Sermon Video: "To seek and to save the lost" - Luke 19:1-10

As Jesus walks toward Jerusalem to face the cross he is confronted by an odd sight; a grown man sitting in a tree looking at him.  The man, Zacchaeus, was a hated tax collector, but Jesus chose to invite himself over to Zacchaeus' house for dinner that day.  Why?  Because Jesus' mission, and our mission too, is to seek and save the lost.  God's message is heard by those who know they're in need of salvation.  It wasn't a popular move, but Jesus, this time, like always, shared his grace and mercy with those in need.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

What it takes to defeat evil.

I've been reading in the Bonhoeffer biography about some of the various attempts to kill Hitler throughout the war (there were far more attempts than most people realize beyond the famous Valkyrie plot).  Each attempt ended in failure, for a variety of often mundane reasons.  Bonhoeffer's advice to a Christian German staff lieutenant, Werner Von Haeften, (one of Stauffenberg's aides) who in his duties was close enough at times to Hitler to take out his revolver and shoot him, offers insight.  He cautioned this brave man that to simply kill Hitler was not enough.  Evil could not be so easily defeated; there were many of Hitler's henchmen (Himmler, Goring, Goebbels) who were as vile as he was and who would take up his cause if he were removed.  I think that we've identified Hitler so closely, and for good reason, with the Holocaust, that we've forgotten how very many individuals were a part of the evil he unleashed.  It was not hundreds, or even thousands, but tens of thousands of "ordinary" soldiers, functionaries, and citizens who actions helped the Nazis murder millions.  Beyond them, there were countless others who stood idly by, who failed to act, and whose inaction made them complicit in the crimes against the innocent.
What do we learn from such things?  That evil is not easily defeated.  It can be destroyed, but not in one fell swoop.  We would rather believe that easy solutions exist, that wars can be waged cleanly, that one politician is responsible for our troubles, etc. than come to grips with the reality that evil (on a grand scale) could never exist without many helpers.
We should also remember that the efforts of those who fail to defeat evil, even if they're martyred in the process, are never wasted.  Such honorable sacrifice will always ripple throughout our world and down through time as it inspires others to take action even when the prospects for victory seem slim.
In the end, our responsibility is to God.  We must answer when our time here is over for our efforts and contributions.  Did we stand by and let others suffer?  Did we take action for the sake of Christ?  Among the list of victims of the Nazis are a number of good Christian men and women who were martyred for their faith; they met God with a clean conscience.

"Freedom as a possession is a doubtful thing for a church"

Another quote from Bonhoeffer's biography; this one arising from his visit to New York in the summer of 1939 (he returned to Germany a month before WWII started)..."Freedom as a possession is a doubtful thing for a church; freedom must be won under the compulsion of a necessity.  Freedom for the church comes from the necessity of the Word of God.  Otherwise it becomes arbitrariness.."  What caused Dietrich to sour on the freedom he saw in the American church?  It was a complete lack of serious study of God's Word in many of the churches he visited; sermons that focused on Henry James instead of St. James; sermons that didn't even mention Scripture or the Gospel.
For someone raised in a church where I heard sound Biblical preaching each and every week, that's hard to imagine.  The theological liberalism of the early 20th Century aimed to remove the miraculous from the Bible and focus on the ethical (we've heard this lie before, John Shelby Spong may be today's wolf in sheep clothing; denying the resurrection from within the church, but he isn't the first to do so).  That any church would stray so far from the true faith as to neglect the preaching and teaching of the Bible is at the same time sad and infuriating.
As someone who believes firmly in Ecumenism within the Church, I believe that there is strength in our diversity of opinion and practice as long as we are all doing so under the authority and direction of God's Word.  If a church, any type of church, forgets that our freedom exists within the confines of God's Word, it will soon cease to function as a church and become another social gathering place.  That Bonhoeffer witnessed this struggle in America 100 years ago should fill us with both seriousness and hope.  We must be serious, because the struggle to maintain a Church committed to Christ's Gospel is ongoing; our vigilance must be unceasing.  We must have hope because in many churches in America today Jesus Christ is still preached as God's Son, crucified for our sins and raised to new life for our justification.

SermonVideo: Joseph's Family Reunion - Genesis 45-46

After 22 long years apart, Joseph finally has the opportunity to be reunited with his brothers and his father.  This was possible because Joseph had forgiven his brothers and trusted God's control over his life despite the hardships he had faced.  As a result, seventy members of his extended family were saved from the famine and a final tearful reunion of Jacob and Joseph occurs.  The faithfulness of one son, because of God's grace, outweighed the sinfulness of ten sons.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Sermon Video: Joseph: Revenge? - Genesis 42 thru 44

After everything his brothers put him through, Joseph looks across the room to see those same ten men standing before him.  The table have entirely turned as they are entirely within his power.  How will Joseph respond to the chance to take revenge?  The answer will come from what Joseph did with all of the sorrow, anger, bitterness and regret that 13 years of slavery and prison gave him.  Did he nurture it, and allow it to grow, or did he deal with it and put it aside?  Before he decides what to do, Joseph tests his brothers to see if they have changed.  Are they still selfish and self-centered, or has the guilt of their past actions moved them to repentance?  In the end, Joseph's brothers prove themselves worthy of forgiveness, but will Joseph embrace them or take his revenge?
To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video