Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is always a blessing to be invited to preach in another church. I especially enjoy coming back to Peace Lutheran and seeing my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, that I don’t get to see nearly often enough and to see how the church continues to grow in numbers and in spirit.
This past winter, I had the privilege to return to my old hometown of Sycamore, IL. My old congregation invited me to come back and preach at the 125th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John.
This was a church founded by my great-grandfather and four other German immigrants.
What a joy it was to stand in the pulpit of the church where I was baptized and confirmed. To look out and see the faces of old friends and family in a church that had served as foundation of my Lutheran education.
And what a great text I had to preach on that day. The anniversary theme and the title of my sermon that day were based on the wonderful words from the book of Hebrews: “Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
On that day I was able to trace the history of St. John’s from it’s humble beginnings to the days of my youth and to the present day and to encourage the congregation to continue it’s efforts……to preach and teach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Pastor Greg asked if I would be able to come and serve at Peace during his vacation, I was excited. Now, I have to be honest, I didn’t immediately look at the lessons for the day and start to prepare my sermon.
I knew that I would more than likely look at the lessons for the day and make a decision on either the Epistle of Gospel text and go from there.
After last weeks services were over, on Monday night, I pulled out the church planner and looked at the lessons for the week.
I read them and my first thoughts were, “Great! I have a prophet, an adulterous, an idolater and a tax collector. How can I establish a connection between that group and Peace’s congregation?”
But, with your permission and the help of the Holy Spirit, let’s take a look at these lessons and see how God worked in the lives of these people.
One of the things that has always fascinated me is how smart God is.
Have you ever noticed how God, when He knows that we’re just not getting it, always brings it down to a level that perhaps we can understand.
Jesus did this same thing while he was going about his ministry here on earth. When he would be trying to make a point to his disciples and others who followed him, when he would be explaining the truth about the Law or telling them about the kingdom of God, there’s no doubt that often times he would look out and see nothing but a blank stare.
Jesus response was always, “Well, let me tell you this parable.” He would make his point in a language that everyone could understand. He would put it in the vernacular of the day. He would talk about planting and harvesting and fishing.
In our first lesson, the OT lesson from Hosea, God is doing the same thing.
In fact, the whole book of the prophet Hosea is God’s method of speaking to the people of Israel in a language they can understand.
If you’re not familiar with the book of Hosea, let me give you a brief synopsis.
Hosea was a called messenger of God. A prophet. The first thing that God told him to do was to go get married and to have children.
So Hosea did. He married a woman named Gomer. Doesn’t sound too strange up to this point, but Gomer was different. She was an adulterous. God knew it and so did Hosea. But that was what God wanted so that’s what Hosea did.
And as God is wont to do, He even told Hosea what the names of the children were to be.
The first child was a son and his name was Jezreel. Jezreel in Hebrew means “God scatters.”
Then they had another child, this time a little girl and God said name her LO-RU HAMAH.
Lo-Ruhamah in Hebrew means, “not loved.”
Finally they had another little boy. This little guys name was LO-AMMI which means, “not my people.”
What God was doing through the prophet Hosea, his wife and his children, was painting a very vivid picture of His (God’s) relationship with the nation of Israel.
God has chosen them to be His people. He had, in effect, taken them as His bride.
But Israel had been unfaithful. Israel had been involved in an adulterous relationship with other gods. She had worshipped the altars of Baal and Asherah.
Gomer was the representation of Israel, and through her children, God was telling what the consequences would be for her unfaithfulness.
The people of Israel would be scattered, unloved and not His people.
Hosea not only preached the Word of God. He not only called the people to repentance, but through his life, his marriage and his children, he portrayed God.
Ultimately, the love shown by Hosea was a manifestation of God’s love for His people.
In the Epistle lesson for this morning, Paul writes eloquently about Abraham.
He tells the story of this patriarch to the church in Rome to try and explain what faith is really all about.
He tells the story of Abraham and Sarah and of Abraham’s undying faith in the Lord that he, indeed, would be the father of many nations.
Before you can understand Abraham’s faith though, you need to know a little about Abraham.
Abraham was born Abram to a father named Terah. They lived in the land of Ur.
From scripture, we know that Abram and his family worshipped false gods.
What was amazing about Abram was this fact. Even though he and his family members were idolaters, when God called, the true Triune God, Abram went.
Abram took his wife Sari and his nephew Lot and “left his country and his people and his father’s household” and went. He didn’t really even know where he was going.
But God made him a promise, a seven-fold promise.
God said:
1. I will make you into a great nation
2. I will bless you;
3. I will make your name great,
4. You will be a blessing.
5. I will bless those who bless you,
6. Whoever curses you I will curse;
7. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
This all happened when Abram was 75 years old.
In today’s Epistle, Abraham is now about 100 years old. Think about it for a minute.
25 years had gone by. Abraham is living in a tent. He doesn’t even own the lot. Outwardly, it doesn’t appear as though a whole lot of “blessings” had come his way and then, at the ripe old age of 100 he’s told he’s going to be a daddy.
Initially, we are told in the Scriptures that Abraham fell down laughing.
But then, Abraham gets up, dusts himself off, and proceeds to follow through with a command that God had set forth. He told Abraham that, as a sign of the covenant between them, Abraham and all the males of his household, for generations to come, must be circumcised.
Paul writes in our Epistle this morning, that, “against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him.”
This is Paul’s example of faith.
Now, we come to the Gospel.
Let’s set the scene from the book of Matthew.
Jesus had begun his earthly ministry. He had changed water into wine. He had preached the Sermon on the Mount. He had calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee. He had expelled demons in the region of the Gadarenes.
Now, Jesus is back in his adopted hometown of Capernaum.
Capernaum is a small fishing village located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The major highway from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Damascus passes by and this is where Matthew the tax collector has set up his booth, collecting taxes from all of the passing merchants and the people of the town.
As a tax collector, Matthew was one of the most despised of all people. He not only collected money for the pagans from Rome, he earned his own living by overcharging everyone and skimming from the top.
We don’t know if Matthew had heard of or seen Jesus prior to this recorded meeting. All we do know is that Jesus approached him and said two words: “Follow me.”
And at that, Matthew left his toll booth and followed him.
We do know that Matthew was thrilled at what had happened. He was excited enough to throw a dinner party and invite his friends, Jesus and his followers to eat with him.
According to our Gospel lesson, we also know that this is what caused a little ruckus. It seems that the Pharisees didn’t think much of Matthew and his gang, and they especially didn’t think much of Jesus associating with them.
Jesus used this as a teaching tool however, with a very clear statement. He said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
Then, as any good teacher, he gives them a homework assignment. He says, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
So that brings us back to the question, “What do all of these stories have to do with us?”
Once again, how can I relate a story about a prophet, an adulterous woman, an idolater and a tax collector to this congregation? To all of us who live now, in June of 2002.
To be honest, there are many things we can learn and many things we have in common with these ancients of the scriptures.
With Gomer, the wife of Hosea we share sin. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If it were not for His mercy, we would share the fate of her children, we would be scattered, we would be unloved and we would not be His children.
With Hosea and Abraham and Matthew we share faith. The same faith that was given to them was given to us through the power of the Holy Spirit through the hearing of the Word and the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
We also share a calling.
God has called each of us to be His children. And don’t be confused. This is not a choice that any of us have made. As Christ himself said, You did not choose me, but I chose you”
What we can learn from all of these faithful followers is to let God be God.
Look once again at Hosea. I’m sure that he didn’t sit around as a youth thinking that when he grew up he would serve the Lord by marrying a prostitute and having her and her children be a visible portrayal of God’s relationship to Israel. God called and Hosea went. He served God according to God’s will.
Abraham certainly got frustrated during the 25 years as he waited for the promises of God to be fulfilled. How many times do you think that he was tempted to turn his back on God and return to the land of his father and to the gods of his people. It would have been the easy road, but Abraham showed his faith by letting God be God. God’s will is accomplished in his time and in his way.
Matthew had to wonder why Jesus chose him out of all the others that were on the road that day. He had to know in his heart that he wasn’t deserving of this special attention of the one known as Jesus.
But he didn’t question Jesus. He rose and followed Him, content to do the will of the one who called.
Do you ever wonder why God has called you? Do you ever wonder if you’re doing all the things that God would want? Do you ever feel compelled to go out on your own?
All to often in this day and age we are told that we have to accomplish certain goals to be right with God.
We have to be a good person or a good family man or we have to strong provider.
All of those are good things to strive for, but they have nothing to do with our salvation or our righteousness in God’s eyes.
God looks on each of us with the same righteousness that was credited to Abraham. Not because of what we have done, but because of the suffering and death of His only begotten Son.
Jesus went to the cross to reunite us with God.
That is why we have been called. That is why we are here today.
To receive the gifts that God has freely given to each of us. The gift of salvation. The gift of forgiveness. The gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
Today God feeds us with the body and blood of Christ to strengthen our faith, forgive us our sins and to give us a foretaste of the feast to come.
Receive those gifts offered here by God. Let God be God.
This is the faith shared by our ancestors.
I can say to you with the same conviction, the same promise, the same hope, the words I said to the people of St. John’s: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
