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description=3 posts published by dimlamp during October 2007;

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s even daily as a source of strength consolation and inspiration for the reforming work eventually the hymn was translated into some 200 different languages and today it is widely sung in most if not all mainline denominations including the roman catholic church as i ve shared with some of you before this past summer while attending worship in the red brick church of skive denmark we discovered the ongoing legacy of the lutheran church as a singing church several hymns were sung by the congregation most of them containing around six or more stanzas one of my favourite lutheran hymn writers was in fact a dane nikolai grundtvig a nineteenth century reformer and bishop who wrote hundreds of hymns coming back to psalm 46 we too like the ancient israelites and luther and the fifteenth century reformers can find strength consolation confidence and inspiration from these words as the promise in the psalm says the lord of hosts is with us we know our god as immanuel god with us jesus came to live among us as immanuel god with us he is our clearest picture of who god is and how god is present in our world and in the church today the following story originally told by paul harvey illustrates how god is present and active today to protect his people it is a story about west side baptist church in beatrice nebraska normally all of the good choir people came to church on wednesday night to practice and they tended to be early well before the 7 30 starting time but one night one by one two by two they all had excuses for being late marilyn the church pianist overslept on her after dinner nap so she and her mother were late one girl a high school sophomore was having trouble with her homework that delayed her so she was late one couple couldn t get their car started they and those they were to pick up were subsequently late all eighteen choir members including the pastor and his wife were late all had good excuses at 7 30 the time the choir rehearsal was to begin not one soul was in the choir loft this had never happened before but that night the only night in the history of the church that the choir wasn t starting to practice at 7 30 was the night that there was a gas leak in the basement of the west side baptist church at precisely the time at which the choir would have been singing the gas leak was ignited by the church furnace and the whole church blew up the furnace room was right below the choir loft 1 god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble the lord of hosts is with us this reformation sunday we celebrate the power and presence of god in jesus christ as he comes to us in and through his word which is filled with promises that he honours and makes good on he and his promise rich word are filled with truth and trustworthiness in life and in death this is at the heart and core of the reforms introduced by luther and his colleagues this too is what it means to be a church in continuous need of reforming speaking of the truth we turn now to our gospel where jesus makes this promise if you continue in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free so if the son makes you free you will be free indeed when we think of the truth likely one of the first things that comes to mind is a particular type of wisdom knowledge insight or understanding such as a philosophical or theological system or a body of orthodox doctrines and intellectual assent to such doctrines or perhaps we think of legal truth as in the promise in a court of law to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then using reason to factually present a convincing case that makes the truth clear enough to reach a proper verdict or perhaps we think of the truth we gain from any or all fields of study or work and life experiences in the case of our passage from john s gospel today jesus is speaking of truth in a very different way he is actually referring to himself here as the truth the truth is a real live person named jesus of nazareth actually twice in the riddle language of our passage jesus refers to himself he says if you continue in my word this too is a reference to both the word as scripture and to jesus himself the word of god become flesh if we continue to be connected with jesus in relationship with him then we will know him the truth and jesus the truth will make us free how does jesus the truth make us free the story is told of some people who were observing a monkey they noticed it seemed to be in pain as if it were inhibited by something around its waste line looking more closely they discovered that in the past some human must have captured this monkey for it had a wire around its waste that could not be seen easily due to the fur growing over it when the people discovered this wire they proceeded to remove it by cutting it off the monkey did not resist them in fact it seemed to them that the monkey was cooperating with them after they removed the wire the people noticed that the monkey actually seemed very grateful for what they had done the monkey was no longer in pain or inhibited by the wire it was set free 2 this is exactly what jesus christ has done for humankind we were in pain and slavery to sin death the devil and all the powers of evil then at the appointed time god sent jesus to earth to live teach suffer and die and be raised again all in order that we might be made free the cross cut the wire of our sin death and the powers of evil thanks to jesus we have been made free all of these have been nailed to the cross crucified taken away removed wiped out thanks to the love and saving work of jesus sin death and the devil was no match for jesus as the god man he together with the other two persons of the triune god created and rule over the entire universe thus we are free from the powers of sin death and the devil since they are defeated by christ there is another side to the freedom we are given in christ in heart felt gratitude we are also free for being jesus disciples in serving god and serving our neighbour we are free thanks to jesus this is what martin luther understood so well when he wrote in his 1520 treatise the freedom of a christian luther s works vol 31 in which he explains that a christian is a perfectly free lord of all subject to none a christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all subject to all jesus modelled for us this perfect freedom to love and serve god and one another by the life that he lived we do not have to earn our salvation no we have received it as an unconditional gift from god through jesus in response to this wonderful gift we are free for love and service not because it saves us or it is a law and we have to obey it no rather we do it in grateful response because we want to do it we want to do things in love and service because it gives us pleasure to please the one jesus who loves us so much it s not like the parent child relationship where the child will not do something willingly if they feel manipulated or threatened and do not want to do it because they dread it rather it s like the parent child relationship where out of love and respect for each other the child willingly and freely will do what the parent asks because the child really wants to do it and it gives the child much pleasure in doing it by pleasing his or her parent whom he or she loves and knows that their parent loves them god s holy spirit has prepared us for this freedom by giving us the gifts and fruit of the holy spirit to love and serve god and our neighbours this is the wonderful good news for us today praise and thanks to our triune god our mighty fortress for protecting us helping us and being with us when we face troubled times and for giving us jesus the truth who sets us free amen 1 cited from james s hewett editor illustrations unlimited wheaton il tyndale house publishers inc 1988 pp 252 253 2 i am grateful to my wife rev julianna wehrfritz hanson for this story filed under sermons sermon 20 pentecost yr c october 12 2007 4 comments 20 pentecost yr c 14 10 2007 jer 29 1 4 7 rev garth wehrfritz hanson pastor of grace lutheran church chaplain of the good samaritan society s south ridge village medicine hat alberta jeremiah s letter to exiles in babylon in today s first lesson the prophet jeremiah writes a letter to his people who are now living in babylonian exile our lesson today is only a small portion of the letter which actually consists of the whole 29 chapter this is a powerful letter in it jeremiah continues to battle his rival false prophets who had counselled the people of judah that they would not be staying in babylonian exile very long jeremiah said they were only telling the people lies telling them what they wanted to hear but what was not a word from the lord rather jeremiah claims that he is a true prophet and therefore is writing this letter which is an authentic message from the lord true to jeremiah s character as a prophet this particular letter may not have been a message that the people wanted to hear since it contains a rather radical message let s take a closer look at it first jeremiah opens his letter as an authentic message by employing the following phrase thus says the lord of hosts the god of israel the message comes from god so the people had better take heed and the letter is addressed to all the exiles whom i i e god have sent into exile from jerusalem to babylon in other words god was behind the exile god allowed king nebuchadnezzar and the babylonian army to take the people of judah into exile the people had turned away from god they thought erroneously that since they were god s chosen people they could do anything and god would still be on their side look after them and protect them from all enemies jeremiah adamantly disagreed he said no way god was allowing god s chosen people to go into babylonian exile because of their sin and apostasy they had turned away from god and god s ways and now therefore had to suffer the consequences namely live in babylonian exile for 70 years one wonders how long our increasingly secular society can be sustained with so many people turning away from god and god s ways is our future going to parallel that of the smug citizens of judah are we heading for a fall because of so many people turning away from god what shall be the long term consequences of such apostasy what does the lord have to do to draw those who have turned from god back to god this message of jeremiah today begs such questions for us today who long to be faithful to the lord the second thing to note in today s first lesson is that jeremiah counsels the babylonian exiles to build houses and live in them plant gardens and eat what they produce take wives and have sons and daughters take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters multiply there and do not decrease in other words jeremiah is saying folks hunker down where you are right now make the best of it because you re going to be there for awhile don t believe the false prophets who tell you you re out of babylon very soon rather live as best you can and realise that god is with you there even in exile in a foreign land the people had believed that god had given them the promised land what were they to do now that they had lost it jeremiah says keep on living there s much to live for right where you are sometimes we too may get down in the dumps perhaps feel sorry for ourselves and think that we re living in exile and that god has abandoned us at times we too may feel like those exiles foreigners in a foreign land we might falsely believe that we ve got nothing much to do or live for in this exiled place we may fight god by trying to erroneously convince ourselves that we want out of this foreign land this place of exile yet god may be giving us jeremiah s message stay right where you are make the best of your situation hunker down keep on living as faithfully as you can right where you are serve me where i ve put you in this message from the lord to those babylonian exiles there is something quite interesting that jeremiah is stating he s telling them keep your hope alive it isn t as bad as you might think or believe look be thankful that the babylonians are giving you enough freedom to own property build your own homes and produce your own food compared with the life of your ancestors in egyptian slavery this exile is bearable for you you can handle it with god s help see the hope for you and your children in these everyday ordinary activities god is with you in and through all of this if you have the eyes of faith to see god at work that too is a message of hope for us do we have the eyes of faith to see god at work in and through us as we go about doing the everyday ordinary activities of life don t give up there is hope for us in the future if we but trust in god the third radical message in this letter from jeremiah to the babylonian exiles is highlighted in verse seven but seek the welfare of the city where i have sent you into exile and pray to the lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare the good news bible puts it like this work for the good of the cities where i have made you go as prisoners pray to me on their behalf because if they are prosperous you will be prosperous too now this is a radical new message for those babylonian exiles they had believed that they were god s chosen people thus god was with them they were special therefore entitled to receive special favours and blessings from god now jeremiah was saying have i got news for you you are not the only people that god cares for and blesses those babylonians your enemies are also god s people the gentiles are also blessed by god jeremiah was instructing the jewish exiles to engage in intercessory prayer for their enemies and work for their well being this message underscores that god is the god of all people jew and gentile no single racial or ethnic group no one nation can have a monopoly on the god of all creation god loves all people and cares for their well being this message of intercessory prayer for the welfare of one s enemy reminds us too of the new testament teachings of the golden rule do to others as you would have them do to you and going further than that love your enemies pray for those who persecute you bless those who curse you the following story reveals the power of intercessory prayer on behalf of one s enemies from the end of world war ii to 1991 albania was under a crushing communist dictatorship it was more rabidly atheistic than even soviet or chinese communism during the nearly 50 years of oppression 1600 churches were destroyed in 1967 the dictatorship ordered complete religious prohibition even private expressions of faith were forbidden the mere act of dying an easter egg which to most of us hardly seems like a radical confession of christ could bring the secret police to your ...