Gospel of Matthew

Sealed and marked

/ The Pastor

This past Sunday (yesterday) the Gospel text was from Matthew 22:15-22.  It is the text where the religious leaders are trying to trap Jesus by asking him whether it is lawful to pay the tax to Caesar.  After Jesus asks for the coin used for the tax and after quizzing the quizzers on who’s image and inscription is on the coin, Jesus says:

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s“.

Jesus never directly answers the question.  He never says whether it is lawful or not.  Jesus simply states what is truly important; leaving the quizzers speechless.

So on Sunday I talked about being marked.  The coin was marked and so are we.

How?

We are “sealed with the Holy Spirit and MARKED with the cross of Christ forever.” (from the order of Baptism in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book)

So what does this really mean for you and for me?  What does it mean to be marked?

(1)  It is about placing a claim on something (or someone).  You claim a brand new car by putting a license plate on it.  You claim a household pet by putting a collar/tag on it.  God places a claim on us in baptism through the mark of Christ ~ the cross.  God says to you through baptism, “You are mine“.

(2) The mark says something about the claimer.  A car license plate says a lot about the person who claimed (bought) the car.  An animal tag says something about who owns that pet.  The mark of Christ, the cross, shows us how serious God is about us.  Jesus went to the cross, an instrument of torture and death.  The cross shows us how much God loves us.    Indeed…the mark says a lot about God’s love for you.

(3) Lastly…marking something says something about the claimed. You don’t mark something if you don’t intend to claim or redeem it.  You only mark something that has value.  The very fact that Jesus went so far as the cross and that through baptism we are sealed and marked with the sign of the cross, says that we are valuable (to put it mildly).  God has claimed us and through faith in Christ, God intends to redeem us.

So at the end of the sermon I invited people to come forward to the baptismal font to receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads.  I told the people that this is  NOT because their mark from their own baptism has worn off, but rather this is a simple reminder that they are claimed by God.

One by one people came forward.  I dipped my finger in the water; making the sign of the cross on their foreheads, I said these words: “Child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and MARKED with the cross of Christ forever.” It was a very powerful moment for me; to see most everyone come forward to acknowledge their gift of baptism.

As Martin Luther told people, I encouraged people whenever they splash water on their face, let the water remind them of their baptism.  Make the sign of the cross on your own forehead and say, “I am baptized“.  What a great way to start your day.

Reflect on your own baptism today (and everyday for that matter).  Consider the MARK God has placed on you.  Contemplate the fact that God considers you valuable.  Ponder the lengths Jesus went to in order to show how serious he is about you.  And rejoice in God’s love for you.

What an awesome God we have!

edh -|—

Claimed

/ The Pastor

Matthew 22:18-22
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

I share with you the following prayer with the invitation for you to use it as your own today. Dip your finger in some water and make the sign of the cross on your forehead as you say, “I have been seal with the Holy Spirit and MARKED with the cross of Christ forever.”

Almighty and merciful God, through my baptism you
sealed me
marked me
claimed me
and spoke to me: “Child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and MARKED with the cross of Christ forever.”

Wow God…that is amazing.

When I consider this “marking” I can’t help but think that you claimed me because I am somehow valuable, otherwise why would you claim me?  After all…
I am sinful
I am unfaithful
I am disobedient
I am definitely not worthy

But despite that you have placed a claim on me through baptism.  You have said that I belong to you.  You have comforted me with the gift of life.  You have saved me from this world.  What belongs to Caesar is that which belongs to the world.  What belongs to you is that which you have marked and claimed…  

ME

Thank you, God.  May water be that everlasting reminder of you your:
Love
Faithfulness
Sacrifice
through Jesus Christ my Lord.

Thank you, God that I belong to you.  May your name always be praised.

Amen!

May God bless your day 🙂

edh -|—

Let’s eat

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

May God bless you this morning as you worship and enjoy some Sabbath rest. Take some time and read Matthew 22:1-14 about the Wedding Banquet God has prepared for us through Jesus Christ.  See and hear a gracious God calling YOU to “eat”.  Let’s pray together:

Loving God,

Life is busy.
Life is hectic.
Life is stressful.
But you have provided a feast for me to look forward to.

Life is challenging.
Life is demanding.
Life is draining.
But you have provided a party for me to look forward to.

I am sinful.
I am undeserving.
I am unfaithful.
But you invite me anyway.

O gracious God, you have prepared a wedding feast for me and invited me to come.  You have made all the preparations and have sent out the invitations through your Son Jesus Christ.  My prayer this morning is that my heart may be ready when the summons comes.  We don’t know when Jesus will return ~ we just know that you are faithful, gracious, loving and forgiving.

Lord God Almighty, I so look forward to dining with you at Your table.  Thank you for giving me hope beyond this busy, hectic, stressful, challenging, demanding and draining life despite my sinful-undeserving-unfaithfulness.

Hear my prayer and accept my confession.  I want to eat with you.

Through Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

edh -|—

God’s vineyard

/ The Pastor

A Sunday morning prayer based on today’s Gospel text from Matthew 21:33-46 (The Parable of the Tenants):

Most gracious and loving God,

You have placed us in YOUR vineyard:
Not an actual vineyard (that would be silly).
Not a metaphor for our church building.
Not a description of our family.
Not a description of an actual place.

But rather…

You, O God, have placed us in YOUR vineyard by virtue of your saving grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We have been given knowledge of your love.
We have been offered forgiveness.
We have seen you active in our lives
We have heard your Word of truth.
We have been given life through Jesus.
We have been blessed with faith.

…and that is the fruit of YOUR vineyard.

But too often we claim that fruit as our own.
Too often we hoard it as a limited resource.
Too often we protect it as a fragile vase.
Too often we lock it up as a priceless treasure.

But the fruit of YOUR vineyard is not ours.  We have been blessed with it so we may know you AND so others may know you.  As you blessed Abraham to be a blessings to others, you have blessed us.   May we be faithful caretakers of YOUR vineyard; ready to share with ALL people.  May we keep the gates of YOUR vineyard open that ALL may know your love.  And when your Son, Jesus Christ, returns may we be found faithful.

O gracious God, we praise you for your love endures forever.  Amen.

edh -|—

Preaching forgiveness

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

I am thinking and praying about forgiveness this week.  The text providing the backdrop is one I have always struggled with…

Matthew 18:21-35

This is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.   It deals with God forgiving us such a large debt and us not being willing to forgive the debts/sins of people in our lives.

In the parable a king’s servant amasses a debt of 10,000 Talents (a debt that the servant could not even hope to repay even though he says he will).  The king threatens to sell him and his family into slavery but after some pleading for time, the king forgives the debt.

Wow!  That is grace!

Immediately after the immensely gracious act, the servant finds a buddy of his who owes him a few dollars.  When the buddy can’t repay, the servant throws him into prison until he can repay the debt.  The king then gets word of this ungracious act; becomes angry; restores the previously forgiven debt and hands the unmerciful servant over to the jailer to be tortured until he can repay (which he won’t be able to).

Jesus then ends this teaching with “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Ouch!

I can understand this response from God.  I mean, after all, who are we to think that people hurt us more than we hurt God.  Who are we to think that our debt to God is insignificant and not important.  True ~ if God forgives such a large debt that we have incurred through sin, then we ought to forgive one another.  But how does one preach such a message ~ without attempting to tip toe around God’s Word in an effort to avoid offending people.

The other interesting tid bit in all of this is that Sunday is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 (like you didn’t know that).  I didn’t choose this text but rather it is the one “assigned” in the lectionary.  Does preaching this message of forgiveness sound insensitive on the anniversary of such a tragic event?  What preaching points would you use?

Just throwing some thoughts and questions out there for consideration.

edh -|—

Community

/ The Pastor

Matthew 18:15-20
15 “If your brother sins against you go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Loving God…you created us to be in community ~ not just with you but with each other here on this earth.  You have created us to be an expression of the community you created between you and creation.  You created us to maintain and pursue community.  You created us to give you glory through community.

But we messed up community.

We sinned ~ and continue to sin.
We hurt our neighbors.
We create and maintain division between people.
We seek to win rather than to heal.
We take the “easy” way out rather than dealing with problems.
We REALLY treat people as “pagans and tax collectors“.

Oh how we have messed up community.

Oh gracious God; loving creator ~ we have acted contrary to your design.
Grant us your vision and heart for one another.
Grant us compassion and love for our neighbors.
Grant us patience and passion.
Grant us desire for what is better ~ community as you design.

Oh gracious and loving God…even though we messed up your creation; your community, you pursued healing and reconciliation through the cross; through Jesus Christ.  Thank you for your compassion.  May we pursue that same reconciliation in all our relationships ~ giving you all the praise and glory.  Through Jesus Christ I pray…AMEN!

edh -|—

Deny, carry and follow

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(Matthew 16:24-26)

Loving, holy and gracious God…Your Son and our Lord Jesus Christ has called us to follow.

We are called to deny ourselves ~ (that’s hard).
To dethrone ourselves.
To move ourselves down the priority list.

We are called to pick up and carry our cross ~ (that’s scary).
To make sacrifices.
To suffer.

We are called to follow you (that’s not always fun).
To obey you.
To trust you.

But this call to deny, carry and follow is done out of love.
Help me to see this.

This call to deny, carry and follow is done so others may know you.
Help me to see this.

This call to deny, carry and follow is done for your glory.
Help me to see this.

Jesus Christ is my TRUE Lord and Savior.
Help me to PROCLAIM this.

Amen!

-edh-

Who is Jesus?

/ The Pastor

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
(Matthew 16:15)

Who are you Jesus?

You are not a genie in a lamp.
You are not a creation of my imagination.
You are not a “get rich quick” scheme.
You are not simply a way to live care-free.

Who are you Jesus?

You are not a law-giver.
You are not a soul-condemner.
You are not a distant ruler.
You are not an uninterested observer.

Who are you Jesus?

YOU ARE my…
Savior
Lover of my soul
Grace-filled Lord
Friend
Teacher
Patient Father running out to meet me ~ a prodigal.

You are more than I can imagine.
You are more than what I could have possibly hoped for.
You are more than anything this world can promise.
You are the Son of God.
You were dead but didn’t stay that way.
You are my life.

——————–

But what about YOU…who do YOU say Jesus is?

-edh-

From the heart

/ The Pastor

Matthew 15:10-20
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” 15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ ”

Let us pray…

Gracious and loving God, you call us to good works.
   You call us to proclaim your glory,
   you call us to serve others,
   you call us to worship you.

But much of what we do, we do in order to receive praise from people.
   We deliver meals to the hungry ~ and people thank us.
   We teach Sunday school ~ and parents are appreciative.
   We serve on the church council ~ and people are thrilled.
   We serve in the community ~ and stories are written about our kind hearts.
   We live “biblical” lives ~ and people think we are people of faith.

But you alone know our hearts.  You know our intentions.  You know our motives.  You see what others do not see.  You know what others do not know.  And what matters more than praise from people is the fact that Jesus went to the cross:
Was beaten
Falsely accused
Spat upon
Beaten some more
Had nails pounded into his body
Hung in agony
And slowly died…and then won the final victory through his resurrection.

Why?

Because of his great love for us.

May all that we do go to show this love.  May our good works point to the cross and what Jesus did there.  May our hearts reflect the praise of this world and proclaim your goodness and grace.  Heal and change our hearts so that you and you alone are praised, worshiped and glorified.  For you are indeed worthy.  Through Jesus Christ, your dear Son and our Lord, I pray, Amen!

-edh-

Great things

/ The Pastor

Inspired by Matthew 14:13-21 (The Feeding of the 5000)

Gracious and loving God, you have called us to do great things but too often we fail to trust you.  We see the “great things” you want us to do and we get overwhelmed ~ as if we are expected to do these “great things” on our own.  So we offer excuses and reasons why we can’t do these “great things”:
I’m not smart enough
I’m not strong enough
I’m not big enough
I’m too old, too young, too short, too tall
I can’t speak so well
I’m afraid
I’m sick
I’m dying

We offer excuse after excuse, but God ~ you know them all.  You know all of our excuses, short-comings, limitations and weaknesses ~ for you are our creator.  You know all the so-called reasons why WE can’t accomplish “great things” but you call us to do these “great things” ~ not alone ~ but with YOU.
Give us the faith to see your strength and faithfulness. 
Give us eyes to see you working in and through us.
Give us hearts to respond to those in need.

Gracious and loving God ~ thank you for calling us to do “great things” ~ to the glory of your name.  In Jesus Christ we pray, AMEN!

-edh-