The Times of the Signs

Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost

November 17, 2013

Luke 21

The Times of the Signs

In the name of Jesus.

I.

Everybody believes that the world going to end. The only difference is a question of when. The religion of “Science” claims that life on this world will end when our sun dies out in six billion years. For others the world ends every Monday morning.

But the truth is much more personal and much less distant. The truth is the world is going to end soon and when it does, every person will begin or continue their never-ending existence in heaven or in hell.

II.

The end of the world is coming soon. Jesus told us to watch for the signs before He died. Just like you know winter is around the corner when the leaves fall (or when it snows), the times of these signs will be all around us.

“Nation will be raised up against nation . . . There will be violent earthquakes, and famines . . . They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of My name. (Luke 21:10-11, 16-17)

Unlike many who are looking for events that will trigger the end of the world or will tell us that the End is only hours away, Jesus makes it clear that His Church will always exist in the final days. All the things He predicts have been happening since He ascended into heaven.

Wars and spying and politics. Yes, we have that. Earthquakes and famines and disease. Yes, we have that. Some Christians being murdered. Yes, we have that, even though most of us aren't aware of the details. In Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Indonesia, churches are burned and Christians are murdered. And even here, “parents, brothers, relatives, and friends” betray us. Not just by their greed and lust and apathy, but their denial of the Gospel itself.

The end is surely near when pastors and fathers fail to rebuke their grown children, the souls under their care, for their regular refusal to go to their nearest congregation and receive Christ's preaching and His body and blood.

III.

Pray for the end to come so that we might escape this evil world and go home. Pray that those who stay away from Christ's church will repent and turn to trust that the kingdom of God is near.

Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth. But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36)

Guard yourself with prayer. Pray with your hands, both folded and active, knowing that one day those hands will be made new by the hands of our Creator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

The signs are clear. Time is running out and eternity will begin soon because the Man who was nailed by hand to a cross at the fullness of Time is coming back.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Washing and Feeding Sinners for 47 Years

Church Anniversary

November 10, 2013

John 17

Washing and Feeding Sinners for 47 Years

In the name of Jesus.

I.

Let's take a look at Gethsemane by the numbers. Not how much money we have or how many members there are, but how Jesus comes to us in His Gospel Sacraments and takes cares of us through His shepherd.

There are 52 Sundays a year and then we add on the festival days, like Christmas and Easter, and we get 55. But there's Thanksgiving, too, and Ascension and Epiphany and the Presentation of the Augustana, so let's estimate 60 services a year. Times 47 years and we get 2,830 services where the faithful souls of Gethsemane have turned on the lights and have heard their pastor preach Christ and Him crucified in almost all those gatherings.

Throughout the years your pastor has preached in hospitals, where he spoke Christ to the sick or dying souls. Sometimes He went to wash a baby clean through Holy Baptism, and over the years at church, home, and hospital 170 dirty sinners where washed clean by Christ's promise.

Let's guess that the blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion was offered around 1,500 times over these many years, where hungry souls ate and drank Christ for their forgiveness. 1,500 is a good number and we can increase that number even more over the next 47 years if Jesus gives us the time.

II.

These are the numbers of our faithful Savior, and they all are founded on the number One. Jesus prayed before He went out to Gethsemane:

I pray not only for these [disciples],

but also for those who believe in Me

through their message.

May they all be one,

as You, Father,

are in Me and I am in You.

May they also be one in Us,

so the world may believe You sent Me. (John 17:20-21)

Before He was arrested among the trees of Gethsemane, He was already thinking of you, those who believe in Him. And you believe in Him through the message of the apostles, which is confessed simply by you in the Apostles' Creed. You believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one true God.

III.

This is the name that unites two people who have never met: Laura Knutson and Nicholas Trier. Laura's in her 40's; Nicholas just celebrated his ninth day. Yet they share the same faith because of the work of Christ in His Gospel Sacrament. In 1968 Laura became the first baptized soul in the history of Gethsemane, and Nicholas is the latest.

We are from many different places, but our lives have brought us here, and we share the same faith that makes us one.

We are fulfillment of Christ's prayer.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Singing the Same Old Song

All Saints

November 3, 2013

Revelation 7:10

Singing the Same Old Song

In the name of Jesus.

I.

And they cried out in a loud voice:

Salvation belongs to our God,

who is seated on the throne,

and to the Lamb! (Revelation 7:10)

The only thing that Death can do is turn up the volume. Because of Christ's death that ripped away Death's power, every time Death comes to another believer, it fails and instead makes the heavenly host of believers larger and louder. Every day more saints die and in heaven the number of singers increase. The choir gets bigger with each passing day.

But the chorus is incomplete. As long as Time continues there are basses missing and altos and sopranos and tenors absent. The huge heavenly choir room has empty chairs, just waiting for Death to fill them in. And as each day goes by, there are less and less spots to fill.

The clock is ticking and singers on both sides of Death are waiting, some waiting to go and some waiting for us.

II.

And in the middle of all this waiting is the Maestro, the Master Singer, Jesus Christ.

All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God. (Revelation 7:11)

The early Church knew Death. Death was always around, so the early believers wanted to practice the songs that they would sing after Death came. And so over many years the liturgy of the Church was gathered together from God's Word and was sung by God's gathered guests. They came to church to sing His Word in song.

And so the liturgy practices us for heaven by singing, “Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” and “Lord, have mercy on us!” and “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” and “O Christ, Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the word, have mercy on us” and “Lord, now You let Your servant depart in peace” and much more.

The saints in heaven sing the liturgy and so the saints on earth wisely join them, so that when Death comes and when Time ends, we depart in peace singing the same old songs that we used to sing before the Real Presence of Christ on the altar, now before His throne, forever and ever. Amen.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Justice for Those Who Cry Out Day and Night

Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

October 20, 2013

Luke 18:7

Justice for Those Who Cry Out Day and Night

In the name of Jesus.

I.

Why do you pray? This question is best answered by asking: When do you pray?

The widow in Jesus' story prayed day and night. And she asked for what she needed: justice. In the end the careless judge gives the widow justice just to get her to shut up. And then Jesus asks,

Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. (Luke 18:7-8)

II.

Now you already know when to pray. You pray when you need something. Our sin is that we refuse to see that we are always in need, day and night.

The widow knew that there was only person who could help her. And that's where she went. Learn from her. There's only one Person who can help you with all of your constant needs. And unlike that judge who couldn't care less for others, our Judge is full of care. Our careful Jesus promises to satisfy all our needs, not to get us to shut up, but to lead us to depend on Him even more.

Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)

III.

Why do you pray? You cry out day and night to Jesus because you need justice and Jesus is the only One who can give it to you. And according to His will, His prayer, and His death, He gives you His justice according to His gifts. He is the Judge who declares you Just by sending away your guilt through water and word. He is the Sacrifice who gives us Justice through His own body and blood. He is the Widow in heaven who prays the Father for justice on our behalf day and night.

IV.

We are so deeply in need. In the comfortable prison of our wants, we can't even see it. But Christ lowered Himself down to us, and with His prayers and with His blood, He pulls us up to safety, now and forevermore.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Jesus Mercies Ten Lepers

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

October 13, 2013

Luke 17:11-14

Jesus Mercies Ten Lepers

In the name of Jesus.

I.

They were desparate and they only had one chance to make contact. They weren't allowed into town, so they just prayed that He'd hear them on the road into town. They were a lot of people with Him—the noisy crowd was going to make it harder. But they had to try. He was their only hope.

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:11-13)

It worked. He heard them. But He didn't speak a word of healing or lay His hands on them. Instead, He gave them a strange task—go to the priests.

This was a strange request for two reasons. First, you didn't go to the priests until after you were healed of your leprosy. Jesus was skipping ahead in the elaborate ritual of recognizing a healed leper. Telling them to go to the Temple priests was premature, because they still were lepers.

Secondly, lepers who were healed did not go to the priest; the priest was supposed to go out to the leper (Leviticus 14). If an over-eager leper made a mistake, he'd be bringing contagion into the city, something all lepers were forbidden from doing.

Strange command. But the ten lepers obeyed. Why? They were desparate—what else were they going to do? So they started on their way and on their way they realized that their bodies were no longer falling apart. Their skin was fresh and clean. Their dirty clothes hung over brand new flesh. They were healed!

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. (Luke 17:14)

Jesus treated the lepers like He treats you—He makes you clean with His Word. And He forgives you because He chooses to give you the opposite of what you deserve. That's mercy. Humans always talk about someone who deserves mercy or those who don't. God doesn't talk that way at all—His mercy is always and only given to the undeserving.

Jesus knew that the other nine were coming back, but He still made them clean. And He mercifully allowed them to stay clean. He didn't re-leperize them when they didn't come back. No, when they showed themselves to the priests as He commanded, they were still clean. Jesus treated them not as they deserved. He mercied them.

And so it is with you. You're falling apart. Some days you can hide it; some days you can't. But every day Jesus comes to you because Jesus didn't come for the deserving, but for the undeserving. And Jesus mercies you. He mercies you by washing you, speaking kindly to you, and feeding you with His holy food.

You cry out, “Lord, have mercy!” And His answer is always the same, “Yes.”

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.