Christ the King Sunday Sermon, Rev. Dr. Jeff Leininger

Christ the King Sunday, November 26, 2017

Is Christ still King? Is he still in control over the things happening in our world today? Does the church still belong to him? Do our homes and hearts still have him present and ruling over everything?

Ephesians 1:15-23

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The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Leininger has served as Concordia University Chicago’s University Pastor since 2002. www.cuchicago.edu

“Thanksgiving to God” (Luke 17:11-19)

Luke 17:11-19

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 23, 2017

Old Testament law prevents lepers from even entering the city gate. To have leprosy is to be an outcast—unclean—and only welcome back into the community if your skin is somehow healed. Even worse, you cannot enter the Temple in Jerusalem until a priest does a thorough body scan. You think TSA and airport security is bad? In those days, a priest had to officially verify that a person is “clean” in order to worship at the temple. And no one would go to the Temple to be healed—they went to the Temple to verify their healing. So when the ten lepers run across Jesus on the road, they cry out from a distance. Lepers had to keep their distance. And from a distance, Jesus tells them to turn in faith toward the temple in Jerusalem and show themselves to the priests. He challenges them to believe that when they get there, their healing will be realized and verified. And as they go, they are cleansed. But one of them turns back—a Samaritan. Nine Israelites go on to verify their healing to the priests and enter the Temple in thanksgiving.

James Tissot - The Healing of Ten Lepers 

But the Samaritan turns back. When he reaches Jesus, he falls on his face. He gives thanks and praise to God. Here is the funny thing: his turning back is actually contrary to Jesus’ instruction. The reality is that he has no choice. The Samaritan cannot show himself to the priest. He is no longer a leper but he is still a Samaritan. He can show that his leprosy is gone. But he cannot change his ethnicity. He cannot get rid of his Samaritan heritage, appearance, and accent. The priest will still not let him into the Temple. The Samaritan has no choice but to turn back to Jesus. His actions speak louder than Peter’s words when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

To whom does the atheist give thanks? They are living out the sheer improbability of their own existence. To whom does the agnostic give thanks? Well, they are not certain. And to whom the superstitious? I suppose their lucky stars…knock on wood. The Samaritan cannot go to the Temple and give thanks and praise to God. His only option is to go to the source of his healing. And so he falls at the feet of this Jesus. And he give thanks to God. Jesus asks where the others healed of leprosy are. Ironically, it is these ethnically clean children of the promise of Abraham who are missing out of the full blessing. They have gone away from the eternal Son of God to a building made of stone and wood served by mortal priests.

The Samaritan has come to a greater Temple. He has come to the Temple of the Body of Jesus—the place where YHWH dwells in the flesh. This Temple is not just a place where healing is verified—this is the place where healing is delivered. And this is not just a place where Israelites are welcome—but all humanity from every tribe, nation, tongue, and people. The Samaritan falls on his face at the feet of Jesus. He is bowing before the Lord of lords and King of kings.

He is giving thanks to God at the feet of Jesus—and that is the greatest place to give thanks. These are the feet of whom and through whom heaven and earth were made—the eternal Word who became flesh. These are the same feet that will be nailed to the cross—where the violence and sin of the world strike him on the heel. These are the same feet that will stand triumphantly over the grave—where death, the devil, and our sin are trampled over in victory. These are the same feet that will come back and take us to a new and eternal Kingdom—when at the feet and at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. There will need no need for temple, sun, or moon there—Jesus will be our Temple and eternal Light forever. And so we direct our thanksgiving to the God who created us, redeems us, and sanctifies us—who gives us everything we need for our bodies and life.

We give thanks for all the material things that we enjoy—our health, our lives, our families, friends, our houses and homes, employment, church, and school—and for the privilege and joy of a personal relationship with the true and living God. We come alongside this Samaritan healed of his leprosy to the feet of Jesus—discoveringA just how deep and wide His blessings are—praising him for all we have. We come knowing that he has cleansed us—not of mere spot and blemish on our skin but the stain and burden of sin on our souls. As Scripture says, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). “Though our sins are like scarlet we are now as clean as the fleshly fallen snow” (Isaiah 1:18). We are not just accepted at those feet. We are also healed of our shame and our sin. And we have the assurance of eternal life with him. Thanks be to God.

“Numbering our days” (Psalm 90)

Psalm 90

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 19, 2017

What if you knew this was the last day of your life? What would you do in the 14 hours remaining? Would it have a great impact on how you would spend your time and with whom? And so our Psalm challenges us: “Teach us to know the shortness of our days, may wisdom dwell within our hearts.” “Teach us to number our days.” This is the one Psalm written by Moses. And his signature is all over. He summarizes in one song the whole of the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible also known as the book of Moses or Torah. He brings us back to creation: “Before the mountains…before the earth was created, you are God.” It has only been in the last 100 years that scientists have caught up with Moses. The universe is not eternal. It has a beginning. It will have an end. God transcends his creation. The great I AM precedes the universe. We have been taught to number our days as creatures bound by space and time. We are now open to the wisdom of living as creatures fearfully and wonderfully made.

Moses with the Ten Commandments by Philippe de Champaigne

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their lives were cut short because they believed the lie that they would become like God. They wanted to live independently, expand their consciousness, and do what felt good. And so, our psalm reminds us that we all must now learn to live with the reality of the shortness of our days. Death looms over all of us. It is a universal human condition. Like our first parents, we make a choice every day to live our lives independently, to greedily accumulate knowledge and stuff, and do what is right in our own eyes. We eat and drink today for tomorrow we die. This is the foolishness of unbelief—to live for one’s own self-pleasure or self-ambition.

The problem with the one slave in the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30) is that he had a wrong view of the master as harsh and lording it over his subjects. So, he goes off, digs a hole, and squanders the master’s money. He did not number his days and so lacked a heart of wisdom. We have not learned the shortness of our days. We act as if our days are not numbered. And so our lives, our gifts, our talents, and our impact on this world is minimal. We have cheated ourselves by not cultivating hearts of wisdom. The Scriptures say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 1:7). This is a reverential fear. It is the realization that God is God and we are not. We are his creatures. When we live in awe and wonder of him, we open ourselves up to the wisdom of the ages and of God. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord stands forever” (Isa 40:8). In this case, God’s Word is Moses’ prayer: “Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” So we should pray: “As we live a temporal existence, give us eternal perspective. Help us see the brevity of life so that we make the most of our days. Make our lives count for the Kingdom. ‘For thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.’”

Our Psalm brings us into deep time and the profound truth of God: “A thousand years are like yesterday come and gone, no more than a watch in the night.” Or as Peter in his second epistle, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet 3:8). God truly is our refuge from generation to generation. Moses witnessed God’s faithfulness to his people who were enslaved for over 400 years. God delivered them from Pharaoh whose heart was not given to wisdom but hardened and calloused to God. Moses himself pointed to a prophet even greater than himself. It may have taken a thousand of our years, but it was like a watch in the night for God. In spite of God’s transcendence he sends his eternal Son from heaven to earth—from timeless eternity to become flesh—to take on humanity and our struggle with sin and the shortness of our days.

Jesus learned the shortness of his days. He lived maybe into his early to mid 30s. That is a young life. He spent about three years teaching, healing, and preparing his disciples to carry on his ministry. That is not a long career. But its impact is immense. Jesus knew his days were numbered from the beginning. Even when he knew he was just days away from his arrest and death, he still set his face like flint toward Jerusalem—the place he was determined and destined to give his life for the world. In his last hours and minutes, he forgave the sins of those who did not know what they were doing. These are the people who had not yet numbered their days and were living their lives in the foolishness of unbelief.  Jesus told the other one crucified next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus brought him from a temporal to an eternal reality. Their suffering would soon be over. Their joy in heaven will never come to an end. In just three short days, Jesus changed the course of human history. He takes away the sting of death. He pays the penalty for all our foolishness and sin. He gives us the wisdom of the Cross. He blesses us with the joy of the empty tomb.

And so our days are numbered. But God makes our lives count for the Kingdom now and forever.

“Reforming Stewardship” (Matthew 25:1-13; Amos 5:18-24(

Amos 5:18-24

Matthew 25:1-13

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 12, 2017

A few weeks ago we passed out sheets of paper for us to write down things we are thankful for. You see on this quilt things written on it that we are thankful for in years past and present. In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we remembered that the German Monk and Reformer Martin Luther began an international movement when he nailed the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. He addressed the abuse of the church especially regarding money. He challenged the use of indulgences—the collection of money to purchase God’s mercy and forgiveness. It was a ruse to raise money to build St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome. Our true treasure, Luther said, is the Good News of Jesus Christ who died and rose again for our forgiveness and eternal life. God’s free gift of salvation should inspire our generosity. For he is generous toward us first.

Our readings for today are very timely and bring us right to the core of Christian stewardship. Our Old Testament reading from Amos reminds us that God wants our obedience and righteousness to bless those around us. Our worship, offerings, and resources are not as important as our godliness. We are to be an ever-flowing stream of goodness and love to our neighbor.

The parable of the delayed bridegroom and ten bridesmaids is another great text to bring us to the heart of our stewardship. This parable is not about the end of the world. It is about how we are to live as we anticipate our Lord’s return. We are to wait for our groom—the Lord Jesus—as those who know his coming may be long delayed. The previous parables in Matthew talk about waiting for him as he can come at any moment and that we must give an account. This parable illustrates the truth that he may be long-delayed. Five of the bridesmaids go out into the world prepared to let their light shine. They do not know when the groom is coming. But they put their gifts of the Holy Spirit—the oil for their lamps—to good use. They let their light shine as long as it is night. Their lamps and their hearts burn for the Lord’s return.

This is about stewardship. The good news is that Jesus died and rose again for our forgiveness and eternal life. He will come again to make all things new. He comes to make justice and righteousness flow like an ever-flowing stream. In the meantime, the bridegroom may be long delayed. But as Scripture says, “He is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). God widens his mercy. His justice and righteousness increase their flow like an ever-flowing stream. He sends us out as his anointed—filled with the Holy Spirit. He calls us out to shine our lights brightly in a dark world. His coming should stir us awake. It rouses us to action. We remember the good gifts God has blessed us with. And we put it to good use in anticipation of the coming of the Lord.

St. Peter Lutheran Church, Riga, Latvia

One of the odd things you will see in Europe is how many churches of the Reformation replaced their cross on top of their churches with a rooster. It is there to wake up the church. It represents the rooster that crowed to bring Peter back to his senses—to wake him up to the sin of denying his Master—to rouse him to action as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the call of Jesus in the book of Revelation (3:2) to “Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die.” There is a sense of urgency to strengthen our ministry of the Gospel—to invest the oil of God’s blessing and anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God’s rooster wakes us up to repent of lies and deception. God’s rooster calls us to consciously adjust our understanding to Scripture—to hold every thought captive to the Word of God. God’s rooster stirs us out of a sinful slumber and wakes us up to the day the Lord has made, rejoice, and be glad in it. We reform our understanding of the Gospel, the Church, and our participation in what God is doing. We reform our stewardship. We invest our time, talents, and treasure into the ministry of the Gospel.

Wake up! Invest in his Kingdom work now! It is a privilege to discover how deep, wide, and high God’s love is for us in his Son Jesus Christ! It is our joy to fill up with the Holy Spirit by his Word and radiate the light of Christ. God’s justice and goodness will flow through you to the world like an ever-flowing stream. Rouse yourselves. Jesus comes to lead us into a great feast. Can you smell it? Soon we will come to his table where there is forgiveness and a foretaste of the great wedding feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb in his Kingdom which will have no end.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3)

Matthew 5:1-12

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 5, 2017

“Blessed are the poor…in spirit.” These are the first words of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus most likely preached sermon many times and in many places. The sermon begins in Matthew chapter five and ends at the end of chapter seven. The importance of this complete sermon by Jesus cannot be overstated. While we don’t have time to talk about the whole sermon. We do very well to ponder and meditate on these few words—this profound truth: “Blessed are poor in spirit.” To be blessed is have the favor and goodness of God in our lives. We are blessed when we realize that God has first loved us. We say “I am blessed” when we want to tell others that God has impacted our lives. To say it another way: “The Lord has been good to me.” The recipients of this blessing are those who are poor in spirit. This is a spiritual poverty. These are people who lack godly resources. They are spiritually bankrupt. I love Jesus. I so admire his preaching. He is disruptive—deliciously so. He is unsettling—wonderfully so. He says what he needs to say in order to get our attention and draw us into his life-transformation. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” We are truly blessed when we are poor in spirit. Or to put it another way, we are blessed when we realize our spiritual poverty—when we accept our spiritual bankruptcy. It is a journey of self-discovery this poverty.

One of the greatest examples of this is King Solomon. Jesus brings him up in all his glory later in this same sermon. He is one of the greatest kings of history—one of the richest and most powerful kings ever. And yet, he did not create his wealth. It was given to him. He inherited it. He had many earthly blessings—wealth, power, and prestige. But here is the really beautiful part of his story: God offers Solomon anything he wants (1 Kings 3:5). If God said you could ask for anything what would it be? Solomon says, “You have made me king…although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. …Give [me] an understanding mind…that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:7-9). He realizes he is poor in spirit. He realizes he is a simple child of God. He needs God’s direction and wisdom. He hungers and thirsts for the Spirit of God to strengthen him mind, body, and soul. He does not become poor in spirit. In his humility, he realizes that is who we all are.

Jesus points out that we too are all poor in the spirit. We are stingy with our love. We are in spiritual debt to one another by all the ways we have failed to love God and our neighbor. Later in the same sermon, Jesus will point out that we are all guilty of murder by the ways we cut each other down by our words and the bitterness in our hearts (5:21-260. He says we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (5:48). We do not have the spiritual resources in and of ourselves to be the kind of people God calls us to be. Later in the same sermon, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” We daily fail to love God and one another. We cannot pay off the debts of all our sins. We are poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit is to be humble. We realize that we are sinners. We discover that we cannot change ourselves. We are unable to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Our only plea is for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

We realize our resources are not in ourselves. They are outside of us—external to us—in Christ—by his Spirit and his Word. That is what the Kingdom is: the King and all his wealth, power, and resources. We blessed to know that we are spiritually impoverished. We are blessed to know that the kingdom of heaven is ours. We are God’s treasured possession. And he is ours. This is not just some future hope. It is a present reality. The hymn writer understood this when he wrote, “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to thy Cross I cling.” We cannot use our hands to lay hold of the Cross if we think they are filled with our own earthly riches. We come empty handed.

The greatest illustration of this truth is just moments away. We will baptize little Franklin—even though he is not yet drawing a paycheck. He has not yet done any great humanitarian work. He still needs help changing his clothes and eating. He is poor and helpless. And he realizes it. He knows to whom to cry when he is hungry or needs changed. He looks to mom and dad trusting their love and goodness to him. All his wealth is tied up in them and the Lord who gave them to him. To baptize poor and helpless infants epitomizes the Gospel. Because that is who we all are before the King of kings and Lord of lords—poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit means to be rich in the Kingdom of Heaven. As Jesus says later in this same sermon: “But seek first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (6:33). He fills our empty hands and our hungry mouths with his Body and Blood to spiritually enrich us for the journey ahead. He lavishes us with forgiveness, life, and salvation. And in him, we are all heirs together of his eternal Kingdom.