What Happened?

Day’s Readings: Psalm 84:1-7, Romans 1:1-17, 2 Kings 23:1-24:7
Meditational Reading: 2 Kings 23:29-32, 36-37
29  In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.
30  And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.
31  Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

36  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

Remember the context!  Josiah became king at the age of 8 and ruled Judah for 31 years (until he was 39!); in the 18th year of his reign (when he was 26), they discovered the Torah of the Lord as they worked on the Temple.  For about 13 years, Josiah brought the people back to a true worship of the Lord.  He was killed in battle at the age of 39.  This must have devastated the people and caused them to call into question the worshiping of the Lord–after all, Josiah was totally dedicated to the Lord — and look at what happened to him!

After Josiah died (in battle), look at what happened.  His two sons who succeeded him undid all of the reforms he carried out!  They did “evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”  They embraced and reinstated all of the pagan practices the previous kings (dating all the way back to Solomon — 23:13 in today’s reading!)  The kings did all of that and most of the people joined in (wholeheartedly joined in!).

If we only knew what God’s Word reported here, we would, indeed, despair.  But God gives us the totality of his Word.  And, in that Word, we know that God did not leave himself without witnesses during this apostate time.  He sent his prophets (Jeremiah comes to mind!) to call his people back to himself.  Not only did God not leave himself without witnesses, but there were individual people who did not give themselves over to apostasy.  In the long run we know that the people eventually came to their senses while in exile in Babylon; they repented; God let them  return to Jerusalem and Judah (a minority of them chose to return).

We, in the West, live in a post-Christian society.  As we look around and see the cultural war waged against religion (in general) and Christianity (in particular), we can lose heart.  The temptation is to chuck it all in and say, “Let them all go to hell in a hand basket.”  Our society is not that much different from that of post-Josiah Judah!  But God has not left himself without witnesses!  As believers in the Lord Jesus, we are his witnesses in this time, in this place.  The task he has given us is not to reform society (outward righteousness does not count.  God wants the righteousness he bestows through faith in Jesus–today’s New Testament reading!).

Our task is to bring God’s Word to people who need to hear it.

• That Word is Law–which shows us our sin and its consequences (damnation, there I said it!).
• That Word is also Gospel— which shows us God’s remedy for our sin:  the cross, the death, the resurrections, the forgiveness which is ours by faith in Jesus our Savior!).

If you are a believer in Jesus, then you are God’s witness.  He has called you in this time, in this place, to bring his Word to people.  May we be equal to the task he has given us!  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, 585 South St. (Rt. 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  www.gslcsuffield.com  If you would like to support this ministry, send your offering to the church.

If you found this blog particularly helpful, would you share it with your friends and acquaintances on your social networking websites?  This is an easy way to use the internet as an evangelism tool.  You can friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner.  Thank you for considering this.

Where Did God’s Word Go?

Day’s Readings: Proverbs 16:28-17:4, Acts 28:17-31, 2 Kings 1:-22:20
Meditational Reading: 2 Kings 22:8-11
8  And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9  And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.”
10  Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
11  When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.

Wow!  That’s my reaction in reading today’s Old Testament reading.  I remember the last Old Testament reading with Hezekiah, the good king of Judah.  Hezekiah, the good king, is succeeded by Manasseh, the worst king in Judah’s history.  How could it get so bad so fast?  Manasseh turned his back upon everything, absolutely everything, that his father held near and dear.  Manasseh reigned 55 years!  Fifty-five years of evil in the face of the Lord.  When he died, he was succeeded by his evil son, Amon, who ruled for two years and was assassinated.

Then we come to Josiah, the good king who tried to undo everything his father and grandfather did.  Josiah ordered the high priest to repair and refurbish the Temple of the Lord.  And, in the process of the renovations, they came across the Book of the Law, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.  The first thing that popped into my mind was “when did they lose it?” then, “how did they lose it?”  When did the priests of Yahweh pack away his holy revelation?  Why did they pack away his holy revelation?  Why weren’t they teaching the people of Judah the way of the Lord?

The answer to the last question is easy:  the couldn’t teach the people if they didn’t have the Word.  But I’m still perplexed as to how they lost the Word.  Any conclusions I reach are merely speculation.  Instead of speculating, I’m looking for the truth God reveals in his Word.  And that truth is quite profound:  It’s really easy to lose God’s Word, but God will not leave us without his witness.

As we look at western society we see the results of a people abandoning God and his Word.  The effects of turning our backs upon God and his Word start off small, like a small trickle.  Growing up in upstate New York it was common knowledge that you could step across the Hudson River at its source, but the river grew larger and larger as more and more water from its tributaries poured into it until, at last, it reached New York harbor on it way to the ocean.  So it is with turning our backs upon God.  At first the results are almost imperceptible, but the effects multiply.  You don’t need me to elaborate on the litany of sins.  They are just the symptoms of a far greater sin:  a people who have turned their backs upon God and his Word.

Do I want a return to the “good old days”?  I don’t think so.  It was the good old days that laid the ground work for today.  My task is to remain faithful, to remain faithful to God the Holy Trinity and his Word, the Bible.  My task is not to change a whole society (though that would be good), but my task is to bring God’s Word of forgiveness to people who need to hear that Word.

I asked, “Where did God’s Word go?”  Now I have changed that question:  “Where will God’s Word go?” and “Will we bring it where it needs to go?”

A prayer:  Lord God Holy Spirit, your Word is truth.  We need to bring your Word to people who need to hear it so that they will see their sin but so that they will also see your remedy for their sin:  Jesus our Savior!  Give us opportunities today and all days to be your people who bring your Word with us wherever we go.  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, 585 South St. (Rt. 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  www.gslcsuffield.com   If you would like to support this ministry, send your offering to the church.

If you found this blog particularly helpful, would you share it with your friends and acquaintances on your social networking websites?  This is an easy way to use the internet as an evangelism tool.  You can friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner.  Thank you for considering this.

Sermon for the Festival of Christ the King

The Festival of Christ the King
The Lessons:   Revelation 1:4b-8
4b Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
5  and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
6  and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John 18:33-37
33  So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
34  Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”
35  Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”
36  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
37  Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Christ the King Sunday

Christ the King Saturday

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com  Should you wish to support this ministry, you can mail a check to the church.

If you liked this post in any way, please think about sharing it on your social media sites.  This is an effective way to evangelize on the internet.  You can also friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner

From Best to Worst

Day’s Readings: Psalm 83:1-18, Acts 28:1-16, 2 Kings 19:14-20:21
Meditational Reading: 2 Kings 20:21  And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

When I read today’s meditational verse, the first thing that jumped into my mind was “going from good to bad.”  As I continued my reading, my thoughts went back to that verse and my initial reaction to it.  Then I thought, “From good to worst.”  I thought about it a little longer and today’s blog title hit me, “from best to worst”.

Let’s not have any unrealistic expectations about King Hezekiah.  He was a very good king.  His heart was right with the Lord.  He served the Lord.  But Hezekiah was not perfect; he was not sinless.  He must have had a tremendous amount of pride because, when the envoys from Babylon came, he showed them everything he owned–everything!  He was not adverse to showing off.  He was prideful, but he also sought to do the will of the Lord.  He was one of the few kings of Judah, after David, who finished well, who finished in a life of faith, faith in the Lord.  He was one of the best kings of Judah.

Too bad we could not say the same thing about his son, Manasseh, who succeeded him on the throne.  A little Bible knowledge can be dangerous, and it can be a let down (of sorts) because I know about Manasseh.  I know that he was one of (if not) the worst kings of Judah.  And here is where I am in a quandary.  How can you go from the best to the worst in a heartbeat (or the end of a heartbeat).  Didn’t Hezekiah teach his son about the Lord?  Didn’t he impress upon him the importance of walking with the Lord?  Did Hezekiah carry out his godly responsibilities toward his son just to have his son ignore him and his beliefs?  For whatever reason, Judah went from its best king to its worst king when Hezekiah died.

As I look at the Christian landscape in the United States, I am astonished.  It’s like I view the difference between Hezekiah and Manasseh.  When I got out of the seminary almost 30 years ago, people still held Christianity with a sense of respect.  They may not attend worship, but, by golly, they were Christians because their granny was a Christian!  I met a young man not long ago who I baptized in our church quite a few years ago.  His parents never brought him to worship or Sunday School.  He now has kids of his own and he hasn’t had them baptized; he probably won’t have them baptized.  How quickly we go from being nominally Christian to out and out pagan.

A while ago (notice how everything happened “a while ago”?) I ran into a girl I baptized; her mother brought her to worship and Sunday School, she was confirmed in our church, she kept going to worship until she went to college.  I knew she was in the area so I asked if she were coming back to church.  No, she responded.  When I asked why, she told me that the church was “homophobic.”  She was not a lesbian, but she equated calling any sexual relationship (hetero or homo) outside of God’s will, as revealed in his Word, sin as being hateful.  Because the church would not embrace a sin, we were hateful.  Now, in 29 and 1/2 years, I have mentioned homosexuality, in sermons, no more than four or five times.  It has never been a topic of a sermon.

We, in the west, are experiencing have experienced a Hezekiah to Manasseh moment.  We are in that transition.  We have transitioned.  The choice before us is simple:  Do we bend with the cultural winds or do we remain faithful to God and his Word?

In the words of Luther (and a beautiful hymn he wrote), “Lord, keep 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: https://gslcsuffield.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/sermon-archive-2010-2011/  The sermon archive is normally updated every Sunday afternoon.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Rt. 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  www.gslcsuffield.com  If you would like to support this ministry, send your offering to the church.

If you found this blog particularly helpful, would you share it with your friends and acquaintances on your social networking websites?  This is an easy way to use the internet as an evangelism tool.  You can friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner.  Thank you for considering this.

Turning Something Good into Something Bad

Day’s Readings: Psalm 82:1-8, Acts 27:13-44, 2 Kings 18:1-19:13
Meditational Reading: 2 Kings 18:3-4
3  And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
4  He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).  John and the writer of 2nd Kings wrote of the same thing, of the same event.  During the forty years in the wilderness the children of Israel complained against the Lord on more than one occasion.  One of the continuing complaints was the monotony of their diet:  manna from heaven.  In Numbers 21, they complained again and the Lord sent fiery serpents into the camp which bit the people.  Those who were bitten died.  They repented and the Lord commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent, erect it on a pole, and set it up in the middle of the camp.  The serpents were still there, but if a person was bitten, all they had to do was look to the bronze serpent and they would live.  It was a good thing.  It was a sign of God’s deliverance and, looking forward into time, it was a picture of Jesus on the cross, providing eternal life for those who look to him.

The bronze serpent was a good thing, made at God’s own direction, saved after the people entered the Promised Land to be a reminder of God’s deliverance.  The people perverted God’s good gift!  The writer tells us that the people of Israel “made offerings to it.”  They turned it into a false god!  They took something good and turned it into something bad!  They took God’s good gift and perverted it!  It was so bad that Hezekiah, a good and godly king, destroyed the very thing the Lord commanded to be made.  Hezekiah did it because the people looked to the bronze serpent as their god and offered sacrifices to it.

How often do we take something good, something of God, and turn into something bad?  Too often.

• I knew a pastor who kept a particularly gory crucifix in his class when he taught confirmation.  If the kids were particularly bad, he would take his hammer and put more nails into the crucifix, telling the kids they really crucified Jesus that day.  It had less and less effect as the year rolled on.
• We turn Holy Communion into something we do for God instead of recognizing that it is something God does for us.  In the Communion Jesus comes to us with the same body and blood given and shed for our sins to reassure us that our sins are indeed forgiven and that eternal life is ours as a free  gift!
• We take God’s Word, the Bible, and reduce it to a book of fables, trying to find a meaning in meaningless pablum.  There are self-professed Christians who will say that Moses never made a bronze serpent (because the Exodus didn’t really happen); that Hezekiah knew that the bronze serpent he destroyed was actually an idol made much later than Moses.  He was trying to stomp out the fertility cult among his people.  [That’s what they say, not what I believe and write!]

I look at other people and see how they take something good and pervert it.  How about looking in the mirror, Jim?  I, too, take God’s good gifts and pervert them.  How many times have I knowingly, willfully, sinned with the full thought in my mind that God will forgive me (and he did and does!).  But I’ve taken the good news of Jesus’ full and free forgiveness and used it as a license to sin!  The full impact of that finally hit me and I truly did repent, not for the sin (well, yes for the sin) but, more importantly, for that attitude that presumes upon God’s grace and mercy–that was a bad sin!  I know that God judges all sins equally, but in my mind my sin of presumption was actually worse than the sin I committed, because if I could not presume upon God, then I may not have knowing, willfully committed the sin.

God’s Word just doesn’t only show me other people’s failings; it also shows me my failings.  But it also shows me God’s answer to my failings.  The people may have perverted God’s intent with the bronze serpent, but God would not be dissuaded.  In spite of them, in spite of me, he still sent his Son and the answer to my sin(s), so that I can and will be with him forever!

A prayer:  Lord God heavenly Father, thank you for bringing me to repentance.  Send me your Holy Spirit so that I do not presume upon your love and forgiveness, but live the life a loving son of my loving heavenly Father.  Thank you for your forgiveness.  I live it in always!  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, 585 South St. (Rt. 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  www.gslcsuffield.com  If you would like to support this ministry, send your offering to the church.

If you found this blog particularly helpful, would you share it with your friends and acquaintances on your social networking websites?  This is an easy way to use the internet as an evangelism tool.  You can friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner.  Thank you for considering this.

Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Text:  Hebrews 9:24-28
24  For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
25  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
26  for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28  so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Pentecost 25 Saturday

Pentecost 25 Sunday

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com  Should you wish to support this ministry, you can mail a check to the church.

If you liked this post in any way, please think about sharing it on your social media sites.  This is an effective way to evangelize on the internet.  You can also friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner

Church And State Turn Against God

Bible Readings for the day: Psalm 81:8-16, Acts 26:24-27:12, 2 Kings 16:1-17:41
Meditational Reading: Psalm 81:10-13
10  I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11  “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
12  So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.
13  Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

Some times there is a (un)happy convergence as you read and study God’s Word, the Bible.  I found one of those (un)happy convergences today.  Today’s meditational verse is a brief summary of the entire Old Testament reading for today!  Today’s Old Testament reading deals with apostasy, with the kingdoms of Judah and Israel turning their backs upon the Lord.  Ahaz builds a new altar in the Lord’s Temple; he orders Uriah the priest to build the altar and sacrifice on the altar — and Uriah does it!  Church and State (I know they did not have that concept back then, but I’m using this phrase because we, in the United States, are familiar with it and it does illustrate the point) turn against the Lord!

The Old Testament reading also tells us Hoshea, the last king of Israel (the northern kingdom).  We read that Hoshea continued in the practices of Jeroboam, but he did even more.  The writer doesn’t go into lurid detail (I wish he would have!), but Hoshea must have really sunk to the lowest of lows.  Church and State turned against the Lord under Jeroboam, but under Hoshea, Church and State wage war upon the Lord!

Hoshea was the last king of Israel (the northern kingdom).  During his reign the Assyrian Empire finally conquered Samaria and sent the people into exile.  The people never returned from that exile (this is where we get the “Lost Ten Tribes of Israel” from).  The writer of 2 Kings then goes into detail of why the northern kingdom was conquered.  It all had to do with the people abandoning the Lord their God.  “Sure,” they undoubtedly thought, “we haven’t abandoned the Lord our God.  We’re just worshiping these things along with worshiping him.”  Church and State turned against the Lord.

In the United States, as in much of the West, we live in a secular government.  I am glad we live in a secular government.  A secular government does not try to determine which religion is right or which religion is wrong.  It maintains a neutral attitude toward religions.  Unfortunately, that attitude is changing has changed.  We are living in an increasingly secularist government, where the government seeks to impose its will upon religion, religious institutions, and religious people.  A secularist government uses coersive power to impose its will upon religion and religious people.  Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation” (found in a letter, not in the Constitution) was supposed to keep the government out of religion and religious affairs.  Today the government has broken down that wall of separation and seeks to impose its will upon religion, religious people, and religious institutions.  We have a secularist president who proclaims “freedom of worship” not “freedom of religion.”  There is a vast difference between them!  According to this way of thinking, what I believe and do on Sunday has no bearing on what I do on Monday.

I could go on and on about the secularist government.  There will be a time when Christian people will say “NO” to that secularist agenda and then let the chips fall where they may.  What really saddens me is that many Christian church bodies have turned against the Lord.  I find this in my conversations (increasingly fewer and fewer conversations) with theologically liberal Christians.  I have found that we just don’t speak the same language.  It scares me when pastors and ministers in self-confessing Christian church bodies deny (or even denigrate) basic biblical teachings about the person and work of Jesus.  They see no need for an Incarnation, for a Resurrection, for a subsitutionary atonement.  They have a different agenda, an agenda that remarkably coincides with that of the secularist society.

Church and State turn against God.  That happened in the past.  What bothers me more than anything is the “Church” aspect of the turning.  What bothers me most is that a large segment of the Church has abandoned biblical doctrine, biblical morality, the biblical message that we are in a right relationship with God because of God and what he did for us on the cross.  The Bible can (and does) speak to us today.  Looking at Judah and Israel, we see what happens when the Church (especially the Church) turns against God.

Lord, save us from turning against you.  Amen!

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com  Should you wish to support this ministry, you can mail a check to the church.

If you liked this post in any way, please think about sharing it on your social media sites.  This is an effective way to evangelize on the internet.  You can also friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner

Why Am I Here?

Bible Readings for the day: Proverbs 16:18-27, Acts 25:23-26:23, 2 Kings 14:23-15:38
Meditational Reading: Acts 26:15-18
15  And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16  But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
17  delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you
18  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Why am I here?  It’s not an unusual question.  They (the “experts”) say that it’s a question people in their mid-fifties often ask.  They have spent a life-time in a career, amassed enough money to comfortably live on (I just split an infinitive – I know!) for the rest of their lives.  After years of working in a career, they now, in their mid-fifties, seek to do something that gives meaning to their lives.  They ask, “Why am I here?”  Before the great depression recession, the local newspaper ran stories on people who left their careers, began second careers that gave meaning to their lives.  They were heralded as heroes of some sort because, after amassing their wealth, they decided that “now was the time to give something back.”  Those stories irked me because the people were in careers they did not like, that held no meaning for them, except (possibly) to amass wealth.  Now that they had their wealth, it was time to do something meaningful.  “Why am I here?”

Paul, in today’s meditational verse, confronts us with the reason why he is here.  He also confronts us with the reason why we are all here.  Paul went from persecutor to promoter of Christ’s Church.  He went from being a witness against Christ to being a witness for Christ.  Carefully look at the meditational verse and see a few of the reasons (it’s actually one reason) why we are here

• v.15 We are here working for Jesus.  Paul was sure that he was persecuting people.  But look at whom Jesus says that Paul is persecuting:  ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.‘  We either do if for Jesus or we do it to Jesus.  Why am I here?
• v.16 “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant…”  A servant.  Not the best word to use in our society.  Not the best word to use in Paul’s society.  The Greek word Paul uses is “under rower.” In effect, Jesus gives the orders and Paul (and we) carry them out.  We don’t take the initiative.  We follow Jesus’ initiative, we follow Jesus’ orders.  He’s the boss.  I’m the worker who carries out his orders.  Why am I here?
• v.16 “…and witness to the things in which you have seen…”  A witness merely tells what the saw and know.  They don’t make things up.  They merely tell what they know.  As Jesus’ witnesses were merely tell what he means to us, what he did for us, what he does for us. Why am I here?
• v. 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’  Our servanthood and witness has a three-fold purpose (in a single, unitary purpose by God):
• -1- To open people’s eyes so that they may see God’s love, which they were previously blinded to.  People are blinded to God for one of three (maybe more) reasons:  –1-People believe that God can’t love them because they are too bad or –2-that they can get God to love them by the things they do for him or –3-that God loves them because they are so nice and sweet and innocent.  Opening people’s eyes means that they confront sin in their lives and they confront God’s remedy for their sin:  Jesus, the Cross, and his Resurrection.
• -2-Because in God’s remedy for their sin(s), only in God’s remedy for their sin(s), people will find the total and complete forgiveness of their sins.  Forgiveness:  the sins no longer exist!  God abolishes the sins (we don’t)!  God accepts me, sinner that I am, solely because of his Son’s llife, death, and resurrection!  and because of that
• -3- “a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” I have eternal life with God as an absolute free gift!  The word “sanctified” is a  passive participle in Greek.  I don’t do the work of sanctification; God the Holy Spirit did it to me!  That’s what forgiveness of sins does!  It makes me clean, pure, holy before God the Holy Trinity, not by my work but by his work!  And because of God the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work, I have eternal life with God.

Why am I here?  To bring Jesus to people who need him (even though they don’t know they need him!)  That’s why every believer in Jesus is here!

A Prayer:  Lord God Holy Spirit, open a witnessing opportunity for me today, so that I can bring Jesus to someone who needs him.  Give me the words to speak so that my witness maybe winsome and loving, in the same way that you love me.  In Jesus’ Name I ask this.  Amen!

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com  Should you wish to support this ministry, you can mail a check to the church.

If you liked this post in any way, please think about sharing it on your social media sites.  This is an effective way to evangelize on the internet.  You can also friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner

I Trust the Lord — Kind Of

Bible Readings for the day: Psalm 81:1-7, Acts 25:1-22, 2 Kings 12:1-14:22
Meditational Reading: 2 Kings 12:17-18
17  At that time Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem,
18  Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

When you start reading about Jehoash, king of Judah, you are impressed with him.  He was truly a follower of the Lord; he trusted in the Lord; he wanted to do needed repairs on the Temple of the Lord.  The writer of 2nd Kings tells us that Jehoash did right in the eyes of the Lord all the time Jehoiada (the high priest) instructed him.  Jehoash’s heart is right with God, but not totally right.  Jehoash trusted in the Lord, but didn’t totally trust in him, as we see in the meditational verses.

When push came to shove, Jehoash’s faith wasn’t a deep as it appeared.  Hazael was prepared to beseige Jerusalem; he had already conquered Gath in the land of the Philistines.  Jehoash has a clear choice in front of him

1. he can either trust in the Lord, turn to him in his time of need
2. or he can do whatever it takes to get rid of Hazael

Jehoash chose the second.  He took all of the precious metals and objects in the Temple and in the king’s palace and sent them to Hazael as a bribe, to get him leave Jerusalem alone.  And it worked — kind of.  The writer of 2nd Kings doesn’t tell us all of the story.  He leaves out an important part that the writer of Chronicles includes!  A year after bribing Hazael to leave, he returns!  Jehoash doesn’t have anymore money to use for a bribe (he spent it all on this bribe!).  He is forced into a battle he is not prepared for.  He is utterly defeated and most of the nobles of Judah are killed in battle.  It is after this that his own servants assassinate him as he lay in bed.

Our natural reaction is to point our fingers at Jehoash and condemn him.  But God’s Word is a mirror.  He holds his Word in front of me and shows me who I am.  I have to ask myself, “Have there been times that I’ve been like Jehoash?”  More importantly, I ask myself “AM I like Jehoash?”  And I have to honestly answer, “Yes.  I trust the Lord — kind of.”  God, in his Word, reminds me that I am to trust him totally, completely.  But, like Jehoash, there are times that I don’t.  Not trusting the Lord totally, completely is a sin.  And I repent of that sin.  Looking at Jehoash, I am reminded of Jesus, David’s son, and I’m reminded that Jesus (according to his human nature) completed trust in his heavenly Father.  And, because he did that, I am forgiven!  And that forgiveness urges me on to trust the Lord more fully, more completely.  I still fail.  But Jesus is still there, over and over again, with his forgiveness.  I do trust in his forgiveness, not kind of but fully and completely!

A prayer:  Lord, I do not trust in you as I ought.  But you sent your Son to forgive my sin of imperfect trust.  I do trust your love and your forgiveness, poured out for me in Jesus my Savior.  Amen!

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com  Should you wish to support this ministry, you can mail a check to the church.

If you liked this post in any way, please think about sharing it on your social media sites.  This is an effective way to evangelize on the internet.  You can also friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/james.kerner

Sermon for the 24th Sunday After Pentecost

Sermon for the 24th Sunday After Pentecost

The texts:  Hebrews 7:23-28 and Mark 12:35-37
Hebrews 7:23-28
23  The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,
24  but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.
25  Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26  For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
27  He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
28  For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Mark 12:35-37
35  And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
36  David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”‘
37  David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

Pentecost 24

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

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com  Should you wish to support this ministry, you can mail a check to the church.

If you found this post to be helpful in anyway, please post it on your social networking sites.  This is an easy way to use the internet for evangelism.  Thank you.