“Messengers,” Psalm 103:20

Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3
Psalm 103:1-5,20-22

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“Messengers,” Psalm 103:20
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 29, 2019

The word angel in both Hebrew and Greek is the word messenger. Angels are God’s messengers. As we see in our Psalm, they do God’s bidding. And we see that throughout Scripture. God sends out his angels to enlarge our understanding. Sometimes that message comes through the eye as angels reveal the glory and power of God in their mighty acts. Sometimes that message comes to our ears as they speak heavenly words. Sometimes it comes through the nose as they lift up bowls of incense which are the prayers of believers. Sometimes it comes through touch as angels take hold of us, prevent disaster and deliver us from evil. Sometimes it comes through taste as they bring the burning coals to our lips from God’s Altar to let us know we are forgiven.

There is a common message through all of God’s messengers: “You are loved beyond your human senses. You are loved beyond your earthly existence.” Angels bring us the perspective of unfallen, uncorrupted, unearthly creatures. They are sinless, perfect, heavenly beings created by God for his and our service. Just think about that for a moment. These higher creatures serve us lower creatures. That in itself should astound us—that God would employ angelic spirits to serve us who are flesh and blood. In the Bible, they sometimes appear as glorious and bright stars and other times as mere humans or animals. That is why Scripture reminds us that we sometimes entertain angels “unawares” (Heb 13:2).

We are often unaware of the activity going on around us all the time. As Scripture says, “our struggle is not merely against fresh and blood but against the cosmic powers of this world and spiritual forces of the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). We often miss God’s message because we are not listening to his Word. We are not looking with the eyes of faith. We are not receptive to God’s ways which are not our ways and his thoughts which are not our thoughts.

Last week I hiked over 50 miles through the Grand Canyon. No picture can capture the depths, the heights, and the breadth of that wonder of God’s creation. Even now, it is hard for me to convey just how insignificant and small I felt as walked through the cold shadows and under the blistering sun. Even those who are far taller and larger than me shared our blessed discovery of insignificance and puniness in the face of the Creator’s handiwork. On one stretch of my hike, I talked to Jeff, one of those on our team from the Midwest. Jeff told me a story of how he and his friend got lost coming down a mountain a few years ago. They came down the wrong path. They got lost in a desolate place. The likelihood of finding another human being was little to none. As they shared their hopelessness with one another, a rainstorm began. Their despair grew. Moments later, a pickup truck started coming their way driven by an odd and friendly fellow. There is no plausible explanation for why that stranger was there, why he seemed to already understand their lostness, and why he was so willing to drive for hours out of his way to take them back to their parked car on the other side of the mountain in a rainstorm. All Jeff and his friend could say to one another was, “Was he real?” After he dropped them off and drove off they asked again, “Was he real?” Those words express the wonder and joy of being found and set on the right path.

“Guardian Angel”
by Bernhard Plockhorst (1825-1907)

It is the message of God through the angels. “You are lost to yourselves but you are not lost to me or my messengers. You have sinned but God still sends the gift of his forgiveness. You may die, but God will send his angels to carry you up to heavenly paradise just as he did poor Lazarus.” God sends his message that we are never out of his sight. His care for us never wears out. His love for us is eternal. No earthly tongue can express the majesty, beauty, and wonder of God and his creation. No mind can grasp the perplexing grandeur of God’s love. That is God’s message for you and for me. “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). The angels are there to help us get closer, see clearer, hear louder, feel firmer, taste and smell sweeter the love of God. That is why we join angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven when we come to the Lord’s Table. They witness. They share the message to us of Christ’s birth, his death, and his resurrection. They tell the indescribable and heavenly gift of God’s Son Jesus who gives his own Body and Blood. We sing the songs of angels. We join their heavenly chorus. Together we celebrate the glory of the eternal Son of God who gives his own self as heavenly food.

These are Your ministers, these are Your own,
Lord God of Sabaoth, nearest Your throne;
These are Your messengers, these whom You send,
Helping Your helpless ones, Helper and Friend.           (“Stars of the Morning, So Gloriously Bright,” LSB 520 v. 2)

"Living as the People of the Light" (Luke 16:1-13)

Luke 16:1-13

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Pastor Don Gourlay, September 22, 2019

“Sinners” (Luke 15:1-10)

Luke 15:1-10
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Psalm 51

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“Sinners,” Luke 15:1-10
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 15, 2019

Tax collectors and sinners were drawn to Jesus and his teaching. When they came to meet him and listen to him, Jesus welcomed them. He invited them to his table. He ate and drank with them. But the Pharisees and scribes are not amused. What is meant as a criticism—“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them”—is also an insult. But Jesus wears it like a badge of honor. His message draws in sinners. And that brings Jesus joy.

Jesus tells three parables of lost things. The first two are in our reading: the lost sheep and lost coin. The third is the Prodigal Son. Jesus tells these stories so that the Pharisees and scribes will understand their sin of judging others. He wants them to celebrate when people find forgiveness and the fresh start God brings. That is why each parable invites us to celebrate what was lost—the sheep, the coin, and the son. “Rejoice with me!” Jesus calls us to join the angels of heaven, himself, and God the Father to celebrate lost souls being found.

Jesus wants us to stop judging others—pointing the finger at someone else and calling them a sinner. When we do that, we are telling them and the world that they do not deserve God’s attention. They are not worthy of God’s love. It is a sad irony that so much harm has been done in the name of Jesus and in the name of Christianity—when we stand in judgment of another human being and label them a sinner—or call our world or our culture the enemies of God. We have forgotten—or not yet realized—that we are all sinners. King David in our Psalm today says, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you only [O Lord] have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

The Apostle Paul says that “Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.” How can Paul call himself the chief of sinners? Because Paul knows just how extensive the poison was which lurked in his own heart. Other people cannot see our hidden sin, shame, and guilt. But Paul is also able to empathize with himself. He says that he lived a destructive life because of his ignorance. He did not realize the full extent of his own broken spirit and the damage he was doing to others and to himself.

Jesus himself said on the Cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” They did not realize they were crucifying the Lord of glory. They did not know they were executing the true Messiah and hope of the nations. There is great freedom in coming to terms with our sinful condition. There is hope when we discover just how shattered our lives can be. There is joy in knowing how profound wickedness has poisoned our lives and our hearts.

One pastor said, “Cheer up! You’re a worse sinner than you ever dared imagine, and you’re more loved than you ever dared hope” (Jack Miller). Corrie Ten Boom who hid Jewish families from Nazis in the Netherlands said, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” King David, the Apostle Paul, and the tax collectors and sinners all had the same condition and the same confession. They said, “I am a sinner.” St. Patrick, missionary to Ireland said in his confession—his first two words—“Patrick, sinner.” As the prophet Isaiah said, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  It is why we confess our sins together at the beginning of the service. We are all sinners. God loves sinners. He empathizes with our ignorance. He extends mercy, not judgment. He offers forgiveness, not condemnation.

There is a dark relief in finding out what the disease that has been plaguing you all these years is. Finally, we know what is making us feel sick, tired, and hopeless. With a good physician, we will now have hope of getting better. In Christ, we do not just have the hope of getting better. We have the promise. Our sins are washed away by the water, the Word of God, and Holy Spirit. We come to the Font lost in our sins, we leave drenched with forgiveness. We come as sinners, we leave named royal daughters and sons of the God most high.

We stop calling others sinners, wicked, or enemies of God. Because that is who we all are. God pursues sinners. He welcomes and befriends sinners. He loves sinners. Sinners are his speciality! It is his joy. Christ died for sinners. And he rose again from the dead to give us victory over sin and death. We start believing that God can redeem the messiest of lives—including our own. We empathize with the ignorant because we too were once ignorant of the power of God. We are now ready to join the angels, archangels, and the whole company of heaven to celebrate this Jesus who welcomes sinners and eats with them. The table is spread before you. The bread and wine have been prepared. Jesus welcomes us. He invites us to eat and drink with him. He gives us his own Body and Blood for spiritual food. He welcomes the lost to find ourselves safe and secure in the love of God.

Oh how blessed it is to know:
Were as scarlet my transgression,
It shall be as white as snow
By thy blood and bitter passion;
For these words I now believe:
Jesus sinners doth receive.                            (“Jesus Sinners Doth Receive,” LSB 609 v. 5)

“Emancipating Gospel” (Philemon 1-21)

Philemon 1-21

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“Emancipating Gospel,” Philemon 1-21
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 8, 2019

The purpose of Paul’s letter is to set the slave Onesimus free. Onesimus ran away from his master Philemon. This runaway slave runs into the Apostle Paul. Paul baptizes Onesimus. Onesimus tells Paul his story. Under Roman law, slaves are property that must be returned to their owners. Paul does not want to send Onesimus back to a life of forced labor. He sees great potential in Onesimus in the work of the Gospel. He sees him as an equal—a brother in Christ. Paul uses Onesimus’ name which means “useful” to do a word play. Before Onesimus was useless to you, Philemon. Now is useful to you and to me. And more importantly useful to the work of holy ministry. There is likely a word play on the name Philemon which means beloved. Paul knows that Philemon loves Jesus and all of God’s people. Philemon has an opportunity to love his runaway slave in the fullness of the Gospel by freeing him.

Roman collared slaves — Marble relief from Smyrna 200 AD

Let’s just say that slavery in the Bible is complicated. God reminds his people over and over again that they were once slaves in a foreign land. He reminds them so that they would treat others as they would want to be treated. Both the Old Testament and New Testament were written in a time when slavery was a sad and messy reality. Even today, Chicago tops the list of human trafficking cases in the United States. And so today we read this letter from Paul to a Christian man and prominent church leader who owned slaves.

I believe that we are at a huge disadvantage today. We are so polarized that it seems one side only wants to talk about social justice and the other side does not want to talk about it at all—in fact see it as a threat to the message of salvation. It seems that one side preaches a message that is so heavenly minded that it is no earthly good. It seems that the other preaches a message so grounded in current events that there is no spiritual relevance.

The great commandment is to love God with our whole being and the second is like it—to love our neighbor as ourselves—or as Christ loved us. How can we love our neighbor when we do not care about their physical and social well-being? The Gospel calls us to look beyond our differences as human beings. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free. We are all one in Jesus Christ.

Just in this one letter, Paul commends those of Jewish ancestry and gentiles. He commends Apphia—a female. He is calling both a slave owner and a runaway slave brothers in Christ. So the Gospel challenges you and me to view people around us. Everyone bears the image of God. The differences you and I see are not obstacles to the love of God that has been so richly poured out through Jesus. “For God so loved the world—he gave his only begotten son”—the world—not just those like you and me. The Gospel breaks down the walls of hostility between people. In Christ our differences should not divide us—skin color, gender, or social status. God calls us to love those near and far—those similar and those different. As the Good Samaritan would not pass by another human being who was suffering even though they were from different tribes and nations, so God calls us to look around our neighborhood, city, state, nation, and world and care.

When Jesus welcomes those who love him into his Kingdom, he says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Matt 25:35,36). Not that we will solve the world’s suffering but that we would discover how God uses us as individuals and as Christ’s Church to show the love of God—the love he has so beautifully revealed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One of the most loved hymns of the Christian faith is Amazing Grace which we will sing later in the service. The writer, John Newton, was captain of a slave ship. When he came to faith in Jesus, he saw the evil he had done. He became a pastor—a preacher of the Gospel but also a prominent voice for the abolition of slavery. So the Apostle Paul is both a preacher of the Gospel and an agent for social change. Paul appeals to the greater reality of the Gospel. He talks about our identity as children of God and brothers and sisters in Christ. I love that Paul tells Philemon, “You owe me big time.” Indeed, we are indebted to love all people. There is a higher law than the laws of the state and rules of human institutions—even our constitutions and bylaws—including those of the church. Our ultimate authority is the Law of Christ—the Love of God for all nations, tribes, tongues, and peoples.

Jesus died and rose again to bring forgiveness and eternal life. The power of the Gospel is so awesome it not only changes individual lives spiritually, it can transform nations socially. We should not be ashamed of a Gospel that has both spiritual and practical relevance to our lives and the lives around us. In fact, thanks be to God that it is so relevant! It should be celebrated!

And now for the rest of the story! Philemon will grant Onesimus his freedom. Onesimus will be mentored by Paul. Onesimus will not only become a pastor—he will become bishop of Ephesus. And so in Christ we all discover the love of God, our worth, and our usefulness.

“Voluntary Demotion” (Luke 14:1,7-14)

Luke 14:1,7-14

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Pastor Tom Johnson, September 1, 2019

The religious leaders invite Jesus over for dinner so that they can get a closer look and find fault in him. When Jesus comes to the table, it is Jesus who confronts them for their poor table manners. He sees a race to find that best seats in the house. This isn’t musical chairs. There are enough seats for everyone. One battles another for the place of highest honor. Today in our culture, we might call it the head of the table or the seat closest to the bride and groom or near the host of the banquet. Pharisees are self-proclaimed experts in the Scriptures. And now Jesus  schools them in dinner etiquette. He removes their mask of delusion of grandeur to reveal the face of pride and self-obsession. By running to the table to find the prized chair, the religious authority reveal their excessive love for themselves. They are so preoccupied with their perceived high status they cannot help but to reveal their greedy childishness. The German Reformer Martin Luther confronted the religious leaders of his day. He said, “Ambitious preachers are a pestilence to the church.” But Jesus’ words about table manners should convict us all.

Jesus talks about how we should all humble ourselves and let God do the work of raising us up. And how we should also get our eyes off our prized seats at the table and grow in our awareness of the need of—and service to—others. Jesus’ brilliant confrontation here should lead us to further reflection: How are we victims of our own success? How are so obsessed with our own advancement that we actually are setting ourselves up for greater failure. “Wouldn’t it be better for you to choose a seat of lower status,” Jesus asks, “and be raised up? It would be far worse to chose a higher seat only to be knocked down to a lower one.” As the old proverb goes, “The bigger you are the harder the fall.”

There is truly a thing called “voluntary demotion.” It is both a humble and courageous thing. It is a career choice that can lead people to greater happiness and contentment and usefulness.  It is when a person realizes that the good they can do would be better facilitated by surrendering a path toward wealth, fame and honor. Not that money and influence do not matter. But sometimes the world and our culture define success for us only in terms of status and numbers. Voluntary demotion says, “God has fearfully and wonderfully made me. He has given me unique gifts to serve others, his kingdom, and bring him the honor and the glory. I will step down from this position—not because I haven’t worked hard for it—but because I would actually make the world a better place doing something else—even it means no longer having a more impressive title and place of honor or the corner office on the 88th floor.” Proverbs 22:2 says, “The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.” Proverbs 21:21 says, “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness and honor.”

Jesus’ words reveal our sin of pride. They also reveal his power to deliver us from the deception and power of pride. Are you or I a victim of our own success? How can we advance the kingdom by surrendering the pursuit of riches and power? Jesus reveals the counter-intuitive truth that we seek our own good by getting our eyes off ourselves. We find our usefulness in the Kingdom by lowering our expectations for recognition and applause. As Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35b). Find out what gifts you have been given from God and pass them on to others. You may not think your gifts are sensational or praiseworthy but in God’s eyes they are. You might be surprised by how God lifts you up and lifts others up through you.

I know someone who voluntarily demoted himself. He was given the highest place of honor in the universe. He was seated high upon his heavenly throne in the place of greatest majesty and power. He was given great gifts—so rich in ability and power that he is equal in majesty and honor with God the Father. He did not hoard his power or hunker down. He voluntarily demoted himself. He took on our humanity and became a servant. As Scripture says, “Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). He did not enter our rat race. He willingly entered the deathtrap of sin and evil. And he rose from his death to an even higher place of honor. And not only that. In him, we are raised above the competitiveness and deceitfulness of sin. He delivers us from self-sabotage. He lifts us out of our shame, guilt, and delusions of grandeur. He exalts us to eternal life.

Come, O Christ, and reign among us,
King of love and Prince of Peace;
Hush the storm of strife and passion,
Bid its cruel discords cease.
By Your patient years of toiling,
By Your silent hours of pain,
Quench our fevered thirst of pleasure,
Stem our selfish greed of gain.                                   (“Son of God, Eternal Savior” LSB 842, v. 3)