Sinner and Saint

Sheep and G.O.A.T.s

Christ the King Sunday, 2017

Matthew 25:31-46

"Sheep and G.O.A.T.s"

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

            Sheep and Goats. Which one of these do you belong to? The world would tell you to be a goat...especially if you pay attention to sports. In the NBA there is still a battle going on between Michael Jordan and Lebron James as to whom is the G.O.A.T. The greatest of all time. If that is what being a Goat is...where can I sign up? Because that kind of a Goat...gets all kinds of things. That kind of a Goat has hotels, cities, fans, and limos lining up for you with your favorite luxuries. If there is a favorite beverage...its stocked in the limo and the hotel room. If you like Satin sheets... Done! Favorite food...they'll fly those ribs...steak...pizza in. It's good to be a G.O.A.T. in this world...but in the next world...that's a whole different story.

          In the Gospel for today, we hear of Jesus’ coming to judge the living and the dead. To judge between the Sheep and the Goats. Usually texts that focus on the end of the world tell us to prepare for Jesus’ coming. We often hear how Jesus will return like a thief in the night, how he’ll return like a king from a long journey, how he’ll return in some other unexpected way. We’re given signs that his return is soon and we should prepare.

          Today, we hear that Jesus has made plans for us when he returns. To those on his right hand, those who are faithful and are counted righteous, Jesus says, “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). What an amazing thought! Before Jesus made the heavens and the earth, he already had you in mind. Before the waters were separated to form the dry land, the sea, and the sky, Jesus had you in mind. More than that, Jesus prepared his kingdom for you. He prepared a kingdom for you to comfort you.

          Most people find discussions about the end of the world to be frightening. What do you think of? Will a super volcano by Yellowstone wipe us out? Will WW III and nuclear fallout destroy everything? An asteroid? Global warming? Earthquakes, famines, or something else?

          As frightening as any of those thoughts are about the end of the world...judgment day is even more fearful! Eternal Fire. Hell. The place prepared for Satan to be punished for all eternity. The end of the world could be horrible...but it won't last an eternity like God's judgment. And there is real reason to fear!

          There is real reason to fear because the ten commandments show us that we deserve to be judged and receive God's wrath and condemnation. Break  any of these commandments just once and you deserve that wrath and condemnation. We ought cry out like the Psalmist: "If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3) On top of knowing that we are sinners that deserve God's wrath is the realization that apart from Christ, nothing we do is good or pleasing before God. Nothing we do can merit forgiveness. Nothing we do can atone for our sin.

          On our own we don't give Christ anything to eat or drink, we don't invite Him in or clothe Him and we don't look after Him. In the end without faith...we cannot and do not love Christ.

          But God's punishment was not prepared for people from the foundation of the world. Hell was created specifically for Satan and his fallen angels. Jesus didn't decide to save some and damn others. This judgment is brought upon us by our own sinfulness. God never planned for people to perish... however men willfully transgressed His commandments, punishment became necessary, justice had to be executed. Christ takes no pleasure in this pronouncement of guilt and punishment. Truly Jesus "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4)         

          God desires all people to be saved. He wants you to be saved. Our text took place before a historic event. This discourse happened just days before Good Friday...during Holy Week. Everything that was happening... from Jesus' triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, Judas' betrayal, His being mocked and tortured, and His crucifixion...all were planned and prepared by God from the foundation of the world. It was all planned and prepared to save you. Christ took the punishment that each of us deserves upon Himself in His death on the cross. And as He took our sin, our wrath, our punishment upon Himself...He gives us forgiveness and righteousness. Every act of love He has done is counted as your act of love.

          That is how Jesus can say to the sheep; to the faithful believer "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." (Matthew 25:35-36) And so through Christ the Kingdom of God is ours as well.

          Our Lord tells us that He prepared a kingdom for us to comfort us. We need not fear His return. Because He has forgiven all your sins, you will be found at His right hand. You will receive the kingdom that He has prepared for you. And He loved you so much that He planned your salvation and your reward before the foundation of the world. You are a guest your Lord has been waiting to receive for a long time, in fact, before time began. And while you may not be the "Greatest Of All Time" "G.O.A.T." you can be assured that God has prepared nothing but the best for you in paradise because He didn't even spare His own Son to save and redeem you!

          Worried about the End of the World? Scared about what might come? Do not fear. Remember that you are worth the death of Christ to your Heavenly Father. You are God's beloved child. Heaven is yours. Amen.

 

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

Stewards of God's gifts

Pentecost 24, 2017

Matthew 25:14-30

"Stewards of God's gifts"

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

            Our Gospel lesson this morning does a lot of talking about talents. No, this isn't where the reality show America's got talent got its basis. But these are talents that I'm sure each one of you would love to have! Here in our text Jesus tells us through a parable that the Kingdom of Heaven  “...will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away." (Matthew 25:14-15)

          Three servants. Three individuals with different abilities. Three varying numbers of talents. Do any of you know what these talents are? [form of currency]. Do you know how much a talent is worth? There are two ways of coming to a valuation. In the Bible a talent was worth 6000 denarii. One denarius was equal to a day's pay for a laborer. So a talent was worth 6,000 days of pay. If we went by minimum wage of $8.25 an hour for an 8 hour day/40 hour week... the value of a talent would be $396,000.00. The other way to value a talent was by its worth in gold. A talent was a chunk of gold with a handle on it (maybe something like a kettle bell). It weighed approximately 75 pounds. Based on the gold price 1 talent is worth 1.4 million dollars. These Talents were very valuable. The Master wasn't just giving them scraps...but a treasure. One talent...was a wage that would take a common laborer 20 years to earn. What a gift. What a responsibility.

          I'm sure you've heard stories of people praying that God would grant them the answer to their prayers...the answer that would solve all their problems: the answer being them winning millions of dollars from winning the lottery. Isn't that what our text sounds like? A rags to riches story? Poor servants given a treasure. Where do we sign up?  

          Before you sign up...make sure you read the fine print. What did those servants do with their treasures? Two of the servants invested the talents given them and doubled the investment. One servant hid his talent.  "Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’" (Matthew 25:19-30)

          There is a saying "A $50,000 violin hanging silently and dusty on the wall is not worth as much as a kitchen spoon that is used."

          Our text talks about a Talent, a form of money...but that's not the extent of what our text is speaking about. It is speaking about all of our talents; all of our abilities. All of the blessings that God bestows upon each of us. And they all vary!

          When Cathy Rigby, one of the gymnasts on the United States Olympic Team in Munich in 1972, failed in her dream to win the coveted gold medal, she was crushed. She sat down with her parents ready for a big cry and faltered, "I'm sorry. I did my best." Her mother echoed to her the word she had heard from her mother, "You know that, and I know that, and I'm sure God knows that, too. Doing your best is more important than being the best." God doesn't expect you to be the best in the church in terms of accomplishing the most or having the most attention. He only expects that you do the best with the gift He gives you.

          The first two stewards in our text weren't praised just because they made more money...they were praised for being faithful! The last steward wasn't condemned because he didn't make money...it was because he was unfaithful; he didn't try; he wanted nothing to do with the gift or his master.

          We have been given some wonderful treasures as gifts. We have been blessed with many different talents for God has given some to be "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers." (Ephesians 4:11) In the same way God gives some to be farmers, nurses, veterinarians, truck drivers, doctors, cooks, garbage men, police officers, soldiers, firefighters, and the like.

          And within these vocations. With all of these gifts. God doesn't say you have to be the best at it. God calls you to be faithful. God calls you to do the best with what you have. God does not say that you must be the best to be saved. God does not say that only the best inherit eternal life. God says, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)

          Be faithful and receive the crown of life. Be faithful and receive life in paradise. Be faithful and receive the riches of heaven. What a treasure to behold. A treasure worth more than any of the Talents made from Gold. The treasure of heaven. The treasure of being with Christ Jesus. The treasure of being reunited with all the saints.

          Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Through Jesus you are able to be faithful unto death. Through Jesus you not only can do your best but you are indeed are the best by baptism into Christ. And you are already heirs of the treasure of heaven. Be faithful. Use the gifts God has given you...not to become the best, you already are in Christ, but to share the wonderful news of salvation... to neighbors and co-workers...even to your loved ones... so that you may store up for yourself a bigger treasure in heaven. A treasure of loved ones saved and redeemed by Christ.

          Share Christ and what He has done. And you too shall hear our Lord's words: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:21, 23) Amen.

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

Funeral Sermon for Rev. Adam A. Dietrich

Funeral Sermon for Rev. Adam A. Dietrich

Mom, Ruth, Paul, Ann, Mary, Jerel, Alicia, Bill, Kendra, Adam, Josh, Andrew, Sophie, Aaron & Luke, family, extended family, and friends: Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

                  In 1523, six years after the posting of the 95 Theses which began the Lutheran Reformation, Luther wrote these words about how he once felt about life: "Fast bound in Satan's chains I lay, Death brooded darkly o'er me, Sin was my torment night and day, In sin my mother bore me; Yea, deep and deeper still I fell, Life had become a living hell, So firmly sin possessed me." (Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice TLH 387 verse 2)

               For many of you Pastor Dietrich was your high school Theology teacher at Luther South. And if you stayed awake in his class (you know who you are!) you might remember him teaching about the two natures of Christ out of Koehler's A Summary of Christian Doctrine, learning general business, economics, or business law, or even more fitting his class on Death and Dying. You may even recall his jokes...as corny as they might have been...especially when he was with the likes of Mr. Trusheim or Pastor Mandel. For others, he was your faithful Pastor preaching God's Word and teaching confirmation class. And hopefully you didn't fall asleep during that! You know who you are! (raise my hand for I did that once!). He was also a loving husband, father, uncle, and grand-father. He was patient, calm, and collective. He was faithful.

               What you may not know...or fully know...was his suffering. Adam was born in Katsch, Yugoslavia in 1935. WW II began in September of 1939 when Dad was 4 years old. On October 6, 1944, at the age of 9, the Dietrich family fled from their village, under gunfire, from the fast approaching Russian front. There is no telling the carnage and bloodshed; the hell on earth that he witnessed during those days as they fled and were overrun by the front. Many from his village and surrounding villages were killed, sent to concentration camps, or work camps in Russia. Adam's Lutheran Pastor was martyred in one of those camps. Adam would contract TB during the war and died with Emphysema which may have been a result of the air he breathed in bombed out villages and scorched countrysides during the war.

               Adam would lose his maternal grandparents in the firebombing of Dresden in 1945, watch his mother die from bone cancer in 1975, lose his father, father in-law, and mother in-law during the 80's, his daughter in-law Cyndi due to a motorcycle accident in 2004 and his son Mark in September of 2015 due to a stroke. Hearing and watching loved ones die is a living hell.

               Dad suffered from migraine headaches for as long as I can remember...but still continued to teach each day. He had a heart murmur, survived colon cancer in 2000, diverticulitis, fibromyalgia,  numerous heart attacks, had 6 stents, triple bypass surgery, and a neurological event (most likely a stroke) either during or post surgery. It certainly at times seemed like dad's body went through a living hell.

               Then there were the days for his family...this past month or so... where watching dad struggle...was certainly a living hell for us. Like Luther had remarked so we too live to see... that sin ravages us, our loved ones, and those around us to the point it seems we do live each and every day in a living hell. Sin kills and destroys. It kills and destroys our bodies. It wreaks havoc on our life. Relationships are hurt and lost. Our faith is shaken, and misery seems to be our only friend. We've felt this and watched loved ones suffer through this. And it hurts! We suffer. And we've all been through our own version of this nightmare that Satan, our sin and this sinful world cause.

               But Adam, Pastor Dietrich, Dad did not live like his life was a living hell. For he learned, like Luther did so many years ago, that his soul's consolation is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his Savior. He comforted many of you...and me...through our own living hells with the comfort of Christ: That Christ indeed loves each one of us. That Christ died for each of us and took our sins...all of our sins upon Himself. That in Christ we are truly forgiven and made children of God.     

               Adam know has his eternal rest in Jesus. Right now my dad is in heaven with our Lord as well as with all the saints that died before him. Yes, dad was a good man, a loving and caring man, a humble man of great moral conviction. But that isn’t what saved him and that isn’t where his hope would be found. It was faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that saved Adam. His hope was in Jesus. This faith began in Katsch, Yugoslavia in 1935 when Adam’s Pastor held him in his arms and baptized Adam in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This too is how Adam, my father, held and baptized me and many of you!

               “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 was Adam’s confirmation verse. Adam indeed suffered in this world. But this did not take his hope away. This suffering did not break his spirit. He had joy in the Hope of Christ his Lord and Savior, was patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.

               This is also what Adam did  and proclaimed as Pastor, Father, and Teacher. He shared the joy of hope in the Resurrection and  the life with many who are in heaven and with many that await. He taught many at Luther South about Christ crucified. He remained a faithful servant of the Word throughout his calling as a confessional Lutheran Pastor. He showed patience with many of us especially his children. He was faithful in praying for each of us. Now he is in heaven where there is no suffering. His hope is eternal, his patience complete and he continues to joyfully worship his Lord with all the saints.

               Something that is a comfort for many especially me at this time of losing my father is knowing that I worship the Lord with him. In the Divine Service we say “with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven we laud and magnify your glorious name…” or when we speak the Apostles Creed “I believe in the Holy Christian Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.” The company of heaven and the communion of saints include my father now. They include each of our loved ones that have died in the faith that are now with our Lord. When we worship we are lifted up to heaven and worship our Lord with all believers as we speak the same words and worship the same Jesus. We are with our loved ones who are in heaven even if we can’t see or hear them.

               This is why we can boldly proclaim to a dying world: "Death, you cannot end my gladness: I am baptized into Christ! When I die, I leave all sadness To inherit paradise! Though I lie in dust and ashes Faith's assurance brightly flashes: Baptism has the strength divine To make life immortal mine! There is nothing worth comparing To this lifelong comfort sure! Open-eyed my grave is staring: Even there I'll sleep secure. Though my flesh awaits its raising, Still my soul continues praising: I am baptized into Christ; I'm a child of paradise!" (God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It LSB 594 verses 4-5)

               Adam is a child of paradise. And so are you through faith in Christ alone who is our very confidence and hope. Adam lives...for the Lord is Risen. He is Risen Indeed Alleluia. He is risen for Adam. He is risen for you.  

               My prayer for Dad is complete. He sleeps in Jesus. He sleeps in heavenly peace. Schlaf in himmlischer ruh father.  Amen.

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

Blessed are You

All Saints Day, 2012 (observed)

Matthew 5:1-12 & Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27; 22:1-5

“Blessed are You”

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

   Today we celebrate and observe All Saints Day. Today we joyously celebrate and give thanks to God for all of our loved ones that have died in the faith and are at home in heaven. These saints are alive in heaven and worshipping around the same Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we worship this very moment. Today is the day that these words from the Apostles Creed and The Preface for the day are most comforting: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints…” and “Therefore with angels and archangels with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you and saying…”

  With these words we confess our faith in the fellowship we have with all the saints…saints in heaven and saints on earth. But who exactly are these saints in heaven and on earth that we have fellowship with? What is a saint? Some people think of saints only in terms of Christians who have died. Other people think of saints as people who have led really, really, good lives, but both definitions are off the mark. As we give thanks to God for calling those that have died in the faith home to heaven; His saints, let us learn once again what it means to be saints alive. Simply put a saint is a sinner that is forgiven their sins. A saint is a sinner that has been given faith. A saint is a sinner that is blessed by God. Both those that have died in the faith and those that still live by faith are saints.

  Here and now we are in the church militant; we are in a church that is at war with a sinful world and the devil that do their best to destroy God’s word and our faith. When we die we will be in the church triumphant surrounded by angles, archangels, and all the company of heaven worshiping Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here and now we live by grace. In heaven we shall live in glory.

  Today’s Gospel lesson gives us a description of true blessedness here and now. When Jesus spoke the beatitudes, He was not telling his disciples how they could merit blessings from God. He was telling them what they already possessed by virtue of their God given faith as saints. What Christ would teach us now is absolutely opposite of what the world would teach. The world teaches us to be confident in ourselves and to be bold in demanding what we think is fair but Jesus says that “blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” As we come to God in utter helplessness, as we admit our sinfulness, as we reach out for God as a beggar pleads for a morsel of bread…then and only then the kingdom of God comes among us.

  The world would say that the truly happy people are those who are rejoicing in their own accomplishments and achievements. But Jesus says, “blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” As we come to the foot of the cross with tears in our eyes, hearts that are breaking, knees that are weak and hands that are trembling…it is then that we find comfort. True comfort is none other than the forgiveness of sins.

  The world and our sinful flesh like to tell us that we have to take care of ourselves and that it is the survival of the fittest; that we simply cannot let people take advantage of us. But Jesus says, “blessed are the meek [who are humble before God] and blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [for they seek God in his Word and Sacraments] and blessed are the merciful [for they show mercy towards others just as Christ has shown mercy on them]. They shall be inheriting the earth and they will be filled and they will be shown mercy.

  The world says that we will be blessed if our hearts are full of steel and strength and determination but Jesus says, blessed are the pure in heart. The world says that the blessed are the powerful and the persuasive but Jesus says, blessed are the peacemakers. The world says that the happy are those who get along with everybody and whose lives are smooth sailing. Jesus would teach us today to give up the idea that we can follow God and have smooth sailing at the same time. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my sake. Blessed are those who are insulted on account of me. Blessed are you when people falsely say all kinds of evil against you because you are following Jesus Christ.”

  Do you know that the more we are challenged and tested the more alive we will be? The more we are rocked by the storms of life and shaken by the winds of trouble the more we have to depend on God. Physical demands will help us to grow physically.  Emotional stress can help us grow emotionally. Spiritual testing will produce strength of character and a spirit of endurance.  We all know this to be true but we still don’t like to experience it. We don’t like to suffer, or have problems, or have heartache or pain.  What an amazing lesson we could learn again today if we could learn what James writes, “Count it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

  I don’t know about you, but when I think of pure joy, I think of paradise. And that is what God would have us think about today. In every circumstance of life He would have us rejoice in the simple truth that our names are written in the book of life. This was done at our baptism; in fact we have seen this done during the baptism of many of our children here at Saint Paul's/Saint John.  [We have seen it this morning as Christopher & Elaina were baptized] And one day we will also see what all of our loved ones who have died in the faith are seeing this very moment.

At each of their appointed times, [Howard, Dale, Wesley, Wendy, Norma, Edwin, Adam / Dale, Clifford Marvin, Eileen, Adam] saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. They found themselves no longer living by grace but now in glory. They saw that there was no temple in heaven, just the Lamb of God in full splendor. They now see that the gates of heaven are never shut because saints are filing in one by one. They know fully what we only know in part. They see now what we can only imagine – a river of life clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God down the middle of the great street. On either side of the river stands the tree of life bearing fruit in every season.

  All Christians that have died before us are in perfect peace yet we must still struggle. The saints in heaven don’t have to contend anymore with troubles or tempests and temptations. We do! They don’t sit in nursing homes or trailer homes gasping for every breath. Some of us do. They don’t have to drive to the hospital for chemotherapy and radiation and treatment for a thousand and one ailments. Some of us do. They don’t live with arthritis and old age and aches and pains and broken marriages and broken hearts and broken fences. Many of us do.

  The blessing that we have as Christians is that every Sunday we share in being with Christ. Every Sunday in worship we are lifted up to heaven. We speak the words “with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven…” What do these words mean to us? It is with joy that I may say that I worship with all my loved ones that have passed away. I still worship with my Dad. When we worship with all the company of heaven we worship with all the Saints that have left this world to be with Christ.

As Christians we lead lives that tempt us often, that make us struggle, that try to destroy us. Yet by faith we proclaim with all the company of heaven the joyful news of Christ. By faith we face a world knowing that this life will have its troubles but we look forward to life in heaven…a life in paradise…with all the saints…forever. We are saints alive…alive in Christ. As we live as saints…we live as forgiven people looking forward to our home in heaven.  As God’s saints in this place let us proclaim the life we have in Christ with a world that is dead to sin that they might have life in His name now and for eternity. Amen.

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