Rev. Tucher

Philippians 3: (4b-7) 8-14

The Prize for All

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

            Do you know what you want?  I mean, do you know what you want most of all?  Is there something about which you really can say, “I’d give anything…?”  Until we know what we want most, we can’t really get our lives together.  Until then, we are likely to go off in many directions, many of which will be pleasurable but not necessarily satisfying.  Until then, we’re likely to spin our wheels quite a bit and waste a lot of energy as well as a lot of life.  Detours, dead ends and despair can get to be the order of the day.  We want so many things, but what should we want most?  What desire is fit to measure all other desires, to draw them together and to give them their proper place?

            Looking at Paul before his conversion, the best that his former state could yield was righteousness on the basis of human achievement.  He had been circumcised on the eighth day just as the Old Testament law required, which many of the Judaizers and Jewish proselytes could not claim for themselves.  He was of pure Jewish stock from the tribe of Benjamin.  As a member of the Pharisees he had strictly and faultlessly kept the law.  He had even persecuted the Christians, which every Pharisee considered to be a most God-pleasing thing.  He had far outclassed even the best of the Judaizers.  If salvation were by works, Paul would have been guaranteed clear entrance to heaven.  And at one time Paul considered all that to his profit; they were all advantages that would have helped him gain an eternal reward.

            But since that blinding experience on the road to Damascus, Paul’s eyes of faith were opened, and he now realized that all those things were to his disadvantage.  They stood in the way of his having a right relationship with the Lord and kept the gates of heaven shut up tight for him.  They did not gain any righteousness for him but only led him away from the true righteousness in Christ.  They were now all to his “loss.”  Those old ideas needed to be abandoned as totally useless and worthless.  We, however, cannot always say the same about ourselves. 

            Wouldn’t it be nice to say with Paul, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”  Wouldn’t it be nice to say with Paul that regardless of what I have, it means nothing because I have Jesus Christ.  Our culture today puts everything before church.  Our jobs require more and more work out of us, often requiring us to work more and more hours.  Working Sundays is not unheard of; in fact, it is probably the norm.  Athletics require practice after practice, regardless of the day of the week.  Tournaments are scheduled from Friday through Sunday.  We put thing after thing ahead of God, just as Paul did.  We take our eyes off of the prize: of Christ Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection, and put them on the things of this world.  But on that Damascus Road, he saw that these were nothing but rubbish.

            Everything he had formally put his confidence in—his heritage, his zealous keeping of the law, his persecution of the church—Paul now considered as nothing more than rubbish.  Not only were they not for his profit, they stood to cost him everything; they were a loss.  Jesus Christ and the righteousness that comes through faith in His life, His cross and His empty grave was far superior and the only thing worth keeping.  That was the real profit.  That was where his salvation would come from.

            It is important to realize that some of the things that we often regard as a real advantage and to our “profit” can actually be to our disadvantage if we regard them as a meritorious work.  Boasting over the fact that one has been baptized and confirmed, that one has received a Christian education through a Lutheran elementary or high school, taking pride in one’s church attendance and “all that I’ve done” for the church—this stands in the way of relying on Jesus Christ alone for salvation.  The sad thing is: it’s very easy to do.  It’s so easy, most of the time, we don’t even think about it.  By our thoughtless actions like that, we distort what Christianity is.  We take the focus off of what Christ did for us and put the focus on what it is that we did for ourselves.  That was exactly what Paul was trying to end: “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

            During this Lenten season, everything revolves around Christ and knowing who Christ is, according to the Scriptures.  It is not about whom authors say that Christ is.  It’s not about who other denominations say that Christ is.  It is about who the Scriptures say that Christ is.  For Paul, knowing who Christ is was more important than anything.

            That should be our focus as well, especially during this penitential season.  In just a matter of weeks, we will celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We focus not on the things of this world, the things which we have done or have not done, but instead focus on what it is that we have received: forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

            Through the persecutions that Paul had endured, Paul shared in Christ’s sufferings.  Time and again Jesus’ enemies directed their hate for the Lord at Paul because he was connected with Jesus.  Death was always at Paul’s side; even as he wrote these words, he was in prison and could have been condemned and executed.  While all these things did not earn Paul his forgiveness and righteousness, they did show that Paul was connected with Christ and that Christ was being formed in him.

            Even today, we share in Christ’s sufferings.  Christians suffer and are persecuted for their beliefs.  As we put up with the ridicule and persecutions the world hurls our way and as we daily put to death our sinful nature with all its desires, we share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings and become more like Him in His death.  The final goal is our own resurrection to glory. 

            Our death is not, nor could it be, like that of Christ.  Paul means that as Christ died unto sin, having no more to do with it, so likewise is his will.  He doesn’t want to be captive to his sins anymore.  He realized that the only way that he could be free from his sins is because Jesus Christ died for his sins.

            One might think that Paul was the outstanding, perfect, model Christian.  However, he was the first to say that he was not.  The Christian’s maturing and growth is never complete.  It is a constant, ongoing process while we live here in this world.  The Christian can never say, “I’m done; I’ve got it made.”  The Christian’s life is the constant struggle of the new man against the Old Adam and its sinful desires.  Everyday is a struggle, but because of Christ, we have won the battle.  Everyday we, like Paul, “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

            We are far from perfect, no matter how close to being perfect we say we are.  But Christ took our imperfect being into His perfect being and the result was forgiveness.  He has brought us into Him and we receive life everlasting.  God has set before every Christian that prize of eternal life and the perfect glory of heaven, won through Christ’s perfect life of righteousness, paid for with His blood and guaranteed by His empty tomb.  This is the prize which God has given to you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

            Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

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There was an interesting article in Sunday’s paper about two women living in Gillette who were “married” in Canada several months ago. Leah Vader was raised Catholic, attended Catholic school, was a good Catholic and took Communion every Sunday. She began attending a Catholic church here in Gillette for a number of years. She brought her spouse to the church and she was baptized in 2000. However, they received a letter from the priest saying that “because of your union and your public advocacy of same-sex unions, that you are unable to receive communion.” The two women were outraged by this and view this as “discriminatory.”

What Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson fail to realize is that this is a sin. God clearly speaks against homosexual relationships in the Bible. For them to call this “discriminatory” is to say that God made them to be sinners. That is just pure wrong. God did not make any of us to be sinners. God made us to be perfect in His image. However, when Satan entered the Garden of Eden, all of creation became sinful. That was not what God intended so He sent His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ to restore creation. While we are still sinners, we have been clothed in the holiness of Christ’s righteousness. However, that doesn’t mean that we should purposely live contrary to God and His Word.

To read the entire story, click here.

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Luke 13:1-9

 
Good Fruit

            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 Gospel which was read earlier.

            Back in Indiana, we have
something very special.  Actually, we
have a whole lot of them.  Some are good
and some aren’t so good.  Some are big
and some are small.  They come in all
shapes and sizes.  What I’m talking about
are trees. 

            Jesus
begins His parable this morning saying, “A
man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard…”  As He tells us the story, Jesus expects us to
understand that god is the one with the vineyard and you—the believer in
Jesus—are the fig tree in the vineyard of God’s grace.  God planted you in His vineyard on the day of
your baptism, which St. Paul
describes as being “planted together in
the likeness of [Jesus’] death,” that we may be raised “in the likeness of his resurrection.”

            God plants
with the expectation of a harvest.  More
valuable than figs, the fruit God is looking for in the life of the Christian
is the fruit of repentance—the fruit that humbly acknowledges my own sinfulness
and asks God for forgiveness for no other reason than the Father’s love for us
through His Son, Jesus Christ.

            Not every
plant bears fruit.  There are many open
spots in the pews, spots which were occupied by someone whom God planted in His
vineyard.  When did the vacancies in the
pews appear?  Some just a week, some
months, some maybe even years.  How many
have noticed?  Did we fail these living
trees which God has planted in the likeness of Christ’s death in the hope that
they would share in the likeness of His resurrection?  Did we do something to cause their fruit not
to grow?  It is our hope that all bear
fruit, because as we see in today’s text, the tree of Jesus’ innocent death now
bears the fruit of life in all who believe.

            You were
all planted in the soil of God’s vineyard, the Church.  You were planted in God’s vineyard when you
were brought to the waters of Holy Baptism. 
God planted you in His vineyard so that you might mature and grow and
bear fruit in His kingdom.  That was the
plan anyways.  However, it didn’t last
like that for long.  Once Satan entered
the Garden, once Eve ate from the fruit, once Adam ate from the fruit, the
vineyard which God planted His children in, the fruit became tainted and
polluted.  The vineyard became
unfruitful.  It wasn’t the vineyard which
God had created.  How would God restore
the vineyard to its fruitful state again?

            God tried
to let nature take its course and right itself, but that didn’t work.  God sent the flood to destroy all that God
had created, with the exception of Noah and his family, eight souls in
all.  In order to make His vineyard
fruitful again, God sent His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, into the
world.  It is through His life, death,
and resurrection that God’s vineyard has been restored.

            We were
planted into God’s vineyard at our baptism, when the water with God’s Word,
touched our foreheads.  As baptized
believers planted in the vineyard of God’s kingdom, we know that we have
received life and salvation from God because of Jesus Christ and His actions,
not because there is something that we have done.  

            Now that we
have the vineyard of God established, we must look at the fruit that the
vineyard yields.  Sometimes the vineyard
produces fruit while sometimes it doesn’t produce fruit.  And some of the fruit that the vineyard does
produce, it may not be good fruit. 
Listen to the words of Jesus: “A
man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and
found none.  And he said to the
vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig
tree, and I find none.’”

            Looking
good isn’t good the same as good fruit. 
Just because fruit is in season and the tree looks mature, but sadly, there is no actual fruit on the tree!  All too often we say in Christianity, people
who call themselves Christian, but in their life, there is nothing that reflects
Christ in their life.  They are
hard-pressed to be seen in church.  They
think that just by being a member of a church or calling themselves “Christian”
is all that they need to be saved.  They
do exactly what Luther speaks against in the Third Commandment: “We should fear and love God so that we do
not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and
learn it.”  We see the same thing
with the Jews who gathered around Jesus—even His own disciples—think that
giving up everything and following Him is good enough.  However, Jesus says that they too, will
perish unless they repent. 

            That is the
message for us today.  Repent.  The message is so important that Jesus says
it twice in our text: “No, I tell you;
but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 

            How are we
to repent?  Have we really done that bad
that we need to repent?  If we take stock
of ourselves I think we’ll often find that we’ve been careless at some point or
other in our lives—that we’ve lived as if God doesn’t matter, or allowed a
cynical attitude to develop, or conformed to the mood and mindset of the age in
which we live.  In short, instead of
living our lives according to God’s commandments and His ways, we live our
lives in the way which makes us happy, regardless if it’s contrary to the Word
of God.

            How do we
live then?  The standard is too high, and
we don’t even measure up to the “not good enough” of which Paul and Ezekiel
speak of in our other readings.  But God
is on your side and wants you to flourish! 
Ezekiel writes, “I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and
live.”  Jesus intervenes and
intercedes on your behalf.  Through the Law, Jesus digs down to your
roots and exposes your sin.  Through the
Gospel of forgiveness, in all of its forms: verbal, written, spoken, poured
out, eaten and drank – Jesus provides spiritual growth and enables you to bear
the fruit of repentance. 

            Golgotha’s dead tree bears the only life-giving fruit
that is able to save you from being cut down. 
Baptism alone will not save you if you refuse that precious means by
which God intends to keep you alive, His Word and His Sacraments.  That goes back to just calling yourself a
Christian and not doing anything to strengthen that faith.  If you don’t come to hear the Word of God,
how will you know what it is that Jesus has done for you?  How will you be able to safeguard yourself
against the attacks of the evil one?  If
you do not receive Christ’s body and blood, then you will have nothing to strengthen
your faith.  Try as we might, we cannot
do it on our own.  Try as we might, we
are only a fig tree that bears no fruit. 

            Today and
everyday, God provides everything needed for your escape from the burn pile
outside the vineyard.  Escape from sin
and evil in this life through participation in the communion of saints,
regularly receiving God’s saving Word and Sacraments.  Escape from eternal judgment, delivering you
instead into the eternal joys of life everlasting through the forgiveness and
new life of righteousness offered in these same means of grace.

            Jesus
Himself does everything possible so that baptized believers like you and I may
bear the fruit of repentance and live. 
Jesus gets His hands dirty; He digs down beneath the topsoil and exposes
the root of your sin.  Proclaiming the
Law through the Scriptures and from the pulpit, Jesus lays bare your innermost
soul so that He may apply the divine potting soil of the Gospel: His Word of
life that alone is able to produce fruit acceptable to God.

            Sadly, some
Christians may eventually leave an empty space in the pew.  But for those who remain in Jesus’ gift of
Word and Sacrament, bearing the fruit of humble repentance that trusts in Jesus
alone for salvation, for you Jesus has made the way of escape from the sin and
evil of this life, “and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of
everlasting life.”  In Jesus’ name, amen.

            Now the
peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true
faith, until life everlasting.  Amen.

My wife and I just got back from seeing “Wild Hogs.” We never check out reviews of movies; if it looks good to us and we want to see it, we’ll go and see it. My wife decided to check out some of the reviews. It ranged from a B- to F, ranging from all the funny parts in the preview to a movie full of slapstick comedy. That couldn’t be further from the truth in our case. We went to see it at 5:00 and the movie was sold out. We got tickets for the 7:15 and that was sold out. We got there about 45 minutes before the movie just to be able to get a seat. It’s a good thing because you couldn’t find a seat with 20 minutes BEFORE the movie started.

In our opinion, this was a very good movie. It was full of laughs, and no, not all of the funny parts are in the previews. It’s full of good parts. It’s not all slapstick; there is a story. And make sure you wait and watch the closing credits. It’s actually rather funny.

My recommendation: B+