Sermon Archive - Aug 29th, 2010

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=130 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="12ba6e903.jpg"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11fcbc320.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>OFFICE:  713-526-5731      5315 MAIN STREET, HOUSTON TEXAS 77004      FAX: 713-524-1709</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Lutheran Church Houston, Te"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A><B>  ~   </B><A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worship Schedule"><U><B>WORSHIP</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map Directions"><U><B>LOCATION</B></U></A><B>  ~   </B><A HREF="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject=Website Inquiry" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject"><U><B>EMAIL US</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id452.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U><B>SITE MAP</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="123030970.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="151" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome"><U>Welcome</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id465.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lutheran Beliefs"><U>Lutheran Beliefs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id466.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to Join"><U>How to Join</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id467.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Local Missions"><U>Local Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id468.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Global Missions"><U>Global Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id508.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Parish Education"><U>Parish Education</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=280 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Sermon Archive - Aug 29th, 2010</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="568" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#990000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFCC99" FRAME="VOID" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#FFCC99 HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="134"><div> <A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><IMG SRC="157a270e0.png" border=0 width="39" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#990000 WIDTH="421"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="421" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>“Fear, Love, and Trust in God”</B></div> <div> <B>Hebrews 13:1-17</B></div> <div> <B>The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: August 29, 2010</B></div> <div> <B>Pastor Mark Wiesenborn</B></div> <div> <B>St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The Scripture text for our message today is taken from the Epistle Lesson, which encourages us to fear, love, and trust in God:</B></div> <div> <B>“God has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Dear friends in Christ, this morning I would like to begin by asking a question.  By a show of hands, how many of you are familiar with a baseball term: the brushback pitch? [pausing for answers]  For those of you who did not raise your hands, this refers to a pitch that is thrown high and inside – usually a fastball – to force the batter to back away from the plate.  Its main purpose is to intimidate; and the time you are most likely to see it used is when a powerful homerun hitter has used his feet to “dig in” to the batter’s box dirt for the sake of gaining a little increased leverage.  Throwing brushback pitches is a common and legal tactic in baseball; and a pitcher who has a reputation for using them is commonly known as a headhunter.  If you can picture Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals coming to the plate with bases loaded and the score tied, and digging in and leaning over the plate – then many opposing pitchers would likely see that as an appropriate time to throw one or more brushback pitches!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This leads me to ask another question.  When we get a little too cocky, or stiff-necked, or self-centered, how many of you would say that God disciplines us (as a loving father disciplines His children) by sending brushback pitches our way?  And if so, how long did it take you to get the message and to take a step backwards?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Here is another baseball term, which somebody long ago decided was worthy of being recorded and saved for statistical posterity: hit by a pitch.  The modern-day HBP record is held by Craig Biggio, who had 285 of these by the time he retired from the Houston Astros at the end of the 2007 season. For most other ballplayers this is one record that none of them would care or dare to strive for. Just to be clear, being hit by a pitch so often happens not from a player being especially unlucky – but instead, from being willing to “take one (or 285) for the team”.  OUCH!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Let me explain how that works to one’s advantage.  A batter is awarded first base and becomes a baserunner when all three of the following conditions are met:</B></div> <div> <B>•     He or his equipment is touched by a pitched ball outside of the strike zone;</B></div> <div> <B>•     and he attempts to avoid it (or had no opportunity to do so);</B></div> <div> <B>•     and he did not swing at the pitch.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     So we have the brushback pitch, from a pitcher whose adversary is the player who for the sake of winning is willing to defy the pitcher and risk being hit by a pitch.  This leads me to another question: What does it mean to be a God-fearing man or woman in our world today?</B></div> <div> <B>     </B></div> <div> <B>     And now to make this a lot more personal: What does it mean for YOU to be a God-fearing man or woman?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Have you thought about this lately?  This is the question that needs to be asked whenever one of us shakes our fist at God and demands that He get right with us, rather than vice versa.  Whenever we see someone “digging in” to gain leverage in order to issue ultimatums and cause division in the Church, the rest of us might want to stand back as if lightning bolts are about to come raining down from the sky!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Our text gives us the encouragement to: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.  Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” But we don’t always do that… do we?  It’s easier to say “call your Elder with your complaint” than it is to challenge each other to confess and repent of our sins.  Brothers and sisters, from time to time every one of us needs to hear these words which are included at the end of today’s Epistle:</B></div> <div> <B>“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Far too little of what happens inside the walls of most churches has any true eternal significance.  This should NEVER be a place where people are made to feel despised or rejected.  This should NEVER be a place where our impatience or unkindness drives someone away from God or from His Church forever.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Does God use brushback pitches against his people?  I would say yes, absolutely!  He gave the Ten Commandments to us through Moses after leading him through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, which was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.  The whole mountain trembled greatly; the trumpet grew louder and louder – and when Moses finally spoke, God answered him in thunder with that First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”  No pagan deities; no other created beings; and certainly not a little god unto yourself.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Batter up!  Now, do you really want to face-off against the almighty and eternal God with that “root of bitterness” stuck in your heart, with a scowl on your face and complaints forming on your lips?  What kind of victory, exactly, are you hoping for?</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Time out. I have some Good News for you!  From Psalm 118: “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”  Instead of sending fire and brimstone and lightning bolts upon us – God sent His Son, to take our place of punishment under the Law.  He took upon himself the sins of all people for all time, and carried them all the way to the Cross.  Jesus went there intentionally and purposefully, to win for us the victory over sin and death against which we had no hope and no future.  Crucifixion is something that none of us should care or dare to strive for. And as we hear from Hebrews: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  He came to teach us about a loving and gracious God, and then he showed us by his personal example the full extent of that love and grace.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Most of you are familiar with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, which teaches the basic parts of our Christian faith in a way that children can understand.  Some of you may be aware that Luther also wrote a Large Catechism, which is intended for the heads of households to teach more about these subjects to their own families.  Let me share a few of his thoughts about the First Commandment, and what it means to fear, love, and trust in God:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     “To have a God, as you can well imagine, does not mean to grasp him with your fingers, or to put him in a purse, or to shut him up in a box.  Rather, you lay hold of God when your heart grasps him and clings to him.  To cling to him with your heart is nothing else than to entrust yourself to him completely.  He wishes to turn us away from everything else apart from him, and to draw us to himself, because he is the one, eternal good…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     We are to trust in God alone, to look to him alone, and to expect him to give us only good things, for it is he who gives us body, life… and all necessary temporal and eternal blessings.  In addition, God protects us from misfortune and rescues and delivers us when any evil befalls us… because he is an eternal fountain who overflows with pure goodness and from who pours all that is truly good…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     What more could you want or desire than God’s gracious promise that he wants to be yours with every blessing, to protect you, and to help you in every need?  Unfortunately, the world neither believes this nor regards it as God’s Word.  For the world sees those who trust in God and not in mammon suffer grief and want and are opposed and attacked by the devil.  They have neither money, prestige, nor honor, and can hardly stay alive.  Conversely, those who serve mammon have power, prestige, honor, possession, and all sorts of security in the world’s eyes.  Therefore, we must hold fast to these words, even in the face of this apparent contradiction, and be certain that they do not lie or deceive but yet will prove true…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     God will tolerate no presumption or trust in anything else; he makes no greater demand on us than a heartfelt trust in him for every good thing, so that we walk straight ahead on the right path, using all of God’s gifts… according to God’s order, allowing none of these things to be a lord or an idol… If the heart is right with God and we keep this commandment, all the rest will follow on their own.”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     As you may know, the Lutheran Church is not alone in the practice of baptizing infants and delegating the responsibility for teaching these Commandments to others as they grow.  This wonderful opportunity is shared by Baptismal sponsors, by parents and pastors and Sunday School teachers – and also by YOU as eyewitnesses and fellow members of the Body of Christ.  We need our Lord’s help, for what we are sometimes unable or perhaps unwilling to do.  Therefore, let me share with you one more example of how God uses what you might consider a form of brushback pitch that is used to protect and preserve us:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” [John 20:19-22]</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     “God has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!</B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B>EPISTLE LESSON – Hebrews 13:1-17 [ESV]</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.</B></div> <div> <B> 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="122e30960.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id499.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet Our Leaders"><U>Meet Our Leaders</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Our Church"><U>Tour Our Church</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id493.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Read Our History"><U>Read Our History</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id626.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arts and Music"><U>Arts and Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Special Events"><U>Special Events</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id515.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Gallery"><U>Photo Gallery</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=70 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id423.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Search"><U><B>BIBLE SEARCH</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B>LUTHERAN LINKS</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Online Devotionals"><U><B>DEVOTIONALS</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><B>SERMON ARCHIVES</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> © 2011  St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, TX - All Rights Reserved</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>