Month: June 2008

Text: Matthew 10:24-33
Date: Pentecost VI (Proper 7) + 6/22/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

As the Good News of the Gospel was being fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, from beginning to end the story is punctuated with the comforting words, “Do not be afraid.” These were the words of the angel to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Likewise when the angel appeared to the women at the empty tomb after Jesus’ death he said, “Do not be afraid.” Throughout Jesus active ministry he calmed his disciples’ fears with these words as he revealed God’s plan of salvation in him as well as what it means for them.

In the tenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus told his disciples that he was sending them out “as sheep among wolves” describing and predicting the opposition they would encounter because of the Word and the faith they were sent to proclaim. Rather than being a fearful thing, however, he repeated those same, comforting words, “have no fear,” “do not fear,” “fear not.” Today we ask, of what are you afraid? If we can discover that all fear ultimately is rooted in our separation from God, our sin and fear of punishment for sin, then we can discover also that the key to overcoming fear is reconciliation with God by God’s own gift of faith. The Faith that Overcomes all Fear is the faith created and strengthened in the believer by God through his Word. Continue reading “Faith that Overcomes All Fear”

Text: Matthew 9:35—10:8
Date: Pentecost V (Proper 6) + 6/15/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

In this “information age” we hear a lot these days about identity theft. You certainly have seen or heard the ads by a man named Todd Davis who boldly blabs his social security number (457-55-5462) to illustrate his confidence in the service of his company, Lifelock, which claims to guarantee the protection of your name and personal information from being stolen. Now, of course, this has to do with your legal and financial records and not the real essence of your identity which includes everything from your physical appearance, your genealogy, to your personality, interests, abilities, talents and vocation. Each person is a unique creation of God and it is the combination of all those traits and characteristics that determine not only what you do but who you are. And though a certain few traits, talents and abilities may have a major influence on what you do with and in your life, there is at the same time an amazing variety and freedom to pursue a wide range of occupations, vocations and avocations especially suited to your particular life, interests and identity.

For the Christian the question is, what is God’s will for your life? What and who has God made you to be?

As I was growing up the one most obvious interest, talent and ability I had was music. It included a wide variety of musical instruments, but all based on the foundation of years of piano lessons and an ability to hear, imitate and improvise. By high school that’s “who” I was, “the musician.” You can imagine, then, my incredulity and skepticism when the Kuder career planning test came back with “musician” in the number two slot. Number one for me, according to the test, was “funeral director” or “mortician!” Well, God wasn’t finished with me by a long shot and, as things worked out, “Lutheran pastor” is certainly related to the task of helping people to deal with death and dying.

A favorite illustration is about the young Christian man who determined that he wanted to be a missionary in France. After all his preparation and studies in theology and the French language he ended up an effective missionary in Quebec Canada! In other words he had the right idea and preparation, just a different place as it worked out.

The Word before us today is about the identity of God’s people in the world and what that identity means for their role, their purpose and mission in the world. [And let me say that these texts happen before us appropriately the Sunday of the week of our meeting with our Michigan District President, Mission executive and circuit counselor this Wednesday]. This Word hinges on the mystery of how God has chosen to bring salvation to people by means of transmitting His Word through people He has set apart to be, as He said through Moses, “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In the New Testament this same phrase is used by the Apostle Peter when he writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Your identity as “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” directly translates, then, into your mission as representatives of the kingdom or rule of God in the world and the work of a “priesthood,” that is, intercessors or communicators between God and the world. Continue reading “Identity and Mission”

Text: Matthew 9:9-13
Date: Pentecost 4 + 6/8/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

So, are you on the outside looking in, or the inside looking out?

There was an outside and an inside in today’s Gospel. Inside was Jesus with a few of His disciples and His newly-called apostle, Matthew the tax collector and all his friends, fellow tax collectors; sinners, you know, “those people” that no self-respecting member of the community would acknowledge much less hang around with. Outside were some others of Jesus’ disciples. (I don’t know what they were doing out there, but anyway…). A contingent of Pharisees approached, peeping in the windows. “Why,” they asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” They were offended, you see. And the outside disciples knew it. They knew the rules. To sit at table and share a meal is an expression of fellowship, of friendship, of acceptance and even identification with your fellow diners. But here! Tax collectors? Sinners? The disciples didn’t know what to say. Apparently the windows were open because Jesus heard them and came outside.

“Those who are well,” He said to them, “have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Well, that’s obvious…isn’t it? Allowing, for the moment, that the Pharisees were right in calling tax collectors and sinners “sickos,” Jesus was asking who, after all, needed mercy, healing and help more than these? “Go and learn what this means.” And He quoted the prophet Hosea, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” Time after time God’s mercy appears to break through the rules because the goal of the rules, in God’s sight, is love and deliverance. In fact, time after time you can already see the shadow of the cross as it is only as the Messiah, the Christ and Savior, dirties Himself, identifies with sinners to take their sin and separation and death upon Himself that anyone can be saved. “I came,” He said, “not to call the righteous, but sinners.” And with that—did the Pharisees perceive the little “dig”? All are sinners. “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). What the Pharisees couldn’t see is that they were just as much in need of mercy and forgiveness as any sinner.

The world, of course, has everything backwards. I’ve often made the observation that when the world sees you entering the door to the church on Sunday morning, they look at you and think, “My, what good people they are!” But if you’re like me you know that we are not here because we are so good but precisely because we are so bad and in need of forgiveness, mercy, life and salvation. This is the simple reason church membership has been dropping in recent years, people just don’t see their need of it. Continue reading “Mercy Inside Out”