FOUNDATIONS FOR PEACE

The weekly message delivered at St. Paul's Lutheran Church - New Ulm, MN

Don’t Over Pack

Category: 39 - Luke, Pastor Smith's Sermons, Season of Epiphany, Sermons — admin at 1:21 pm on Wednesday, January 31, 2007

January 28, 2007
Luke 10:2-4; 17-20
4th Sunday after Epiphany
Pastor Timothy Smith
Luke 10:2-4; 17-20
2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road… 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (NIV)

You’ve maybe seen them at the airport. Maybe you were one of them. You know – the ones who over-packed. Now they are at the ticket counter trying to figure out what they can take out of their suitcases to leave behind. They don’t want to pay the hefty penalty of being overweight (meaning their luggage, of course) and scramble to discard what they don’t absolutely need. Just think what it is like for the missionary trips to India to help train local pastors! Typically there are 13 segments to their travels on planes, trains and buses before they arrive at their destination. The last thing they need is to be constantly delayed with too much stuff. There is too much chance of missing a connection and messing up the whole itinerary.

What about your mission journey – I mean, your life? Do you pack in too much stuff for yourself and get constantly delayed or off track? What do you really need to take along?

I. Know the Mission

Jesus chose and commissioned 72 people to go out on a mission for him. Earlier he had sent the 12 disciples on a similar mission (Luke 9:1-9). We know who the disciples were, but who were these guys? What would they be doing? Jesus described their task as going out into “the harvest.” In Matthew 9[:35-38] it says, When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful…” Another time after Jesus had shared his gift of living water with a Samaritan woman, he told the disciples, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest?’ I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:35). They are “ripe” – ready for you to do your part to bring them to see Jesus. Take a look around you. What do you see? Do you see people harassed by life or feeling helpless in their situation? Do you see people without a clue about their eternity?

Jesus sent 72 out to do the very same missionary task as the 12 disciples in the previous chapter (Luke 9). This isn’t a task for the elite. It isn’t a task just for the professionals. It is what we all are. It is the life we live. Following Jesus is “in-service” training for a lifestyle as a missionary for him. Who is the harvest in your area of influence, your circle? It may be the person sitting next to you in the office or classroom. It may be the one standing next to you at the factory or out in the field. It may be the people in your community who can be reached with the resources you put into motion. It can be those you have a heart to help hear the gospel overseas.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. In God’s work there is no unemployment; only people unwilling to work. Jesus commissions us to “Go and make disciples.” He is mobilizing us as his missionary workforce in many different ways.

II. Reassess your physical resources

One of the instructions Jesus gave these missionaries was, “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals.” As he commissioned them for the work, he told them not to over-pack for this journey.

We need to ask ourselves: “What do I really need on this journey in life? How much do I really need of what I make to adequately support me and my family? Am I living above the purse God has given me? Am I working or worrying myself to death just to keep up a standard of living that is higher than the resources God has supplied for me at this moment? Am I falling prey to what the world craves, or using what God gives me for my mission in the world? This is a matter of attitude and a matter of balance in seeing how we can live our lives as missionaries.

This mission trip was a learning time for those 72 – kind of a driver’s ed. lesson or an on-the-job training. One lesson Jesus may have also been teaching by not bringing a purse or a bag was to trust God for their supply. There were to be no stops at Applebee’s and McDonald’s for those 72. They wouldn’t need a purse or wallet along for the restaurants or the food court. He told them, When you go to a house and a man of peace is there, stay at that house eating and drinking whatever they give you. Isn’t it amazing that God sends the right people at the right time to supply what you need when you step out with faith in his promises?

Paul reassures us, And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). In 1 Timothy 6:6-8 he says But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Does that describe you? Do you put God’s promises to the test? When I live the life of a missionary, the question is not “How much of what I have should I give to the Lord?” but rather “How much of all that he has given me do I really need for the basics of life?” What then does he want me to do with the rest of it?

He told those 72, I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves (v.3). We are to be like lambs harmlessly bringing peace to a vicious world. That doesn’t mean we should be ignorant and naive. In Matthew 10:16 he continued by saying, Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. Just like Jesus commended the wise steward for his shrewdness in his business ways, God wants us to use wisdom to utilize the best ways to make our resources impact lives for eternity. Consider the many different options available to you to invest your money for eternal dividends both now after you die. After all you can’t take them with you, but you can let God make them extraordinary means to bring others along.

III. Realize the extraordinary spiritual resources you do have!

The message of the kingdom of heaven is the story of Jesus – God himself who stepped out of heaven to become a human like us. It is the story of his perfect denial of self to obey his missionary goal here. It is the story of Jesus who conquered Satan’s power to condemn us by finishing his kingdom work on the cross of Calvary. It is the story of Jesus who ascended into heaven to rule over all powers on earth and in the heavenly realms. It is the story of Jesus who will come again to judge every soul and gather his harvest of those who believed in him. When we boldly depend on that resource, fantastic things happen.

The 72 returned after their trip ecstatic over what happened. You can almost imagine them are talking at the same time like a bunch of preschoolers who just toured the fire station. The 72 had even seen the demons submit to them. They weren’t used to wielding that kind of power.

With all the exciting stories to tell, Jesus tells us, it’s not about what we have done or witnessed that should be the core of our joy, rather, rejoice that your names are written in heaven (v. 20). You have a personal story to tell. It isn’t about numbers and buildings and successes. It isn’t about what you have done. It is about what has been done for you. It is about the kingdom of God personally affecting you. Paul said, Joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 3:12-14).

Jesus was, full of joy through the Holy Spirit as he saw the excitement and joy felt by the 72. It brings him joy when our lives become enriched because we have become involved in living the life of a missionary right where we are. Even now the reaper…harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together (John 4:36).

Consider carefully your life – are you over-packed for your journey in this life as a missionary? Are you traveling light enough to make the greatest impact with the resources at your disposal? Go home this week and consider the resources God has placed in your life. Live your life in trust by using them wisely in line with the kingdom of God’s mission for your life. What seem to be ordinary resources can become extraordinary, unfolding stories of joy that are told in eternity.

Drink in the Spirit

Category: 43 - I & II Corinthians, Pastor Smith's Sermons, Season of Epiphany, Sermons — admin at 12:56 pm on Wednesday, January 24, 2007
January 21, 2007
1 Corinthians 12:13
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Pastor Timothy Smith
1 Corinthians 12:13
¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greek, slaves or free –
and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (NIV)
1. “E Pluribus Unum” is a Latin phrase that appears on the back of a penny. It means “From many, one.” In other words, our nation is a single unit that comes from many different groups of people and many, many individuals. Imagine the impact on the 650 or so Native American tribes that were already here when hundreds of thousands and eventually millions of people from Europe, Africa and Asia inhabited this continent and formed this country. From many: One.
2. We could say something like that for a star in the Constellation Lyra. Lyra is on the opposite side of our night sky from the Big Dipper, and the topmost star is called “Epsilon Lyra.” If you look at Epsilon Lyra with the unaided eye, it looks like an ordinary star. But if you look at it with binoculars, you easily see that it’s really two stars. Yet if you look at it with a fairly good telescope, you see that each of those stars is in turn two stars – a “double double” solar system, with four suns orbiting a common center. From many, one.3. We who are Christians come from many places, and yet one place. That one place is “outside.” The picture Paul paints of God’s family is that from all these outside places, we have become ONE. We’ve become one together, and we’ve become one and the same, and we’ve become one common unity. It is as if believers are within something – let’s say, a [basket-]ball. The difference between the air in this ball and the air around it is that the air in the ball has been contained and compressed. But you can easily tell the difference between the air in the room and the air in the ball, which is contained in the ball by the rubber and leather of the ball, and by the seal.

4. We are sealed as well, with our baptism. “We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.” Paul wants us to remember that there is only one path into the Kingdom of God. Our great diversity (and that’s the point of this chapter of First Corinthians) is in two respects. We are different in that we all come from different places, walks of life, and ethnic backgrounds. 90 years ago, 200 years ago, 500 years ago, our ancestors – the ancestors of we, who are in this room, now – were in many cases at war with each other. But now, look at us. We’re one family, one fellowship; one Christian Church. One Communion of Saints. But we are connected by more than just citizenship and language and which side of the road we drive on. We are connected by our common faith.

5. The other side to our diversity is what Paul talks about elsewhere in this chapter and what Pastor Sutton addressed in his children’s message last week – that although there is one church, there are many different roles to play in this church. Not everybody can shovel the sidewalks. Not everybody can be Principal of our school. Not everybody can be our Church Administrator. Not everybody can read and understand the map of the cemetery. Not everybody has the gifts to reach out to people in our community with the gospel. And not everybody can visit the sick, the hurting, or the dying.

6. But as I said, those different gifts of the Spirit are Paul’s point in the rest of the chapter, and we are just going to focus on this one verse, that stresses our oneness; our unity. We entered into that unity through Baptism – and Paul reminds us of our baptism. That’s what brought us to faith and sealed us into the Kingdom of God.

7. But what does Paul mean when he says, “we were all given the one Spirit to drink”? When I’m thinking about the sacraments – and the mention of Baptism could put us into the context of the sacraments – and I hear the word “drink,” I think about drinking the wine together with the blood of Christ.

8. But does Paul want us to think that when we drink the wine in the Lord’s Supper, that we are somehow receiving not only the bread, the body of Christ, the wine, and the blood of Christ? Are we also receiving at that moment Christ on the one hand, and the Holy Spirit on the other? Or is he saying something else?

9. The rest of the Bible is clear about what it is we drink in the Lord’s Supper – it’s the blood of Christ in, with and under the wine, just as we eat the body of Christ in, with and under the bread. So although the Means of Grace are being talked about here, what Paul means by “drink” here isn’t the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper any more than any other meal or beverage. No – Paul is talking about the way the Holy Spirit comes to us. We hear the word of God, and in so doing, we “DRINK IN THE SPIRIT.”

10. So Paul’s words here parallel Jesus’ words in John chapter 6, where Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, but again, not about partaking of the Lord’s Supper. In John 6 – which is the “Bread of Life” chapter – Jesus is talking about faith, and that’s what Paul is talking about here, as well.

11. The Holy Spirit comes to us because we have faith. Before he wrote this First letter to the Corinthians, Paul had already written this to the Galatians: “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?… Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you hear?”¹

12. The point of these questions is to make us realize that we don’t have an active part to play in our salvation. We have been brought into this sphere of believers by God. And when we sin, we turn away from God, and bring all of the consequences of that new sinful status into play. We run the risk of separating ourselves from God, of breaking through and forcing ourselves back outside the body of Christ – of breaking the seal of our baptism. The danger is that every sin we commit continues a pattern of sin in our lives. And every unconfessed sin festers in our conscience; these sins eat away at our well-being; they work at destroying us from the inside out.

13. That’s why we continue to need these means of grace, because the Gospel message of forgiveness in the word, with the water, with the bread and wine, assures us that every one of our sins is covered by Christ. Confessed or unconfessed, admitted or forgotten, noticed or slipped through the cracks, our sins are all forgiven by Jesus Christ. We have been set free from the bonds of our sins.

14. We have been contained in the sphere of God’s family, not by rubber or leather like a ball, but by the body and blood and agony and love of Jesus on our behalf. That’s where this picture of a ball as the Holy Christian Church breaks down – because the air in this ball doesn’t mix with the air outside it. But we do. We are in the sphere of believers and yet rubbing elbows and opinions with everybody outside the sphere, too. We are let loose into the world by the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, precisely so that we can show our faith in our lives and share our faith with the world.

15. So drink in the Spirit – and share the wealth of God’s word with the thirsty thousands around you, to bring the people in your circle into our sphere: from many, one. Amen.
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¹ Galatians 3:2, 5.

¹³ και γαρ εν ενι πνευματι ημεις παντες εις εν σωμα εβαπτισθημεν, ειτε Ιουδαιοι ειτε Ελληνες ειτε δουλοι ειτε ελευθεροι, και παντες εν πνευμα εποτισθημεν..

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