FOUNDATIONS FOR PEACE

May 12-14, 2012
1 JOHN 3:11-20
6th Sunday after Easter
Pastor Tim Smith

11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Have you checked the tank on your gas grill lately? In 1 John, the Apostle wants us to check our spiritual tanks with three different tests: There is a moral text, a doctrinal test, and what we might call a social test. The moral test is obedience to God and God’s will. The doctrinal test is belief: Do I believe what the Bible says? And the third test, the social test, is love. Do I out my faith into action with love?

In chapters 1 and 2 John takes us through those three tests ending up with a warning about the Antichrist, but here in chapter 3 he quickly review all three tests again. Today we focus on the third test of love as John lays the test bare with an answer key: Compare what you’re doing with Christ and with Cain. Who are you closer to?

John reminds us that we have passed from death to life. We need to be reminded about this from time to time. That’s part of what worship and Bible study is all about: checking the tank and re-charging our batteries to remember that we’ve passed from death to life.

And John takes this easy comparison of Cain and Christ and uses them to show us the horizons; to remember that although there are a lot of grey areas in life and a lot of uncertainty, there should be no question in our spiritual lives who it is we trust for forgiveness and eternal life.

Cain belonged to the evil one, Cain murdered his brother—and in this passage, it’s easier to see John’s point if we set aside our own knowledge that we know the name of Cain’s brother, but that we keep calling him “Cain’s brother.” Why did Cain murder his brother? John tells us that it’s because Cain’s own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

We’re not told in the book of Genesis what was wrong with Cain’s offering as opposed to his brother’s. Cain is an enigma that should make us all uncomfortable. Cain is the first person we know of who ever made a sacrifice to God. Not his brother, not his father, but Cain. And later, God commanded that the same kind of offerings that Cain brought would be required offerings in certain cases for the Israelites, God’s chosen people. So if there was nothing wrong with the substance of his offering, then there was something wrong with the intention or the faith behind it.

But let’s get back to our comparison of Cain and Christ. Cain did the opposite of what Christ did. Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice, and in his anger and jealousy he killed his brother—he took his brother’s life—because his brother’s offering was acceptable and good to God. If you remember, Cain was then marked by God out of God’s mercy so that no one would kill him to avenge his brother’s blood; to preserve Cain’s life.

Christ offered a perfect sacrifice—himself—and his love and compassion Christ laid down his own life in place of the lives of all his brothers—you and me, his brothers and sisters—to pay for the sins of all his brothers and all of mankind. We are sealed as Christians, bearing the mark, as it were, of Christ’s mercy in our baptism, to preserve our lives into all eternity.

Now: hold that thought. John isn’t just comparing Christ and Cain. He’s comparing Christ and Cain in our lives. He isn’t just letting us know which of those two descendants of Eve was a better man—that’s a no-brainer that almost everyone understands, although there actually are people in the world who think that fall of man was a fall “upward.” Let’s leave that thought for another time.

No; John is asking you and me to recognize which one of these two is living within us: Christ or Cain. And John’s real point of comparison is how they treated their brothers: How Cain treated his brother and how Christ treated all his brothers—which means all of us. If we have a brother or sister or neighbor or even a stranger who needs something, and if we have and love our material things so much that we’re unwilling to help—then, John tells us—then we hate that brother or sister and we’re exactly like Cain.

Maybe you hold a grudge and won’t hold out an olive branch. Maybe someone did something bad to you once and you’re not willing to forgive. Maybe someone did something bad to someone you love and you want to get some kind of payback for that loved one—or however twisted our soap opera lives get. God’s standard is simple and clear: Love.

Love begins with trusting the one who loved us. Love continues and grows by loving the people in our lives, whether they’re there every day or if perhaps they might be the people we see only once, at a stop light, at a restaurant, a visitor at church, a child crying on the sidewalk. We look after their physical needs if we’re able along with their spiritual needs. But love doesn’t say “I can afford to give you the Gospel for free but not a loaf of bread. Love says: “Both the Gospel and the bread,” and there will even be times when love says, “You need to hear the truth.”

There is a misconception in the world that showing love to someone means not hurting their feeling, or means that I always have to let their opinion take precedence over God’s word. But although love and respect go hand in hand, it’s really love and truth—as John points out—that need to run together, especially in spiritual matters.

Love and truth are like the two wings of a bird. Without truth, we won’t get anywhere, and a love that doesn’t tell the truth isn’t love at all. Truthful love will sometimes lead me to tell a friend, “I’m going to help you today by not giving you money that I know you’re going to spend on some vice—you’re going to smoke it, or drink it, or gamble it away, and instead I’m going to let you spend your lunch money on this thing you don’t really need so that you will go hungry and get a better perspective on your priorities. And that doesn’t mean I’m playing “God;” it means I’m holding up a mirror to your life in the same way I would hope that in truthful love you would hold a mirror up to mine.

And our lives don’t always hold up well to this test. Our lives are never perfect, and although God demands perfect and sinlessness from us, that isn’t a reason to despair or to give up hope or to retreat and look out for ourselves. He has put us in the world to do the work of looking after our brothers and sisters—everyone who touches our lives. And when we examine ourselves and see that we’re more like Cain than Christ, we need to remember who Christ is, and what he did for us.

Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. We love him for that—because his death means the payment for our sins is finished and complete. There is no payment for sin left that must be made up. There’s no interest, no entry fee, no initiation. God washed us clean—most of us didn’t even do anything at all to be baptized; it was done to us, even without our asking.

And Christ’s loving payment for our sins means that we have freedom to worship and serve him as a thank you for what he did. None of that is required, but it’s the way we show our love.

While we show our love for Christ, John wants us to remember something: Don’t be surprised if the world hates you for your faith. Don’t hold a grudge. Don’t try to get back. Don’t expect the world to come to a reasonable compromise. It’s not the peripheral things about Christianity that infuriate the world. Whether our pastors wear white robes or black robes, whether a choose to use one Bible translation or another, whether practice loving fellowship or closed communion – these are things that almost everyone in the world can take or leave. It’s Christ himself; it’s the release from the burden of guilt and sin that’s outrageous. But we would give anything up but that.

The forgiveness we have from Jesus is the most priceless treasure any of us possesses. The more we have; the more we understand it and embrace it, the more we will want to share it and give it away. Faith is a never ending spring that swells up and overflows, and that spring of truth and love, the spring of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is what we share and show to everyone around us. Through Jesus, we have passed from death to life.

And the peace of God…

Acts 16:11-16
May 5-7, 2012
5th Sunday after Easter
Pastor Don Sutton

Acts 16:11-16
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Introduction
Probably most of us watch some TV and in the course of watching our favorite shows see commercials. Most commercials are all about selling products. The goal of such advertising is to make us aware of a product and how it will make our lives better. “Buy our product you will be happier, healthier and have a better life.”

But what‘s the reality? Some things work well most of the time. Some things work well for some people some of the time. Some things work, but not well for a lot of people a lot of times. Some things don’t work well at all.

This leaves us with the challenge of checking things out and being discerning. We don’t want to waste our time and money on things that aren’t going to work for us. So we try things. We investigate things. We talk to others about their experiences. We want to know what works and what doesn’t.

Today as we think about Acts 16 reading we see What Works… …God works ….faith works…

…God works ….
This reading is short but it isn’t short at showing God at work. Consider Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke even being in Philippi, their first foray into Europe. Paul and Co. had been in Asia Minor visiting congregations Paul had established on his first missionary journey. They wanted to go into the province of Asia in western Asia Minor. But the Holy Spirit stopped them. Then they wanted to go north into Bythinia. But God stopped them again. So they went toward the coast to a place called Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia, begging Paul to come to Macedonia. So they sail to Samothrace, an island in the Aegean, and on to Neapolis, the port city for Philippi. Who was at work?

But do you suppose that Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke at least for while were frustrated? In a time when travel was not easy, to go so far and then be stopped, not once, but twice might have been very frustrating. But similar things may happen in our lives. God closes some doors. A job ends. A promotion doesn’t happen. An educational opportunity disappears. A relationship dies out. We may be hurt, frustrated, or fearful. Doubts may arise. Questions come – “How can any good come out of this?” We may fail to trust that God works good out of bad; that when he closes some doors he often opens others; or, that he has some purpose for our being where we are.

But God still strengthens us; he still provides. Another job comes along. In the end we may find ourselves in work that was more satisfying than the job we lost. The same thing may happen with school, relationships, where we live, etc. Remember this when you are struggling with some change or challenge. God works.

This reminds me of a friend of mine whose wife died in an accident. He said that after that happened he was in shock and wondered how life could ever be fulfilling again. Several years later he met a wonderful Christian woman whom he ended up marrying. She became a blessing to him and he to her, especially her family. His observation was that it’s amazing how God closed a door in life that led to great sadness but opened another through which God brought great blessing. God does that doesn’t, he? He works.
God worked to have Paul find Lydia. Because Philippi was a Roman colony with many Roman citizens, there were not enough Jewish people for a synagogue. But Paul found out that Jews and converts to Judaism met outside the city by the river. There he met Lydia, a Gentile woman from Thyatira. She was a trader in cloth products colored with a dye for which Thyatira was famous. She was a believer in the God of the Old Testament. She probably had a sizable household and was financially well off.

Acts 16 does not specifically say what Paul said. But central to Paul’s usual message was that Jesus is the Savior promised in the Old Testament, who lived, died and rose again to bring people forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He taught about baptism. God worked in Paul to proclaim the gospel in Philippi. Then God worked in Lydia to open her heart to the message so that she believed the message that Paul shared with her. Then she was baptized.

Isn’t it a miracle today what the medical world can do with the heart and circulatory system to clear blockages, replace faulty parts, and insert stints so that the heart may function more effectively and people may live? But there is no greater miracle of the heart than God’s opening hearts that people may believe and receive Jesus, his forgiveness, his life, his declaration of innocence, his peace and his power. This is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit (1Co12:3).” God worked in Lydia. God worked in us. God works … faith.

Thank God for your faith. Take care of this gift. Feed your faith so that it remains strong. Keep in mind the words of Jesus, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15).”

Also remember that when it comes to those in our lives that we hope and pray will come to faith, God wants us to gently and lovingly share his word – that simple law and gospel message that we are sinful and deserve damnation, but Jesus has saved us with his holy life, his death on the cross and his resurrection. Then God is the one who works through that. God works …. Among the ways he works is that he works faith. But in this account, we see that once God works faith …

…faith works…
This was obvious of Lydia’s faith. After she believed the message of Jesus, Lydia either took Paul home or brought her household to Paul. She wanted her household to believe in Jesus and be baptized. Paul taught. They caught what he taught and believed. They were baptized.

Then Lydia, out of appreciation to God and to Paul for the message of Jesus, thanked God and Paul and Co., by insisting that they stay with her that she might care for them. The faith God worked in Lydia, worked through her good works to thank God and show love.

This is still the way it is. When God works faith, that faith naturally works in people’s lives in good works. So we strive to be patient, kind, gentle, helpful, forgiving, faithful, and self-controlled. Spouses sacrifice personal interests for each other and the good of the family when need be. Kids share with kids to show kindness. Workers cooperate with co-workers and leaders to glorify Jesus. We strive to manage well the relationships, the material things, the gifts and the time God gives us. We worship God regularly, use his word frequently, pray unceasingly, serve faithfully, and give willingly and generously.

But the devil and our sinful natures try to hinder God’s work in our lives and to stop our faith from good works. So more than we may realize, we lose patience, lack self-control, and let sin slip into our lives. We may not manage resources well. We may fail to pray. We may neglect word and sacrament. We may not give God the glory he deserves. We may not put God first giving him first-fruits generous offerings. We call workers to serve us, but a good portion of the congregation fails to support them as Lydia was willing to do with Paul and Co.

Let me explain. About 80% of our budget goes to support our workers. We compensate called workers according to our synod salary code which our Conference of Presidents expect us to do. That costs on the average of $65,000 for salary, health insurance, pension, FICA and workman’s comp; we compensate our support according to local wage scales and try to take good care of them. The rest of our budget goes for properties, materials, insurances and services.

In 2011 20% of our congregation supported 88% of our congregation’s ministry including the support of our called workers. We are thankful for the support God provides through these families. But what about the other 80? Some of the 80% are on fixed incomes and may give smaller amounts, that when compared to their incomes, are very generous. Others are paying substantial educational fees at St. Paul’s School or MVLHS and are limited in their resources, but still give what they can. If this is you, we thank God and thank for your generosity.

But over 600 donors give $0 and over 950 of our communicant members combined gave less than $27,000 ($27.42 ea.). Why? In many cases they are not staying close to Jesus, the Vine, and are lacking in spiritual vitality. Others have lost sight of the fact that among the things the Lord wants us to do with our material things is to honor him first with generous offerings given out of thanks and love to God for his saving and blessing us. Or, they have forgotten or don’t realize that the Lord wants us as a congregation to care for, encourage and support the workers he supplies in our church, our schools and our synod. Listen to 1 Timothy 5:17, 18: 17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

Where God works saving faith, God’s intent is that faith then works in good works done out of love for God, to God’s glory, according to God’s will and to show love to others. It is not God-glorifying when we don’t give generous first-fruits. It is not loving when we expect a small group of our Christian brothers and sisters to support the major part of our ministry. It is not loving to our workers when we expect them to serve us and our family but then do not supply the support and the honor and resources that God calls on us to give.
Remember what the apostle Paul wrote in encouraging the Corinthians in their living for and giving to the Lord: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…..21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Co5). “ In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul wrote: “9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Also in 2 Corinthians 9, “8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

God works faith so that faith works to say to God, “Thanks, Lord, for saving me,” and to one another, “I love you.”