Sunday, May 13, 2012

Podcast Sermon for May 13, 2012: A Baptism of the Holy Spirit

A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on May 13, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on Acts 10:34-48. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/05/sermon-for-may-13-2012-baptism-of-holy.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for May 13, 2012: A Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

     The text for this morning’s message comes to us from Luke’s Letter of the Acts of the Apostles, the 10th chapter:
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “…They put [Jesus of Nazareth] to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day… And [Jesus] commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ…
Thus far the text.

Dear Friends in Christ, He is Risen!
     It doesn’t take much, does it? One little word from Peter, and half of the Christian Church goes up in arms, taking his whole speech, his whole message out of context and focusing on the one little point of doctrine that seems weird: people received the Holy Spirit and THEN were baptized. Pentecostals and the like use this passage out of context to say that to be saved you must be baptized with the Holy Spirit! That’s the baptism that matters, they say, not our silly little baptism in which we baptize all who come to the font, infants, children, adults. That’s just silly. Rather, salvation will be made evident by speaking in tongues, which they interpret as sounding very much like gibberish, it will be made evident in casting out spirits, it will be made evident when someone says, “I choose to follow you, Jesus!”

     But… we Lutherans, we who are orthodox in our faith and doctrine and practice, we don’t confess that the Holy Spirit is promised to us in order to do these things. We confess that the Holy Spirit is promised to us in order to convict and forgive us. We don’t confess that all gifts are given to all people. We confess that the Holy Spirit did these amazing miracles to prove to the Church that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that His Gospel is true. We absolutely don’t confess that we can, by our own ability, choose to follow after Jesus any more than we ourselves can choose to be born. Instead, we confess that the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Word and Jesus has promised that His Word attached to water is the sacrament of baptism in which the Holy Spirit also comes. For even Paul states in 1 Corinthians: "...no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit." And as Jesus says in the Gospel of John: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit," and that fruit specifically is found in the love for one another as we engage in the furthering of the Word of God.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Great resources to help Christians regarding homosexuality

Okay, this post is going to take you some time to get through. Sorry about that. But, if you're a Christian, you may be well-served by spending time with it.

A big 'ol hat tip to Paul McCain for bringing these two articles to my attention regarding President Obama's "historic" acceptance of gay marriage.

The first, from Pastor Philip Hoppe, talks about the process the President used to find himself in the pro-gay-marriage camp, specifically relational ministry, as opposed to actually reading and studying the Bible, of which President Obama, on one hand, says he believes but, on the other hand, completely nullifies when he pushes Jesus to the side (read or listen to the President's words - he does exactly that). A taste:
Obama become Pro-Gay marriage relationally. And he is not alone. I would suggest that everyone who does not come to this position by virtue of personally embracing homosexuality as their own sexual identity comes to this position relationally. They know someone who claims homosexuality as their identity and cannot bear to stand in opposition to them.

And I do not wish to minimize this struggle for a moment. It is a dark and torturous place for anyone to be. I have experienced it personally though not as closely as many of you may have. But the fact that it is hard to stand in opposition to those we love does not make it okay to not do so.
The second article is from Pastor Ed Stetzer who speaks on how Christians can respond to what is going on in America, especially after President Obama's public stance. Attitude matters, but truth matters as well. A taste:
The culture sees this as a "justice" issue-- Christians discriminating on the basis of immutable characteristics.
Christians have always believed and taught that God's standard and intent is a man, a woman, a marriage, and a lifetime. To us, that just makes sense, and it seems clear in the scriptures. But to an increasing number in our culture, this is simply discrimination. President Obama clearly justifies his reason for supporting gay marriage because of the Golden Rule-- the idea that we should treat others justly, as we would want to be treated. So, we should not be shocked at their response. Many people believe that we are discriminating against other people by restricting marriage from gay couples-- much like keeping black people out of a certain section of a restaurant. They see that as unjust and see us as bigots.
Also, a timely and poignant video from Rev. Fisk on why the Bible is totally wrong about everything, or why we can claim that homosexuality is a sin but wearing clothing with multiple types of threads is okay (ad hominem attacks also confuse the issue). Give it the full 20 minutes if you can:




Christians need to begin to respond better to the issue of homosexuality as well as all sins (e.g. divorce, premarital sex, pornography, hatred, murder, blasphemy, gluttony, etc.), not because we want to force our beliefs down other people's throats, not because we want to force them to believe what we do, but because God's Word demands we do take a stand for what He says is true and right and salutary, whether Truth offends people or not.

As we Lutherans preach, teach, and confess, there is no sin Jesus didn't die for, and there is no sin that isn't forgiven in Jesus Christ. But our duty as God's people is to call out repentance, and not only repentance but the forgiveness of sins with it. To everyone. To the whole world. To gay people. To straight people. To Christian people. To President Obama. To. All. People. For the glory of God the Father in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Podcast Sermon for May 6, 2012: Good Working

A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on May 6, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on John 15:1-8. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/05/sermon-for-may-6-2012-good-working.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for May 6, 2012: Good Working

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text this 5th Sunday of Easter is from the Gospel of John, the 15th chapter, from selected verses:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser… As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ, He is Risen!
     Still in the Easter season, we have upon us what seems a very strange reading in the Gospels. After all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! Shouldn’t we be talking about the Resurrection still? Why should the Gospel of John all of the sudden thrust us back into the Passion narrative, back into the Upper Room?

     Because John in his Gospel is giving meat, giving flesh to what he is saying in his epistle. Love one another! Show love! Serve! Know God! Test the spirits! Confess Christ! And how is this done?

     Jesus tells us in the Gospel that He is the true vine and we are the branches. He is the source of all fruit, He is the source of all good things, He is the source of all life-giving and nourishing. Jesus Christ is the one from whom all things flow.

     This is very good news for two very simple reasons. We’ll get to the second eventually, but the first reason this is good news is that YOU will bear fruit! You have no choice! A branch is no more responsible for bearing fruit than a cat is for sleeping; it’s just what you do! Good fruit is good! It will come to you in your faith!