Sunday, June 24, 2012

Podcast Sermon for June 24, 2012: Preparing the Way

A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on June 24, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on Luke 1:57-80. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/06/sermon-for-june-24-2012-preparing-way.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for June 24, 2012: Preparing the Way

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

The text for this morning is from the Luke’s Gospel, the first chapter:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Thus far the text.

Dear friends in Christ,
     It’s almost kind of strange celebrating a nativity in the middle of one of the hottest years on record, isn’t it? Nativity. It’s one of those words that propels us directly to Christmas. Visions of donkeys and stables and angels and shepherds crowd in our heads. But today’s nativity, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, it doesn’t involve any of that. There was no need for John’s parents to find room in the inn. There was no need for John’s parents to look upon him and see all the gifts and the people that came to see him and treasure them up in their hearts. There was no need for John to be visited by kings and princes and shepherds.

     No, John’s nativity is celebrated with little pomp and circumstance. John, the cousin of Jesus, was about 6 months older than Christ, which is why we celebrate his birth today. Just a quick reminder, only 6 months of shopping days until Christmas!

     John’s nativity is of a different sort of celebration. It is the celebration, in fact, before we celebrate Christ. That’s John’s lot in life. John the Baptist, John the Baptizer, his job, his only role in life is to precede the Son of God.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Podcast Sermon for June 10, 2012: An Unforgivable Sin and a Forgiving God

A sermon preached by Vicar Lewis Polzin on June 10, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Troy, MO, on Mark 3:20-35. The text of this sermon may be found at the following web address: http://apastoralapproach.blogspot.com/2012/06/sermon-for-june-10-2012-unforgivable.html. The sermon recording may also be accessed by clicking the title of this blog post and playing it in your browser.

Sermon for June 10, 2012: An Unforgivable Sin and a Forgiving God

     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 the Gospel of Mark, the third chapter:
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And Jesus called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Thus far the text.

Dear Friends in Christ,
     Imagine you are on your deathbed. The pastor comes to visit you. He asks how you are feeling. He inquires of the doctors’ news. He asks if your family has come to see you yet. He then tells you of Jesus. He tells you of the forgiveness found in Him. He proclaims to you that all your sins are forgiven.

     But you just roll your eyes. You may even tear up as you say, “No, Pastor. Not all my sins. Not this one. I can’t confess it. It’s too big. I can never be forgiven THAT sin.”

     It’s not an uncommon occurrence. I know it’s happened to Pastor. It’s even happened to me. The person we’re speaking seems to truly believe that their sin can’t be forgiven. It’s too big. Jesus would never forgive that sin. Jesus would be disgusted if He knew we did that. Jesus would hate us, turn away from us, send us to Hell. After all, after we sinned so badly, we deserve to go to Hell. It’s true, we say, Jesus can’t save us. Jesus can’t forgive us. Jesus can’t forgive you. Or at least, that’s what we tell ourselves.