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Showing posts from February, 2021

Sermon - Trinity I, 2026 - Luke 16:19-31

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Parable of Lazarus and the Story of Job , Erhard Altdorfer, circa 1520 Two Rich Men and Lazarus The rich men of this age who are lovers of money justify themselves by their earthly riches Jesus is the Rich Man who loves mankind, and justifies others by means His heavenly riches, namely His precious blood Lazarus, the poor sick beggar, is all who desire to be fed with the crumbs that fall from Jesus’ table. Earlier in Luke 16 Jesus famously says: “ You cannot serve God and mammon.” Then shortly before telling today’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus, He explains: “ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. ” Thus, the issue of money and earthly wealth, and how we Christians are meant to treat our earthly riches, is most certainly at the forefront of today’s text. But today...
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Sermon - Reminiscere 2021 - Matthew 15:21-28

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  A couple weeks ago on Valentine’s Day we talked about one of the three great Christian virtues: love. Love is gentle and kind, it submits and gives in for the sake of the other. Love is sacrificial. In general, it appears we American Christians do a good job talking about love and encouraging this virtue amongst one another. However, faith is also a necessary virtue, and over the past few wealthy generations, we’ve not practiced this virtue quite as much. Faith is different from love. Love may be gentle and submissive, while faith is stubborn and unmoving. Faith endures. Faith is like glue which bonds two objects together. With high quality glue, the two objects become one, and the weak object gains the strength of the stronger object to which it’s become attached. So a weak and easily broken veneer becomes much stronger when glued to a thick surface. Likewise, the weak human becomes as strong as God when the human has faith in the Lord. To illustrate this we can look at Jacob wr...
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Sermon - Lent Midweek 1, 2021

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            Being a Christian and having the true faith of eternal life is the greatest and most joyous reason to celebrate and be glad! As the Psalmist sang: “ Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things!... Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!... Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together! ” Did you hear what Jesus said earlier? “ Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. ” Do you want to have a close relationship with God? Then you got it! You’re Jesus’ brother or sister! You’re His immediate family and He is your brother. We don’t need to just sing what a friend we have in Jesus, but what a brother we have in Jesus. He is our own family, our own flesh and blood.  What has our brother done for us? He’s given to us the sign of the prophet Jonah. “ Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the bel...
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Sermon - Ash Wednesday 2021 - Joel 2:12-19

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                                Joel was an Old Testament prophet in the days when Israel was divided into two kingdoms, and Joel served his ministry in the southern kingdom of Judah. Little is known about who Joel is, or the time period he was a prophet, but apparently during his years there was a great plague of locust followed by a horrible drought.  We here in America don’t really experience locust plagues, but still today in parts of Africa locust are a serious issue. About a century ago there was a similar locust plague in the region of Palestine, which can give us some insight into the conditions the Israelites faced in Joel’s day. The plague begins when female locusts lay eggs in the soil, where they will lay 65,000-75,000 eggs per square meter. Once the eggs all hatch, the locust blanket the earth.  When they reach full-size, about 3 inches long, they develop wings. When the...
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Sermon - Quinquagesima 2021 - 1 Cor. 13:1-13

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                                February  14th is known by us American’s as Valentine’s Day. It’s a day which celebrates romantic love through various acts of kindness, such as giving gifts or going on dates. It’s a healthy thing for husbands and wives to take a day, such as Valentine’s Day, and give thanks to God for granting to them a spouse to love and cherish. That said, the actual man after whom this day is popularly named has nothing to do with romantic love whatsoever. Very little is known about St. Valentine, but we do know that he was a martyr who confessed Christ up until his dying breath, killed under Emperor Claudius II around 270 in Rome. According to tradition, Valentine was both a physician and a pastor, and the day he faced his martyrdom, he is said to have consoled the daughter of his jailer by writing her a note of encouragement. Apparently, the young girl had gotten to ...
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Sermon - Sexagesima 2021 - Luke 8:4-15

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Last week the groundhog apparently emerged from his home to see his shadow, thus declaring that we will have another six weeks of winter. Based upon the fact that we live in northern Iowa, that furry critter is undoubtedly correct. Even so, Jesus’ parable today brings to our minds not snow and cold, but the Spring time planting season. It’s true, this coming weekend I plan on getting my onion seeds started inside under lights! Many a farmer has long been preparing for planting this Spring, starting already with ripping up the field this past Fall.  When a farmer prepares for planting, it’s good to think about the task not as caring for the plants, but as caring for the soil. In general, if you buy quality seed from a reputable salesman, the seeds will all germinate so long as the soil conditions are right. But if the soil is unhealthy, then the plants are unhealthy. If your soil is hard and packed down, the seeds will just sit on the surface and get eaten by animals. If your soil i...
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