Christ Makes Illegal Immigrants - and Us - Mary

Sermon on Luke 1:26-38

St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA

Sunday, December 21, 2008,

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

(word count: 783)

Christ Makes Illegal Immigrants - and Us - Mary

Mary was a low-income, unwed teenager from a hick-town with one traffic light. God dedicates her by making her pregnant with Jesus, the Messiah. Imagine. The angel Gabriel sings, “The Lord is with you! The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Your child will be the Son of God.” Mary responds, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.” God calls upon her to be the mother of God, and she replies, “I'm ready.”

How about you and me? “The Lord is with you!” “And also with you!” Christ was born to die and rise. Now we, the baptized, have eternal life for free. Christ has yanked us out of Satan's rotting mouth. Christ will return to finish salvation. Christ comes to us right this moment. The Church is Christ's body. Where two or three gather in his name, Christ is present. Christ comes to us through Bible and sermon. Christ feeds us his real presence, his body and blood, through holy communion. Christ declares in Matthew 28, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” “The Lord is with you!”

Do you believe that? Do you believe that the Lord is with you, closer to you than you are to yourself? When we declare, “The Lord be with you,” we are saying, “The Lord is with you, so act like you believe that.” Act like you believe that the Lord is with you. Right here. Do you live like the Lord is with you? Do I? Does St. James. Every day, we are holy, the saint-community. We are bearers of Christ, like Mary. The Lord is with us.

No matter how little money you have; no matter how sick you are; no matter how many dirty dishes you have in the sink; no matter how low your self-image is, Christ is with you.

Imagine the angel Gabriel standing before you, blazing, fierce eyes unblinking, smelling like spring air. With a voice like a trombone, he says, “The Lord is with you! Do not be afraid, for God has shown you favor through Jesus Christ.” You can feel God's love impregnating you with holy power. You are one of God's glowing, sacred children, baptized, full of Messiah-muscle. The Lord is with you.

Since the Lord has filled you, you have the faith to see that the Lord has filled others, too. Look around. Relatives, friends, acquaintances, strangers, enemies – the Lord is with all Christians. The Lord is with people you dislike – people who talk too much, brag, lie, gossip. The Lord never says, “I am with you, unless you have flaws.” Otherwise, Peter would be out. James and John would be out. Thomas, out. But thanks be to God that you do not have to be perfect for the Lord to be with you. Christ is with us because he loves us, not because we deserve his presence. So then, the Lord Christ is with all of us in the Church, even with those who annoy, upset or offend us. Jesus does not say, “I am with you always, unless you sin.” He says, “I am with you always, period.”

The Lord is also with people who are different from us. The Lord is with Pedro, who attends church every Sunday with his wife and two daughters, ages seven and five. Such cute girls. The one is shy, the other talks too loudly. Pedro thanks God for the infant Jesus, thanks God for Christ dying on the cross. Pedro is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. He is breaking the law. He is far from perfect, he is a sinner, but he is still a member of the Church. The Lord is with Pedro, and because the Lord is with you, you have the faith to see that the Lord is with Pedro, is with all in the Church.

As we ride into the twelve-day season of Christmas, let us remember that we are Mary, we are the ones God has dedicated through Christ. Even with our flaws, we are still Christ-bearers for a barren world. Remember that as the chatter and lights of Christmas swirl around you. The Lord is with you. On Christmas Day, take a moment to be still. Picture yourself. You are in the stable, beside the manger, holding the baby. Look down at the infant Christ [cradle crucifix?]. His round, dark face, his blue eyes, his black hair. He stares at you, and you say in a soft, low voice, “Here am I, Mary, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

Pink River of Rejoice Always

Sermon on Rejoicing,

with Isaiah 61:10, the Magnificat, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16

St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA

Sunday, December 14, 2008,

Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

(word count: 995)

Pink River of Rejoice Always

One of the themes of Advent is rejoicing. As we said last Sunday, part of preparing for the comings of Christ is repenting. Another component of preparing for Christ is rejoicing, and certainly we rejoice once Christ arrives.

Our readings repeatedly mention rejoicing. Our first passage, which Diane just read, says in verse ten, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD.” In our psalmody, Luke 1:46-55, pregnant Mary declares, “My spirit rejoices in God my savior.” In our second reading, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Paul even goes so far as to exhort us to “Rejoice always.”

“Rejoice always”? What does it mean to rejoice always? “Rejoice always” does NOT mean that we have to act happy all the time. Jesus isn't happy all the time. He weeps, he yells. His sweat falls like great drops of blood because he is so full of anxiety. We can express other emotions besides joy.

“Rejoice always” does not mean that we cannot grieve. Have you ever been at a funeral, and a well-meaning person says, “We shouldn't be sad. We should be happy because the person is in heaven”? It is true that the person is in heaven. It is also true that we may be sad because we will miss that person. If Jesus can weep at Lazarus' funeral, then we can weep at funerals, too.

So then, what does it mean to rejoice always? I'm not sure. Perhaps it means that, even when we are angry, sad, scared, bored, or frustrated, we still have flowing through us a steady river of rejoicing. Even when we are furious with each other, Kim and I still love each other, thanks be to God. In sickness and in health we always have flowing in our relationship love for each other. Likewise, maybe “rejoice always” means we are always to have flowing through us a pink river of rejoicing, even when we are full of grief, fury, loneliness, or disease.

What keeps it going? What is the source of this pink river of rejoicing that is to flow within us?

For help with the answer, listen again to Isaiah 61:10. The prophet trumpets, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD [ . . . ] for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation [ . . . ]” Similarly, Mary makes it clear that she is rejoicing because God has blessed her by making her the mother of the one who will flip the world upsidedown with the power of salvation.

We Christians are to rejoice always because Christ has come, will come, and is here to give us salvation. God has clothed us with the garments of salvation.

Paul sings both in 1 Thessalonias 5 and Philippians 4 that we are to rejoice always. Why? Paul's letters reveal that the love God shows us through Christ's sacrifice is the source of our being and power. Remove that love and we are dried-up river beds, or, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, we are nothing but noise. The love of God through Christ is the source of the river of Rejoice Always.

How's your river? Look inside you. Do you have flowing within you the pink river of rejoicing always in response to Christ's comings to save us? Even when sick, in pain, worried, tired, or hungry, do you still have flowing inside you the pink river of Rejoice Always? Do I? Does Saint James? Many congregations boast that they are friendly. Can we boast that we are a rejoicing congregation? Maybe.

Do you rejoice over the comings of Christ, past, future and present? Do you take the time to rejoice? We humans do a great deal of complaining and lamenting, and God is open to our complaints and laments. How much rejoicing do we declare as we anticipate and celebrate Christ's comings?

Not allowing the pink river of Rejoice Always to dry up can be difficult. When we lose our job, when we are worn-out, when we keep bouncing checks, when people we love keep hurting themselves with cigarettes, alcohol, bad relationships, or drugs, it is easy to allow the pink river of Rejoice Always to dry up. Satan builds dams in our river to stop the flow.

Part of the Good News, though, is that God remains the river's source. The Holy Spirit keeps feeding the river through Christ coming to us in Scripture and sermon. God continues to feed the river through Christ coming to us in the form of people helping us and in the form of us helping others. God keeps feeding the river through Christ healing us by answering our prayers.

Has Satan dammed your river? Let us know. Christ has sent us, your fellow Christians, to help.

Many of us have an especially difficult time preserving our river this time of year. As we hiss and scratch to get ready for Christmas, we often find ourselves not in the Christmas spirit. Do you have trouble summoning the Christmas spirit? Are you having difficulty preparing spiritually for the celebration of Christ's birth? How's your river?

Here is something to try. This can be done in as little as five minutes. Play your favorite sacred Christmas music. [“Mary, did you know?”] Light a candle [Walk to pink candle.]. Focus on the candle, listen to the music. Picture your pink river flowing out of the candle, from God and into you. See it flowing, pink, serene, the river of Rejoice Always, flowing no matter what.

Your river flows from God and into your heart. Now start rejoicing: I rejoice, Christ, for you came to die for us. I rejoice, Christ, for you will return to fix all problems. I rejoice, Christ, for you come to us now through worship, Scripture and sermon, people we help. We rejoice for you coming to baptize through us NAME. We rejoice over the ways you clothe us in the garments of salvation. Thank you. Thank you. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice. [Stare at pink candle.]

Sermon on Mark 1:1-8

St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA

Sunday, December 7, 2008,

Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

(word count: 1000)

The Word “Preach"

Much of the time, when we use the word “preach” in casual conversation, we use the word negatively. For instance, your friend lights a cigarette. You say, “Those things are going to kill you. You shouldn't smoke,” and your friend snaps, “I already know that. Quite preaching to me.” When we use the word “preach,” we often mean by it a finger-wagging talk in which one person tells another that they better shape up. In casual conversation, “to preach” usually means “to scold.”

There is some biblical basis for this meaning of the word “preach.” For example, in today's gospel, Mark 1:1-8, John the Baptist is preaching in a scolding, get-it-together kind of way. The passage tells us that John proclaims, or preaches, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance. Shape up. Confess your sins. Get it together.

However, John's message is not only – or even primarily – about repentance, about getting it together. Why does John urge people to repent? Mark tells us in verses two and three when he quotes Isaiah, saying, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord [ . . . ]” Why do the people in John's day need to repent? Because repenting is how you get ready for the coming of Jesus.

At our house, when we have guests coming, we vacuum. Kim dusts everything. She scrubs the sinks and the showers. I change the cat litter and empty the garbage. The kids clean their rooms. When we have guests coming, we get ready, we prepare, by cleaning up.

According to John the Baptist, we prepare for the coming of Jesus by cleaning our lives up. We repent, meaning that we say we are sorry for our sins and that we make changes so that we do not commit those sins again. That's what John urged the people to do a long time ago at the first coming, the first advent, of Christ; repenting is part of how we keep awake for the second coming, the second advent; and repenting is an essential part of preparing ourselves for Jesus coming to us today.

Don't you want your inner house to be clean for the arrival of Jesus? Don't you want to show him your best? This is God who is coming into your life, the one who died for our sins and loves us more than anyone. Let's clean the inner house so that everything is right for Christ's coming.

Preaching can help us to get ready by reminding us that we need to repent and by helping us to see what we do wrong. It is essential for preaching to include a call for us, the baptized, to repent.

However, if all we do with preaching is speak a word of repentance, a word of “get it together,” then we miss the most important part of the Good News, which is the joy of the coming of Jesus Christ. Do you understand? The repentance, the get-it-together message, is just part of the Good News. The main part of the Good News is that Christ has come, will come, is here. Just as John's central mission was to get people ready for Christ's coming, the central mission of our preaching is to proclaim Christ's coming. Repentance is a part of the message, but it is not the main message. For John, repentance is a means to an end. The main message, the point, is the Good News of Christ's coming, past, future, now.

So then, when we use the word “preach” to mean “scolding, urging people to shape up, get it together,” then we are misusing the word “preach.” “You should quit smoking.” “Aw, stop preaching to me.” The word “preach” means far more than scolding; it means proclaiming the Good News that God has shown us the love supreme through the triple-coming of Christ. When we in the Church fixate on scolding people, wagging our fingers, and griping about what's wrong with the world, we miss the most important part of the message: God saves us with love through Christ's coming.

When you listen to a sermon, either here, at another congregation, or while watching TV, ask yourself, “Does this sermon proclaim the Good News of Christ?” Many sermons spend a great deal of time on scolding or on self-help, which is similar to scolding, but these sermons spend relatively little time on the Good News of Christ coming into our lives to save us, heal us, transform us, today.

Given how much scolding goes on in preaching, it is not surprising that, in casual conversation, the word “preach” often means “to scold.” Scolding has its place, but what if the word “preach” had a more positive meaning in our conversations? What if the word “preach” meant, not “to scold,” but “to help people see Christ's loving presence in their lives”? In our conversations, instead of the word “preach” meaning “Tell people what they do wrong,” what if the word “preach” meant instead, “Tell people what God does right”? Think about it.

Your friend never did quit smoking. Now she's in the hospital, dying from lung cancer. Her room is full of cards, flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals. Her family has flown in to be with her. The pastor has been in to give her holy communion, the real presence of Christ.

When the two of you are alone, your friend says, “All these people have been so nice. I feel loved.”

Then, you open your mouth, and you say, “One of the ways Jesus comes to us is through other people. All these people caring for you is one of the ways God comes to you and says, 'I love you.'”

And your friend squeezes your hand and says, “That was a good sermon. Thanks for saying that to me. Thanks for preaching to me.”

Sermon on Mark 13:24-37

St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA

Sunday, November 30, 2008,

First Sunday of Advent, Year B

(word count: 1036)

Keep Awake; Plant Trees

Advent is about the coming of Christ, past, future, present. Today's readings give fluorescent attention to the Second Coming, to the coming of Christ at the end of this world. The day will arrive on which Christ will return to earth in the ultimate way. As we confess in the Creed, “Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.” Maybe in another 2000 years, maybe before today sets, Christ will return at the End of this world.

When we Christians think and talk about the Second Coming of Christ, we tend to have one of two attitudes. One attitude that some of us Christians have about the Second Coming is that of obsession. Such people read book after book about it, scrutinize Revelation for clues about when the Second Coming will occur. These folks swear that we are in the Last Days. They believe that the Bible points to many of the events of our time. Some Christians obsess over the Second Coming.

A problem with obsessing over the Second Coming is that Jesus tells us in our reading from Mark 13 that, no matter how hard we try to figure out if Christ, is about to come back, we will never know for sure until afterwards. Only the Father knows the when of the Second Coming. Christ will return like a robber breaking into your house.

Besides, does God really want us to spend valuable time fretting over the Second Coming? Wouldn't it be a holier use of our time if we obsessed over new ways to help people, new ways to care for the needy, new ways to end bickering and back-stabbing? Obsessing over the Second Coming is understandable, but it would be wiser to obsess over how to glorify God by helping people, especially since we cannot know for sure when the Second Coming will happen anyway.

While some people obsess over the Second Coming, other people ignore it. The ignoring is the second attitude. They flush their lives down the toilet. They are careless about God and helping people, act as if they have decades to burn, live as if there will never be an End. The problem with such an attitude is that the Bible makes it plain as perfume that there will be a Second Coming.

So if obsessing over the Second Coming is unwise and indifference is unwise, what is the wise attitude? Jesus tells us in Mark 13 the right attitude. “Keep awake,” he says. He does not say, “Obsess over when the Second Coming will happen,” and he does not say, “Ignore the Second Coming.” He says, “Keep awake.” In other words, always be ready for the Second Coming. Keep awake.

So how do we keep awake? The two greatest commandments are to love God and to love the neighbor, so keeping awake demands love. Love God by going to worship, praying, giving offering, studying the Bible, remembering your baptism, repenting of your sins, eating and drinking the body and blood, helping people in need, keeping the commandments. No matter how lousy the economy is, keep on loving God and loving the neighbor. Do not give up. Keep awake. If we do that, then regardless of when Christ returns, we will be ready.

In fact, if we keep awake, if we focus on loving God and loving the neighbor, then we will see that, in a sense, Christ already comes to us right now. Christ will come in the supernal way at the end, but Christ comes to us now, too.

As we heard last Sunday in Matthew 25, when we help people in need, we help Christ. We encounter Christ. Moreover, we who keep awake also discover, by the Spirit's guidance, that Christ is with us each Sunday at worship. He tells us in Matthew that, where at least two of us gather in his name, he is with us. We encounter Christ, also, in reading Scripture, for it it is the Word of God. Further, as the Book of Concord teaches us, we encounter the real presence of Christ in holy communion. When we love God and neighbor – when we keep awake – Christ reveals himself to us.

In this new Church year, what are new ways that we baptized witnesses can love God and love the neighbor? Thanks be to the Holy Spirit, we at St. James do much, from the Angel Tree to Operation Reindeer to Meals on Wheels to fundraisers for the Blackburn Center. What more could we do as we keep awake, obsessing over loving God and loving others?

In Africa, a couple decades ago a woman named Wangari Maathai started planting trees to help fight erosion. Now she has helped to plant over eighty-million trees and, in so doing, has helped to improve dramatically the environment and economy in Kenya. It all started with planting a few trees. Dr. Maathai is keeping awake. What more could we do as we witnesses keep awake?

As we think, pray and talk about how we can keep awake, obsessing over loving God and neighbor, we recall the first coming of long ago. There will be the Second Coming, and Christ comes to us now. In addition, remember that first Advent, that first coming, of long ago? Picture it. In the evening, Christ celebrates the Last Supper. Jesus urges the disciples to keep awake in Gethsemene. At midnight they put him on trial. At cockcrow Peter denies Jesus. At dawn, he stands before Pilate. Then they crucify Jesus. His nailed body hangs against the clouds. The sun turns dark. See him. Christ hangs in power and glory on the cross, with us, gasping toward death.

Christ came to die for all. The wood of the manger turns into the cross. Let that Good News keep you up, obsessing over holy love.

Sermon on Ephesians 1:15-23 and Matthew 25:31-46
St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA
Sunday, November 23, 2008,
The Reign of Christ, Year A
(word count: 1077)

Simul Sheep and Goat

A man lies in the street in pain, groaning. A stranger stops. She kneels beside the person.
Today's reading from chapter 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats, comes at the end of Jesus' teachings. This is the last story King Jesus tells before he heads to the cross to die for our sins.

What a story it is. Jesus tells us that, at the end, he, the king, on his throne, will judge us according to whether we helped people in need. Did we give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty? Did we welcome the stranger and clothe the naked? Did we care for the sick and visit the imprisoned? If we did, Jesus will welcome us to life. If we did not, Jesus will send us to hell. Boom.

Note that Jesus does not place conditions on our helping people in need. He does not say, “Only help people who deserve help.” He does not say, “Only help white people,” or “Only help Americans.” Jesus does not say, “Help everyone, except Muslims.” Christ the King does not decree, “Help everyone in need, except illegal immigrants.” No, through this story our King teaches us that we are to help all people in need, no exceptions.

The woman wipes away at the wounds of the man lying in the street. They are full of puss and blood. They stink, but she keeps cleaning them. People walking by say, “Man, that's disgusting. I wouldn't do that job for a million dollars.”

Are we sheep or goats? Do we help people in need, or do we make excuses not to? Do you give food, money, attention, and talent to reduce poverty, care for the sick, and support people in jail?

I think I am a sheep, for the most part, although there are times when I am a goat. Plenty of times I look the other way instead of helping someone. When I hear about poverty-stricken children on TV, sometimes I turn the channel. I give money to charities, pray for people in need, try to help people, but I could do more. I could give more money to people in need instead of spending it to over-eat. The synod runs trips to Mississippi to help Katrina victims. I could do that. Why don't I?

Am I a sheep or a goat? It depends. Most of us are like that. Most of us do not fit neatly into one category. The Book of Concord teaches that we are both saint and sinner. God has made us saints, but we still sin. Romans 3 proclaims, “All have sinned.” Are you a sheep or a goat? You're both. We all are.

So then, how can God divide people into sheep and goat? Aren't we a combination of sheep and goat, a combination of good and bad? Aren't we all sinners?

Maybe part of the point of the story of the sheep and the goats is to show us that we all fall short. When we hear this story, if we are honest, we will confess that, while sometimes we care for those in need, other times we neglect people. There's some goat in each of us.

Perhaps, then, this story helps us to see how much we need Jesus to die for us. We hear this story, and we say, “Yes, I have my sheep moments, but I can be pretty goatish, too. Sometimes I help those in need, sometimes I don't. I do not do enough. I am a sinner.” When we acknowledge that we just cannot do it all on our own, that we can never be good enough, then we cling to the cross, for it is through the cross that Christ has saved us. Are we as good as should be? No, but Jesus died to save us.

Indeed, the Book of Concord teaches that the Law of God, the passages of commandment and judgment, function like a mirror to show us how much we need Jesus. These tough passages of the Bible, such as the story of the sheep and the goats, hold a mirror to us [hold up mirror]. We look in the mirror. We see our sin. We declare, “Look at all that sin. I can't do all this on my own. I need Jesus.” Then we the baptized sprint to the cross, trusting that Christ forgives us. We cannot be good enough, we cannot be sheep enough, we cannot help people enough, we cannot earn our way into heaven, so alleluia for Christ the King, who has saved us. Whew, what a relief!

Christ the King has snatched us from the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Christ the King takes his place on that throne called the cross to save us. From the cross, Christ says, “Because you are hungry and thirsty and a stranger and naked and sick and in prison, I die for you.”

Christ the King dies to give us life, and Christ the King empowers us to care for the needy.
Further, because Christ the King has saved us by dying for us, we can help people in need without worrying about reward. Feed the hungry, visit the sick, welcome the stranger. Why? To get a reward? No, Christ has earned the reward for us by dying on the cross. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, not by the good deeds we do. So why should we care for people in need? Because God wants us to, and because, when we do so, we help God himself.

Mother Teresa cleans the pus-filled, bloody sores of the sick man lying in the street. The sores stink and run. Disgusting. A reporter mutters, “I wouldn't do that job for a million dollars.”

Mother Teresa replies, “Neither would I.”

Christ has cared for us, has saved us. He then sends us out to care for others, not for reward, but because that is what God wants us to do. Further, when we help people in need, we help God himself.

For this new Church year, what is some new way you could help people in need? What new deed could I do? What could St. James do?

“I wouldn't help human beings for a million dollars.”

From the cross, Jesus says, “Neither would I.”

Sermon on Zephaniah 1:12b, 1 Thessalonians 5:9,
and Matthew 25:14-30
St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA
Sunday, November 16, 2008,
27th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A
(word count: 857)

Trillionaire Slaves

We do not give God enough credit. We short-change God.

For instance, many of us come to worship on Sunday but then go about the rest of the week as if God does not really make a difference. We believe luck, fate, superstition, and hard work make a big difference from day to day, but God? Oh, he's good for the occasional miracle and for some spiritual comfort, otherwise God doesn't do much, or so we act.

We fuss over guardian angels, but then we fail to go the extra step and give God the glory. Isn't God the one who sends the angels? The angels know to give God the glory. We short-change God.

Similarly, many people short-change the Church, which comes from God. It's sweet and nice, full of feel-good sentiments and helpful rules but, for the most part, it doesn't really make much of an impact. We treat the Church like a feel-good club that you can join if you want but that you can ignore if you want. It doesn't matter. Go to church, don't go. Whatever works for you. It doesn't matter.

We hear just such an attitude in our first reading, Zephaniah 1. In verse 12, the writer reports that many people are saying, “The LORD will not do good, nor will he do harm.” He's just there, watching us as if we were a TV show. Thousands of people in Zephaniah's time thought that way. “God doesn't do good, doesn't do bad. He's just up there, hanging out, watching the show.” Deism.

The people of Zephaniah will soon learn that they are wrong. God announces that he will squeeze them with wrath. The people of Zephaniah are about to learn that God does make a difference.

Are we, the baptized believers, going to experience the wrath of God if we think that God does not make a difference? No. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 tells us, “For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We will receive, not God's wrath, but the jackpot of eternal life. As Luther writes in the Book of Concord, Christ has bought our salvation, not with silver and gold, but with his precious blood. The Redeemer paid the ransom to rescue us from wrath.

However, even though, because of Christ, we will not experience the wrath we hear about in Zephaniah, we are still not to underestimate God's impact on our lives. As in Zephaniah's day, many of us live as if God does not make much of a difference. We short-change God by underestimating him.

So what specifically does God do for us in our lives today? Let us count some of the ways. For starters, Luther tells us in the Book of Concord that the Father gives us life. Are babies being born? That would be the Father's doing. The Father also gives us food, a place to live, a paycheck, clothes, medicine, people who love us. Do you have any of those things? You may not have all that you want or need, but whatever riches you do have are evidence that God is active in your life, making a difference. Let's not short-change God by under-valuing him. Let's praise him by sharing the wealth he gives us.

Luther goes on to tell us in the Book of Concord that the Holy Spirit is with us, active, right here, right now. The Spirit is the one who gives us faith to believe. The Holy Spirit is the engine powering the Church. The Holy Spirit enables us to repent and believe that God will forgive us. This worship service is evidence of God's activity in the world. If it weren't for the Holy Spirit, there would be no worship service, no St. James. The Holy Spirit makes baptism, holy communion, forgiveness of sins, the sermon, and the healing service all possible. Let's not short-change God by under-appreciating him. Let's praise God by sharing the wealth he gives us today.

Best of all, Luther reminds us in the Book of Concord that salvation, eternal life, is because of Jesus Christ. If it weren't for Christ, we'd end up prisoners in hell, penniless, senseless. Because of Christ, we have life. Let's not short-change God. Let's praise God by sharing the wealth.
Like the people in Zephaniah's day, many of us act as if God and his church do not matter much, that God is just up in heaven watching, inactive, that the Church is just a nice club that you can take or leave. The reality is that God, the Trinity, without ceasing deposits riches into our accounts. Every day, the Lord fills our accounts with riches. God is not bankrupt, and neither is the Church. God is giving us riches through our basic needs, through worship, through forgiveness, through eternal life. The Trinity has entrusted us with a fortune, is here, active in your life, right now. Good and trustworthy slaves, we are wealthy. We are God's trillionaire slaves. God makes a difference in your life now.