Sermon Prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church
8:30 & 11:00 AM traditional services –
04/07/02
by Gregory S. Kaurin
Associate Pastor for Spiritual Care and
Development
Texts: Ephesians 2:8-10, Psalms 16, &
John 20:19-31
The Sermon:
A
Sermon on the First of Messiah Lutheran Church’s
Seven
Marks of Discipleship:
“What
Are You Doing in a Place Like This?”
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As you came in this morning, you were each handed a small card. I want you to take those out and look at them. On one side of the card is the mission statement of this congregation: “In response to God’s love we are called to lead all to Christ, to grow, nurture, equip and send in order to serve and glorify God daily.”
That sentence is a result of a lot of Bible study and careful thought involving many, many people in this congregation. They are words that should be used to inspire or support everything we do as a congregation, everything from worshipping to Sunday school, to our community outreach, to fixing our narthex doorframes, or mowing the church property.
But on the back of that card is another important statement. It’s a list that applies more directly to each one of you and to me. This list is Messiah Lutheran’s “Marks of Discipleship” and is based on a statement that the staff and leaders of Messiah Lutheran have agreed to model in each of our own lives.
Out in the narthex, you can find a booklet describing each of the marks. The full statement runs like this: “In response to God’s love and acceptance, I strive to glorify him and grow in my faith through 1) Weekly worship, 2) Daily prayer, 3) Bible study, 4) Learning and Growing, 5) Inviting, 6) Giving, & 7) Offering Christian Support.
These Marks are not to be used to define a member of this congregation, and these Marks don’t qualify you to be a Christian. Your Christianity is defined by your baptism and God’s claim on you.
But they do answer a very important question: “So what?” You are a saved and baptized child of God, but, so what? What then? Do you think that the only reason God made you and put you on this earth was to baptize and save you? Or is there more to it?
I know it sounds like I am demeaning that gift of salvation, but I’m not. The gift of forgiveness and salvation is huge; it’s eternal. And no, it’s not earnable; God gives it, and that’s why it’s called a gift; that’s why it’s called “grace.”
But one of the biggest false myths about Lutheranism has to do with good works. There are those who think that because Lutherans preach so much about “grace alone, grace alone, grace alone for salvation,” we don’t know how to talk about good works, or that good works have no place in Lutheran theology.
Baloney. If that were true, then you’d have to disregard about half or more of the stuff I’ve heard preached from this pulpit. (What else do you call the many times that Pastor Joe has challenged us to reach out to the needy, or the many times I have been challenged by Pastor Steve to personally deepen and take my Christianity seriously. Those are good works.)
Let me set the stage for this whole series on the Marks of Discipleship. I’d like you to grab or share the nearest red pew Bible, and turn in the New Testament to Ephesians 2:8-10. As many of you who have or can see that passage, let’s read it together. Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
God saved you for a reason. He saved you to be in a relationship with you. A relationship means it’s two-sided. A relationship means that there is presence on both sides. A relationship means that there is conversation. A relationship means that you do things for each other and with each other.
First of all, God saved you. That’s great news, that’s eternity, that’s Easter rising from the tomb. That’s heaven and the unending love of God; that’s everything of eternal value from God and plopped into your lap.
That’s freedom! Because now you can be a part of this relationship with God, not to earn anything, not because your scared of him, not to prove anything, not to pay him back…(you can’t anyway). But now you can do it because he loves you, …and because you love him. In another place, St. Paul wrote, “For freedom Christ has set you free.” You are free to act, and free to worship—with your whole heart.
Martin Luther, the founder of our denomination called it “super-obedience,” the idea that we Christians don’t need to sit around waiting for the Law to tell us what to do. We are free to get up and do it now, because we want to. And because we have the courage of forgiveness and salvation to back us up with nothing to hold us back.
Salvation sets us free to be the kind of people that God intended us to be from the beginning of creation. And that means doing good things with a right and thankful attitude.
And that is why you are here. That is what you are doing in a place like this! We are here to worship the Almighty God who has given us salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and has set us free to glorify him in thankful love and action, through worship and good works.
I usually like to narrow my focus to one or two passages in our Sunday lessons, but this week, I found many phrases that describe why we come to worship. You can follow along. First, in the 16th Psalm it said in the very first line: “…for in you I take refuge.” There can be no doubt that we each need to take some sabbath time in our life. I would actually say, a little sabbath every day—even if it’s 15 minutes of quiet, and prayer or meditation.
And sabbath should happen every week with other people of God—to remind ourselves that the hand of God shelters us…that our eternal lives belong to him, and that through his people he is offering refuge and support. The huge, urgent deadlines of our lives are not so critical, and the tragedies and losses are real—but they are not ultimate, they can be survived—because we belong to the promises of God. God is our refuge. We need to come back among God’s people and hear that promise again and again.
Psalm 16 goes on to say, “I have no good, apart from you.” We come to church to learn how God infuses, and how he is a part of, our whole lives. He can bless and work through us. He can sanctify the diapering of a baby, quiet moments spent with a friend or a spouse. He can show us how our daily work is more than just that. It’s connected to him. It’s connected to heaven. We learn those things here, and we shouldn’t let ourselves become disconnected from God, or from his church.
Traci, our youth director, shared this idea with me: if you have a pile of coals, burning hot, but you take one and set it aside from the rest—guess what happens? It quickly burns out or goes cold. It needs the shelter and heat of the others.
We need each other to keep our faith burning hot and radiating. Jesus Christ has promised to be here in our worship. We need this space and time, we need to give ourselves this space and time to draw together every week to be where Christ has promised to be.
There’s more in Psalm 16. It says that the Lord is my “chosen portion and my cup.” We come each week for his nourishment. We are nourished from his Holy Words of scripture, and through preaching, and here at his holy table.
The sixth line says, The Lord teaches me; he “gives me counsel.” Even if it doesn’t hit me right away, the things I hear today, the words of worship, even the memorized words—like the Lord’s Prayer, or the Creed—are all things that will get me through the darker nights of doubt and fear.
And in the last line of the psalm, I am here in worship today, because God “fills me up with joy.”
Then, in the gospel lesson, Jesus summarized the good news of salvation and our relationship with God in four words. He came among the disciples and said, “Peace be with you.” He said it again and added, “As my Father has sent me, so I send you.”
We gather like the disciples to receive peace. We have his peace. And, then, with that peace, we are sent.
When we gather, we are the body of Christ. As we go out from here, we remain the body of Christ. So, when you sit at your desk, or drive your truck, or bathe your child, or stare at your computer screen, or sit at a bar—in any of these places—you represent the presence of Jesus Christ in that place because of what you have learned and are given here.
“Peace be with you.” You are the Peace of Christ. You are called to be the peace of Christ to others. You come to receive forgiveness and learn how to forgive others. You receive peace; you carry peace; you give peace.
It doesn’t surprise me that Christ waited until Thomas was with the rest of the disciples that next Sunday, a week later before he appeared again. He came among them in a Sunday gathering and he gave Thomas what he had given to the others the Sunday before: “Peace be with you.”
It was a blessing. It was forgiveness for his fears and doubts. And Thomas, though he doubted at first, he went beyond all the others and fell to his knees to say, “My Lord and my God!”
Like Thomas, you are here in a place like this to hear the refreshing and eternal words of forgiveness, the peace of Christ. In return, you are also here to worship him, to pour your oil and fragrances on his feet to sing and pray.
You need this time each week. Even if you go on a vacation, I urge you—wherever you are—to find a nearby church. If you can’t get out, hold a private worship service. Whatever it takes, strive to be a part of the worshipping body every week.
You need that time to remind yourself that you are a child of the living God. You need to remind yourself that you are a follower of Jesus Christ wherever you are. Like Christ, you have been raised from death into a new life, into a new way of life, into the life that God meant for you.
You need to remind yourself that
Jesus is more than an idea. He is more
than your religion. He is your Lord and
God.
go to: sermon menu
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archive – or – home page –
or – “Marks”
Brochure