Inside and Outside – Trinity 01 2009

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Trinity 1 (June 14, 2009)
Luke 16:19-31

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “Inside and Outside”

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Gospel lesson just read, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16.

In our text this morning we have a comparison of the inside and the outside, the hidden faith and revealed works, the hidden church and the revealed works of the world. Christ our Lord makes this comparison in a way that is simple and easy for us to understand, and yet has a profound effect upon how we view the world, the church, and the faith that God gives to us as baptized children of God.

So let’s rehearse our text again. The rich man has everything on the outside; poor Lazarus has nothing on the outside. The rich man appears to be blessed by God and loved by everyone around him; the poor man is cursed, or at least appears so. His life is a mess, his health is a wreck, he is poor and hungry, and even the dogs come and lick his sores. There is no doubt in the eyes of the world who is in the better position.

But look, says our Lord, at what is hidden under the obvious. Poor Lazarus had the one thing needful; He had received faith and trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the forgiveness of sins. Hidden under the dirt and muck, hidden under the hunger and fear and pain shone a faith in the Messiah that only God Himself could give. The rich man did not have this faith. God doesn’t even know his name. He is simply the rich man. But Lazarus, the angels of God know Lazarus. No matter what the appearance, the reality is that the rich man is poor and the poor man is rich beyond measure.

This hidden reality is not unlike Abraham in our Old Testament reading. God had promised to Abraham that His house would prosper beyond measure, and that all the nations of the world should be blessed through him. But Abraham had no child. The promise was still hidden by God, only to be revealed in due time. Now God’s point to Abraham was that when God promised something according to His Word, it is real, as real as anything else. But sometimes you just can’t see it. It’s hidden.

This is, my dear friends in Christ, is so often what we do when it comes to our views of God. God has revealed Himself to us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He has given us His Word and bound Himself to us by Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar. God has given everything to you in His Son Jesus Christ, just as He had given to Lazarus. God’s gifts to you are all you need, all that you truly need to get to heaven and join the heavenly hosts with Abraham and all the saints.
But these gifts of God, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, are hidden. You cannot bankroll forgiveness of sins. The life that God bestows is not the good life that we Americans strive for so much. And salvation, well, salvation is hard to really grasp at all. These gifts of God are hidden. Indeed, Jesus Himself is hidden, just as His Church is hidden.

Let me give you an example. In our day and age if you were to ask people where the church is or what is the church, they would probably say something like where the people are. Or the church is made up of people. But our church, on the contrary, teaches that The church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly.

In other words, for us as Lutherans, when we go to locate the church, we don’t look finally at the people. People change. Some may be believers; others unbelievers masquerading as believers. You don’t look at the uncertain things. You look where God has promised to be found. And where does God promise to be found? In His Word and in His Sacraments. That is where God promises that He is.

This is what the rich man can’t understand. He can’t understand that faith isn’t created by a show or even by someone rising from the dead. No, faith flows from the Word of the Gospel giving by preaching and the Sacrament of the Altar, the Lord’s Supper. That is how God creates faith. That is how God draws many into His eternal kingdom.

Now what does this mean for you today? It means a great deal. Where do you place your trust? If you place your trust in what you see, you will be disappointed. Churches, you see, are made up of sinners. And so it shouldn’t surprise you when sinners sin. That’s what sinners do. So if you place your trust in the people, you will finally be disappointed.

Where does God direct you? Your faith has an object, and that object is Jesus Christ. He comes to you know through preaching and His Word. He comes to you now through His holy baptism and through His Holy Supper. That is where God is found. That is where your sins are forgiven. And that is where the Church is to be found. For wherever God’s Word is rightly preached and His Sacraments are rightly given out, that is where God’s Church will be found. It may be hidden. It may even be wearing rags and look pretty pathetic at times. But underneath those rags, like the rags of Lazarus, lies God’s dearest treasure, His Holy Bride, the Christian Church.

So when you look at this parable of our Lord, the point of the parable is this: God gives you His Word to trust, so that when the winds and the waves of life come, when false doctrine assaults you or other fears afflict you, you may look to His Word of promise, and know that God will bear you home, just as the angels carried Lazarus off to the bosom of Abraham.
Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

[I have used this sermon in a couple forms over the years, but I think it is a good one and worth repeated. -LL]

I Trust When Dark My Road NOW AVAILABLE FREE online

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(This was originally posted at I Trust When Dark My Road. I won’t normally cross-post, but this is an obvious exception. -TAP)

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The wait is finally over!

Nearly three years after I began the process of writing this book, it is now available for free download. The free print version will be available sometime in mid-late July. It is at the printer as we speak.

I would urge you to go to the website listed below and order as many copies as they will let you or as many as you need. then download the book and start to get a sense of it. I am very excited and anxious to hear your thoughts on this, and I pray it will serve as a blessing to the Church.

I would especially like to thank Maggie Karner, Al Dobnia, Sarah M. Shafer, Philip Hendricksen, and the entire staff at LCMS World Relief and Human Care for their kindness and work in helping this project come to fruition. They are a wonderful group of people!

So check it out and let me know what you think.

In Christ
Pastor Todd Peperkorn
Author
I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression

To request your complimentary copy, call 800-248-1930, ext. 1380.

“The Divine Love of the Holy Trinity” Holy Trinity Sunday

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
The Festival of the Most Holy Trinity (June 7, 2009)
John 3:1-17
The baptism of Amelia Mary Noble

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “The Divine Love of the Holy Trinity”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is from the Gospel lesson just read from John chapter 3 as follows: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Jesus has a conversation with a man, Nicodemus by name. Nicodemus is a rabbi, a teacher of the Jews, and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council. He is a man in the know, a man of influence and power, rich in both money and stature among his colleagues, friends and enemies. And he has come to Jesus by night, wanting to hear from our Lord what the story was about His work as the Messiah. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”” (John 3:2 ESV)

When it comes to our questions about God, who He is, what He does and how He works, you and I are not so different from Nicodemus. It doesn’t take a lot to figure out that there are grand and mighty things at work in the world. Some of these things are wondrous and beautiful: the gift of a new child, life, all of the freedoms that God has given us in this world, even the prosperity of our land this day is greater than most any other time or people in the history of the world. Yet at the same time, we can look at wars, sickness, death, heartache and trouble all around us, and recognize that things are not rosy, they are not perfect and everything happy. Nicodemus is on safe territory by saying that God is with Jesus, but it doesn’t answer any of the really tough questions of life.

God is not like us. I know this isn’t profound, but it is true nonetheless. And we need to understand this basic fact before we can really understand the nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes in Romans chapter eleven, ““For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”” (Romans 11:34 ESV) Isn’t that the truth! God’s ways are mysterious to us, hard to fathom. Sometimes they are wondrous, but sometimes they seem from our perspective to be cruel or even vindictive. Why did one person die and another live? How come this person’s job was cut and not that person?

We don’t know the answers to these questions. Life is full of more questions than answers. But every time, like Nicodemus, you try to fit God into our little categories, our cookie cutter view of how the world is supposed to be, you are trying to be God and not worship God. Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to see the kingdom of God he must be reborn. Nicodemus can’t get it yet, because he is trapped into trying to be God and not worship God.

So to help us worship God rightly, in a few minutes we will confess that ancient Christian confession known as the Athanasian Creed. One of the first sentences goes like this:

And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.

Notice the word used there, dearly beloved. Not the word catholic. Catholic just means general or universal. No, the word I want to draw your attention to is the word worship. We worship one God in Trinity. Three in one, triune. But the word is worship, not understand, not give orders to, not make into a pretty greeting card saying. Our God, the true God, is to be worshipped.

But what does that really mean, to worship God? To worship God is to live under Him in His kingdom. Worshipping God means receiving what He has to give to you. Worshipping God means being born again, or born from above, as Jesus tells Nicodemus. Worshipping God changes you, transforms you, makes you anew in His holy image, wrought in the waters of your Baptism, just as little Amelia received this very morning. Our Confessions put it this way:

So the worship and divine service of the Gospel is to receive gifts from God. On the contrary, the worship of the Law is to offer and present our gifts to God. However, we can offer nothing to God unless we have first been reconciled and born again. This passage, too, brings the greatest comfort, as the chief worship of the Gospel is to desire to receive the forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness. (Ap V, paragraph 189)

So in other words, when we talk about God, who He is, how He works, and what He does, the chief thing for you and I is to recognize that God’s work is to give us every good gift. The chief gift that God gives is His Son, Jesus Christ. Right after our Gospel for this morning we have that most famous of all Scripture passages, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but might have everlasting life (John 3:16). God loves so that He gives. He gives of Himself over and over again. Maybe we don’t always see it. Certainly we don’t always understand God’s ways. But do not doubt that God is at work this day, giving of Himself to you. Amelia reminds us of that this morning, as God puts His own name on her and makes her His own.

God is at work this day and every day, forgiving your sins, giving you Jesus, drawing you into His loving embrace. Come, partake of the meal which He has given of Himself to you. Feast upon the God who gives all things to you. Worship Him, for He loves you with an everlasting love. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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

How to order "I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression"

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The following is the blurb that is on page 10 of the Spring 2009 edition of Caring, from LCMS World Relief:

Free Resource Explores Clergy and Depression LCMS World Relief and Human Care’s newest resource reflects Rev. Todd Peperkorn’s personal journey through depression, I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression. LCMS WR-HC Executive Director Rev. Matthew Harrison recommends the book to all associated with professional church work: “This book offers a path to hope, and a future through Christ.” Dr. Beverly K. Yahnke, a licensed clinical psychologist, writes in the book’s forward: “When one’s mind and soul journey across the ghastly landscape of clinical depression, the adventure may challenge faith, hope, and life itself. … Peperkorn invites us into the world of a depressed Christian who remains reliant upon God’s grace.” The book is expected to be available in mid-June. To request your complimentary copy, call 800-248-1930, ext. 1380.

This was originally posted on my other blog, I Trust When Dark My Road. I have kept this blog quasi-anonymous for almost three years, but with the publication of this book, my double secret identity is now moot. I would please urge you to go to the above blog and subscribe to it. There is a great community of fellow sufferers, and I believe it will be worth your while.

Enjoy, and order as many books as you think you’ll use! THEY’RE FREE!

-LL

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"Worthy" (Pentecost 2009)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Pentecost (May 31, 2009)
John 14:23-31
On the occasion of the First Communion of Five Members of Messiah Lutheran Church

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “Worthy”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this holy day of Pentecost, and also our Confirmation Sunday, is from the Gospel lesson from John chapter 14 as follows: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

You are not worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper; It’s not about you. That’s what I’ve told these five young members of our church as they have prepared to receive the Sacrament of the Altar. All the work, all of the learning by heart and reading and prayer and preparation for this day, none of these things make you worthy to receive the Lord’s Supper. It’s not about you. It’s about what Jesus did for you, and it’s about what the Holy Spirit does in you even know by creating faith and giving you Jesus. As you, catechumens, have learned in the catechism, the words go like this:

Who receives this sacrament worthily?
?Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words “for you” require all hearts to believe. 

In a few minutes, these five young men and women will confess the Holy Christian Faith given to them in their Baptism some years ago. They will stand up here with their fathers and mothers and cling to God’s Word rather than their own works. They will confess faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They will confess that they are sinners and that only the blood of Jesus can forgive them. Not long after that, they will receive Christ’s body and blood for the first time for the forgiveness of sins. It is a big day for them and for the whole Christian Church on earth.

Why is it such a big day for them and for us gathered here? It is an important day because this is an opportunity for us as the Christian Church to remember who we are in Jesus Christ, and what makes us tick, so to speak, as a congregation.

(addressing the first communicants) God’s Word teaches us that it is here in the Christian Church that God gives the forgiveness of sins to hurting sinners. I hope that you have learned studying God’s Word that you are a hurting sinner. You do not deserve God’s grace and mercy any more than I do or anyone else in this room. None of us deserve God’s mercy.

But you see, that’s the whole point. God’s mercy means that it is undeserved. Nothing you can say or do or think will every make you worth of God’s love and mercy. The point is that God’s love and mercy comes down to you in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God creates faith in Jesus, and He is the one who keeps you in His love. As we confess in the Small Catechism:

What does this mean?
?I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true. 

The Holy Spirit is the one who has called you to this place. The Holy Spirit is the one who called you by the Gospel. The Holy Spirit baptized you in the name of the Triune God so many years ago. The Holy Spirit forgives your sins by the mouth of your pastor. The Holy Spirit gives you His Word. The Holy Spirit preaches to you. The Holy Spirit, to sum it all up, gives you Jesus. And when you receive Jesus Christ, whether it be by hearing His Word or receiving His body and blood, when you receive Jesus Christ in faith, God forgives your sins. And when God forgives your sins, you receive life and salvation. These three things go together: forgiveness, life and salvation.

That is why we as the Christian Church rejoice this day to hear you confess this faith. The angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents. When you confess this Christian Faith before God and His Holy Church, you are recognizing yourself as a sinner who needs God’s healing touch and word of forgiveness more than anything in your life.

This is in some ways a hard thing to understand. On the one hand you stand before the congregation this day and confess your faith. People after church will give you congratulations, and there is a probably a party of some sort at your house after church today. It sure seems like it’s about you, doesn’t it? But it’s not. That’s one of the reasons why I appreciate having first communion here on Pentecost. This is the day where we remember the Holy Spirit is the one who gives faith and that He is the one who will keep you in this one true faith all the days of your life. So it’s not about you. It’s about God. And God gives it all to you.

(addressing congregation) This is pretty much how it always works in the Christian Church. God is constantly taking lowly sinners like you and I and lifting you up, forgiving your sins, and setting you at His Right Hand as the honored guest at His banquet. That is what you receive every time you partake of His Holy Supper. God makes you His honored guest. He forgives your sins and sets you in the place of honor. He doesn’t do this because you are so wonderful or so great. No, He does this because He loves you. He does this because He loves you with an everlasting love, and that love drove Him to die on the cross and rise again so that you might rise from the dead with Him. You are no more worthy to receive the Lord’s Body and Blood than these young ones. But God is merciful to you, and He gives of Himself for your salvation.

So this Pentecost we see God’s work before us. It is His Church, and He is the one who both creates faith and gives it to His children whom He loves. Well, I guess it is about you, after all. Amen.

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