Where Is God (When I Need Him)?

Bible Readings for the day: Obadiah 1-21, Hebrews 2:1-18, Proverbs 26:13-22
Meditational Reading: Hebrews 2:14-18
14  Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the devil)
15  and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.
16  For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham’s descendants,
17  thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people’s sins.
18  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Robert Browing coined the saying “God is in His heaven—All is right with the world!”  Some people say that means, “everything is the way it should be.”  These words came to mind as thought about today’s meditational reading.

“God is in His heaven—All is right with the world!”  But where is God when “all is not right with the world?”  Where is God when I stand at my loved one’s grave, looking into the open pit?  Where is God when I sit in the doctor’s office and am told that there is no hope and to put my affairs in order?  Where is God when the hurts and heartaches of life beat against me?  Where is God?  Where is God (when I need him)?

“God is in His heaven—All is right with the world!” The First Century unbelievers would agree with Robert Browning, at least with the God is in his heaven bit.  God is far, far away; he is detached from humanity; he knows nothing of human suffering, much less our own personal suffering.  God is in his heaven and we should keep it that way!  We should keep it that way even when our heart breaks and we need comfort and strength.

The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that God is not only in his heaven; but that God is with us, with us in our suffering, with us in our hurt, with us in our heartache.  “Since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things.”  The holy writer reminds us of the mystery of the Incarnation.  Our God is not an unmovable, unknowable force “somewhere out there.”  But our God, in the person of Jesus, came into our world as one of us, he took on our flesh and blood (in the original Greek it is “blood and flesh” –which I think may signify his sacrifice and reminder that life is in the blood — Deuteronomy 12:23). But I digress. Our God came among us as one of us in every way (except sin).  He did not pretend to be human but he became fully human and he did this willingly.

There is so much in these five verses! But this is a short writing, not a full blown sermon.  So let’s look at verse 18, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” When our Lord took on our human nature, he did not “take the easy way out.”  He underwent all of the trials and temptations we experience, except he remained sinless.  Because he did this, he can sympathize with us in our weakness.  To semi-quote a former president, he “feels our pain.”  He suffered when he was tempted and, I have no doubt, that the holy writer is reminding the readers of Jesus’ great temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane, “He kept repeating, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I want but what you want.” (Mark 14:36).

God may be in his heaven, but he is not there without a care in the world, not caring about you and me.  In the person of Jesus, God the Son is with us to aid us, to strengthen us, to assure us, to comfort us, in our time of need.  Our greatest temptation (v.18) is to doubt that God loves us and cares for us, especially when hurt and heartache hits.  God the Holy Spirit reminds us that Jesus is there, he cares, he knows what we experience because he experienced it himself.  And this give us strength and comfort in our time of need.  Our hurts don’t disappear, they don’t hurt any the less, be we receive strength and comfort in those hurts, because our God knows, he knows, what we’re going through and is there for us and is there with us.

A prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for willingly laying aside your godly might and power and coming among us as one of us.  In our time of trial be near us with your comforting strength and power, reminding us that you know what we experience because you experienced it yourself.  When we hurt and doubt that you know or even care about us, remind us of what you did for us and give us the strength of you love and forgiveness that will see us through our adversity.  Thank you for being our God in human flesh, but, mostly, thank you for being our Friend!  Amen!

The Rev. Dr. Jim Kerner is a retired pastor in the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod

Celebrate? Why?

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

Text:  Zephaniah 3:14-17
14  “Sing aloud, daughter of Zion! Shout out, Israel! Rejoice with all of your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!
15  The LORD has acquitted you; turning back your adversaries. Israel’s king, the LORD, is among you; you will not fear disaster anymore.
16  “When all of this happens, it will be told Jerusalem, ‘Don’t be afraid!” and to Zion, ‘Don’t lose courage!”
17  “The LORD your God among you is powerful—he will save and he will take joyful delight in you. In his love he will renew you with his love; he will celebrate with singing because of you.

Sermon for Advent 3 

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

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

Past, Present, Future

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent

Text:  Philippians 1:3-11
3  I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4  always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
5  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
6  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
7  It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
8  For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10  so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent 

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

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

How Should We Live Until Christ Returns?

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

Text:  1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13
9  For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God,
10  as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11  Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,
12  and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,
13  so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Sermon for Advent 1: 

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

The Sacrifice to End All Sacrifices

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.

Sermon for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost: 
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

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

Who Are The Saints?

Sermon for the Festival of All Saints

Text:  Revelation 7:9-17
9  After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10  and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12  saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13  Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
14  I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15  “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Sermon for the Festival of All Saints 

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

God Doesn’t Recognize Us

The Festival of the Reformation

Text:  Romans 3:19-28
19  Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
20  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
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. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
26  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
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.

Sermon for the Festival of the Reformation

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

Misplaced Trust

Bible Readings for the day: Proverbs 24:5-14, Philippians 4:2-23, Jeremiah 6:1-7:29
Meditational Reading: Jeremiah 7:1-15
1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2  “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD.
3  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.
4  Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
5  “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another,
6  if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,
7  then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8  “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.
9  Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,
10  and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?
11  Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.
12  Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
13  And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
14  therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
15  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

Today’s meditational verse is kind of long, but it is important.  It is important because it speaks to people (it speaks of people) who have placed their trust in the wrong thing.  The people of Judah used the Temple of the Lord as some sort of good luck charm; they believed that nothing bad would ever happen to them, to their nation, to their city because the Temple of the Lord was in Jerusalem.  This mistaken attitude started at the top with the priests and prophets and worked its way down to the common people who wanted to believe that nothing bad would ever happen to them; after all, they had “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

God the Holy Spirit, working through Jeremiah, takes the people to task for their mistaken notion; he calls the people to repentance, to see their sin, to confess their sin, to receive the full and free forgiveness of their sin.  But the people would have nothing of it.  The continued to worship the false gods and disobey God’s holy, moral Law; but they sure kept the ceremonial (religious) Law!  They’d bring their sacrifices, thinking they were buying God off!

And when something bad happened they took pride and comfort in “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”  Nothing bad would come their way.  Nothing bad could come their way because they had “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”  But what does the Lord do?  He tells the people to go to Shiloh and see what happened their.  To understand what happened their you have to all the way back to the days of Samuel and Eli, the priest of the Lord.  The Tabernacle (the place where the Lord met his people) was set up in Shiloh after the conquest by Joshua.  In the days of Samuel and Eli the Philistines oppressed Israel; Israel fought against the Philistines and they brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp, thinking that the Ark would be a good luck charm that would defeat the enemy.  We know that didn’t happen; but the Philistines defeated Israel, killed Hophni and Phineas (Eli’s sons) in battle, and when Eli heard that the Ark had been captured he fell over dead.  And the Biblical account ends their until the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant.

The Bible is silent on what happened after the battle (1 Samuel 3 and 4); it is silent because of the shame that came upon Israel.  From archaeological studies at Shiloh we know that the battle didn’t end with the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, but the Philistines continued the battle, continued their rampage, right up into Shiloh itself, destroying the Tabernacle of the Lord.  Five hundred years after that destruction the Lord tells the people, the people who trust in “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,” to go to Shiloh and see what happened their when Israel turned its back upon the Lord.

Today people misplace their trust; they trust in nice religious things but they fail to trust in the Lord and what he did in order to forgive them.  There are a number ways in which misplaced trust is exhibited:

1. People think they are basically good and need no forgiveness (and, therefore, need no Savior).  “Sinners” are really bad people like murderers, rapists, and thieves.  People fail to realize that whoever sins on one point of God’s holy Law is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10 and its context).

2. People think that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere; after all, we’re going to the same place.  Aren’t we?  No!  Take a look at the meditational reading; the people who said, “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,” were sincere, but they were also wrong.

I could go on, but the biggest problem I see is that many, many people have a “who cares” attitude.  They believe that none of this really matters because all that awaits them is eternal extinction; you have to live in the here and now because when you’re dead and gone, well, you’re dead and gone forever. And forever is an awful long time.  So, who cares?  Nothing matters.

In the face of misplaced trust, the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is called to go to people and show them that it does matter; that God is concerned about sin, but that God also fully and freely forgives our sin (and sins) in and through Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.  There and there alone do we put our trust, in our God and Savior who died for us to make us his own for eternity. The task is not easy, but it never was; the message is not popular, but it never was; but God calls us to be his people to bring his good news to people so that they too will come to him and his love and his forgiveness for them and for us!

A prayer:  Lord, people misplace their trust all of the time; I am always in danger of placing my trust in things other than you and your sacrifice for my sins.  Lord God Holy Spirit, open door of witnessing opportunity so that I can share your love with people who need to know it.  This I ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen!

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

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

An Offer They Couldn’t Refuse

Bible Readings for the day: Psalm 115:12-18, Philippians 2:12-30, Jeremiah 2:31-4:9
Meditational Reading: Jeremiah 3:6-15
6  The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore?
7  And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8  She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.
9  Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.
10  Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”
11  And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12  Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever.
13  Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.
14  Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15  “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

As I read today’s Old Testament reading I remember the movie “The Godfather.”  Throughout the movie you would hear the phrase, “he made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”  The implication was that the godfather made someone a disadvantageous offer that the person had to accept or they would “sleep with the fishes” (as another famous phrase from that movie went).

As I read God’s Word, my mind should be focused entirely on that Word!  But, let’s be honest, does that always happen?  No!  And, more often than not, God’s Word triggers other thoughts as well.  But Christian meditation on God’s Word engages the mind; it is supposed to engage the mind, unlike other meditation techniques in which we are supposed to empty the mind.  So, if you’re like me, and God’s Word triggers crazy thoughts (like “he made him an offer he couldn’t refuse”) don’t feel guilty about it; just continue to engage God in his Word for that his where he meets us.

But, believe it or not!, “he made him an offer he couldn’t refuse” sums up today’s Old Testament reading very nicely; the meditational reading is just one part of that offer that God made that couldn’t be refused.  Now, let’s be totally clear:  when the godfather made an offer that couldn’t be refused, the person was somehow forced into accepting that offer (whether they wanted to or not).  In contrast, God’s offer is one of love, forgiveness, and restoration.  It is an offer than would actually benefit the people involved!  That’s an important distinction!

The first thing to note is that this message came to Jeremiah during the reign of King Josiah, the last good king of Judah (the southern kingdom after the Davidic kingdom split after Solomon’s death); Josiah brought the people of Judah back (at least outwardly) to the worship of the true God.  God the Holy Spirit, working through Jeremiah, tells the people to look north, look north to their cousins and see what happened to them.  They had abandoned the worship of the true God and worshiped false gods, the very thing the southern kingdom (Judah) was doing despite the best efforts of King Josiah.

While Josiah’s heart belonged to the Lord and his reforms were from the heart, the people did not share in his love for the Lord.  The Lord warns the people (yes, even in the high point of the restoration of the worship of the true God!) that their hearts were not in that worship.  What befell the northern kingdom would befall the southern kingdom as well.  But that was not the Lord’s will!  He makes an offer to the people of Israel (the northern kingdom); he makes an offer to the people of Judah (the southern kingdom):  “Return to me.”  If the people (of both kingdoms) see their sin, repent of their sin, and turn to the Lord for his full and free forgiveness, then he will forgive them and restore them, restore them to their land and (more importantly) restore them to their status as his children.  The Lord “made them an offer the couldn’t refuse” but they did!

The people of Judah went along with King Josiah’s reforms; but, after he died in battle, they returned (had they ever really left?) to their old ways, they returned to the worship of the false gods and they returned to it with all of their heart!

The Lord makes us an offer we can’t (or at least shouldn’t!) refuse:  Acknowledge the sin in our own life; confess the sin in our own life; turn to the Lord and receive the free and full forgiveness he won for us when God the Son, Jesus, died on the cross and their paid the full and complete prices for our sins.  Trust in Jesus:  It’s an offer we shouldn’t refuse.

A prayer:  Lord God Holy Trinity, great is your love for fallen humanity; your love is so great that our Lord Jesus came into our world to die in order to forgive us.  In his death we are reconciled to you!  Thank you for forgiving us and restoring us as your loving sons and daughters.  May your love and forgiveness always be the center of our lives and may we always be committed to you!  In Jesus’ name we ask this! Amen!

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

 

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

What Are You Focused On?

Sermon for the Third Sunday After Pentecost

Text:  2 Corinthians 4:13-18
13  Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,
14  knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
15  For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost 

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 585 South St. (Route 75), Suffield CT 06078 USA  http://www.gslcsuffield.com

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