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Easter VI May 8-9, 2010 Please pray with me. Dear Lord, surround this congregation with your love this morning. Give me the words to speak, make them your words. Open our hearts that the Holy Spirit may strengthen us in your words, show us the truth, and move us to an active faith in Him. Through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. I am not giving a Mother's day sermon, but I do have a mom's story to tell. It actually could be a story that has similarities to many of yours. As many of you know, our son, Stewart, is working on freedom from alcoholism and addiction. He started with smoking marijuana at 11 years old and liked it way too much. He continued his usage all through high school and college, got his college degree and then really took a nose dive. He spiraled downward with more assorted drugs and consumed unfathomable amounts of alcohol. Nothing satisfied him. Along the way he was in and out of numerous stints of treatment, in detox many times and in the emergency room and/or hospital a couple of times for accidental overdose. I found him once passed out in his room, but noticed he was turning blue and found he was not breathing. Called 911, managed to wake him up, in the meantime, only for him to be mad at me for calling for help. This was not my son speaking. Ten months ago, Stewart became a student of Teen Challenge here in Brainerd, and his life has turned dramatically. He believes, and we do also, that if he had not given up and gone to a place like Teen Challenge, he would not be alive on this earth today. Something had to change. Try as he might, he could not change things. The evil in his life had a strong hold on him and he by himself could not shake away from it. The only way he would be free of the evil of his addictions was to give himself wholly to God and let the Holy Spirit enter into his heart, thereby bringing healing to his body, mind and soul. God continues to transform his life, showing him ways to use his talents and gifts, giving him a purpose in his life, things to look forward to, an excitement in knowing that he can accomplish many good things with God's help and guidance. It states in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Our church, I believe, has gone through some similar issues. We have been blessed to have some excellent leadership, both in pastors and council members. We have hard working dedicated staff and parishioners who consider this their church home and family. But along with that, we have had some very difficult and heart-wrenching things to deal with, that being alcoholism, addiction, and mental illness, specifically depression in our pastoral leadership. Having had those as realities in our church has left many of us at times scared, mad, apathetic, worried, wanting to lash out, putting our heads in the sand, wanting to fix everything, micro-managing and controlling the smallest details. These tendencies stem from fear. These emotions, very human emotions, have left us feeling empty and helpless. We have made ourselves very vulnerable for the evil one to enter. He always comes when we are feeling weakest and prone to making poor decisions. He creates chaos, uncertainty, hopelessness, and stirs up things with untruths. It breaks my heart to see this brokenness in our congregation and I have to admit being caught up in some of it myself. We are human and being human we have sin. Because of sin, we are separated from God. As long as we have unconfessed sin, we cannot have communion, meaning relationship, with God. Without relationship with God, we will continue on the downward spiral of hopelessness. The good news is, Christ came as a human, felt all our deepest and darkest emotions and thoughts, took them on himself and sacrificed himself for us on the cross, a most brutal death. To think of someone choosing to die for me in that most awful way, truly brings me to my knees in awe and thanks. I, a most unworthy human being, full of sin, am saved because of his ultimate sacrifice. I, you, all of us confessing Christians will be reunited with Christ because of Jesus dying for us and being raised to give us new life. Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 8 verse 38, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Being at one with Christ can fill the void we feel as humans and heal what ails us, both in our family lives and the life of our church. What a comforting thought! What a gift! What love, what wondrous love! That kind of love, selfless love, is the model given to us by our Lord and Savior. Because of that wondrous gift to us, we should do all things in praise of Him and only Him. He is the One and only who has saved our lives for eternity. Our lives here on earth are to be lived as people thankful for what God has done for us in the sacrificing of his only son. As a caring, loving people, we are commissioned to love one another as Christ loved us. With a most heartfelt, honest, truthful, never spiteful love, treating others as we would like them to treat us, with respect and love. Real love. I am not talking about love of things, possessions, romantic love, or fleeting love. We're talking REAL LOVE. I Corinthians 13 is used at many weddings as the quote love chapter, but I want to put it in a more everyday life context as real love for all people of Christ. The love that God has for us unconditionally. Paul states starting with verse 4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes always perseveres." Think on these verses as life guidelines, not just with your spouse or partner, but how we are treat all people in Christ. Agape love, Greek for God's selfless love for all people. Romans 5:8--God demonstrates his love in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Very selflessly. Love is patient. I can be very impatient. I want things to be done not now, but right now. I continue to learn and wait patiently for God's time. His time is always best, even if it takes a lot longer than I wish! Love is kind. Treat all people with kindness, whether you agree or disagree with them, they still deserve kindness. Love does not envy. I found myself coveting the two grand pianos they have at Crosslake Lutheran Church when we were there a couple of weeks ago. Not good! Love does not boast and love is not proud . We do not have to shout to the rooftops when we have done a good deed. Have you noticed, or maybe you haven't, all the people in this church who give of their time and talents silently, without their name in the bulletin, or expecting thanks. They do the work because of their love for God and our church and our church mission. We have quilters, prayer shawlers, grounds keepers, cleaners, pray-ers, drivers, visitors, newsletter putter-together-ers, decorators, counters, and more. On any given day of the week, there is some kind of activity going on. That is truly to be celebrated. That is truly to be praised! Love is not rude. We are to respect each other, love each other, not put people down even when we find ourselves not in agreement with them. When you say or do something "in love", it should always be to lift that person up, not tear down. We are to always lift each other up in love. Tearing down a person is not loving them. Paul says to the Ephesians in chapter 4 verse 29--Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Love is not easily angered. Sometimes we may feel justified in our anger, righteous anger, but that anger many times turns hurtful, leaving people feeling unworthy and downtrodden. EASILY ANGERED is the key, if we blow up and not think about our words, it can be very harmful. Negative words are very harmful. We need to always check our anger, give some time and space before reacting. Love does not keep records of wrongs. How many of us have said the words "well, they did it to me first"? Sounds like grade school, huh, but many of us still feel this as adults. We must forgive those who have wronged us and move forward. Forgive and forget, there is a reason for this saying. It is true and it helps us get past the things that will hold us back from healing. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. I find myself getting caught up in gossip sometimes, it is easy to do. It is one thing to talk about people because we are concerned about them, but to speak about someone, not knowing all of the truth, is delighting in their misfortune and evil. It spreads and turns ugly. It runs rampant. We are all guilty. My favorite part of these verses is love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. Always lifts each other up. I believe our congregation has come a long way towards healing from the ravages of the diseases of addiction and depression, but we still have a lot work to do. We will always work towards a closer relationship with God, as we are a work in progress. Healing takes time, lots of time. It takes patience, trust, hope and perseverance. It takes patience, trust, hope and perseverance in our Lord Jesus Christ. Healing also requires love for one another. This love has to come from God. This healing has to come from us asking the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts, our lives, asking him to take full control of our lives. It requires a pure and honest and hopeful faith that it will be done. A verse that helped me most when our son was going through the worst of his addictions was Hebrews 11:1, the definition of faith: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." The word hope does not mean this nebulous thing that I wish something would happen, but rather hope in Christ is knowing that what I pray for WILL happen. It may not happen how or when I CHOOSE or when or how I THINK it should be done, but only in God's perfect time and in God's perfect ways. It is a certainty. We all can step out in faith. Do something that may feel uncomfortable to serve your church and ultimately serve God. Have you ever been in a group bible study or church meeting or something similar and asked for random prayers "OUT LOUD" even? Your heart flutters, maybe you feel you are having a heart attack even, (we Lutherans have a hard time praying out loud). The Holy Spirit is trying to prompt you. He wants you to feel uncomfortable sometimes. It is a call to action. Faith is action. And action should always be started by asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. I cannot do anything without guidance from the Holy Spirit. He speaks to me from prayers, through Bible study, both on my own and in group Bible studies, he speaks to me through other Christians—all of you. He comforts me through the word, prayer and people. Our family is continually healing and getting stronger all the time, it is a lifelong process as it will be here. We had to become weak to ourselves, to let go of the choke hold we had on everything, let go of the control, let go of trying to fix everything, let God take control and let God fix everything in his way and time. Only then, could we find our sanity again and be healthy in mind and spirit once again. Again, we aren't there yet, but a work in progress. The same has to go for our church. We need to realize that we do not have control, God is the only one who does. When we realize that, the burden is lifted from our shoulders. Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." We need to let go and give it all to the Holy Spirit to mend hearts, mend minds, mend relationships, mend spirits. We still have some uncertainties ahead, but we've heard the saying "out of bad, comes good" It is true if we let the Holy Spirit take control. In Romans 8 verse 28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." This is a certainty. And we have a calling, a purpose. Our bell tower tells us to "Come Worship Go Tell". When we enter these doors, we worship the one who gave us life, and everything we need to sustain life. When we leave, we are called to tell others about Christ, (that is hard for us Lutherans to do), but it can be done by how you live, how you love one another, how you speak to each other. I've heard it said, "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words". Pastor Bruce called on us to think about Mission work as well, last week. I know we shouldn't be envious, but why should the youth group get to do all the fun mission trips. We can be force out there. We should be reaching out to the unchurched and those in need in our area and areas further away. We have been concerned about worship attendance, it has been going down over the last few years. I don't believe it is all Pastor related either. There are many other contributing factors like new churches starting in the area and the ELCA vote this fall. But we cannot blame these factors. The truth is in my opinion, is that we have strayed away from what should be the center of our existence. That is God. We can start all kinds of programs, events, etc. but if Christ is not the center, we will not be grounded in our faith. Before we do anything, we need to always pray and give thanks. Before we enter the sanctuary, we should pray that God enter our hearts, before we put newsletters together, pray that God is there with us. Before we clean the grounds or put up flowers, pray to God who gave us the gifts, talents and able bodies to do his work. Christ needs to be the center of all that we do. When we do that, we will be transformed, healed, refreshed, and become better witnesses to what the Lord has done for us. When we put God first, in front of our own desires, only then will we be strong in the Lord. And only then will we be able to carry out God's plan--not our plan--for our church. I believe we are on the brink of some very exciting times. Beware of a God-driven church to carry out our mission to serve one another, love one another, care for each other, and reach out beyond these walls. I challenge all of you to step out of your box. Step out of your comfort zone. Step out in faith. Use your faith to do something, faith in action. Do something uncomfortable that you feel the Holy Spirit nagging at you about. Let God be your guide, pray to Him and for his guidance on what you should use your gifts for. Use your gifts to serve God. Use your gifts to serve your church. And then beware, be there, be ready. We have some very exciting times ahead serving our Lord. Amen. Pray with me. This is from Ephesians 3:14-20. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.Sing with me the hymn in your bulletin. "They'll know we are Christians by our love" taken right from John 13:55 from last week's gospel. Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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