​Awake in the End
Second in a Series of Sermons
November 24 and 25, 2018
It is like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.  Therefore stay awake – for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning – lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.  And what I say to you, I say to all: Stay awake.”
 
Dear Friends in Christ,
In last week’s sermon, Pastor Muther’s theme was “Enduring to the End.”  We focused on two promises of Christ that would help us to remain strong and fruitful in our faith: 1) the Holy Spirit will be working inside of us and through us whether we know it or not, and 2) our salvation is for sure.  Today’s sermon is based on that same 13th chapter of Mark, and our theme is “Awake in the End.” On this last Sunday of the Church Year, we think first of all about how important it is to be strong and growing in our faith, secondly about how the signs of the end times are easy to recognize, and third, about how to go about being built up in our faith.
“Don’t worry, it will be fine.” (Story about Debi and I noticing an unusual noise in our engine as we took off from Lewiston on a five hour trip to Milwaukee for her Aunt Ruth’s funeral.  Debi, whose father could fix anything, including car engines, suggested that we should get it checked out.   I suggested that she shouldn’t worry, it will be just fine.  We took off and for about 30 miles we were just fine.  No doubt I was rejoicing that I had been right again.  Near West Salem, Wisconsin, our car sputtered and choked, and as I pulled off to the side of the road, it died.  We ended up getting towed backwards for 40 miles, we missed Aunt Ruth’s funeral, a $150 repair of some silly little water pump turned into a purchase of a different car.  Debi may have forgiven me, but she hasn’t forgotten.
Don’t worry, it will be fine. In 1 2014 CBS poll, 82% of Americans  were of the opinion they were going to heaven, 2% said they were headed for hell, 9% said they were going to neither place, and 7% didn’t know one way or the other.  Contrast that with the teaching of Jesus, “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  In other words, there all kinds of folks near and far who are saying to themselves and to pollsters, with regard to their eternal destiny, “Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine.”
Three lessons we want to draw from our Gospel lesson today about what it will mean to be awake to the promises of Jesus Christ on the last day. And then three sets of questions for reflection, arising out of those three lessons.
Lesson #1 is that Staying awake is the difference between the angels gathering you in or (dying a second death). In Rev. 2:10,11, Jesus promises that if we are faithful unto death, he will give us the crown of life. He says that anyone who has an ear for the Gospel should hear what the Spirit is saying to the early churches.  And then Jesus promises, “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”  Jesus makes it clear that while everyone must die one time, as in the wages of sins is death, those who stay awake to the promises of the Gospel need not be afraid of the second death, which is eternal separation from God.
On this last Sunday in the church year, we give our attention to that last day when the archangel will be shouting, the trumpets will be blowing, and the Son of Man will be returning, not in humility, but in glory, in majesty, and with the authority to judge.  On that day, the fourth day of creation will be reversed. All that holds the heavenly bodies in the orbits and enables sun, moon, and stars to light the earth, shall give way.  The sun will no longer be ruling the day, the moon will no more be lighting the way at night, and the stars will come tumbling from their places.
The few who have been baptized into the Name of the Triune God and are holding onto those Baptismal promises will be resurrected, they will be gathered from the four corners of the earth, they will be assembled on the right hand of Jesus, they will be commended for feeding the hungry and giving a cup of cold water to the thirsty, they will be invited into the kingdom prepared for them before the foundation of the earth.  Unbelievers who have been saying “I’ll be just fine, don’t worry” will be scolded for not giving evidence of their faith, they will be punished eternally for their lack of faith.”
The first set of questions for reflection is the same question Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?  Or to say it collectively, “What responsibility do we have in this congregation and in our circles of influence towards those who may be drifting away from the Christian faith, or worse?
Lesson #2 is that Staying awake isn’t (rocket science).  To the early disciples, Jesus spoke the obvious, “When the fig tree branches become tender and the sap is swelling and the leaves are beginning to grow, it isn’t that hard to figure out that summer is near.”  If he were talking to us Minnesotans today, He might be saying, “When you see the snow and ice melting, the robins are starting to chirp, and the daffodils and tulips are busting through the ground, well then it isn’t that hard to predict that spring time is near!” So also when you hear of earthquakes, famines, hurricanes, and forest fires, when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, when you hear of false preachers doing what they do and many being led astray and increasing persecution of Christians, well  then it’s not hard to figure out that Jesus is coming back again, and He’s coming soon.
For those of us who are awake to the promises of the Gospel, the fact that Jesus is coming soon is a matter of anticipation, it’s a matter of increasing joy, it has a way of calming us down and we find our worries fading away into a confidence that God will be working everything out in our lives for our eternal good.
Speaking of this ongoing battle between sinful worrying and trusting the promises of God, many of you know that about a year ago, our daughter Michelle and Brandon saw a troubled pregnancy end with little Gabriel being born, living and breathing for about an hour, and then as his earthly mom held him in his arms, he passed away into the presence of Jesus.  Fast forward 12 months, and this past Thursday we are thinking about the next morning when Michelle is scheduled to deliver one more little child, this time with a less major complication.   When I mentioned to Debi that I was very worried and was feeling a bit sick to my stomach, she replied that she wasn’t worried and she wondered if I knew why not?  I said, “I suppose you’re going to tell me that you’re trusting in God and that he’s got this.”  Which is exactly what she was thinking and is precisely what it means to be staying awake to the promises of God.   To use Isaiah’s language, the promises of God are that the salvation our God has provided at the cross is forever and the righteousness Christ has imputed to us will never be dismayed.  Or to use Jude’s language, while we do battle with the enemies of our faith knowing that Christ is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless and unblemished to himself on the last day. Or to use our Savior’s own language, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
Second question for reflection – it comes from a Face book post I saw this week, “If you can trust a puzzle company to make sure every piece is in the box to complete the puzzle, then why can’t you trust God that every piece of your life is there for a reason?
Lesson #1 today is that staying awake to the promises of the Gospel is the difference between spending eternity in heaven or hell, and lesson #2 was that staying awake spiritually is a simple matter of paying attention to the signs of the end times.
Lesson #3 is that Staying awake is a matter of getting your proper (rest). Daily we are tempted towards indifferent and lazy discipleship, but daily and richly God forgives us our sins and chooses to be patient with us.  Daily we are tempted to rush right into our hectic schedules and have little time to pray and even less for being in God’s Word. Jesus would remind us this morning that he is that master who has left home and left us in charge.  He would remind us that we each have important work to do, which is really a call for us to be vigilant and energetic in our discipleship.
Isaiah cries out for us to give attention to God’s Word, to give our ears to His prophecy, and to keep on lifting our eyes to the heavens.  Jude writes about building ourselves up in the most holy faith and to be praying in the Holy Spirit as we wait for Jesus to come back again. Scriptures are full of references to finding rest in knowing that God never slumbers nor sleeps, to us hiding in the shadow of God’s wings, and to being still day after day and knowing that God is God.
A couple of weeks ago, we sang one of my favorite hymns, which used to be “Guide me O thou great Jehovah” but in LSB it’s “Guide me o thou Great Redeemer.”  The first verse ends with , “Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more; Feed me till I want no more.”
“That’s enough” Which reminds me of my dear mother, who passed away over 5 years ago now.  Many of you have heard me talk about her being as prayerful as a person can be.  Without exception, she and in later years my dad would spend an hour or more every day reading the Bible, listening to the Bible on tape, putting themselves in a position to be fed and nourished and comforted by God’s Word.
In her last days, she was surrounded by loved ones, including my dear sisters who would read Scripture, sing songs, and pray with her.  There was a hospice chaplain who would visit often and read Scripture, sing songs, and pray with her.  And one particular day I was there along with her home church pastor, and for hours, we were, you guessed it, reading Scripture, singing hymns, and praying with her.  At a certain point, I noticed how tired she seemed to be, and I interrupted Pastor Daenzer and asked, “Mom, would you like us to keep on reading Scripture and praying with you, or is that enough for now.”  With heavy eyelids and a little smile, she whispered, “That’s enough for now.” In fact we had fed her till she wanted no more.  She just wanted to sleep.
Lesson #3 is that staying awake to the promises of God means resting often in the attributes of our God, attributes like omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence, it means listening regularly to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, it means eating and drinking often at the Feast of Victory for our Lord.
Question #3 – How different would my days look if I often prayed with the hymn writer, Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.
The kingdom of God is like a large church in a small town where all kinds of folks approach the Advent and Christmas seasons a bit differently this year.  They spend less time on things that matter very little and more time wondering what it means to be their brother’s keeper.  Less time worry about that which they cannot control and more time reminding each other about the victory they are already realizing.  Less time just sort of aimlessly wandering through life and more time wondering what it means to live life as one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread.
 
 

​Given and Forgiven
Luke 17:11-19 // Deuteronomy 8:1-10 // Philippians 4:6-20
 
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our sermon text for today is Luke 17:11-19, and our theme is Given and Forgiven.
 
Dear friends in Christ,
 
There is a man not too far away from here having a really bad day, the kind of day where everything is going just about as wrong as it ever could. His wife left him without a word. The job that he loves has still left him lonely. He’s getting sick and has no one to take care of him. The laundry still needs to be done. The groceries need to be gotten, the house needs to be cleaned. The Word of God doesn’t seem to be speaking to him today, and even if it did, he knows it would be hard for him to hear. So, how do you suppose that he could say “Thanks be to God?”
 
Not too far away from him is a woman whose first inclination is to let the few bad things in her life color all of the good. She is well-paid for her work; she has a husband that loves her; she has friends and coworkers that care for her, but it always seems like she finds something wrong with the way the world is. She knows she’s blessed, but why can’t the thing that she wants just be the way that she wants it? She finds herself often upset about things that she knows do not matter much. So, how do you suppose she could say, “Thanks be to God?”
 
Not too far away from her is a family that gets knocked down again and again. It seems that every time they get back up again, something lands another blow. Problems always seem to be coming and coming, and yet, you would never know that if you went to their home. Though everything that they are going through would be overwhelming, there is a peace about their home. You might know a family or two like this. Though every problem threatens to bowl them over, there is a stillness in the way they are. How do you suppose they are able to say, “Thanks be to God?”
 
Today’s text before us is Luke 17, a traditional text for Thanksgiving Day. Jesus heals 10 lepers, and one comes back to return thanks. Now, before we get to the text, let me say the same thing that I said on Sunday morning: remember as we read that we get the benefit of a narrator. We get the benefit of knowing where this story is going and how it’s going to end, but to really understand what these lepers were going through, we have to imagine what it would be like to be them. 
 
They were living out their fate. They were kicked out of the city for their own good and the good of those who loved them. You see if they stayed in the city, there was the chance that they could infect all kinds of others and that a whole city could be wiped out.
 
And so, they are sent out. 
 
Sent away from loved ones, from those that they care for and who care for them. Sent away, one can imagine with no hope of return. Have you ever been in a place like that?
 
I think of myself, in Seminary school, coming to grips with the fact that I may never find the Laura Anna Elizabeth Smith of my heart, and coming to grips with the thought that I might be single for the rest of my days. I think of Marcia Schultz, grappling for a few days with the idea that she may never walk or talk again, even though now we know that she is walking and talking and making unbelievable strides. I think of cancer patient that knows he will always be prone to recurrence. I think of the diabetic that knows she can never go back to the way life was. I think of the widow and the widower, staring into the grave of their loved one knowing life will never be the same.
 
These lepers have been confronted with this disease for life. That’s a bad day.
 
Now resist the urge just to think at this point “Well, my bad days aren’t that bad so I can slog it through.” No, that’s not the message of the text.
 
The lepers cry out to Jesus. Jesus hears their request. He gives them what they are asking. They all value what they are given. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have set out for the temple. 
 
And then you get to the point of the text. The Samaritan, the one who had no business knowing better.... he’s the one who did know better, and returned to Jesus. He fell at Jesus’s feet and worshipped – that’s the word “to prostrate, to put your face on the ground” – he worshipped Jesus as God.
 
He thanked Jesus for temporal gifts, for the gift he was given, but then he did something more: he thanked Jesus for doing what only God can do, for being the giver of eternal gifts, for the gift of being forgiven.
 
You see, because those lepers would have to deal with their own mortality once again someday. They would grow sick and old and die, even though Jesus healed them of their disease. The temporal blessings, as good as they can be, are temporal. But eternal blessings are eternal. They are the blessings of forgiveness and salvation, of peace and grace come through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
 
So, we return to our original question. How are you supposed to say, “Thanks be to God?” I don’t have a succinct little answer for you, but I do have a story. I have a pastor friend, a guy that I played basketball with and went to Seminary School with. He was born with a hole in his heart, had emergency surgery in the first days of his life. He would get winded pretty easily and take breaks. He had thyroid cancer right when he graduated and started his ministry. He posted this on FB the other day: 
 
Garen Pay: “For four years I got the joy of celebrating being cancer free. Unfortunately I can’t do that this year. It seems that it’s back. While not definitive, I’d appreciate any prayers and support while we do more tests and work to beat “just” thyroid cancer.”
 
And in response to the prayers and comments he received: “Thanks, everyone, for all your support and prayers - it means a lot. It's never fun to hear bad news, but that doesn't mean there isn't good news - Jesus still lives, so we will be just fine. Thanks again.”
 
Now resist the urge just to think at this point “Well, that guy’s having a really bad day. My days aren’t that bad so I can slog it through.” No, that’s not the message of the text.
 
The message is that the good news is as good as it’s ever been. Jesus who died for you is Jesus who is raised for you. The Samaritan leper knew it; my friend knows it; you know it. And the point of our coming together is to say it and know it and rehearse it again and again and again, so that it deepens and widens with every time, with every joy, with every tear, with every ache, with every circumstance. Jesus still lives, so we will be just fine. Thanks be to God.
 
Amen and amen.

Heaven on Earth: Benediction
Numbers 6:22-27 / Acts 8:1-8 / Mark 16:14-20
November 10 and 11, 2018
Sixth in a Series of Sermons
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.  So shall they put my Name upon the people of Israel and I will bless them.
Dear Christian Friends,
Going back 8 weeks into warm September, we have offered two stages of our Annual theme, HEROES, HEaven Reaching Out through Every Saint.  In stage 1 we walked through parts of the book of Daniel to see how Heaven has been reaching out through Daniel and his friends, in their exile, in a time and a place when their faith looks very different from the culture around them.
 And today, we are finishing Stage 2, a six- part sermon series where we have been asking, “How does heaven reach out to us? How does heaven break in tour lives? And the answer has been that it breaks into our lives in the Divine Service, in this pattern and order of liturgy that we do week after week, year after year. The words we say and the actions we take here are important; they are to be a pattern that orders our actions on every other day. I direct your attention to the sanctuary screen as we focus on the final words of our Divine Service, the Benediction.

​Heaven on Earth: Service of the Sacrament
Fifth sermon in a series of six
Revelation 7:9-17 // 1 John 3:1-3 
 
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You’ll notice that I’m not in the pulpit today, and that’s because today we meditate on the Service of the Sacrament, the second high point in the Divine Service. Our sermon pursues the first two texts read, especially these words from 1 John 3, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
 
Dear friends in Christ,
 
We are five sermons into a series on the liturgy, asking why we do what we do, what it means to worship the way that we do, how the liturgy is supposed to form not just this hour but every hour, every day, every year of our lives. And to that end, we study the Service of the Sacrament. I would invite you to turn your eyes to the screen.