The Word at Work

The following is a mission festival sermon preached at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Steeleville, Illinois on the 21-22 of September 2014.  The text was from Acts 16:6-15.

In the name of the Father, Son +, and Holy Spirit, Amen.  The text for this mission festival weekend is recorded for us in Acts 16:6-15.  This is the Word of the Lord.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways, nor are our thoughts His thoughts.  The Bible is replete with accounts of the Lord doing the unexpected in unusual situations.  Paul, Silas and Timothy determined to bring the Gospel to Phrygia, Galatia and Bythinia.  They were prevented from doing so by the Holy Spirit.  A vision of a man from Macedonia calling for help motivated the apostle to cross the Dardanelles. For the first time intentional evangelistic work took place on the European continent. It began in the Roman colonial city of Philippi.

On the Sabbath day Paul’s entourage went outside of the city to a place along the river where people gathered to pray.  The number included Jewish women married to Gentiles who retained the faith they received in childhood.  Timothy came from such a household in Lystra.  He could relate to these faithful Jewish women and their children.  The number also included Gentile women. Among them was Lydia, a woman from Thyatira.  The Lord blessed her mightily through Paul’s preaching.

The Psalms remind us that unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers build it in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stay awake in vain (Psalm 127:1). Without God’s blessing we can do nothing that lasts.  Jesus says: “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit and that fruit should last” (John 15:5, 16).  These words are humbling. We cannot come to faith on our own.  It is the Lord who opens ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to believe.  It is the Lord who works through His Word to accomplish His purposes in those who hear the Gospel.  God alone receives credit for what happens with Lydia.  “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14).

 Lydia was deeply moved by the Word of God. She learned that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. He gave His life into death for the forgiveness of her sins and the sins of all people.  His resurrection opens the kingdom of heaven to all who believe.  Lydia and her household were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. Immediately she invites Paul, Luke, Silas and Timothy to stay at her home.  She expressed gratitude through hospitality.  Lydia generously shared her resources for the spread of the Gospel.  Her home became the first house church in Philippi.

One hundred and fifty years ago German Lutherans were intent on bringing the Gospel to Ethiopia.  In the days before the Suez Canal they had to travel three fourths of the way around Africa to reach the nearest port to their destination.  The emir favored Islam over Christianity and refused to allow the Lutheran missionaries to disembark.  The ship set sail, retracing their original route.  The first port that opened to them was Durbin in the British province of Natal on the southern edge of the continent.  The Lutheran missionaries moved inland and began evangelism among the Zulu people.  Progress was slow.  The Zulus were a strong and powerful nation.  They are proud and reluctant to adopt the way of outsiders.

One missionary spent twenty years preaching the Gospel.  Twice his home was burned to the ground as tensions erupted between the British and Zulus. In that time he could count one baptism among the natives. The Germans persisted.  Today we have Lutheran brothers and sisters in Africa.  We share one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Together we are recipients of God’s mercy, grace and blessings through His pure Word and blessed Sacraments.  God is faithful.  His word will not return to Him empty but will accomplish the purpose for which it is sent.  The Holy Spirit creates faith where and when He wills in those who hear the Gospel.  It is the Lord who opened the minds of the apostles so that they could understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).  The nineteenth century missionaries who initially saw little return from their labors sowed seeds that have matured thirty, sixty a hundredfold and more.

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and School have been serving the people of Steeleville for almost as long as Lutherans have been evangelizing in Southern Africa.  At times the work flourishes and prospers. At other times such as Word War I, a German speaking congregation was not popular when the United States was at war with Germany.  Your forefathers remained faithful to the Word of God even as they adjusted to preaching and teaching it in English during the next two decades. Word is at work in both circumstances.  Faith takes God at His promises and trusts that He will keep everyone of them.  Anyone can steer a boat on a clear, warm, sunny day.  Under a dark sky with wind and waves buffeting the boat and obscuring vision one must trust the compass and follow the chartered course even if every muscle and fiber in their being screams otherwise.  To give into temptation may result in serious injury and even loss of life.

The front line of mission work is wherever God plants His church.  Mission work continues in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland.  It takes place in Steeleville, Randolph County and Southern Illinois.  The Word that changed Lydia’s heart in Philippi changes hearts wherever it is heard and believed.  Each person is different. Some come to faith and mature rapidly.  Others are much slower to grow and bear fruit.  Like the missionary in Natal with only a single convert one does not give up but persists in doing the very things the Lord has given us to do.  This is faith at work and faithfulness in duty.

Americans are fascinated with large numbers and demonstrable growth.  It is presumed that success depends on these outward and visible dynamics.  The Lord uses a different metric.  He calls His pastors, teachers and churches to be faithful. Faithful in attending the Divine Service, receiving the Lord’s precious body and blood, hearing the Word of God and talking about it with our families when we rise and retire, eat and travel.  The Word works.  It did in Philippi.  It does in South Africa.  This is the Word that has been preached to you (1 Peter 1:25).  Lord, I believe, help my unbelief, Amen.

Humble Service

      Many find it hard to be humble. Humility does not come easily since Adam and Eve sinned in Eden.  The devil’s temptation appealed to their pride. He insinuated that God was holding out on them.  If they would only eat the forbidden fruit they would become like God. Furthermore they would gain knowledge of good and evil.  They succumbed. Humanity has been vulnerable to pride every since. Instead of serving God and looking out for the welfare of others, people focus on themselves. The sixteenth century Reformers of the Church saw sin as people being turned inward rather than outward.  People have been navel gazing ever since Eden.

Words like meekness and humility are okay for someone else but they are not the most desirable traits one picks for himself. After all, “This is the ME generation.”  Narcissism is on the increase.  “What do I get out of this?” “What’s in it for me?” People use these questions to weigh their decisions, participation or expenses.  If the personal benefits are not clear many people decline involvement. Traits of lending a hand to a neighbor on a project are a vestige of bygone days.  Some families still do this but with the dramatic collapse of the nuclear family this is also not as common as it once was.  If someone is meek society considers them weak.  Perhaps they suffer from an inferiority complex and low self-esteem. A humble person is one that others feel they can walk all over, just like they would a doormat. It’s easy to understand why humility and meekness are less desirable traits in our modern world. 

Have they ever been popular?  The Pharisees saw themselves as pious laymen determined to fulfill every demand of the six hundred plus laws they placed around the Ten Commandments.  This left them open to the charge of hypocrisy when their actions did not match their intentions.  Pride was a very real temptation for them as was their failure to love their neighbor as themselves. Jesus is in the home of a ruler of the Pharisees.  Jesus continues to challenge their thinking with mercy, grace and compassion.  These were traits He did not see often among them. They, in turn, did not see Jesus as the Savior but instead were intent on catching Him in hypocrisy.

It was a Sabbath Day when no work could be done by faithful Jews and Pharisees.  Jesus used the Sabbath previously to teach and to heal.  They watched him carefully within this home.  A man was present who suffered from dropsy.  This is a term you do not hear much anymore. It refers to the retention of fluids by the body. You may know it by the term edema. It is associated with a couple of things including kidney problems or congestive heart failure.  Dropsy can make a person very uncomfortable. Jesus asks the scribes and the Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not.  They refused to answer.  Jesus healed the man and sent him on his way.

Jesus presents them with a practical problem.  “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (Luke 14:5).  They could not reply to Jesus without exposing themselves to the charge of hypocrisy.  Jesus demonstrates a true servant’s heart.  He put the interest of this man and his health to the forefront.  Rather than leave the man in this condition any longer than necessary, Jesus healed him.  The answer to the question Jesus raised was, “Yes, of course, if my son or an animal fell into a well, I would waste no time getting him out.” To leave them where they have fallen might be a sentence of death before the Sabbath was over.  If the scribes and Pharisees affirmed this they could not trap Jesus with this healing.

The Lord Jesus observes human activity with great interest.  He notes how they competed with each other for the seat of honor at the table.  Instead of thinking that you are the guest of honor, be content to take a lowly seat.  The host will correct the arrangements if necessary.  It is better to be brought up from a lower spot than to be humiliated and moved to sit with the rest of the crowd.“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).  This is affirmed in Philippians two:  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

Putting others first, ahead of Himself, is the way of Jesus Christ.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the very form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  There God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

Jesus practiced what He preached.  As closely watched as He was, His enemies could not agree on a single charge against Him when He was on trial before the High Priest.  Jesus put your interests ahead of His own.  He didn't become a man, suffer, be crucified, died and buried for Himself.  He did it for you.  He took your place and mine. He took our punishment and gives us love.  He bore our transgressions and gives us forgiveness.  He absorbed our selfishness in exchange for His mercy and grace.  He did this not only for you and me but for sinners everywhere of all time and places.

When Jesus spreads out His table before us in the presence of our enemies, He knows that we cannot pay the cover charge or tip, let alone the cost of the entrée.  Sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes are numbered with the poor, crippled, lame, blind and those in prison.  We cannot repay Jesus for what He has done.  At best, we “pay it forward.”  Having received mercy, we show mercy.  Receiving grace we are graceful to others.  Forgiven of our sins, we forgive those who trespass against us.  This is loving your neighbor as yourself.  This is looking out for the interests of others ahead of your own.  This is the way of the cross, the way of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He makes humble service chic and desirable, Amen.