Rev. Tucher

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

Do you understand who you are? You may be a father or a mother. You may be a shift worker or a teacher. You may be many things, but do you fully understand who you are? Paul did not understand who he was. He was a saint and a slave to God, yet he was also a sinner and a slave to sin. Was he a sinner or a saint? Paul was both. So let me ask you who you are? Are you a sinner or a saint? You are both. Martin Luther coined the phrase, Simul Iustus et Peccator, simultaneously saint and sinner. He was fond of talking about himself as saint and sinner at the same time. He knew in a most personal way the struggle of St. Paul. He, more than most, desperately struggled to control his every thought and action, but to no avail. It was only after he found the secret of God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ that he could boldly confess he was saint and sinner, but living moment by moment in God’s forgiveness. Paul’s passionate struggle and search for an answer helped Luther and other heroes of the faith and is capable of helping us experience God’s good news for us today.

Paul realized in our text that that was exactly who he was: a saint and a sinner. It is a realization that all Christians can make, and should make, of themselves: throughout our lives as baptized children of God, we are, and always will be, simultaneously saint and sinner.

Some Christians miss the point of our text. They suggest that Paul is talking about his life before he was converted. Some Christians even make the assumption that after conversion, it’s possible to live without this tension. Paul is talking about his personal struggle after his conversion experience. He’s talking about the Paul who Jesus confronted on the road to Damascus. He’s talking about a Paul who had the courage to face councils and governors. He’s talking about a Paul who could give thanks and sing for joy, even in a prison cell. Paul, who was a hero of the faith, cried out, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

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Today marks my third anniversary in the ministry.  Three years ago, I had the priveldge of being ordained in my home congregation, St. Paul’s, in Indianapolis.  While I have pictures, unfortunately, none are digital.

This vocation of pastor to which I have been called to serve is not something that is to be taken lightly.    I do not take this call lightly.  I strive to be the shepherd of my congregation to which God has called me.  At times, the work of a pastor is frustrating.  It is difficult.  It is challenging.  But at the same time, it is rewarding.  It is exciting.  It is what God has called me to do.

As classmates of mine are celebrating their ordination anniversaries, here is a prayer for us all:

Lord God, heavenly Father, You promised to send Your servants the Holy Spirit and to give them power from on high. We give thanks that through Your Word You also called [name] as Your servant and entrusted him with the Office of the Holy Ministry. We praise Your mercy and faithfulness and ask that You continue to keep him in good health and firm faith. Grant that he may continue to be a blessing to Your people and that they may be a blessing to him. Open everywhere the hearts of the faithful that Your Word may be received and that laborers in Your harvest may not be lacking. Cause Your Church to grow up into Him who is the head, even Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle which was read earlier.

I have bad news to report this morning. This may come to a shock to people. I am a sinner. Yes, that’s right. Your pastor is a sinner. It’s not something that I’m proud of but it’s something that you need to know about me. Now, is there something that you would like to confess to me? Let me help. “I, insert name here, am a sinner.” I know that it’s difficult for all of us to say, but it’s something that we have to admit, not only to one another, but to ourselves. Once we admit that we are sinners, we can truly understand what God has given to us because of our sin: grace.

Though we have received grace, Paul asks a wonderful question to the Romans: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” It’s a good question to ask. If you think about what Paul is saying, then it would be smart for a person to sin: the more that you sin, the more grace that you receive. If we use that line of thought, the less sin we commit, then the less grace we would receive. Who wouldn’t want a large measure of grace in their lives?

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This was the Hymn of the Day yesterday.

God Loved the World So That He Gave - LSB 571

God loved the world so that He gave
His only Son the lost to save,
That all who would in Him believe
Should everlasting life receive.

Christ Jesus is the ground of faith,
Who was made flesh and suffered death;
All then who trust in Him alone
Are built on this chief cornerstone.

God would not have the sinner die;
His Son with saving grace is nigh;
His Spirit in the Word declares
How we in Christ are heaven’s heirs.

Be of good cheer, for God’s own Son
Forgives all sins which you have done;
And, justified by Jesus’ blood,
Your Baptism grants the highest good.

If you are sick, if death is near,
This truth your troubled heart can cheer:
Christ Jesus saves your soul from death;
That is the firmest ground of faith.

Glory to God the Father, Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One!
To You, O blessèd Trinity,
Be praise now and eternally!

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

All too often, we hear the phrase, “I promise.” Sometimes those promises are kept, sometimes they are not. Sometimes those promises have the potential of being kept, while sometimes they do not. We promise young children that nothing bad will happen to them; yet the first time they fall and skin their knees, you have broken your promise. We are promised the world; yet in order for that promise to come to fruition, we must work at achieving those things of the world in order for them to be ours.

When one reads of the promises of God, there is never any doubt that what God promises will indeed take place. God, as far back as Genesis 3, gave to Adam and Eve, and all people, the first Gospel promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” That first Gospel promise was the promise of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paul, in our text today, refers to the promise made to Abraham and his offspring “that he would be heir of the world.” The emphasis of the promise lies in the fact that this “did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” God did not and, in fact, could not make the promise, this great promise to Abraham or to his seed, by means of the Law. He did not attach this promise to Law; Law would have been the wrong vehicle. Law could never had made either Abraham or his seed righteous, and they had to be so in order to have this promise and to have it fulfilled in them, for if they had been left in an unrighteous state, they would have been no better than all the rest of mankind. Abraham and his seed had to be made righteous. They were and are made so by means of faith’s righteousness.

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I did a post a year ago about women being ordained in the Roman Catholic Church.  Well, the Roman Catholic Church is now coming down on that.

On May 29, the Vatican declared that any women who attempt “ordination” or any bishops who attempt to “ordain” women are automatically excommunicated from the Church by their actions. The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is said to be absolute, universal and immediately effective.

From the decree:

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
General Decree

Regarding the crime of attempting sacred ordination of a woman

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to protect the nature and validity of the sacrament of holy orders, in virtue of the special faculty conferred to it by the supreme authority of the Church (see canon 30, Canon Law), in the Ordinary Session of December 19, 2007, has decreed:

Remaining firm on what has been established by canon 1378 of the Canon Law, both he who has attempted to confer holy orders on a woman, and the woman who has attempted to receive the said sacrament, incurs in latae sententiae excommunication, reserved to the Apostolic See.

If he who has attempted to confer holy orders on a woman or if the woman who has attempted to receive holy orders, is a member of the faithful subject to the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Churches, remaining firm on what has been established by canon 1443 of the same Code, they will be punished with major excommunication, whose remission remains reserved to the Apostolic See (see canon 1423, Canon Law of the Eastern Churches).

The current decree will come into immediate force from the moment of publication in the ‘Osservatore Romano’ and is absolute and universal.

William Cardinal Levada
Prefect
Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary

This was our opening hymn in worship yesterday.  A very fitting hymn for the life of the Church.

Built on the Rock - LSB 645

Built on the Rock the Church shall stand
Even when steeples are falling.
Crumbled have spires in ev’ry land;
Bells still are chiming and calling.
Calling the young and old to rest,
But above all the souls distressed,
Longing for rest everlasting.

Surely in temples made with hands
God, the Most High, is not dwelling;
High above earth His temple stands,
All earthly temples excelling.
Yet He who dwells in heav’n above
Chooses to live with us in love,
Making our bodies His temple.

We are God’s house of living stones,
Built for His own habitation.
He through baptismal grace us owns
Heirs of His wondrous salvation.
Were we but two His name to tell,
Yet He would deign with us to dwell
With all His grace and His favor.

Here stands the font before our eyes,
Telling how God has received us.
The altar recalls Christ’s sacrifice
And what His Supper here gives us.
Here sound the Scriptures that proclaim
Christ yesterday, today, the same,
And evermore, our Redeemer.

Grant, then, O God, Your will be done,
That, when the church bells are ringing,
Many in saving faith may come
Where Christ His message is bringing:
“I know My own; My own know Me.
You, not the world, My face shall see.
My peace I leave with you.  Amen.”

God of love, through Your Son You have commanded us to love one another.  By the guidance of Your Word and Spirit, deliver us from impenitence and teach us the truth that we might confess our sins, receive Your forgiveness, and be reconciled to one another; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Someone has said that worry is prayer in reverse. That makes sense. When we worry, we depend on ourselves, not on God, the giver of all good things. Jesus makes a connection between worry and prayer in our text. He’s just taught His disciples the prayer that we say at every Divine Service: the Lord’s Prayer. Now He expands on that, talking about what makes us anxious. As we listen to the Words of Jesus, we learn that when we take our anxieties to God and turn them over to Him, prayer puts worry into reverse.

The question we need to ask ourselves is why do we let worry drive us backward? It’s an easy question to answer. The answer is because we do not fully put our trust in God and His provisions for our lives. Some of us may be concerned about our daily needs, such as food and clothing. However, we should not be concerned about our daily needs, as these are provided for us by God daily. Luther, when explaining the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed writes the following: “He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” There are those who face devastation in their lives, such as those affected by the tornado in Colorado last week. They are desperately seeking daily needs of food, clothing, and shelter; yet we know God will provide for them because He has said that He will.

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In the May 2008 newsletter to pastors, President Kieschnick has some good words regarding the unity of the Spirit.

A word from St. Paul: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3).

The unity we have as Christians is a precious gift of God. If it then behooves us as Christians to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” how much greater is our responsibility in this regard as ordained ministers of the Gospel?

While much could be written about these few verses in Ephesians, I find a comment in Kretzmann’s Popular Commentary worth sharing: “By striving after the virtues named by the apostle: love, peace, meekness, humility, long-suffering, patience, the Christians maintain the unity of the Spirit given to them in the Word. As soon as these virtues are disregarded, the result is dissension and disagreement, division and sectarianism.” It’s my prayer that all of us-and I begin with myself-will exhibit these virtues and maintain the gift of unity given us by God’s Spirit.

May this be our prayer!

The National Football League’s 32 owners, meeting in Atlanta, voted to award the city the Feb. 5, 2012, game on their first vote. Arizona came in second.

That’s the news from Atlanta right now.  Kudos to the city and all the work on preparing a great bid for 2011.  Unfortunately, they lost then by 2 votes.  That was not the case for the 2012 bid.  If you would like to see the executive summary for the 2012 bid, click here.

Again, kudos to everyone back home.  Wish I could be there for the 2012 Super Bowl, or at least back in Indy when all the fun takes place.