Sinner and Saint

We are the Clay

Advent 1, 2005

Isaiah 63:16b-17; 64:1-8

“We are the Clay”

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            In 2000 while attending CUW I was able to go to Israel for three weeks. This peeked my interest in archeology and prompted me to take an archeology class while at the Seminary. I learned that one of the main ways an archeologist can learn about a culture is through its pottery.

           Pottery is an advanced technology which requires a great deal of processing, experimentation and precision to create. Even using modern pot throwing techniques, molding and hand building, the process does not always yield a useable, workable pot. Many times in the process of firing a pot, multiple firings are required which can take days. In short, pottery was something that took time to master, required very specific supplies, and was not one of the first technologies developed by different civilizations.

            Pottery would seem to be an easy thing to master…its one of those classes that people joke about football players taking in college. Yet, if you ever watched a potter working at a wheel you would know that it takes a master to create something usable. Pots created on a wheel have a dependence on an axis. If a pot were to get moved from the center of the wheel…it would most likely end up on the walls around the wheel and on the person working with the clay.

            Isaiah begins saying, “You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from old is your name.”  and ends our Old Testament lesson saying “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah writes about God being the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega. He is the creator of all men and is also the Redeemer of us all.

            Yes, you and I are the clay that our Lord used…but something happened after he made us. Each of us became corrupt. We became unusable pottery. Isaiah puts it this way, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

            Oh how corrupt we must be. Just these past few days we have had very strong winds sweep through the area. How easily a leaf can be picked up and taken away. I remember earlier this month when most of the leaves came down from the trees at the parsonage in Clintonand how just one day of strong winds took most of them from the yard. Yes, this is how lowly our state has become. We have become so ravaged by sin that we are easily swept away.                                    We are those that turn things upside down, thinking the potter was the clay! Shall we as creation tell our God who created us that “He did not make us? Can we the pot say of the potter “He knows nothing?” As Isaiah says in chapter 45, “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, What are you making? Does your work say, He has no hands? Woe to him who says to his father, What have you begotten? Or to him mother, What have you brought birth?”

            We have become those that “do not call on your name or strive to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.” Death and heartache are all around us. When we tremble in fear what is it we do for comfort. So many people look within themselves for comfort, or turn to alcohol, or sex, or violence to appease their pain.

            Yes, we have turned our back on God. We murder the innocent, steal from our neighbors, destroy what God has brought together, and deny God’s rule. But when did we ever do these things? We murder the innocent with abortion, euthanasia, and our hateful words. We steal from our neighbors by gambling and playing the lottery. We destroy what God has joined together in marriage by adultery, divorce, and sex outside of marriage. We deny God’s rule by rejecting His Word, Sacraments, and Commandments.

            But we look and ask God as Isaiah does. We ask God “who acts on behalf of those who wait for him?” “But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?”

            As God’s creation…what can we do? Where do we turn…surely looking inwards and to other earthly things does not save us or truly comfort us in our time of need. Like Isaiah and all the faithful of Israel we look to a Savior. We look to the God that becomes man. We look to the birth of the coming Messiah…Christ the Lord.

             Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to us as a baby. Jesus came in humility and came as each one of us came. Our Lord came into the flesh to live a perfect life; a life that we are unable of living because we are corrupt. Yes, our Lord came and lived that life, died our death, and was raised again by the Father. By God’s grace we are made perfect in Christ as believers.

            Jesus promises life in Him…and gives us His name. Through baptism we are joined into the death of Christ Jesus so that we may be raised from the dead by the Father as Jesus was raised from the dead. As you have seen in many baptisms (and the baptism of Jordyn) the cross was made upon the forehead and upon the heart to mark Jordyn as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.

            In Baptism our name is written in the Book of Life. But our names do not appear alone…for they appear with our Lord’s mark. Jesus has been added to our names; we have been adopted by God. Our names are written with the name of Jesus son of God added. As clay pots marked by the Potter with the cross we are identified as belonging to God our Heavenly Potter. Amen.

Thankful

Thanksgiving 2005

Luke 17:11-19

“Thankful”

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The hymn “Now Thank We All Our God” was written by Martin Rinckart, who was born in Eilenburg, Germany, in April 1586, forty years after Martin Luther’s death. His hymn has been called the German Te Deum and is considered by many as second only among German hymns to the Reformer’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Rinckart was Pastor in Eilenburg during the terrible Thirty Years’ War. Eilenburg was a walled town and therefore a place of refuge for thousands who had lost everything in the war. The overcrowded condition of the city brought on famine and disease. At times Rinckart was the only Pastor in the city. To serve thousands suffering from hunger and dying from disease was a Herculean task. Often he read the burial service for forty to fifty persons a day. At last the number of dead each day was so great that it became impossible to bury them singly, and they were interred in groups in trenches.    

           Altogether 8,000 persons died in Eilenburg during this time, including Rinckart’s wife. At the same time Rinckart suffered several financial losses and failed to receive the proper consideration at the hands of the authorities of the city in spite of his unselfish and tireless efforts in behalf of the sick and dying. And yet he wrote during this time that wonderful hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.

            What faith Rinckart had to praise his Lord in the face of such struggles and turmoil and personal loss. It is hard to imagine how someone could speak such beautiful words while dealing with all this heartache.

            Our Gospel lesson speaks about a group of 10 lepers. These men were on the outskirts of the city. They were despised and mocked. No person dared approach them in fear that the disease might spread. These men were outcasts of the town…and nobody was willing to help them…except for Jesus. These men were physically alive but emotionally dead. They were unable to go to church. They were unable to see their families and friends. They lost everything.

            Our world today continues to struggle on with life. We struggle also…don’t we? There are broken families throughout the world that don’t celebrate such things together such as Thanksgiving. There is death all among us. There are lives that are cut short. There is famine and floods and all kinds of disasters. And while we see these things happening to others…we ignore the problems until they strike us.

            It seems that it takes personal loss and heartache for us to come begging our Lord for help. The lepers in the Gospel were at this point of loss. They were willing to do anything to be healed…they were looking for anything that would help. Then came Jesus, the Messiah…the healer of many. Surely this Jesus could help them. They called out “Jesus, Master, Have pity on us!” You could imagine seeing them tremble before their master…with tears in their eyes asking for help. If Jesus couldn’t help them…nobody could.

            “When Jesus saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.” This verse…so simple…so straight-forward…and so loving. Jesus certainly had pity on them. Notice, that Jesus never asked them to do something for him… Jesus never demands anything from us…for his love is so great. “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” Just one person gave thanks to Jesus…just one.

            Yet this is how the world acts toward Jesus. This is how we act toward our Lord and Savior. Disaster strikes and we come kneeling before our Lord asking…no begging for help. Oh the things our Lord does for us even without our asking…and we go running back to our happiness without thanking Jesus for what he gives us.

            Yesterday, I buried a 23 year old young man. I buried a young man that was a loving son, brother and friend. This funeral reminds me of my own brushes to death and how I too was so thankful to be alive and was overwhelmed with joy at seeing those I loved…and yes I thanked God. But time passes and we lose that thankfulness; that joy. As time passes we forget how God protects us and watches over us…we forget the joy we have in Christ Jesus.

            Instead we go around complaining when things don’t go our way. We covet what others have. We do everything we can to get things that we want. We forget about the gifts we are given and focus on the things we don’t have yet.

            Tomorrow marks the National Day of Thanksgiving. Today is the number one travel day in the country. Tomorrow we will feast with our families over a whopping 46 million turkeys as some 90% of our households will be feasting on this bird. Many of us will over eat and spend the rest of the day watching football on TV or sitting around remembering the past with family members.

            Thanksgiving Day is a blessing from God…it is a day that we are reminded of all the wonderful things God has given to us. We are with God’s gift of family. We eat food from the harvest that God blessed. We eat food that God created. We celebrate the life we have and the memories of those that have gone before us.

            Yet there is something better…something greater for us to give thanks for on Thanksgiving and every day. It is the gift of life. It is the gift of living not just here and now on earth but in heaven with God. It is the gift of salvation that Jesus won…by death on the cross. It is the gift of paradise with all of our loved ones…the banquet feast… the greatest Thanksgiving there will ever be.

            Let us rejoice this Thanksgiving with all our families and friends and remember all the gifts that God gives to us. Let us remember always the gift that God gives that is far more important then any of our complaints…that is forgiveness of sins. As we remember these things let us joyfully praise our Lord in the face of all trials remembering the words of the great Thanksgiving hymn Rinckart wrote “Oh, may this bounteous God Through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us and keep us in his grace and guide us when perplexed and free us from all harm in this world and the next.”

            As we go from this place to our joyful Thanksgiving feasts tomorrow hear the words of Jesus to his faithful people “"Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Christ the King Sunday "Jesus is Coming...look busy"

Recently I was visiting a fellow pastor at his church and saw a sign on his door that many people seem to take to heart in their every day lives. The sign said “Jesus is coming…everyone look busy!” This almost seems to be the same reasoning people have with their bosses and their parents… Mom and Dad are home…look busy! But we all learn that looking busy and being prepared and having our work done are two very different things.

            Now I’m not asking you to join the boy scouts but … Be Prepared. I’m going to take a little survey here. How many of you will be slaving over the oven preparing a magnificent Thanksgiving feast for your family? Let me ask you this… “If a grandmother is looking out the front-room window waiting for the family to arrive for Thanksgiving dinner is she going to be as ready as the grandmother that is basting the turkey in the kitchen and only know and then listening for the car coming into the driveway?

            In the same way you cannot always be looking heavenward gazing at the sky waiting to see the personal appearance of our Lord, but it is possible for you to be prepared and ready for His coming.

            The Gospel lesson today talks about Christ the bridegroom coming and taking His Church the virgins to the banquet feast that is heaven. Let us call this for our own reflection the Parable of the 10 believers in Christ for that is whom the virgins are. Yes these believers are waiting for their Lord to come on the Last Day.

            Now before we go any farther…and before we start to point fingers here and there… You and I are these ten believers these ten virgins. And now I tell you as believers that yes, Jesus is coming and He is coming soon! Now…I know that people have been saying this same things for hundreds of years…and no I can’t tell you when Jesus is actually coming…but it is soon. Look at the world around you. There are wars and rumors of wars, there are famines and floods, earthquakes and tornadoes, hurricanes and Tsunamis. Yes…these are sings of the End Times. Yes, Jesus is coming soon… are you ready?

            Here we are again this fine Sunday morning. We are here as believers to fill our Lamps with oil by receiving God’s Word and Sacrament. It is here that we come as believers in preparation of our Lord’s return. It is here that by God’s grace we fill also our oil jars with God’s Word and Sacrament also.

            Sometimes its hard to think of our loved ones and ourseleves as being foolish and unprepared like half of the virgins in the Gospel lesson. Yet we are foolish and unprepared in our lives as sinful people and so are our loved ones, our friends, and our neighbors.

            Please, look around you…look at all the empty pews…the Church is not filled! Where are all of our members? Where are all of your friends, neighbors, and loved ones that we call brothers and sisters in Christ? Are they prepared for Jesus to come? Do you care? Have you told them or invited them to come to the place that Jesus himself is at filling our lamps and jars with oil overflowing? Have you told them before its too late?

            God is warning us in this parable that He is coming…soon…and that we need to be prepared!

            Yes, God is warning each of us Christians that are here this morning and those who are not. You see, there is something that the wise and foolish virgins have in common…they are both virgins that is they are both believers in Christ. God is talking to his Church… a Church made up of sinful persons… a Church made up of those that are prepared and those that have fallen or will fall away.

            Who are the foolish virgins? They are Believers that are not prepared. They are Believers that have fallen away from God’s Word. Yes, they are believers that don’t see the necessity of hearing God’s Word and receiving His Body and Blood. Many of these Believers…are believers in name only. Yes, it is very sad to say that these are our friends and families. These are people we care about and love. These could be you and me!

            The wise virgins are those that are prepared. They are believers that glady hear and learn God’s Word. They are regularly in Church not to show others…but out of necessity for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of their faith. They are believers that have a living faith that is full of faith produced good work. Yes, they are prepared by living; by acting; by faith.

            Out of love we need to confess our faith to all those around us. It is not to show off or to point out how bad people are that we confess Christ is Lord…it is out of Love. There will come a time that it will be too late for those that have laxed in the faith and those that have rejected the faith to come to Christ. Yes, the offer of Salvation is free for the taking it is free NOW…but when Jesus comes…the offer is taken of the table. When Jesus comes so does judgement…immediately…there will be no second chances.

            Thanks be to God. Yes, thanks be to God that the Last Day is coming. No, we don’t want to see anyone sentenced to eternal condemnation but we do want to be in heaven with our Lord in paradise.

            God has given us all that we need to be prepared. God has given us all that we need to proclaim to others around us that they too need to be prepared. Yes, out of Love we proclaim the good news that Jesus died that they may have life. Jesus has given us the Lamp of faith. Jesus has given us the oil of God’s Word and Sacrament, God will give us the Banquet Feast of the Lamb and His Kingdom that is salvation and paradise in heaven eternal. God has given us all these things through Christ Jesus and His death on the cross and further His resurrection from the dead.

            We are forgiven all of our sins for Jesus sake and so are all people in this world. Everyone’s sins have been forgiven. Jesus died once and for all. We are witnesses to these things. Out of love…out of faith…we proclaim to all people that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” As Christians…simply Love. Amen.