Monthly Archives: August 2019

Various Vocations – Sermon on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

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1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

How many of you would say that we are a “charismatic” church? Some of you might be thinking, “No! And thank goodness. I don’t want to part of a church where people are rolling around on the floor and babbling in tongues.” But some of you might be thinking, “We should shake things up! We could use more manifestations of the Spirit in this stuffy place.” Maybe, some of you are somewhere in the middle. Well, wherever you fall in the charismatic opinion spectrum, this sermon is for you. Technically, of course, all the sermons I preach are for you which is why they are preached from this pulpit. (That isn’t a throw-away line. Remember that for later in the sermon).

James 1 17 Gift.jpgThree times the English word ‘gifts’ came up in this text, but in Greek, Paul uses two different words that get translated as ‘gifts.’ Twice the Greek word is χάρισμα (which is singular and the plural is χαρίσματα – I’m going to try to be grammatically correct through the sermon). Χάρισμα is where we get our word ‘charismatic.’ Inv. 4, “there are varieties of gifts/χαρίσματα,” and in v. 9, he mentions the “gifts/χαρίσματα of healing…” But in v. 1, Paul uses a different word that gets translated as ‘spiritual gifts’ or ‘spiritual things.’

The New Testament uses six different words or phrases to talk bout spiritual gifts. For the sake of time, I’m not going to give you all six, but χάρισμα is the most common and means ‘gift of grace.’ And if you look through all the texts about gifts, you see that the Holy Spirit doesn’t make Christians clones of each other but there is an enormous variety of ways the Holy Spirit’s work is manifested in people.

Now, Scripture has two different lists of the gifts/χαρίσματα (1 Cor. 12:7-11, 27-30 and Ro. 12:6-8). The two lists aren’t the same, but they include: prophets and prophecy; service (διακονία where we get our word ‘deacon’); teaching; encouragement; generous giving; leadership (yes, that’s a gift of the Holy Spirit); the gift of being merciful; a word of wisdom/guidance; a word of knowledge; faith, not what we would call ‘saving faith’ but an abundant trust and confidence in God’s provision; gifts of healing – which would include physical, mental, spiritual, and psychological healing; mighty works (probably referring to exorcisms); discernment of spirits; the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues; being an apostle is a χαρίσμα; so are helpful acts; even chastity (within marriage and outside of marriage) is a χαρίσμα. All these are the gifts/χαρίσματα that Scripture talks about. Notice that most of these aren’t the wowie-zowie things that you think about as being charismatic gifts, but this is the list that Scripture gives.

For a long time in our country, Christians have been talking about spiritual gifts. You can take inventories to try to discover what your spiritual gift is so that you use it in service to the Lord. Some people get all tied up in knots trying to figure out what their gift is so they can figure out where they should be and what they should be doing to serve the Lord. But Scripture actually teaches that wherever you are as a Christian, you are serving God. Instead of seeking to try to find out what our spiritual gift is, we should be asking ourselves, “Where has God put me?” and, “Who is the neighbor that God has given me to serve?” Or to combine the two and make it a shorter question, “What is my vocation?”

I know I’ve used the term ‘vocation’ quite a bit in the past, but it is good to be clear. When we talk about ‘vocation’ in the Scriptural sense, it means your office or your relationship to the person or people God has placed in your life at any given moment. Every moment of every day God puts you into a relationship with another person where you have different responsibilities. That is your vocation.

As a silly example, if you are in a moving car, you have one of two possible vocations. Either your vocation is to be a driver and your responsibilities are to drive safely, follow the traffic laws, don’t cause danger to others, and get to your destination safely. Or, if you aren’t the driver, your vocation is to be a passenger and your responsibilities are to not put your hands over the driver’s eyes or make the driver’s vocation more difficult than it needs to be.

Here is the good news, God gives you gifts to fulfill your vocation in every moment of every day. So, rather than filling out inventories and reading books to try to discover your spiritual gift, or your χάρισμα, simply ask yourself, “What is my vocation?” and Scripture promises that everything will fall into place.

Thinking back on that list of χαρίσματα, Scripture teaches that there is a great diversity of gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives these gifts equally, but, again, He doesn’t clone people. Instead, He individualizes believers and brings out their distinctive character. Each believer represents and reflects a different aspect of the image of God which is why there is a diversity of gifts.

Trinity and Vocation.jpgAccording to our text (v. 4-7), these various gifts are given through the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t ever work alone; instead, the entire Trinity is involved. These various gifts are given by the Spirit; the varieties of service are given by the same Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son; and the varieties of activities are empowered by the same God (think Father) who empowers them all in everyone. We don’t determine what gift we receive, it’s up to our Triune God. And God will provide whatever we need to fulfill our Christian duty to our neighbor.

Paul will go on after our text to say that each member of the entire church and each congregation is part of the body of Christ. And each member is dependent upon the other members. Eyes need ears and toes and noses and hearts and livers and bladders. No part of the body can say that they don’t need the other parts. All the parts work together to do one common thing, and the most important thing is that the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Gospel, is proclaimed.

Back to that line that wasn’t a “throw away”: I have been called by God to be your pastor and to preach this sermon today. And God has called you here today to hear this sermon, use your Holy Spirit-given gift to listen because Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it” (Lk. 11:28, Rev. 1:3).

So, you might be wondering, “What are my gifts? What are my χαρίσματα?” Well, rather than focusing on what gifts we have, we should be focusing on the people that God has placed in our lives to serve. Doing this helps to shape our prayers so that we ask God for the gifts we need in any particular moment. It also helps to protect us from getting puffed up and arrogant so that we decrease and Christ increases (Jn. 3:30). First, get your priorities right. Holy Spirit open eyes new heartsDo you believe in Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins? Do you trust that His blood has covered all your iniquities and transgressions? If so, praise God! Then ask, “What is my vocation/station in life? What am I called to do right now?” “What do I need now as a mother?” “What do I need now as a husband?” “As a child?” “A student?” “A customer?” “A citizen?” God has called you to those vocations and He won’t leave you in a lurch. He will give you the gifts you need. In every moment of every day, you have a particular relationship to someone else, so you are called to be God’s representative in that moment. So, ask God to give you what you need to fulfill that vocation.

God doesn’t equip us with gifts/χαρίσματα in advance, but He gives us what we need when we need it to minister to others as we serve in our vocations.

When you need to do something, you can confidently expect to receive exactly what you need to serve in the way that God has called you. Wherever God calls you He will give you whatever you need to minister to that person in that situation (Mt. 10:19-20).

Now, there is a lot here, and I need to wrap things up. So, two concluding thoughts. You, Christian, have been given unique gifts by the Holy Spirit to serve those whom God has put in your life through your various vocations. The Holy Spirit has uniquely equipped you to serve in every vocation where He has placed you. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t wait to figure out how God has gifted you because He has already called and equipped you to serve your neighbor in your vocation. Which brings me to the second conclusion.

In the opening verse of our text, Paul says that he does not want us to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. Our translation says ‘uninformed’ but the word there isn’t about a lack of information rather a lack of knowledge, so ‘ignorant’ is probably better. So, understand this, and don’t be ignorant. Paul speaks about many different gifts/χαρίσματα in our text. But Paul will go on to boil everything down to the three greatest gifts by the end of ch. 13 – faith, hope, and love. These three gifts are the most important χαρίσματα given by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has given you faith. No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. And because of that God-given faith, you have the gift/χάρισμα of hope.

Dear saints, the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, and will continue sanctify and preserve you in the true faith. But also remember that the greatest χάρισμα that you are given is love. Any use of your gifts without the gift, without the χάρισμα, of love is detrimental to the body of Christ. So, may you be faithful, may you be hopeful, and may you be loving as you use the other gifts He gives you as well.In Jesus’ name. Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1]I am thankful for a lecture by Rev. Dr. John Kleinig titled “Heavenly Power for Earthly Service” for much of the information in this sermon.

Manage – Sermon on Luke 16:1-13 for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity

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Luke 16:1-13

1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

No getting around it. This parable is one of the most difficult texts in the Gospels and all of Scripture. A lot of pastor friends of mine were joking about how this text is the reason churches have associate pastors and interns so the ‘regular’ pastor can be protected from having to preach on this text. Unfortunately for me – and, maybe, you – I don’t have that luxury. Just so you know. I’m purposefully skipping Jesus’ words in v. 9. I’ve heard a few explanations and interpretations of v. 9 that may be right, but I’m not entirely convinced by any of them. So, I’m not preaching on it.

So, since the parable is already difficult to preach, I’m going to double down. I’ll deal with the parable first, and then I’ll preach about money, stewardship, and tithing. A double-whammy.

First, the parable. A rich man, who owns a lot of land and leases it out to farmers, has a manager who keeps the books, and the manager is a crook. He cooks the books and is swindling his boss, the rich man. When the manager is confronted by his boss, he has no response because he’s been caught red-handed. So, the rich man fires him, but the rich man is also generous. He doesn’t have the guy thrown straight into prison. Instead, the rich man is gracious and lets the manager head back to his office to get the books and turn them in for the last time.

On the way to his office, the manager is worried about his future well-being. He realizes that he’s too weak for manual labor and too proud to beg. But he recognizes that he has a window of opportunity which is only open until he turns in the books. So, the manager secretly calls in his master’s debtors and decreases their debts in order to make friends with them. It is interesting to note that the fifty measures of oil and the twenty measures of wheat are both roughly equal to the same amount of money – about five-hundred denarii (or 500 days’ wages).

H-63 Trinity 9 (Lu 16.1-9)This reduction was, of course, not legally binding. The rich man could have simply said, “Hang on everyone. I fired that guy before he lowered your debt. You still owe the original amount.” But that isn’t the character of the rich man. Instead, the whole town is singing the praises of the rich man because he is so generous. And the rich man isn’t willing to harm his reputation as a merciful guy. So, what does the rich man do in the parable? He tells the fired, scoundrel of a manager, “Dude, you’re shrewd. You knew I’d rather be known as a merciful person rather than hold on to my wealth. And by your shrewdness, you’ve helped yourself.”

That’s the key to understanding the parable. The rich man in Jesus’ parable doesn’t praise the sinfulness of the fired manager. Instead, he praises how shrewd the manager was. The manager put all his eggs in one basket – the basket of the rich man’s generosity and mercy. And it paid off. By betting on the mercy of the rich man, the manager made himself some friends before everything was taken from him.

And notice that Jesus wishes we were more daring with what we have been given. In the last half of v. 8, Jesus says, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.”Christian, you have been given mercy, forgiveness, salvation, eternal life, eternal hope, eternal joy, eternal peace, eternal love – all things that cannot be taken from you. But you still are careful about sharing those things with others. Repent!

Why are you so careful about sharing God’s love for you with others? Don’t be ashamed! Christian, you have Jesus, and you have the Gospel. You have God’s unfailing, unending love. You have been entrusted with the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Ro. 1:16).

Stop being afraid of losing friends if you share the Gospel with them. God has given you the perfect righteousness and perfect obedience of Christ. Be faithful with what God has given you for your life and salvation. Be willing to give it away. Be faithful in your stewardship of the Gospel. That’s the parable.

Now, we move on to stewardship because, notice what Jesus says (v. 12), “If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”

If you aren’t faithful with the grace you have been freely given in Jesus Christ, why would God trust you with lesser things, things like money? God is right to not trust you with money if you cannot be trusted with the Gospel. This is a shift in gears here, but stick with me.

God often deals with sin and idols by using those sins and idols to be their own punishment. In Daniel, some pagans planned on getting Daniel thrown into the lion’s den and killed for disobeying the king and praying to God. But they are the ones who end up being eaten by the lions (Dan. 6). Or do you remember the book of Esther? The wicked Haman plans on killing faithful, God-fearing Mordecai by hanging him on a pole, but then Haman ends up being executed on that very instrument of death. This happens with unbelievers, but it also happens with believers. David’s sin of lust plagues him the rest of his life after he commits adultery with Bathsheba. The same thing happens with the most common idol in the world – money.

There have been studies on income and happiness, and a correlation has been found about how much you make and how happy you are. The interesting thing is that once you make a certain amount, happiness actually decreases. What do you think the amount is where happiness starts to decrease? It’s probably lower than you think – somewhere around $70,000. If you have little money but think that just a bit more will make you happier, money is your idol, and you will always be discontent with how much you have. But if you idolize money when you have lots of it, you still aren’t happy and spend all your time trying to hold on to it.

GreedNow, Jesus is absolutely clear, “You cannot serve God and money.”It can’t be done. If you trust in money, you do not trust God. So, repent of your love of money.

One of the best ways to protect yourself against idolizing money is to be generous – recklessly generous. Remember, everything you have – your life, your house, your clothes, your food, your finances, your money – everything is a gift from God. As Creator of everything, it all belongs to God.

You are merely a manager, a steward of what God, the Rich Man, has given and entrusted to you. And God is extremely loose and permissive in how much freedom you have in managing what is entrusted to you. God is actually pleased when you use the things that He has given you to manage and you take those things and use them to care for your family. God is even pleased when you enjoy things that might even be considered frivolous – like expensive coffee, or a gourmet steak and lobster dinner. God is pleased to give those things to you especially when you recognize that He is the One who has given it to you.

But God doesn’t want you to hoard everything He has given you to pamper yourself. He wants to use you and your management to provide for others as well. So, ask yourself, “What is the most important thing God wants to provide for others?” Yes, people need food and water and clothing. But the most important thing God wants people to have is the Gospel. The Gospel which provides for others not just in this life but for all eternity.

So, I would encourage you. Take a look at your finances. Yes, look at how you spend your money, but more importantly look at how much you give away – and where are you giving that money. Are you providing for people’s temporal needs by giving to the food shelf, the homeless shelter, etc.? Good. But you should be shrewd enough to give more to provide for people’s eternal needs. First, you should be giving to this congregation to make sure that both you and your brothers and sisters will be fed with the Gospel. Then, you should be giving to missionaries who call people to repentance and faith in Christ. Then, give to those other places as well.

I hope you know that what you give in the offering plate does go out from here too. As a congregation, we tithe 10% of what you give in the offering plate to provide for missionaries, the promotion of the Gospel, and to agencies in our community that provide temporal needs to others in our community.

If all this talk about tithing and money makes you squirm because you realize that you have not been a faithful manager of what God has given you, repent. Repent and amend your ways. And if you hear this and think to yourself, “I’m glad pastor is finally telling other people to give the way that I give.” Or if you’re thinking, “I wish so-and-so was here to hear this.” You repent too because this is law. And the law should always make us squirm. Your bank ledger isn’t what matters when it comes to your salvation.

Cross and CommunionThe only thing that matters for your salvation is what Christ has done and completed for you upon the cross. Even when you are stingy and fail to be generous with what God has given to you, God was not. He gave what was most valuable to Him for your salvation. God, in His mercy, gave Jesus to die upon the cross for you. Don’t trust in your stewardship of what God has given you. Instead, trust in Christ’s giving of Himself completely for you and for others. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Council of the Lord – Sermon on Jeremiah 23:16-29 for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity

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Jeremiah 23:16-29

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

18 For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

19 Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.

In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

21 “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I was talking to a few other pastors about this text and mentioned that I was having a hard time with an introduction for my sermon. One of them suggested that I start by saying, “I had a dream from God the other night…” He was joking of course, but it provided an introduction.

In this text, we heard about a very important theme in the Scriptures, and that is the theme of the council of the Lordor sometimes called the heavenly council. And it is important to differentiate here that this is the council with a ‘c’ which means a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, and make decisions. We are not talking about counsel with an ‘s’ which is giving advice.

Through His faithful prophet Jeremiah, God is warning the people against listening to the false prophets who are not preaching faithfully. If you are following along in our chronological Bible reading plan, you started Jeremiah a few days ago and know about the evil in Jeremiah’s day. If you aren’t following that plan (or aren’t caught up), here’s a brief summary.

Jeremiah was living and preaching to God’s people just before and through the time when the kingdom of Judah fell and was taken captive into Babylon. The kings were sacrificing their sons to pagan gods and abandoning the worship of God. Even though God was sending faithful prophets like Jeremiah and others, the people would not listen. And the kings would kill the faithful prophets who were calling the people to repentance.

The false prophets would tell people who despised the word of God, “Everything will be fine,” and to sinners they would say, “Don’t worry about punishment, God doesn’t mind.” Well, God did mind, and punishment was coming. And yet those false prophets ran and spoke false messages to the people claiming that God had sent them even though they had not stood in the council of the Lord.

Picture it like this – this council of God is like a heavenly throne room or courtroom where important matters are discussed. This picture about the council of God appears all over the Bible.

The council of God began back in creation. In the very beginning, there was a conversation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation of Adam.jpgOut of that conversation came creation, and most importantly, out of that conversation came the creation of humanity. We get to hear that conversation in Gen. 1:26 where the Triune God says, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” It was so, and it was good – very good.

After Adam and Eve were created, they become part of that heavenly conversation. God would come walking and talking with them in the cool of the day, and they would hear God’s Word and speak back to God. But there was another voice in that conversation – a voice of discord, violence, and evil. Satan, the devil, had been part of that council of God and had rebelled against the Lord. The devil comes to Adam and Eve and speaks to them about faithlessness, evil, and death. From that conversation, Adam and Eve fall.

After the Fall, the topic of discussion in the council of God changes. The council is no longer focused on the creation of mankind. But, thank God that, in His mercy, the conversation doesn’t change to destroying us. Instead, the conversation is now about the redemption and salvation of mankind. The conversation is about the death of Jesus. And Adam and Eve get to hear this when God says to the devil that the Seed of the woman would crush his head (Gen. 3:15).

Now, we can’t hear this council of God with the ears that God has given us, so God sent His faithful prophets to declare what is being discussed in the heavenly council. Amos 3:7 says, “The Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” And from the text here before us, God says of the false prophets, “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people, and they would have turned the from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds” (Jer. 23:21-22). This was the job of the prophets. Prophets are those who stand in God’s council and bring God’s Words to God’s people. Words of Law and words of Gospel.

When you were growing up, did you ever get sent out of the room so your parents could have a conversation? They might have done this to figure out how to punish you and your siblings for something you had done wrong. Or they might have done this to plan a vacation or get a puppy or some other good. Whatever the reason was, they were having an important conversation that would impact you. But you weren’t invited into the conversation – at least not initially.

But then your parents call you into the conversation. They would tell you what they were talking about and send you to announce it to your siblings. “We’re getting a puppy,” or, “We’re going to Disneyland.” And you get to be their spokesperson and proclaim it. That’s what the all the faithful prophets of Scripture did.

Sometimes, the prophets were to bring news of judgment and destruction. “There won’t be rain,” or, “The Babylonians are going to come and destroy our capitol.” Sometimes, the prophets were to proclaim news of Gospel and deliverance, “A remnant will be saved. God will send a Savior who will bear our griefs, carry our sorrows, and with His wounds we will be healed.”

Heavenly CouncilOne of the most amazing things is that God even gives His prophets a seat and a voice in this council. You remember when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham speaks up and gets God to agree to not destroy the cities if ten righteous people are found there (Gen. 18:22-33). Or, when God is going to destroy the Israelites for making the golden calf, Moses speaks up in the council and says, “God, if You go down and destroy them, the Egyptians will say that You only brought them out of slavery to destroy them.” And God relents of the disaster He had said He would bring on the people (Gen. 32:1-14).

This idea of the council of God is important for us to understand the Old Testament, but it even comes into the New Testament. Probably the most important glimpse of the council of God we get in the New Testament is in Luke’s account of the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-36). You remember that Peter, James, and John are there. They see Jesus’ face change and His clothes shine like the sun. Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus and are talking with Him. There is the council of God on earth, and Luke says that they are talking about Jesus’ ‘departure’ (lit.His ‘exodus’) which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

In other words, they were talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection. They were talking about Jesus’ redemption of creation and mankind. When Peter later recalls being at the Transfiguration and overhearing that council of God, he concludes that having the Bible is even better, “We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed…. No prophecy of Scripture come from someone’s own interpretation or was produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:16-21).

What this means, dear saints, is that when you hear the words of Scripture, you are hearing the council of God. You are hearing God’s call to repent of your sins, and you are hearing about God delivering you from sin, death, and the devil through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is important for us to always remember. God is constantly calling us to repentance and faith through His Word.

Over the last week, there has been a lot of chatter in our country about politics and guns and all sorts of things because of the evil and wickedness in El Paso and Dayton. Those conversations are important and necessary. But there is something you won’t hear in the media, and that is a call to repentance and faith after evil has struck those parts of our country.

In Luke 13:1-5, some people were with Jesus and asked Him what He thought about some Galileans who had been killed by Pilate. The people thought that Jesus should speak out against the leaders in government, but Jesus has a different take. He says, “Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”And Jesus mentions another event when the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people. Jesus says the same thing, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Dear saints, according to Jesus and according to the council of God, when you see evil in the world – whether it is the evil acts of the wicked or the evil brokenness of creation – know that God is calling you to repent. He is calling you to repent and trust in His mercy won and given through faith in Christ Jesus.

Council of GodNow, Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father. Today, your Savior is talking with the Father, your Creator, and with the Holy Spirit, your Sanctifier. And do you know what they are talking about? They are talking about you and the cross. They are talking about how Jesus won your salvation there. How His blood shed there made a place in heaven for you forever. And the Holy Spirit is there, translating your prayers and interceding for you with groanings too deep for words (Ro. 8:26). The Holy Spirit whispers into your ear that you are an adopted child of God and heir with Christ. And you respond by crying, “Abba, Father” (Ro. 8:12-17).

And know that, whenever you hear the Scriptures, God is inviting you into that conversation, into that council where He calls you Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice. This is what the council of God is always about. This is God’s focus and intention, that you turn from your sins and that you trust in His Son, your Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we hear the Scriptures, may we heed God’s council. May we repent of our sins and believe in Christ. Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am thankful for an interview that Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller did with Pr. Warren Graff on the heavenly council for portions of this sermon. https://wolfmueller.co/table-scraps-heavenly-council-with-warren-graff/

Eden in Desolation – Sermon on Mark 8:1-9 for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Listen here.

Mark 8:1-9

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This morning, we heard how God worked so that Adam and Eve could enjoy paradise in bliss and peace (OT Lesson Gen. 2:7-17).

First, God formed the man. God breathed into man’s nostrils to make Adam a living creature. God planted a garden in Eden. God made every tree that is splendid to look at and good for food to spring up from the ground. God surrounded that garden with vibrant rivers and lands filled with gold and precious stones.Bliss of Eden

God put Adam in the garden and gave him a job – which, yes, is a good thing. Just consider how little Adam had on his work resume at the time. God gave Adam the gift of hunger so that he would have the joy and delight of eating and tasting the fruits of his labor. And God taught Adam what to eat and what not to eat.

Now, this is a bit of an aside, but it is very important. Many people have wondered why God would put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which produced the forbidden fruit in the bliss of Eden at all. Some will say that God put it there to test Adam and Eve to see if they would be good. But if that is the case, it means that God could not make man “good” unless He gave man the choice to do evil. That would be strange for a God who truly is good and all-powerful Himself.

Scripture gives us a better understanding for the existence of the forbidden tree. Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The righteous shall live by faith.” This is true now, but it was also true before the Fall.

Think of it this way: Everything Adam and Eve knew, they knew because they saw and experienced it. But the one thing they didn’t know was evil. God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden because evil did exist. So Adam and Eve would have faith, God was giving a promise to believe when He commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Think of it this way, when God gives that command He is saying, “Hey, Adam, there is evil and it is bad. If you find out what evil is, it won’t be good for you. Trust Me on this.”

In the end, Adam and Eve didn’t trust God. Obviously, we do not live in Eden anymore; instead, we live in desolation. desolationOur English word ‘desolation’ contains the word ‘solo,’ and that gives a sense of what ‘desolation’ means. Adam and Eve went solo. Rather than trusting God, they went solo and trusted the devil’s lie bringing sin, death, condemnation, and desolation into the world.

We might think Adam and Eve were fools to give up the paradise God created for them. But we are apples that didn’t fall far from Adam’s tree. We too choose evil instead of faith, chaos instead of perfection, and desolation instead of bliss. We live in a place of our own making. A place we contrived from our rebellious hearts. A desert rather than a garden. Instead of life, there is death. Instead of abundance, there is lack. Instead of walking with God, we are surrounded by demons.

God warns us about the penalty of doing evil, but we go solo and crave what isn’t ours. God tells us that we must tell the truth and defend the reputation of others, but we go solo by spreading gossip and slander. Because of sin – and our sin alone – we dwell in a desolate place. Repent.

But even though we turned our back on God, He did not turn His back on us. God doesn’t despise us, He doesn’t come to punish us, and He doesn’t regret the fact that He made us. Instead, God comes to have compassion on us and graciously feed us. On the third day of this excursion, Jesus says, “I have compassion on the crowd.”That word ‘compassion’ in Greek means that His intestines are tied up. A loosey-goosy translation of Jesus’ words here would be, “My gut is wrenched for these people who don’t have anything to eat.”

Jesus Feeds the 5000Look at what Jesus, God in the flesh does – notice the verbs. He calls the disciples. Jesus directs the crowd to sit down. He takes the bread. Christ gives thanks for the bread. He breaks the bread. He gives the bread to the disciples to set before the people. Jesus blesses the fish. He gives the fish to the disciples to set before the people. And Jesus watches them all eat until every last one of them is satisfied. Jesus continues to do this for us today.

Some of you are fully aware of the desolation you live in right now. Maybe it’s your health or a broken relationship that has left you lonely. Maybe it’s a money or job problem. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Desolation stares you in the face, and you are worried. Know that Jesus is still with you to serve you with everything you need in every moment.

Do you think that when Jesus led that crowd out into the wilderness for three days, do you think that Jesus forgot they would need food? Do you think Jesus was preaching, and suddenly the light bulb turned on in the middle of His sermon and He said, “Oh, nuts. These people are going to need to eat. Oops!”? No, absolutely not! Jesus didn’t forget that they would need food.

Instead, Jesus brought them to a place of momentary need. He led them into the wilderness where they would need a miracle to provide for them. Jesus led them there for some good. We shouldn’t speculate why Jesus did this because the text doesn’t tell us exactly why Jesus did it. But Jesus deliberately brought them there where they would need Him to fully provide for them.

So, listen to this very carefully. Whether things are going well and you don’t notice anything lacking in your life or whether things are bleak and dire, by God’s grace you have everything from God that is best for you right now. Do you believe that?

Scripture says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18). Give thanks for everything you have from God at all times – whether those times are good or bad. Here’s why, listen to this from Romans 8:31-32, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And we can know that God is for us because of what Scripture says next: “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” In other words, if God gives His only-begotten Son to die on the cross while you are His enemy and a sinner, He won’t hold back anything good from you now that you are adopted into His family through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

God will give us all things in the future, yes. But He also gives us all good things now. Like He did in Eden and like He did in the wilderness, Jesus even now serves us sinful, fallen people who have chosen to live in a desolate place.Communion Cross with Jesus

Jesus is here with His compassion in the midst of your desolation to bring Eden to you. He has come to be your servant by feeding you the Bread of Life from this altar. In this meal, your Savior dispenses forgiveness, life, and salvation to you. Even though we are a small crowd, Jesus has come to deliver big compassion. So, come and receive. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.