CMLC 2023-10-22 Sermon

Howdy.

Well, it's good to be able to see people today. So yes, even you Bob, it's okay. I'm glad to see you too.

One of the things that I find fascinating whenever

listening to anything that Lutheran preachers or churches come up with is

that it always seems like they make things harder than they have to make them. It just always seems to be the case.

There was a video I was watching and on the video they ended up asking the question

would a Lutheran say that we believe in Jesus?

Now I want you to just pause for a moment.

What's the answer?

Yes, okay. Thank you. Okay, literally this entire video. I'm just sitting there like why is this so and they went on to this whole

spiel. Okay, this whole thing about how well it's that God has come to us and revealed himself and that

well, there was a person in a movie one time that was asked if they believe in Jesus and he said well, I go to church and I

was baptized and and then they're saying but yeah, but that wasn't the question and then the

pastors on this video are like, yeah, but that's kind of sort of the right answer and it's like

No, no, literally the answer is just yes, it does not need to be this difficult

and

the reason why I find it so interesting is that oftentimes the person asking the question

They're revealing more about themselves than the person answering

the thing is is that I

think in many ways is that there are a lot of times where

our own people that are trying to proclaim who God is

Sometimes they're struggling in many ways themselves

The thing is is that we as the Lutheran church

We actually have one of the smallest percentages of young people out of all the denominations in America

We have and you know and not to be cruel in any way shape or form, but we also have the highest of

People 65 and up just to be completely honest

So it's it's it's great to have you it's guys right? Yeah

With it though is realizing that in many ways is because

The younger generation doesn't know how to connect with us and when we do things like this. Can we blame them?

And moments like this where you try to say what is it that you're trying to get at and

And

When over where I was looking at the at the gospel passage that we have okay this part in Matthew and and as we're looking at

This section is to realize that the people who are here

They're not actually asking a real question

They're deliberately trying to trip up the person that they're asking they're trying to make Jesus get into trouble around them

I and you know in case we're not sure what that might be like imagine any

Single political debate you've ever heard in your entire life if one person is asking another person a question

They're not actually wanting an answer

They're trying to see that whatever the person says is somehow going to make them lose points in people's favor

And the reality is that Jesus knew this he could I mean and I don't even think he needed to be God himself

To know this I mean come on you know whenever somebody's trying to trip you up

Okay, you know whenever somebody is deliberately gearing a conversation in such a way that they're gonna try to get you whatever you say

You see the thing is is that whatever Jesus answer could have been in their eyes

Man it would have led right into

What they wanted if Jesus were to say yes, it is lawful

It is good to give taxes to Caesar

Then the Pharisees that would have been there the ones who have such a big issue

with Rome

They would have them been like see he's just a government puppet

He's just doing whatever it is that the government wants him to do. He's not a real Jew

And of course that's not fair because let's be honest

As much as there were a lot of things about the Roman government that were not enjoyable at the same time

They built roads they had irrigation you could actually have plumbing

There was a less disease than there would have been previously in the Roman times

There actually would have been homes and places to live the taxes while there were those who were corrupt

In general they were actually doing good

But then what about the other side what if Jesus were to say no

What if Jesus were to say no

It's not good to give taxes to Caesar

It mentions the Herodians

The Herodians were the ones who were Jewish people

But they actually connected in their minds with Herod

Herod was like this governor that was over the area where the Jewish community was living

And he was set up by Rome to do so

But you see some of the Jewish community that called themselves Herodians

If you said anything bad about the Roman government oh they would turn you in

And that's the thing is that man that would have made their lives as Pharisees a whole lot easier

If they could have just been done with Jesus

But notice what he says

Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's give unto God what is God's

Now in reality is that this whole situation wasn't even necessary in the first place

Why? Because the question wasn't necessary

Yes you pay taxes no you don't worship Caesar

It is not a difficult question in the first place

Your money goes to Caesar because it's supposed to pay for the things around you

Your heart belongs to God because he's the one who loves you and made you

The thing is that what Jesus is saying is actually not all that complicated

But what it is is that he's making sure that it's clear that he knows where their heart is

And he has no interest in trying to make any one group happy

But you see that's the thing about when something is obvious

When something is obvious we sometimes still struggle with whether or not we're supposed to answer it

Imagine that you're at the top of the waiting line for getting onto this new roller coaster

Really scary really huge and imagine that you're at the top of that after waiting the whole time

And the person right there about to let you on says do you really want to get on this ride?

Now obviously if you've waited the entire time then probably the answer is going to be yes yes I would

Now the other side of it is if you don't do you really need this person to ask you that

No you're going to walk all the way back which I may or may not have done that a few times when I was at Disney World

Now I'm not going to pretend there were a few of those rides I'm like I know I'm going to this my lunch will be out

It will not be good yeah the Guardians of the Galaxy ride did not go on

But there might be other things where we're also pausing and saying why would this be something that you need to even ask in the first place

But isn't that also true about our faith?

See the thing is is that in our epistle lesson Paul starts off with this whole description about the Thessalonians

And the fact that he doesn't have to worry about whether they did or didn't believe it is so obvious from everything they have said

Everything they have done who they are no longer were they worrying about whether or not they had demonstrated to God

Whether or not they were good enough because it had already been done by Jesus

Were they now worried that there was death and nothing else afterwards? No they were anticipating a resurrection

Were they willing to just leave people in their misery and struggles in life? No they were willing to get out there and serve and help the people that were around them

Anything and everything about their lives was demonstrating that they truly did believe the gospel that Paul had shared

But you see they didn't have to come up with this themselves why? Because they'd seen all of that already in Paul

Paul and the other teachers in the church had done the exact same thing

They were not afraid of standing in the middle of a marketplace and telling people this is the truth

This is what has happened God has given his son there is life after death

At a time whenever people were playing politics not only among the Romans but also among the Jews

These were people that were not willing to pander to one or the other

They were just willing to be truthful about what God had done

And more than that is that they weren't spending their time trying to become the richest or the wealthiest the best in the community

Instead they were spending their time trying to figure out how do we help everybody else?

How do we do what is needed for the people in our community?

The Thessalonians didn't have to figure this out for themselves why?

Because they saw it straight from Paul

And that's what worries me whenever I see videos from other pastors where they're just trying to somehow prove a point

And they're trying to make things so difficult and why?

Are they trying to convince everybody to stop going to the other churches and come to all the Lutheran churches?

Well hey that's a foregone conclusion they're going to go wherever they're going to go

But more than that is what is the younger generation going to want when all they see from us is that we're just trying to prove that we're better than others?

Or even more than that is that we can't just be so simple and straightforward in what we believe and what we do with it

That they can't just see it and live into it

Why is it not so obvious from us?

You see that's the thing that we end up seeing here is that when it speaks in Paul's letter and says

We know that God has chosen you because our gospel came to you in word, in power, in spirit with full conviction

What it is to be following after Christ

You see the thing is that with those people that were out there with Jesus asking him is it lawful to give taxes to Caesar?

That's pretty obvious where their heart was

Where's yours?

What is it that you are the most consumed with?

Are you consumed with making sure that the family down the street that you know is struggling in different ways knows that there is someone looking out for them?

Are you consumed with knowing that when people are spending so much time trying to prove how great that they are that they know that it's okay to step back?

You don't have to live up to every status symbol that the world has given you

When those who know that they have messed up in their lives don't know how to forgive themselves

Are you consumed with letting them know that they are truly forgiven?

Are those the things that consume you?

Are those the things that others see consume you?

You see we spend a lot of time wondering what about our world? What about our community? How is it that we can change our community?

How is it that we can be there for our friends? What is it that we're doing for the next generation?

How is it that we can make sure that they come to have faith in Christ and want to live it out?

What are they seeing in us?

And that's a hard place to be in because the hardest person to look at is always ourselves

And I'll pause and someone will say who's your favorite artist and everything and there are musicians who are supposed to list out

Well yes, obviously I'm a fan of Journey, that's clear, Genesis, absolutely Phil Collins is the man

I wish he were in better health because I'd love to go see him in concert

Fleetwood Mac, you've got to throw in there somewhere

And then off to the side where nobody can ever hear me saying this is that yes I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan

Absolutely, I'm sorry ever since the second album, the first one, I don't know why she had teardrops in her guitar

But nobody cared, sorry Taylor

But after that one from there forward it was like oh my gosh and it's like who is this young lady?

She has captured my heart, oh my word I wish I could see her

But what's the obvious answer to whether or not Pastor Jason has ever gone to see Taylor Swift in concert?

What's the obvious answer? No, because I'm a 43 year old man who does not have a wife or kids

I have no reason to go except if I were a weirdo, I am not going to go and do that

But the thing is that there are a lot of things that should be obvious about Christians that are not

Would a Christian actually laugh in the face of someone who doesn't have a job and say they deserve it?

Would a Christian throw someone out because they are struggling with the addiction they've had for decades?

Would a Christian ignore someone in need? Would a Christian speak words of hatred and harm because somebody's politics is different from their own?

Would a Christian care more about their own comfort than they would about the health and safety of other people?

Would a Christian be more concerned about making a point than making the gospel known?

And that's the hard part, is that while the answer should be obvious it's that it's not

And that's where we find ourselves, is that we can't change anything out there if we haven't paused to ask what's being changed in here

We can't ask anything about that world until we've paused to say what is it that God is doing in my life?

Are you in the word? Are you spending time with other believers not just to hang out and have fun but to actually encourage them to speak life into them?

The times when you know they're struggling the most, are you spending two or three minutes over donuts or are you actually saying let's go talk, let's go figure out what's going on?

And if you need more than just talking how can I actually help? What is it that we're spending time on?

I miss one of the Astros games and people are flabbergasted, oh my word you didn't see that game and it was like I was literally cleaning up stuff and putting things away over at family point

I'm sorry I didn't catch that one game, I'm still rooting for them it's okay

We can be so upset when we've missed one thing from something that's fleeting and yet when was the last time that we went out to a place where people needed us?

When was the last time that we were less concerned about what was happening with our stocks or our ski trip to Vale, wherever people go I don't know, then we were about how many people are actually hungry or hopeless or stuck in something?

But you see that's the thing about the Gospel, is that I'm not saying this because I've never done it, I've been there, I've spent way too long on contest of champions on my phone, I've spent way too much time being obsessed with whether or not someone does or doesn't like me

I've been obsessed with whether or not I have managed to get everything looking just right or whether or not enough people came to hang out my house one day

But what I also know is that this world is not hopeless and that somehow this random flawed person in front of you is still meant to be out there changing the world by starting with me

So a lot of the things that we promote to you, asking you where is your heart, where is your mind, where is your perspective, what is your energy going toward, it's not because I've got nothing better to do, I've got three degrees, I could find something else to do, I'm sure it would be fine

But rather is because I believe you want the world to be different and I believe that you are the place for that to start

So when I say that to you, it is because the obvious answer is not enough but in Christ Jesus we can

My question to you is how are you showing the gospel in your life, not because the answer is yes I've got it all perfect or no I'm not going to do it but rather is yes in Christ Jesus I can and will do more

So as we finish up today, that's my question for you, not one for you to come up to me and to answer at this moment but rather is because the obvious answer comes from your life

How is it that God has changed you so that you go out to change the world?

Thanks be to God