Rev. Michael Holmen's Sermons noreply@blogger.com (.)

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Jesus, how to destroy him.” Perhaps you’ve noticed before that there are some people who like laws and rules, and there are others who don’t. Those who like laws and rules usually also like organization. They like to have their things in their proper places. They like to be on-time. Those are nice things that can be said about them. There are also negative things that can generally be said about them. They can be unimaginative and boring. They can be judgmental and rude. Those who don’t like laws and rules as much can be somewhat the opposite. They are often more flexible. They can be more fun. But they might not be as good at organization or getting tasks done. Between the two, I think those people are more highly valued who like laws and rules. They often make better employees. They do as they’re told. And if the meaning of life is to have a job or to make money, then these folks are better. They’re more productive. Among many of the Jews at Jesus’s time the purpose of life was to follow the laws of Moses. That can be hard for us to imagine in our money-soaked culture, but so it was. There were Jews whose stated ambition was to follow God’s Law carefully and zealously. That doesn’t sound like it should ever be a bad thing, but as we heard in our Gospel reading, these people became Jesus’s enemies. They hated him and wanted to destroy him. Why? Because he didn’t follow their rules. The rules that were especially at issue in our reading had to do with the third commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” God commanded the Israelites not to work on the seventh day of the week. The Jews were extremely careful about keeping this commandment. They came up with well-organized lists of things that ought not be done because such things would be “work.” No work was to be done on the Sabbath. You heard in our reading how the disciples were walking through the grainfields on the Sabbath. What were they doing? Work—according to the Pharisees. They were plucking heads of grain, rubbing off the chaff, and popping them into their mouths. They were harvesting and threshing. And you might think that this is no big deal. It was just a few kernels. But you’d be wrong. Anyone who knows anything about rules knows that if you let them take an inch they’ll take a mile. These disciples were just harvesting a few kernels, but what if somebody else started to take handfuls? What’s to stop someone from getting out the sickle? Before you know it, the whole field has been harvested on the Sabbath! No! Nip it in the bud. Not even a single kernel is to be harvested on the Sabbath. Then, in the second half of the reading, Jesus came into a synagogue on the Sabbath. There was a man whose hand was withered. They wondered whether Jesus might do the work of healing on the Sabbath. Lo and behold, he did! Just as they suspected. Jesus was a Sabbath-breaker. We might understandably be critical of these Pharisees and immediately come to Jesus’s defense, but I think we can learn some important things if we look at the situation from their perspective. They were fully convinced that they were right. They were doing what they’d always been doing, and what they’d always been doing was to be extremely serious about the Sabbath. They liked to get things just right. They had read many books about it. They’d built up a vast knowledge of what was allowable, what was forbidden, and what might be in the middle. According to this vast knowledge they knew that Jesus was dead wrong. This left them in a predicament—although it wasn’t really a predicament. Either they could forsake all their learning and all their practices and follow Jesus, or they could reject Jesus. It wasn’t a hard decision. Who was this Jesus anyway? Somebody from the sticks. Everybody knows that nothing good ever comes fr

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord with all your graces now outpoured. Amen. Christians celebrate three major festivals. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’s birth. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. Today’s festival is Pentecost. It doesn’t get the hype that the other two get. Christians usually have a good grasp of the importance of Christmas and Easter; less so with Pentecost. So today we will speak about the importance of Pentecost, but before that we should speak about what happened. We will begin with Good Friday and Easter. Jesus’s death on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter changed everything. Jesus died for sin and was raised with power. The Gospels describe how things were with Jesus after the resurrection, and things were a bit strange. Oftentimes people did not immediately recognize who Jesus was. Mary Magdalene didn’t immediately recognize Jesus on Easter morning at the tomb. On Easter evening the disciples who were traveling to the village of Emmaus didn’t immediately recognize him. In addition to Jesus not being immediately recognized, he would do things with his body that he hadn’t done before. He suddenly disappeared from the Emmaus disciples after they recognized him. He suddenly appeared to the disciples in the upper room, even though the doors were locked. Jesus made these different appearances, speaking somewhat briefly—it seems—to his disciples, but the things he would say during these appearances were extremely important. In Matthew 28 he appeared to his disciples and told them to make disciples of all nations. Christians should baptize, teach what Jesus taught, and Jesus would be with them until the end of the age. In John chapter 20, in that upper room, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whosoever’s sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whosoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” With those words Jesus commanded his Christians to forgive the sins of all who repent, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant so long as they do not repent. These are extremely important instructions that continue to be carried out in the Christian Church. Jesus appeared and spoke with his disciples, here and there, over the course of 40 days. Then Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. We had a church service to commemorate that ten days ago, on a Thursday evening. Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father to reign and rule over all things. The way that he reigns and rules in his spiritual kingdom is through his Christian disciples. Jesus’s disciples continue to do what Jesus commanded them before he ascended into heaven. Christians baptize, forgive and retain sins, teach, have the Lord’s Supper together and so on. Through these things sinners who otherwise believe in false gods are turned to the true God, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing more important than believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is where Pentecost comes in with its great importance. About 50 days after Easter and 10 days after Jesus’s Ascension, the Jews were gathered together for one of their Old Testament harvest festivals. While they were gathered together there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind, tongues of flame appeared over the disciples, and the disciples spoke with their fellow Jews about the mighty works of God. Some of these Jews came from far flung places and spoke different languages. Our reading from Acts gives us the first part of Peter’s speaking to those who were gathered. He speaks with courage and enthusiasm about Jesus Christ being Lord. He vigorously argues that Jesus is the fulfillment of what was prophesied in the Old Testament. Jesus is God’s Son, and they had crucified him! But he concluded his message in this inclusive way: “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be? Maybe some of you remember a commercial for the powerball lottery. In the commercial different people catch the powerball, which had lightning coming from it if I remember correctly. With that powerball in hand they could point to their regular looking house, and they’d have a mansion. They could point to their regular looking car, and they’d have a Ferrari. If you won the lottery, then you could buy a lot of stuff you can’t afford now. Would that get you what you want? Winning the lottery, however, is not very likely. That commercial was a bit fanciful. In “real life” you have to keep your goals reasonable. Since we are so used to living “real life,” it is easy to manage our expectations too thoroughly so that we don’t even begin to grasp the meaning of Christ’s ascension. We get so used thinking we can’t have everything we want—that’s fairy tale stuff—that we don’t believe in what the ascension means. The ascension means that Jesus is Lord. All rule and authority and power and dominion have been put under his feet. The inheritance we will receive from God because of Jesus is beyond our imagination. Paul says, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.” Although we can’t fully grasp what God has prepared for us, it is important to try. If we don’t try, then we won’t get it. At best our imaginations will be limited to those powerball kinds of wishes, and those powerball kinds of wishes are not high enough. Eben the highest kind of wishes that you might have with the lottery aren’t high enough. Suppose there would be some kind of lottery that would enable you to suck up every last cent and every last piece of property on this earth. All other human beings become your slaves. Nothing happens without your say-so. Even after winning this lottery so that you are some kind of god on this earth—that would not be good enough. To try to grasp our inheritance we must think higher. We must think about God. There are many things we could think about with God, and they would all be good, but tonight I’ll limit myself to just a couple things: life and love. We’ll begin by talking about life. Life comes from God. God is the creator. From the smallest thing to the largest thing—all things come from him. We might wonder at the power of the sun, the vastness of the universe—these things come from God. On a more personal level, we all have a craving for life, because whenever we have tasted it we have so thoroughly enjoyed it. Another word for enjoying life is fun. Fun comes in different shapes and forms that vary with each person. One has fun with his or her mind. Another has fun with his or her heart. Another has fun with his or her accomplishments. Romance, friends, laughter, fear, pity, weeping—these are all interesting facets of life. People want to live rather than die because life is good. Life comes from God. Love, also, comes from God. John in his epistle even goes so far as to say that “God is love.” Love draws people together so that they are one. Giving love is reaching out to bring in the other. Receiving love is when you have been accepted and brought in. We all know by experience how good this is. We also know by experience how bad the opposite of this is. We have all experienced rejection: “No, you aren’t one with us.” Think of how this happens with children. Second, third, fourth grade—all of a sudden there are in-groups and out-groups. The in group is to be loved and admired. The out group is lesser and are given to know this by being shunned or mocked. The kids get shuffled and sorted, usually on the basis of things that they have no control over. Kids are just like us. They want to be recognized and admired. To be reviled and humiliated is painful. What can be done about t

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: [Jesus said,] “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” There was once a man who I thought might be interested in joining the congregation. He had attended services. He had family who were members. So I was talking to him about how a person could join the congregation. The first step is learning what we believe as a congregation, so I told him about the class I do with the Small Catechism. I went on for some time about that until I ultimately asked him what he thought. I will always remember his response. He said, “What’s in it for me?” I guess that was a good question, because I didn’t have a good answer. I don’t remember what I said. All that I remember is that I wasn’t very satisfied with my answer. “What’s in it for me?” is a thought that is deeply seated in our human nature. Nobody has to teach us to look out for ourselves. From the day we were born we have a very keen sense for our own advantage. A good idea is an idea that’s good for me. A good deal is a deal that’s good for me. If we are only looking for our own advantage, then church membership can be a pretty tough sale. To become a member we start off with maybe 12-15 hours of instruction. Perhaps the most important part of being a member is that you come to church for about an hour a week. A lot of people find that hour to be boring. All the while you should pay for these opportunities with your offerings. And then, if you prove yourself to be a faithful member by doing all these things, and if you have the right gifts and talents, then you might be asked to serve on a board or committee. That’s more time, more effort. If you’re lucky, you might even get to be involved in some dispute or controversy with all the stress and trouble that goes along with that. Sound like a good deal? I could answer these downsides of membership in several ways. You’ve probably already thought of some. But I’d like to take on the main idea itself. We naturally believe that a good deal is a deal that’s good for me, but who said that that has to be the definition of a good deal? I know that there are many authorities who teach that everyone must look out for their own interests. I know that big businesses follow this rule. I know that even our common sense teaches this. It’s as simple as asking the question, “What do you want?” Do you want more or do you want less? The answer seems obvious. However, what is left out from all these thought is that God is the giver of our daily bread. Whatever any of us has or doesn’t have is from God. There are people who have worked their fingers to the bone, and they have very little. There are lazy people and foolish people who have hit the jackpot, so to speak. By the seeming accidents of circumstances or heredity they have much more money than any of you will ever have. It is not enough to believe in yourself. It is not enough to ruthlessly follow your own interests. I know that we are taught that over and over, but that doesn’t make it true. If God doesn’t crown your efforts with success, then you won’t succeed. But let’s suppose I’ve failed to convince you. You still believe that you can bless yourself with your smarts and your hard work. In this supposition I’ll even grant you the best of successes. You live a charmed life from the time you are 5 until you are 85—80 years of brilliant success! What then? Psalm 49 says: “Even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.” Psalm 49 is a remarkable psalm. It is kind of the opposite of what is so often promoted as wisdom among us. Among us it is almost like people believe that they won’t ever die. They think they can grab as much as they can forever. Psalm 49 says, “No.” Man is an animal. He lives for a while, then he dies. The psalm brings up the death of sheep. Maybe you’ve seen livestock that has died and has begun to de

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Talking about God can be difficult. I’ve seen how talking about God can cause tenseness and awkwardness. People’s defenses go up. What is this person going to require of me? What is this person going to accuse me of? Am I supposed to be converted? People usually don’t like it. Because people don’t like it, most won’t do it. Why should they? It doesn’t seem to benefit them. It makes the situation weird. The prospects of something good coming from such an awkward situation seem low. Let the pastors talk about God. You should hold your peace. If this life is all there is, then such a course of action makes sense. If the purpose of life is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain you should not talk about God. It won’t make you richer. It might make you poorer. It won’t make you more popular. You might, instead, be shunned. Common sense tells you to keep your mouth shut. But if the Gospel is true, then being silent is strange. The Gospel teaches that all things are in the process of changing. Things are changing because Jesus is Lord and King. The old ways of how power and oppression are the most important and the most impactful are passing away. The new ways of faithfulness, humility, and love are how we receive blessing. Evil is in the process of being brought to nothing. Righteousness and life are on their way. Jesus says, “Behold, I make all things new.” This is good news for everyone. Jesus being Lord and King is good because he is good. The only way that this good news is ineffectual for anyone is through unbelief. Unbelief, indeed, can be powerful. When Jesus teaches about the coming of the Holy Spirit in John chapter 16 he says that when the Holy Spirit comes he will convict the world concerning sin because they have not believed in Jesus. Among all the sins that could possibly be listed, Jesus singles out this one: Sin is not believing in Jesus. Why is this sin singled out? It’s because it’s the sin against the Gospel. Without Jesus’s work as Lord and King things don’t change. Lying, cheating, meanness, trickery, manipulation, abuse, anger, and so on continue to be the best ways to get ahead. The strong will get stronger. The weak will get weaker. The first will be first and the last will be last. And the one who sits atop this slag heap of lovelessness is the devil himself, whom Paul calls “the prince of this world.” Unbelief in Jesus is the desire—whether that desire be conscious or unconscious—unbelief in Jesus is the desire to have the devil rule with all his works and with all his ways. That’s why unbelief in Jesus is singled out as the sin. It is the profoundest rejection of God. On the other hand, faith in Jesus is everything. Faith in Jesus means that you accept God’s will that his Son should reign and rule instead of the devil. Jesus should reign and rule instead of any other gods or any other powers or principalities. Faith in Jesus means that you believe that you will be blessed by him instead of being blessed in any other way. Our Gospel reading lays these things out nicely. Our Gospel reading describes Jesus meeting his disciples after he had risen from the dead. Jesus told them how all of what had happened and all of what will happen is God’s will as it was foretold in the Old Testament. The Old Testament spoke about how the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. When God made his promises to Abraham he told him that he would be the father of kings, and that all the world would be blessed through his seed. God promised King David that his kingdom would endure forever. God made his promises through the prophets. Isaiah speaks about how this king would suffer and die, but that he would be a blessing. Jeremiah speaks about the new hearts that the king would bring. Ezekiel speaks about this king leading his people to good grazing land. Daniel speaks about how this king would be greater than all the greatest kingdoms of t

 Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Everybody inevitably learns that there are some things you can’t change. Things have been written into our DNA, for example. One is predisposed for this. Another is predisposed for that. It’s disappointing, but what can be done? There are so many things like that. Things are the way they are. There’s a little bit of comfort that comes from acknowledging things as they are. Perhaps you’ve heard of the five stages of grief. The last stage is acceptance. That is the stage that everyone is looking for because of that little bit of comfort that comes with it. There’s a bit of peace. Prior to acceptance there is all kinds of fighting: denial, anger, bargaining, depression. Those are all ways of saying, “No!” Acceptance is that motherly voice that says, “Hush now. There there. Nothing can be done. In time you’ll come to accept it, then you’ll be at peace.” The reason why there is peace is because you finally acknowledge the superiority of the forces at work. They are much larger and stronger than you. If you can’t beat these forces, then you might as well quit fighting. It’s a relief to not have to fight anymore. Having settled down the choke chain can be taken off and a regular leash put on. The apostle Paul in several places in his letters talks about the superior and overwhelming powers and forces that exist in life. One of his favorite terms for this are the orderly pillars of this world, sometimes translated as the “principles of this world.” Paul says that we were enslaved to these things. That’s another way of saying that they are overwhelmingly superior to us. We have to accept things the way they are—we have no other choice—because there’s no changing them. But Paul proclaims something thrilling: God, in Christ, has set us free. We don’t have to resign ourselves to what is assumed to be inevitable. Not resigning yourself to what is deemed to be inevitable is one way to look at Jesus’s work. The blind person seems to be doomed to blindness—nothing can be done—and yet he sees. The deaf hears. The unrighteous persons—drug dealers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and such—need not be unrighteous forever. Even the dead person can have those seemingly unbreakable chains broken. Jesus preaches good news. Good news for those who are enslaved to overwhelming forces is the message: “You are free!” Think about Easter. Death is that ultimate force before whose superiority we grieve. Fight as you may, the best option seems to be acceptance. But, as Isaiah prophesied and as Jesus fulfilled, “Death is swallowed up forever.” The angel said, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He’s not here. He has risen.” Jesus was no longer enslaved to death. He became its master. If Jesus can break this seemingly unbreakable chain, what others might be broken? The answer is all of them! This is made clear with the festival we will celebrate 40 days from now, which is closely related to Easter. 40 days from now we will celebrate Jesus’s ascension into heaven. He was raised up to the right hand of God the Father. This is the position of superiority over absolutely everything except God the Father. Try to think of something that you deem to be absolute and unchangeable. How about the laws of thermo-dynamics? The physicists say that they are unbreakable. Jesus can break them. How about the space / time continuum discovered by Einstein? Jesus is Lord over it. But these concerns can seem rather remote. How about that seemingly unchangeable law about money—namely, that those who’ve got it are going to keep it and those who don’t aren’t going to get it? Jesus is Lord. He has spoken about this. He turns things on their head. He says, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” and, on the other hand: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom