Sermon Archive - November 23rd, 2008

<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>OFC:  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="id362.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="URL Calendar Home Link"><U><B>CALENDAR</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 - November 23rd, 2008</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>“Thankfulness and Costly Giving”</B></div> <div> Matthew 25:31-46</div> <div>  Christ the King Sunday: November 23, 2008</div> <div> Pastor Mark Wiesenborn</div> <div> St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas</div> <div>       </div> <div>      <I>Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.</I>  Our sermon message for Christ the King Sunday is taken from the Gospel lesson - where Jesus shares a parable about the coming Kingdom of Heaven and the Day of Judgment, saying:</div> <bR> <div>           “<I><B>When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on his glorious throne.  Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.</B></I>”</div> <bR> <div> <B>     </B>Dear friends in Christ, I would like to begin with a true story that took place one Sunday morning several years ago in a place far away from here - and I would ask you to be thinking about <U>how you might have responded</U> in this situation!</div> <bR> <div>      <I>As the worshipers arrived on a late November morning at the Lutheran Church in White Lake North Dakota, they were met by a rather disturbing sight. An apparently homeless beggar sat on the front steps of the church, wearing tattered clothing, a wool cap pulled down over his eyes, and clutching a bottle in fingerless gloves. They had never seen anything quite like this in White Lake North Dakota.</I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>     Most worshipers simply walked around the man, or stepped over him, as he sat there. Some muttered words of disapproval, and others suggested that the man move to another doorway before the Sunday School children arrived. One member told the man, in no uncertain terms, that the Salvation Army in Minot was a more appropriate place to sleep it off. At one point, a kind woman brought the man a Styrofoam cup of hot coffee, but not one person asked the man to come in out of the cold, and certainly </I><I><U>nobody invited him in to join them in worship</U></I><I>.</I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <div> <I>     Imagine, then, the people's surprise during the entrance hymn, when their homeless friend made his way into the pulpit, took off his cap, and the people recognized that </I><I><B>it was their pastor</B></I><I>! The pastor began his remarks that morning in this way: “I didn't do this to embarrass you or to poke you in the eye. I did it to remind us that </I><I><U>this is a person that Jesus loves, and he has called us to love him, too</U></I><I>.”</I></div> <div>  </div> <div>      In the Gospel lesson that we heard this morning, Jesus is telling his disciples about the Last Days. At that time, Jesus says, the King will gather all the nations around the throne, and <U>He will say to the sheep on his right</U>:</div> <div>  </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> “When I was <B>hungry</B>, you fed me. </div> <div> When I was <B>thirsty</B>, you gave me drink. </div> <div> When I was <B>naked</B>, you clothed me. </div> <div> When I was a <B>stranger</B>, you welcomed me in. </div> <div> When I was <B>sick</B> and <B>imprisoned</B>, you cared for me.”</div> <div>  </div> <div> And the people on the right are surprised, responding:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> “Lord, <I><B>when</B></I>?” they ask. </div> <div> “<I><B>When</B></I> did we feed you, or give you drink, </div> <div> or clothe you, or welcome you, </div> <div> or care for you?” </div> <div> And Jesus says, “<B>Whenever you did it for one of the weak ones,</B> </div> <div> <B>you did it for me</B>.”</div> <div>  </div> <div> Then, Jesus says, the King will turn to <U>the goats on his left</U> and He will say to them, </div> <div>  </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> “And when I was hungry, <B>you did not feed me</B>, </div> <div> and when I was thirsty, <B>you gave me nothing to drink</B>. </div> <div> When I was naked, and a stranger, and sick, and imprisoned, </div> <div> <B>you never reached out to me</B>.” </div> <bR> <div> And the people on the left are equally surprised, responding:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> “Lord, <I><B>when</B></I>? </div> <div> <I><B>When did we see you</B></I> hungry, or thirsty, </div> <div> or naked, or a stranger, </div> <div> or sick, or imprisoned, </div> <div> and did not help you?” </div> <div> And the King answers, </div> <div> “<B>When you failed to help the least of people,</B> </div> <div> <B>you failed to help me</B>.”</div> <div>      This teaching of Jesus is so very different from all his other teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. In the previous chapters, Jesus has been telling parables. But in this text, Jesus is looking into the future, <U>explaining in graphic detail what sort of Judgment Day awaits every one of us</U>. It's not a parable. It's not a fairy tale. <I><B>It is truth, coming right out of the mouth of Jesus</B></I>. It tells us that God does, in fact, watch the way we live our lives, and <B>the way we live matters</B>. And Jesus plainly says that one day, each of us will stand in line as the King points the way to eternity. Some will be directed to the right, and they will spend forever in the Kingdom of God. But others will be directed to the left, and eternity, for them, will be spent in hell.</div> <div>  </div> <div>      Now, I know what you are thinking. You have heard the sermons on God's abundant grace; you have heard Jesus Christ described as our loving and merciful King, ready to forgive our every sin. And now, you may be wondering “Okay, Pastor Mark, which way is it? Is God going to <B>grant us grace</B>, or is he going to <B>hold our sins against us</B>? Do we have to <U>earn our way into the Kingdom</U>, or will it be <U>given to us as a gift</U>?” And this story about the sheep and the goats troubles you, because, all along, you thought you were a sheep. <I><B>But what if you're a goat?</B></I> It troubles you, because the stakes are high, and eternity lasts forever.</div> <div>  </div> <div>      Everything you have heard about God's grace is true. He does, indeed, stand ready to forgive every sin and every act of disobedience. <U>But God also has expectations of how his people are to live their lives</U>. The Saints will be generous. The Saints will be kind. The Saints will be filled with compassion. It's what the Saints do.</div> <div>  </div> <div>      Giving and doing does not make us Saints. <B>Giving and doing proves that we are Saints</B>. <U>Generosity</U> and <U>kindness</U> and <U>compassion</U> are part of the DNA of a Christian. And once we recognize that God has claimed us as sons and daughters of the King, and once we realize that we will inherit everything the King has promised, then things in this world diminish in their value.</div> <div>  </div> <div>      So now, the question that stands before us is this: What does our lifestyle say about us? What does your lifestyle say about you? According to Jesus' words on this Christ the King Sunday, it seems to say this: <B>We will recognize the sheep and the goats by the way they live their lives</B>. You see, <U>sheep graciously share what they have</U>, paying particular attention to those who are in desperate need. <U>Goats want to keep all they have to themselves</U>. Sheep see others in distress, and they are moved to compassion. But goats see others in distress and they are moved to <I><B>ignore</B></I>. In short, when goats see an apparently homeless man, sitting on the steps of a church, they see a homeless man who may not even know or care where he is. When sheep see an apparently homeless man, sitting on the steps of a church, they see Jesus.</div> <div>  </div> <div>      <B>What do you see?</B></div> <div>  </div> <div>      In just a few minutes, we will receive our morning offering, and after the late worship service in our quarterly voters' meeting you will be asked to review and approve the proposed Church Budget for the coming year. The problem with preaching a sermon like this is that it might be misunderstood as the Pastor's attempt to “guilt people into giving”. I hope I haven't done that, because <U>guilt doesn't motivate us in the same way gladness and thanksgiving does</U>.  <I><B>We are thankful that God gave a more precious and costly gift than any of us could hope to deserve</B></I>.  He sent His Son to be born at Bethlehem, who comes to each of us as the crucified, risen, and ascended Savior of the world!</div> <div>  </div> <div>      The gifts we are about to give have the capacity to touch the lives of people in this church, in this community, and around the world. The needs of people are growing, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and in the midst of difficult economic times, so <U>our opportunities to reach out in mission and ministry</U> are even more important. I trust this congregation of Saints to love the people that Jesus loves, and that will be evident by our gifts. Maybe we don't have the resources to help as many of the people as we might wish, but that shouldn't stop us from helping as many as we can! Someone once said “<B>We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving</B>.” May your love for God guide your hearts as you consider how the gifts of your time, abilities, and resources can be transformed into deeds of kindness that can change the world. Because that's what Saints do.</div> <bR> <div>      <I><B>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>GOSPEL READING</B> - Matthew 25:31-46 [ESV]</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >     31</FONT> [<I>Jesus says</I>] “<I><B>When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.</B></I>  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >32</FONT> <I><B>Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.</B></I>  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >33</FONT> <I><B>And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.</B></I>”</div> <bR> <div>      <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >34</FONT> “Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >35</FONT> For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >36</FONT> I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >37</FONT> Then the righteous will answer him, saying, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >38</FONT> And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >39</FONT> And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >40</FONT> And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'”</div> <bR> <div>      <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >41</FONT> “Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >42</FONT> For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >43</FONT> I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >44</FONT> Then they also will answer, saying, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >45</FONT> Then he will answer them, saying, `Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'  <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >46</FONT> And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”</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><B>~  </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B>LUTHERAN</B></U></A><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B> LINKS</B></U></A><B>  </B><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> © 2008  St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, TX - All Rights Reserved</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>