You are currently browsing the Sermons weblog archives for the day May 29, 2007.
May 29, 2007 by admin.
Philippians 1:3-6
“Christian Partnership”
“Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. Amen.” (Jude 2) I’m somewhat curious as to your thoughts on the video that you just got done watching – produced by our Wisconsin Synod marketing department. I guess I’m not referring to your thoughts per say as much as your gut reaction. How do you feel when you see another piece of Synod information asking for more money? (Synod “Walking Together” video has just been shown) You’ve received more of that information today in your bulletins (show pamphlet requesting donation) as you have in the past and undoubtedly will in the future. How does that make you feel?
I guess the question I’m really driving at is are you a little tired of it at this point? Our Synod appears to be in dire straits, we realize that. Pastor Rockhoff, a faithful Synod man, mentions it regularly. Here at Messiah we’ve dedicated Bible Class time to it, we’ve heard sermon illustrations on it, we get the emails and the pamphlets letting us know the tough times we’re in as a Synod. Does it ever seem like “enough already!”? As it is right now, we’re doing everything we can as a church to maintain our congregation. Look at the facts: We’re in the midst of a massive building project. We already give a larger Synod mission offering (especially per communicant member) to our beloved Wisconsin Synod than most other congregations out there. At what point are we going to start taking care of ourselves? It gets old. It’s depressing to think about schools closing and missionaries being called back and they’re so far away that sometimes you barely feel a sense of responsibility or allegiance. It’s really pretty easy and less worrisome to just not think about it and let it fade away and become someone else’s problem. To be perfectly honest, last year at this time when I was assigned to Messiah in Wichita, KS, one of the first things I thought about was how nice it would be to not have to hear about the enormous financial problems of Synod every day, as I had in class for the previous years. I was almost excited to get out of “the homeland” and to focus just on a congregation that is so far physically removed from all of the troubles.
That was an attitude of mine that need adjustment though. There’s nothing wrong with being frustrated by or lamenting the Synod’s current financial state. But there certainly was a problem with thinking I could just get up and walk away from it because it wasn’t my fault or my problem. As a member of this congregation and a member of this Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, I am a partner with all the other members. There’s two ways of looking at that: Either 1) It’s an obligation that detracts from my precious time and money, or 2) It’s a blessed thing because God calls Christian Partnership blessed. Today we will find out exactly how we exist in a powerful “Christian Partnership”
Our sermon lesson today, as mentioned, is actually found in Philippians 1:3-6. However, today being the festival of Pentecost, it’s only appropriate to consider it as well. And it actually fits quite well with this “Walking Together” Sunday. In our second lesson today we heard the familiar story of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came upon 12 Disciples and others with them in an audible form, with a rush of wind, and a visible form, with tongues of fire on their heads. People had come from all around the Mediterranean world. We’re actually told that “there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.” (Acts 2:5) And yet, these foreigners, despite speaking a multitude of different languages, could understand exactly what the disciples were saying – nothing short of a miracle. God obviously wanted these people from around the world to recognize the unity that they had. The Apostle Peter then stood up to proclaim a beautiful law and gospel sermon. He told the crowd that they were united in the fact that they were all responsible for crucifying the man Jesus Christ, but because he was the true Lord and God, in his death and resurrection he had granted them all true forgiveness for their sins. He told them to repent to this one true God. Be baptized in the name of this one true God. This baptism will unite you as one. And by God’s grace every one of them miraculously heard Peter’s uniting message loud and clear, in his own language. And they all were “cut to the heart.” (Acts 2:37) It was clear to all that they were involved in a “Christian Partnership.” The Many Became One.
In our sermon lesson for today, Paul is writing to a Philippian congregation that is quite a distance from him. He was in chains, under house arrest in Rome. The Philippians were on the north side of the Aegean Sea in Macedonia. As the crow flies, that places them about 600 miles apart. To actually make the trip up and around the Adriatic Sea would have been well over 1000 miles. Despite the distance, Paul certainly has a place in his heart for these Philippian Christians. He refers to them in this letter as “my joy and my crown” (Philippians 4:1) and Paul says here in our lesson “I thank my God every time I remember you.” The Philippians had proven themselves to be mature, sanctified Christians. Paul is actually writing this letter in response to a gift that they had sent to him through the messenger Epaphroditus. But, before we paint them in too dazzling a light, let’s not forget how things started out for Paul in Philippi on his 2nd missionary journey. He could have remembered them that way. He could have remembered Philippi as a place where he and his companions could hardly find any religious people. Paul customarily began his work of preaching the good news in the local synagogue of any city. But in Philippi he found only a tiny little “preaching station” of sorts located near a river. And then there was that demon-possessed slave girl who harassed them. And there were the townspeople that had them arrested, stripped and beat them, put them in chains and threw them into a dirty prison. (Acts 16) The people of Philippi certainly had their faults; they certainly made their fair share of mistakes. But Paul chooses not to remember that.
Instead, Paul remembers them in a joyful, positive way. He remembers them as a place where Lydia and all her household became Christians and insisted that he and Silas stay at her house. He remembers casting a demon out of a slave girl and seeing her set free. He remembers praying and singing hymns with Silas while the other prisoners listened. He remembers the Philippian jailer and his family, and all those other people who, afterwards, were baptized and became followers of Jesus. Paul remembers their “Christian Partnership” and is joyful and thankful for it. It’s sometimes hard to convince a predominantly individualistic American society about the benefits of partnership, especially when it comes to religion. The founders and shapers of our country even promoted religious individualism. Thomas Jefferson said, “I am a sect myself.” One of the country’s greatest writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson, penned a book that captured the country’s pilgrim spirit and his own religious stance, titled Self-reliance. You have to understand that man is innately self-centered. Think about how many decisions you make during the day that provide for your own cause – whether it be self-sustenance, self-improvement, or personal amusement. That comes naturally to us. We have to make a conscious decision to do something for others though. But in its own great irony, as we do something for others we are actually helping ourselves. We benefit in mutual partnership.
You’ve probably heard the expression before that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” That logic is hard to argue against. Some of the best examples of this can be found in nature. I’m not really a huge wildlife guy, but, to me, one of the best examples of beneficial partnership can be found in geese. As you know, geese always fly south for winter and as they do so they travel in a V-formation. Scientists have discovered some fascinating things about the way these geese work together as partners:
Geese understand the benefits of partnership. I personally know this all too well. When I go running over at my apartment complex around the lake I encounter dozens upon dozens of geese. They all look at me simultaneously, as if they had one mind. They sometimes force me to run off the path and around them. I know what you’re thinking, “Vicar, they’re just geese, quit your worrying.” And I agree, if I would accidentally run into one goose and it would get upset and come after me, I would like to think I’d be able to defend myself. The problem is I don’t think I can take 70 geese. And I know that would be the case. They have a tremendous one-mindedness, pack mentality, partnership in all that they do.
I understand it sounds a little silly, but “Christian Partnership” has a lot in common with goose partnership. We understand that we can accomplish so much more for God’s kingdom when we work together rather than try to go it alone. We aren’t too proud so as to think we are above any of our fellow Christians, but gladly, compassionately inconvenience ourselves when they are in need. We encourage our fellow Christians with our prayers, comments, and financial support. Christ has taken away our greatest problem of sin, he will certainly help us through whatever problems come our way in life, and he often uses Christians to help other Christians with these problems, strengthening the bond, the partnership they already have. As Paul says to the Ephesians, “we are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22) Partnership for Christians provides many benefits, but this partnership is more than just convenience or connections. Many Became One in Christian Partnership first and foremost Because the One Saved Many.
It’s easy to find things to criticize in our fellow believers. We live closely with them and see all their faults and shortcomings. As if that weren’t enough, the devil and our sinful nature join together in making mountains out of the faults of others, so that they appear so much worse than our own. This becomes the devil’s way of robbing us of the joy we might have in seeing the great things God, by his grace, can accomplish in the lives of his people in Christian partnership. As it pertains to “Walking Together” Sunday, we might be tempted to look at “The Synod” as this evil money-grubbing monster that on the surface appears to be dieing and is just trying to take us down with it. For our negative attitudes and our misplaced judgments, we repent to our Lord. Paul didn’t have that pessimistic attitude towards the Philippians. Instead of bemoaning how harshly they had initially treated him, he says, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Paul recognized their mutual sharing in the blessings of forgiveness and salvation won by Christ. They now had in common a spiritual life that the Holy Spirit creates in sinners’ hearts through faith in Christ. They prayed to the same God. They praised the same God. They were baptized into the name of the same God for the same washing of sins and rebirth. They partook of the same God in Holy Communion. They gave offerings to the same God. They were both willing to suffer for the same God. They knew that although they were physically distant, they would one day be physically united for eternity in the presence of the same true God. Once I understand that Jesus is for me, how much love he showed specifically to me in washing away my sins, I then want to share him with others. I know that the One who died for me died for all. I am united, then, with other Christians in the work of telling the good news to all. We hold this work in common just as the gospel is our common possession. This is true Christian Partnership.
Like those on Pentecost, like Paul and the Philippians, we too are miraculously united. We are united with each other. Just think of all the things that had to happen to bring us together. We’ve shown up from different parts of Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Washington, Virginia and so on and so forth. God-governed, God-guided, God-given and God-blessed unity. And as much as we appreciate the unity in Christ we have here at Messiah, we have unity with believers far beyond our little sanctuary. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod has ½ million strong, in addition to our 150, that come to worship the same true God every Sunday and confess the same things about him and his teachings. There is no larger Lutheran (or perhaps other) denomination in America that is that dedicated to and serious about unity in a way like we are. Through their actions our Synod has shown us that they include us as equal possessors of heaven. Look at the track record: The Wisconsin Synod was the group that said, “Okay, we’re going to provide funding for our members down in Wichita, KS to get them a building and get up on their feet.” They have been responsible for the education of the called workers that this congregation has seen over the years. That’s no small feat. In case you’re wondering, if you’re going to get a pastor who has come through a Synod preparatory school, the Synod college, and the Synod seminary, it’s going to cost approximately $200,000 for that education. The called workers try to produce as much of that as they can, but there’s no way they could do it by themselves. It takes subsidy, financial support from……the Synod. The materials that we worship out of and the lessons we have for Bible Studies and Sunday School – items that have been combed through by faithful theologians to make sure that we were hearing the gospel truth, all comes from ……….our Synod. The loan that we will be receiving for our next building stage that makes it more affordable to grow our ministry here at Messiah comes from the Church Extension Fund, a branch of……..our Synod. I’m not arrogant enough to tell you how blessed you have been to have my presence here for the past nine months, but from what I’ve gathered, Messiah has seen the vicar program, that we’ve been a part of for six of the last seven years, as a blessing. The funding for those vicars has all come from……..our Synod.
It’s no secret that, from a financial perspective, our Synod is hurting right now. One of our two high schools will be closing shortly. Called workers will lose their jobs. Who knows how many impressionable teenagers will lose a Christian education. The threat of losing the other high school soon afterwards is quite real. The dominoes continue to fall and you wonder how many future pastors will be losing four years of education in a ministry-centered curriculum. Many other aspects of ministry beyond education are suffering as well. Missions are being reduced and missionaries even being called home. Positions of administration that are designed so that we may efficiently, smoothly carry out gospel ministry as a Synod are being cut as well.
We certainly don’t doubt God’s ability to drop an enormous bag of money on our front doorstep, but at the same time we’re spiritually mature enough to realize that’s not generally the way he operates. He usually uses his faithful people to carry out his gospel ministry. It’s a privilege given from a generous God for us to be able to do so. The need exists. The means are available. In the last verse of our lesson for today from Philippians, Paul says he is confident that “he (God) who began a good work in you (the Philippians) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” The Apostle Paul knew that the same Holy Spirit who lived in him also lived in the hearts of these Philippian believers and the Spirit would guide them through life just as was the case for Paul. Paul experienced a tremendous amount of joy knowing that he was not alone in this world as the sole believer. He felt the love of Christian Partnership with the Philippian congregation. They loved Paul because he had shown great love to them. Paul loved them because he knew of the incredible love that his Savior had shown to him. And our Savior loved Paul, us, and the rest of mankind because………..well, simply because of grace – undeserved love.
Because of grace God loves us, forgives us, provides for us, and saves us all through Jesus Christ. God grant that we boldly reciprocate that love in our love to our Christian partners. For Christ proclaims, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 26:40) Amen.
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Amen.” (Colossians 3:15)
– Vicar James Hein
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