St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Advent 3 December 11, 2005 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

 


            Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.


 

            People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:


            Have you ever watched that TV program on PBS called the Antique Road Show? People bring these small items from their garages and attics—to find out what they are worth. They had a guy from North Dakota—who brought in this little light bulb. Now I would say to myself—how much could that be worth? Come to find out—it’s one of the very first light bulbs that Thomas Edison ever invented. That makes it worth about $10,000! I never would have guessed that!  One person brought this urn—from Greece—for putting a dead person’s ashes in. It looked really really old. Do you know how much that was worth? According to the expert—about $9—nine whole bucks! How sad is that? As we get closer and closer to Christmas time—I’m afraid that’s how it’s going in lots of homes and lots of hearts. People are all excited about the gifts they are buying—the plasma TVs—the ones with ambient light. You know what that is? That’s a TV that is sensitive to the main color in the picture—and then broadcasts that color around the outside of the TV. Your TV has this kind of aura—that reinforces the picture you are concentrating on. Is that important? Is that helpful? Or is that just something I have to have because it’s possible and costs extra? People are all excited about their ancient Greek urn—while what’s really valuable is that little light bulb of the light of the Christmas Gospel! That’s all that really matters. That’s all that really counts. The simple good news that the eternal Son of God was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary. Baby Jesus was born into this world—to grow up to die on the cross to wash away all my sins and mistakes. This 3rd Sunday in Advent God’s Word reminds us:


Jesus Is Faithful!

Therefore: 1. Be joyful always

2. Pray continually

3. Give thanks in all circumstances.


            The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on is part of the Apostle Paul’s 1st letter to the believers in the city of Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a very important city. It had a population almost 10 times as big as Watertown. It was a cross roads city—the Via Egnatia passed through it. Good roads—President Eisenhower—General Eisenhower knew it would be important to have highways—good roads through out this country—if she were ever attacked! The ancient Romans knew it was important to have good roads to defend the Empire. Some of her roads are still good—2,000 years later! Think about that—the next time you are driving by orange barrels through Chicago! Thessalonica was kind of like Chicago or  St. Louis—the gateway if you were going East or West. Thessalonica was also a major sea port. She was past the dangerous shipping routes of Greece—where storms and rough seas could sink your ships. People in Thessalonica knew fierce even physical persecution on account of their faith. There was persecution all through Macedonia. Remember Paul and Silas in Philippi? Remember Paul and Silas in Philippi—healing the servant girl possessed by a demon? Remember Paul and Silas in prison in Philippi—at midnight singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving—when the ground shook—their chains fell off—the gates to all the cells swung open? But none of the prisoners ran away. We are all here! What must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! When Paul and Silas preached in Thessalonica—in three weeks there were significant blessings. So jealous Jews instigated a riot! Paul and Silas moved on to Berea—where enemies of the Gospel followed them there and made even more trouble! When you can suffer fierce physical hurt and harm on account of your faith—you have to decide very quickly just what kind of Christian you are going to be! The greatest threat to our faith is not physical violence for coming to church—but soft thick blankets and soft warm pillows on Sunday mornings when you need to shovel the driveway and scrape the car windshields. When you look at what people in Bible times suffered in order to worship—how can we neglect worship our selves?


            God’s Word says, “Be joyful always!” This has everything to do with attitude—an attitude worked by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote about this attitude in his letter to the Philippians where it says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Don’t be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your heart and your mind through faith in Christ Jesus.” About this time every year—you can look up what gifts and presents Oprah Winfrey is going to buy her friends. This year she recommends a couple of wrist watches from Neiman Marcus. She recommends one of those cans with different kinds of popcorn—a 6.5 gallon tin that serves up to 18 people. Cost $117. That’s not cheap popcorn! She recommends a Burberry Coat and Purse. The coat costs $690—the purse $695! That again must one very nice purse! For one penny short of $50 you can get some Oatmeal Cookie Dough that makes about 30 cookies—some smelly foofoo from Sarah Jessica Parker—a very tiny bottle for $62! $25 for some very sweet brownies. There is even a nifty Ralph Lauren Cashmere Cable-knit sweater with front placket in Camel—for just short of $500! That would be nice, too! But the fact is—the only gift on the really forever gotta have—gotta give list is the little Christ child! The only gift that really matters is that gift given by your Heavenly Father—a package of what—6 or 7 pounds—wrapped in soft strips of clothing is the baby Jesus. The only gift you really need is a little baby boy—born and then wrapped warm and safe and tight—his little arms and legs all safe and secure—after being born—all snug almost like in the womb again. This little baby boy born to save us from our sins.


            Because baby Jesus came to save us we can by the power of the Holy Spirit--Give thanks in all circumstances… There is a soldier named Sgt. Mackay who is a Stryker Brigade commander in Iraq. He drives one of those eight wheel armored vehicles—with the gun perched high on top. The LORD sent his angels to wrap their wings around Sgt. Mackay. First an enemy bullet bounced right off the hatch—the lid that he climbs through to man his gun. Then his vehicle parked—not rolled over—but parked on top of a roadside explosive—that didn’t explode. Then a sniper’s bullet came so close—it blew up Sgt. Mackay’s own can of bullets. Still the angels kept him safe. Then came the bullet that hit Sgt. Mackay’s helmet—actually went through his helmet—not straight through—but around his forehead—then out the other side. That bullet hit so hard it caused bruising and bleeding in his brain—but he is going to be just fine. His doctor said to him, “Son, you shouldn’t even be here.” But he is. Oh, the newspaper said something about luck. Sgt. Mackay and his whole family know that luck and chance had absolutely nothing—absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is still alive. They know that Jesus spared his life. Jesus who gave up his life to wash away all our sins. Because our sins are forgiven—whenever we die—we will be ok—because we will be safe in Heaven. Because Heaven is our sure and certain home—we will give thanks in all circumstances!


            Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. Test everything! You often hear people say—don’t judge! Or—who are you to judge! We are not supposed to judge hearts. In fact we can’t judge hearts. Only Jesus can see a person’s heart. So we don’t judge hearts—we don’t judge motives. But the fact is—we need to make judgments all the time. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. There was a face transplant in France the other day. A lady who was bitten by her own dog—a Labrador—was injured so that it was almost impossible for her to eat or speak. There was a lot of talk about whether face transplants were morally right or wrong—morally and ethically right or wrong.  What would make this more right or wrong? Do you know? Have you thought this through? Is it wrong—because a face is so personal—it would be too painfully difficult for the donor family to think the face of their loved one is out there? That some day they might walk around the corner—and bump into someone who looked exactly like their loved one? Is it wrong to transplant anything—if the recipient can’t be expected to take their medication faithfully—if they can’t be expected if they are diabetic—to not eat bowls and bowls of ice cream with hot fudge—washed down with Mt. Dew? Sometimes I think it’s difficult to know the right thing to do. Sometimes you need more information—in order to make a painfully difficult choice—and you value the advice of people who love Jesus very much! But most of the time—I think—we have a pretty good idea what is right and what’s wrong. We know when one more drink is going to be one too many. We know when one more cookie is going to be one too many. We know when we feel stuffed—that it’s not right to go back to the buffet. We know when a joke is vulgar and obscene. We know when the office Christmas party is getting out of hand—and we need to be getting home. If you have a hangover—or memory blank patches—or are passing out—that’s wrong. I was at the clinic the other day—and they asked if I used recreational drugs. What are recreational drugs? I laughed and they said seriously—we need to know. And I told them that would be against the law! And they said it surely is. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil!


May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus wants your whole spirit, soul and body. He is not content with pigeon holes. You don’t get to divide your life into Jesus time and me time. You have maybe heard there are in our country Christian congregations of 8 thousand—where they have 500 workers—counting all the ushers and choir members and people who play in the orchestra and such. Churches with thousands of members who have decided this Christmas that they won’t have church on Christmas Day—Sunday, December 25th. They have decided that Christmas Day not enough people will come to Church—according to their “market survey” to make it worth while to have Church. They have decided that Christmas Day ought to be family day. So what they are going to do is have some 21 services in the days just before Christmas—so when Christmas Day comes—people will be what—all churched out? Then on Christmas Day everyone can stay at home—open their presents—have a nice breakfast—and watch TV. It reminds one of last year—when churches were all reworking their schedules to accommodate the Packers’ football game Christmas Eve! When Jesus’ love fills your heart—you will want to worship Jesus Christmas Eve and Christmas Day—Good Friday and Easter—and all the Sundays and Thursdays inbetween. There will be no sweeter family time—than family time at Church!


The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. Jesus is faithful. He died and rose again to wash away all your sins. He promised to come again to take you home to heaven and he will! There was on the Internet the other day—a slide show of highway signs. There is a traffic sign in Cincinnati that says, “Don’t walk in front of moving traffic!” Now that would seem painfully obvious—but to some people it isn’t. They run out across the street in the middle of the block—and time after time people are hit by cars and trucks. They are run over and killed! There’s a sign beside the highway in Arizona that says—“Keep your eyes open!” Fix your eyes on the stable in Bethlehem—to the King of kings and Lord of lords—announced by angels and worshiped by shepherds. Fix your eyes on the cross—where Jesus suffered unspeakable hurt—cut off from His Father’s love—on account of my sins and your mistakes. Fix your eyes on the empty tomb—where angels again announced the Gospel. He is not here. He is risen—just as he said. Fix your eyes on the hearts and lives of everyone around you. Share with them the Christmas and Good Friday and Easter Gospel—until we see Jesus again. Amen!


To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz