Sermon 1-31-10

Heavenly Father, we thank You that we can gather in Your House today. Thank You that You care enough about us to speak to us and that You gave us the Bible so that we would know what is on Your heart and mind. Thank You, Lord God for all You have given to us and for showing us Your great example of love, that we may follow Your ways. And we pray this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture Readings –

The readings today serve as the basis for our service and our sermon and our day of celebration. We have seen all these readings take place right here, they are God’s promises to us and we have seen them fulfilled here at Trinity.

First Reading – Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Our second reading from First Corinthians 13 is known as the “Love Chapter” and it’s often read at weddings. The love that God talks about in 1 Corinthians 13 is not a mushy, gushy, touchy, feely thing, it is an agape love, a tough, strong, forgiving love that hangs in there even when you don’t want to forgive. It’s a love that is kind to people even when you don’t want to be kind to them and they don’t deserve your kindness. It’s the type of love that prompted Jesus Christ to tough it out, to go to the cross and pay for your sins and my sins. Agape is a self-giving, self sacrificing type of love.

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

The Gospel lesson for today has the same theme as our other two reading and are the words of Jesus.

Gospel – Luke 6:27-36 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Sermon –

Today is our tenth anniversary sermon and I’ve been thinking about what I need to say for a long time. Today I want to make a request, and I feel so strongly about this request that I’m going to beg you. The best thing to do when begging someone is to humble yourself and get on your knees so that’s what I’m going to do. (Pastor knelt down in front of the congregation). Today I’m begging you, do not stop studying, do not stop listening to, do not stop paying attention to, and do not stop taking notes on God’s Word. Do Not Stop!! It’s just incredible the amount of people in this congregation who are in Bible Studies – and not just one Bible Study a week, but two and sometimes three or four Bible Studies a week. You people here at Trinity actually bring your Bibles to Church and take notes during the sermon and you actually review them during the week and do what the Bible says.

That’s the strength of this congregation and has been the strength of this congregation for ten years. That’s why, when we read the verses today, we saw ourselves, we saw our families, and we saw Trinity Lutheran Church. As we read today’s readings you said, “Wow, there’s Trinity! There we are!” As you study the Bible, the Holy Spirit flows to you and the Spirit has been flowing to you for ten years. The Fruit of the Spirit flowing to you through those Bible Studies has been love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control; we’ve seen every one of those here at Trinity.

Now you may be thinking, “Well, Pastor, you may not know about this or that situation and what that person did.” Yes, and we’re not perfect, no one is perfect, we’re all sinners saved and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the Cross – but – there is a lot more of this love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness here than I have experience in any other congregation in all my many years of life and my years in the ministry and I’ve been associated closely with sixteen different congregations. This congregation is a rarity.

One of the Fruit of the Spirit is love, but what is love? Look at our second reading – love is patient and kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, all those things we read in First Corinthians. Love is the greatest thing we have going for us is. In those Bible Studies the Spirit flows to us and the Spirit produces love.

Now you may be thinking that it’s like that in most congregations, but it isn’t. Let me tell you the experience of two of our members. You may not know they’re here this morning because they’re kind of short and they usually sit in the front row. Ken and Barbie are here this morning and let me tell you their story. This happened long, long ago before they moved to Keene. They were living in another town and Barbie decided it was time to get back to church. In those years, they didn’t have a lot of money and Barbie didn’t have a lot of nice clothes but she decided she would go to Ascension Lutheran Church and wear her best. She wore that party dress she had purchased for the weekend away with Ken. She put on her party dress and her makeup and it was perfect! As she was walking out the door Ken said, “Wow, Barbie, you look great! I’m tempted to go to church with you”(which was her plan all along) but Ken wasn’t much of a church-goer and decided to stay home.

Barbie was always thankful that Ken didn’t go because as she walked into church several people turned, looked her up and down, and started whispering about how they though she was inappropriately dressed. You can imagine how Barbie felt, but she sat down and stayed for the service anyway. When she left after the service, she was tempted to never go back.

But Barbie knows that the devil is out there tempting her to not return so she went back the next week. This time she dressed in a frumpier manner and brought the two kids with her. Just into the Gospel Lesson, Barbie’s daughter said, “Mom, I don’t feel good. I think I’m going to throw up.” Well Barbie, not wanting that to happen in church, with one hand, grabbed her daughter, with the other hand grabbed her son, with the other hand grabbed the coats, with the other hand grabbed her purse and, you can imagine, since she only has two hands, she was really struggling to get out of church. No one helped her and there were, again, looks of anger and disgust. She got here kids back to the Narthex and still no one offered to help, they just looked down their noses at her. When she returned home Ken said, “So, how was Ascension Lutheran Church today?” Barbie said, “We weren’t at Ascension Lutheran Church, we were at Dissention Lutheran Church!” And she never went back.

Well, in a few years Ken and Barbie moved to a different town and Barbie decided to try church again. This church was called St. Conflict’s Lutheran Church and Barbie tried to fit in the mold of what everyone expected of her. She was trying to stay clear of all the conflict and all the backbiting and things were going ok. Then one day someone stood up during the announcements and said, “You know, it’s just the few of us here, the faithful, who are doing all the work in this congregation, it’s time that some of you new people get involved.” So Barbie said, “I’ll get involved!” and she got on a committee and organized an event – she even cleared it with the Pastor! The event happened and at the next meeting Barbie got blasted! Even though she did nothing Biblically wrong, she got blasted! “We don’t do it that way around here!” is what she was told. They ripped her head off!

Barbie was really upset so she went and talked to the Pastor in his office about her many experiences in churches. She had a lot of spiritual questions so for several weeks she had a standing appointment with the Pastor in his office from 2 to 3 in the afternoon. Then the St. Conflict’s rumors started and uou can imagine what was being said – the people said that Barbie was having an affair with the Pastor. He was just trying to help her get her head on straight but the rumors continued and Barbie said, “That’s it, I’m leaving!” All the Pastor’s hard work went down the drain. Barbie never came back, the kids never went to church, and Ken certainly didn’t go to church.

About a year later the Pastor left and here’s a footnote to our story. A lot of people think that once becoming a minister you retire a minister, but that happens in very few incidences. A lot more Lutheran ministers remain ministers than in other denominations but I remember something that was said at a financial seminar I attended in Detroit. The man that handled the accounting for all the Denominations in Detroit said, “Very few of you will retire as ministers, most of you will end up leaving the ministry.” Well, that’s what happened to Barbie’s Pastor, he left the ministry. In my church in New York, in a period of twenty years, two Pastors just flat out resigned, and one left the ministry altogether. And the other day, one of our members told me that at his brother’s church the Pastor came home right before Christmas and resigned, he just quit! And, about a year and a half ago, I got word that a seminary classmate of mine killed himself. That’s what life was like at Dissention Lutheran Church and that’s what life was like at St. Conflicts.

Some years went by and Ken got transferred to Keene. He and Barbie were traveling down Arch Street one day and saw Trinity Lutheran Church. Ken made a joke and said, “Trinity? I bet it’s really Disunity Lutheran Church.” Well, that peaked Barbie’s interest and one day she decided to give Trinity a try. She walked into Trinity and there were people greeting her; they shook her hand and smiled. Someone said, “Sit anyplace you want, if you have any questions, we’ll be glad to help, join us for Bible Study, join us for fellowship!” They actually seemed that they were glad she was there.

This was really something so the next week she came back but she decided she was going to put Trinity to the test. You know what she did? She brought her kids! Her kids had not been in church since that morning at Dissention Lutheran Church, quite a few years had gone by and they didn’t know how to act in Church. They were not all that happy about being there but mom made them come and they were kind of disruptive. Barbie was worried that someone was going to say something to her about controlling her kids but one of you ladies in the back row said to Barbie, “Don’t worry, we’re just glad you’re here.” Barbie breathed a sigh of relief and thought, “Finally, I’ve found it! I’ve found a place where I can come and worship, a place where I’m not going to be attacked. I’ve found it! It’s Trinity!” It’s “Trinity” as in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but it is also “Trinity” as in God, a congregation and a Pastor with unity among everyone spreading the Good News of Jesus as Savior.

That’s what Barbie found at Trinity. When she went home, Ken asked her how things went at Disunity Lutheran Church and she said, “I don’t know, I wasn’t there, I was at Trinity and it’s just great that I’m not the scandal in the congregation.” Ken asked, “Well, what is the scandal in the congregation?” Barbie answered, “If anyone is a scandal in the congregation, it’s the Pastor. He’s a little bit unconventional, he doesn’t preach from the pulpit.” Ken said, “Well, that’s sure cause for disunity.” Barbie replied, “Maybe, but not at Trinity. They study their Bibles and know that’s how Jesus preached. Jesus was always walking among the crowds and always had some little object for His sermon illustrations and that’s what the Pastor at Trinity is doing.” Ken asked, “Doesn’t that create a problem?” And Barbie answered, “No it doesn’t because people have read their Bibles and know that’s how Jesus preached.”

Then Ken said, “Well, I have heard some things about that Pastor. Isn’t he divorced or something?” Barbie answered, “I think so, but no one talks about it because it’s not really a gossiping congregation; they have just moved on. It’s not a congregation that delights in talking about evil, but rejoices in the truth as 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 says.” Ken continued, “That’s really amazing, but I heard about there are rumors going around town that he’s either gay or a womanizer. I’ve heard that he had an affair going with Jessica Simpson and that he was seen at that cozy little restaurant in Brattleboro with Oprah. Then there was that thing in the tabloids about him and those two Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and on top of that there was a rumor about him and Miss Oshkosh B’gosh 2007!” Barbie said, “I really don’t know, the congregation doesn’t say anything. They’ve read their Bible and they know that all those people are over eighteen and they’re not married so there’s no problem.” And Ken said, “Wow! I have to go check that place out!”

So he came and you know what he found? He found the Fruit of the Spirit right here at Trinity. He found the Fruit of the Spirit is love and then he found that love is patient, it is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong – and he found it right here at Trinity. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and – verse eight – love never fails.

It’s been ten years and love has not failed. I’ve experienced it. Ken and Barbie experienced it and I hope you have experienced it. And what can we say in response to that? Thank You God!!! Amen.

Prayer -

Heavenly Father, we gather here and thank You for the Fruit of the Spirit among us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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