Jesus Says, “Go!”

Sermon preached at Our Savior for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost on July 11, 2010. Sermon text: Luke 10:1-12,16

"On your marks! Get set! Go!" I'd imagine all of you know exactly what those words mean. A race is about to start! When you hear "On your marks!", the racers find the starting line. At "Get set!" the racers get down into their racing stance. Finally, all the energy and training those racers had is used as they start running the course, not stopping until they hit the finish-line.

That's kind of how it works on Sunday mornings, right? In the announcements after the service, I might announce some sort of project that the church has going on or some need we have at the moment. I won't say "On your marks! Get Set! Go!," but I might say words almost as energizing: "sign-up sheet." Then, when an usher is excusing the different rows it's like a race has begun; people practically sprint to that sign-up sheet. Sometimes you can hear them, "I want to clean the church next month!" "VBS?! Make sure to sign me and the whole family up for the entire week!" "No! The snack schedule is all filled up again!" Yes, it can be quite the sight. And when it's all over and the dust has settled, I quietly go and pick up all the full sign-up sheets and try to make sense of it all.

Maybe you're starting to sense that I'm telling a pretend story here. I'm not saying that sign-up sheets are the greatest thing ever; they're not. Usually, I'm more surprised when anyone has signed up for something than when no one does. Do we treat opportunities to serve our Savior -- not Our Savior the congregation, but our Savior Jesus Christ -- do we see those as opportunities? Do we see them as a great way to show our thanks? Or do we see them as a burden? Do we just hope someone else does it so we don't have to? Do we just ignore it and not give it a second thought?

Jesus gives a very simple command in our text for this morning: "Go!" (Lk. 10:3) He's not commanding the start of a race; he's sending people out to serve. And if the call to serve our Savior isn't appealing, or if we can always think of something better, it's time for us to reevaluate our priorities and change what we're doing. Fortunately, we have our Lord to help us with that. He leads us with his love. He motivates us with his forgiveness. And he sends us out with his message. So, the time for getting on your marks and getting set is over. Because Jesus says, "Go!"

Our text starts with Jesus laying out the mission for his followers. After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. (Lk. 10:1) Jesus was essentially sending out these 72 people to canvass the neighborhoods that he would be visiting next. In case you're wondering how Jesus found seventy-two people, you have to look back into the previous chapter of Luke.

There, Jesus was trying to get people to follow him; it was sort of his version of a sign-up sheet. But things didn't go well. Wouldn't you know it -- people had all sorts of excuses! They had this and that other thing to do. So finally Jesus gives them the bottom line. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. (Lk. 9:62)

As a Christian, serving your Savior is not an option. Jesus doesn't mince words here. When we refuse to serve him, no matter how long our list of excuses, that's a sin. That's a sin that cannot stand before God. And that's a sin that can only find forgiveness in Jesus himself, his blood, his death, and his resurrection. There, in the joy of his forgiveness, in the shadow of his cross, there we have the reason to serve, the motivation. We love because he first loved us. (1 Jn. 4:19)
So you think, OK, I want to serve, but what do I do? Where do I go? The story of our text shows us some good things to remember. Listen to Jesus' words to those who would be serving him. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Lk. 10:2) When Jesus says, "Go!" you pray.

You pray because look at all the work there is to do! Think of this world we live in; think of how many people don't know their Savior. Think about how those who don't believe in him have rejected the salvation he won for all. It's overwhelming when you think about it. I don't care how motivated you are, you aren't going to be able to travel all over the world and reach everyone with the gospel.

And it's not much better when you look in our immediate area. Sure, there are a lot of churches here in Springville, or in the greater Buffalo area, but does that mean everyone's a Christian? How many people still don't believe in Jesus? How many people had believed but have fallen away, or are straying from their Savior and in grave spiritual danger? I don't think you have to look very far around you to find people like that. It's overwhelming. How could we ever reach them all? And then we look around at our congregation... It's a small group. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

So, what do we do? We pray. Our heavenly Father knows the need around us. He knows it better than we do. He's the one in charge of this all. We pray to him. In fact, this is the way that everyone can listen to Jesus' call to "Go!" I don't care how old you are, what your physical abilities are, you can pray. And what a powerful thing that is! We get to approach God's own throne with our requests, and he's promised to hear us! So go! Pray!

Most of us will have lots of opportunities beyond our prayers, too. Jesus showed us this as he sent out the workers. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. (Lk. 10:3-4)

Jesus isn't shy in telling us that serving him can be dangerous. "Like lambs among wolves." Wolves eat lambs; it's dangerous to be a lamb. And we've seen time and again in God's Word the dangers and troubles we face as Christians. Our lives will not be easier because we are Christians; they may in fact be much more difficult.

So doesn't it strike you a bit odd that Jesus sends his sheep among the wolves, he sends his soldiers into the battle, with nothing! He tells them to bring nothing with them. Shouldn't they pack up everything they can think of? Shouldn't they be packing weapons, maps, strategies, psychological profiles of those wolves? Why would Jesus send them into danger completely defenseless and powerless?

He doesn't. And this is the second thing you need to remember. When Jesus says, "Go!", you go in his strength alone. When you know there's an opportunity to serve your Savior, what stops you? Think of some of the excuses that might come to your mind. "No one will listen to me." "They'll laugh at me." "I don't want people thinking I'm some sort of nut." "I won't know what to say." "I'll say something wrong and make everything worse."

To those excuses, Jesus says, "Go!" Go out and serve him, but don't worry, it won't be your strength, it will be his. His strength at work in you by the Holy Spirit through God's Word. One of the reasons we study the Bible is because there Jesus strengthens us, he prepares us and equips us to serve him. That's why we continue to go to the strength found at the Lord's Supper time and time again. Jesus wants to give us his strength to go!

When you go up to someone and tell them about Jesus, I'll tell you right now, you have absolutely no chance of convincing them to believe. No chance! But with Jesus' power, with the Holy Spirit working through the Word, people are brought to faith. Miracles do happen! The responsibility to do those miracles doesn't rest on you. It's Jesus' strength.

And when you come with Jesus' strength, remember what the message you speak really is. Jesus said in our text, When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. (Lk. 10:5-6) Of course, in this specific case, Jesus was having his workers go out and stay in people's homes. That's probably not going to be our goal most of the time as we serve our Savior. But there's still a principle here for us. When Jesus says, "Go!" you go with a message of peace.

That's what the gospel is. It's peace. Peace between us and God. The book of Romans tells us, Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1) It's tempting when you talk with someone to get into an argument or to talk about what our church is against and all sorts of things like that. The most important message you have is peace. Jesus won us peace. He won us eternal life and forgiveness and salvation. That is your message.

And don't think you don't have the right to share it. You do. Jesus said it in our text. He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. (Lk. 10:16) We might  not think it's any of our business to tell someone about their Savior. We might think they'll say, "Who gave you the right to tell me what to believe?" But remember, when Jesus says, "Go!" You go with his authority.

Spreading Jesus' message is spreading good news! It's news of peace, news of salvation! It's not your ideas; it wasn't your plan to share this. Jesus commanded it. He has sent you. And if someone doesn't like it, their problem is with Jesus, not with you. Remember that. Take comfort that you have the Savior and God of all behind you when you tell others about him.

So when you put it all together, it's clear. We need to go. We need to go and share our Savior's love. Now, that's going to look differently for different people. It doesn't mean you have to sign up on every sign-up sheet at church. Yes, there will be opportunities for you to serve here. But there will be many more opportunities in your everyday lives outside of this building.

You work with people. You have people in your family. You see people when you're out and about. That's your mission field. That's where God has placed you. And if God has placed you in a place where you can't go anywhere or talk to anyone, you can still pray. Yes, this is a mission for all of us.

So let's go! Let's go into this world with the good news of our Savior's love. Let's stop with the excuses and fears and the paralysis of sin. Instead, let's hear Jesus' command and go! Go  in prayer to your heavenly Father. Go with Jesus' power alone. Go with a message of peace. Go with the authority of Jesus himself. There's a big world out there. There's a lot of people who need to hear about their Savior. On your marks! Get set! Your mission field starts when you leave this church today. Go!

The Spirit Speaks / We Speak

Sermon preached at Our Savior for the festival of Pentecost on May 23, 2010. Sermon text: John 15:26-27

Some businesses have a "silent partner." This is the person who has a stake in the business, but never speaks or makes decisions for the company. He simply provides his part of the money for it, shares in the profits, and no more. He's a silent partner.

That's how we might think of the Holy Spirit: God's silent partner. We can think of all sorts of things that God the Father and God the Son say and do. Our text for today consists of the words of Jesus. We've heard the words that God the Father spoke as he created the world: "Let there be light!" (Gen. 1:3) But the Holy Spirit? It's probably a little harder to think of what he does, let alone to think of anything he says.

Think about Jesus' baptism. Jesus was the one baptized, and he speaks to John the Baptist beforehand. (Matt. 3:15) God the Father speaks afterward, from the sky, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17) The Holy Spirit was there, too, but he was silent. We just hear that he descended on Jesus "like a dove." (Matt. 3:16) All in all, it's pretty easy to think of the Holy Spirit as the "silent partner" of God. It might even be easy for to think the Holy Spirit doesn't really do that much at all.

But he does! The Holy Spirit is vitally important for our life, for our faith, and for our eternity. And don't think for a second that

Witness the Power of the Word

Sermon preached on 5/9/10 at Our Savior. Sermon text: Acts 14:8-18

Sometimes someone's words have the power to change everything. One such person is mom. Let's face it, what your mother says means a lot. If you're hurt, or down, or discouraged, sometimes some words of comfort from your mom might be one of the few things that will make you feel better. Of course, no criticism will get your attention more than words of disappointment from mom.

Yes, moms' words really have power for us. You can probably all think of words from your mom that have meant a lot to you throughout your life. And I hope you take the time today to give thanks for the gifts from God that moms really are.

Our text for this morning doesn't focus on moms, but it does focus on powerful words. The most powerful Word comes from God himself. God's Word, the Bible, is God's power, working for our good. We talk about that a lot here, how important the Bible is, how we always want to be reading and studying it, how powerful it is. If you've been coming to this church for any length of time, you're probably used to hearing how powerful God's Word is. 

I Have Made You a Light

Sermon preached at Our Savior on 5/2/10 for the 5th Sunday of Easter. Sermon text: Acts 13:44-52

It was a very dark time in the history of our world. The most important, most precious message ever heard wasn't treated as something precious, but as something to suppress, something to silence. The message of Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world, the one who died and rose for the sins of world -- that message should have been greeted with shouts of joy, but it wasn't. Many hated the message, and they wanted it to disappear forever.

This dark time that I'm talking about is from the time of our text from the book of Acts, but really it could have been referring to our time today. Make no mistake: there are enemies of the Gospel. People are out there who want to extinguish the light of the world forever. It might not seem like that here this morning. We're here worshiping safely in a beautiful building. But the opposition is there. Maybe it's in the little remarks that someone makes to you like, "why do you bother going to church?" Maybe it's the fact that it's easier to find anti-Christian ideas on tv or on the internet or on the radio than it is to find the truth. Maybe it's the opposition that comes from our own hearts: the part of us that doesn't think Jesus and his Word are really that big of deal at the end of the day. The part of us that reacts with apathy and a shrug to that precious message.

But look again. Look at the treasure we have! Despite how it's treated, by people around the world, or even by ourselves at times, the message of Jesus our Savior shines as a light in this dark world. The message is that Jesus didn't just die for the world, but he died for you. The message is that Jesus rose and someday all believers will rise, but you will rise to eternal life through faith in him. When we see how precious the message of Jesus is to us, we'll want to share it. Not because we have to. Not because it's what everybody else is doing. No, sharing the good news of sins forgiven in Jesus' name is a joy! And it's what God has made us for. He has empowered us and given us a mission in this world. He lets us reflect the brightness of Jesus in a sin-darkened world. He tells us, "I have made you a light."

Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors

This sermon was preached on 10/25/09 at Our Savior. It is the second in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text and series title were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work. Some congregations celebrate Reformation Sunday on this date. My congregation will be doing that next week.

Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors

It's not very often that we proclaim anything to our neighbors. At least I know it hasn't been often with me. But I remember a couple of times when I consciously tried to get a message out to all of my neighbors. It was several years ago when my family lived in the middle of a lot of houses, and there was just something we had to let people know. So I remember I went to the store, looked for a sign and a stake to pound it in to the ground. Then I went home and put the sign up for all to see. Can you guess what the sign said? "It's a Girl!"

We let our neighbors know when we're really happy about something, like having a child. Some people might let their neighbors know when they feel very strongly about something, like political issues. "Vote for So-and-So!" "Vote yes for this!" "Vote no for that!" All said with signs in the yard.

But what else do we do with our neighbors? Maybe when someone moves into town we'll give them some food. Maybe if there's someone really organized in your neighborhood you'll even have cookouts and parties.  Most of the time, though, many of us probably don't have much meaningful contact with our neighbors. Maybe we smile when we pass each other. Maybe we nod. Maybe we even exchange a few words about the weather. But meaningful contact? It almost never happens.

As Christians, we have a different view of our lives than other people probably would. We recognize some things that others would never think about. We know that we are sinful, and that those sins earn God's wrath. But we also know that we're blessed with a Savior who loved us so much that he paid the punishment for our sins, and he lived the life necessary to earn a place in heaven -- and he gave it all to us. That's good news! That's the good news, and when we think about it, we realize how blessed we are to know it!

Having the love of Christ in our lives is bound to change our lives, to change how we live.  That's why this sermon series has been talking about how Christ's love affects our calling in our lives. We're not just called by God to do whatever we want for ourselves. We're called to live for him who died for us!

And as a part of that, we want to view the people around us, people like our neighbors, in a different way. The Bible tells us this, first in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 19:18), and then repeated by Jesus as the most important commandment besides loving God. What is that commandment? "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mk. 12:31) Love your neighbor. And don't just love them; love them like you love yourself. If there's something you'd want for yourself, if there's something that makes you happy, then loving your neighbor as yourself means you want that something for them, too.

But that's not easy. Love takes time with your neighbors. We just talked about how little interaction we really have with our neighbors. So how can we change that? Why do we want to change that? That's where God's Word comes in, where the Holy Spirit not only helps us understand, but gives us the motivation of Christ's love to want to share his love with others, even our neighbors.

Our text from Colossians deals with this topic. There the Apostle Paul writes, "Pray for us...that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains." (Col. 4:3) Remember, as Paul mentions here, that he's in prison. He's in chains. And he's not in chains for stealing or murder, he's in chains because he's been proclaiming the "mystery of Christ." And what is that mystery? The mystery is that God sent his only Son to live and die for the sins of the whole world, to bring eternal life to all who believe. That's the mystery of Christ: the gospel. Paul had been thrown into prison because he proclaimed that gospel.

And now, instead of wanting to forget the message that got him thrown into prison, Paul wants more opportunities to tell it! He wants God to open a door to let him tell that message of Christ's love. Why would he want that, when it included such risk to him personally? Because Paul loved his neighbor.

Loving your neighbor is something that flows directly out of knowing the gospel! You remember that John 3:16 tells us that God sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But do you remember why he did that? The first part of the passage tells us! "For God so loved the world..." (Jn. 3:16)

The whole reason Jesus died for sinners like us is because he loved us! And it's that love that motivates our love. "We love because he first loved us." (1 Jn 4:19) Jesus' love for us is what makes us want to show love. "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor. 5:15) To live for Christ means to live for those for whom Christ died. People like our neighbors.

Yet, many times we just don't want to. Some people might be offended hearing about Jesus. We don't want to talk to our neighbors because it takes too much time, and we're awfully busy. We don't want to deal with our neighbors' problems when we have so many problems of our own. It's so much easier just to live our own lives and do our own thing. Our neighbors? Well, they're good for a nod of the head. Maybe good enough to talk about the weather with. But to actually share the message of Jesus with them? Maybe later... or maybe not.

Do you see how selfish we can be? Do you see how we can be so focused on ourselves that we don't even care, don't even give it a second thought, when someone doesn't know their Savior? If we think about it at all, we think, "That's their problem." Or, "Someone, should really talk to him." But then we just forget about it and go back to our own lives.

Thank God that he didn't treat us that way. Thank God he sent Jesus to us when we were lost in our sins. Thank God that even though our sins weren't Jesus' problem, he took them onto himself, he took them on his back, right onto the cross, for our forgiveness, for our life, all because he loved us!

So today, give thanks that God so loved the world, that he loved you so much. Today, rededicate yourself to showing that love to others. Show that love to your neighbors. And I don't just mean the people who live on your street. I mean the people in your life, people you see at the store, at a restaurant, even your friends and family. Particularly the ones who don't know about Christ's love. How can you show them his love?

It can be a daunting task. We think we're not up for the challenge. We think, "What if I say something wrong? What if I mess it all up?" We want to just leave that work to people like me, the pastor. And to a certain extent, that's a good point. You're not pastors. I am. Not everyone has the ability to take someone through all their questions about the Bible. Not everyone has the ability to explain everything that someone might need to know about the gospel.

Now, you don't have to be a pastor to be able to do those things, and I think some of you do have those abilities. I'd encourage you to use those abilities when the opportunities come up in your lives or here in church. But if you don't have those abilities, does that mean you can't share Jesus' love with your neighbors? Not at all!
Look at what Paul mentions in Colossians! "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Col. 4:5-6)

Very few of you will ever be given a pulpit and told to preach a sermon. But every one of you has conversations with people. You deal with people at the store, on the street, at school, at work. And everything you do with those people, the way you act at all times, gives a witness to your faith. Do people who know you know that you are a believer? Can they tell from the way you act? It can be a powerful witness!

And sometimes in your conversations the opportunity will come up to give witness to your Savior's love with your words. Does it mean you have to explain everything in the Bible to them? No! Does it mean you have to answer every argument or question that gets thrown at you? No! Your words can be as simple as, "Come and see! Come to church with me. Come take a Bible information class with me. Come talk to my pastor." Out of love, you can point to your Savior in your everyday conversations, in your everyday lives.

And you can even help if you never leave your house. Remember what Paul said in our text! "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Col. 4:2) God gives you an amazing opportunity in prayer. Because Jesus is your Savior, because he died to make you live, he has given you the privilege of approaching our heavenly Father's throne in prayer any time you want to. And God listens to those prayers! You can pray for your neighbors, your friends and relatives who don't know about Jesus. You can pray about the work that we do here in our congregation. You can pray for me, even as I'm praying for you. Don't miss the opportunity to go to God himself and ask for him to work in the people around you who don't know him, and to strengthen those through whom he is working. What an opportunity we all have, every day, with our prayers!

And yes, I know. This all takes time. It takes time to go back to God's Word and continually remember his love for us. It takes time to appreciate what he's given us as a church and work together for his glory. It takes time to get to know our neighbors, to show them love and look for those opportunities to point them to Jesus. It takes time to devote yourself to prayer. But the time is worth it! When should you start? How about today? God has given you this day. He's given you the love of his Son. So there's no better time than now.