Everything Belongs to God

Everything Belongs to God

Let me tell you something you already know. Everything we are and everything we have belongs to God.

We say it in one of our most cherished hymns:

“We give thee but thine own, whate’re the gift may be; all that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee.”

And we said it at the time of the offering in our old green worship book:

“Merciful Father, we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us—ourselves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love.”

It is not possible to give to God anything that does not already belong to God. Stewardship is simply a matter of putting this faith to action.

That’s Good News!

The message that we belong to God is good news, even though it may not sound like it at first. Because God is very good at being in charge.

Face on Loan

You are not in charge. Not of your own body, your time, your talents, your physical appearance, your personality or your money.

You are not in charge because they do not belong to you. You just got them on loan. That pretty face…on loan. That brilliant mind …on loan. That athletic physique…on loan. The hours and days that make up your schedule…on loan. And your money, your possessions, your house, your car, your checking account, your pension plan…all on loan.

The bible says we all are dust and to dust we shall return. We bring nothing into this world and we take nothing out. But we need not worry about it. Because we belong to God and this God to whom we belong only wants the best for us.

God Purchased and Redeemed Us

Why do we belong to God? Well, first of all, we belong to God because God made us. The bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” We did not create ourselves. We have a creator to whom we belong. That is the first reason.

And the second reason that we belong to God is because God purchased us. God bought us so that we could be God’s people. Saint Paul tells us twice in the book of 1 Corinthians: You are not your own, because “you were bought with a price.” And that price, of course, was the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now we are to live for the Christ who died for us.

Not a “Catch,” but a Gift

In the DVD that I am showing the Adult Bible Class today, the one that goes along with the book Giving To God, (the one we are asking all of you to read), Dr. Powell says that many of us think of this as “the Catch.”

We are glad Jesus died for us. We are glad for that. But now we “owe” him BIG TIME! We see living for Jesus as an obligation, not a privilege. We are now eternally in debt to Jesus. And since we can never do enough to repay Jesus, some preacher is always in our face asking us to do more, more, more. We always seem to need to do more.

But Dr. Powell invites us to look at it a different way. He invites us to see salvation is a gift. A totally free gift. And to see that we do not “owe” God anything for it.

Belonging to God and living for Christ is not a means by which we try to pay God back for salvation. It is salvation. Belonging to God is not a “response” to salvation. Belonging to God and following Christ is a way of describing what it means to be saved.

Wow! God Saved Me!

On Wings of an Eagle

Dr. Powell says look at it this way. Think back to the time of the Exodus. God frees slaves from bondage in Egypt. God leads them out through water, through the Red Sea. And the very first thing God does is to say, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of bondage. I am your God and you are my people.”

Now not a single one of those liberated slaves said, “Oh, shucks, now I owe God big time.” No, what they said was, “You have lifted me up like as on the wings of an eagle.”

And all that has led to what is probably one of the most popular and frequently requested songs in our Lutheran book of worship. The song On Eagle’s Wings. We sang it at Stan Green’s funeral, and we will sing it at the close of our worship today:

“And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hands.”

Does that sound to you like, “Oh, shucks, now we owe God big time”? No, of course it doesn’t! It is “Wow!” God saved me.

God Will Provide

If God spends so much time to create us and to redeem us, don’t you think that this same God will do everything in his power to protect and provide for us?

It is what we hear from the lips of Jesus in our gospel lesson for today:

“Do not worry about your life, what you shall eat,…or what shall you wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”

This the God that we want to put in charge of our money and in charge of our lives.

What Would Happen If…

And let me ask you this? What would happen if you did put this God in charge of your money? Would you have more of it? Or, would you have less of it?

There are many stories in the bible where God prospers generous people and increases their wealth. God does it for Abraham who let his nephew Lot have first dibs on the land of promise. And God did it for Ruth who left everything to care for her mother-in-law Naomi. God did it for the widow of Zaraphath, who gave the prophet Elijah the last bit of flour and the last bit of oil out of her little cruse.

And yet, there are also stories in the bible where God commands people to give everything away, like the rich young ruler and some of the disciples. And later in church history many monks and nuns heard the call to give everything away, including Saint Francis of Assisi and our own Martin Luther. I cannot say what God is telling you specifically. I cannot tell you what God’s perfect plan is for your life.

Not a Preview, but a Promise

But I can tell you this. That while God does not give to each of us the exact same pattern for living out our life in Christ, God does give us all the same promise.

God wants the “best life” available for us in this world and in the world to come. God wants us to have wonderful, blessed lives.

And if you put God in charge of your finances, if you use all of your money and possessions as a steward who belongs to God, your life will get better not worse. When we put God in charge of any area of our life our lives get better not worse.

Stewardship is about belonging to God. But not just any God. We belong to a God of grace of loves us and takes care of us. And who wants us to have wonderful, joyful lives. Think of it this way. If God shed the blood of his own son to redeems, don’t you think he will take pretty good care of us?

“Do not worry,” Jesus said. Why? Because… you belong to God. And that is good news for us.

Part of a sermon series based on Dr. Mark Allen Powell’s Giving to God (Eerdmans, 2006)

Living a Generous Life

Generosity Rocks!

Over the summer, I became acquainted with this new book which is rapidly becoming an Amazon bestseller. It is called Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life. And this book intrigues me.

It intrigues me because it is written by one of ours: Mark Powell. Dr. Powell is a Professor of NT down at Trinity Seminary in Columbus, who has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most popular profs in our church body and he is probably the most sought after speaker in the ELCA after Bishop Hanson himself.

Mark has take extra special gift for taking biblical truths and connecting them to our everyday lives in an exciting and energetic way. He bounces when he talks. He loves Jesus and the Scriptures. He makes the Bible come alive. No wonder he is so popular.

And it intrigues me because of the book’s subtitle: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life. I know people who are stingy. And I know people who are generous. And I know that there are times when I am stingy. And I know that there I times when I am generous.

And you tell me. Who do you like more? Who do you prefer? Do you like stingy people or generous people? I am with you. I like generous people. I admire them. And I want to become more like them.

And Dr. Powell’s theme is simply this: Christian stewardship is a way of life. It is a “good” way of life. For many, it is a “better” way of life. And I want that good life, too.

The Baptism of the Gauls

I love Dr. Powell’s opening illustration. He talks about the “baptism of the Gauls.”

This arm is not Baptized!

The Gauls were a warlike people who in ancient times inhabited what is now France and Belgium. They spoke a Celtic language and were Druids by religion. And by the time that Christians arrive on the scene, they had been conquered by the Roman Empire and were supposedly under its control.

Well, a number of Christian missionaries entered into Gallic territory and, over time, many of the Gauls became Christians. And so the story goes that whenever a converted warrior was baptized in a river or a stream, he would hold one arm high in the air as the missionary dunked him under the water.

This seemed to be a most peculiar custom and the missionaries were very puzzled until they final learned the reason for it. When the next battle or skirmish broke out, the warlike Gaul could proclaim, “This arm is not baptized!” grab his club or sword and go off to destroy his enemy in a most un-Christian manner.

Get Completely Wet

No one knows if this story is authentic. It is probably just an ancient version of what we would call today an “urban legend.” But the picture is compelling of the way we all try to keep some part of identity free from the influence of baptism. We want to keep something that we cherish, something that we value, away from God.

Maybe we don’t do it with our arms. Or with our swords or clubs. We are peaceful people after all. But we do do it with our pocketbooks. And with our money. And with our wallets. We hold our checkbooks out and we say, “This arm is not baptized!” and then we spend our money totally apart from God.

Christian stewardship, Dr. Powell says, is about getting completely wet. Discovering what it is that we would like to keep dry and then immersing it in the waters of Holy Baptism. It is about giving to God. Turning total control of our lives over to God. And that is “good news” for us. Because God is very good at controlling lives. In fact, God is much better at it than we are.

Christian stewardship is taking seriously what we so easily pray week after week: “Thy kingdom come, they will be done.”

And so we invite you in these coming weeks “to take the plunge.” Not only into Dr. Powell’s book. [As I said before there will be copies floating around. Pick one up. Take it home. Read it and bring it back for someone else to read. It is a winsome and engaging read.] But also into the waters of baptism. To get completely wet. And to turn everything you have and everything you are over to God. For stewardship is everything that happens after a person says, “I believe.”

Worth All that We Have

Take a look at the Gospel reading for today. There are two people who took the plunge now didn’t they? Totally and completely.

Like a Pearl of Great Price

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field,” Jesus said, “which someone found and hid; and then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” And again, “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; and on find one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

If I held in my hand the winning ticket to $200 million Megabucks jackpot, wouldn’t you cash out everything in your banking account to get it? I know I would.

And hasn’t Jesus given us so much more? All generosity begins with God. With the gift of his own son. With the death he died upon a cross. Jesus did not hold his arm out of the water, the day he was baptized. But rather he got completely wet and stretched out that arm in a holy sacrifice for us.

God is very good at being “in control.” God is very good at managing people’s lives and that is “good news” for us.

The Way of Life

There are many kinds of stewardship. There is stewardship of our “money.” Of our “time, talents and treasures.” There is the stewardship of our “bodies” and the “good earth” that God has given us. There is the stewardship of our “families” and the nurturing of “relationships.” There is our stewardship of the “holy gospel” and passing on the faith to future generations.

There are all kinds of different forms of stewardship. But the point is this: stewardship is THE way of life for those who belong to God. It is an act of worship. It is an expression of our faith. It is a discipline for spiritual growth. It affects everything we are. And everything we do. For the better and not for worse.

We invite you to take the plunge…and get completely wet.

A sermon series based on Dr. Mark Allan Powell’s Giving to God (Eerdmans, 2006)

Jesus sums up Life from A to Z

Jesus Christ is king! He sums it up. All of life. All of God-given life from A to Z.

Take any letter of the alphabet and it is not hard at all to think of dozens and dozens of his names and attributes: Almighty, Blessed, Christ, Divine, Eternal. The Faithful Witness. The Firstborn of the Dead. The Ruler of the Kings on earth.

When our daughter was a little girl, there was a game we played with her in the car. She loved it. She absolutely loved it.

We would take all the different letters of the alphabet one-by-one. And we would think of all the words beginning with that letter that one way or another related to Jesus. She learned some very interesting words that way. Try it as you travel this thanksgiving weekend. It will make the trip go faster.

A Blessing Comes Down…

A clever pastor [the sainted Arden Mead of Creative Communication, Saint Louis, MO] once did that with a poem. He told the entire story of Jesus with twenty-six words, each one starting with the next letter of the alphabet. An acrostic, we call it. It goes like this:

“A blessing comes down, eternal from God. Here is Jesus, kingly love mangered now. Of peace, quiet rest, sing—the ultimate victorious Word, eXciting your zeal.” Isn’t that great?

And maybe it would be fun sometime to preach 26 sermons in a row, each one taking a different letter of the alphabet and thinking of all the different words that go with Jesus for each letter.

Grace & Peace

But on this Christ the King Sunday let us focus on just two, like the prophet John does—the letter “G” and the letter “P.”

“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth.”

Grace and peace—these are the two gifts, the two ultimate gifts, that we receive from Jesus Christ. And let’s not take these two gifts for granted, even in the church. Especially in the church.

It is not just a few wild “tribes” who have something to fear when Jesus comes again as king. Say, the angry Jews leaders who brought up charges. Or the Romans soldiers who actually, physically nailed him to a cross.

Ugh! Christ’s Report Card on the Churches

For if you read on in the book of Revelation you will see that Jesus has a bone to pick with the churches, too. To each of the seven churches Jesus write a report card. And there are two “B’s,” a couple of “D’s,” and the rest are “F’s.”

“I have this against you,” Jesus writes, “that you have abandoned the love you had at first…that you follow accommodating teachings…that you have a name of being alive, but that your works are dead…that you are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

And couldn’t much of the same be said of any church including ours? Don’t we all fall short of what Jesus would have us be? If Jesus were to do a mid-term report card on us, wouldn’t we get the same bad letters?

But Jesus Loves us and Freed us

But then, there comes my favorite “B.” The “but.” But Jesus “loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father.”

And suddenly something “nifty” happens in these open words from the book of Revelation. Especially if you like and marvel at triune things, like I do.

The three titles for Jesus (the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth) correspond to the three most critical events of his life: his death upon the cross, his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven.

On the cross Jesus became “the faithful witness,” the faithful martyr (as it says in Greek) and Jesus testified to the faithful love of God. That God will never go, even when we get an “F” and fail him. For what ultimately counts is not our fidelity to God, but God’s fidelity to us. And we can take that to the bank on the day of Christ’s return.

And through his resurrection Jesus became “the firstborn of the dead.” The first, mind you. The first of many, many more. Including you and me and all the faithful ones we love.

And by his ascension, Jesus became “the ruler of the kings on earth,” who does not “lord it over us,” like Pilate would. That’s what Jesus means when he says to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world. His kingship is not only of another place, it is of another kind. Jesus does not “lord it over us,” but rather he “lifts us up,” he raises us, so that we might be a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father. It’s “God’s work. Our hands.”

Exciting Your Zeal

And what is there left for us to do, but to thank and praise him. “To him…to him who loves us and freed us and made us a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father…to him (to Jesus Christ) be the glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.” Amen.

This is the song of praise, this is the worship, that we bring him each and every day, especially every Sunday. Every Lord’s day. Because he is worthy. He is worth it. Boy, is Jesus worth it.

And we spell it out with every word we say—from A to Z. “A blessing comes down, eternal from God. Here is Jesus, kingly love mangered now. Of peace, quiet rest, sing—the ultimate, victorious Word, eXciting your zeal!”

A God Who Comes in Christ the King

There you have it. In twenty-six letters and twenty-six words the entire story of God’s love for you in Christ from A to Z. For the God of Jesus Christ is not simply a God who “is.” A God who was and is. A God of Being.

The God and Father we know in Jesus is a God who “acts.” A God who “does” things—like save us. A God who “comes.” And the way he comes to us is in Christ. Christ the king!

“To him…to him be the glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.”

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster

No Time to Sit

Why are you sitting?

Why are you sitting? I know that I motioned you to sit down and you did. Thank you for being so cooperative. But, why? Why are you sitting?

Back in the days of Jesus you would have never thought of sitting in the temple. There were no chairs, no seats, no pews anywhere.

Not only was it a matter of respect (God was the king. And no one dared to sit in the presence of the king, or OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!). But there was work to be done. Especially by the priests. The priests were workers. They had no time to sit.

There was wood to carry every day. And fires to light. And animals to bleed, butcher, and burn. And incense to ignite to cover up the smells. And all of this had to be done EVERY day because never was that work done, final and complete.

“Every priest stands day after day at his service,” we just heard the book of Hebrews say. He stands. He stands in his service. “Offering again and again the same sacrifice that can never take any sins away.”

Chickens with their Heads Cut Off

And doesn’t that sound just like us? Doing frenetic tasks that are never finished. Running like chickens with our heads cut off. Maybe we don’t offer up animal sacrifices anymore. But we do make sacrifices of our time and our money, especially for the kids.

I once sat across from a local cop at a church dinner. And I was pumping him for information to use against my daughter. I asked him about driving habits and who it was that he pulled over the most often. I wanted him to say young giggly teenage girls driving green Honda Accords. That’s what I wanted him to say.

But, no. Instead he said “soccer moms in minivans.” They are the worst and fastest speeders. They are always rushing from one place to another. Their work is never done.

The Trademark of our Culture

And isn’t that the trademark of us culture? People on the go…with things to do…because they want to be the perfect mom or dad and make the “right sacrifices” for their sons and daughters.

And if people are not here on Sunday morning sitting in these pews (especially some of our younger families) it isn’t because they are at home being lazy. But rather they are off to another event trying to do what they think is best for their kids. And wouldn’t it feel great to just sit down sometime and rest. Wouldn’t that be heaven?

Jesus Sat

Jesus sat down and rested. When Jesus our great high priest sacrificed himself upon the altar of the cross, he made a single sacrifice—just one!—for all time. A perfect “one.”

And then he sat down at the right hand of God. Jesus sat. Not just to show his power and authority, although it shows that, too. But also to show that his work is done. It is complete. And perfect. And finished. “It is finished.” Didn’t Jesus say that from the cross.

Although Jesus died on earth, he lives. He lives above. His blood has dealt with the sins of all humanity—including yours. His blood has become a bath that purifies people. All people. Including you.

The “Work” of Our Salvation is Finished

And so, there is the full and final and complete forgiveness of all our sins. A total and complete write-off of all our debt. The demolition of all the walls and barriers that stand between us and our God.

“Where there is forgiveness of sin,” the book of Hebrews tells us, “there is no longer [any need for] any offering of sin.” For in Jesus Christ God says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

We Can Relax

And therefore, we can relax. We can walk into this holy sanctuary on a Sunday morning and take a load off of our minds and backs. We can walk in here with the assurance that we don’t need to run around like chickens with our heads cut off to be right with God. The “work” of our salvation is already done. It is complete. It is finished.

In Jesus, God loves us with a perfect love. And there is nothing we can ever do to make God love us more. And there is nothing we can ever do to make God love us less. For in Jesus we have this bold and brazen confidence that our hearts have been made pure and our consciences washed clean.

Instead, We Provoke One Another to Love

We can relax

Instead of running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we do something that is very, very different, the book of Hebrews says. We “provoke one another to love and to good deeds.” That’s how the book of Hebrews puts it. We “provoke one another to love and to good deeds.” We encourage one another “not to neglect the habit of meeting together”—of gathering every Sunday—“as is the habit of some.”

And do you notice that? Do you notice that there are not some people here today, who are habitually gone? And if you called them up on the phone, I am sure they would give you some “good” excuse.

And still we persist in prodding one another to love and do good deeds. We don’t give up. We keep on bugging people to say that gathering together for weekly worship is important. It is absolutely essential for the good health—the good spiritual health–of you and your kids.

Poke the Person Next to You

I want you to take your finger out for just a moment and point it up to God. God is #1. Do you believe that? Of course you do. That’s why you are here today.

And now I want you to take that same finger and poke the person next to you. Don’t be shy. Give them a good Christian poke.

And as you do say: “Come to worship every Sunday.” “Get to Sunday School every week.” “Do not neglect to meet together as some do.” “Do deeds of love and good works.” “Be generous in your giving.” “Get involved.” “Be a part of some mission and some ministry.” “It’s God’s work. Our hands.”

This is what Christians do. And it’s a lot more fun than running like a chicken with its head cut off?

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster

A Dirty Job

A dirty job

My first real job was as a janitor at a company that sold and serviced heavy road equipment. And it was my job to work in the shop and clean up after the mechanics.

These guys would be covered from head to toe with grease, dust, dirt, grime, oil from working outside on road equipment all day long. It got on everything they touched. And they would track it all in, especially into the locker room.

And at the end of the day, I was the one who had to go into that locker room and clean it up. And I ended up as dirty as they were.

GOJO Magic

But thank God there was this magic stuff called “GOJO.” A creamy, gentle, waterless hand cleaner that I could crank out of a dispenser.

Thank God for GOJO

And here, I come to Ohio and I discover that GOJO is based right here in Akron in our own back yard. It was invented for those working in the tire industry. And you all know another product that they make—it is the Purell hand sanitizer that is so popular today. Small world, isn’t it?

Ashes of the Red Heifer

The priests back in the days of Jesus had a body sanitizer. It would cleanse anyone who had contact with a dead body.

Say you attended a funeral this year. Or you visited a grave to honor the dead. Or you were in the house or touched the clothes of someone who had died. Contact with death would render you unfit to approach God. You were “unclean,” they called it.

Red heifer without blemish

And then they would take the ashes and mix it with water. And whenever a person came into contact with death, those persons would be sprinkled with this stuff—this ancient GOJO—to take the defilement away.

It cleansed them. It sanctified them. Saint-ified them. It renewed and restored them as “saints.” Part of that holy people who are set aside for God’s service. Which is how the word “saint” was first used—for all of Israel, for all of God’s holy people. They all were saints, people set aside for God’s service.

How Much More the Blood of Jesus

Jesus Carrying Cross by El Greco

Now consider this—the “awesome thought” proposed to us on this All Saints’ Day by the Book of Hebrews: If the sprinkling with those ashes purified the people, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!”

Jesus is “so much more” than a red heifer. He is the God, the Son of the living God. And, not only did he have no blemishes on the outside, he had no blemishes on the inside—in his soul and in his heart and spirit.

And his self-sacrifice, not only opens up the door to any earthly place of worship (like a temple, for example), but it takes us to the highest & holiest of all places, the very throne of God itself. And it does not last for only a few moments (until the next time that we contact death), but it last forever. For all eternity.

Breaking Through the Limitations

The ritual with the red heifer had its limitations. It only cleaned the outside. It did not clean the soul, the heart, the mind, the spirit. And it only dealt “temporarily” with the problem of death. It did not deal with it permanently, eternally.

And it was limited in time and space. It only worked for those of the right pedigree who got to those priests in that one temple.

But outside the city gate, Jesus offers up a sacrifice of a whole another kind. Not animal sacrifice, but himself. His human and divine self. And not one that ever has to be repeated. But one that is good once-and-for all. For everyone. Everywhere. Of any time and place. Including this time and this place.

And it does not deal just with our contact with someone else’s death. It deals with our death. And not just our death at the end of our days, but our death now. Our living death.

Especially our “dead works” that make us “dead ducks” before the searching eye of the Living God. It deals with that “guilt conscience” that can bug us as we are plagued and haunted by a life that we know has not been so squeaky clean and saintly as God would have us be.

The Death of Jesus is our Cleanser

And so, the death of Christ becomes our cleanser. His death and resurrection is mixed with water and splashed on us in Holy Baptism to clean us from the top of our head to the tip of our toes. His MOJO—Christ’s MOJO—becomes God’s GOJO that can take stain of sin away no matter how grimy our lives become.

And it sanctifies us. Saint-ifies us. It makes us part of that holy people who are set aside for God’s service. “The priesthood of all believers,” Martin Luther called it. The saints. The holy ones of God. The baptized. God’s new Israel. The church.

Living Testimonials

The faith departed that we remember today all knew that. They all did. Donald James Rakosik, Joseph Sandor, Mary Borden, Daryll Meng, Faye Tiech, Warren Ries, CharlieAnn Curtis.

They all were “saints” who did saintly things for Jesus. Oh, yes, they were “sinners” too, who had their faults and failings. They were characters. All of them were characters.

And it makes me smile to think of each and every one of them. They were so full of character. They were people who got their hands dirty with the joys and demands of daily live.

But they were characters who put their trust in Christ. And who put their hands out to receive his gifts of grace. And they pulled on the dispenser of his forgiveness.

And they said, “Touch me. Heal me. Hold me. Wash me head to toe with the cleansing waters of your baptism. Fill me with your Word and Spirit. Use me in your service.” Their lives are “living testimonials” to the cleansing and purifying power that Jesus brings.

And take it from someone who has spent a lifetime as a custodian of one kind or another, always cleaning up after other people—I have yet to see a stain that Jesus can’t remove.

The Former Priesthood

On my shelf I have a book (a large, coffee-table picture book) that recreates daily life in the temple back in the days of Jesus—daily worship life. What a sight that must have been!

Book on the Holy Temple

Imagine this! A temple courtyard so large that it could hold 15 football fields with ease (which means that all of the teams of the NFL—all of them!—could play their Sunday games in this venue simultaneously). It was that big! And in the center. The sanctuary itself. A perfect cube. With a gold and silver façade on top of its white marble that would absolutely blind you when the morning sun crested over the Mount of Olives.

And before that sanctuary the great high altar, on which the sacrifices were lifted, given, poured. And from which the fragrant smoke wafted up in steady streams drawing God near. If I had a time machine, this would be the first place and the first time that I would like to visit.

Grand, but Limited

And yet, for all of its magnificence and despite its splendor, this priestly way of doing things had it limitations. “The former priests were many in number,” the book of Hebrews tells us. They had to be. They kept on dying.

And it was a priesthood based on the commandments (“Do this or else!”). And it locked them in an endless cycle of divine command, human sin and trespass (sins of commission or omission) and priestly sacrifices to make restitution for the sins of the priests and all the people.

It sounds like many of the endless cycles that we are in, now doesn’t it? Bubble-bust-recovery. Bubble-bust-recovery. Command-sin-restitution. What’s the difference? Those are just two different ways of saying, “Opps, I’ve made a mess that someone else must clean up.”

Until… that endless cycle is broken for us by a death. Our death. And it is “curtains.” There are “term limits” for us all. As those ancient priests themselves found out. “They were prevented by death from continuing in office.” And that’s an epitaph that could be written of us all.

Enter Jesus – A Perfect Priest

Jesus our High Priest

Jesus is the holy Son of God who became a human being. Jesus is God in human flesh and blood. Vulnerable to suffering, yes. Open to temptation. Just like we are. And yet, he did not sin. His fidelity and trust took him all the way to the cross.

And on the high altar of the cross, his death is a better sacrifice… far better sacrifice…with far better results. It does not have to be repeated. It lasts forever. And it is meant for everyone. Not just for one small group of people.

Based on God’s Promise

And best of all it is no longer based on a command (“Do this…or else”). But rather it is based on God’s oath, God’s word of promise. Which means it does not depend on what I do for God, but on what God has done for me.

Christ's Cross is a Bridge

For any God who can willingly come from the throne of heaven down to earth to die a death for sinners and then rise from the dead for them and ascend to the heavens can certainly bridge any gap of sin that I can carve out…out of my own stupidity.

Jesus breaks the endless cycle of bubble-bust-recovery, he breaks through the terms limits death imposes, he cleans up the messes that we make, and bends the curve of our recovery in line with his eternity.

In Jesus Christ, God says to us…God shouts at us…, “I have done this for you. Believe me. Trust me. Take me at my word of promise.”

This is the new and better covenant than the one we had before. For it is based on God’s oath and promises in Christ, rather than the commands that God gave to the former priesthood.

Tithes & Gifts for Ministry

And that changes everything. Including what we do with our money. No longer do we give the tithe (10% of what we have, the first fruits) to support a priesthood. A command, by the way. A mitzvah. Do this or else!

But rather we give the tithe to engage in a ministry. The ministry of Christ himself. A ministry that we are involved and engaged in, too, ourselves. For now we are his body now. We are part of a royal priesthood that involved in a “bridge-building.” Letting others know that God is “near” through the work and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Ministry is not just what a pastor does…say, me. But rather ministry is what we all do together as the church of Jesus Christ. And so Jesus needs your time. He needs your talents. Jesus needs your involvement. He needs your heart and will as well as your pocketbook.

Please Respond

This week we are sending out a mailing to the entire congregation inviting your involvement for the coming year. And I hope you will respond. For Jesus certainly is worth it.

He is our priest. Our great high priest. Holy, blameless and undefiled. And his work and his ministry goes on forever.

He is the one. The perfect one.

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster

God’s Two Words – Law & Gospel

The word of God is a two-edged sword. There are two sides to it that cut in two very different ways. There is the Law, and there is the Gospel. And those are two different…very different…words.

Both are God’s word with the full power and authority of God behind them. Both are “living and active” in our world today. Thank God, they are…because we need them both. Both cut deep below the surface into the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.

But they are not two equal words. One is Life. The other Death. One is “good news” for us. The other “bad news” for us. One offers us God’s grace and mercy and help in time of need. The other strips us of all our pretenses and excuses until our sins are laid naked and bare before the piercing “eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.” God himself, the endtime Judge.

You don’t want to be on the bad end of the law, but you do want to be on the good end of the gospel. For one word of God is like the battle sword that cuts you down in battle. A battle against God, which is one battle you will never win. And the other word of God is like the surgeon’s scalpel that cuts the cancer out so that a living loving heart can truly heal.

And these two words contest against each other. In the Christ. And on the cross. Until one word trumps and triumphs over the other and wins out. And it becomes the “last word.” God’s final word.

God’s Accusing Word – The Law

God's Law is like a Diagnositic Tool

But, by God’s law we mean much more than just the rules that get laid down either through the Scriptures or through civil authorities. We mean that searching diagnosis of a doctor, which looks far beneath the appearances on the surface to see what is going on within.

The Law, in Christian circles, is that word of God that is “able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” That’s how the book of Hebrews puts it. “Able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

God’s word of Law is like a sharp, highly-granular, highly-detailed diagnostic tool that is able to penetrate the soul and look deep into the spirit and judge the hidden intentions of our hearts, which, as fallen human creatures, is always wanting and always lacking.

“The wages of sin is death,” the law says. “Break one, you break them all.” “Laws are made to be broken,” one saying goes. Oh, no! Not God’s law. “Laws are made because we are broken.”

And so, the law of God always accuses us. “The law always accuses,” the original Lutherans said in our founding documents. “The law always accuses.”

God’s Healing & Forgiving Word – The Gospel

And if this were the only word from God we had, well then, either we would be proud and boastful falsely thinking that we are keeping God’s law. Or else, we would be desperate and despairing because we knew darn well that we had not. But, either way, we would be in one heck of a mess.

But thank God, there is another word of God. A second one. The good news of the Gospel. Which is really God’s first and last word. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end.

In Jesus on the cross it happens. The two very different words of God clash and collide. God’s judging and condemning word—the Law. And God’s healing and forgiving word—the Gospel.

Jesus dies the death of sinners as rightly required by God’s law. Guilt by association, we would call it today. Aiding and abetting. Jesus befriended sinners and opened up a path to God in violation of God’s law. That was his crime. Befriending sinners.

And yet, in the same process, Jesus was also the obedient Son of God, living out the Gospel. Demonstrating in the flesh and in his love and fellowship with others, God’s mercy, grace and love.

And for three tense days, it seemed as God’s law and judgment won out. But God raised Jesus from the dead to show that God’s grace and mercy is God’s last word. God’s final word. God’s ultimate word. God’s mercy is greater than God’s judgment.

Only One can Change the Human Heart

Jesus layers his heart over ours

And yet, he is also able to layer a picture of his own heart on top of ours. So, that when God’s judging eye looks at us, it is not our heart it sees with all its faults and weaknesses. But rather, God sees only the faithful obedience of Jesus upon the cross.

And that is where the word of God in the Gospel is so different from the word of God in the law. The law can only “judge” the human heart. Test it and evaluate it. The law cannot “change” the human heart.

But Jesus can. Jesus has the power and ability to transplant his heart into our own and fill us with his own spirit. It is the difference between a doctor saying “I have some dreadful news your heart is failing” and the surgeon saying, “Do not worry, I can implant a new device to keep your heart beating firm and strong. Simply relax and trust me, and I will do the job.”

The Gospel is God’s Last & Final Word

The word of God is a two-edged sword. There are two sides to it that cut in very different ways. There is the law and there is the Gospel.

But thanks to God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has become God’s last word. God’s final word. A word that enables us to approach throne of God with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find a grace-filled help in time of need.

© 2009 Pastor Paul jaster

Can You Hear Me?

Can You HEAR Me?

And I remember distinctly that we went into the home of one elderly woman who was extremely hard of hearing. And so, the pastor sat next to her as close as he could. And he got his mouth right up to her ear. And then, he shouted loudly this amazing bit of opening liturgy: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

And I began to giggle. Uncontrollably giggle. I mean no disrespect to this dear woman. But in my head, this moment suddenly turned into a “snapshot” of us and God. In my pastor shouting at this woman, I saw a picture of us and God.

A Picture of Us & God

I could see God sitting down next to us every single day of our life. Snuggling up to us as close as he can. Putting his lips right next to our ear. And shouting out his love for us in the clear, loud words of the Christian Gospel. God’s love for us in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Every day … every day … God is sitting right next to us … talking … talking … talking … until God is blue in the face. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” That’s what God is saying.

And yet, God looks at the blank stares on our face…or sees in our eyes that our attention is else where…or God hears us mumble and grumble that God is nowhere to be found. And God must just want to scream at us, “CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

And so, it hit me as a kid in high school. Maybe in our liturgy on Sunday morning … maybe a number of times throughout the service, we should have the pastor shout out in the name of God, “CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Maybe this should be part of the standard liturgy, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. CAN YOU HEAR ME? Amen.” Maybe we should all propose that for our next Lutheran book of worship.

God Speaks in Many & Various Ways

If we cannot “hear” God,… if we don’t feel that God is close at hand, it certainly is NOT because God isn’t speaking. “In many and various ways God spoke to people of old by the prophets,” the book of Hebrews tells us.

Go back into your bible starting from the book of Genesis and you will see that God snuggled up and spoke to his people in many and various ways. God had some very intimate conversations with Adam and Abraham.

And God spoke through dreams and signs and visions and spoken messages. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and cloud of fire and through a thunderstorm on Sinai. And God spoke to Elijah through a small still voice. And God spoke to all his people through prophet after prophet.

Jesus is God’s Loudest, Clearest Way of Speaking

“But now in these last days, God has spoken to us by a Son.” Which is to say that with Jesus we sense a change in God’s M.O. God’s modus operandi. God’s way of operating.

Jesus isn’t just another prophet or another angelic messenger boy. And he isn’t just another preacher or teacher. And he certainly isn’t just another healer. Jesus is The Message. Jesus is the One. He is the Son. He is God in human flesh to get so close to us that he crawls into our skin himself.

And his megaphone becomes the cross. Through Jesus on the cross God does his loudest, clearest form of speaking.

God takes the loudspeaker of the cross. And he aims it right at us. And God turns up the amp. And God says to each one of us, “This is my beloved Son. He is the one who is the closest to my heart. Listen to him. Listen to what he is telling you about me. I love you. I love you. I love you. I want you to be one of mine.”

The Christian faith is so simple: There is a God. And we’re not it. What we are not, Jesus is. What Jesus is, we become…when we take Jesus at his word and trust his word of promise.

Jesus is the Scapegoat

Last Monday was the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest day of the year for Jewish people.

Jesus is our scapegoat

And then they drove that goat out in the wilderness to let it die there along with all the sins that had been laid on it.

Well, the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was the scapegoat to end all scapegoats. Jesus was that one perfect sacrifice for sin that never has to be repeated. And isn’t that so fitting? Isn’t that so much in keeping with the loving character of God? That God should take pain and agony upon himself and suffer it away?

Jesus is our High Priest

And now this same Jesus has been raised to become our great High Priest who intercedes for us with God. He speaks to God for us. And he speaks back to us for God. And in the process he is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters.

And that’s much better isn’t it? That God should speak to us through his Son. The one who is closest to his heart. It’s much better than a dream or a vision, which might be true or might be not. It’s better than a sign of nature, which shows God’s power but does not tell us whether God is for us or against us.

It’s better than a command from Moses that tells us “what” to do, but does not give us the power to do it. Or an angel that stands above us, but is not us, one of us, the way that Jesus is. Or, the promises of a prophet, which are only hoped for but not yet fulfilled. Jesus is the deed done. The love of God accomplished. Sealed with God’s own Spirit.

We Can Hear You Loud & Clear

“In many and various ways God spoke to people of old by the prophets, but in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son.” The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s megaphone. Through Jesus crucified and raised God does his loudest, clearest form of speaking.

And what a joy it is when we open up our ears and look Jesus speaking from the cross and from the empty tomb and say back to God: “Yes God, we can hear you. Boy, can we hear you. Yes, we can hear you. Loud and clear.”

© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster

Step by Step, Prayer by Prayer

Back in 1996 my wife, Laurie, was diagnosed with cancer.

You've got cancer

But, here it is 13 years later. And (“Alleluia! Thank you, Jesus!”) there is no sign of it. No sign of it at all. As far as the doctors are concerned, the cancer is gone. Completely gone. And they have no explanation for it.

Ask me and I will tell you that Laurie was in such excellent physical shape that the doctors could be extra aggressive with her. They doubled up on some treatments they would not have done to someone who was older or weaker.

But ask Laurie … and she will tell you it was the prayers. All the prayers offered on her behalf by so many of the faithful. In fact, there is a little card that someone sent her. And it’s message became her motto and her mantra that she said to herself everyday. She put it above the kitchen sink. And that card is still there.

And that card said, “Step by step, prayer by prayer, the Lord will always get you there.”

Service of Healing

Lutherans have always valued the power of prayer. In fact, I would dare to say that a very tender and important moment happens in worship every week when we lift up by name those who are near and dear to us who are in need of healing during the “Prayers of the Faithful.”

Evangelical Lutheran Worship

But one nice addition to our new red book of worship, the ELW—Evangelical Lutheran Worship—is that it now includes a “Service of Healing” which is intended to be used within a moment of corporate worship. Say, a service of Holy Communion.

This Service of Healing picks up on what James says in our first reading for today:

“Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.”

What this is NOT

Let me say some things about what this service is NOT. This service is not an act of magic. Just because you come forward and have someone lay your hands on you and anoint you with oil doesn’t mean that all your health issues will immediately go away. Sometimes prayer does result in physical healing and sometimes it doesn’t.

And just because it doesn’t, doesn’t mean that God does not love you. Or that you are bad. Or, that your faith is not good or strong enough. Saint Paul himself had a painful “thorn in the flesh” that he prayed again and again for God to remove, but God never did. Instead he got the answer, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Sometimes God has another cure than the one we have in mind.

And this service is not what the Roman Catholics used to call “Extreme Unction” or “Last Rites,” the anointing of people who are so sick that they are about to die.

When I started out in ministry, the only hospital in town was a Roman Catholic one and so most people from the church that I served went there.

And the staff and the Roman Catholic patients would shutter as I walked into the door. Here was the priest, they thought, coming to administer “Last Rites.” Back in those days, the only time a priest would come into a hospital was to administer “Last Rites.” To see a priest in hospital meant someone was going to die.

That no longer is Roman practice. Nor has it ever been ours. The expectation of this anointing is that a person will be healed.

Jesus Heals

Jesus Healing Leper

And Jesus cast out demons—those bad and evil spirits that can deflate us and oppress us. And Jesus cured physical illnesses of every kind. And Jesus raised the dead. A kind of healing, wasn’t it, of the greatest illness of them all.

And in his healing, Jesus used many different methods, such as lifting his hands and eyes and praying to the God who was his Father. And laying his hands on people—even the lepers—and touching the affected part. Or, speaking a healing word from a great distance even though he could not be there in person.

An Extension of that Same Ministry

Healing Oil

And that those who have committed sins are forgiven—personally, fully and completely. They were all forgiven the day that Jesus died. And that Jesus will heal all who are sick one way or another. Either by a healing now or (as Jesus did for my father) in a life to come.

And so, after the Hymn of the Day, we will switch over to the Service of Healing on page 276 in the ELW and we invite those of you who wish to come forward.

Those who are cheerful – They shall sing.

For a final word, I remind you of Laurie’s little mantra: “Step by step, prayer by prayer, the Lord will always get you there.”

© Pastor Paul Jaster

Why do we Fight?

Last Sunday I asked the Adult Bible Class, “What do you want to talk about this year?”

And immediately a hand shot up. And a person said, “Maybe this is showing my ignorance, but I would like to know more about Muslims, Christians and Jews. We all come from Abraham, don’t we? Then why are we fighting one another in the name of God?”

And I empathize with that remark. It doesn’t make much sense, does it, that people with the same God and people who come from the same human family should end up fighting with each other to the point of murder.

Maybe that happens in the world of politics. Or among the mobs and mafias. But it certainly should not happen in the church of Jesus Christ.

Violent Zeal in the Church

We are in the book of James this day. The James who most likely was not a disciple of Jesus, one of the twelve (as in “James and John the son of Zebedee”), but who rather was a brother of Jesus (a biological brother) who later became THE leader in the church of Jerusalem, the number one leader.

And if this is the case, then that puts James smack dab in the very middle of those tumultuous years in Jerusalem right before the Jewish revolt in 70 A.D. In other words, there were different Jewish factions who were fighting with each other over how to rid themselves of their Roman overlords.

And among them were a bunch of Zealots. Pious people who were so “zealous” for the Law of Moses that they were willing to use force if necessary to drive the Romans out and use the sword and daggers to kill other Jews if they aided and abetted Romans—like a zealous priest named Phinehas did back in the days of Moses.

Or like Judas Maccabeus did 160 years before Jesus. Judas Maccabeus. Now there’s a name for you. Judas “the hammer.” That’s what Maccabeus means. “The hammer.” What a title for a priest! It sounds more like a name for a World Wide Wrestler. Those were their role models: Phinehas and Judas Maccabeus.

And quite possibly this “zealous” attitude spilled over into the church. That there were conflicts and disputes among Christians (including disputes over how to get rid of Roman overlords) that led to violence and bloodshed.

A Sign of a Sick Heart

A Sign of a Sick Heart

And so, James had to lay down the law. “These conflicts and disputes among you,” he says, “where do they come from? They come from the bitter envy and the selfish ambition in your hearts. You want something. And you do not have it. So you commit murder to get it.”

And that pretty well sums it up, now doesn’t it? All the violence we see around the world today. You want something. And you do not have it. And so you hurt someone else to get it.

Maybe that’s the way Serena thinks she can win in Wimbledon when her own foot gets in the way. Or maybe that’s the way the radical right think that they can win the pro-life debate. Let’s see. Let’s stop abortion by killing the abortion doctors. That makes a lot of sense, now doesn’t it? For a pro-lifer to stop abortions by killing a doctor.

That happened in a Lutheran congregation back in May, you might remember. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed on a Sunday while he was ushering at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, one of our congregations.

Maybe that is an earthly wisdom, unspiritual and devilish. But it is certainly not God’s wisdom. That is not God’s way. “God’s judgment is merciless to those who show no mercy.” That’s what we heard James say two weeks ago in chapter one.

God’s Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

And yet, in the very next breath we heard Saint James say, “God’s mercy triumphs over judgment.” God sent his son to die upon the cross to endure God’s own merciless judgment on those who show no mercy.

And in the very process God holds before our eyes another model. Not the “Zealot model” of a Phinehas or a Judas Maccabeus or a Serena or a Joe Wilson, but rather the “cruciformed model” of the Christ, who is everything that we are not. Saint James’s sevenfold list. Saint James “perfect” sevenfold list: “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. It’s like the seeds are harvested from his death and resurrection. And by the Holy Spirit those same seeds—the things that Jesus are—are planted in us. And God is “jealous.” God is “zealous” for us to have the Spirit of Christ to dwell in us.

God Effects a Change of Heart

And so God calls us to repentance and to a total change of heart. “Submit yourself to the Lord. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

Peace in this world of ours does not come as the result of fighting and killing. Killing did not free anyone from Roman rule. The Jewish people quickly discovered that in 70 A.D. Their killing only led to their own misery and defeat.

Rather peace comes from above…from God…and it is given as a special promise to those who surrender to God’s wisdom from above.

To welcome such a God is to be both humbled and exalted. It humbles us because it gives us no coercive power over others. And yet, it exalts us. Because it gives us no need to put down anybody else, but rather causes us to glory in Christ’s rule.

Peace for the Polarized

We live in a polarized world where people are getting pushed farther and farther apart. Just think of the difference it would make, if rather than the shouting, the fighting and arguing, the bitter and frustrating competition, there was a community of people who dared to take the risk of making peace.

And practiced kindness. And was open-minded to opinions different than their own, showing mercy. And did not claw over others for their own advantage. Or discriminate. Or hide in hypocrisy. Wouldn’t that be “good news” for the world?

This is the “good life.” This is the “good life,” Saint James says. Done with gentleness. Born of wisdom. A wisdom that can only come from God.

© 2009 Pastor Paul jastter