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Acts 5:1-11 / Exodus 13:11-18 / Luke 8:1-3
Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them[a] out of their means. Dear Friends in Christ, The kingdom of God is like a large church in a small town with an ambitious mission. Their Achilles heal is their finances, and although it’s hard to pin down, there is something unsettling about their stewardship of treasure. The kingdom of God is like a young couple with children who are blessed with good jobs, life is going reasonably well, and they love their church. They appreciate their pastors, they attend Divine Service two or three times a month, and they give on an occasional basis. They would like to give more, but they do not have financial peace in their own household. For several years now, they have been spending more than they are making, and their credit card, vehicle, and mortgage debts are overwhelming them on a regular basis. When they realize that the pastor is about to preach the annual money sermon, their hands begin sweat and their feelings of failure begin to rise, and they cry out in their hearts for the peace of God to rule with regard to their personal finances and their desire to give in a generous and sacrificial way to a mission and ministry they believe in. (Sermon notes in bulletin and on screen) Today is the third in a series of three sermons on how to manage in a faithful way our Christian vocations. 1) Time, 2) Talents, and 3) Treasure. Peace with regard to our treasure begins every day with a look in the (mirror). In our second lesson for today, we are studying the frightening story of Ananias and Sapphira, who from all outward appearances believed in the mission and ministry of the early church. They gave in a generous and sacrificial manner, but with deceitful hearts. They had every right to retain their property, but they sinned by pretending to offer it all. In so doing, they offended Almighty God, Who had in fact offered up His one and only and beloved Son to be their Savior. Their hypocrisy is the first sin recorded in the New Testament Church’s history. God made an example of them by striking them down dead on the spot, and we do well to learn from their example. If they had looked in the mirror that morning, they would have found at least two serious stains on their soul. Hypocrisy and flawed motives. The first lesson we want to learn today is that peace with regard to stewardship of treasure begins with a look in the mirror. Looking for (hypocrisy). Am I loving my God with my whole heart and soul and mind? Am I loving my neighbor as much as I love myself? Am I pretending to be somebody I am not? Have I swerved into selfishness or carelessness with regard to my treasure? Looking for flawed (motives) The highest and purest motive for giving is in response to the simple fact that Jesus Christ loved you enough to live for you and die for you and rise up again for you and ascend into heaven for you and rules all of heaven and earth for you. Your sins are forgiven and heaven is yours, and therefore you give. Any motive for giving other than that one is less than pure. Flawed. (Including giving out of a sense of duty, giving in order to please God, giving so that the church can pay bills, giving because life is going well. I’m not saying those motives are entirely wrong, but the flaw in each one of them is that there is an earthly condition attached to each one of them.) This morning, we would bring all of our hypocrisy and flawed motives to the cross where we find that Christ has paid for every bit of that with His own life. Where we find the peace that the world cannot give, only Jesus. Second, Peace with regard to our treasure increases as we move from a “have to” mentality towards a (“get-to”) attitude. In today’s Old Testament lesson, the Israelite families were required to consecrate their firstborn human and animals to God, as a way of remembering that God had spared their firstborn in the great Passover and Exodus event. Once a year they were to set aside 7 days of eating unleavened bread as a way of remembering how they were privileged to get out of Egypt and were not to take time to let their bread rise for the journey. Once a year, it was the duty of the head of the household to tell the story to the entire family, how the strong arm of the Lord had delivered them out of slavery. All of their firstborns were to be redeemed with the bloody sacrifice of a Lamb – pointing forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This yearly festival was God’s way of helping His firstborn son- the nation of Israel- not to forget all the benefits of being who they had been declared to be. They were required by law to give in a regular and sacrificial manner, as a way of remembering and never forgetting on their way to the Promised Land. Moving towards the Promised Land as we remember the (slavery) from which we have been delivered. In every one of our days, we do well to think of ourselves as strangers and pilgrims here, on our way to a place far better. Never do we want to forget that the body of Christ has been broken for us, that His blood has been shed on our behalf. And so we come often to that meal where our sins are in fact forgiven, where our faith is in fact strengthened, and where our hearts are in fact changed. Where our mentality of “have to” is changed to a “get-to attitude.” Where we think of our giving to the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ not only as a duty, but privilege. Not so much what I should do as my fair share, but what I get to do, in proportion to how I have been blessed. (New Testament giving is new and it’s different.) Moving towards (hilarious) giving as we count the privileges we are enjoying. In II Corinthians 9, Paul writes that “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, nt reluctantly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. The Greek word translated “cheerful” is actually the word “hilarion” from which we get the word hilarious. It brings a smile to my face whenever I remember a very active and generous leader from the first congregation I served, who said on several occasions when the church needed to have a special offering that “we’re gonna have to cough up some more money.” What would it look like / feel like if our giving in this place was hilarious? (The last time I laughed in hilarious fashion was this week, when a friend posted on FB a video of about 20 examples of people waking up friends and family in rude fashion / tieing firecrackers to feet, putting snake in face, putting on a mask and starting up a chain saw). How could the Holy Spirit move us towards that kind of hilarity? From a “have to” to a “get-to” attitude? As we count our blessings, list our privileges and prosperity on paper and in our minds and fix our eyes on our #1 joy – our debt has been paid / we are free to spend our days serving and giving just for the fun of it all. Third, Peace with regard to our treasure is all about (Jesus). In our Gospel lesson for today, we find it recorded that as Jesus and the 12 men disciples went through the cities and the small towns proclaiming and bringing the Good News of the Kingdom, some women traveled with them and provided for them out of their means. Many women, not just a few, actually. Mary Magdalene is listed first as one from whom Jesus had sent away seven demons. The same Mary who witnessed the agony of her Master’s crucifixion. The same Mary who lingered at His tomb with so many tears mixed in with hope. The same Mary who called Him Teacher and held onto His resurrected body with all of her heart, until Jesus sent her away to tell the men disciples that Christ was risen. We can imagine that Mary Magdalene and the other women supported Jesus not just with an occasional gift, but with regular and generous and sacrificial and cheerful, and dare I say, hilarious fashion? True and lasting peace, whether it has to do with the stewardship of time or talents or treasure, is all about Jesus. It’s all about spending time with Him and His Body the Church. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes by eating and drinking at the Holy Supper. Faith comes by being still and knowing that God is God. Faith comes by looking at our souls in the mirror in daily fashion, throwing ourselves on His mercy, by receiving all that He wants us to have, and by praying again and again these two prayers: 1) Draw us (closer), dear Jesus! 2)O Holy Spirit, help us to (mature!) The author Nelson Searcy has written a book encouraging pastors to help their people to be moving up the scale from occasional to systematic to proportional to extravagant, and to do so always in response to the mercies of God. The mercies of God, you see, are not just once in awhile, but new every day. The grace of God is daily and it’s freely offered and it’s generous, and more than that, it’s extravagant. This author urges pastors to speak to their people in a regular and passionate way on the subject of giving. When I don’t do that, dear friends, I do you a dis-service. That giving is an important measure of Christian faith and should not be shoved off to the side. Certainly not the only marker of Christian faith, but an important one. As we end one church year and begin a new one by the grace of God, your pastors urge you to mark this day, this very day, as a day of moving one step forward in the stewardship of our treasure. The kingdom of God is like an occasional giver who prayed, Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that my response to your faithfulness has been hesitant and inconsistent. Draw me closer, hold me tighter, and move me one step forward toward giving that is regular and thoughtful and in response to all that You are and all that You have done and all that You are doing. The Kingdom of God is like a systematic giver who prayed, Lord Jesus, I admit that I have often given was left over instead of first and best. Draw me closer, hold me tighter, and move me one step forward toward giving that is in direct proportion to the abundance with which you have blessed me. The kingdom of God is like a proportionate giver who prayed, Lord Jesus, I could do far better than I am doing. Draw me closer, hold me tighter, and move me one step forward toward extravagance. That I could be like that sinful woman who couldn’t stop crying in the presence of Jesus, who couldn’t stop herself from wiping your feet with her hair and who couldn’t stop kissing those same feet and pouring out expensive perfume as a measure of her gratitude. Lord Jesus, draw us closer and hold us tighter. The kingdom of God is like a large church in a small town with a big mission where more and more of God’s people are beginning their days by looking in the mirror and searching their hearts. Their language of doing their duties and “we have to do this” is giving way to a language of privilege and opportunity and “we get to serve and it’s an honor to give.” And at the end of the day, they find themselves more and more resting in the promises of God and laying their heads down on their pillows in peace.
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10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Dear Friends in Christ, On Friday, we laid to rest Ron Wiste, a lifelong member of this congregation, a well known business owner on Main Street, and a cheerful sort of a guy who was pretty famous in our little town for looking people in the eyes, calling them by name, complimenting them, and consistently brightening their days. On the golf course he was a bit famous for accomplishing not one but two holes in one. At least twice, he had the perfect swing. He got it right! The death and burial of every one of our loved ones is a great opportunity to ask ourselves is we are getting it right. Are we faithfully managing time, talents, and treasure in a way that is glorifying God and building others up in their Christian faith? Today is the first of three sermons in our stewardship emphasis as fix our eyes on the One Who got it right in every one of His days dwelling among us in the flesh. He got it right on Good Friday and He got it right on Easter Sunday and He makes everything beautiful in His own time and in His own way here and now in our midst. To use the language of our Vision Statement, He is transforming our lives with His Gospel with the desire that the culture around us will be transformed as we faithfully manage God-given vocations. The Christian question of vocation is “How can I be a Christian in this part of my life?” Today we give our attention to all three readings selected for today and ask the question, “How can I be a Christian in the way I manage my time?” Three particular temptations I invite you to think about with me today – the temptation to be too busy to pray, the temptation to be timid in terms of sharing the faith, and the temptation to live in such a way that we get the glory instead of God. First, we learn from Daniel that God’s peace will be ruling in our hearts and minds to the extent that our prayer life is continual and settled. (Temptation #1 – the temptation to be so preoccupied with less important business that we are too busy to pray / listen) Luther writes about Daniel that he was a splendid and great man in the sight of both God and the world. First in the sight of God, he above all other prophets had this special prophecy to give. He not only pointed towards the Messiah, but was able to predict with certainty the times and years of the kingdoms that would rise and fall under God’s direction. In our first reading for today, we find a real secret of Daniel’s greatness. His real concern for doing the will of God drove him to his knees three times a day in prayer. The context of these daily prayers was that King Darius had appointed 120 officials throughout the kingdom, and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one. Daniel distinguished himself with good behavior, and was about to be placed over the whole kingdom – at which time the other presidents and officials set a trap for Daniel. They persuaded King Darius to sign a document that insisted that any man who prayed to any god other than King Darius in the next 30 days would be cast to his death in a den of lions. Daniel’s response was to keep on doing the will of God. He got it right day after day. He went to his house and with the windows open towards Jerusalem he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Over time, God’s Spirit had worked the kind of faith in Daniel’s heart that moved him to be more concerned about the interests of God than the opinions of man. Many of us have been blessed by parents and grandparents, especially our moms and grandmas, who taught us to pray in regular fashion. Today would be my dad’s 94th birthday, and my best memories in life include seeing my parents getting it right / reading their Bibles and their Portals of Prayers and saying their prayers day after day in their old age. Mom would do the reading and the praying and Dad would listen in. Even a stronger memory of mine is as a pre-school boy watching my mom get it right / even better than a hole in one / have an hour of quiet time every morning, reading God’s Word, praying out of her big green coming apart prayer book, pouring out her soul in praise and petition to her God. In later years, I became aware that Mom had prayed for each of her children and for dad by name in every one of our days. Her prayer times were as certain as her meal times and her brushing her teeth times and any number of other daily routines. Lesson #1 today is to repent as individuals and as a congregation the many ways in which we have been too busy to pray. How foolish and how lazy and how misdirected we are in so many ways and at such great cost. To have the peace of God ruling in our stewardship of time is to have a continual and settled prayer life focused on the Kingdom of God. Secondly, we turn to Acts 23 where we marvel at the wisdom of the apostles knowing enough to pray for a spirit of boldness. (Temptation #2- timidity in terms of speaking and doing what God is asking us to do in our various vocations as husband and wife, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, teachers and students, employers and employees, etc.) The context of Acts 23 is that Peter and John had been preaching the resurrected Christ, about 5000 men had recently heard that Word and believed it, they were summoned before the Sannhedrin to explain themselves, they continued to speak with confidence that there was salvation in no other name than that of Jesus, they were imprisoned and then released, (On their way out of prison, they kept on getting it right. They knew enough to keep on praying. their prayer on their way out of prison was for God to help them stay bold, that He would keep on stretching out his hand to heal, and that signs and wonders would be performed in His Name. God answered them immediately. The place in which they were gathered together was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They kept on speaking the Word of God with confidence. (Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us. Forgive our timidity. Do whatever you need to do and permit whatever you need to permit in this Church and School to shake us up and to give us your peace. Amen.) A third lesson comes from Jesus Himself today in Matthew 6 and is in fact a bit of a paradox when compared to Lesson #2. Lesson #2 was to pray for boldness, and lesson #3 is to be careful not to speak and live in such a way that we get the glory instead of God. Jesus warns us not to practice our righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, not to fall into the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, not to be good stewards for the wrong reasons. A Lutheran commentator named F.W. Wenzel comments, “We should let our light shine and show our good works when we are tempted to hide them and we should hide them when we are tempted to show them.” The kingdom of God is like who has learned the wisdom of looking in the mirror every day not just to comb his hair but to spend some time each day in searching his heart. Not just to shave his beard but to admit his messed up life. Not just to make sure he can look good on the outside but to come clean with his impure motives and to cry out for help to form good habits. Over the years, the Spirit of God has taught him how easy it is to be full of himself and how much better his life is when he takes time to get it right / to get on his knees and cry out for forgiveness and for wisdom and for boldness, in that order. Forgiveness, wisdom, and boldness. In recent months, he is learning more and more that he really doesn’t know what to say and so He bows His head in prayer instead. Lord Jesus Christ, do what you need to do and permit what you need to permit in this place, that you could get and keep our attention in a stronger way, that you could help us get it right in this place, that we could manage our time in a way that gives glory to you and encourages others, that our witness would be bold and yet gentle, and that you would make all things beautiful in your time. Amen. Proverbs 15:13-17 A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. 16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it. 17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. Dear Friends in Christ, About 15 years ago, on a hot summer day, I looked out my office window and saw that Ron had pulled up with a pickup truck and a hedge trimmer, and he was trimming my bushes. I went over there and inquired and in his kind manner he indicated to me that my bushes looked awful and he was going to take care of it. When I said that I would change clothes and help, he said in no uncertain terms that I would not be helping him. That I had more important things to do. That scene was repeated 8-10 years in a row, once or twice a year, Ron Wiste showing up with a glad heart and a cheerful smile, helping out, insisting that I go back to my office and do what he considered the important work, pastor stuff. There’s no doubt in my mind, that dozens and perhaps hundreds of folks around town and throughout the area would have similar and even more impressive stories of Ron showing up in all hours of the day with a smile and a kind word and a helping hand- just because he could. Some how and in some way, Ron found a way to stay cheerful in a consistent manner, even when he spent days butchering cattle and hogs and deer cutting meat and dealing with endless customers, even as he was afflicted with years and years of a rare blood disease, even when he was bent low with grief as he laid his son into the grave. Proverbs 15 teaches us that a glad heart makes the face cheerful, but that a broken heart drains us of energy and confidence. Solomon isn’t talking about outward circumstances in this chapter. He’s saying that what really affects us is what’s inside of us, what is in our hearts. The Book of Proverbs deals throughout with behavior, but time and time again it takes us back to the source of what we do and what we say – the heart. God’s Word always aims at the heart, and this is what I would like to aim at in this message – the heart and how to stay heart healthy. Specifically, I ask you to think with me about how Ron Wiste found it possible to stay cheerful and whether it would be possible during this All Saints Week to imitate the good qualities of Ron Wiste moving forward. Staying Cheerful is the theme of our message today. Two truths I invite you to learn again about the secret of staying cheerful, or to say it in other ways – staying joyful and pleasant in all the chapters of life. The first lesson we want to learn again today is to keep on looking backwards, and the second is to keep on looking forwards. Looking backwards, and looking forwards as a strategy for being joyful always. When I suggest that looking back is a way of staying cheerful, I am simply referring to remembering all that God has given you in both body and soul. In Ron Wiste’s case, he could look back and see that God had blessed him with Christian parents, a strong family life, and all kinds of opportunity. He could look back and remember that he had been baptized into the name of the Triune God, that Jesus Christ loved him enough to live and die and rise again on his behalf, and that the presence of the Lord was wherever he went. One of my favorite memories of Ron is when he and Peg would come forward to the Lord’s Supper and he would look me in the eyes and then take the little cup of wine and hold it in the air toward the altar as if to offer a toast and then give me a bit of a wink and then down the hatch it would go. Drinking in the very forgiveness of sins as if he really was in the midst of a celebration of something far bigger than he. A few years ago, Ron asked me if I would visit with him and him alone. He had a question for me, and for me alone. After the usual conversation where he showed absolute interest in and concern for Debi and me and our children and grandchildren, he got this serious look on his face, and with tears in his eyes he asked me if I thought he was good enough to get into heaven. With tears in my eyes, I answered no. I think I surprised him a bit. Of course I explained that none of us was good enough to merit a place in paradise, that all of us have sinned and fallen way short of the glory of God, and that my best advice for him was to throw himself on the mercy of God and cry out for forgiveness. I couldn’t really think of any particular sins on his part, other than him being really annoyed with a few Packer fans on occasion. His brother Roger did share with me yesterday a time when he was sitting in a reclining chair as a ten year old and Ron snuck up behind him and hit him with a hammer. Lesson #1 today on the subject of staying cheerful and contented in life is get down on our knees and cry out to God for Him to have mercy on our souls. It is to rejoice every day in the forgiveness of sins. To fight off sadness and deep disappointments in life by naming and writing down and counting blessings in both body and soul. To resist the temptations of the sinful flesh to complain about what we don’t have in life by fixing our hearts and minds on the daily bread we do have and so much more. Paul learned the secret of contentment and wrote about it even as he sat in prison on death row for confessing his Christian faith, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” Lesson #1 for being contented and holding onto true and lasting Christian joy is to keep on looking back at the perfect life Jesus lived on our behalf, to keep on looking back at the cross where our Lord was slapped around and spit at and beaten up and crucified until He was dead and buried and to keep on looking back to the empty tomb and Jesus standing nearby in glorious resurrection and keep on looking back at every single promise of God including the one that says I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Which brings us to Lesson #2 on how to stay cheerful – to keep on looking forward to resting from our labors in the presence of Jesus Christ with all the saints who have gone on before us. To keep on looking forward to that day of resurrection when Jesus will commend us for giving some food to the hungry and he will commend us for giving a drink of juice to a thirsty child and for visiting the sick and those in prison. To keep on looking forward to that Last Day, that day when the trumpet will sound and the archangel will shout and our bodies will be resurrected and all baptized believers will be clothed in white robes and given a palm branch to wave around in victory and we will see Jesus face to face and every tear will be wiped away from our eyes and there will be no more trouble and no more leukemia and no more ventilators. We can only imagine. Peg and you sons and daughters and inlaws and grandchildren and all you who must be separated for a time, as a way of moving on and being contented and staying cheerful – do look forward to that when Ron will be commended for all of those times when he looked in the eyes a lady who wasn’t feeling very beautiful and said, “Hey there beautiful, what can I get for you today……and for all those times when he cried with those of you who were crying and laughed with those of you who were laughing. For all those times he kept his sense of humor with you Packer fans doing your Lambeau leaps and rubbing in the latest victory, for all those times he gave you full and undivided attention – these are the words he and all who have held onto their Baptism faith through thick and thin, for better and worse – well done good and faithful servant. Come, blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” An entertainer named Joe Brown once said, “I have no understanding of the long-faced Christian. If God is anything, He must be joy.” Another said it this way, “If you have to cross the street to be happy, you’re not seeing things properly.” My prayer for each one of you here today is that you would see life properly in the days ahead. That you would live each one of your days by faith alone in Jesus Christ understanding that true Christian faith never comes alone. It always comes with good works that were ordained by God before we were ever born. That you would live one day at a time here and now by the grace of God, looking forward to living forever in the full glory of the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world. That you would cry your tears of sadness today and in every one of your days until you can’t cry any more, and then get up and get on with life knowing that you can do all things that God is asking you to do in life with the strength of Christ. That you would spend your days imitating the good qualities of Ron Wiste to the best of your ability and keep on running for refuge to that same meal where Ron and Peg kept running. The meal that was instituted on the night Jesus was betrayed and for the particular purpose of comforting and strengthening broken and messed up sinners who aren’t feeling a bit beautiful. As often as you cry out for mercy, that often the angels of heaven will be rejoicing over you. As often as you eat this bread and drink this wine, your sins are forgiven, that often the Spirit of living God will give you strength, that often you will be in communion with the angels and the archangels and Ron Wiste and every saint that has gone on before us. In that meal, you will be experiencing a foretaste of the heavenly banquet where there will be really good meat, really good wine, and the rest we can only imagine. In closing, I pray for you, Peg and for all of you who were loved and blessed by Ron in so many ways, to keep on looking forward to the church triumphant, even as you try to stay cheerful as you fight the good fight and run the straight race here in the church militant. Close your eyes, if you would and listen to the words of Mercy Me, in a song called I Can Only Imagine. I can only imagine what it will be like When I walk by Your side I can only imagine what my eyes will see When Your face is before me I can only imagine Surrounded by Your glory What will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus? Or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence Or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing, Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine when that day comes And I find myself standing in the sun I can only imagine when all I will do Is forever, forever worship You I can only imagine Surrounded by Your glory What will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus? Or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence Or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing, Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine When all I would do Is forever, forever worship You I can only imagine. May God bless and keep each one of you strong and growing in your Christian faith, do stay cheerful, and may Ronald Oliver Wiste rest in peace. Amen. |
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October 2022
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