14th Sunday after Pentecost 09/06/09 Text Mark 7:31-37
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
09/06/09
Text: Mark 7:31-37
It is good to be back. To able to lead you in worshiping our Lord is such a joy and yes, an honor. There is nothing like having a severe disruption in one’s life, a disruption that keeps you away from worship, to refocus one’s attention on what really matters in life.
As most of you know this past month was an emotional rollercoaster for me and those who care for me. First the shock of finding a tumor, of course the mind goes right to cancer. Then the wakening up after the surgery hearing that it was cancer and because a nerve was involved a bum leg.
I am not sure which bothered me more, the cancer prognosis or the distinct possibility of never being able to ride my bike again. Oddly it seemed to be a toss-up between the two.
Then on the following Tuesday Penny and I heard the wonderful news that the tumor was not cancer. Of course we praised God and cried tears of joy. We wanted the whole congregation to share in the good news.
I am sharing this with you this morning, for as your pastor I want you to know that I too struggle with the “whys” of life. Why me? Well that is pretty easily answered “Why not me?” What is it in me that would make me exempt from diseases and problems of life? Nothing that I can think of, that is for sure. Why God has blessed me by not having a cancerous tumor with all of its problems of treatment? I will maybe never know, for other good God fearing people have dealt with and are dealing with Cancer right now. I can’t think of any reason to be picked out for such a blessing that I received.
It is the mystery of life. Just like we will never on this side of heaven fully understand the mind of our God, we, no matter how far science progresses will ever understand the “why” of why some get ill and some don’t, or as it happened just this past Wednesday a 2 year old baby was killed by a drunken driver, or the terrible crime in California where a young girl was snatched off the street and kept for 18 years.
Why, why, why, we cry out to God. It just is not fair. Life is just not fair that is for sure. We live, as a fallen people, in a fallen world where bad things happen. Where terrorists strike at our security. Where 75% of the people in the world, through no fault of their own, live on less than 100 dollars a year. Where the threat of the swine flu overshadows our lives. Where terrible storms destroy businesses, homes, and lives like Hurricane Katrina did four years ago.
This is just a few of the terrible things that strike God’s top creation, humankind. God formed us himself. God breathed his breath into us. God made us to be in relationship with him. That is what he wanted and when the time he will restore his creation back to the way he wanted it. But in the meantime, because Adam and Eve wanted to be like God knowing all things, we too, just like they did, will continue to suffer unfairly for things we have no control over. We, just like them will, as all know, die.
That is the price we pay, but it is not the end, for God took of our sin, our suffering, our death into his very being and made that suffering into something good. He suffered more than we can even imagine. Our Savior willingly took that on himself, not because he got anything from it, for all things belong to him anyway, but because it was only in this terrible unjust suffering and death that we through our suffering can be with him. That is not to say that our suffering adds anything to what he has done, for it does not. Jesus did it all on that cross. When he said, “It is finished.” It was finished for all eternity.
When he died that day, those there thought it was all over, but it was not over. It had only begun. His glorious resurrection from the dead assured us, no more than assured us, his resurrection guaranteed that we too will come out of our graves on that glorious day when he comes back and calls all out of their graves. Those who rejected his love and forgiveness, those who refused to put their trust in him will be reunited with their souls and cast away from the presence of God forever. They will know that they messed up big time. There is no second chance. It is over.
For those who put their trust in Jesus and his saving work, those who accepted his love and forgiveness will on that last day be brought out of their graves, reunited with their souls to live forever with Jesus his new heaven and earth. What a life. You and I and all those who put their faith in Jesus will be together in our bodies, never to get sick, or cry, or die again. In the end God will restore the world back into the way he originally created it, to be in perfect trusting relationship with him.
But in the meantime here we are with all of our problems of life. God is up there and we are down here; at least that is what it seems like. But is right? Is God up there doing his thing while we do our thing down here? That is not what the Bible teaches, for our God is an active God. He comes to us when we are in prayer and Bible study. He comes to us in the Absolution I pronounce in his name every Sunday. He comes to us when the Word of God is read. He comes to us in his Holy Supper as we take into ourselves his very body and blood. We know that for he promised that wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in his name he is there.
But you say, “I don’t see him, so how can he be present when we are gathered together.” Or maybe you don’t understand how his body and blood can be present in the bread and wine. We all stand guilty of saying, “I just don’t get it.”
While we might not and most of the time don’t get it that does not make God’s promises untrue. All that proves is that we are incapable of fully understanding the mind and will of God. And I give praise and thanks to God for that. I give him thanks and praise, for if you stop and think about it for a moment what kind of God would God be if we understood him. He simply would not be God but a creation of our imagination. For God to be God he has to be surrounded in mystery. He has to be something we stand in awe of. He has to be something we actually fear, for God tells us that no one can see God in his perfect Godhood and live.
That does not mean that we cannot see God while we walk through the problems of this life. For we see God in and through his people, the people of God. We see God in the person who brings over a casserole, who sends a card, or makes a telephone call to someone that is hurting. We see God in those who volunteer to drive someone to the doctor or hospital. We see God in those who spend time in prayer for those in need. We see God in those who forgive and forget the wrong done against them. We see God in those who gather on Sunday morning to worship God. We see God in those who attend small group Bible studies. We see God in those who have volunteered to serve our congregation in the nursery on Sunday morning.
We see God in those who practice the healing arts, those who care for those God has given them charge over. We see God in many ways, as those who follow him and his teachings live their ordinary lives. We see God in the loving touch of a parent. The list could go on and on showing how God is active through people in our lives.
But there is one more place where we truly see God in action. We see God in those who teach our children about the love of God. They are a special people indeed, doing what so many run like a plague from doing. For some teaching a child about Jesus and his love does not appear to be their gift, although I have often wondered how they know that since they never tried teaching Bible Time. Others think that teaching children is beneath them. Our Savior, Jesus didn’t. He welcomed children. For others it is a, been there done that attitude, it is time for someone else and if no one comes forward will that is too bad. For others it is simply not wanting to give up any of their precious time. To spend an hour preparing and then an hour telling children about Jesus is just too much, for it gets in the way of personal activities. I give thanks to God for those who love children and want to show through their words and actions the love of God.
God is present in our lives. He is in each of you right now. The problem is do we let him be seen or do we hide him away, for our own personal use. He does leave that up to us. That is what is so wonderful about God. He gives us the freedom to show our faith through our deeds.
It is the old saint and sinner. We are saints made holy by the action of Jesus on the cross while at the same time we are sinners still deserving of God’s wrath. We because of our faith are to do God’s will, as in loving our neighbor and sharing the love of God with those who do not know of Jesus.
09/06/09
Text: Mark 7:31-37
It is good to be back. To able to lead you in worshiping our Lord is such a joy and yes, an honor. There is nothing like having a severe disruption in one’s life, a disruption that keeps you away from worship, to refocus one’s attention on what really matters in life.
As most of you know this past month was an emotional rollercoaster for me and those who care for me. First the shock of finding a tumor, of course the mind goes right to cancer. Then the wakening up after the surgery hearing that it was cancer and because a nerve was involved a bum leg.
I am not sure which bothered me more, the cancer prognosis or the distinct possibility of never being able to ride my bike again. Oddly it seemed to be a toss-up between the two.
Then on the following Tuesday Penny and I heard the wonderful news that the tumor was not cancer. Of course we praised God and cried tears of joy. We wanted the whole congregation to share in the good news.
I am sharing this with you this morning, for as your pastor I want you to know that I too struggle with the “whys” of life. Why me? Well that is pretty easily answered “Why not me?” What is it in me that would make me exempt from diseases and problems of life? Nothing that I can think of, that is for sure. Why God has blessed me by not having a cancerous tumor with all of its problems of treatment? I will maybe never know, for other good God fearing people have dealt with and are dealing with Cancer right now. I can’t think of any reason to be picked out for such a blessing that I received.
It is the mystery of life. Just like we will never on this side of heaven fully understand the mind of our God, we, no matter how far science progresses will ever understand the “why” of why some get ill and some don’t, or as it happened just this past Wednesday a 2 year old baby was killed by a drunken driver, or the terrible crime in California where a young girl was snatched off the street and kept for 18 years.
Why, why, why, we cry out to God. It just is not fair. Life is just not fair that is for sure. We live, as a fallen people, in a fallen world where bad things happen. Where terrorists strike at our security. Where 75% of the people in the world, through no fault of their own, live on less than 100 dollars a year. Where the threat of the swine flu overshadows our lives. Where terrible storms destroy businesses, homes, and lives like Hurricane Katrina did four years ago.
This is just a few of the terrible things that strike God’s top creation, humankind. God formed us himself. God breathed his breath into us. God made us to be in relationship with him. That is what he wanted and when the time he will restore his creation back to the way he wanted it. But in the meantime, because Adam and Eve wanted to be like God knowing all things, we too, just like they did, will continue to suffer unfairly for things we have no control over. We, just like them will, as all know, die.
That is the price we pay, but it is not the end, for God took of our sin, our suffering, our death into his very being and made that suffering into something good. He suffered more than we can even imagine. Our Savior willingly took that on himself, not because he got anything from it, for all things belong to him anyway, but because it was only in this terrible unjust suffering and death that we through our suffering can be with him. That is not to say that our suffering adds anything to what he has done, for it does not. Jesus did it all on that cross. When he said, “It is finished.” It was finished for all eternity.
When he died that day, those there thought it was all over, but it was not over. It had only begun. His glorious resurrection from the dead assured us, no more than assured us, his resurrection guaranteed that we too will come out of our graves on that glorious day when he comes back and calls all out of their graves. Those who rejected his love and forgiveness, those who refused to put their trust in him will be reunited with their souls and cast away from the presence of God forever. They will know that they messed up big time. There is no second chance. It is over.
For those who put their trust in Jesus and his saving work, those who accepted his love and forgiveness will on that last day be brought out of their graves, reunited with their souls to live forever with Jesus his new heaven and earth. What a life. You and I and all those who put their faith in Jesus will be together in our bodies, never to get sick, or cry, or die again. In the end God will restore the world back into the way he originally created it, to be in perfect trusting relationship with him.
But in the meantime here we are with all of our problems of life. God is up there and we are down here; at least that is what it seems like. But is right? Is God up there doing his thing while we do our thing down here? That is not what the Bible teaches, for our God is an active God. He comes to us when we are in prayer and Bible study. He comes to us in the Absolution I pronounce in his name every Sunday. He comes to us when the Word of God is read. He comes to us in his Holy Supper as we take into ourselves his very body and blood. We know that for he promised that wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in his name he is there.
But you say, “I don’t see him, so how can he be present when we are gathered together.” Or maybe you don’t understand how his body and blood can be present in the bread and wine. We all stand guilty of saying, “I just don’t get it.”
While we might not and most of the time don’t get it that does not make God’s promises untrue. All that proves is that we are incapable of fully understanding the mind and will of God. And I give praise and thanks to God for that. I give him thanks and praise, for if you stop and think about it for a moment what kind of God would God be if we understood him. He simply would not be God but a creation of our imagination. For God to be God he has to be surrounded in mystery. He has to be something we stand in awe of. He has to be something we actually fear, for God tells us that no one can see God in his perfect Godhood and live.
That does not mean that we cannot see God while we walk through the problems of this life. For we see God in and through his people, the people of God. We see God in the person who brings over a casserole, who sends a card, or makes a telephone call to someone that is hurting. We see God in those who volunteer to drive someone to the doctor or hospital. We see God in those who spend time in prayer for those in need. We see God in those who forgive and forget the wrong done against them. We see God in those who gather on Sunday morning to worship God. We see God in those who attend small group Bible studies. We see God in those who have volunteered to serve our congregation in the nursery on Sunday morning.
We see God in those who practice the healing arts, those who care for those God has given them charge over. We see God in many ways, as those who follow him and his teachings live their ordinary lives. We see God in the loving touch of a parent. The list could go on and on showing how God is active through people in our lives.
But there is one more place where we truly see God in action. We see God in those who teach our children about the love of God. They are a special people indeed, doing what so many run like a plague from doing. For some teaching a child about Jesus and his love does not appear to be their gift, although I have often wondered how they know that since they never tried teaching Bible Time. Others think that teaching children is beneath them. Our Savior, Jesus didn’t. He welcomed children. For others it is a, been there done that attitude, it is time for someone else and if no one comes forward will that is too bad. For others it is simply not wanting to give up any of their precious time. To spend an hour preparing and then an hour telling children about Jesus is just too much, for it gets in the way of personal activities. I give thanks to God for those who love children and want to show through their words and actions the love of God.
God is present in our lives. He is in each of you right now. The problem is do we let him be seen or do we hide him away, for our own personal use. He does leave that up to us. That is what is so wonderful about God. He gives us the freedom to show our faith through our deeds.
It is the old saint and sinner. We are saints made holy by the action of Jesus on the cross while at the same time we are sinners still deserving of God’s wrath. We because of our faith are to do God’s will, as in loving our neighbor and sharing the love of God with those who do not know of Jesus.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 3:51 PM
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