Stewardship Sunday, 11/8/09
Ephesians 5:8-20
Take Time for Your Calling!
I. Your calling to light
II. Your calling to love
It’s no secret that we’re on the verge of entering the absolute busiest time of the year. Within days people will race from one day to the next, from one activity to the next, as they prepare to celebrate first Thanksgiving and then Christmas with family and friends. And getting ready to spend time with your loved ones isn’t even the half of it. It’s all the other things that go along with the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially Christmas. I’m not even going to ask you to make a mental list of all the things you’ll be doing in the next 7 weeks, just 49 days.
But when January rolls around, will you look back on the holidays with a little regret? Probably so. And most of that regret will have to do with the way that you spent your time or used your time here in November and December. If only you had taken the time to do this or that. If only a certain loved one had taken the time to be with you. If only you had done this instead of doing that.
And in the middle of it all, you’ll hear mental health experts urging you to take time for yourself. The pressure of the season will build to a point that many people will become completely stressed out and unable to enjoy the season. The solution, these experts will say, will be to take time for yourself.
Today we have the opportunity to hear advice from a different expert about how to use our time. In fact, it’s advice from the One who created time itself. We have the always reliable words of our loving God before us. He speaks to us about our time through his inspired Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Ephesians. We heard those words earlier. And one of the things our God is urging us to do on this Stewardship Sunday is to take time for your calling. Take time for your calling, your calling as a child of God. Let’s see what that means as we take our God’s advice to heart.
Part I.
It’s been said that there’s nothing worse than trying to deal with a liar. There’s probably quite a bit of truth to that statement. That’s because your relationship with that person, no matter how shallow or deep, is built, at least to some degree, on lies. And that only leads to frustration and disappointment.
Paul speaks about a much worse situation involving lies in the opening words of our text, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Many of us probably don’t recall living in the darkness of unbelief, but the Ephesian Christians did. Many of them had lived for decades in their heathen beliefs. They lived under the lies of their false gods who offered them the lie that they could attain life in heaven through their heathen rituals and sacrifices.
And just as bad, their heathen “faith” allowed them to live their heathen life. Paul reminded them of their fruitless deeds of darkness. He spoke about shameful deeds done in secret, things so sinful he didn’t even want to mention them. He mentions drunkenness. These deeds were a way of life for the Ephesians prior to their conversion to Christianity. They were convinced that the purpose of life was to indulge in and enjoy these deeds of darkness. They were living a lie. They weren’t heading to an enjoyable afterlife. They were heading for eternal death in hell.
But now they were enlightened. Paul reminds them that they are now “light in the Lord.” Through the preaching of the good news about Jesus as the Savior, the Holy Spirit had worked saving faith in them. They were now spiritually enlightened. They knew, first of all, who the true God was and, secondly, that forgiveness of sins and eternal life were theirs through faith in what Jesus had done for them. Those are rock-solid, divine truths which lead to eternal blessing, not lies that lead to eternal damnation. We believe those same truths for our eternal life.
And that faith about eternal life impacts the way we live our lives now. Our God helps us see through his word that sin doesn’t bring God’s blessings; it only brings us heartache and frustration. If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned sooner or later. The same holds true with sin. Nothing good ever came out of it, no matter how much we might try to convince ourselves that it will. Obviously the Ephesian Christians were having trouble with that and that’s why Paul urged them repeatedly not to live like they used to. Instead, live as children of light.
Have you ever watched a loved one leading a destructive lifestyle? That’s so difficult to observe, isn’t it? Perhaps you’ve even attempted to intervene, to no avail. They won’t listen to you or anyone else. And they keep living in their sinful ways and bring nothing but harm to themselves and others. It gets to the point that you simply have to put it out of your mind in order for you to get on with your life.
How frustrating it must be for our God when we, as children of light, gravitate towards deeds of darkness. Daily we reason that we can indulge in this or that sinful behavior or we can harbor this or that sinful attitude. We think we can be selfish, resentful, controlling, materialistic, jealous, and still be spiritually OK—at least, that’s what we tell ourselves. After all, what’s one more sin among so many? Stop for a moment and recognize that type of thinking for what it is. That’s believing Satan’s lie that sin will bring us happiness. It’s the same lie he used in the Garden of Eden, and look what happened there—a world of suffering, pain and sorrow. You are a child of the light by God’s grace. You have a relationship with the holy God based on your faith in Jesus’ life and death on Calvary’s cross which paid for your sins and mine. But we still deal daily with our sinful natures which gravitate towards deeds of darkness. Take time for your calling! Paul urges us to use the light God has given us to look at our lives as he does, to recognize what is good and right and what is wrong and evil. And then, with the power God gives us through his word, turn from sin and towards the life God has called you to. Take time for your calling, your calling to the light.
Part II.
Do you believe in love at first sight? I know some people do. They claim that the moment they laid eyes on a person, they fell in love with them and knew that this was the person with whom they would spend the rest of their lives. Other people claim that simply isn’t possible. How can you truly love a person you don’t even know? They claim that love takes time. You need time to get to know the person because you love what’s inside a person, not necessarily what’s outside a person. And to know what’s inside takes time.
Love takes time. I realize that a mother instantly loves her newborn child, but that’s a love that has been developing for 9 months. Couples who are happily married will tell you that their love has grown over the years. One of the reasons couples aren’t happy in their marriage is that they fail to take time for one another. Love takes time.
And the same is true of your relationship with the God who has saved you. It takes time. They are no shortcuts. You can’t buy a plastic card that’s loaded with minutes with your God. If you think you can avoid time with God now with the intention of making up for it later, you’re only going to find that your relationship with him will suffer for it. And the only way you can deepen your relationship with your God is through his word and sacraments. In a very real way, you get out of it what you put into it. Push your relationship with your God down on your priority list and the relationship will suffer. It’s just that simple.
That’s why Paul encourages us, “Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” He mentions psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Do they sound familiar? Undoubtedly Paul is speaking about worship. He’s encouraging the Ephesians to gather together for worship. That’s the way they not only show their love for their God, but also their love for one another. Your presence here in worship says to me, “I care so much about you and encouraging you in your Christian life that this is a high priority in my life.” That’s showing love to others. That’s what your God has called you to do.
It’s also the highest form of love for your family. A pastor once said, “If you want to do something meaningful for your family, make sure they worship with you. The benefits are eternal. The rest you do for them only lasts for a lifetime.” How true that is. But that kind of love for your family members doesn’t merely happen without any effort or thought. It takes Christian resolve. It takes spiritually enlightened guidance and motivation. It takes knowing God’s will and the power to accomplish it. That all comes through God’s word—the very focus of our worship each and every time we meet together.
Take time for your calling, your calling to love.
Prior to the recession, many people claimed that they had more money than time. Time had become their most precious commodity. Maybe that’s still true for you. Time is precious to us. Once it’s gone, we can’t get it back. And if we don’t use it properly, we suffer for it.
By his grace your God has given you time on this earth as his child. He has turned you around from heading for a life of eternal suffering without him to headed for a life of eternal bliss with him. He accomplished that through the work of his Son, your Savior and mine. Jesus showed his astounding love for you and me and every sinner when he took the punishment for our sins on himself and died for them. Now we are God’s children by faith in him. That’s our calling. And that calling involves building our loving relationship with our God and others. That takes time. Out of love for God and others, give that time! Spend that time! The blessings you’ll receive in return are out of this world. Amen.
November 7, 2009
November 1, 2009
What Does a Lutheran Christian Look Like?
1st Sunday of End Time, Reformation, 11/1/09
Ephesians 2:8-10
What Does a Lutheran Christian Look Like?
I. Saved by grace
II. Inspired for good works
The relevance and importance of a question is directly tied to the time when it’s asked. For instance, the question, “How’s the economy here?” is a critical question for us today. It wasn’t so much so a couple years ago. “Will you be able to keep your job?” and “Will you be able to find a job?” are questions on the minds of millions of people today. “Will you be able to get the swine flu vaccine and how soon?” is before us every day lately. If you ask me, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I can give you an answer. But if you ask me, “What are you doing for next July 4?” I don’t have a clue. It’s all about timeliness.
Today we celebrate the fact that our gracious God used his servant Martin Luther to return the truth of his word to his church on earth. Many good scholars of history rank Luther’s Reformation at the top or near the top of the most important events in all of history. It changed so much for so many people for 100s of years. And in celebrating the Reformation it’s been very common for Lutheran Christians to make bold statements of truth. We stand on the truth of God’s word. We’re saved by grace alone, by faith alone, through scripture alone. But it’s also good and timely to ask questions, especially this Reformation. What do we believe as Lutherans? What does it mean to be a Lutheran?
There are many verses of the Bible you could point to in answering those questions. Several of those verses are before us this morning. Listen as I read to you Ephesians 2:8-10.
Let’s keep those familiar words in our minds and hearts and then ask another timely question: What does a Lutheran Christian look like? And I ask that question not to imply that you couldn’t answer it or you wouldn’t know one if you saw one, but to remind us of God’s saving truths and to rejoice in those truths with lives of love and service to our God. May our gracious God accomplish that in us this morning!
Part I.
I’m sure you know what it’s like to have things stated so plainly that you can’t understand at all how someone can miss the point. For instance, you may ask your children, “What part of ‘No!’ don’t you understand?” We thought our words were clear and plain. Apparently not. Or you have to deal with a co-worker who dropped the ball once again. You thought they understood their responsibilities just as well as you did yours. Apparently not.
I just read the words of Ephesians 2:8-10 and I called them familiar. Most of our youth catechism students commit verses 8 & 9 to memory. One of the things that make these verses so memorable is that they are so clear to understand. If you miss Paul’s point the first time, he drives it into you again and again. Paul really shouts at everyone, “You’re saved by grace, not by works!” How can you miss his point?
How could Luther? As a young monk and then as a rookie priest in the Roman Catholic Church he was driven to despair. And why? Because he failed to do the works his church required in order to be saved. He hated the God who demanded more of him than he could possibly render. But he was familiar with Ephesians 2:8-9. How could he miss it? Because his church had taught him a false definition of grace. For the Roman Catholic Church, grace was a power that God infused in the sinner which enabled the sinner to do good works which earned salvation. Grace was no longer grace!
So why put up with that kind of false teaching when the truth is so plain to you and me? Because it appeals to our natural human reasoning and our sinful pride. That reasoning goes like this, “I’m not entirely corrupt. In fact, much of the time I’m pretty good. Surely I can do something so that my God will do something in return for me.” It’s similar to our idea of a gift exchange. We turn a gift into an obligation. If I give him something, he’ll feel compelled to give me something in return.
Paul shouts back, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith.” Grace. Grace. Grace. But just what is grace? One writer stated, “Grace is the quality in God which makes him willing—yes, even eager—to give us undeserving sinners great and precious gifts.” Don’t think that God is like the tired mother who can’t stand to hear her young child pester her any longer for a treat even though dinner is less than an hour away and so she gives in. We can’t pester God into submission with our good deeds so that he gives us forgiveness and eternal life. No, this is what our gracious God wants with all his heart and mind to give us. And he doesn’t wait until we’ve shown ourselves worthy of salvation before he acts. He has already done it all for us.
That’s what grace is. It’s undeserved love from God. But instead of telling you what grace is, let me show you. Picture the holy Son of God, the sinless Lamb of God. His body is nailed to the wooden crossbeams of a cross. Blood oozes from his head, his back, his hands and feet. Our minds go numb at that point with the physical pain, but there’s more. When the sun turned dark, the Father separated himself from his Son and let him feel the fury of hell for our sins. That’s right. The sinless One suffered for the sinners. That’s grace. Jesus took what we deserve and the Father gave us what we don’t deserve. It happened on the cross. And a Lutheran Christian trusts in the grace of God, not in his or her works.
What does a Lutheran Christian look like? They’re saved by grace.
I began by speaking about timely questions. Why is this question so timely and so important? After all, I’m sure all of could answer it on the basis of Paul’s words. His point is clear. We understand. We get it.
But I don’t think it’s that simple. I think I’m correct in stating that we have problems realizing what we look like. What do you think you look like? If you listen to the world around you, if you buy into modern thinking, you’re not so bad. You’ll let your record speak for itself. You’re fairly responsible at everything you do, well, almost everything. And if that’s what you think, then of course God is gracious to you.
On the other hand, there are times in our lives when we know what kind of mess we’ve made of things. Guilt punches us in the gut. We don’t want to be reminded of what we look like.
\But you are a Lutheran Christian. And a Lutheran Christian knows and believes that we deserve nothing good from our God. Instead we deserve to be condemned to hell. But Christ took our sins and that guilt which keep sucking the joy out of life, and he died for them. But then he rose again to assure us that our sins and guilt are gone forever. What does a Lutheran Christian look like? They know and believe they are saved by grace.
Part II.
Have you ever heard this slam against Lutherans? “You Lutherans think you can sin all you want and still be forgiven. You believe in a cheap grace.” Yes, we believe in the free grace of our God. But we also believe in our response to that grace.
Paul talks about that response with these words, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
According to those words, the Lutheran Christian is known for good works. That’s because the Lutheran Christian lives in love and joy, not hatred and fear. Prior to the Reformation, Luther did good works out of hatred and fear. He hated God for demanding holiness from him. But once he understood and believed what the grace of God is—as you and I do—he began to live in love and joy. He loved the God who sacrificed his Son in love for him. He was filled with an inner joy over his forgiveness and eternal life and that showed by the way he lived.
In fact, he was filled with confidence at he looked at the task before him. Paul tells us that God has prepared good works in advance for us to do. God knew in eternity—before he created the world—that you would be his own dear child by faith in Jesus and he knew the goods things you would accomplish for him and for others. In fact, he lined things up in history so that you could accomplish those things out of love for him. Amazing, isn’t it?
That’s the very reason he placed us on this earth at this time. He created us so that we can serve him now. One of those things he knew in eternity is that you would be here today with your fellow believers praising God for his saving truths. Kinda brings the eternally cosmic down to a pinpoint in time, doesn’t it? It makes you wonder what he has in store for you later today and tomorrow, doesn’t it? Lutheran Christian, you can live in love and joy and confidence knowing that what you’re doing out of love for your God is exactly what your God has prepared for you to do. As you look at the next hour or the next set of 24 hours, you can be confident that, as you live according to his word, you are carrying out what he wants you to do, what he has created you to do.
Lutheran Christians aren’t free to sin all they want. We’re free to serve. In fact, we’re inspired to serve our God out of love and thanks for what he has done for us. What does a Lutheran Christian look like? He or she is inspired for good works.
So, what’s the place for good works in our lives? As a Lutheran Christian, we embrace them, not to save us, but to respond to the grace of God that has saved us. In fact, God has prepared those good things in advance for you to do. So how’s that coming with you? Are you doing alright in that department? Do you find yourself inspired for godly living or is it a chore? Do you find it difficult to follow through on your intentions? In other words, have you failed yourself and your God? So have I. All of us have. That’s what grace is all about. God forgives you fully and freely because Jesus lived and died for you. Your sins and failures are gone. Your God has created a new you so that you can live for him. And there’s your motivation. There’s your inspiration. You live for your God as you serve him and others with the good works he has prepared for you to do. What good things does God have planned for you the rest of today? Tomorrow? As you do them in love and joy, the rest of us and our world will see you as the Lutheran Christian that you are. Amen.
Ephesians 2:8-10
What Does a Lutheran Christian Look Like?
I. Saved by grace
II. Inspired for good works
The relevance and importance of a question is directly tied to the time when it’s asked. For instance, the question, “How’s the economy here?” is a critical question for us today. It wasn’t so much so a couple years ago. “Will you be able to keep your job?” and “Will you be able to find a job?” are questions on the minds of millions of people today. “Will you be able to get the swine flu vaccine and how soon?” is before us every day lately. If you ask me, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I can give you an answer. But if you ask me, “What are you doing for next July 4?” I don’t have a clue. It’s all about timeliness.
Today we celebrate the fact that our gracious God used his servant Martin Luther to return the truth of his word to his church on earth. Many good scholars of history rank Luther’s Reformation at the top or near the top of the most important events in all of history. It changed so much for so many people for 100s of years. And in celebrating the Reformation it’s been very common for Lutheran Christians to make bold statements of truth. We stand on the truth of God’s word. We’re saved by grace alone, by faith alone, through scripture alone. But it’s also good and timely to ask questions, especially this Reformation. What do we believe as Lutherans? What does it mean to be a Lutheran?
There are many verses of the Bible you could point to in answering those questions. Several of those verses are before us this morning. Listen as I read to you Ephesians 2:8-10.
Let’s keep those familiar words in our minds and hearts and then ask another timely question: What does a Lutheran Christian look like? And I ask that question not to imply that you couldn’t answer it or you wouldn’t know one if you saw one, but to remind us of God’s saving truths and to rejoice in those truths with lives of love and service to our God. May our gracious God accomplish that in us this morning!
Part I.
I’m sure you know what it’s like to have things stated so plainly that you can’t understand at all how someone can miss the point. For instance, you may ask your children, “What part of ‘No!’ don’t you understand?” We thought our words were clear and plain. Apparently not. Or you have to deal with a co-worker who dropped the ball once again. You thought they understood their responsibilities just as well as you did yours. Apparently not.
I just read the words of Ephesians 2:8-10 and I called them familiar. Most of our youth catechism students commit verses 8 & 9 to memory. One of the things that make these verses so memorable is that they are so clear to understand. If you miss Paul’s point the first time, he drives it into you again and again. Paul really shouts at everyone, “You’re saved by grace, not by works!” How can you miss his point?
How could Luther? As a young monk and then as a rookie priest in the Roman Catholic Church he was driven to despair. And why? Because he failed to do the works his church required in order to be saved. He hated the God who demanded more of him than he could possibly render. But he was familiar with Ephesians 2:8-9. How could he miss it? Because his church had taught him a false definition of grace. For the Roman Catholic Church, grace was a power that God infused in the sinner which enabled the sinner to do good works which earned salvation. Grace was no longer grace!
So why put up with that kind of false teaching when the truth is so plain to you and me? Because it appeals to our natural human reasoning and our sinful pride. That reasoning goes like this, “I’m not entirely corrupt. In fact, much of the time I’m pretty good. Surely I can do something so that my God will do something in return for me.” It’s similar to our idea of a gift exchange. We turn a gift into an obligation. If I give him something, he’ll feel compelled to give me something in return.
Paul shouts back, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith.” Grace. Grace. Grace. But just what is grace? One writer stated, “Grace is the quality in God which makes him willing—yes, even eager—to give us undeserving sinners great and precious gifts.” Don’t think that God is like the tired mother who can’t stand to hear her young child pester her any longer for a treat even though dinner is less than an hour away and so she gives in. We can’t pester God into submission with our good deeds so that he gives us forgiveness and eternal life. No, this is what our gracious God wants with all his heart and mind to give us. And he doesn’t wait until we’ve shown ourselves worthy of salvation before he acts. He has already done it all for us.
That’s what grace is. It’s undeserved love from God. But instead of telling you what grace is, let me show you. Picture the holy Son of God, the sinless Lamb of God. His body is nailed to the wooden crossbeams of a cross. Blood oozes from his head, his back, his hands and feet. Our minds go numb at that point with the physical pain, but there’s more. When the sun turned dark, the Father separated himself from his Son and let him feel the fury of hell for our sins. That’s right. The sinless One suffered for the sinners. That’s grace. Jesus took what we deserve and the Father gave us what we don’t deserve. It happened on the cross. And a Lutheran Christian trusts in the grace of God, not in his or her works.
What does a Lutheran Christian look like? They’re saved by grace.
I began by speaking about timely questions. Why is this question so timely and so important? After all, I’m sure all of could answer it on the basis of Paul’s words. His point is clear. We understand. We get it.
But I don’t think it’s that simple. I think I’m correct in stating that we have problems realizing what we look like. What do you think you look like? If you listen to the world around you, if you buy into modern thinking, you’re not so bad. You’ll let your record speak for itself. You’re fairly responsible at everything you do, well, almost everything. And if that’s what you think, then of course God is gracious to you.
On the other hand, there are times in our lives when we know what kind of mess we’ve made of things. Guilt punches us in the gut. We don’t want to be reminded of what we look like.
\But you are a Lutheran Christian. And a Lutheran Christian knows and believes that we deserve nothing good from our God. Instead we deserve to be condemned to hell. But Christ took our sins and that guilt which keep sucking the joy out of life, and he died for them. But then he rose again to assure us that our sins and guilt are gone forever. What does a Lutheran Christian look like? They know and believe they are saved by grace.
Part II.
Have you ever heard this slam against Lutherans? “You Lutherans think you can sin all you want and still be forgiven. You believe in a cheap grace.” Yes, we believe in the free grace of our God. But we also believe in our response to that grace.
Paul talks about that response with these words, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
According to those words, the Lutheran Christian is known for good works. That’s because the Lutheran Christian lives in love and joy, not hatred and fear. Prior to the Reformation, Luther did good works out of hatred and fear. He hated God for demanding holiness from him. But once he understood and believed what the grace of God is—as you and I do—he began to live in love and joy. He loved the God who sacrificed his Son in love for him. He was filled with an inner joy over his forgiveness and eternal life and that showed by the way he lived.
In fact, he was filled with confidence at he looked at the task before him. Paul tells us that God has prepared good works in advance for us to do. God knew in eternity—before he created the world—that you would be his own dear child by faith in Jesus and he knew the goods things you would accomplish for him and for others. In fact, he lined things up in history so that you could accomplish those things out of love for him. Amazing, isn’t it?
That’s the very reason he placed us on this earth at this time. He created us so that we can serve him now. One of those things he knew in eternity is that you would be here today with your fellow believers praising God for his saving truths. Kinda brings the eternally cosmic down to a pinpoint in time, doesn’t it? It makes you wonder what he has in store for you later today and tomorrow, doesn’t it? Lutheran Christian, you can live in love and joy and confidence knowing that what you’re doing out of love for your God is exactly what your God has prepared for you to do. As you look at the next hour or the next set of 24 hours, you can be confident that, as you live according to his word, you are carrying out what he wants you to do, what he has created you to do.
Lutheran Christians aren’t free to sin all they want. We’re free to serve. In fact, we’re inspired to serve our God out of love and thanks for what he has done for us. What does a Lutheran Christian look like? He or she is inspired for good works.
So, what’s the place for good works in our lives? As a Lutheran Christian, we embrace them, not to save us, but to respond to the grace of God that has saved us. In fact, God has prepared those good things in advance for you to do. So how’s that coming with you? Are you doing alright in that department? Do you find yourself inspired for godly living or is it a chore? Do you find it difficult to follow through on your intentions? In other words, have you failed yourself and your God? So have I. All of us have. That’s what grace is all about. God forgives you fully and freely because Jesus lived and died for you. Your sins and failures are gone. Your God has created a new you so that you can live for him. And there’s your motivation. There’s your inspiration. You live for your God as you serve him and others with the good works he has prepared for you to do. What good things does God have planned for you the rest of today? Tomorrow? As you do them in love and joy, the rest of us and our world will see you as the Lutheran Christian that you are. Amen.
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