Month: October 2008

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That Highly Illumined, Angelic Man

Text: Revelation 14:6-7
Date: Reformation Day (Observed) + 10/26/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

Christians, at least traditionally or historically, do not call attention to themselves. We do not brag, we are to always take the humbler part. As St. Paul said it, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5). For instance, for this reason in church we rarely applaud the choir or the musicians (or the pastor, for that matter) for their part in the Divine Service (at least not right at that moment), because their part is not intended to be as much a performance for us as it is an extension of us in our worship and thanksgiving to God.

Nevertheless the tradition has been that we quite freely call attention to and brag about other people especially for their part or role in our common witness to and praise of Jesus Christ. Continue reading “That Highly Illumined, Angelic Man”

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Gotcha!

Text: Matthew 22:15-22
Date: Pentecost XXIII (Proper 24) + 10/19/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

It’s not enough, I suppose, that you have to put up with the daily barrage of political ads on TV and radio as we enter the final couple of weeks before election day, but that you then come to church and hear of a first century political group using similar hypocritical tactics trying to catch Jesus in a “Gotcha” moment to trip Him up. Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” And I suppose he could have just stopped there. I mean that’s where we usually stop, isn’t it, when we quote this verse in daily conversation? when we put the final touches on form 1040 and enclose the check, resigning ourselves to the fact muttering with a sigh, “render unto Caesar.”

The subject was taxes. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ‘Seems simple enough. But there was more to it than that. There was more to the question and there was more to Jesus’ answer. And let me tell you right up front that those who want to draw a clear, clean line between the sacred and the secular are going to be frustrated. The coins belong to Caesar, so render unto Caesar. But it all—including the coins and Caesar—belongs to God, so render unto God. Life is not neatly divided between sacred and secular, but the secular is lived out within the sacred. Continue reading “Gotcha!”

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Don't 'Dis' the King

Text: Matthew 22:1-14
Date: Pentecost XXII (Proper 23) + 10/12/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

This is a little bit of an unusual sermon because this is a little bit of an unusual text of scripture. Normally, though the two main messages we call Law and Gospel are intertwined and play off of one another in many and various ways, generally the Law part that unmasks us, that reveals our sin and our need for a Savior comes first so that the sermon ends with the Gospel part, God’s answer to our need. This text, however, the Parable of the Wedding Feast, while it seems to have a “happy ending” with the wedding hall filled with guests in verse 10, has an added post script, sort of like a “p.s.” at the end of a letter, ending our reading with a warning; actually a question because we’re not there yet, the stories of our lives are not completed yet, it is still possible for many to be added to the kingdom and it is still possible for you to fall away and to lose your salvation. I don’t know when the slang language of the street began using the prefix “dis” as shorthand for “disrespect,” but assuming you know that, the title of this sermon and the warning of this text is, simply, “Don’t ‘Dis’ the King.” Continue reading “Don't 'Dis' the King”

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What I Was Meant to Be

Text: Matthew 21:33-46
Date: Pentecost XXI (Proper 22) + 10/5/08
Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Rochester Hills, MI

According to the Word of God we believe, teach and confess that each and every person is created by God. Oh, we know the human biological processes involved, and we cannot prove that there is some divine marker or evidence of God’s involvement. It is only because God Himself claims to be Creator that people who listen to God’s Word believe Him and claim that every individual, even those who deny it, or think it is somehow a matter of our “choice,” are, nevertheless, created by God.

Apart from God life can quickly be viewed as meaningless, a matter of chance or of only what you make it to be. But as soon as a person realizes God’s creative involvement, then comes the great question, “Why has God created me?” What is God’s purpose? What has God created you to be? And here we might think about vocation or our station in life whether that be as a child or a parent, a mother or father, a worker, a public servant, a physician, a musician…whatever. But underlying your vocation or station or situation in life is each and every person being a reflection of the glory of God. And so, regardless of our differences, every person is to reflect that relationship, as the catechism says it, of fear, love and trust in God above all things. Continue reading “What I Was Meant to Be”