God, Be Merciful to Me a Sinner

Sermon October 27 2013 God be Merciful to Me a Sinner

Old Testament – Joel 2:23-32

Plagues of locusts!  Enemy attacks!  God to the rescue!  These are the themes of the book of Joel.  The date of the short prophetic book is unknown, but the national problems it addresses are clear.

This particular passage announces God’s impending relief of a locust plague and then goes on to describe the wonderful things God will do for the nation.

The outpouring of God’s Spirit heralds apocalyptic signs and the coming Day of the Lord.  The moon will be blood red, the sun will be dark, there will be smoke and fire- these signs and portents will herald that day. 

Those of faith should not fear, for providing they call upon the name of the Lord- the same Lord who is in the midst of them, and who pours forth the Spirit of Life and truth upon them – they will be saved.

The name Yahweh, whom Christians know as Father, Son, and Spirit, though none of these are cultic magic formulae. To call upon the name  is to identify with all that the name means and implies.

 What does it mean to be saved?  It implies being saved from something and for something.  Perhaps Joel and Paul (Rom. 10:12) it is being saved from faithlessness and despair, and being saved for faith and hope.

In the case of Joel and his Jerusalem context, it is Mount Zion and Jerusalem that become the place of safety and salvation.

For Christians , it is the new Jerusalem and the new heaven and earth, where it matters not that the sun is darkened, or the moon has turned to blood, for the new Jerusalem has no need of them.  The light will come from the SON of righteousness, the Lamb.

Psalm 65

Psalm 65 identifies God in terms of three critical dimensions of God’s relation to all that God has made:  forgiver, deliverer, provider.

The psalm overcomes the peril implicit in the metaphor.  Water is invoked in the psalm, not only to bespeak the providence of the God who waters the earth to make it fruitful, but also to depict the deliverance of the God who excercises power over the tumultuous water (v.7).

Doubtless the psalmist remembers that the God who can silence the roaring of the waves can also bring forth water from a rock (Exodus 17:6).

Praise is due you, O God, in Zion: and to you shall vows be performed, O you who answer prayer!  To you all flesh shall come.

 

Epistle  2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the face.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.  To Him be the glory forever and ever.

Paul’s imprisonment and imminent martyrdom are presented not merely as unfortunate events to which he responded by writing a will; instead the events represent the culmination of a life that had always been moving toward this type of ending.

Paul’s life and ministry as a follower of Jesus represented a cultic drink offering that was being “poured out” to the Lord.  When one begins the process of pouring out a drink offering, one knows that the drink will eventually be depleted.  When Paul began pouring out his life in service to the Lord, he knew that one day his life would eventually be depleted.

For us we can know that the Lord is always present to provide the necessary strength to fight the good fight , to finish the race, and to keep the faith.  Therefore, with confidence believers continue in the faith (3:14), knowing that on the day of the Lord’s judgment, a crown of righteousness awaits  all those who finish the race.

Gospel Luke 18: 9-14

Reading this passage causes us to always wonder in which place we are standing.  Are we a Pharisee or a tax collector!  Our ego always wins over because we assume and possibly puff up with pride  saying and thinking oh I could never be in the place of the Pharisee.

I am so glad I attend church regularly. I am so glad that I am not like that homeless person I saw at Walmart begging for money. I am so glad that I would never go to night clubs and act like a heathen.

Sometimes it is when we fall that we become humble and see our need for God’s grace and forgiveness.  O, it was just a small lie.  I really didn’t mean to say that.

This parable tells us about ourselves as followers of Christ. It makes us twinge  at the thought of acting like the self- righteous Pharisee.  It also inspires us with the humility of the tax collector.

This parable tells us about the Triune God of mercy – the God who redeems through self-sacrifice.  Our justification is not obtained by doing things -  even good things like charitable giving.  In  fact it is not “achieved” at all – at least by us.

Justification comes through God’s reaching out in mercy to helpless sinners.

Jesus challenges believers to avoid trusting in our own efforts at fulfilling the law and, rather, to humble ourselves before a merciful and loving God.  Trust is called for,  but not trust in ourselves or in our ability to keep God’s law.

What is called for here is trust in God’s mercy.  In a culture that values individual achievement so highly, this can be a tall order, but even as we are cautioned not to trust in our ability to fulfill the law,  nowhere does Jesus say that we may ignore the law.  Discipleship is a balancing act.

Balance is key.  We cannot trust in our ability to fulfill the law to save us, yet we do not abandon the law.  We humble ourselves before a merciful God yet are confident in the Lord’s promises.  Whether Pharisee or tax collector by nature, all find welcome in God’s temple.

Everytime we hear the sinners prayer we are reminded of where we are in our relationship with God.

The bible says: Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:37)

The bible says: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom.10:13).

The Word of God assures us: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And further assurance comes from the scriptures: If thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. 10:9-1).

Let us say together that confession: I believe in my heart Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  I believe that He was raised from the dead for my justification, and I confess Him now as My Lord.

I do believe with my heart, I have now become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).. and I am saved. 

Thank you Lord. Amen.

Will He Find Faith

Sermon October 20 2013    Will He Find Faith

Old Testament – Jeremiah 31:27-34

The prophet Jeremiah lays out a new vision of how things will be for the people of Judah and Israel. Sin and accountability become personal, which contrasts the old understanding of the sin of the father being cast upon the children. (Ezekiel 18).

As it is today, we are responsible and accountable for our actions, regardless of the sin of generations before or our understanding of the original sin of Adam.

There will be a new covenant  that is different from the covenant of Exodus.

There will be a theological DNA of belonging that is an inherent part of the kingdom people.  God’s people know in their hearts that they belong to God.

Even those without spiritual teaching long for something more in life, and they ask, “Is this all there is?”  It is a naming and a belonging: “I will be their God, and they will be my people” (V. 33).

Psalm 19

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

The biggest enemy of Christians is their mouth. Jesus said: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  When trouble comes as it often does you can find out how close a person is to God by what comes out of their mouth. 

If we are not talking Faith usually we are talking Fear.  Fear belongs to the family of doubt, fear , and unbelief.

The bible clearly tells us Without Faith it is impossible to Please God.

Listen to what comes forth from your mouth each and every day.  The news media bombards us with fear every day.  We hear negative words from our neighbors and most of the people we encounter.  We hear : I’m afraid,  that just scares me to death,  Billy if you don’t sit down and be quiet I am going to kill you. These are just examples but you know what I am talking about.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Another reading for today from the Message….

Epistle  2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away from myths….

Folks we have arrived to this point in history that the above scripture is true. We see it. We hear it. We know that it is true.

Society has changed the word of God so that it is of none effect. Preachers preach stories and not the Word of God. There is a hunger and thirst across this nation for Bible Preaching and seminaries are putting out “good story tellers” but not bible preachers.

Our guest today from the Gideons can testify how much things have changed in just giving away FREE Bibles to those that want one.  Schools prevent them from going in the classroom anymore. I am sure he could tell you things that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

We need to sing the childrens song more and more::   The B .i. b. l . e….yes that’s the book for me.

Gospel Luke 18:1-8

And yet, when the son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this nation has fallen far from being the Christian nation that it used to be.

Just in the Methodist clergy gatherings I have been to in the last few months I struggle with this:

WE don’t talk about Jesus.  We don’t get on our knees and pray for the churches.  If the bible is used its more for “good words’  than for repentance. 

It is different When I join the Bible Believing Pastors in Great Falls for prayer.

This text opens with this statement:

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray  always and not to lose heart.

This woman pounds and pounds on the door of a rotten politician who could care less about her plight, until finally he sticks his head out the window and shouts, “alright, already!  Knock it off! I will give you whatever you want if you will just shut up.

The crowd laughs because they know this woman. She always gets a raw deal, because she has nothing – no husband, no inheritance, no social standing.

They know this judge too, the one who is only out for himself.  No public servant, this one, so they guffaw at the idea of one of their own, this powerless woman, annoying the guy everyone loves to hate until, finally, he does something good in spite of himself.

Good story!  They laugh and then they sigh, and they remember that Jesus told them that this is what prayer is like.

How many times have you heard people say I have prayed and prayed and prayed and have not received an answer.  Jesus is saying :  Don’t give up.  Pray always and don’t lose hope.

We are reminded, once again that the life of faith is not only about telling God what is on our wish list but constantly lifting up every joy and concern, every fear and doubt, every lament and plea to the ONE who hears and answers.

The God of Isaiah reminds us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (55:8)….Yet it is hard, however, to take the long view when we are praying our hearts out, bruising our hands with our continual pounding on heaven’s door.

May his coming in glory find us ever watching in prayer, strong in truth and love, and faithful in the breaking of bread.

We are faithful to Jesus instruction too whenever we pray: “Your kingdom come.. your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Once again, Jesus makes it clear that faith is actively hoping eagerly anticipating the coming reign of God, never ceasing in our prayers for others, for the world, even for ourselves.

When, there is an active faith at work, Faith that is lived as we strive toward the coming reign of God, then hope remains alive, and we can sing even if our voice falters…..O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home. (UMH 117 O God our Help)

It saddens me to see what is happening.  I cringe to hear ministers say they don’t believe the Bible is the infallible word of God. We need a great revival in this nation.  We need to turn back to the Bible and Prayer.  At the rate we are going…..Will He Find Faith when He returns?

Prayer:

O Lord, prayer is the language of the Spirit.  Prayer is our connection with you O God.

Prayer nourishes us, comforts us, and strengthens us. We need prayer as we need the air we breathe.

Speak to us daily Lord about our Prayer life.  Keep us in tune with you through prayer. Amen.

Jesus Have Mercy on Us

Sermon October 13, 2013

Jesus Have Mercy on US

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”v.7

The Israelites were stressed  and frustrated being in exile.  They lamented last week in our text and Jeremiah is doing all that he can with the Word of the Lord to comfort them and help them accept what was their new home.

Shockingly, this prophet was telling those who moped that God says, “Your [old] life is dead. Your new life is to be found in Babylon. Deal with it. Settle down. Adjust!  Seemingly it is a harsh and provocative message to all who face the uncertainties and consequences of unintended change.

Perhaps some of you are facing a similar situation.   Relationships , Children leaving the nest.  Children coming back to live at home.  Questions about the nursing home.  Loss of Job.

The Israelites were facing a very hard time.  There was no New Testament yet  from the lips of Jesus when he said, “but I say to you. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matt. 5:44)

Today we are all living in an enormous change to our society and the way life used to be.

Emails, Cell phones, texting, New -fangled gadgets.  Many have said  I want nothing to do with a computer or any of those technological gadgets.  The problem is you are Faced with these changes and the old way of life is NO MORE> We have to deal with it even though it is unpleasant.

Neighbors down the street may not be  Lutheran, or Baptist, or Catholic.  WE are faced with those that are Hindu or Muslim or New Age.  One of the biggest pushes is the acceptance of those with same sex orientation.

Whining about it does not make things go back to the way things were.

Jeremiah challenges the Jews in Captivity, and us to embrace the place where God has us and find ways to be faithful in our living….so that others might inquire about our inspiration, our resolve, and our trust, and thereby be drawn into relationship with God.

We are going through great changes in our society.  It’s time to get over it and keep moving forward.

I am as stubborn as any about these technological changes but complaining about it does not stop it.

Yes it is uncomfortable. But think about how good we have it now.   Our comfortable homes. Our comfortable cars.  The 500 channels you can choose from to watch.  Remote controls.  Wireless internet. And on and on we could go talking about how good it is today.

Psalm 66

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.

How awesome to live and work in Montana where we can see the majesty of Gods Creation with the mountain ranges wherever we go. How awesome are your creative deeds O God!  How fortunate we are to live in such beauty. How we sing your praises for bringing us through the fire and the water and into such a spacious place.

Worship has a power to heal.  Important stories of redemption need to be remembered and celebrated.  Though a few of us may differ with the psalmist about whether God test us or tries us, intentionally laying burdens upon our backs, we can certainly celebrate with radical gratitude the spacious places in which we now find ourselves, and sing the glory of God’s name.

To God be the Glory.

2 Timothy 2:8-15

This week I heard someone say :  If you want healing pray for pain.  I thought about that statement a lot. When we have suffered chaos in our life how sweet is it when deliverance comes?  Paul has suffered greatly for the cause of Christ and rejoices in that suffering.

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;  If we endure , we will also reign with him;

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth!

There is a lot of theological emphasis on suffering and truth, BUT the passage also addresses issues related to discipleship, hope, and Christian instruction.

When believers have died to their old ways of sin in the world, they will live in the new way of discipleship with Christ.

If Paul lived today with cell phones, and text messaging, this is a message he would send us,

“Remember, remind, and be diligent for the sake of the gospel.”

An instant message on our computer screen in the cubicle at work or on our BlackBerry beeping with a text message while we sit deep in traffic on the way home could be just the thing we need to hear to lift us out of our human predicament and point us toward heavenly hope.  When we are faithless, complaining, and self- absorbed, GOD IS FAITHFUL.

Luke 17: 11-19

Jesus, Master, Have mercy on us.

In this story about the ten lepers who are healed the actual healing is almost like a sideline event.

Jesus does it without fanfare.  We do not know where the other 9 go but we do know that this one – a foreigner, and a despised one at that – comes back to bow down at the feet of Jesus, to worship and give thanks.

What is clear is that this most unlikely one, this double outcast, has been embraced by grace.

Jesus say “ Get up and go,”  “your faith has made you well.”

We can hear Jesus telling us not to be concerned with the Quantity of faith – whether we have enough, that is to make our prayers “work”….

Rather, Jesus is teaching us about the nature of faith.  In short , to “have faith” is to Live it, and to live it is to give thanks.  It is living a life of gratitude that constitutes living a life of faith…

This is the grateful sort of faith, that has made this man from Samaria truly and deeply Well.

To practice gratitude intentionally changes an individual life, to be sure.  It also changes the character of a congregation.  When Christians practice gratitude, they come to worship not just
“to get something out of it,” but to give thanks and praise to God.

Lord, Have Mercy on Us!!!

Go on your way; your faith has made you well..

This is a description of a life of blessing for the church; as we go on our way, we rejoice and give thanks; for in giving thanks in all things, we find that God, indeed is in all things. Amen.

Increase our Faith

Sermon October 6, 2013 Lord, Increase Our Faith

Old Testament – Lamentations 1:1-6

Lamentations was penned in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.  Many people were killed in the eighteen-month siege of the city, and the lives of survivors were broken and shattered.

Lamentations gives voice to those who survived this devastating experience; it is survivor’s literature.  In more modern terms, post-traumatic stress syndrome was a common reality for those who lived through this horrendous time.

The book traditionally thought to be written by Jeremiah, is authored by a survivor remaining in the land, seeking to address such issues.

Lamentations will pursue these questions of God, hoping for a response, finally ending on this note:

“Why have you forgotten us completely?  Why have you forsaken us these many days” (5:20); God remains silent throughout out, but a basic conviction about God lies at the center of things (3:22-33):  God’s steadfast love endures forever, and “it is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (3:26).

Psalm137

In this Psalm the Lamentation continues about the destruction of Zion (Jerusalem). “ We Wept”, How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

Think for a moment if an invading force came and rounded up everyone in Highwood or Belt and carried you off to a foreign land.

Many mixed feelings would surface….hurt, anger, pain, frustration, maybe a sense of hopelessness.

We are comforted with the words of Jesus – I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Epistle  2 Timothy 1:1-14

When we face setbacks, pausing to give thanks can make all the difference in the world.  Gratitude puts things in perspective.

The author inspires Timothy to give thanks for the gift, but, second as he wrote in verse 6, “to rekindle the gift.” 

The greatest gift we have been given is, as indicated in verse 9, the grace that comes ‘not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace.”

To “rekindle the gift” means to stir up the grace and faith and love that we have received, and we stir them up by putting them into practice.

In the face of opposition, it is so easy to lose sight of God’s gifts.  The most important thing to do is to stir up the gifts of Grace and Mercy and Love.

Our call is not to win all the arguments but to forgive as we have been forgiven, and to love as we have been loved.  We must stir up this gift.

We must also stir up the gift of faith by praying and listening to the word of God.  In verse 3, the mentor writes of praying “night and day” for Timothy, and indeed for all of his churches.

No doubt he was praying too for his enemies and those who opposed the faith.

All of this leads surely to Paul’s third word about the gift:  Get in touch with the Giver.

The gifts God has given call us into relationship with God.  As the dear old assurance goes, “ I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able” (KJV v. 12).

Gospel Luke 17: 5-10

Increase our Faith!

The bible tells us that we have been given The Measure of Faith. (Romans 12:1-3)

 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

³ For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The bible also tells us that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Ro.10:17)

The foundation of Faith is found in Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We are free to use God’s faith.

Romans 3:3-Gods faith cannot be stopped by unbelief.

Mark 11:23-24 -“Whosoever” is welcome to use God’s faith.

Ephesians 2:8 – God’s faith is His gift to us.

Luke 17:5-10 Jesus called this faith an ever-increasing servant.

Galations 3:22 –The faith of Jesus to live victoriously over the flesh.

Philippians 3:9 The faith of Jesus to be the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 12:2 –Jesus is the Author of our faith.

Jude 20 – It is holy faith.

2 Peter 1:- Same faith Peter had.

Luke 17:5-10 consists of two sections; Jesus’ response to the disciples’ request for more faith (vv.5-6) and the parable of the Worthless slaves (vv.7-10). The first section has a parallel in Matthew 17:20; the second is peculiar to Luke. 

In addition to addressing elements in each section, exegesis must consider how and why Luke brought them together and placed them in this portion of his Gospel, especially since the context for the first section differs from its setting in Matthew.

In the Matthew text Jesus uses a version of the mustard –seed saying to answer the disciples’ question about their inability to cast out a demon.  They could not cast it out, he says, “because of [their] little faith” (Matt 17:20).

If they had had faith the size of a mustard seed, Jesus continues, they could move mountains (and thus, by extension, cast out demons).

By contrast, Luke has Jesus use the mustard-seed saying to address the disciples’ request for more faith.  Here in Luke, there is no story about the disciples’ inability to heal, since he had used it earlier (LU 9:37-43).

Instead, Luke prefaces the mustard seed saying with two sayings about forgiveness (Luke 17:3-4), which are also in Matt. 18:15 and 21-22.)

If we listen with new ears, we hear Jesus answer the disciples with kindness, and maybe even a bit of a smile….Why you do not need more faith,” he says,  “Even this much faith (his thumb and forefinger pinching together again ) is enough!

If we hear Jesus speak with the voice of love, we hear him telling the apostles that, in fact, they already have enough faith to do whatever is required of them.

Given the verses that precede this periscope (vv. 1-4) we can understand why the disciples might ask for more faith.  Jesus had just told them that discipleship is more demanding than they imagined. They are to be accountable to one another.

If they are wronged, he insists , they are to draw from a bottomless well of forgiveness.

No wonder the disciples cry out “Increase our Faith”.

They are not sure they are up to this, but Jesus changes the question from “how much faith is enough?” to  “What is faith for?”  He tells them , through image and story, “you already have the faith you need.  Now fulfill its purpose:  Live it.