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Jonah Sermon

Advent Midweek III
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
December18, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Would you go? Would you go to Los Angeles and tell everybody you meet they need to repent? Would you walk right into the mayor’s office in Los Angeles and say, “Mayor, change your ways, believe in the Lord.” And then you would say, “Yet forty days and Los Angeles shall be overthrown!” That would take guts! We all might think that we would simply be escorted out of the office with guards, never to see the Mayor’s face again.

Would you go? Would you go to Las Vegas, to the casinos and the brothels, and go to the magnificent mansions and tell the leaders of the city, “Yet forty days and Las Vegas shall be overthrown!” Doesn’t it seem like a nearly impossible task to accomplish? Do you blame Jonah for running the other way?

Would you go? Would you go to Washington D.C. to turn the nation back to the Lord? You wouldn’t go there for political purposes and you wouldn’t go there for a vacation. You would go there to say to the President, “Yet forty days and America shall be overthrown!” I imagine the message falls on deaf ears. The security would probably think that you were nuts!

But Nineveh was not known for those things that Los Angeles and Las Vegas and Washington D.C. are known for. No, Nineveh was known for murdering enemies. The Ninevites were ruthless people. They killed babies. Would you go to Nineveh? Would you walk into the offices of the Nineveh of our day, Planned Parenthood, and preach against that slaughter and murder of the next generation? “Yet forty days, and Planned Parenthood shall be overthrown!” Imagine how many people would hate you! Imagine trying to stay alive yourself if you did that.

We may be able to sympathize with Jonah. We wouldn’t want Jonah’s job either. I think that all of us would rather run away from God and His people who need to hear the Gospel. We may not take a boat on the sea, but who among us would get in a car or a train or a plane to go anywhere but the place that God sends us.

Dear people of God, the first thing we ought to do is to pray for those Christians who are enduring persecution. Pray for the Pastors certainly, but also the congregations who live in the midst of great and grievous sin, who live where love and life are so messed up, who live among great leaders who despise God’s Word and do not gladly hear and learn it.

It takes incredible courage to be willing to go and to obey the voice of the Lord. The Lord said to Jonah a second time in our reading today, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” Sometimes parents do have to say something more than once for the kids to do what they ask. And in this case, God did have to tell Jonah more than once what his job really was. I have been pondering this recently with one of my friends who was called to Canada. Would you uproot your family who had lived fifteen years in one place to move to a different country, to become citizens, to change schools, to endure the cold? I think for most of us we would definitely think twice before making that decision.

But that is the thing about God. He calls us to tell others about Jesus, and He does the rest of the work. There was no hope for Nineveh. They were ruthless, but by the power of the preached Word, by the conviction of the Law, especially these words, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” By these words and certainly the rest of the sermon, the whole city of Nineveh repented and believed in God. He worked a miracle. Jonah started as a coward, but God turned him around and sent him to the city. And Nineveh started as murderers, but they ended in sackcloth and ashes and turned a whole city to God.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the fascinating story of the Joppa high dive and the digestion of whales. But here is the message: And the people of Nineveh believed God. Imagine for a moment what happened, 120,000 souls turned and believed in God. The Lord used the most unlikely prophet to convert the most heathen city at that time.

Now, I have no desire to live in a city, and we continue to pray for those who do. But sometimes I’m jealous of Jonah, for his preaching converted 120,000 and I work to convert just 1,000 or 2,000. But I get ahead of myself. This is not my ministry; this is our ministry. This is not only our ministry; this is God’s ministry here in Curtis and the surrounding area. Together, we work to convert the people of our community to the church of Christ. It is tough work, but it is amazing work. We tell others about Jesus, and God will do the rest of the work of converting souls and changing hearts.

This is what He already has done in us, and like Nineveh, we believe in God and trust in Him for all things. Like Nineveh, God has relented against the disaster planned against us for our sins. Like Nineveh, Jesus died for us to save us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Like Nineveh, God’s Word goes out, and it does not return to God void, but it accomplished that for which He sent it, namely for your faith by His grace unto life everlasting.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Five Loaves, Two Fishes and the Five Thousand

[Seventy-fifth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Jesus had sent his apostles out on a mission to preach in the towns and villages of Galilee. When they returned to him, he decided that rest was in order. So they got into a boat, went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to a place in the wilderness. But people saw where they were going and ran ahead of them. When they got out of the boat, a crowd had gathered. So he taught them. The disciples recommended that Jesus send them away in the evening to get something to eat. But Jesus told them to feed the crowd. Since they had only five small loaves of bread and two fish, they thought it was impossible, but did as he asked. The whole crowd was fed with twelve baskets of bread pieces left over. (Mark 6:33-44)

The people no doubt remembered that, when God freed His people from slavery in Egypt, He led them into the wilderness for forty years. He fed them with bread from Heaven, called manna, and quails for meat at night. Much later, during a drought, the prophet Elijah stayed with a widow and her son in Zarephath. God made the widow’s flour and oil last until the prophet left.

When Jesus fed over five thousand people in the wilderness, they would remember these things and the other ways that God took care of His people. Later, Jesus would give us the Lord’s Supper, where He gives us His Body and Blood to eat with bread and wine. This sacrament meets our need for forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. When we remember how God provides us with food to eat, we also think of how He feeds us with his own body to strengthen us. He gives us bread in the wilderness of this life and bread for our long journey until we arrive home.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

he posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Amos Sermon

Advent Midweek I
Amos 5:18-24
December 4, 2024

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear people of God, we ought never to wish that we were dead. It is perfectly normal to desire to meet Jesus in heaven and we certainly will when we die. But there is always a reason that we are alive, and we should never wish that we were dead. We are alive to spread the Gospel, we are alive to serve our neighbor; we are alive to worship our God.

And we ought never to wish that other people would die. We must protect and defend every human life regardless of circumstance. Life is a gift from God. We must never hope that so-and-so would die, that evil nation would be defeated, that despicable family would experience hardship, or anyone else. That is committing murder in our own hearts.

And that is taking life from others who God has created, loved, and died for. We are alive to spread the Gospel to our enemies, we are alive to serve those who hate us, and we are alive to worship God all our days.

I mention all this because Amos wrote about the judgment against all of Israel’s neighbors for the previous four chapters. This nation was unfaithful; that nation was murderous. This nation was sinful; that nation was worthless. And at least to some degree, the people would cheer for the destruction of others. Those people should die! Think of how it is today. That nation rises up against nation to annihilate each other, total war, bombs, rockets, and missiles.

We should give thanks that we are safe from warfare at this point. And we should pray to God that we do not enter into war. But there is definitely a bit of smugness in each of us when we think, “But they deserve to die. Those people are evil. That group hates Christians.” And we sit on our couches wishing vengeance on our enemies.

But then the Lord commands Amos to preach against the people of Israel and Judah as well. For it is well-known that no one is righteous, no not one. And that caused a moment of reflection. What? You mean that we also deserve to die? That we also are under judgment? That Your vengeance, O Lord, shall be exacted against us?

Three times in Amos 5, the preacher preaches, “Seek the Lord and live!” That was a call to repentance. For it was easy to cheer on destruction when it wasn’t happening to us. But here is that chilling realization that God shows no partiality. If anything, God expects more out of us than He does out of the pagan nations.

But the people were praying and praising for the destruction of others. This is what Amos means when He says, Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? Amos preaches to bloodthirsty, vengeful people who want to see the downfall of other nations. Amos preaches to self-righteous hypocrites who do not acknowledge that they have murderous hearts.

I remind you, we are alive to spread the Gospel, we are alive to serve our neighbors, and we are alive to worship God. Shouldn’t we spread the Gospel to Russia AND Ukraine? Shouldn’t we pray for war to cease in the Middle East?

These wars and rumors of wars are for us an example of what we deserve from the Lord: death. And this violence and threat is an example for us of what the day of the Lord would be for us if we did not have the Gospel. As Amos says, It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him. In our reading today, Amos provides a scary picture of the end of the world, a hopeless image of running from a lion to a bear which would end with the same result: death.

But this is not because the Lord does not love us. It is because the hearts of God are not gracious and merciful. It is because our souls want revenge. We want other people to die because they deserve it, because they are evil and we are not. Or so we think.

Consider these words from God through the prophet Amos: “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. I totally get it, when God is angry with us, His Word cuts us to the heart. To be sure, there is not much hope or Gospel in this passage today. God’s Word does cut us deeply in our hearts. This is how it happened with Cain after he killed Abel. This is what happened when Nathan confronted David about killing Uriah.

But let us learn this lesson today and not repeat the sins of the past. As Amos says, “Seek the Lord and live. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” I remind you, it is not God’s will to destroy us, to kill us. Rather, it is one of the major themes of Advent, that God is with us.

Do not forget that. God is with you. What a comfort that is when there is vengeance against all the nations. God is with you even when the cities are falling. God is with you even if you have to fight in a war. God is with you and it is not His intention that you ought to die, or that anyone else should die.

Seek the Lord and live, the Word says to you today. For our God has been gracious to us, the remnant of Joseph. God is gracious to us now, that He spares our lives. He spares us so that we can spread the Gospel to the nations who are warring against one another. He spares us so that we can serve our neighbors and even our enemies. God spares us destruction and woe so that we can freely worship Him here. God spares us that we can live now on earth, and eternally with Him in heaven.

For it is in heaven, as Amos says, that justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. What a beautiful picture. And what an obvious joy! That there is no war in heaven; there is ever-flowing peace. That there is no anger in heaven; there is ever-flowing joy. That there is no vengeance in heaven; there is ever-flowing grace. Like a stream, like the stream of living water, our Lord Jesus Christ shall reign with justice and righteousness as the eternal King of Kings.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska

Parables of Salt and Light

[Seventy-fourth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: In ancient times, salt was precious. People would pay a lot of money for it because it kept food from spoiling. If meat was not salted, a family would have to throw it out in a day or two. When meat was salted, it might last a few months. Even in the early days of America, salt was necessary to have meat to eat in the winter. If salt isn’t pure, it could lose its taste and the ability to preserve food. Then salt has very few uses. At best, it could keep plants from growing on the paths they need to walk on.

Lamps were made of clay and shaped like a bowl. Olive oil was poured into the lamp, and a wick was stuck in it to soak up the oil. Someone in the family would light it. Tall stands were put around the house. The person who lit the lamp would place it on a stand so that the room would be bright.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Parable of Two Men in the Temple

[Seventy-Third in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: The Pharisees were the good people. They loved God. They went to the synagogue every Saturday. Not only did they try to keep God’s law, but they tried to do even more. They thought that, if they did more than God commanded, they would never break His law, but that God would love them even more. They thought that God would reward them for their good work and that they deserved a place in Heaven because of it.

When other people did not try as hard as they did to serve God, they got angry. They thought the Messiah would come only when all of the Jewish people kept God’s law. They called these people “sinners” and were sure that God would send them
to Hell.

The tax collectors were very different. The Roman government outsourced tax collection. They gave collection contracts to local people. The Romans told their tax farmers how much to collect. The tax collectors could add whatever charges they wished on top of that. The Pharisees thought they were traitors because they served a foreign government and because they often made themselves rich on the fees they charged.

In this parable, the Pharisee stands in the temple as close to the Holy of Holies as he was allowed to get. The Tax Collector stood in the back, as far away from the sanctuary as he could get and still be in the temple. The Pharisee bragged in prayer, thinking God would reward him. The Tax Collector knew he deserved nothing from God and repeated King David’s prayer: Be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus tells us that it was the Tax Collector who pleased God, not the Pharisee.

For over 1500 years, Christians have repeated this prayer in their traditional worship services. Called the Kyrie by the first word of the prayer in the Greek language, we pray, “Lord, have mercy, “Christ have mercy,” “Lord, have mercy.”

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Parables of Mustard Seeds and Yeast

[Seventy-second in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Mustard seeds and yeast were important to people where Jesus lived. Mustard seeds were the smallest that farmers planted, but they grew into a tree as large as 10 feet tall. The seed of this kind of mustard plant was black. Farmers ground the seeds to make a spice and to use the oil in them. Birds loved to eat these seeds and would often come to eat the seeds and build nests in their branches.

Women used yeast to make soft, fluffy bread. When they baked bread, they would save a small piece of dough with yeast in it. This is called leavened bread. When they made more bread dough, they put the leavened piece in the flour for the bread. The yeast would grow and spread through all the flour. When the baker would make new bread, the whole batch would be leavened.

Jesus compared the mustard seed and yeast to the Kingdom of God. The kingdom starts small, but grows very big, so that many people can become part of it. The kingdom doesn’t seem to be important, but it will change everything for the good.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Parable of Two Builders

[Seventy-first in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: In Israel, a rugged mountain range runs through the middle of the country. In a dry region like the Middle East, these mountains were loved for the streams that ran from them, the cool caves that provided shelter and a solid place to stand. In the Bible, they were called rocks. In a storm, there was no safer place to be than upon a rock.

In the poetry of the Bible, God is called the Rock, a fortress that would never fail. Storms and rain were used to describe times of trouble and testing. When a believer was in troubled times, when everything else failed, they could rely on God the Rock.

In this parable, Jesus tells us that His words are like a rock. When we do what He says and use His words to guide our lives, nothing in this world can shake us. He defeated sin and death on the cross. In baptism, He built us on that foundation that can never be moved. We will stand, even when death blows over us.

This parable closes the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus uses it to make the point that the wise person builds on the words he spoke. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will not pass away.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son

[Seventieth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Pharisees were the good people. They studied God’s Word constantly. They worshiped every Sabbath in synagogues. They worked hard to keep every commandment, including pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the festivals; they made every sacrifice without fail. They even kept good company, avoiding people who didn’t take keeping the law as seriously as they did. The Pharisees thought they didn’t need to be found. They were never lost in the first place. They didn’t take kindly to Jesus associating with the lost — tax collectors (one of those was even his disciple), prostitutes, and sinners. Jesus doesn’t often have very nice things to say to them. But on the day St. Luke talks about in chapter 15, he is kind to them and tries gentle persuasion instead.

The lost parables are perhaps the most beloved of all of Jesus’ stories — the Shepherd who leaves Ninety-Nine sheep to find one lost sheep, the woman who sweeps out the house to find one lost coin (OK — it was a Denarii and worth a day’s wage — you’d sweep out the house if you lost one) and the Prodigal or Lost Son. Such stories almost always make just one point, and so it is with these. But that point is not what you might think. These stories are not about the lost or the One looking for them. It is about those in heaven that rejoice, the angels in heaven that sing with joy, and the neighbors and the older brother.

While we were once lost and now found, we are not the lost of the parables. We were found long ago. It is not strictly about our Lord Jesus. He came to seek and to save the lost, suffering and dying for our sins and for forgiveness. From heaven he came and sought us, to be his holy bride, with his own blood he bought us, and for our life he died. He washed us with water and the word and presents us spotless. We are already in his house when he brings his lost ones home. He wants us to rejoice when he finds them.

There is room in the kingdom for more. They may not dress the way we do, live life recklessly, ignoring the law of God and man. They may have had other things to do, thinking they didn’t have time for church. They may even be from other cultures, languages, and lands. Yet the Father’s words call us to see them as the Father wants his older son to see his young brother: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Good Samaritan

[Sixty-eighth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Three thousand years ago, ten tribes of Israel broke away from King Solomon’s son and formed a new kingdom north of Jerusalem. The kings of the northern tribes built a capital called Samaria about forty miles north of Jerusalem. When the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom, it deported many Israelites and resettled people from distant places. The Samaritan people were born when the Israelites married their captors. The Jewish people considered them traitors and hated them. The Samaritans hated them in return, especially when Jewish armies destroyed their temple and their city. At the time of Jesus, Jews wanted nothing to do with them. They would avoid even traveling through Samaria, even to go to Jerusalem. The worst thing one Jew could call another was a Samaritan.

One day, an expert in God’s law asked Jesus a traditional question posed to Rabbis: Which is the greatest of all commandments? Jesus turned the question around to him. The expert replied with the commandments to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus agreed and told him to do these and he would inherit eternal life. Then the expert asked Jesus who is our neighbor. Jesus’ answer was the story we call the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37)

In this story, the two kinds of people you would expect to help you were priests and Levites. They led worship in the temple, where God showed His love for His people by forgiving their sins. They did not want to become unclean by touching a dead person. So they did not help the injured man. But the Samaritan felt very sorry for him, cared for him, and paid a lot of money to see that he was cared for until the day he recovered.

Jesus asked the expert which of these three was a neighbor to the injured man. He answered, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus told him to do the same. As sinners, we will fail to do this perfectly. Yet as Christians, the church responded to the love of God in Christ, and so has reached out in mercy to those who suffer with countless needs over the last two thousand years. We remember Jesus responded to our greatest need by suffering and dying that we might be saved and inherit eternal life. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we reach out to care for those who need us the most to show them the mercy God showed us.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

The Lord’s Prayer

[Sixty-Seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer on at least two occasions: during the Sermon on the Mount and when the disciples asked about prayer. One is recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew and the other in Luke. The version in Matthew is the one the Church has memorized and that we recognize. The version in Luke contains selected petitions to give the disciples examples of the kinds of things to pray about. There, Jesus emphasizes we should keep praying for these same things because God wants His children to ask for things “with all boldness and confidence … as dear children ask their dear father.” (Martin Luther, Small Catechism 3.1)

The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to focus on God’s desires and will, not on ours. We pray for His name to be made holy, His kingdom to come, His will to be done, and then only for our physical needs, forgiveness, and deliverance from Satan.

You may have noticed that our prayers are filled with requests for physical concerns — for healing, for food and clothing, for guidance in making decisions, and for protection in times of disaster. We focus on our wants and desires. Yet our Heavenly Father knows these and will take care of them. God wants us to share our wants, worries, and desires with Him, but then leave these in His care. (Philippians 4:6-7) Then our focus can be on His kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33)

So … how do we do that? Praying from our hearts has its problems. Our old, sinful nature still lives there (Mark 15:17-23), which urges us to focus on our desires and our new nature, filled with the Holy Spirit, which urges us to focus on God’s word, his worship, his will, and the needs of others. That is where the Lord’s Prayer comes in. It reorients our priorities because it is God’s own words. That is why it is the most prayed Christian prayer of all.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Advent Midweek III Jonah 3:1-5, 10 December18, 2024

Advent Midweek I Amos 5:18-24December 4, 2024

Advent Midweek III
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
December18, 2024

Advent Midweek I
Amos 5:18-24
December 4, 2024