time of World War II, so I grew up hearing all the old Lutheran hymns in German.  That old German hymnal was so small you almost had to have a magnifying glass to read it, but it didn’t matter, because by the time your eyesight got bad enough due to old age, you knew all the old hymns by memory anyway.  You know you’re an “old-school Lutheran” if you LOVE to sing, but ONLY if they’re the hymns you learned as a child.

We are generally considered “old school” Lutherans if we grew up with the German language used in the worship service.  There is a lot about us old school Lutherans that’s kind of quaint and lovable, but we’re also a tad obnoxious at times.  Old school Lutherans still make and serve Jello at covered dish dinners in the liturgical color of the altar paraments for that Sunday.  Old-school Lutherans fervently believe you have to serve Spam-salad sandwiches at all wedding receptions.

Because they don’t believe anyone should be proud or conceited or a show off in any way, old-school Lutherans always put the organ in the back of the church, they have the choir and the soloists sing from the back of the church, and the pastor prays with his back to the congregation.

Old-school Lutherans hear the pastor tell a joke during his sermon and they SMILE as loud as they can.  Continue reading →

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

November 27, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Romans 13:11-14

Sermon Theme:  “Some Straightening Up Before He Comes Back”

(Sources:  Anderson, Cycle A, Preaching Workbook; Brokhoff’s Series A Preaching Workbook; Emphasis Online Illustrations; original ideas and examples; Concordia Self-Study Bible “Introduction” to Romans; The Life-Application Bible Footnotes; Believer’s Commentary)

Being a Circuit Counselor (now called “Circuit Visitor”) for a group of churches was never easy, and especially not in Paul’s day.  I am so thankful God never called me to serve as Circuit Visitor.  In my previous sermons, I’ve talked about some of the problems in the various churches which Paul addressed in his letters to those churches.  Some congregations had one problem, and other congregations had just the opposite problem; but almost all of them had trouble with relationships, — disagreements and quarrels, often severe.

When congregational issues got really bad, the Circuit Visitor was often called in to help before things got completely out of control.  Since my wife is organist and music director of our church, I just have to share a joke with you, wherein the music director is obviously not the pastor’s wife, and no doubt represented the thinking of the whole congregation.

In a small church in the Midwest, the music director and the pastor had conflicting viewpoints about everything and were openly feuding.  At one worship service, the Pastor announced the theme of his sermon as “Making Progress through Service.”  The music director chose the hymn, “I Shall Not Be Moved.”

The next Sunday, the Pastor preached on the necessity for generous giving.  The hymn that followed the sermon was “Jesus Paid It All.”  When the sermon theme chosen by the Pastor was “The Sin of Gossip,” the hymn that followed was “I Love to Tell the Story.”

Believing that the conflict between him and the music director could not be resolved because the people were on the director’s side, the Pastor announced at the end of the next service he was considering resigning.  The song that followed was “Why Not Tonight.”

The very next worship service, his last, the Pastor formally announced his resignation, explaining that Jesus had called him to a different ministry.  The hymn was “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Continue reading →

Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 23, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 17:11-19

Sermon Theme:  “How Do WE Worship?”

 (Sources:  Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 25, Part 4, Series B; original ideas and examples; Lutheran liturgy; Prayer by Timothy Keller)

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

           How do we worship?  That question is the theme of my sermon for tonight.  Since you are a Lutheran in a Lutheran church, it may seem like an odd question.  ‘How DO we worship?  Like Lutheran are supposed to!’

But that can mean a lot of different things in the 21^st Century.  Most of the time our worship is liturgical, occasionally, it is not.  Some Lutheran churches have contemporary worship; some have traditional services; some have both.  Some Lutheran churches lean heavily one way, while others focus on another.

Sometimes, we, here at St. Paul’s, sing old Lutheran hymns; sometimes we sing contemporary Christian music; sometimes we sing old-time Gospel songs.  But they are all songs that are true to the Bible.  Sunday, we had a Holy Communion service that was traditionally liturgical; tonight, we are doing a non-liturgical service.

But, you see, that’s not what I mean by the question, “How do we worship?”

What I mean by that question is:  What is true worship really all about?  That’s an important question to answer on Thanksgiving Eve.

In our sermon text for tonight, nine of the ex-lepers continue on their way to the Temple to be inspected and receive a ritualistic cleansing from the priests.  They were already cured by Jesus, but the religious leaders of the people required rites and rituals.  People could not associate with lepers unless they were pronounced cleansed by the priests. Continue reading →

Sermon for Christ the King, November 20, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 23:27-43

Sermon Theme:  “Was He a King of Fools?”

(Sources:  Emphasis online Commentary; Emphasis online Illustrations; Anderson, Cycle C, Preaching Workbook; original ideas; History Jokes, history.inrebus.com; Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook)

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

While America has no King or Queen, most Americans are familiar with royalty, because of the British royal family.  By the way, in England, when a royal male becomes King, his wife is always given the title “Queen.”  However, when a royal female becomes Queen, her husband must never be called “King” if he is a foreigner, — such as the case of Prince Albert who was from Germany and Prince Phillip who was from Spain.  Such a designation reminds the folks that Queen Victoria, or Queen Elizabeth, is the true Royal Monarch of the United Kingdom.  Not their husband.

Australia is a Constitutional Monarchy, with Elizabeth II as their figurehead Queen.  Once when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were visiting a university in Australia, a couple introduced themselves to Prince Phillip as Mr. and Dr. Robinson.  When the husband explained, “My wife is a doctor of philosophy.  She is much more important than I,” Prince Phillip sympathetically replied, “Ah, yes.  We have that trouble in our family, too.”

In the early days, including Old Testament times, when Israel had a King, the King had absolute authority, and people believed in the Divine Right of Kings.  In England during the Middle Ages, it was believed that a bad King was allowed to rule the people as punishment for their sins, so you deserved and had to endure a “bad” King.  In today’s world, some countries, like England, still have Kings and Queens, but they have little or no authority and are pretty much figureheads.

God used the images and languages of the world to communicate His nature, the mystery of His existence, to us, and so we view God as the King of Kings, the divine monarch of His Kingdom.  Earthly kings, then and now, are political; the Divine King, Christ the King, is spiritual, although at the time of His crucifixion, Roman leaders and the religious leaders of the Jews saw Jesus as a political threat.  Obviously, Christ was a very different kind of king. Continue reading →

Sermon for the Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

November 13, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon Theme:  “Be Busy, Not a Busy-Body”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook; original ideas and example; Footnotes, Amplified Study Bible; Online quotes and jokes about being lazy; Emphasis Online Illustrations; footnotes, Concordia Self-Study Bible; The Faith by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett)

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

It’s just amazing how many funny things have been said or written about laziness or lazy people.  If I quoted all of them, we’d be here all day.  Here are just a few of them:

“They say that hard work never killed anyone, but why take the chance?”  “Give a lazy person a fish and he will eat it.  Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and sleep all day.”  “I should have suspected my husband was lazy on our wedding day, his mother told me: ‘I’m not losing a son, I’m gaining a couch.’”  “I hate housework, because several months later, I have to do it all over again.”  “When you have the urge to work, lie down until it’s gone.”  “You know you’re lazy if you have to save up energy to take a nap.”  “Don’t do anything tomorrow, if it can be done the day after tomorrow.”

And there are zillions of jokes about preachers’ being lazy, since they work only on Sundays.  Once when a grandfather had to take his granddaughter to school on Opening Day (her mother was sick and her father was too busy), Grandpa said to his grandchild during an interview with her new teacher, “Tell the lady where your daddy works.”

The little girl looked at her grandfather and said with a frown, “Grandpa, you know daddy doesn’t work, — he’s a preacher!”

Well, nobody could ever have said that about the famous preacher in our sermon text for today, — the Apostle Paul.  If you’ve ever read the Book of Acts and Paul’s letters, you know how hard Paul worked, how tireless he was all of the time.  Not just with his ministry, but with making tents to earn money and helping others.  Paul was a skilled tent-maker, and he used his skills to make and sell tents. Continue reading →

Sermon for All Saints’ Sunday

November 6, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  1 John 3:1-3

Sermon Theme:  “Saint and Child of God”

(Sources:  Concordia Pulpit Resources, vol. 26, Part 4, Series C, 2016; Emphasis Online Illustrations; Life-Application Study Bible footnotes; original ideas and examples; The Timetables of American History; Merriam-Webster Collegiate Encyclopedia)

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

I want to begin with my favorite joke about saints, so if you’ve heard it before, laugh anyway.  It goes like this:

A pastor dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates.  Ahead of him is a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.  St. Peter first speaks to this rather colorful-looking guy:  “Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?”

The man replies, “I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver, of New York City.”

Saint Peter consults his list.  He smiles and says to the taxi-driver, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The taxi-driver goes into heaven with his robe and staff, and it’s the pastor’s turn.  Pastor stands proudly and booms out, “I am Jonathan Snow, Pastor of St. Mark’s for the last forty-three years.”

Saint Peter consults his list.  He says to the pastor, “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

“Just a minute,” says the pastor.  “That man was a taxi-driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff.  How can this be?”

“Up here, we work by results,” says Saint Peter.  “While you preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed.”

While that joke implies that there are levels of sainthood based on good works, we are convinced all true believers, dead or still living, are “saints.”  Period. Continue reading →

Sermon for Reformation Sunday, October 30, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  John 8:31-36

Sermon Theme:  “Preaching the Truth for 500 Years”

(Sources:  Anderson, Cycle C, Preaching Workbook; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 26, Part 4, Series C, Aug. 28 – Nov. 20, 2016; Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Online Lutheran Jokes, Christian Forum; LCMS Plans Taking Shape for 2017 Reformation Celebration by Roger Drinnon; LCMS Convention Prepares to Celebrate Reformation 500^th; Online Lund and the Quest for Christian Unity by Timothy George; Vatican Radio, Pope to Take Part in Reformation Events in Lund)

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

It’s been a while since I have had a Junior Confirmation class, but here’s a story I can relate to.  It seems a Lutheran Pastor was teaching his junior confirmation class about the Sacraments of the church when he noticed that young Johnny was not paying attention.

“Johnny!,” the Pastor said in a loud voice.  “Pay attention!  The Sacraments are very important to the church!”

“I know,” replied Johnny.

“Then, how many Sacraments are there in the Lutheran church?  Catholicsrecognize seven Sacraments, but how many do we acknowledge?”  Having just explained what a Sacrament is, the Pastor was very put out with Johnny.

Panic-stricken because he hadn’t been listening, Johnny searched hismind, trying to think of all the things his parents had always said were important to the church.  Then he took a breath and said, “Two.”

The Pastor was really impressed; he couldn’t believe Johnny got it right!

“And what are those two Sacraments?,” asked the Pastor.

Thinking he had it right, the boy responded with great confidence,

“Coffee and donuts!”

Tomorrow is October 31, Reformation Day. Today is known as Reformation Sunday.  On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation, — which means that this year we begin the 500^th year.  For 500 years, faithful Lutheran pastors have preached the truth, and the truth has set people free!

That’s why the pastor in my story felt it was so important for Johnny to understand the two Sacraments of the Lutheran Church. Continue reading →

Sermon for the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

October 23, 2016, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  Luke 18:9-17

Sermon Theme:  “Actions Flow from Attitudes”

(Sources:  Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; original ideas; Online Jokes about Self-Righteousness, cybersalt.org; Online Emphasis Illustrations and Commentaries; Online Evangelical Outpost; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; footnotes, Life Application Study Bible)

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

Two elderly Southern women, attending their Full-Gospel church, were sitting together in the front pew of the church, listening to a very fiery preacher.  When this preacher condemned the sin of stealing, these two ladies cried out at the top of their lungs, “AMEN, PREACHER!”

When this preacher condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again, “PREACH IT, REVEREND!”

And when the preacher condemned the sin of lying, they jumped to their feet and screamed, “RIGHT ON, BROTHER!  TELL IT LIKE IT IS!  AMEN!”

But when the preacher condemned the sin of gossip, the two got very quiet.  One turned to the other and said, “He’s quit preaching and now he’s meddlin’!”

The attitude of these two faithful, church-going women is similar to the attitude of many folks when they read or hear the parable in today’s sermon text.  It’s a familiar parable, but in its familiarity, people miss the twist that Jesus intended.  If folks go away thinking that the Pharisee is the villain in the story and the Tax Collector is the hero, they missed Jesus’ intent.

In the parable, a Pharisee and a tax collector walk into a temple.  The Pharisee stands before the altar and prays, no doubt with palms lifted up to heaven and raised eyes.  The Pharisee prays, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”

In contrast, the tax collector, standing off to the side, looking down, not able to lift his eyes up toward God, and beating his breast, prays, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”  Jesus of course says  that the tax collector is the one of the two justified.  No doubt, those listening to Jesus tell this story, were staring at the Pharisee and thinking, “What a self-righteous group of men, those Pharisees are!  They are wicked!  Thank God I’m not a Pharisee!”  Before we go any further, let’s make sure we understand why the people felt the way they did about tax collectors and Pharisees. Continue reading →

Sermon for LWML Sunday, October 16, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Texts:  Luke 18:1-8; Luke 21:2-4; 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

Sermon Theme:  “Models of Persistence and Sacrificial Giving”

(Sources:  Emphasis Online Illustrations; “Mite Offerings,’ LWML website; “Mite Box Explanation and History,” LWML website; original ideas and examples; Life-Application Study Bible; Harper’s Bible Dictionary; Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 26, Part 4, Series C; Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook)

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

Often, persistence will get a person, or an animal, what he wants.  Our cat Gatsby is one of the most persistent creatures God ever created.  He follows me into the kitchen and begins to beg for snacks with a quiet meow.  I ignore him, and the meows get louder and louder.  I continue to ignore him and he starts to howl, throwing himself in front of me and lying on my feet.  I can’t take it any longer, so I toss him a handful of treats.  His persistence always works!

It works with people, too, Harpo Marx, one of the famous wacko Marx brothers, once experienced this truth.  Harpo was staying in a New York hotel when a lady who worked for a charity found out where he was staying and phoned him twelve separate times in the space of 48 hours, always with the same request, ‘Would you please speak at our charity benefit?’  Eventually Harpo relented and agreed to appear.

To make sure he wouldn’t duck out at the last minute, the lady showed up at his hotel room to personally escort him to the charity benefit.  On the way out of his room, the phone rang.  Harpo ignored it.  She asked, “Aren’t you even going  to answer your phone?”

“Why bother,” Harpo replied, “it’s probably you again.”

I have chosen three sermon texts for LWML Sunday.  The first one, Luke 18:1-8, shows the persistence of a widow.  The second one, Luke 21:2-4, shows the sacrificial giving of a widow.  And the third one, 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, shows the sacrificial giving of a congregation. Continue reading →

Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, October 9, 2016

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wallis, Texas

Sermon Text:  2 Timothy 2:1-13

Sermon Theme:  “Be Strengthened in Grace As You Share in Suffering”

(Sources: Concordia Pulpit Resources, Volume 26, Part 4, Series C; Anderson’s Cycle C Preaching Workbook; Brokhoff, Series C, Preaching Workbook; The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers; Online Sermon Illustrations; “Nero Persecutes the Christians,” eyewitnesstohistory.com; original ideas; Online The Fiscal Times, March 22, 2015; Life-Application Study Bible footnotes; Lutheran Cyclopedia; “Charles Spurgeon: Preaching through Adversity” by John Piper)

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

Once when Bob Hope, the famous comedian, received a major award, he responded, “I don’t deserve this, but then I have arthritis, and I don’t deserve that either.”  Neither suffering nor grace is deserved, but we have both.  Well, — in some cases, you do deserve the suffering, if, for example, you rob a bank and you suffer in prison as a consequence of your evil action.

Someone once asked famous Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, “But why do the righteous suffer?’

“Why not?” Lewis replied, “they’re the only ones who can take it.”

No one could write about the righteous endurance of suffering better than the Apostle Paul could.  In his second letter to Timothy, Paul tells his young co-worker Timothy, and us, four things:  ONE, In this life, all people suffer, and while Christians may suffer, they also endure; TWO, thus, as Christians, we have a need to be strengthened; THREE, we are strengthened by God’s grace, His favor that is in Christ Jesus; and FOUR, we are strengthened so that we may speak the saving Word to our neighbor, that is to all people.

No human being can live in this worldly life without eventually suffering.  As in the case of Paul in our text, it may be innocent suffering, — Paul was shackled in prison like a criminal because he preached the Gospel.  It wasn’t because he BELIEVED the Gospel, it was because he PREACHED it.  Paul fully expected to spend the rest of his life in prison or to be executed.

This was the second time Paul was in prison, and it was during the vicious, vicious persecutions of the Emperor Nero.  During his first imprisonment, around 60 A.D., Paul had been merely under house arrest, but this time, around 66 A.D., he was shackled in a prison cell.  To grasp the impact of what Paul is saying to Timothy, we must consider how inhuman this persecution was.  Under Nero, not only were they imprisoned in rat-infested dungeons, but also Christians were covered with the skins of wild animals and thrown into an arena filled with hungry dogs to attack them.  Under Nero, Christians were nailed to stakes and crosses.  Some had hooks driven through their throats and were hung from trees.  Some were doused with oil, ignited and used as human torches to light up Nero’s gardens.   Continue reading →