In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit
One
of the many problems that plagues the Christian Church is the
definition of success. It seems as if success is defined as “new
starts” and “new believers”. There is nothing wrong with either of
these. What is wrong is when Christians decide that numbers are the
most important thing in the Church. The phrase “maintenance ministry”
is considered an insult. No pastor merely wants to “maintain” a
congregation. Nevertheless, what is wrong is maintaining sound doctrine
from God’s Holy Word? What is wrong with faithful congregational
practice of the Sacraments according to Christ’s institution? For some
strange reason the words “maintenance” and “new” cannot go together
when both have a place in the church when rightly understood.
The
tension between “maintenance” and “new” boils down to a lack of fear of
God’s Word. Hearing Jesus’ parable in Luke chapter eight might bring
sadness. Three out of four soils do not produce fruit from the seed
that was sown. That fact shouldn’t disturb you. If every ground was as
accepting as the last ground who, having heard the word with a noble and good
heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience,
then every church would be full, there would be millions of Christians
in Haiti showing Christ’s mercy through good works, and there would be
no internal strife among Christians. Everyone would get along. No one
would look down their nose at anyone else in any congregation.
You
do not live in paradise. You live in a broken world full of trampled,
rocky, and thorny soil. You live in a world where the devil, the world,
and our sinful nature want all the attention. You live in a world where
blame is shifted from the soil receiving the seed to the seed itself.
What a backwards world! When a sower sows seed, it could be that the
seed is bad. More often than not, it is not the seed that is bad but
the ground. If every patch of ground were perfectly arable, then there
is no need to blame the seed. Even if you know nothing about planting
seed, you know that where you plant a seed is very important. Why then
are Christians like you so quick to blame the seed of the Word of God
for every failure in the Church?
Well-meaning Christians try new
measures, great awakenings, revivals, and everything short of kneeling
down to the earth and screaming at it to multiply new starts and new
believers. Do these well-meaning Christians ever step back and consider
that the seed is not the problem? The problem is the soil receiving the
seed. It must be worked patiently, cautiously, and carefully. Saint
Paul sowed the seed on ground that no man would dare sow seed. The
Corinthians trusted in wisdom more than the power of God’s Word to
convert hearts and lives. The Corinthians also fell prey to
“super-apostles” who preached a different gospel among them. These
false teachers sowed a seed of dissension among them, preaching Paul
was a powerful writer but was a wimp when it came to face-to-face
preaching and teaching. Paul’s apostleship was questioned.
Instead
of bragging about all his success stories in three missionary journeys,
Paul instead “boasted” in his sufferings. Paul writes, if I must boast, I will
boast in the things which concern my infirmity. Everything that happened to
Paul, whether it was stripes or shipwrecks,
perils or concerns, served to strip away any worldly notion that Paul
was the most important thing. Saint Paul was encouraged to proclaim
freedom from sin and death through Jesus Christ when seemingly
everything around him crashed and burned. When helpers failed and
comforts disappeared, all Paul had left was the Word of God.
Perhaps
that is why pastors and congregations go through bad spells together.
When I first came among you nearly three years ago, there was a lot of
doubt. It seemed everything was crashing down before our eyes. There
was anger, dissension, failure, hurt feelings, and other concerns. What
some pastors might consider a disaster, others might consider an
opportunity to let the seed of the Word of God do its work.
Both
you and I have learned together these past three years that the patch
of ground called the heart needs to be worked over in repentance and
forgiveness. Satan tramples daily over that patch of ground. Our sinful
nature tries to dry baptismal water. The world attempts to choke the
seed with idols of this filthy here and now. The seed is sown. The
ground either receives it and bears fruit, or does not receive it and
goes its own way. What matters most is the seed is sown as it has been
sown in this patch of ground called Momence for nearly 119 years.
Though
congregations come and go, the Seed of the woman is sown. The Seed of
the woman crushes the serpent’s head when the tree of life was planted
on that patch of ground called Golgotha. On two pieces of dead wood lay
the Life of the World, the Life that overcomes death. The Life of the
World rises from the dead so that when your lifeless body is planted in
the ground, it will be raised an imperishable seed. As we have borne the image
of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
The seemingly secret formula for “success” while we wait for the day of
resurrection is Saint Paul’s words in today’s Epistle. Concerning
this [thorn in the flesh] I pleaded with the Lord three times that it
might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for
you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” The Seed of the
Word delivers God’s undeserved love toward us. The Seed of the Word
implanted in our patch of ground called the heart grows strong and tall
nourished in baptismal water, fed with the True Body and Blood of
Christ, renewed and restored in Holy Absolution and Holy Preaching,
delivering a yield that is thirty, sixty, even one hundred fold. God’s
grace and God’s Word are all you need to sustain you on the forthcoming
Lenten journey to Jerusalem. The Word never returns empty. The Word
accomplishes what our Father in heaven pleases. The Word prospers in
the thing for which He sent it. That thing is repentance and
forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, the Seed Who is the Word of
God.
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit
Rev. David M. Juhl
Our Savior, Momence, IL
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <MoM [at] lists (dot) cat41 <dot> org>
