Scripture Readings for this Sunday

Psalm 96

Isaiah 45:1-7

1 Thessalonians 1:1-5a

Matthew 22:15-21

 

Let us pray:  Almighty God, we pray, show us, your humble servants, your mercy that we, who put no trust in our own merits, may be dealt with not according to the severity of your judgment but according to your mercy; through Jesus Christ, you Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

 

          Tonight, I as your Pastor am writing to you, the members of Immanuel Lutheran, a letter.  It is based on the letter Paul wrote to the early Christian congregation at Thessalonica nearly 2000 years ago.  A copy of the introduction to Paul’s letter is included in your bulletin.  Please feel free to follow that passage as I read this letter to you.

 

Dear members at Immanuel:

 

          All of you, as Christians, suffer greatly in this community, in our nation, and in this world.  You have a strong sense of values in your lives and show great compassion for those in need.  You love each other.  You want to love all others and be able to trust your neighbors, visitors to our community, and the agencies of government and business to respond in the same love you hold for them. 

 

But, in this world today as it always has been, that is not the case.  You are rejected and despised by the world.  Even your closest friends, relatives, those in public positions, and even sometimes pastors of our churches have let you down and turned against you.

 

I want to remind you that you are not merely members of Immanuel Lutheran, but you are members of the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus prayed for you in Gethsemane as he prayed for all of his disciples then and those to come.  That prayer was that we all be made one with Jesus and the Father, just as we are one as a group.  What a comfort that God the Father who created you and gives you all good things is also God the Son who gave himself up completely for you to save you.  That God loves you so much he makes you one being with him in the Christian church.

 

Friends in Christ, grace and peace are yours.  It is by God’s grace, his immeasurable love for you that you do have peace in your hearts today.  You have a peace that the world does not know nor can it give.  I will address this peace later.

 

I, as your pastor, thank God for all of you, mentioning you collectively and naming you individually in my prayers.  You may not realize it, but you strengthen me every day in many ways.  You do it by the witness of your work that is produced by your faith.  There are so many things each of you does because of your faith in Jesus.  You present your offerings in so many ways to sustain this congregation, its school, and its missions in the community and world.  No one person, not even I as your pastor, can know all of the work that goes on here to keep the cross of Christ visible to each other and throughout the community.

 

All of your labors are prompted by the love of Jesus.  That love is evident in all of you as you reach out in that love, wanting others to know Jesus’ love as you do.  So many of you also strive to grow individually in that love in your prayers, devotions, and Bible Study in addition to the worship services, work projects and fellowship opportunities.  You are not satisfied where you are, but keep grasping at more of the gifts God has for you.

 

Your endurance through the difficulties that prevail in this world is inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  In this hope is the peace I mentioned to you earlier in this letter. 

 

Hope is a strange word.  It does not connect with another word as some words do.  It stands alone in its definition and in the basic sound of the word.  To so many in this world hope is a subjective projection of the future.  It is a manifestation of one’s thinking.  It is an ideal.  Yes, sometimes we get what we hope for in this world.  But there is no guarantee as hope is often deceptive and uncertain. 

 

When hope is based on something that is reliable, the probability of its coming true is far greater.  Hope is for the good of the person who hopes, even if it means harm to someone else.  Hope is linked with trust and yearning.

 

Christian hope, the hope that you and I together hold so dear, is not as the earthly hope I just described.  It is not any single person’s thoughts or projection but is a confidence in what God will do.  God is our hope.  [Jeremiah 17:7]  He tells us to trust in Him, not in earthly riches [Jeremiah 31:24] or man’s righteousness [Ezekiel 33:13] or mere religious inheritance.  [Jeremiah 7:4] Hope looks to God whom no one else can control as he is above all things.  Hope is a quiet waiting for God.  [Isaiah 30:15]  Others around you cannot understand that hope you have and hold so dear.  In that hope is peace.

 

For thousands of years God’s people waited for God to send the Messiah.  In the Messiah would be salvation.  Many times people confused God’s plan and promise of salvation with earthly and selfish intents just as so many do today. 

 

God wants you to have a definite peace, not a questioning and misunderstanding one.  He did send his son, Jesus, the Messiah, to fulfill all of his prophecies.  In that fulfillment, today you have the confidence to trust Jesus for the second coming he has promised, the one in which all faithful to him are taken from this sinful world into the joys of God’s heavenly realms where there is no temptation, no evil, no sorrow or crying.  That is the hope he gives you.  It is, for lack of a better description, a sure and certain hope.  A hope that you trust completely that God will give what he has promised, even if you do not understand it.  God wants you to live in that hope that frees you from any fear of the unknown.  That hope frees you from any fear of death as you now know that earthly death is the beginning of eternal life with him.  That hope is given you in God’s word which is truth and is never broken.  That hope is sealed in the waters of your baptism that continually wash you clean of all of your sins and remains with you by the power of the Holy Spirit.  That hope is strengthened each time you receive Jesus’ body and blood that was sacrificed for you and given individually for each of you to be made one with him, with each other, and with all saints of all times.

 

Friends in Christ at Immanuel, you are loved by God.  It is evidenced in that he chose you.  You know you were chosen when you first heard the message of his love in Jesus Christ.  He wanted you to hear that message.  He instituted faith in your heart by the power of his Holy Spirit.  You continue to know that he chose you as you celebrate his gifts to you in all aspects of your earthly lives.  You will continue to grow in your faith as you continue receiving strength through his word and sacraments. 

 

I leave you with these words:  You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.  If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge-- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.   [Psalm 91:5-6, 9,-10]

 

In Jesus’ undying love,

 

Pastor Richard Mau