“Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  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.”  John 15:4-5

C.S. Lewis wrote: “God has designed the human machine to run on Himself.  He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.  That is why it is no good asking God to make us happy without bothering about religion.  God cannot give happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.  There is no such thing.”

“Apart from Me you can do nothing.”  This is so difficult for us to accept.  We think we are doing just fine – without worship, without fellowship, without daily Bible reading, without daily prayer.  The truth is, we need the constant care of the Gardener who works through His means – Word and Sacrament – to nurture us, prune us and produce the fruit of His will.

The message concerning the Vine and the branches gives us hope.  God doesn’t leave us on our own, but by grace, grafts us into the Vine where there is life.  Through the strength of the Vine and the care of the Gardener, we bear His fruit.  We hear Jesus tell us that a Christian is never a lone, single branch on the vine.  The Vine produces many branches and the branches intertwine and support one another in order to produce a harvest.  We need to remain or abide in the Vine but we also need the support of other Christians to produce fruit.

Bearing fruit has everything to do with abiding in Him.  The production of fruit that God has in mind for us will require more contact with His Word and Sacrament; more time spent together in prayer and fellowship lifting one another up and encouraging one another through the Vine. That’s how we remain in Christ and Christ in us.  May God bear His fruit through us.

“So shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Isaiah 55:11

What is the Bible?  It may seem like a simple question, but for many the answer is not so easy.  There are so many different ideas and opinions out in the world today about the Bible and what it is.  Some will say that the Bible is just mere history or information or instructions.  The Bible is not just Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, or a textbook for living a good life.  The Bible is so much for than that!

The Bible is the very Word of God.  Every word from Genesis to Revelation is God’s Word to and for you!  The Bible is God’s story of salvation for you!  It is a tremendous gift that God has given us where we are comforted with God’s promises and the Good News of forgiveness, life, and salvation that we have through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

As we spend time in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit is at work through the Word to strengthen and nurture our faith and equip us to face each day with God’s promises.  We also know that God’s Word is powerful – it does what it says.  And so when we hear from Isaiah 55:11 that His Word does not return to Him empty, but accomplishes that which He purposes; we have great confidence in sharing the Good News of God’s Word with others.  What a joy we have as Christians in being fed and nourished with God’s Word and also given the wonderful responsibility of sharing that same Good News with others so that they too may rejoice in all that God has done for them and their salvation.

So what is the Bible?  God’s Word – God’s story of salvation for YOU!  Now that’s good news!!

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6:33

In the ancient Arabian folktale, Aladdin is the lazy son of a poor tailor. After his father’s death, he meets a magician who says that he is Aladdin’s uncle. The magician convinces Aladdin to go after a beautiful lamp that is hidden in a cave. When Aladdin gets the lamp he refuses to give it to the magician. The magician becomes furious and seals the cave, leaving Aladdin to die. In despair Aladdin cries and wrings his hands, bringing forth a genie from a ring the magician had given him. The genie frees Aladdin from the cave and soon discovers that the lamp also produces a magic genie when it is rubbed. The genies grant Aladdin his every wish, and he eventually becomes immensely wealthy and marries the daughter of the sultan.  Aladdin is able to overcome every foe with the power of the lamp.  Aladdin goes on to live a long, happy life and succeeds the sultan to the throne.  The story of Aladdin is so entertaining that Walt Disney grabbed the story and made it into a movie that is a favorite of many.  

What would happen if God told you, “I want to give you three wishes, whatever you ask I will do.”  If you could have anything you wished for, what would you desire from God?   Would our wishes reflect what God desires for our lives?
 

I think I can say with confidence that what the average American would desire would be to have more money, a happy marriage, compliant and well-behaved children, good health, the absence of pain, a long life, and endless happiness.  Probably most church folks would ask for the same things.  Therefore, we need to examine ourselves and put “first things first” and seek to determine what would be on God’s list for our lives.

For us to pursue God we must keep first things first. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be given to you as well.” We seek things, not God. We seek our comfort, not God. Things can never give us direction in life. Things can never comfort us in a lasting way. Things can never instill within us the wisdom we need to understand our predicaments and possibilities. Things are just things, but God is God.   If you and I truly want to find our way beyond our own wishes and wants, our own desires for the toys and trinkets that this world has to offer, then we must seek God first and continuously.

We are to put first things first in the home.  The home was established to be a haven of love, to be the cornerstone of society, and to provide the environment in which children are to be born, raised and trained for an eternal inheritance with God.  Someone defined “home” as the place where each one lives for the other and all live for God.  Putting God first in the home is molding lives into the image of God and His will

Also, we are to put first things first in our lives.  As we spend time in the study of God’s Word, time in prayer and worship, we allow the Lord to teach us about His character, His love, His justice, His mercy, His grace, His mighty power, His majesty, and His sovereignty over all things. This is what we truly need in life. Nothing apart from seeking the Lord with all of our hearts will give us the security, rest, and joy that every person longs for in life. His presence changes our priorities in life.  The things that use to matter most, lose their power over us. The plans that we have pursued with fervency and passion lose their grip on us so that we might pursue the plans that God has for us. The troubles that use to unravel our souls are put into His divine perspective and we learn that nothing happens apart from His knowledge.

If you could have anything you wished for, what would you desire from God?  I pray that it would be the faith to put God first and trust your life now and eternity to the God who gives all things – first of all His Son – and then all for body and soul.  That’s the Kingdom we have now and for eternity.  It’s a Kingdom and Righteousness worth seeking first.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.  Ephesians 3:14-15

This week was the 21^st convention of the Missouri District of the LCMS.  The theme was “Tell the Next Generation”.  One of the main points of this topic was that parents are the primary Christian educators in the church.

This is fitting as we approach Father’s Day this Sunday.  Martin Luther envisioned children gathering around their father and the Small Catechism being trained up in the things of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit each day in the Creed, learning the Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacraments; teaching the Psalms and hymns so their children know them by heart.

Many dads teach their kids how to work and support themselves in life. They teach them how to have fun, to fish, to drive a four-wheeler, to play sports. This is all fine and good. Fathers should do these things. But how many dads accept the awesome mission to be spiritual leaders for their children?

As parents embrace their role as Christian educators, it is vitally important that the church family be a place where families are strengthened, encouraged, and equipped.  As fellow members of the body of Christ we all have the responsibility to encourage parents, and to model the importance of being in God’s house to receive His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

May God continue to strengthen our families and our church family at Grace so that together we can grow in the knowledge of Christ and the forgiveness, life, and salvation that He alone gives!

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

John 8:58

It didn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe . . . something.  I wish I could say that kind of thinking is rare and unusual, but unfortunately it’s not.  Contrast that statement to what we will confess in the Athanasian Creed this Sunday on Trinity Sunday,  “Whoever desires to be saved must believe this.”   So yes, it matters what we believe. And so do all those things included in the Athanasian Creed – and there is quite a list. One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Equal in glory and majesty. Uncreated, infinite, eternal, almighty. The Son not created but begotten. The Holy Spirit neither created nor begotten, but proceeding.

And then Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born a son of man, who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation, ascended into heaven, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. That’s the truth, we confess and live by 24/7.  Yes, it really matters. But why does it matter?

That’s a question many are asking these days. And, some would say, it doesn’t matter!  To many in the world – cold, hard facts like the Athanasian Creed don’t matter when the rubber of faith meets the hard road of life. The Church needs to be more loving and less doctrinal, some would say.

Love and doctrine aren’t opposites (or at least they shouldn’t be!). For if the Scriptures are right (which, of course, we know and believe) when they tell us that God is love (1 John 4), then to know God is to know love. And to know what God has done for us is to know what love does and to be drawn into that love – real, true love.  Real love is based on knowing the Beloved. That’s why real love lasts beyond the warm and fuzzy feelings. That’s why real love grows stronger over time, even when looks fade and skin grows wrinkly.

And so when the Athanasian Creed says whoever desires to be saved must believe this, it says that not because you have to be able to pass a test and have all the right knowledge in order to get into heaven – though that’s probably how it sounds sometimes. No, it matters because to know who God is – is to know who that Man on the cross is. To know that the Man hanging on the cross isn’t just a man, but the God-Man, fully God and fully Man. To know that God died – in love – for you and me.

For Christianity isn’t about good people doing good things in good ways for a good life. It’s about God dying on the cross for sinners like you and like me. It’s about a good God doing good things. It’s about the Father giving His Son who gives us the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit joining us to the Son who takes us to the Father. That’s who God is and that’s what God alone does. The two go together. And you either have both or you have neither.

That’s why it matters, and why we cannot give up this Christian, Trinitarian faith. It’s not just a matter of life and death, like so many other things in this world – it’s a matter of eternal life and eternal death.   It’s something (as the Athanasian Creed says) to keep – to guard, to treasure, to hold onto tightly and not give it up. No matter what you’re facing right now – it matters because you matter to God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – who delights in you to pursue you to save you so that you may live forgiven, free, forever in His grace. Yes, believing in Him matters.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

John 16:13

This Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost.  The way the Holy Spirit worked on that first Pentecost is the same way He’s working today.  The disciples, when they were filled with the Spirit, were not babbling incoherently. They were speaking sensibly in recognizable languages. The Holy Spirit filled them with courage, conviction, and joy, empowering these formerly fearful men to stand up and tell the crowds about Jesus—to announce that Jesus, whom they had killed, was risen and forgave them unto eternal life. Three thousand heard, believed, and were baptized.  It’s the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith in Jesus and an understanding of all that He’s done for us. Jesus has died for our sins, risen from the grave, and now lives eternally. He loves us, forgives us our sins, and has prepared an eternal home for us in heaven. But were it not for the work of the Spirit, we would not believe, be saved, or see heaven.

The marks of a Spirit-filled Church are the Word of God, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper and prayer.  The Spirit-filled Church is also a victorious Church.  We all want to live the victorious Christian life.   We want to be one of those super-Christians to whom others look up to, with a faith that never wavers, and who always knows just the right thing to say. To stand up and preach like Peter on that first Pentecost, to speak in several languages, to be Spirit-filled.

But is that really what the victorious Christian life looks like?  If so, we never will attain it.  For rather than being like this, we are more likely to resemble the apostles who were habitually filled with fear and doubt, and whose hearts were filled with sorrow.  We are more likely to be similar to the prophet Ezekiel, looking around at all the world and seeing only dryness and death. We tend to see the wreckage of life – the embattled families and marriages, the carnage of wars and natural disasters, of terrorism and hatred.  We see churches sacrificing the truth for the porridge of popularity.  We know our own struggles with sin, which so frequently get the better of us and we can’t seem to overcome them, no matter how hard we try.  The victorious Christian life seems like a myth more than a mantra.

What about you?  Are you weak, tired, struggling, doubting?  If so, Pentecost is for you. To set the record straight. To teach you the truth about what the victorious Christian life really looks like, and—best of all—to give that life and victory to you.  It’s not something YOU do. For the victory has already been won. It’s what we’ve been celebrating this entire Easter season—that Christ’s life, death and resurrection is our victory over sin, death, the grave and the devil. And so Pentecost is not about leaving that all behind and now putting the onus on you to follow in Christ’s steps and be victorious. Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit taking what is Christ’s and giving it to you.  It’s the continuation of Easter in our lives. It’s about showing us that we live the victorious Christian life in the glory of the Cross.

So it’s not that the victorious Christian life is a myth; it just looks different than many people think. Because it looks like the cross. It’s not lived above and beyond the problems of this life, as if we Christians can somehow float above them. No, it’s lived exactly in the midst of them. For so Jesus came into our midst and gave life to all who were dried out, chewed up, and spit out by sin. He came and planted His cross in the midst of our lives, dying for us that we might rise with Him to a new life. A new life, not with our heads in the clouds, but with our feet firmly planted on earth, living the cross-life, the Christ-life. In Christ, all things are yours, for Christ is yours, and you are His. And so you are victorious. You may not look it, feel it or even think it. But the Spirit reveals the truth that you are. Victorious in Christ in Word, in fellowship, in the Supper and in prayer – with life in Him.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

John 3:20-21

A poem by J. Wilbur Chapman reads, “Christ the transforming Light, Touches this heart of mine; Piercing the darkest night, Making His glory shine.”  John 3:20-21, speaks of the contrasting difference between light and dark, and how ultimately through our baptism Christ’s light shines through us.

It is obvious that we live in a world full of sin, and as John writes in chapter three, darkness.  To put it simply, darkness is a metaphor for death and evil.  There are not many things that scare people more than darkness.  One of the reasons for this fear of the dark is the evil things that are done under the cover of darkness. 

Something that may even be scarier than the murders and robberies that go on under the cover of darkness are the sins in our own lives that we try to cover in darkness.  There are things in all of our lives that we try to keep in the dark, things we don’t want anyone else to see about us.  Addictions to drugs and alcohol, unfaithfulness in our relationships, and cheating at school are just some of the sins in our lives that we try to keep in the dark. 

What are some of the sins in your lives that you try to keep in the dark?  Though we may think that we can keep some of our sins a secret and that no one will find out, that is not the case.  No amount of darkness can keep God from knowing the secret sins of our lives.  God knows all of our sins of thought, word, and deed.

The dark news is that we are dead to our sins.  Because of the evil that we continue to do in our lives, we deserve nothing more than eternal damnation.  The Good News is that Christ has come to be the light in our lives.  Earlier in John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Through our baptism we are called sons of God.  We are brought into his good and perfect light.  God did not give us His light by taking us out of the darkness of this world, but by sending His one and only son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save us all from our sins.  Christ came into our dark world and paid the ultimate price for our sins. 

John 3:21 says, “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”  Those deeds that have been carried out in God are the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Through His death and resurrection we are saved from our sins and the eternal death that we deserve from our sins.  Because of Christ’s death and resurrection we are now called Children of the light.  Ephesians 5:8 says, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light.”

It is important for all of us to know that all of our sins, even the ones that we try to keep hidden in darkness were taken up to the cross for us through Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.  It is with this knowledge that we can face the dark things in our lives like death, relationship problems, and financial problems, knowing that through our baptism we are brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ who died and rose again for all of our sins that we may live in his light forever.  We know that through Christ, this dark world is not all there is for us.  We have the promise of eternal life in a place where as it says in Revelation 22:5, we will not need a lamp or the sun because the Lord God will give us light. 

Live as children of light because through Christ we know that all of the sins and darkness of this world will eventually fade away, but the light of Christ will illuminate the heavens for all eternity.

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” 

Psalm 51:15

Say Ahhhh!! When you go to the doctor’s office for a checkup, one of the first things you are asked to do is to stick out your tongue.  Then the doctor takes a tongue depressor and presses down the tongue to examine your throat and mouth.  The tongue is a great help in determining our physical condition.

The book of James confronts all of us with our physical condition as indicated by our tongues.  The warning we hear from James is very clear.  “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”

James gives us some harsh words.  Words that condemn all of us as ones who have misused our words and sinned with our tongues.  But what’s the big deal with such a small part of our bodies?  The tongue is small but very significant.  It is a small muscle but a mouthful of muscle.  Just like a small rudder can guide a large ship.  James also uses the analogy of a bridal on a horse. A small bridal can guide a great, tall horse.  So it is with the little tongue in our mouth. That little muscle in our mouth controls our whole personality. It is amazing that such a little muscle has such power to control the direction of our whole personality.  Counselors understand this.  Counselors tell us that if you can change the language of a person, you can actually change the person.  If you can change the words that a person uses, you can change the feelings inside of that person.

James was right.  He said that a small rudder controls a large ship; a small bridle controls a big horse; a small muscle like the tongue controls our whole personality.  In the wisdom of James about the tongue, we discover that the tongue is very vulnerable to sin.  No one is innocent – not you, not me – no one.  And to drive the point home James reminds us of what we are capable of doing.

But what can we do?  James tells us that no man can bridle his tongue – so are we just doomed to live this life in a never ending battle with our tongues, with the hurt that we cause others just being collateral damage?  By no means!  The battles rage on, but the war is already over.  The victory is won through the one man who was able to bridle his tongue and was “like a sheep that before its shearers was silent” – our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Our Savior, Jesus Christ – lived and died and rose from the grave because of our sinful condition, because of the hurts that our tongues have caused.  He bridled His tongue even in the face of death so that we might receive His righteousness as He now lives in us.  Through the waters of Holy Baptism we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit who transforms us to live as children of our Heavenly Father.  We live as those given the inheritance of the only Son of God, who was silent on our behalf.  May this Good News lead us to confess and praise along with St. Paul in Romans chapter 7, “Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

Prayer is an awesome gift that our Risen Savior has given to us.  Prayer is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week invitation to call upon God in “every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.” (Luther’s Small Catechism, The Second Commandment Explanation) You certainly don’t have to be on your knees, be in church or even have your hands folded.  God is with us always – to talk with, to share our inmost thoughts, concerns, joys, and to strengthen our relationship with Jesus – what a Friend we have in Him! 

We turn to Him in repentance, we turn to Him in worship, we turn to Him in the daily study of His Word, and we turn to Him in prayer – because with Him, everything is possible.  One of the smallest passages in the Bible speaks volumes concerning God’s will for our lives: “Pray Continually!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) If the Lord of the universe knows us by name, calls us by name, and has our names engraved on His palms, how much more should we call upon His Name and have His Name engraved on our hearts, minds, and palms?

Psalm 91:2 proclaims, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  What comforting imagery it is to know that when we pray to our Heavenly Father we are taking refuge in our God who is “The Mighty Fortress”.  Though the earth gives way, and our lives may seem to crumble around us – know that no matter what we are safe in the powerful arms of our Almighty God.  What better reason is there to be in daily conversation with God?  God hears our prayers and answers our prayers in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard!”

Acts 4:20

Easter is not a one time a year celebration.  The Good News that Christ is Risen has a daily impact in our lives!  Our lives have been changed from death to life.  We were dead in our sins and iniquities, but God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins through His life, death, and resurrection!  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has not just changed our lives here on earth, but has changed our lives for all eternity as we now have the sure and certain promise of eternal life through Christ!

Has that Easter message of new life faded though in the ten days since Easter?  I pray that it hasn’t for you.  In fact, I pray you see each day as an opportunity to celebrate and share the new life that you have in Christ.

In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John couldn’t help but speak of the new life they had been given through Christ and the amazing things they had seen!  Peter and John had been arrested and were now before the Council and yet they still could not “but speak of what we have seen and heard!”

As Christians, may the Easter message that Christ is risen have the very same impact on us!  May we be ones who cannot help but share the new life we have been given.  And through the power of the Holy Spirit, may our sharing of God’s Word lead others to faith in our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!