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Text of the page (random words):
ants the seed of his image and life he plows up the hardened soil of our hearts he breaks up the rocky soil so that his love and life can penetrate more deeply he rescues us from the prickly choking thorns so that his life can grow in us that s why lent draws our attention away from ourselves and places it squarely on things like baptism and confession hearing the divine seed and praying to our god that s why the church gives us the divine service every week and that s why we schedule times for hearing and learning the divine seed in sunday school bible class and catechism class you see your lord jesus wants to make you the good soil so that you can receive his life and forgiveness with joy he also wants you to sprout and grow endure and persevere and blossom and bear fruit now and into eternity so come to the table here your lord jesus plants himself into you yet again come receive the divine seed that he gives in his body and blood and let it bear abundant fruit in you in faith toward him and fervent love toward one another come receive him who overcame the serpent seed come receive the seed of his forgiveness and life and let him bring forth his fruit of love mercy and life in you amen posted by randy asburry at 9 48 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels gospel homilies justification pre lent preaching word of god homily for the christian burial of jeffrey w schulte amazed by grace texts isaiah 25 6 9 ephesians 2 1 10 john 5 24 30 hey can i interest you in a music cd it s by a home grown talent named dutch schulz perhaps you ve heard of him change those words just a bit and you can almost hear him trying to sell you one of his cds right when jeff first put this cd in my hand the first thing my eye caught was the name dutch schulz and my mind wondered who s that then i saw the picture of jeff leaning against the street sign that guy i knew but dutch schulz who s that so jeff kindly brought me up to speed on his stage name the stage name that for many is more common than his given name then on monday evening i received a call from pr bill wilson he said randy one of your members dutch schulz is in the hospital again my mind did a double take this time though there was a little recollection as pr wilson was explaining more my mind was having a separate conversation with itself dutch schulz dutch schulz why do i know that name but member of hope not sure about that one i told pr wilson as i searched the church directory in my contacts then up came schulte and it clicked yes schulz equals schulte and dutch equals jeff leave it to jeff i mean dutch to have the unique name but it s fitting for his unique personality and wouldn t you know it leave to dutch or is it jeff to exit this fallen world in such a unique way not that he chose that way of course the way that jeff has exited this fallen world though reminds me of many a conversation he and i had through the years i remember the many years that cheryl kristen lauren and brandon would come to church faithfully but jeff would come only occasionally they were members at hope but jeff resisted the whole religion thing he had too many questions but over time and through the faithful patient witness of family and many friends jeff dared to learn more ask questions about god and religion of course jeff that s what we all do in one way or another at one time or another and boy were his questions deep and penetrating no mere idle curiosity for jeff he grappled with weighty questions questions such as if god is so good then why is there evil in the world questions such as i know the things i have done in my life how can god love someone like me how do i know god can love and forgive someone like me one of the songs on his cd expresses this internal wrestling match quite well even at age 16 he was grappling and wrestling with the deep things of god and this fallen world as he said in his side note i wrote child of innocence again at u city h s in history class sophomore year flip the numbers and it s ironic that i ve recorded it at the age of 61 how i felt at 16 the refrain poetically captures the struggles we all have in and with this fallen world so full of sin and evil i want to be a child of innocence again i want to be a child in a world without sin somehow we know there s gotta be something better something without the evil in all of its manifestations why do people turn against each other or try to control one another with the tactics of a tyrant why do people cheat on their taxes or get nasty when the repo man comes to collect the car that they bought from jeff but couldn t or wouldn t pay for it as jeff grappled with such questions as he knew he wanted to be a child in a world without sin he also discovered that it was not god who brought sin and evil into the world it was our first parents adam and eve god created the world perfect without sin without evil and we human beings are the ones who messed it up and who keep reveling in our messes you know kind of like a baby sitting in a dirty diaper and not wanting it to be changed it s the death in trespasses and sins that st paul mentioned in our second reading we re all there jeff you me we all live in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind apart from our lord jesus christ we are all by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind this was the message that resonated with jeff like a blues song in his soul but it was the flip side of god s message to him that amazed jeff yes god could and did love a sinner like him yes god could and would forgive him and all of us inside and out the more jeff heard that message of god s amazing grace the more jeff was amazed by that grace for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of god not a result of works so that no one may boast yes jeff i would tell him that includes you no matter how bad no matter how evil no matter what you ve done no matter what you ve experience from other people that includes you and that is god s message for you and me here today as well this message of god s forgiveness love and eternal life in christ jesus so amazed jeff that he loved to sing it yes you know it amazing grace i will never forget the time he said pastor next week i want to bring my guitar to catechism class and after class can i sing amazing grace and some other songs i said sure the next week came and jeff brought his guitar and fitting for jeff it was his unique way of singing amazing grace you see god s amazing grace in jesus christ started to restore jeff to being a child of innocence again it s that amazing news that we heard about from jesus whoever hears my words and believes in him who sent me has eternal life god the father sent his son jesus into this world to conquer our worst enemy death itself it s true for jeff it s just as true for you jesus himself suffered the kinds of evil the kinds of betrayal the kinds of liars cheats and scoundrels that jeff and we endure too the difference with jesus is that he said father forgive them for they know not what they do and because of jesus and his death on a brutal cross jeff and you and i and all people get to receive god s amazing grace because of jesus and his resurrection on the third day you and jeff and i get to rejoice in the hope of eternal life in being children of innocence again our first reading captures this so well god promises to prepare a feast of rich food and aged wine well refined for the likes of us and what will god himself consume he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples the veil that is spread over all nations he will swallow up death forever that s exactly what jesus did on the cross for you for jeff for me and for all people who hear his voice yes we have just witnessed a shocking turn of events a nasty little bacteria a result of this fallen world has suddenly snatched a dear husband father and grandfather a loved son and brother a treasured friend and colleague a unique personality but in jesus god has swallowed up the effects of that nasty little bacteria so when it seems like this thing called death is swallowing us whole and in a sudden suffocating way look to jesus for your comfort and hope he has swallowed death forever jeff rejoiced in that message i know and i m sure he would want you to rejoice in it too let god s words through isaiah give you peace and comfort in the days weeks and months ahead the lord god will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth he has already done that for jeff he promises to do that for you too here s the amazing thing about god s grace the grace that amazed jeff god himself has made jeff a child of innocence again it happened when jeff was baptized and our lord jesus brought jeff to realize it and love it throughout his life and now god has completed that task we can actually rejoice that yes jeff is a child of innocence again i for one gladly echo jeff s poetry written while he sat in history class at the tender age of 16 i want to be a child in a world without sin i m sure those words resonate in you as well well jeff is there now and by god s amazing grace in jesus you may look forward to that too amen posted by randy asburry at 9 43 am 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels christian burial gospel homilies hope pastoral care resurrection homily for septuagesima living by grace really texts exodus 17 1 7 1 corinthians 9 24 10 15 matthew 20 1 16 so what do you think of that so called absolution you received earlier did it surprise you did it sound familiar just in case it didn t quite do the job or just in case you missed it or just in case you tried to block it out hear it again as a called and ordained servant of the word i announce to you that god says that s okay no problem forget it you should be sorry don t ever do it again i forgive you but i don t want to have anything to do with you go in peace but don t come back what s the matter isn t that the way you might respond to someone who apologizes to you but you don t want your god to forgive you that way can you imagine if god had said that to the israelites in the wilderness they had just been rescued from their slavery in egypt they had just experienced the lord s grace in delivering them by means of the plague of the first born of egypt they had just witnessed the lord s gracious and mighty arm parting the waters of the red sea and allowing them to walk through on dry ground escaping from pharaoh and his army and they had just sung his praises for doing that god also graciously turned bitter water into sweet water for them to drink god also graciously sent them quail so they could eat meat and god also graciously rained honey sweet bread called manna from heaven to sustain them on their journey still they struggled to live by grace they came to rephidim and there was no water for the people to drink so they quarreled with moses and said give us water to drink and moses reply goes to the spiritual heart of the matter why do you quarrel with me why do you test the lord translation why do you insist on living in your sin and not trusting god and his gracious ways why do you insist on not living by grace can you imagine what would have happened if god had told them alright i forgive you but don t do it again i don t want to have anything to do with you don t come back then they really would have known misery in the wilderness as it turns out st paul reminds us today with most of them god was not pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness that s what happens when we don t live by god s grace in jesus but then forty years later god did take the next generation into the promised land god did continue to deal with them by his grace god still wanted them to live by grace really but living by grace i mean really living by god s grace i mean really and joyously receiving god s grace in jesus i mean really and joyously reflecting god s grace in jesus is quite the struggle isn t it take for example those workers who were hired first thing in the morning at 6 00 a m they agreed to the proper day s wage that the vineyard owner offered they signed on the dotted line we might say then they bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat all twelve hours of it but when those other workers those slackers who started their workday at 5 00 p m and worked only one hour before quitting time when they received a full day s wage for only one hour of work well the first workers cried foul you re paying them the same as you re paying us that s outrageous they struggled with the master s graciousness and generosity and so do we we struggle with living by god s grace when we think that god must favor us just a bit more because after all we re the ones in church we re the ones who picked up our box of offering envelopes and give in the offering we re the ones who help out with our time our skills and our work we re the ones who have been christians for blank number of years fill in the number that fits for you god s smile upon us must be well just a little bit bigger right but that s turning god s grace into a punch the time clock and get your paycheck system that s not grace we also struggle with living by god s grace when we take his free and lavish forgiveness to mean that we can live any old way we want we go along with the culture and say if it feels good then it must be right god would want me to be happy right or as the israelites did we turn to the grumbling and complaining and quarreling after all this world is not perfect things just don t go as we expect or want and someone needs to hear our discontent but that s turning god s forgiveness into free reign with no responsibility or repentance that s not grace it may be cheap grace but not god s grace we also struggle with living by god s grace when we forgive others in the same way as that so called absolution no problem forget it you should be sorry don t ever do it again i forgive you but i don t want to have anything to do with you what you don t want your fellow christian your family member your friend your co worker to receive the same day s wage of forgiveness from you that you have already received from god himself remember when peter was a bit confused about how many times he should forgive his brother who sinned against him should it only be seven times jesus then told another parable about a forgiving master who graciously forgave a billion dollar debt but an unforgiving servant who could not forgive a debt of only a few hundred bucks it did not turn out well for that unforgiving servant you remember perhaps you also remember jesus punchline so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart matt 18 35 we do struggle with living...