If You Believe Then …

Day’s Readings: Psalm 18:43-50, Matthew 25:14-46, Job 40:3-42:17
Pondering Reading: Job 42:12-17
12  And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
13  He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14  And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.
15  And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
16  And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations.
17  And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

• If you believe then God will greatly bless you.
• If you believe then God will give you whatever you want.
• If you believe then God will cure you of all your ills.
• If you believe then God will bless you financially.
• If you believe then God will answer all of your prayers (the way you want them answered).

If you believe then…  There are Christians who claim that if you believe then God will bless you beyond all belief!  And, do you know something?  They are right!  But not in the way they think they’re right!  God has indeed blessed us beyond all belief by sending his Son as our Savior!   But that is not what they mean.  They are of the opinion that God will give them whatever they want in this life if they believe it enough.

I met a man who believed this.  He especially believed that God would cure all our illnesses and diseases if we believed that he could/would do it.  I believe that God can do it.  I believe that there are times that God does do it (I’ve seen it happen).  But there are times that God, for reasons known only to him, chooses not to do it.  As I talked to the man he said that God cured him of blindness in his left eye.  Now that eye had a mind of its own and did not focus on me when he talked.  I mentioned that to him.  He said that, while God cured his blindness, he could not see out of that eye “because Satan is deceiving me into believing that God did not cure me” (his words within the quotation marks).  My response was, “Are you saying that Satan is greater than God?  If God healed you then Satan would have no power over that healing.”  To which he responded that Satan was at work again (implied:  Satan is working in/through me) trying to deceive him.

Our great danger is that we take something like today’s pondering verses and try to make them universal:  Because God did this for Job, then he will do it for everyone.  The Bible does not teach that.  Quite to the contrary; it states that we are not to be surprised when the world turns against us and punishes us unjustly.  As we continue to live in the post-Constantian west (Constantine was the Roman emperor who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire) the opposition to biblical Christianity  continues and increases.  Our temptation is to believe that God has somehow abandoned us or that there is something wrong with us.  We do not look to outward circumstance as proof of God’s love and acceptance of us.  We look to the Cross and our Savior who died there; we look to the empty tomb and know that our sins are forgiven and that God loves us and keeps us as his own.

If you believe then…  The original, surviving eleven apostles believed; they believed in their Lord and Savior with all of their heart, with all of their mind, with all of their being.  Yet, according to early Church history, only one of the Eleven (John) died of natural causes; and even he was exiled on the Island of Patmos.

If you believe then…

• you know that God hasn’t promised that nothing bad will ever happen to you.
• you know that God is with you in the midst of your pain.
• you know that God knows what you suffer because he suffered it all himself in the person of Jesus.
• you know that God has not turned his back upon you.
• you know that God has not abandoned you.
• you know that God still loves you and keep you as his own.
• you know that God will never stop loving you because of Jesus and what he did you for you!

Lord God, heavenly Father, we are so tempted to take our eyes off of Jesus and look for proof of your love for us in other things, things which crumble and wash away!  Let us always keep our eyes firmly fixed upon Jesus, his Cross, his empty tomb, for in him, and only in him, we find the proof of you love and acceptance of us.  In his name we pray!  Amen!

If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

The Second Sunday after Pentecost

Audio Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South Street (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078

The Rev. Dr. Jim Kerner, Preaching

Click Here For Message:   Pentecost 2 2011

The Lessons
Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28

18  “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
19  You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
20  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
21  that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
26  “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
27  the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today,
28  and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

Romans 3:21-25a,27-28

21  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it–
22  the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
27  Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28  For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Matthew 7:21-29

21  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
24  “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
27  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
28  And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29  for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Should you wish to access Pastor Kerner’s sermon archive, you can do so at
http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/.

http://www.gslcsuffield.org/

Are You Ready?

Day’s Readings:  Psalm 18:37-42, Matthew 24:32-25:13, Job 38:1-40:2
Meditational Reading:  Matthew 25:1-13
1  “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4  but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5  As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
6  But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7  Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
8  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9  But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’
10  And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
11  Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
12  But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13  Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

One of the things that invariably amazes me is the reaction of Christians at the thought of our Lord’s coming on the last day.  As you read through our Lord’s descriptions of the last day (and the time leading up to it), as you read his parable concerning the last day(s), as you look at it, you can become a bit afraid.  I’ve met Christians who are terrified of the last day(s).  There is good reason to feel that twinge of terror:  it sounds awful scary!

But, the truth of the matter is, Jesus does not want us to live in fear of the last day(s).  He does not want us to live in fear of that day when he will bodily return to judge the living and the dead.  As a matter of fact, he wants us to live in eager anticipation of that day.  Because of him and the sacrifice he made for us on the cross, we do not fear meeting him face to face!  We are forgiven; eternal life is given to us as a garantee through faith in him!  We are ready to meet him because of that he has done for us!

Now, I’ve put the cart before the horse!

There are two points Jesus makes in the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

• The first point is to be ready because we do not know when he will return.
• The second point is often missed.  Parables not only convey information, but they are also intended to make us take a step back, contemplate them, and ask questions.
• The question confronting us in this parable is:  Am I a wise or foolish virgin?  Am I ready to meet the Lord or not?

Now you see why the cart of before the horse!  We are ready because of Jesus and his great sacrifice for our sins.  I gave away the punchline before I told the joke (so to speak).  We are ready to meet him.

Lord, thank you for all that you have done for me so that I can live with you forever!  Because of you and you alone I am ready to meet you when you return.  Trusting solely in you, I am ready!  Amen!
If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: https://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

Have You Seen Any False Christs Lately?

Day’s Readings:  Job 35:1-37:24, Matthew 24:1-31, Proverbs 4:1-9
Meditational Reading:  Matthew 24:23-27
27  Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
24  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25  See, I have told you beforehand.
26  So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27  For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Jesus warns against the false Christs and false prophets who will arise.  I met such a false Christ.  He came to the church and started to engage me in conversation.  I immediately recognized that he was a crackpot and/or heretic.  After a while he told me, “I am Julius Christ.”  Before I arrived in Connecticut Brother Julius was a (false) prophet who actually used our church for some of his meetings.  Brother Julius died.  But some of his followers took up his cause and now claim to be “Julius Christ.”

It was easy to identify him as a false Christ.  He came right out and called himself “Christ.”  But what about the not so easy identifications?  What about areas where things are fuzzy?  When I work out at the gym early in the morning there is not a whole lot of stuff on TV except infomercials.  If I am going to do an hour of cardio, I NEED MY TV! to distract me.  A few weeks ago I watched some program or the other where the new home buyer brought their spiritual adviser to the house before closing on it.  They had a seance of some sort to rid the house of the lurking spirit of the previous owner.  During the spiritual exercise the adviser was able to mention things that surprised the house seller because they were spot on about the person who (if memory serves me) died in the house.  At the end of the seance (or whatever it was called), all four participants “felt” the spirit go past them and leave the house.

There was a time in my life that I would say these people are kooks.  But, as I’ve matured in my Christian faith, I recognize that there is more than the physical world; I recognize that there is a “spiritual” presence in the world also.  Let me be plain:  I do not believe in ghosts or spiritual entities that were once human lurking in the places where they once lived.  But I do believe in the spiritual.  I believe in angels and in demons because the Bible teaches that they exist.  I believe that Satan and his followers can deceive people into believing that they are “departed spirits” even to the point of revealing true information about the “dearly (not so entirely) departed”.

We live in a world of open “spirituality” that wants nothing to do with the true God of this world and the revelation of his Word, the Bible.  “Ghosts” and “spiritual entities” do not exist.  To believe in them is to deny the resurrection.  Angels and demons do exist.  In his effort to lead people astray and keep them from God and his love and forgiveness, Satan and his followers parade around in various spiritual forms, leading people further and further from God and his truth.  Remember:  false Christs and false prophets are not only “religious”, they are “spiritual” as well.  And the spiritual advisers do not even know who they are dealing with!

Lord, there are so many things in this world that we know nothing about.  But we do know that you love us and sent your Son as the sacrifice for our sins.  We know that he rose from the dead–not as a ghost, but as our living, breathing God and Savior!  Open our eyes and hearts to see the false Christs and false teachers and teaching around us.  Keep us grounded in your Word, in your love, in your Resurrection which you will give to all of your children on the last day.  Thank you, Lord, for keeping us steadfast in your Word.  Amen!

If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

Is God Fair II?

Day’s Readings:  Job 33:1-34:37, Matthew 23:1-39, Psalm 18:25-36
Meditational Reading:  Job 34:10-12
10  Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.
11  For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways.
12  Truly, God does not do evil, and the Ruler of all is not a false judge.

As you read the book of Job you find some great truths.  But, amid the great truths, there is always the kernel of false teaching.  Job, amid all of his bitching about God, always has the kernel that renders his conclusions false (even though they seem true).  The same can be said about his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.  We are then confronted with Elihu, the author of today’s meditational reading.  We don’t know where Elihu came from, when he arrived on the scene (at least I don’t remember when he arrived on the scene).

As we contemplate the meditational verse, we see some great truth here:  that God does not do evil; that he does not do wrong.  Elihu then contends that God rewards everyone for what they do.  We see that idea of karma (even though the word is not mentioned) at work!

• When I am good, when I do good, God rewards me for the good I do.
• When I am bad, when I do bad, God punishes for the bad I do.

Is this true?  This is the way many people, a good many Christians included, approach their relationship with God.  I’ve told the story of the woman whose Sunday School teacher told her she must be a very bad child because of the death of her parents.  It was my personal story brought that out of the woman.  Shortly after my first wife unexpectedly died (after three months of marriage), I received a letter from a local clergy who told me that my wife’s death was proof that I was under God’s judgement and that I should resign from the ministry.  Whether we call it karma or not, we <think we> see it at work.  It is still with us!

Elihu has this little kernel of false teaching which destroys his entire concept of God!  God is indeed our great Judge; the day will come when every single person who ever lived will stand before him for judgement.  The key to all of this is verse 11, “For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways.”  Is this true?  Is this how God works?  The Book of Job starts out with the premise that Job was a righteous man!  Job’s complaint is that he is indeed righteous (his friends all disagree) and that he is being treated unfairly (karma again!).

What’s the problem?  My fallen human nature thinks that God is in debt to me because of the good things I do for him.  God should, God must, reward me because I am a good person.  That same fallen human nature tells me that God will punish me because of the bad things I do.  But that is not how God operates.  The whole point of Job is that we do not always know why God does the things he does!  And the point of the Bible, in its totality, is the point that God indeed loves us and that Jesus, and only Jesus, is the proof of that love.  Paul tells us this in Romans, chapter 5:

1  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
10  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

When bad things happen to me (and they do happen!), I don’t look at my outward circumstances as proof of God’s love.  I look to Jesus and his cross and his resurrection as the proof, as God’s proof, as God’s only proof, that he loves and will never stop loving me.

Is God fair?  No he’s not.  He doesn’t punish me the way I deserve to be punished.  He punished his only Son in my place so that I can be with him forever!

Lord God, heavenly Father, I am tempted to look at my circumstances for the proof of your love in my life.  My circumstances change and change drastically from time to time.  Circumstances are fickle.  I do not always know why you allow bad things to happen to me.  But, in those bad times, keep me focused upon Jesus, for in him I know your love for me.  Amen!

If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: https://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

What Do You Trust In?

Day’s Readings:  Job 30:1-32:22, Matthew 22:15-46, Psalm 18:16-24
Meditational Reading:  Job 31:24-28
24  “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence,
25  if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much,
26  if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,
27  and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28  this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.

Job is sure that he is innocent of any and all sin.  He is sure that God is unjustly punishing him.  If God would just show up, well Job would tell him a thing or two and show him just how good a person he really is.  When things went well with Job he was sure that God loved him and blessed him.  When he lost all of his earthly possessions, including his sons and daughters, Job did not curse God; he did not turn his back upon God.  But it is when Job is afflicted with the sores of his body that Job (not very patient Job is!) turns with vehemence upon God.  He is sure that God is punishing him unjustly.

Job is somewhat of a enigma to me.  He is a good man (good, not perfect).  He trusted, he believed, in God.  Yet, when calamity struck, he accused God of being unjust.  Job claims (in today’s meditational reading) to have trusted in God.  But did he really?  What is the basis of Job’s trust?  It wasn’t his possessions.  When he lost them he still praised God.  It is when he lost his health that Job turned on God.  He is sure that God is punishing him unjustly.

Even Christians can fall into that trap.  We fall into in one of two ways:

• We believe that our outward circumstances are proof of God love, acceptance, and pleasure of us.  When I have all that I want (and more), then God is pleased with me.  When things go against us, then God is not pleased with us and there is something wrong with us and our relationship with God.
• Our second way is related closely to the first, when things go wrong, we think that God has turned against us for some reason.  How many times, in the face of crisis, disappointment, hardship have I asked myself, “What did I do to deserve this?”
• No matter how we approach the problem, we are looking for something from God in which to place our trust.

What do you trust in?  [I know I’m not supposed to end my sentence with a preposition, but it sounds less pretenious than “In What Do You Trust?”]  According to the Bible, my one and only source of trust is God himself.  It is in the fact that God the Son entered this world in the person of Jesus and died on the cross to forgive my sins and show me the proof, the absolute proof that God loves.  Paul tells us this in Romans 5 (especially verse 8):  “6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

I know that God loves me, I only know that God loves me, because Jesus came and died for me!  There is the proof, the only proof, of God’s love for me.  I trust in God’s proof, I only trust in God’s proof, the proof of the cross.
A prayer response:  Lord, when hardship strikes I am tempted to take my eyes off of you and wonder why you’ve abandoned me.  But, Lord, keep my eyes fixed upon your cross and empty tomb for there, and only there, I find the absolute proof of your love for me.  Thank you for that proof.  Amen!

If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

Is God Unfair?

Bible Readings for the day: Psalm 18:7-15, Matthew 21:33-22:14, Job 25:1-29:25
Meditational Reading:  Matthew 22:1-14
1  And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
2  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,
3  and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
4  Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’
5  But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
6  while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
7  The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8  Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9  Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’
10  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11  “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.
12  And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
13  Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14  For many are called, but few are chosen.”

It bothered me to no end when I used to read this parable.  Things just seemed so wrong, so unjust.  The king invites all of these people to his son’s wedding feast; he invites the rich and poor; they come in order to enjoy the wedding feast.  All is well and good, until the king enters the room.  And there, sticking out like a sore thumb, is a man who is not wearing his wedding garment.  The king confronts him and the man cannot respond.  The king orders him bound hand and foot and cast out of the wedding feast, “into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This parable bothered me to no end.  In my mind, the man was obviously too poor to buy wedding garments.  Why should he be punished because he was poor?

But that is not the case!  It was the custom in Jesus’ earthly days for the host of the wedding feast to provide the guests with wedding garments, so they would be appropriately attired for the wedding feast.  The king gave the man the very garment he needed to be in the feast, and the man refused to wear it!  The man, by failing refusing to wear the wedding garment the king provided for him, insulted the king and his generosity.

There is a deeper level to this parable.  It deals with God and what he has done for us in Jesus our Savior.  We do not approach God the Father based upon our works and the things we do.  We approach him because of the work Jesus did for us, did for us on the cross.  Numerous times in the New Testament we read what Jesus did for us, how he bestows his sinlessness upon us.  God the Father himself provides the garments we need to come before him:

Galatians 3:25-27 

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26  for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 

27  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

I guess we can say that God is unfair.  He does not judge us as we deserve, but he judges us in and through his Son, who took sins upon himself and paid their price in full and gave us his sinlessness in their place.  (2 Corinthians 5:21  For our sake he <God the Father> made him <Jesus> to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him <Jesus> we might become the righteousness of God.  <information in the brackets is added by me to fully explain the meaning of the verse>)

Lord, thank you for being unfair!  Thank you for not judging me as I deserve but clothing me in Christ’s righteousness, so that I can stand before you and live with you for all eternity!  Amen!

Should you wish to access Pastor Kerner’s sermon archive, you can do so at http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/.

http://www.gslcsuffield.org/

Holy Trinity

• The Sermon for Holy Trinity
• Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
• 585 South St. (Rt.75)
• Suffield CT 06078 
• The Rev. Dr. Jim Kerner, Pastor

The Old Testament Lesson – Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
32  “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.
33  Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
34  Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
39  know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
40  Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

The Epistle Lesson– 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
11  Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
12  Greet one another with a holy kiss.
13  All the saints greet you.
14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The Gospel Lesson– Matthew 28:16-20
16  Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
17  And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
18  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Holy Trinity–Saturday

Holy Trinity–Sunday

Christian Karma?

Day’s Readings: Proverbs 3:21-35, Matthew 21:18-32, Job 22:1-24:25
Meditational Reading: Job 22:1-11
1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2  “Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
3  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4  Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you?
5  Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.
6  For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7  You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8  The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it.
9  You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
10  Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11  or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

Was Job a righteous man who suffered unjustly or was he the sinner Eliphaz the Temanite made him out to be?  Eliphaz sure comes down hard on Job.  He accuses him of everything except stealing the kitchen sink.  In verse 5, “Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.”  But Job 1:1 tell us, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”

We live in a world dominated by the thought of karma.  Even Christians fall into the trap of karmic thinking.  After something bad happens to us, how many times have we asked the question (even silently), “What did I do to deserve this?”  I remember the former member who told me that, when she was a little girl, her parents died in a horrible accident.  Her Sunday School teacher (Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod through and through–as am I) told her, “You must be a very bad girl for God to punish you like this.”  She carried that memory with her well into adulthood!

Eliphaz told Job the same thing.  Eliphaz even manufactured sins that Job supposedly committed in order to justify his karmic position!

1. The Bible is clear in one thing:  Sins do have consequence.  If I sexually sin and get an STD, I guess I could blame God for it, after all (in my muddled, sin-stained way of thinking) God invented that nasty bug!  But I am the one who is guilty of violating God’s law and I am the one responsible.  If I drive drunk and get into a car accident, I am to blame!  It’s that simple.  Sins doe have consequences!
2. The Bible is also clear on one thing:  We cannot attribute every catastrophe, every bad thing that happens in life, to sin in general or a specific sin we’ve committed and then point to that catastrophe, point to that bad thing, as proof that God is punishing us.
3. The Bible is also clear on another thing:  Jesus took our sins upon himself and paid their price in full!  If I do sin, I repent and I receive the full and free forgiveness Jesus won for me on the cross.  That sins {those sins} no longer exist.  But let’s be clear:  we may have to live with the physical consequences of our sins!  [See point #1 above].

Karma is not biblical!  God’s love and forgiveness in Jesus is!

Lord, preserve me from the sin of Eliphaz!  The sin of presuming I know so much and declare your punishment upon people.  Let me bring the love of Jesus to people who are hurting so that they will know that you are not punishing them, but you love them and have proven that love on the cross.  This I ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen!

If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

Why Do I Need God?

Day’s Readings: Psalm 18:1-6, Matthew 21:1-17, Job 19:1-21:34
Meditational Reading: Job 21:14-16a
14  They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15  What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16  Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?

Reading Job takes patience!  But there are golden nuggets in Job!  As I read today’s readings, these verses jumped out at me!  They reminded me of a conversation I had a few year ago.  I was at a gathering and in the process of the small talk that went on, a young, professional man asked me, “Why do I need God?  I have everything I could ever want.  I have a ton of money; I have some really great cars; I have a great house; I have a hot wife; I have all that I could ever want.  Why do I need God?”  In his own way he echoed Job and Job’s complaint!

Why do I need God?  Why do I need God when I have all the toys in the world?  The answer is obvious:  the toys will break; the hot wife will become merely warm as she ages; the toys will not last.  But that is the answer from someone who looks at the longterm.  My friend wasn’t interested in the longterm.  Why did he need God?

Before this latest financial crisis hit, I read a lot of articles about aging baby boomers (my generation).  It seems that the aging boomers had acquired a lot of wealth; they acquired all sorts of toys, but the lacked meaning in their lives.  The article would invariably read, “After working hard for “x” years and acquiring wealth, John Doe now seeks to find meaning in his life.  He quit his job/sold his business/[you get the picture] and is now doing <some noble activity> to give meaning to his life.”  Since the this latest financial crisis hit and wealth has evaporated for many people, I no longer read many “I need to find meaning for my life” stories.

The ultimate irony:  American Baby Boomers condemned their parents’ materialism — and have engourged themselves in it more than our parents ever did!  And yet we seek meaning for our lives!  Why do I need God?  Because we realize that our lives and goods and possessions and wealth are transient!  And, as we age, we hit the hard truth that we won’t last forever either (in a strictly materialistic manner).  But the life God the Father gives us through faith in Jesus is eternal!  God is not my piggy bank.  He gives me meaning in life, a meaning that goes far beyond this life and is good for eternity.  That’s why I need God.

If you would like to hear some of Pastor Kerner’s sermons, you can visit the sermon archive at: http://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:  http://gslcsuffield.org/

There is really nothing beyond this point.  These are just popular search terms that I’m including because I want to trick people into reading something good about God the Holy Trinity!

• The beast in Revelation
• Anti-christ
• the whore of Babylon
• the woman in Revelation