CMLC 2026-07-26 Sermon

Well, howdy. So I spent the previous week in

Phoenix, Arizona, and I did not know there was

a place that could actually make Houston feel

cooler in July. That was ridiculous. I heard

Dino used to live there. It's terrible. It's

a dry heat. Yeah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, that

doesn't help. Oh, my goodness. You're just running

from one convention hall to the next. You're

just, ugh. I wasn't just there for the sightseeing.

There was a triennial LCMS convention every three

years or so. We'd get together and we'd try to

make all these resolutions and decide what we

want to do for the next three years. It's the

things we want to do, but we also want to try

to address the problems of the past, try to figure

out how to move forward together in a more positive

and productive way. When you get to a convention

like that, You know from the very beginning that

you're not going to agree with every single thing

that comes up. And believe it or not, every pastor,

not every single one of them agreed on everything.

I know it's hard to believe. And even worse,

they didn't all agree with me. I don't know what

they were thinking. I was prepared to tell them

the right answers. But you're not going to say

that every single thing discussed or agreed on

is going to go exactly as you hope it will. And

there were two times, especially, I remember

I was going to go up and I was ready to say something

really important and I didn't get the opportunity.

One of them was frustrating because it was for

an amendment that I had brought. And then it

was like they went past, I had this two days,

I prepared this speech on this amendment that

I was going to give. And then the moderator is

like, oh no, he didn't really want to speak to

it. I'm standing at the microphone. Let me talk,

let me talk. And normally I'm pretty loud. Apparently

I wasn't loud enough there. But that moment where

you're prepared, you're ready, but you feel like

you just didn't get to say what you needed to

say. And sometimes you can go through all these

discussions and the only real victory you feel

like is to be able to say, I want my disagreement

to be known. Because even when you don't get

the decision you want, Sometimes it's important

to make sure people know not everyone saw it

the same way. Because people often need to know

that we're still trying to find agreement. We're

not always on the same page. But what's interesting

is that people will often take disagreements

and they assume it's the same as a conflict.

Which, by the way, was the amendment that I wanted

to make to the resolution. But you see, disagreements...

are not necessarily a bad thing. Disagreements

can actually draw us closer together. When we

disagree, we have to consider things that go

beyond what we were originally thinking. We have

to think through our own ways of thought and

consider that maybe there's another way of looking

at it. We see that in Scripture. The writers

that were in there, especially looking at so

much what was in the gospels, is they did not

hide the disagreements, the questions, the misunderstandings.

They included them. People disagreed with each

other. People disagreed with Jesus. People misunderstood

Jesus. But in the midst of all those disagreements,

Jesus was showing them what he wanted them to

know. Even in the midst of our own church teachings.

We have Lutheran confessions that recognize there

are many areas where Christians are able to disagree

one another and it is okay. There are many things

that we're not saying are as important as the

central part of the gospel of Christ. We don't

have to agree on every single thing. Whether

we use a divine traditional service one or a

divine traditional service four or heaven forbid

a contemporary worship. whether we put a red

carpet in the sanctuary or put some wood floors,

whether or not we sing a certain song on a Sunday

morning, or whether or not we feel that we didn't

get our favorite song over the last three months.

These things do not determine whether we're united

in Christ. And yet, it seems more and more Lutheran

identity often tries to define itself. and make

things more and more focused on one way of doing

things. We've started trying to define what we

think the Lutheran mission even is. And in some

ways, that's especially strange to me. Because

coming from a different church body into the

Lutheran church, I have always seen and felt

that our identity has always been the same. We're

created by the Father. We're redeemed by the

Son. We're sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We're

saved by God's grace through faith in Christ

Jesus. We're baptized members of God's body,

living as sinners who receive God's forgiveness.

We receive God's grace through word and sacrament,

the proclamation of the Word, the waters of baptism,

the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper.

justified by Christ, gathered round His Word,

living by faith, and loving our neighbor. What's

so complicated about that? The gospel has not

changed. Jesus has not changed. God's grace has

not changed. But it seems like more and more

we find ourselves trying to define our identity

more and more. Sometimes we think the culture

in our churches is what's important. as if the

ethos is all that matters. We try to define the

way Lutherans talk, the way they think, the way

they look, the way they worship. We keep defining

until eventually it seems like the goal is simply

for everyone to look exactly the same. And frankly,

I don't think all of you want to look like me.

And then we wonder why fewer and fewer of our

young people feel comfortable putting on a suit

that is too tight to fit. Now I'm not saying

that everything is equally valid in the world

or that we just do whatever the culture wants

us to do. That's not what I'm saying. But I do

think we have to ask a question sometimes. What

exactly are we fighting for? Because Jesus says

that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure

hidden in a field. It is a pearl of great price.

It is something of great value that everything

else is secondary to. What exactly is the treasure?

Is the treasure this institution? The ways that

we do things that we prefer? Is it some cultural

identity that we feel like we look and act similar?

Is the treasure trying to make sure everyone

sounds exactly the same? Or is the treasure a

Jesus and his kingdom that goes much further

than our own backyard? See, we often approach

disagreement as though the question is, who is

going to win? Let's be honest. When you've disagreed

with somebody, don't you want to win? If my side

loses, somehow good has lost, and evil has won,

and cats and dogs are playing together, and we

see the kind of behavior that comes from the

rest of the world, and we start to act like them.

Mockery, ridicule, dismissing others, assuming

the worst. Brow -beating, dominating conversations,

treating every disagreement like a battle between

good and evil. And we see it so much in our world

today. Disagreeing means that now you have to

vilify people. And the goal is not necessarily

to listen and to say, well, what is the good

here that I could learn from others? What could

we learn and what could we bring as the best

of all of our insights together? How often does

that happen? Instead, the goal seems to be who

shouts the loudest, who exerts the most pressure.

who can defeat the other side even if you just

outlast them. And it reflects so much of what

the church often becomes as a community, too.

See, we've begun to believe that if we do not

get our way, then somehow something terrible

has happened. But perhaps the good of the past

is not always the same as the good intended for

the future. Maybe, as Scripture says, we bring

out both what is old and what is new, because

the treasure can be both. The past is meant to

give us wisdom, foundations, tools, but it is

not a substitute for discernment, for listening

to what faithfulness may require now for maybe

thinking for ourselves. Sometimes the problem

is not that the things we've been preserving

are bad. The problem is that we may become so

obsessed with preserving our preferences and

our personal victories that we no longer see

anything beyond them. Could you imagine if Michelangelo,

after painting the Sistine Chapel, never painted

again? That's the best. That's it. Nothing more.

Or if he refused to paint anything but cathedrals

because, well, this is amazing and nothing else

should ever compare. Could you imagine? I once

heard a story about an artist who became so obsessed

with one of his paintings, he believed it to

be perfect. He could not move past it. He would

stare at it day after day. He would not paint

anymore until one day he walked in and discovered

that his master had slashed the painting to pieces.

The problem was that the artist had become so

consumed by his own work that he could no longer

create. His masterpiece had become his prison.

And I wonder if we sometimes do that in the church.

We become so focused on a particular way, a particular

worship, a particular way of speech, a particular

organization, a particular way of looking at

our heritage. What it means to be Lutheran. let

alone what it means to be Christian at all. And

we may become unable to see anything beyond our

own religious thoughts. We may begin with something

good and it may faithfully point us to Christ,

but eventually we become so focused that we forget

what it was made for. That's where we need to

start asking the question, what exactly are we

as Christians trying to preserve? Because if

the treasure is Jesus Christ and His Kingdom,

then everything else has to be evaluated by whether

it helps us receive Christ, confess Christ, live

in Christ, and bring others to Christ. Jesus

says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure

hidden in a field, a merchant in search of fine

pearls. The treasure is not simply the way we've

always done things. But the treasure is the Kingdom

of Heaven, What does that mean? Yes, it means

Christ. It means the grace of God given to sinners.

It means the people Christ has rescued and redeemed.

It means righteousness, justice, mercy, compassion,

forgiveness, hope, peace that flow from the reign

of God. The kingdom is not simply I get to arrange

everything according to the way I think it should

be. The kingdom is God's work of making all things

right in Christ. Not in us and the treasure is

not simply knowing the right words about things

because we can talk about grace But what happens

when somebody has actually hurt us? We can talk

about forgiveness But what happens when someone

has actually offended us deeply? We can talk

about mercy, but what happens when someone in

our eyes doesn't deserve it We can talk about

justice But what happens when it requires us

to look honestly at ourselves? We can talk about

the people Christ has redeemed, but what happens

when those people don't look or think or act

the way we expect? Because the treasure is not

something merely that we say. The treasure is

Christ, and He changes the way we live. We receive

grace. And therefore, we become people who give

grace. We receive forgiveness, so we become people

who forgive. We receive mercy, so we become people

who show mercy. We are reconciled to God, so

we go become reconciled with our neighbor. Or

do we? We come to the Lord's Supper to receive

the Body and Blood of Christ. as we are forgiven

by God, that is not something to ignore. But

if we receive communion on a Sunday morning and

then spend the rest of the week refusing to share

our lives with the people Christ has put around

us, then perhaps we need to ask if we really

understood what communion was at all. What did

we really receive if we have communion with Christ

and we forget to seek communion with our neighbor?

We receive mercy. And the same is true of Scripture

and what we study. Because we need to be asking

what the inspired writers were saying. We need

to find out who were they saying it to? What

was the context? But we do need to ask, why did

God want me to read this today? Because if we

study the Bible and we learn all the context

and we understand all the Greek and the Hebrew

and the literary structure and then close the

book without asking how God is speaking to our

lives Then we've learned a great deal about that

mirror But we don't know anything about our own

face the word is Not just becoming better at

knowing the words the treasure is for us to know

Christ Himself. And that's why we need to be

careful not to confuse the treasure with the

tools that help us find it, because the Lutheran

church is a wonderful shovel. And I don't just

mean for the whole that I oftentimes dig for

myself in everyday conversation. You see, the

Lutheran church is a wonderful shovel to dig

for the treasure of the Kingdom of God. Our theology

has given generations of Christians a way of

speaking about justification and faith and grace

and forgiveness. This is not a small thing. But

the shovel for helping you to get to the treasure

is not the treasure. If somebody else is trying

to dig for the kingdom of heaven with a hammer,

sure, that's going to take them longer. It doesn't

make quite as much sense. If somebody is trying

to dig with a screwdriver, yeah, it's not nearly

as efficient. But the point is not to stand there

admiring the shovel that you forget to dig with

it. We may believe that other churches are using

the wrong tools, but if they're digging for the

Kingdom of Heaven while all we do is stand around

and stare at our shovel, then who's really pursuing

Christ Jesus after all? And even if we have a

shovel, Not every shovel has to be the same.

They could have different handles, different

grips, different gloves. The question is not,

does this look like the shovel that I've always

used? The question is, does it help us dig for

the kingdom of heaven? Because even if every

method is not equally good, a tool is judged

by the purpose for which it exists. All the things

we do, our traditions, our patterns, our structures,

our ways of organizing, they still come down

to one question. Is what we do helping us to

receive Christ and bring Him to others? Does

this look like what I did before? No. But is

that really what matters? See, Paul was confronting

people who were used to feeling like they had

a privileged place in history. They were saying,

we're the people of God because we descended

from Israel. And Paul says, no. God's grace cannot

be reduced to your heritage. Being the first

does not give you a monopoly on having God's

favor. Isaac the second born had God's favor,

not Ishmael the first. Jacob the second born

had God's favor, not Esau the first. The younger,

not the older. Don't tell my sister. The point

was not that God was creating some caste system.

These are the ones I want. These are the ones

I have no time for. That was not the point. The

point is that nobody gets to come before God

and say, I have a better claim than everyone

else. Sometimes Lutherans fall into that trap.

The Gospel says you're not saved because you

inherited the right shovel. You're saved by the

grace of Christ through faith. It's not about

whether we've been part of the right group. It's

about receiving the gift. And that means that

the Lutheran does not look at the rest of the

world and say, I'm better than you because I'm

Lutheran. The Lutheran looks and says, just like

you, I am a sinner saved by grace. And the only

reaction, the only reason I have the treasure

is because Christ has given it to me by the cross.

It's not how do we preserve everything exactly

how it is. It's how do we receive Christ, live

in Him, and bring Him to others. The man in the

field sold everything. The merchant sold everything.

The point is not merely that the Kingdom of Heaven

is valuable. It's that everything else is negotiable

in comparison to it. If Christ is the treasure,

we are free to let go of our need to win the

argument. our fear of change, our insistence

that everything be done the way it was before.

How do I prove that my way is better? No, no,

no. What is good here? What is this trying to

accomplish? What could I learn? Not because of

compromising or abandoning our values, but because

we do not have to turn every difference into

a conflict. I can disagree with you. without

needing to destroy you. I know, hard to believe.

That's something that I had to also realize back

at the convention. I went to Phoenix with a lot

of concerns, things I definitely disagreed with,

wording that I thought could have been better.

And there were times I said, there's gonna be

an issue that comes up in the future because

of this. But I also had to realize, These are

not terrible people doing terrible things. They

are people serving Christ, addressing problems,

protecting the church, and pursuing the Kingdom

of God. Perhaps some of the things they proposed

might not have been the best way to accomplish

the goals, but guess what? The same was probably

true for me. And that is very different from

saying everyone who disagrees with me is my enemy.

Because if we realize that all of us are meant

to be a part of the kingdom of God in Christ

Then we realize that the one who sacrificed himself

Is saying that you and everyone else is valuable

even with our mistakes even with our failures

and Even with the consequences of our own decisions

because God is still Lord of all and he will

still work through all things and that's the

comfort Because it says, those whom God foreknew

He also predestined to be conformed to the image

of His Son, and those whom He predestined He

also called, and those whom He called He also

justified, and those whom He justified He also

glorified. Notice who it is that does it all.

God. The astonishing thing is that the one who

is the treasure has now made us His own treasure.

Nothing in all creation can separate us. Because

God's gracious purpose for me is stronger than

my ability to get everything right. It's not

a question of who disagrees with us or votes

against us or frustrates our plans. If God is

for us, then who can truly do anything against

us that will stand? No one. No tribulation or

distress. No persecution or famine. No danger

or sword. Not death or life. Not things present

or things to come. All the powers in all creation.

Not even a church body's triennial convention.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because the treasure

is Christ. His grace. His redemption. His forgiveness.

And nothing in all creation can separate us from

that love, not even ourselves. Because we really

do try. So let us not be so concerned with defending

what we think is right, and forget that we are

people saved by grace. And that even when we

disagree, Let us remember that the person standing

across from us is not merely an opponent but

someone for whom Christ died. Are we still focused

on Christ? Let nothing take the true treasure

away from us, even ourselves. Thanks be to God.