Funeral Sermon for William Douthwaite

Here is the sermon I preached at my Dad's funeral. If you want to watch and listen to the service, here is the link to the video my brother made on his cell phone.

Jesu Juva

“The Promise of Nothing”

Text: Isaiah 55:6-13; Romans 8:26-39; Philippians 1:18b-26; Matthew 28:1-10

I wrote this sermon when Dad was put on hospice for the first time; when we were told he only had ten days to live. That was three and a half years ago! God gave us the gift of these extra years, which were so precious. So, with a little editing . . .

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you go with us to Mount Hope cemetery today, you will see those words etched into my father’s headstone. Those were his words. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

And I think the older he grew, the more precious they grew, because it seemed like he was being separated from everything and everyone else. All of his immediate family has been gone for some time now. When you’re the youngest child, I guess that’s to be expected to some extent. But that has been the case for quite some time now - not just that they were all taken from him, but that they were so soon. Too soon.

Of course, the separation that hit him hardest was when his Nancy was separated from him. Being ten years older, he said, he always thought he would go first. A not unreasonable expectation, we would say. But that our Lord called her home frist, and almost 15 years ago, is another indication of what Isaiah said: that God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts not our thoughts. 

Then for the past almost six years, he was separated from his home - from the home he had lived in for almost 50 years, the church, here, that he was a member of for over 50 years, and from some of you that he had been friends with for 50 years. That grieved him too. He loved it here. He loved all of you. He didn’t want to be separated from you, but knew . . . but knew that it was needed. A bum hip, a tired body, and a failing memory were making it too hard to stay.

So Dad, I think, was a lot like the apostle John in this regard. John was the last one too. At the end of his life, he was separated from his home, in exile on the island of Patmos. In the book of Revelation, John sees visions of the martyrs who went before him - and I always think he saw his friends in that group in heaven wearing white robes. Peter, his brother James, Andrew, and the rest - they all went before him, too. 

But then Dad was like the apostle Paul, too. For Paul’s words from Philippians that we heard were his words: My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary . . . Dad didn’t know why staying was necessary; he wanted, like Paul, to go home. He said it many times. All the separation was hard for him. Hearing another friend had gone before him - especially his good friend Jack Buss - was hard for him. He wanted to go to that place Jesus had gone to prepare for him.

So how very, very precious these words of Christ for him, and for us today. As he, and we, live in the midst of a world of separation: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. Nothing. Not even a failing memory.

And the answer why is very simple: we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. More than conquerors through Him who was separated from His Father for us; forsaken on the cross for us. More than conquerors through Him who loved us so much that He entered into our death with us, enduring the condemnation of our sin for us. More than conquerors through Him who then brok the seal of the grave for us and rose to life again. More than conquerors through Him who then baptized us into His death and resurrection, that we might rise too. With Him. And never be separated from Him. Baptism is that inseparable bond where Jesus binds Himself to us, so that nothing can separate us from Him. Nothing. Yes, His Word and promise combined with that little bit of ordinary water is . . . that . . . great.

And Dad knew it. Jesus had planted that faith in his heart and made it grow and flourish over the years, as Dad was fed by the Word he heard preached here by so many pastors over so many years from that third pew on the left - right in front of the pulpit. That was his pew. And as his faith was strengthened by the Word of Absolution he heard pronounced here so often, and as he was fed by the Body and Blood of the Lord at this altar. Jesus was holding onto him.

And that’s why a few years ago, Dad wanted to make sure of his baptism. One day he started thinking about the fact that while he thought he had been baptized, and was pretty sure he had been, he didn’t have a certificate, and all that had witnessed it were already gone. The church wasn’t even there any more. But he wanted to be sure. It was really important to him. To have the nothing of baptism - the nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus - that was so important to him. 

And so my sister started making phone calls and investigating and following up . . . and finally found a pastor who had the records from the old church that had once been there, and Dad made a copy of the page showing that he had been baptized on April 20, 1924. And just how important that was to him is shown by the fact that he kept that page in special folder all its own, which he kept in his fireproof lock box with all his other really important papers.

Ironically, while we were looking at some of his old papers on Tuesday, we found his baptism certificate - it was on the display you saw when you came in. He had it all along. He just forgot. Toward the end, he forgot a lot of things. But Jesus never forgot him. Jesus never forgets his children.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Which is why he could say so often, with Paul, and pray for the Lord to take him home, to that place prepared for him. It wasn’t because he was so strong, so faithful, or so good - but because he had Jesus’ promise. Nothing can separate me from you, Bill. Nothing. Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword . . . or dementia? Nah. I beat it all. I am your Good Shepherd. You shall not want . . . and you shall dwell with me in my house forever.

So now Dad has been separated from us - but just for a little while. The Father who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, has now answered Dad’s prayers and called our father home. As He graciously gave him all things here in this life, so now still graciously giving him all things - including rest and peace and no more pain, as we await the day of the resurrection of all flesh. Our grand reunion with Dad and Mom, Bill and Nancy - Uncle Bee - and All the Saints who from their labors rest (LSB #677).

So we will do as Paul said, and rejoice today. That’s not the same as being happy. We’re not happy to be here today! It’s better than that. It’s that because of Jesus, because of His death and resurrection for us, because of His promises, because of His forgiveness . . . we can rejoice even in the midst of sadness and separation. Because He conquered them. Because He is greater than them. Because We Know that Our Redeemer Lives (LSB #461).

And we’ll also do what Paul says in another place (1 Thess 5:18), and give thanks. Thanks for Jesus and all that He has done for Dad and for us. But also thanks to God for giving us this man for so many years, as father, grandfather, and great-grandfather; as uncle and friend; as His blessing to us.

So thank you, Father, for this our earthly father, and friend. For giving us a father who loved us, especially when that love showed itself as a leather belt across my disobedient and rebellious butt. For giving us a father who took us to church faithfully, who had us baptized, and showed us the importance of faith and being in the Word. Who showed us by devotions every night after dinner, lighting a candle and reading the Scriptures.

Thank you, Father, for giving us a father who showed us what love is as he took care of Mom in her last days. For giving us a father who prayed - the image of that I will always remember is of him sitting in his recliner in the morning, before work, before the sun came up, with his Bible on his lap, his eye closed, and his hands folded.

Thank you, Father, for giving us a father who was a sinner and showed us how important your forgiveness. For giving us a father who struggled, to help us learn from him and giving us a chance to care for him and love him and understand that when we are weak, you are strong (2 Cor 12:10). For giving us a father who wasn’t afraid to cry, and who taught us the importance of family.

But thank you most of all, Father, that You put him in Your family. That You adopted William as Your son. That You baptized him, redeemed him, forgave him, and at 2:17 am Monday morning, took him home to be with You. And thank You for the confidence that we now have in Your Word, not only that he is with You, but that we will be too, one day. That the “nothing” that was so precious to him is also for us. That it is true: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing.

For Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 11 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Disciplined for Holiness”

Text: Hebrews 12:4-29; Luke 13:22-30; Isaiah 66:18-23

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

At my father’s funeral, my brother, his son, and I all mentioned discipline in our sermons. My nephew talked about something my father had written, which referred to the strap that ended all foolishness in my father’s house when he was growing up. I mentioned the leather belt my father sometimes used on my butt, thankful that he loved me enough to discipline me. And my brother said that even though Dad disciplined us like that, he always made sure to tell us he loved us.

Now, the thought of a strap or a leather belt may horrify you. That kind of discipline isn’t done much today, if at all. As times change, discipline changes. In the same way, we cringe over how God disciplined Old Testament Israel, and perhaps think what we read in those pages as barbaric. But as times change, discipline changes. The methods change - from armies, to straps and belts, to time outs today. The methods change, but the discipline continues. Because love continues. And the Lord disciplines those he loves.

And the reason for dicipline is to instill a discipline. Discipline isn’t just to stop a bad behaviour, but to instill a good one. My father disciplined his children to instill in us the discipline of telling the truth and not lying; to instill in us the discipline of honesty and not stealing; to instill in us the discipline of respect and not dishonoring those around us. And those are good things. At the time, as we heard from Hebrews today, it seemed painful and not good. But looking back, I can see (hopefully) the fruit that it yielded, the good that such training did in my life.

The Lord’s discipline, too. We heard today that God disciplines us that we may share his holiness. That’s a good reason. God wants to share His holiness with us. He wants to give it to us. The problem is that we keep going after other things that look better to us than holiness. You know what they are for you. I know what they are for me. God knows that those things are not good for us, as my father knew my misbehaving was not good for me. And so His discipline. He treats us as His children. His children that He loves enough to discipline. 

But if the goal is that we share His holiness, how is that done? How does God make us holy? There isn’t a discipline of holiness - that is something from God, that He shares with us, gives to us. So the discipline that God seeks to instill in us with His discipline is the discipline of repentance. The discipline of putting our faith in Him and turning to Him for every needed thing. For if sin is turning away from God and getting for ourselves, then repentance is turning toward God and receiving from Him. Receiving from Him what we need, namely, forgiveness for our sin. The forgiveness that makes us holy again. That is the gift Christ freely gives, through the gifts He freely gives us here (LSB #602). The gift earned for us by Jesus and His cross, His death and resurrection for us.

Which makes the cross the narrow door Jesus was speaking of in the Gospel today. The narrow door through which one is saved. Doing good isn’t enough. Stopping sin isn’t enough. We have to receive a holiness we cannot achieve for ourselves. A holiness only the holy one can give. And wants to give. And so He disciplines us. To instill in us the discipline of repentance, of coming to Him to receive His holiness in the forgiveness of our sins.

You may wonder, though, why this door is narrow. If God loves us, why not make the door wide and easy to get through? 

Well, first of all, be thankful that there is a door at all. When Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, it wasn’t like a wall had been built between us and God, brick by brick, little by little, sin by sin. It was more like an iron curtain that had suddenly crashed down and divided us from our heavenly Father. But immediately, God made a door in that iron curtain. A cross-shaped door. His love wouldn’t let Him wait. He promised them a Saviour. And He disciplined them, too. They would have trials and troubles, that they repent and rely on Him; turn to Him for whatever they needed. And He would provide it. As He always had, so He would continue to do. Even the forgiveness they needed for their life-changing, world-ruining sin. So first of all, be thankful that there is a door for us at all.

But second, understand this too: narrow isn’t a bad thing. Rather, the door is narrow because God’s forgiveness, His salvation, His gifts, aren’t given en masse - they are given individually. To one sinner at a time. Baptism isn’t by fire hose, but one person at a time. The Body and Blood of Jesus are placed into your mouth, one at a time. Even absolution, pronounced here all together, is meant to be heard as your Saviour speaking to you. The individual, private, one-at-a-time absolution extended here as we gather together as one body of Christ here is this place. And so narrow isn’t to keep people out, it is to love them one at a time. Each person, each individual, loved, forgiven, cared for, died for.

The Gospel today mentions Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Individuals, who God spoke to individually. And perhaps you wish God would speak to you in the same way. Well, He has. You’ve heard Him. I baptize you. You, take and eat. I forgive you. You, My child. And though you be last in the eyes of the world, despised, neglected, mocked, ignored, you are first in His eyes. Whether you come from the east or west, the north or south. There is a spot at the table in the kingdom of God for you.

So strive to enter through the narrow door, Jesus said. The word there in the Greek for strive is a good one: agonizomai. Agonize. It’s used in other verses for struggle, fighting, or the agony of an athlete. Or in other words, it’s not easy. For repentance is not easy. You will struggle against many temptations to sin. You will fight your own urges and desires. To pray and repent every day, to come here and repent every week, is like an athlete in training that wakes up every day at 5 am to work out. Agonizomai. Agony. But in the end, worth it. Or is your sin worth getting shut out of heaven for? Is getting what you want now worth going to hell for? So your Father disciplines you, to instill in you the discipline of repentance, that He share His holiness with you. For He loves you.

But maybe what makes such repentance a little easier is again what we heard in the reading from Hebrews. For when you pray and repent, when you come here and repent, you are not coming to a fearsome God, a punishing God, a God you must cower before and beg for a forgiveness you do not know if you will receive or not. No, you are coming to Mount Zion. And Mount Zion is the place of God’s grace poured out for you. It is the place of innumerable angels is festal - joyful - gathering. To join with those who have already passed through death to heaven and the presence of God. It is the place where Jesus, your mediator, is. And whose blood poured out for you, poured on you in the water of baptism, and poured into you with the wine of His Supper, cries out not for vengenace, but for your forgiveness. For your every sin. And it is so. You are holied. 

And if you’re still not so sure about that, look again to the cross. Look at the blood of Jesus there, and hear what Jesus cries out there. He does not cry out for venegance, but for your forgiveness. For that’s why He’s there. As mediator. Taking your sin and unholiness and giving you His forgiveness and holiness. So that when the time comes, as Isaiah spoke about, to gather all nations and tongues on the Last Day, you will sing the praises of Him who did such great things for you. For yes, He knows you. You are the one He baptized. You are the one He forgave. You are the one He fed. You are the one who prayed: Lord, have mercy! And though He disciplines you now, for a while, for your good, and though you struggle now, you will recline at His table in the kingdom. And when you do, the discipline, the struggle, the agony of death, will not even be a distant memory. They will be gone. Along with your sin. And all there will be is joy - the joy of being in the presence of God, and His joy in you, His child. And you’ll be home - at last, and forever.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 8 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Relax, Eat, Drink, and Be Merry! Yes!”

Text: Luke 12:13-21; Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26; Colossians 3:1-11

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The rich man in the parable Jesus told today was exactly right. Maybe you’re surprised to hear me say that. Because Jesus criticizes him. Jesus calls him a fool. Jesus holds him up as an example of what not to do. And that’s right, too. But the rich man’s desire to relax, eat, drink, and be merry is spot on. That’s exactly what God wants for you. Now. As His baptized children, you can relax now in your Father’s love and care for you. You can eat and drink here and now at His Table. And you can be merry now because you have an inheritance in heaven that your brother, Jesus, provided for you with His death and resurrection. An inheritance that doesn’t end or go away when you die, but one that will never be taken from you. 

So this rich man was a fool not because he wanted this, but because he could have been doing this all along, but didn’t. He missed out because he misunderstood life. And the man who came up to Jesus that day was in danger of doing the same thing. He was playing the part of the fool in this parable. And maybe he’s not the only one. But this man, he had an inheritance he wanted divided. That means someone died - most likely, his father. And maybe his father was a rich man. Maybe a rich farmer. Who maybe just had an amazing harvest, had built huge barns, and thought he had it made for the foreseeable future. But no. Suddenly he died. And now . . . was it his son who came to Jesus, wanting his share of these riches his father never got to enjoy? His son, making the same mistake? Looking for life and happiness and security in the wrong place? His son, the foolish apple not falling far from the foolish tree? Imagine if that was the case, and Jesus is telling a parable here, based on real life events? Think that might wake this man up and change his thinking in a hurry?

But we’re not this man, and so the impact of this parable is perhaps less for us than it was for him. For we know it’s right. We know it’s true. We know we shouldn’t be like that. But . . . do we still play the fool? Are we missing out on our relax, eat, drink, and be merry life until it is too late for us? Are we forgetting who we are? If Jesus were to tell you this parable today based on your life, how would it go? What do you think you need, what are you asking Jesus for, so that once you get it, then you can relax, eat, drink, and be merry? A certain job or amount of success? Financial security? Family peace? The right friends, popularity, or achievement? How would your parable go . . . ?

Well, however it would go for you, all our parables end the same way: death. And if your life is wrapped up in the things of this world, then death is the end. Somebody else gets your stuff. All that you worked so hard for, all that you lost sleep over, all that you sacrificed for, that you didn’t get to relax, eat, drink, and be merry for - somebody else gets it. And they may or may not appreciate it, or you. They may waste it. That’s what vexed Solomon when he wrote Ecclesiastes. Why am I doing this, he asked? What’s the point? This kind of life that ends in death is, as he described it, vanity and a striving after wind.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, your Father in heaven doesn’t want it to be that way for you. And so He sent His Son - not to dish out justice in this world, to divide inheritances and make sure we get our fair share. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have more than others, maybe others will have more than you. Jesus isn’t here to make sure you get what’s coming to you, what you deserve - He’s here to make sure you get His inheritance. He’s here to be the rich man who has it all and dies, so that you can inherit His riches.

So to do that, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Son of God has to die so that you can have His inheritance. For that how inheritances work - someone dies and leaves their stuff for the heirs. So the Son of God comes down from heaven and becomes man, Jesus. And He comes not to show us how to live, how to be good or to be our example - He comes to die. And so die He does. His whole life is a journey to the cross. His whole life is to do this for you. So that you can have what’s His. And since He knows His life this way, notice how Jesus lives. Isn’t He usually (or always) relaxed, eating and drinking, and being merry? And with sinners! Because that’s who He’s dying for. That’s who needs His inheritance. And He wants them to know it. And to rejoice. That’s His joy.

So Jesus dies. That’s the first thing. But He also needs sons to receive His inheritance. But He knows we’re fools. Adam and Eve proved that, throwing away a perfect world in search of something more, better. And down through the centuries, to you and me today, we keep proving it too. So we’re not going to be sons if left to ourselves. We can’t. We are by nature fools. So the second thing Jesus does is make us His children. Children of God. He baptizes us and we become sons of God by this new birth. Our first birth is a physical birth, sons of men, fools. Our second birth is a spiritual birth, as sons of God, in faith. Since we couldn’t do that ourselves, Jesus provides that for us, too.

So at the end of His life, on the night when Jesus is betrayed, and with just hours until His crucifixion, what does Jesus do? He gives His children, His disciples, their inheritance. His last will and testament. This is the new testament in my blood, He says as He gives to them. And look at the disciples - how are they, what are they doing at this moment in the upper room, receiving this inheritance from Jesus? They are reclining at the table (relaxed), eating and drinking, and (we could say) being merry. Not merry in the sense of being gleeful, but being glad in the presence of Jesus. And glad receiving from Him this gift - which is not just His Body and Blood, but everything that comes with that: the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Soon, they’re going to witness what Jesus had to do to provide that for them - His death of the cross. But then they would also be witnesses of His resurrection. Witnesses that in Him, death need not be the end of a foolish life, but the beginning of a life without end. The beginning of a life that death can no longer touch. 

That’s the life now here for you. For your rich man is here, His testament is here, His Body and Blood is here, His forgiveness is here, for you. And for this you do nothing but receive it. He is the one who died. He is the one who is the host at the meal. He is the one who gave you life, both physically and spiritually, to receive it. He simply now says to you: relax, eat, drink, and be merry! This is all for you.

And so it is. A simple meal in the midst of mixed-up, cluttered lives, to cut through all the clutter and give us what we really need. And really want. We just keep looking for it in the wrong places. So that whether we have much or little, whether we are young or old, whether there are still things we want to achieve in this life or we think we’ve made it - no matter where you are in life, Jesus is inviting you to relax, eat, drink, and be merry. Now. Not in the things of this world, which betray us, let us down, and come and go, but in Him who never will. In Him who gave Himself and all that He has, for you. 

It is sad that so many people spend their whole lives in the pursuit of all kinds of wealth, only to come to the poverty of death. The picture of life that Solomon saw. But Jesus is exactly the opposite - the one who became poor in life for us, and with His death made us rich. And you are. Now. Whether you know it or not. And so while death is waiting for all of us, so is Jesus and His inheritance and His life. So relax, eat, drink, and be merry, He says. I’ve got it covered for you. 

Which doesn’t mean don’t do anything. That would be a rather boring and unfulfilling life. Rather, do everything with this mind, knowing who you are, what you already have, and where your life is. And so enjoy what God has given you. Use your talents and abilities. Strive to be the best you can be. Be a blessing to others. But know that these are things in your life, they are not your life. Christ is your life, as St. Paul told us today. Nothing else. For nothing else can give you life. Everything else, if you look for life there, only takes away life. But Christ gives life. He gives you His life. He gives you eternal life. And when Christ who is your life appears, Paul says, then you also will appear with him in glory. You will receive your inheritance in full.

So yes, relax, eat, drink, and be merry! Quite right. But not only when . . . this or that . . . but now. Because you’re a child of God - even in the midst of trouble, in the midst of death, in the midst of whatever you are going through and this sinful world is dishing out. Jesus is here with you in the midst of it all, providing for you, serving you, saving you. So come eat and drink, Him, and depart in peace, relaxing and rejoicing in Him. 

For you’re a child of God and the inheritance is yours. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 7 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Teaching Us to Pray”

Text: Luke 11:1-13; Genesis 18:17-33; Colossians 2:6-19

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Surely the disciples knew how to pray. The Jews had their prayers and their times for prayer. They prayed the psalms in the Temple. They sang them as they made their way to Jerusalem for the feasts. They had table prayers to pray before and after meals. They prayed in the mornings and evenings. The disciples knew how to pray, like we know how to pray. For prayer is the breath of the Christian. We breathe in God’s Word and we breathe out that word in prayer.

Yet we could be better, do better. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Christian who didn’t wish they were better at prayer. That they would pray more. That they could pray with better words. That their prayers wouldn’t get forgotten and swallowed up by the busyness of life, as they so often seem to do. And that desire is good, right, and salutary. That desire is the work of the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit who prays for us, and teaches us to pray Abba, Father (Galatians 4:6).

So we can understand the request of the disciples that we heard today: Lord, teach us to pray. It is our request, too.

And so Jesus gives them the words you know so well. Pray these, He says. Perhaps the disciples had been praying for the wrong things. They did, after all, ask Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans who wouldn’t welcome them into their towns. They did argue about which of them was the greatest. So pray for these things, Jesus says. 

That the name of God, given to them, would be hallowed by them. Kept holy. Not profaned by our words or deeds. We need to pray for our Father to help us with that; that we honor His name given to us. That the kingdom of God would come. To them, and to all. Not just heaven, but also His kingdom here and now, His Church. That His Word and Spirit would bring others into His Church, and that His Word and Spirit would keep us in the Church. For it is the Spirit who not only gives us faith in Christ, but keeps us in that faith. Pray for this, Jesus says. 

And that we would have all that we need to support this body and life - our daily bread. We, not just me. No room for selfishness here. Me and my neighbor. My neighbor and I. United in love and concern. God using my neighbor for me and me for my neighbor. Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:14).

For lives filled with forgiveness. Pray for that, Jesus says. Forgiveness for your sins, and for help to forgive those who sin against you. No matter the sin, no matter the debt. Can you do that? Not on your own. But the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 

And lead us not into temptation. Don’t let the devil twist and distort God’s Word, God’s gifts, and God’s good and gracious work, so that we doubt God’s love and so be led into false belief or despair. Keep our faith right, and keep our faith strong.

Pray this, Jesus says. I think we often think of prayer in individual terms. Me talking to God. But this is a very churchly way of prayer, it seems to me. Me in the context of God’s gifts and God’s Church. In this way prayer is a holy thing, a sacred thing, an intimate thing. And we learn about prayer and how to pray.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He continues with the story about the friend in need. You see, when Jesus teaches you to pray, He doesn’t just give you the words, He sends you people to pray for. 

But don’t just think of the obvious ones here. Yes we pray for victims of floods and other natural disasters. We pray for victims of crime, hatred, injustice, and persecution. And that is all good. But how about the person who is really annoying you? Who just gets on your nerves all the time? The person in your mind right now! Do you pray for them? And not: Lord, make them better and not so annoying! But Lord, help me to love them. And forgive me for not loving them. For belittling them in my mind and despising them in my heart. Lord, teach us to pray.

And what about the person who took the parking space that you were about to pull into? What’s more likely to burst out of your mouth - a prayer or some other word that would not be appropriate for me to repeat in a sermon? Or how about that person you just had a argument with? Or who got what you wanted? The Lord sends you people to pray for all the time. Lord, teach us to pray.

And what great promises Jesus gives to induce us to pray! Just ask, He says. I’ll provide. Seek! I’ll open your eyes and not hide things from you. And knock on my door for I’ll always be there to open it for you. And you don’t have to be impudent! I want to. I’m not like the one who didn’t want to get up. I got up. I came down from heaven. With good gifts. And with the perfect gift, the Holy Spirit. For you.

God taught Abraham to pray that way. We heard that today. He gave Abraham folks to pray for - bad folks! Sinful folks! Folks who were hurting his family. And he did! God didn’t hide from Abraham what He was about to do. And He gave Abraham all He asked for. And He probably would have given him even more, if he hadn’t stopped at ten. For the mercy of God, the love of God, the forgiveness of God, is even greater than Abraham imagined. Greater than we can imagine. For in truth, God went all the way down to one. For one righteous person, Jesus, God spared the world. The fire and brimstone of His wrath falling upon Jesus on the cross instead of you. And me. 

Breathe in that Word of God, hear that love and forgiveness, eat that Body and Blood, and what prayers will come forth, then, from you? What do you think? Lord, teach us to pray. 

Do you think Jesus was annoyed when the disciples asked Him that? Or exasperated that they hadn’t learned yet? No. He loved it. It was music to His ears! It was exactly what He wanted them to ask. The hardest part of learning is learning to ask the right questions. This was the right question, the right request. Lord, teach us to pray.

So for us today? Teach us to pray, that as Paul said, we abound in thanksgiving. Teach us to pray, that we not be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, thinking that we know more or know better than You and what You have told us in your Word. Teach us to pray not fleshly prayers, but to pray as having put off the body of the flesh by virtue of our baptism into Christ.

Lord, teach us to pray, that we not pass judgment on one another, but lift one another up to You in prayer. Teach us to pray as part of Your Body, the Church. Your Body which has been raised from the dead, and so we are. No longer dead in our trespasses and sin, but alive in You. Your Body that has cancelled the debt we owe, and so it is. You have set us free. Your Body that has triumphed over all our enemies and put them to shame. And so our victory has been won. 

Lord, teach us to pray. Like that. With that faith. Confidently. Knowing that our Father is not going to give a serpent instead of a fish. That He’s not going to give a scorpion instead of an egg. If He seems to, the problem is not the gift, but out perception of it. Your Father, our Father, gives good gifts. And He will give You His Spirit. Gladly. Abundantly. Just ask. For He loves your prayers. And, I would venture to say, there is only one thing He loves more than your prayers, and that’s the one praying them: you. His child. The one He baptized. The one He redeemed. And feeds. Who He will never forsake. 

So breathe, dear Christians. Breathe in the Word of God, and breathe out your prayers. It’s good for you. Doctors say that these days. When you’re worried, when you’re anxious, take a deep breath. It’ll calm you, relax you. How much more, then, taking a deep breath of God’s Word. And so filled with His Word, His Spirit, His love, and His forgiveness, you’ll not just be calm, but confident. In Him. And you’ll not just be relaxed, but at peace. For He is your peace. The one who has done all for you, His children. And He’s not going to stop. 

Lord, teach us to pray . . .

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 6 Sermon

No sermon to post today as Pastor Douthwaite is away as a delegate to the LCMS Convention in Tampa, FL. We were privileged to have with us Chaplain Graham Glover as our guest pastor. Check back next week! Thanks!

Pentecost 5 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“Be Different!”

Text: Leviticus 18:1-5; 19:9-18; Luke 10:25-37

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Be different! That’s the message from God to you today. Be different. Don’t be like the people around you. Don’t do what they do. You, be different.

That’s what God told Old Testament Israel in the reading from Leviticus we heard today. They were camping at Mt. Sinai. God had just brought them out from Egypt, rescued them from their long slavery there. And He promised them their own home, their own land. A good land. Where they could live in peace. But when you get there, He tells them, be different! Don’t do what the people of Egypt did, or what the people of this new land do. Don’t worship the gods they worshiped in Egypt, or the gods the people of this new land worship. Be different.

And He says how. Specifically. Don’t reap your fields, God says, right up to the very edge, and don’t strip your vineyards clean of every last grape. Leave some. For the poor and needy. 80 percent, 90 percent, you can have. But leave some. For the poor. For those who have nothing. I am the Lord.

Then, He says, don’t idolize the almighty denarius. Don’t oppress your neighbor, lie, cheat, steal, or take him to court for a buck. And don’t become possessed with revenge if you are wronged, if he short-changed you in some way, whether that be with money or respect or some other way. Relax. I’m giving you a home and your own land. And I’m going to continue to take care of you. Don’t sin because someone sinned against you. I am the Lord.

And don’t take advantage of the deaf or the blind. Be different. Don’t be like everyone else. Don’t be like the world. Because you’re not. You’re mine. I brought you up out of Egypt. I brought you through the Red Sea. I am the Lord your God. So act like it. Like you’re special, because you are. Like you’re rich, because you are. Like this world is not all there is, because it’s not. Like you’re different, because you are. I am the Lord.

I am the Lord. Sometimes when we hear that phrase, I think we hear it like parents say it. Like when children ask their parents why they have to do something, what do parents say? Because I said so! And here, too. Why does Israel have to do these things? Because I am the Lord! Because I say so! I’m the almighty, the Sovereign, the rule maker, the boss. 

Except that not how God means it at all! I am the Lord is like the Invocation we hear at the beginning of every Divine Service here - In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Which, as I told the Bible Class again recently, is not a sentence. It’s a prepositional phrase. It’s only part of a sentence. And the rest of it is really important. For the rest of it is: I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Invocation is a reminder of who you are and what God has done for you. You are a baptized child of God. You are one whose sins are forgiven. You have been washed with the blood of the Lamb in those waters. And so here, we are children coming to our Father. To be with Him. To receive from Him. To hear from Him and speak to Him. We are special. Because of His Name given to us and put on us, we are different.

And so Israel was different. I am the Lord is only part of a sentence for them. They were to hear those words and finish them as a reminder of who they are and what God has done for them. I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. I am the Lord who brought you through the Red Sea. I am the Lord who is giving you a home. Those words are Gospel, not Law! They are what God has done and is doing for us, not do this because I said so! These words mark Israel as different. Because they are. They are the Lord’s.

So act that way.

And then the very next words we speak, here, after the Invocation in the Divine Service? I haven’t. We confess that we haven’t lived differently than the world. We’ve done what they do, say what they say, and worship what they worship. Oh, we really do. We have worshiped the almighty dollar at the expense of prayers, devotions, and families. We have been stingy with the poor and needy. We think of ourselves first. And interestingly, sports stars, politicians, the rich and powerful, the high and mighty, the famous and well-known, what do we call what happens to them? They are idolized. Because they are. Made into idols. They are what we want to be, and try to be, and . . . walk on each other to be? And child of God? Oh, yeah, well, I am that too, but . . . that’s not enough. I want more. I need more. I’m going to get more. Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Israel had to confess the same as we do. That’s why when Moses was on Mt. Sinai, God didn’t just give him the commandments, but the Tabernacle, too. Which was the place of forgiveness. The place where God would dwell with His people to mercy them. That’s what made them different, too. Not only what God had done for them and was continuing to do for them, but that He was dwelling with them, and caring for them, and forgiving them. And because He was, they could care for others. The poor and needy, the deaf and blind, and love their neighbor. Because I am the Lord. Because they have a good and gracious Lord, caring for them and forgiving them.

So they were different. You are different. You are forgiven. So you get to act that way. Not because it’s the rules, it’s the Law, and you have to to please God and make up for your sins. No. It’s because you are free to be different. You’ve been freed, mercied, forgiven. So now you get to live that way.

And what would that look like? To be different, because you are? Well, it would look like the Good Samaritan. Which is a parable, I think, that is as often misunderstood as the phrase I am the Lord. Just as I am the Lord is not God saying because I said so, but rather, because of all that I have done for you, so the Good Samaritan is not just a parable telling us to be good Samaritans, but teaching us that we have one. 

You see, that lawyer who came up to Jesus to test him that day, thought he could do something to live - he just needed to know what it was, and how much it was. And even though Jesus didn’t put a lawyer in the parable, he did put a couple of his friends in it - a priest and a levite. And I wonder if the lawyer had done this on his way to see Jesus - passed by a man in a ditch, someone in need, because, well, he had to get to Jesus with his question! That would be like Jesus to do something like that. Mr. Lawyer, what you should have done is stop and help that person you saw in the ditch but passed by on the other side of the road in your hurry here to see me and ask me what you have to do to inherit eternal life when God is the one who gives you eternal life and you don’t have to do anything and so you should have stopped to help this man, because you can! The only thing Jesus could’ve added at the end but didn’t is: I am the Lord.

But if He had, with that He would have meant two things: First, I am the Lord who spoke those words to Moses on Mt. Sinai, who did all those things for Israel, and who made great and precious promises to them - I am that Lord! And second, I am the Lord who has come now to do them, fulfill them all for you, be your Good Samaritan. Because Mr. Lawyer, you can’t. You’re the guy in the ditch. You were the guy in the ditch. Beat up and robbed of life by your sins, by death, and by the devil. And what good would it do to yell at that guy in the ditch to get up and clean himself up and save himself? Not much, right? He needed something, He needed someone. He needed saving.

But what do you think the guy in the ditch did after he was saved? After he recovered and got better? What do you think he did weeks or months later . . . the next time he was walking down the road and saw a man in a ditch like he was? Do you think he stopped, looked around, and wondered: Where is that Samaritan when you need one? Or do you think he was different? Do you think he did likewise? As it had been done to him? Not because he had to, but because he could? Because he knows what its like to lie in that ditch and watch people walk by and not help? Yeah.

So every week, this church is filled with people in the ditch. The devil, the world, and your own sinful nature have attacked you and inflicted mortal wounds on you. And perhaps you have on others - intentionally or unintentionally, known or unknown. Wounds that if not treated lead to death. And we confess, and we cry out for help. And our Good Samaritan is here, and comes down in the ditch with us, just as He did some 2000 years ago, when He came down and was attacked and beaten and not just left for dead, He really was! With your death, in your grave, because of your sin. But not as a victim was He dead, but as Saviour. As the one come to rescue all in the grip of sin, death, and hell. By coming and getting us, washing us, feeding us, putting us on His own back, and saving us. And He still does. Here. To make us different. Healed. Whole. Saved. Forgiven. 

So live that. Act that way. Be different. Like you’ve been saved. Because you are. 

You see, the Christian life isn’t one of asking what must I do to inherit eternal life? Or what must I do to be saved? You have eternal life now. You’ve been saved. Jesus did that for you. You’ve been un-ditched, lifted up, lifted out, oiled and wined, healed, restored, given a new life.

So now, the Christian life is a joyous one of jumping down into the ditches of others, no matter who they are. To un-ditch them. And there are plenty of ditches. Lots of them. If we’re not too busy to see them, too pre-occupied with our own stuff. People in ditches at work, at school, your friends and neighbors, on your teams, on your social medias. Be different for them. And by being different for them, you will be the same . . . as Jesus for you. The one whose steadfast love endures forever, as we sang in the Introit. Whose love and forgiveness and grace and gifts and mercy for you will never run out. 

Last week I didn’t say anything about the Higer Things conference that Joanna and I had just returned from, and that Rachel and Kathryn will be at this week. I often do, but I waited until this week because the Chief Hymn, or Sermon Hymn we sang today, Where Charity and Love Prevail (LSB #845), was the conference hymn, or the theme hymn for the week. For the theme for the conference was Corcordia, with one heart, which is what the Good Samaritan was with the man in the ditch, and what Jesus is with us. But this, too: the motto of Higher Things is: Dare to be Lutheran. Or, if we wanted to put it this way today: Dare to be different. Dare to live as one saved by grace through faith alone, and not by what you do. Dare to live this Gospel in all your life. Dare to believe that this really is true, and that it defines us and makes us who we are. Because I am the Lord who has done everything for you. I am the Lord who rescued you from your slavery to sin and set you free. I am the Lord who brought you through the waters of baptism, where you were saved but where your sin and guilt were slain. I am the Lord who feeds you not with manna, but with bread that is the Body of Jesus, and gives you wine to drink that is His blood. I am the Lord.

So go, you are different. Go, you are mine. Go, you are un-ditched. Go, you are free.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 4 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“A Kingdom on the Move”

Text: Luke 10:1-20

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. . . . Say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 

So you don’t go to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God comes to you.

Sounds backwards, doesn’t it? Kingdoms are usually places. Stationary. But not with God. For Him, the kingdom is on the move. And it always is. The kingdom of God comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners. And so the kingdom grows. Because as Jesus told Pontius Pilate, a little after the Gospel we heard today, His kingdom is not of this world. So it doesn’t operate like the kingdoms of this world. You don’t go to it, it comes to you.

And it keeps showing up in the most unexpected places. It shows up in Ur of the Chaldees, where the kingdom of God comes to a man named Abram and saves him from his idolatry. It shows up in the Sinai desert, where the kingdom of God comes to Moses in a burning bush. It later travels around in a tent, which only God would be audacious enough to call a tabernacle. But that is what it was, as the kingdom of God traveled about in the wilderness. Even when David had the great idea to build God a temple - a permanent, stationary, structure - and his son Solomon finally built the thing, God let them, but that was never His idea. Because the kingdom of God is always on the move. Coming near to sinners, finding sinners, and forgiving sinners.

So Jesus, too. He never stays very long in one place. Did you ever notice that? Just like the tabernacle. Because the tabernacle was a picture of Jesus. John tells us that. That the Word of God, the Son of God, was made flesh, and tabernacled, or tented among us. He didn’t temple among us, stay in one place. He tented. Because He was busy coming to sinners, finding sinners, and forgiving sinners. 

And He keeps showing up in the most unexpected places. You might expect to find Him in Jerusalem, but Samaria? Galilee? Tyre and Sidon? The region of the Gerasenes, as we heard last week? And who’s He hanging out with? Not the creme de la creme of society - the kingdom of God keeps showing up with lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, Roman centurions, demoniacs, beggars, the disabled and handicapped. All throughout the Scriptures, the kingdom of God comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners.

So as we heard today, that’s what Jesus sends His 72 disciples to do, too. He sends them. Don’t stay with Him. Go. Be on the move. Go to the towns and villages. Go to the sinners, find the sinners, and forgive the sinners. Say to them peace be with you. For that’s what the peace of God is - the forgiveness of your sins. For when the sin that separates you from God and the sin that condemns you before God is forgiven, you have peace with God again. 

Then we learn this, too: the kingdom that is always on the move not only shows up in unexpected places, but also in unexpected ways. The kingdom of God goes out like lambs in the midst of wolves. It goes out poor - no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals. In weakness and poverty it goes out, not in power and wealth. Like a tent, not a temple. But perhaps this does make sense. The kingdom of God comes in weakness and poverty because it comes for the weak and the poor. For the sick and the downtrodden. For the rejected and the outcast. The kingdom of God comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners.

You don’t go to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God comes to you.

Even here, to you, today. Don’t see it? Maybe you’re looking for the wrong things. Maybe you’re looking for power and wealth instead of weakness and poverty. Maybe you’re looking for something high and mighty instead of the rejected and the outcast. Maybe you’re looking for good people instead of sinners. But the kingdom of God comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners. 

That was a stumbling block to people in Jesus’ day, and in our day, too. We want a church that is powerful and influential, that the world will look up to and pay attention to. We want a church that looks impressive and that people will want to come and see, not one that is weak and poor. We want a church filled with good people, respectable people, not beggars and sinners. That’s the kind of church people want to go to.

Maybe so. But you don’t go to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God comes to you. And this is how it comes: a baby in a manger. A man who walks about with no place to lay His head. Who rides a donkey into His capital city. Who hangs on a cross as a criminal and dies. Who picks fishermen and a tax collector to be preachers, and who sends them out with nothing but His Word of peace; His Word of forgiveness. And then later, He sends them out with water and bread and wine. And with these His forgiveness, too. 

And for those looking for something bigger and better and brighter, this kingdom and these disciples and this message are rejected. Jesus told them it would be so. Just move on, He says. Because the kingdom is always on the move. 

But to those who reject this kingdom coming to them, who don’t want to be sinners but want to be known as good people, who don’t want their sins called out but accepted, who don’t want to repent and receive forgiveness, there is a word for them, too: not peace, but woe. Reject the kingdom of God that comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners, and Sodom - the place that got destroyed by fire and brimstone! - is a place you’re going to wish to be! And rather than finding the exaltation you want (and maybe you’ll get in this world and life), you’ll find yourself in the end brought down to Hades. 

For the peace, the forgiveness, the disciples speak, that’s Jesus’ peace and forgiveness that He gives them to speak. For, Jesus said, the one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. Yes, it is through the word of peace, the word of forgiveness, and that word in the water that washes away your sin, and that word that makes bread and wine much more than bread and wine, but the Body and Blood of Jesus - through these words of peace and forgiveness, the kingdom of God comes near to you. Then, and now.

And it does. The disciples find that out. They had to have been worried when they first left, didn’t they? I mean, Lambs in the midst of wolves usually doesn’t work out well for the lambs. No moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals usually means a rough and difficult time. So those first few steps they took must have been hesitant and slow. 

But after some time, they return to Jesus, how? Running back to him and filled with excitement, it seems. And they report to Him how awesome the peace of God is. They say: Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! The demons want no part of this kingdom. It comes and they beg for mercy. It comes and they flee. Depart unclean spirit and make way for the Holy Spirit we say when a person is baptized. And it is so. The unbeliever is now believer. The captive is set free. For He who hears you hears me, Jesus says. Authority, Jesus calls it. To tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And how is that done? Forgiveness. Forgiveness is the heel that crushes the serpent’s head.

If the 72 are surprised at this outcome, Jesus is not. Of course the demons are subject to you. I gave you that authority. I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven, Jesus says, and now you see it, too. And he’s going to fall again and again and again. Because this mobile kingdom is coming to him and plundering him. Taking his prey, his sinners, away from him and his kingdom. Saving them and giving them life. Planting them in a new kingdom. For the kingdom of God comes to sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners. 

But the real reason for joy? Not that the spirits are subject to you, but that your names are written in heaven. That is, rejoice that the kingdom of God has come to you. Rejoice in the fact that you’re not a good person, but you are a forgiven one. Rejoice in the fact that you didn’t find God, He found you and came to you. Rejoice in the fact that you didn’t write your name in heaven by what you’ve done, your good works and spectacular life, but that your name was written there by Jesus in His own blood. Because of what He has done. And the kingdom of God that comes for sinners, finds sinners, and forgives sinners . . . well, He’s coming back again to do something else, too. Take sinners - repentant ones, forgiven ones - to be with Him forever. 

So repent. And know that when you hear I forgive you all your sins, that’s Him, not me; you hear not me but Him who sent me. And the kingdom of God has come near to you. 

When you hear I baptize you, that’s Him, not me; you hear not me but Him who sent me. And the kingdom of God has come near to you.

When you hear this is the Gospel of the Lord, that’s Him, not me; you hear not me but Him who sent me. And the kingdom of God has come near to you.

And when you hear this is My Body, this is My Blood, that’s Him, not me; you hear not me but Him who sent me. And the kingdom of God has come near to you.

Hear those words that way, because the demons still do. Your demons. And they are still shrieking and fleeing. For they are still subject to the Word and name of God. And that name has been put on you, and that word has been given to you. For the kingdom of God is still on the move. Coming to sinners, finding sinners, and forgiving sinners. Here. In your seat. And the seat next to you. That wherever you go this week, whatever you face, whoever you encounter, whenever you worry and doubt, and however it goes with you, that peace be with you. Because Jesus is with you. The one who casts down demons, your demons, and forgives your sins. The Jesus who tabernacles with you.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.