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03022014 Quinquagesima Sunday

Sermon Audio

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.

If we find this box sitting on our front steps, some of us know the symbol and that means only one thing, we have ordered something from Amazon and they have delivered.  Whether it is supplies for the house, new clothes that we just had to have, or the latest electronics gear that would have required us to go to Denver to get, but instead we had Amazon deliver it to our door step.  We look forward to the mystery of what is in the box and taking it out and seeing what Amazon sent and UPS delivered to our front door.

So to in the Christian life, when we pray the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we clearly and tangibly make our own the prayer “But deliver us from evil.”  Yet, as we pray this petition there is a truth that is not just laid in our laps, but made our very own.  Let’s pull out our bulletin insert for this morning and read responsively as a congregation the “What does this mean?” section.  “The Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, But deliver us from evil.  What does this mean?  We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.  As this petition sinks in, let us go to God in prayer and pray for our deliverance from evil.

Father in heaven, we know that we are surrounded by evil, sin and even death, but when we pray this petition we ask You to deliver us.  And the truth is You have delivered us through what Your Son Jesus Christ did on the Cross of Calvary and we only need to lay claim to Your promises.  Enable us to understand Your offer of grace is for all of mankind, but especially including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Living in the parsonage next door to the church is an experience that Pastor’s not only joke about, but at times lament.  As a young family it is interesting when Sarah, Michele and I are in the front room of the parsonage and we hear the mail slot open and close.  Sarah excitedly exclaims, ‘mail is here’ and wants to rush to the front door and check what the postal carrier has delivered, with the hope and anticipation that she has at least one piece of mail with her name on it.  On many occasions she is disappointed, because it was either the wind opening and closing the slot or she didn’t receive any mail, but on other occasions her joy is fulfilled by having a piece of mail or better yet a package with her name on it that is especially for her.

This same joy that Sarah has with a piece of mail, we Christians should have when we come and worship in God’s house, hear His Word proclaimed in the readings and when we receive His precious Body and Blood around the altar as we will in a few minutes.  For God clearly and unmistakably is offering us the fulfillment of the promise that we pray for in this the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.  God is ‘delivering us from evil’, maybe not in the way we desire or clearly understand, but God is preparing us for our entrance into His Kingdom.  When Jesus Christ came and dwelt among us His disciples beheld His Glory, they could touch it and even interact with Him.  Unlike then we as we gather here today at Emmanuel have the greatest opportunity to not only hear God’s Word that proclaims life and salvation, we actually get to see Jesus.

A few Sunday’s ago I asked my confirmation class, have you ever seen Jesus.  There was the question of clarification by an astute student saying, ‘do you mean a picture’ and I responded ‘No.’ Hence the resounding answer was no, none of the students felt or believed they had ever seen Jesus.  Then I revealed a truth to them.  I told them that they had in fact seen Jesus many different times and even that very morning.  When we have Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper, we in fact believe that this is the Precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Communion, unlike for other churches is where we actually see Jesus Christ Body and Blood.  Unlike the chicken or beef that we eat that is clearly meat and poultry and feels like it, because either we butchered the cow or chicken ourselves, when we partake of Jesus Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper it is God’s Word that makes the bread and wine His Body and Blood like we will celebrate in a few minutes.  Through the Words of Institution that Jesus instituted on Maundy Thursday, God changes these simple elements of bread and wine into His precious Body and Blood that gives us the greatest gift of eternal life and fulfills the truth that we pray for in the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

For in the Seventh Petition when we pray, “deliver us from evil” we pray for God to deliver us not only from this life, but to the life to come, eternal life, our eternal destination of heaven.  The connection of eternal life and our lives today is clear and unmistakable and the connection with our receipt of Jesus Christ Body and Blood we receive today around the altar is a delivery that far outweighs what the mail carrier brings, the UPS driver or even the FedEx delivery man puts at our doorstep.  What we receive today around the altar is a delivery upon the promises of God that the Old Testament people believed in from the Garden of Eden through the desert wilderness and we know was fulfilled by Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.

This is the free grace that God offers us and delivers to us daily.  But then we might ask, why then do bad things happen to us, whether accidents, bad years of drought that cause us not to have a crop or very little crop, paychecks that don’t cover medicine or is below the poverty level.  How can God allow this to occur?  When a question like this occurs, and it is on a regular basis, the simplest and easiest answer is so God’s Glory can be revealed.  We experience this, not at the hands of God, but at the hands of Satan.  God does not cause evil to occur, but as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “delivers us from evil”.  This is the promise that is fulfilled for us today as we eat His Precious Body and Blood.  Our task is only to have faith in God that His promises are fulfilled.  Clearly we may not see the fullest ramifications of fulfillment here on earth, but with our entrance into heaven, we will behold God’s Glory and be in God’s presence for all eternity.

Our lives are like a sculptor who looks at a block of stone and see’s not the square shape of the stone, but the masterpiece that will be revealed after he or she delivers each blow that chips away at the exterior.  Once complete the fullest image is revealed and the beauty seen in the vision of the sculptor becomes complete.  We who gather here today receiving the precious Gifts of Jesus Christ Body and Blood have delivered to us the greatest mystery that we can believe in faith.  And when we pray the Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil”, it is a delivery that comes not in an Amazon Box, but a delivery by God of His Word and Sacrament for each of us today.  For this is the fulfillment of the promises of God made for all of mankind including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel who pray, “deliver us from evil” and believe in these promises given by God for each and every one of us.  AMEN.

03012014 Funeral Sermon Ronald Paul Roeder

Sermon Audio

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!  Gracious Lord, as we gather here to remember Ron, we are reminded that he has been washed by the Blood of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.  Remind us that Ron asked to receive the sacrament of Holy Baptism and enters into Your kingdom as an heir of eternal life because of You and the grace and forgiveness You freely offered to him.  No longer will the pains of memory of this life bind him, for it is in, through and by his baptism into Your life, death and resurrection that Ron now rests in Your loving arms.  May Your Gospel message of salvation remind us that though the veil of death separates us today from Ron, it cannot separate us from the love You have for us that is manifest in the Gospel of salvation offered for all of mankind, including all of us gathered here.  May we be comforted by this thought and truth and allow the salve of Your Gospel message to embrace us in Your loving arms offered by Your Son Jesus Christ innocent death on Calvary for all of Your saints, especially including all of the saints of Ron’s family gathered here at Emmanuel to say goodbye.  AMEN.

When one reaches the gates of an indoctrination station, once you step one foot in the door, your life is forever changed.  No longer do you have the freedoms found as a civilian, your life is now at the mercy of the drill sergeants and their main job to transform men and women into soldiers.  This was especially true for Ron as he began his journey from being a ‘wet behind the ears’ farm boy from Northwest Kansas to his transformation into a soldier in the United States Army preparing for battles that would eventually come in both Korea and eventually Vietnam.  The task of the drill sergeants was clear, make soldiers.

For Ron the transformation became clear and he lived the life of a soldier for his entire 20 year career.  From one War to another, he served his country with distinction and honor, but his transformation into a soldier also affected his care of and for those under his command.  There were many times that Ron instead of sending a ‘wet behind the ears’ new recruit on a mission to deliver supplies, would sacrifice himself in order to insure that the new recruit would not be sent home in a body bag at such a young age.  And this sacrifice not only provided many stories, but events that could have caused his own life to be cut short.  But this sacrifice was something Ron believed in and was a clear and tangible change for him that very few people knew about.

But though he would sacrifice himself for others, it did not change the person who he really was.  Some saw Ron and the decisions he made in his life with clear question, even pity and sometimes even derision.  He like a lot of people enjoyed the vices in life, and some questioned not only his action, but also his faith.  But God was at work.  Behind the scenes and outside of the view of lots of people, including his family, God was changing Ron’s heart, by baby steps, but still making Ron a new creation.  Ron had heard the stories from his birth by his mother of what Jesus Christ did on Calvary, but never did Ron become baptized.  But God was working, from his youth, to boot camp, through Korea and Vietnam and even later in his life for a change that would have dramatic impact.

This change was made in His life on Feb. 2, 2014, when God made Ron his own in His baptism.  By Ron’s own request for baptism, God came down and forever changed Ron in a way that made him different for all eternity.  Ron trusted completely in the grace offered by Jesus Christ.  God through the Water connected with the Word made Ron an heir of eternal life and prepared him for entrance into the Kingdom of God.

This was a fulfillment of the promise that was made on Calvary 2000 years ago and made manifest in Ron’s life here in Goodland, KS less than a month ago.  It does not nor did it change Ron’s life nor call right what he had done in his life previously, but through the water of baptism, God forgave him his sins and washed away His sin.  Through the blood of the lamb of God, Jesus Christ washed away the sin in Ron’s life and welcomed him as a child of God.  This is what we come here today to celebrate.  We come to celebrate what God did for Ron and offers for each of us today.

We are offered the gift of eternal life through our baptism into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.  We are offered the free gift of grace that does not change our sin, but washes it away.  God offers each of us the opportunity to trust in Him and the promise of salvation given to us through the gift of grace offered by Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.  This is the free gift which God offered to Ron and today in our remembering Ron’s life understand that God has made him a changed man, a new creation and especially a child of God.

This message of eternal life and salvation that Jesus Christ promised to Ron is a clear reminder for each and everyone of us as we gather here this morning and remember, not only the changed soldier who cared for those under his command, but more importantly the message of salvation found in Jesus Christ that changed Ron on the day of his baptism.  This is the offer God makes to and for all of mankind, but especially for all of the saints of Ron’s family that gather here to say goodbye.  AMEN.

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding guard our hearts and minds and comfort us today, because of what Jesus Christ did for Ron and each one of us!  AMEN!