"Praise And Thanksgiving"

            Matthew 25:31–34, 41, 46 ³¹[Jesus said:] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  ³²Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

            We claim to be one nation under God, it is in our pledge of allegiance to our flag, and an allegiance we make with our country.  

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the Untied States of America

and to the republic for which it stands

one nation under God

indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

 

            Our children in our preschool learned a different pledge to a different flag. 

 

I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag

and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands,

one Savior, crucified, risen and coming again

with life and liberty to all who believe.

 

            We have said these pledges no, but do we know what the flag represents, and do we know what an allegiance to what they represent entails?  We support our country through our taxes yes, but how many of us do it out of joy and allegiance?  Some of you would say you do it because you have to, others will say I do it because I want to support our country, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. Why do you give to the church?  Would you say the same to giving to God as you give to your country?  Giving to either of these, most people tend to think of each as an establishment, and we are supposed to rebel against any establishment.  What would you do if you lost your country and also lost your freedom with it, because you didn't support or have allegiance with it?  What would you do if you lost your church and your worship with it because you did not support or have allegiance with it?

            These are all hard questions and this is a sermon I'm sure you don't want to hear.  To tell you the truth this is a sermon I don't want to give.  I've been in your shoes and Anita and I are still in those shoes.  We struggle each week trying to make ends meet more than you know.  When I was not a pastor I made decisions to give to only the special needs of the church or said I was giving my tithes through physical work as a trade for the monetary giving.  But here is the problem with all of that, don't misunderstand me giving to the special needs above and beyond our normal giving is a very good thing.  And again, please don't misunderstand me physical work in the ministry is very much needed above and beyond the normal giving. And one more time, if indeed the only way you can really give is through your physical works, that you do it all from your heart means much to our God.  But the fact still remains, if the church can't afford to pay its bills the church has to close, and the building and land are turned over to the Synod and though they could use the money to pay their bills and do ministry that is not even a consideration in their minds. 

            Do you know what it is like when you have to as a representative of the church turn away a real starving family?  Monday I had just started to divide the gospel reading to format the progression of this sermon.  I had read all the way through the OT, Epistle, and the Gospel.  As you saw the Gospel reading contained those words from our savior that say we should be the sheep on the right.  It speaks of law and works our Lord is saying should come from our heart.

            Matthew 25:35–40 ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

            After reading Matthew 25:31-46, I noticed it was time for lunch, and I got up to leave when the church phone rang.  I answered, Peace Lutheran Church, this is Pastor May."  The person on the other end of the phone asked if there was any possible way that we could help his family.  I first answered that we are a very small church and I was not sure if we could help him and his family.  He then told me of his wife and two children and that he was going through an agency that would help him get housing, and that he was a military vet just recently trying to fit back into the civilian world after serving for 15 years and getting a medical discharge, getting laid off from Ryan's Restaurant in Missouri and moving to be with his mother who had just died of cancer. 

            I tried referring him to the 211 number for the Community Funds Partnership, and he said he tried and they told them to go to a shelter for only females and he did not want to split up his family.  I then told him he might try Zion, or Faith or St. Paul because they were bigger churches.  After giving him the numbers to those churches I said I was about to go home for lunch and I would talk to my wife.  He said sir, as he continued to call me through our conversation, all we need is a gift card to purchase some personal items his wife and daughter needed that they cannot get at the food banks, and shelters.  I said I will do my best to see what I could do to help him, but I could not make any promises.  We said good bye, I hung up the phone, and went home for lunch.  Anita and I talked about this and we came up with about 35 dollars to help them out. 

            Anita and I usually have Anita's sister and her husband over for Thanksgiving Dinner, but this year they can't make it.  Most of you have met them as Dave helps us put up the Christmas trees sometimes.  Anita's sister Madonna’s youngest daughter is in the hospital, her name is Mindy.  Please keep her in your prayers.  So Anita said try and invite this family in need to our house to share in our Thanksgiving Dinner.  Well I called this person back up, asked and made arrangements to meet up with him at Wal-Mart, he must have had something else to do because he said he would call me back on Tuesday after he told his wife our offer.  Now I have to wait until tomorrow to finish this...

            Well it is Tuesday and I called them back.  This time his wife answered the phone...  Well, the truth of the matter is unfortunately she gave the appearance they didn't really know what help they needed or wanted.  You might think it was a scam, however they certainly needed help.  I don't know that it wasn't a scam.  But what do you do?  I could have played it safe and just said we couldn't help and hung up, but I had just read Matthew 25:31-46. 

            The problem is that when we read these passages from Matthew 25:31-46 is that we have a hard time finding the gospel through what seems to be a reading of works righteousness.  Our brain and human reasoning takes over and we feel we have to do these things in order to justify our means into heaven.  God is asking us to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned  but to do it because it comes from the faith God put in your heart.  I think that some of you might have thought I was lucky that I didn't give our money to these people.  However I feel unlucky, because I could not help them in the way they needed it.  Some of you might say I think with my heart, but I hope that I am thinking with my faith.  Certainly if our neighbor is hungry, naked, sick, or even in prison we should through our faith and our heart help them.

            James 2:14-18 Faith Without Works Is Dead:  ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

            Think of the gospel in this way, Jesus did not look at us to see if we were worthy before He chose to take our sins upon His shoulders and then take the brunt of the laws demands and die for those sins, even when He knew we are not worthy.  I think God helped these people I had been talking to, to bow out of being helped, of which they did by thanking me for the offer and saying good bye.  They also said they needed to take care of something else before they could even think about receiving the gift we offered like some people who think they have to be good to come to church.  Church is not for the good, it is for those who need forgiveness.

            I offered to help these people, Jesus does not offer, He gives us the help we need to enter into the eternal relationship with God.  These people turned down my offer, and unfortunately at times people turn down what Jesus gives us too. 

            But!  Here is the good news, we can give Praise and Thanksgiving; though my offer might not last forever to help these people, what Jesus gives us does.  Though we might refuse it today, Christ holds it for you to receive it tomorrow and every day after until you leave this earth.  It comes from the faith and love Jesus has for His Father and our Father in heaven, and Jesus' love for us.  It is forgiveness; it is a gift that you may have; it is eternal relationship and life with Yahweh, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.