Sermon 05272012 Pentecost Sunday

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Lord Jesus Christ, today we celebrate the fulfillment of the promised Holy Spirit with Pentecost.  When You returned to the Father it was not a prediction of what would occur, but a matter of fact that had yet to be fulfilled.  Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives and how the church is directly impacted by the work of the Holy Spirit in each of the lives of all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

As a child one of the neatest and most exciting events besides the circus, County Fair or State Fair was when the next location of the World’s Fair would be announced.  In 1982 and 1984, it was planned for Knoxville and New Orleans respectively.  Since Virginia bordered on Tennessee, we would hear of some of the preparations for the fair and it would be exciting.  Additionally since we as a family travelled from rural Southside Virginia to Pennsylvania and Iowa, we would atleast travel near where the big events would happen and these events were where dreams were had and promises of the future would be ‘revealed’.  Matter of fact, in the Captain America movie there is the reminder of 1939-40 when New York City hosted the World’s Fair.  And the father of the Iron Man, Tony Stark revealed a car that would defy gravity.  But as was shown, some predictions of the future would not be a reality.

In this morning’s Gospel lesson for Pentecost, Jesus Christ doesn’t predict the future.  When a prediction is made it is like the weather forecast, it can and does sometimes change, sometimes quiet dramatically.  But, Jesus Christ doesn’t predict the future, because His knowledge of what will occur is perfect.  Since God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit have as an attribute omniscience Jesus Christ knows what the future will be.  So from our Gospel this morning that occurs before Jesus Christ betrayal, trial, crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus is telling the disciples what will occur.  Jesus Christ reveals the future for the disciples so that they may believe.

For Jesus Christ telling what would occur has a purpose.  Just as Jesus Christ told the disciples that He would be betrayed, died, buried and ascend, Jesus in telling of the coming of the Holy Spirit and our reading the Acts account of Pentecost this morning opens a small window into the full plan of salvation.  The disciples needed to understand the purpose of Jesus life, death and resurrection as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Covenant.  Just as when the tower of Babel was constructed and the Lord confused their language, just as He cast out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, God in and through Pentecost had a divine purpose in mind.  The divine purpose of God revealed through the giving of the Holy Spirit reveals that the Holy Spirit was given in order that the Holy Spirit would remind the disciples and teach us today the truth of what Jesus Christ said and did while He sojourned here on earth.  The role of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the truths of scripture, and the complete love of God manifest in Jesus Christ for all of mankind.

For Jesus Christ prepared His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ knew who would betray Him.  Jesus Christ knew He would carry His Cross to Golgotha.  Jesus Christ knew the soldiers would cast lots for His clothing and watch Him suffer and die hanging on the Cross.  But, Jesus Christ also knew the disciples with whom He had walked the Kidron Valley and who had hung on His every word would be gathered in the Upper Room doubting the events of the last three days.  Jesus Christ knew that Thomas would have to see His Hands and Side in order to believe.  Jesus Christ knew that forty days after His resurrection He would ascend into Heaven.  Jesus Christ knew that today, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit would descend upon His disciples and we would hear that scripture today in Goodland, KS.

Jesus Christ told of the Holy Spirit’s coming and reveals for the disciples and we His children 2000 years later that we have been told so we may believe.  We are to believe, not only the plan of salvation, but the reason for the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives.  This has been accomplished through our baptism into the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.  We recently celebrated the work of the Holy Spirit with the Baptism of Matthew and Abigail Hedge, but also when Lily Mays took personal responsibility for her own faith as a member of the Body of Christ.

May we today as we celebrate Pentecost believe again in our baptismal promises and affirm our faith with our confession of the Nicene Creed and be fed with Jesus Christ precious Body and Blood.  For Jesus Christ tells us today that though He has ascended to the Father, today we remember the giving of the Holy Spirit 50 days after His resurrection for a divine purpose.  For the Holy Spirit comes to help us believe because we have not seen and we may be blessed as Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”  For Jesus Christ fulfilled the plan of salvation and now the Holy Spirit comes to divinely inspire all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning to believe in the promises of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

Sermon 05202012 Sunday After the Ascension

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Jesus Christ has risen and ascended to the Father, Alleluia!  Jesus Christ, 40 Days after Your resurrection, You ascended to Heaven.  And the disciples are alone.  But You promised them and us the coming of the Holy Spirit.  May we look for the coming of the Holy Spirit to testify about You Jesus Christ and empower us to testify by His Words placed in our lips, on our hearts and for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Jesus Christ ascended to the Father and the Spirit of Truth will testify about Him!  For Jesus Christ is risen and ascended indeed Alleluia!

In the movie Iron Man 2 when Tony Stark is celebrating his birthday, Lt. Col. Rhodes puts on one of the Iron Man suits.  As ‘Rhody’ tries to get Tony to power down and settle down, one can see that getting used to the powers of the suits rockets and thrusters is a challenge for the Air Force Officer.

Just as Lt. Col. Rhodes is a little shaky in the Iron Man suit, the disciples from this mornings readings are certainly unsure with Jesus telling them what will occur.  Remember in the sequence of events these readings occur chronologically before Jesus Christ crucifixion, but are used after in our lectionary to remind we the readers of today of Jesus telling us exactly what would happen.  Hence it is understandable that the disciples are a little off kilter.  When Jesus is speaking to them as our text indicates, Jesus is speaking so that “you [that is the disciples and us today] may be kept from stumbling”.  Like all of us sitting in the pews 2000 years later the disciples had a faith that needed bolstering.  Jesus Christ as we celebrated on Thursday would ascend to the Father 40 days after His resurrection and as the consummate teacher, leader and friend that Jesus was He was preparing them for what was to come, Jesus knew the future that the disciples would stumble and wanted to empower them to be ready.

As we heard Thursday on Ascension, Jesus in returning to the Father fulfilled His mission and role here on earth in the plan of salvation.  In returning to the Father, Jesus Christ as we confess in the Creed, sits at the right hand of the Father.  Jesus Christ key role here on earth of fulfilling the plan of salvation with His birth in the manger in Bethlehem, turning water into wine in Cana, walking on the Sea of Galilee, healing the sick, the blind and the lame and teaching His disciples what the Kingdom of God truly is like and how He, the Son of God must suffer, die, be buried and rise again on the third day in order for all of us to be with Him in His Kingdom.  This plan of salvation Jesus Christ fulfilled and in His ascension Jesus Christ promised a gift to the disciples and to us today.

Jesus Christ promised that the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit would come.  Unlike the promises that will be made by the politicians this year hoping to be elected to office, Jesus Christ fulfills His promises.  Jesus Christ in going to the Father will with the Father send the Holy Spirit to us to guide us.  The Holy Spirit’s job is to call, gather and enlighten us in the true Christian faith.  The disciples who had run away when Jesus was taken into custody and cowered behind the closed doors after His death, were promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower them.  They like we today are promised the Gift of the Holy Spirit in, through and with the water and Word of Baptism where we have the sign and seal of the Holy Spirit for the promises of life and salvation found in Jesus life, death and resurrection that we have been baptized into.

With our baptism, we also are empowered by the Holy Spirit to testify about Jesus Christ.  One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we as Lutherans understand less than most is how the Holy Spirit works in each of us.  Yes, the Holy Spirit calls, gathers and sanctifies us and keeps us in the one true faith, but another and sometimes evangelistic gift of the Holy Spirit is how we share Jesus Christ with one another.  In our daily lives there are times where God places people in our paths that we have the opportunity to tell them about Jesus Christ.  As Lutherans we sometimes shy away from this opportunity, because it doesn’t feel right.  We are a very introverted part of the body of Christ.  But by and through the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Sacraments we receive today we are empowered to share our faith in action and deed and tell others what Jesus Christ has done for all of mankind on the cross of Calvary.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives enabling each of us in our own unique way to share our own personal faith in Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection for all mankind.  One of the greatest examples of this is how one man took a stand for the spread of the salvation message.  Nearly 500 years ago, in Europe the princes of the time and the church had ultimate power.  If a country changed monarchs, the religion of the people would change with the monarch, unlike here in America where we have the freedom of religion.  But one man challenged the churches authority of his time because of the abuses that were occurring.  You see Martin Luther, whom our church is named after, by and through the power of the Holy Spirit, stood up to the Pope and attempted to reform the church.  Martin Luther with the words, “Here I stand” redefined, renewed and reformed the church and by the power of the Holy Spirit in his life set the world free to share and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all of mankind.  In by and through the Holy Spirit and the Holy Supper we are about to receive we here today are also set free to share the message of salvation for all of mankind.  Because the Holy Spirit empowers us to proclaim that Jesus Christ died for all of mankind, including all of us gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Sermon 05172012 Ascension Day

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Jesus Christ forty days ago You rose from the dead triumphant over sin, death, the devil, hell and damnation.  Today we remember Your ascension into heaven.  This was another of the milestones of the plan of salvation that began in the Garden of Eden, neared completion with Your birth in the manger and was fulfilled with Your life, death and resurrection.  May we be empowered to embrace the gift of salvation You have brought to us and fully understand that all things must be fulfilled by You for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel.  AMEN.

Jesus Christ fulfilled all things!  He is risen indeed Alleluia!

Recently, Michele and I were doing some cleaning and we made Sarah very happy.  We didn’t give her a tub of candy or a bowl of ice cream; we did something a lot simpler and a lot easier.  We found three pieces from her very first puzzle.  You see, Sarah loves puzzles.  She will spend countless hours putting together puzzles and take them right apart to reassemble them.  Well this one puzzle had three pieces missing that Michele and I had no idea where they had disappeared to.  So every time she would play with her tub of puzzles, she would without fail put the entire puzzle together except for the final three pieces.  When these three pieces had been found it was as if her life had been fulfilled.

Tonight we celebrate the ascension of Jesus Christ.  Just as Sarah with the three pieces felt and could see the puzzle was complete, Jesus Christ ascension was the final bookend in the saga of Jesus life here on earth.  Having been born in a lowly manger among the animals in very humble surroundings, smuggled in the middle of the night by His Father and Mother out of Israel to Egypt in fear of the tyrant Herod who was seeking His life, protected until returning to a city named Nazareth and then appearing at a wedding in Cana and performing His first miracle of changing water into wine, Jesus Christ life was now complete.  Jesus Christ having walked the streets of Jerusalem, sailed and walked upon the water of the Sea of Galilee, brought Lazarus back to life and healed the blind, the lame and the lepers and cast out the demons fulfilled all righteousness with His life, death, resurrection and now His ascension.  Jesus Christ completed and fulfilled every test, task and trouble that Satan could muster, not only because He was the Son of God, but especially because His mission was the salvation of mankind.

With Jesus Christ ascension into Heaven, He was returning to His Father having completed the mission of salvation in order that we His followers could spread the message of salvation.  The message that we proclaim clearly in the Creeds that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and took on our humanity in order to save us from our sins.  For it was not just the simple act of becoming human, but in taking on humanity, He, Jesus Christ overcame our weakness for us and became sin for us and suffered for us so we would not have to.  Jesus Christ chose His life and all that it entailed because of His great love for each and every one of us.  Jesus Christ gave His life to set us free and give us the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life.  For this fulfilled the plan of salvation begun in the Garden of Eden and brings full circle God’s divine plan that His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ would die for all of mankind.  And then 40 days after His resurrection from the dead would ascend into heaven to return to the Father.

For in Jesus Christ ascension His mission was fulfilled.  The picture, plan and power of the plan of salvation has been revealed to and for us with Jesus return to the Father.  Jesus Christ earthly mission of the salvation of all of mankind is fulfilled with His ascension into heaven.  Especially for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this evening.  AMEN.

Sermon 05132012, Easter 5, 5th Sunday After Easter

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, Alleluia!  Lord Jesus Christ You promise to lift each of us up in prayer in order for us to feel Your love.  May we daily feel Your prayers and know You have fought the good fight and overcome the world for each of us.  For this truth was manifest with Your death on the Cross.  The battle may have been over, but the victory is ours through our baptism into Your life, death and resurrection for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Jesus Christ overcame the world for us!  He is risen indeed Alleluia!

In the Old Testament there are many books and chapters that seem dull and dry to the casual reader.  One can easily get lost in who begat whom and the wars that raged when one people would come against Israel, God’s chosen people.  If you were to read 2^nd Kings 18 and 19, Hezekiah was made King over Israel and ‘he did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his Father David had done.’ (2 Kings 18:3).  The stark reality for us this morning is that even in the Old Testament with Hezekiah, Jesus words to the disciples we hear this morning were fulfilled for the King and people who did what King David did and followed the Lord’s teachings and Moses commandments.  Hear Hezekiah’s prayer:

“¹⁴ Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶  Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.”

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’

The key that Hezekiah heard through Isaiah the prophet and that we hear today from Jesus own lips are that when we ask God for something in our prayers, God will answer our prayers, because He prays to the Father for us.

Jesus Christ clearly says He prays for us.  Jesus Christ taught His disciples when asked what we call the Lord’s Prayer and we are to pray that prayer in time of need, in times where we need comfort, when we know not what to ask for.  The Holy Spirit that was promised to us by Jesus gives us the words to pray and Jesus as our Great High Priest as Deb Boyle reminded the ladies at the Spring Tea intercedes to the Father for us with His prayers since He is perfect and sinless and knows exactly what we need.

For Jesus Christ fought for us from the time He entered the world in a lowly manger and walked on the Sea of Galilee, when He healed the sick and lame and feed the poor and lowly and especially when He suffered at the hands of the soldiers when He was crucified.  Jesus Christ as Timothy wrote, “fought the good fight, finished the course and kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).  Through Jesus Christ perfect life, He endured pain torment and torture in order to give us eternal life.  This was the gift He freely gives us today in order for all of us to be with Him in His kingdom.

And Jesus Christ won the battle for each of us.  Jesus Christ won the battle over sin, death, the devil, Hell and damnation to free us from our sins.  This was no little skirmish, but it was Jesus Christ fighting for each of our lives in order to give us the gift of eternal life.  For Jesus Christ fights not as a soldier, but as the Son of God Who has no equal.  Just as Jesus at the beginning of His ministry struggled with Satan for 40 days in the wilderness and then right before being betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed with such fervor that it was as if drops of blood fell from His face, Jesus battled Satan in order to set each of us free.  Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself as the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sin of the world.  The stain of sin that each of us carries that only in, with and through our baptism and faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us can we be set free as children of God.  We through Jesus Christ sacrifice can “have peace”, because of the promise of Jesus Christ that He “overcame the world” for you and for me.

The best example we have this morning as we celebrate Mother’s Day is how each of our mother’s endured the pains of child birth to give new life to each of us.  Thank you Mother’s for this gift.  In a recent movie, “October Baby” the actress who plays the birth mother of Hannah connects clearly to the decisions that Mother’s sometimes make.  You see, she unlike her character had a successful abortion when she was younger.  Unknowingly the screenwriters sent her the script for the movie and Shari Rigby understood at a much deeper level the sacrifices and their ramifications that we parents make in our own lives.  This morning Jesus Christ models for each of us a sacrifice of Himself in order to give us eternal life.  May we daily pray to God asking for what we need and embrace Jesus Christ sacrifice and His battle for each of our lives.  For Jesus Christ overcame the world for us and did this in order to set all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel free.  AMEN.

Sermon 05062012, Easter 4, 4th Sunday After Easter

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray, Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead, Alleluia!  Jesus Christ You said that You had to go to the Father in order that the Helper would come.  Jesus Christ You promised His coming would convict the world of sin and righteousness because of our unbelief.  May we begin to understand the Holy Spirit is our great Helper and in His glorifying You, we will be guided by His disclosure to understand more fully Your will for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Jesus Christ is Risen and the Spirit of Truth will guide you! He is risen indeed Alleluia!

During the colder months of the year, Sarah and I had a little ritual that we would do sometimes at lunch time and sometimes after dinner.  We would play the game of ‘hide and seek’.  It was funny to try and explain this game to Sarah and hear her count in the other room with her meek angelic voice.  There were some places that I would hide that she would find me quickly, so I had to become more creative as to where I would hide.  When she had been looking for a minute or two and hadn’t found me, I would whistle for her like my Father used to when I was her age and we were playing hide and seek and she would come running into the room looking again.  Every time she found me she would get excited and give me a great big hug and kiss.  And the first word out of her mouth, ‘again’.  She loved that special time with her Father.

Last week I promised you a connection with our theme of Jesus going to the Father and this mornings Gospel is the fulfillment of that promise.  Jesus tells us clearly that He in going to be with the Father made us a promise.  This promise is that God the Father and Jesus Christ His only Son will send the Spirit of Truth to guide us.  God’s promises are not empty words of promise like some politicians who promise to change the government and then become a part of what is a problem.  God the Father and Jesus Christ have a track record that we can look at and see their promises and their fulfillment.  For example, God the Father promised in Genesis when Adam and Eve had just eaten the fruit and brought sin into the world, God the Father through Paul in Romans reminds us that though sin entered through one man, grace enters through Jesus Christ and His innocent death on Calvary for each and every one of us.  So to when King David as ruler over Israel conquers all those in opposition to the Lord, the promise is that David will not build a place for God to dwell, but David will have a son that will fulfill this.  And to David is born Solomon who builds the temple where the Ark of the Covenant is placed and God’s promise is fulfilled for David in Solomon and for us today through the promise of Jesus Christ of the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit comes to each of us today.  When we had my ordination a few years ago we were privileged to have other clergy from here in Goodland attend and take part in the service.  In a conversation afterwards Jason Trupp, then Pastor of the Four Square Church said that the Holy Spirit was clearly present in and among us at that service.  And my comment to him was we always have the Holy Spirit present and we are reminded of this with the Eternal Flame above the Altar.  This is the reminder that God the Holy Spirit is always here dwelling among us as was promised to us by Jesus Christ, but also with us in the Holy Supper around the Altar and especially when we baptize children.  For we invoke, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Whom we baptize and seal the child or adult with the seal of the Holy Spirit upon their head and their heart.  This promise is fulfilled also when we pray for the Holy Spirit to come in the Holy Supper where we receive Jesus Christ precious Body and Blood and are empowered to live lives of faith spreading the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

But one may ask, what is the job of the Holy Spirit?  Clearly Jesus Christ tells us from our Gospel this morning that the role of the Holy Spirit is to guide us.  The Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the plan of salvation found in and through Jesus Christ innocent death on Calvary has been sent to guide and create faith in us.  Luther’s Catechism says it so well, “What is the work of the Holy Spirit?  The work of the Holy Spirit is called conversion, or regeneration or new birth.  This change of mind and heart, which the Holy Ghost wrought in us when He enlightened us with His gifts by giving us faith in Christ, is called Conversion, turning, because He turned us from sin towards our Savior; it is also called Regeneration or a New Birth, because a new attitude or feeling toward God, a new spiritual life, was born in us; we are “created in Christ Jesus”, became “a new creature”.  All these are figurative expressions, which in plain words mean that the Holy Ghost has wrought faith in our hearts.””  Because of the work of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives we have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ and are set free from sin, death and the devil.  The promise to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, to David of the coming Christ and the fulfillment found in Jesus Christ innocent death on Calvary for us is fulfilled completely by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that sets us free because of the promise God made to us.

This weekend marked the opening of the Avengers movie by Marvel Comics.  If you have watched any of the previous movies like Thor, Iron Man or Captain America there was always an allusion, sometimes small and sometimes direct of the Avenger Initiative, but now the promise has been fulfilled of a movie that brings all of our favorite super heroes together.  So to from our Gospel this morning Jesus Christ explains more fully that He will return to the Father, but the Holy Spirit comes to speak on His behalf and we know from our Catechism that it is the Holy Ghost that “calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies and keeps each of us in the Christian faith.”  For this promise is fulfilled as we hear God’s Word spoken, eat Jesus Christ precious Body and Blood around the Altar and leave God’s Altar and His House with a new attitude and calling to spread the salvation message to and for all mankind, especially all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.