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Sermon: 3rd Sunday After The Epiphany (1/22/12) 
Author: Pastor Schultz
Text: Mark 1: 16-20Title: The Epiphany Lord Calls You
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The following is the text for this morning’s message;
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. (Mark 1:16-20)
This is the third week in Epiphany and in our text Jesus reveals Himself as the great teacher or rabbi and also reveals the power of His word. It has been pointed out by scholars that the word followed meant, in modern English to ‘walk with’. It is also true that, by New Testament times, the verb ‘to follow’ had added to its meaning an ethical aspect, for it is always the teacher who walks ahead, and the student who follows: therefore, at the least, a rabbi-disciple relationship is implied in our text. Andrew and Peter, James and John were chosen, called, and convinced by the power of Jesus’ words. Discipleship is a gift of grace. This morning we marvel at Christ’s mercy and the power of His words. He called and these two pair of brothers responded. They understood that answering His call would be costly; it meant the leaving of all they held dear, it meant giving up all of their earthly security. The Epiphany Lord called and these four disciples answered with complete commitment.
This morning the Epiphany Lord calls you, He calls you to a life of total commitment. First of all, to follow the Lord in this ways means to make Him the number one priority in your life. Luther states this very thing in his meaning of the first commandment; We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. A disciple of the Lord makes himself subordinate to the Lord, he gives heart, mind and soul. A disciple has to be willing to give up all earthly riches, for those who follow the Lord seek after riches of a completely different nature. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6; 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. A disciple’s subordination is also seen in his relationships to others. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10; 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
To follow the Lord also means that one will strive to be like the Lord in all his ways. The disciple Peter writes in the first chapter of his first letter; 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Be holy in your conduct; live your life not according to the ways of this sinful world but rather according to God’s commands and decrees. The disciple Paul writes in the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians; 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. He writes in the fourth chapter of his letter to the Ephesians; 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Discipleship means being humble and counting others as more important than yourselves. It means being concerned about others’ interests and not only your own. It means to be kind, to have compassion, and to forgive as God has forgiven you. The Epiphany Lord calls you to be His disciple; He calls you to a life of total commitment. This life leads to a life of glorious service. Finally, to follow the Lord means to share in His work. This point receives a mighty emphasis in these words of our text; I will make you become fishers of men. The preaching of the Gospel was Jesus’ highest priority. His proclamation was more important than eating and drinking, than healing and miracles, than any personal comfort. Jesus was determined to proclaim the Gospel to sinners and his disciples will share that commitment throughout their lives.
This discipleship stuff is really kind of overwhelming; putting God first in our lives, placing others’ needs before ours, kindness, compassion and forgiveness, and add to that proclaiming the Gospel! How could we not feel like Jonah and want to run the other way? How could we ever achieve such a daunting task? How could we ever live up to the expectations of being a disciple, a follower of the Lord? We simply can’t by our own power or strength!
You see, our task isn’t much different than that of Jonah. He was called to proclaim God’s word to one of the most sinful cities this world has ever known. As the story goes, he ran the other way but God forgave him, lead him in the right direction, and used him to proclaim His message to Nineveh. In the same way, God forgives us when we fail to live as His disciples, He helps us to turn, to repent and go in the right direction, and He gives us the words that we need to say to proclaim His Gospel.
There is an old gospel song titled “Where He leads Me.” The chorus goes like this:
Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
Our human nature would like to change this chorus to sound like this:
I’ll go with Him till the summer,
I’ll tag along until I’m tempted,
I’ll follow if the cost is cheap,
If not, I’ll say so long, so long all the way.
May God give each of you the desire, strength, and loving kindness to follow wherever the Lord leads you each day of your life. To sing, “Where He leads me I will follow.” Amen.
Go in the peace of His forgiveness and live as a disciple of the Lord. Amen.
Sermon: Epiphany (Observed) (1/8/12) 
Author: Pastor Schultz
Text: Matthew 2: 1-12Title: A Word from the Wise Men
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The sermon text for this morning is the Gospel lesson from Matthew chapter 2.
The first Christmas was celebrated by only a few people in a little village in a little country far away. But if two weeks ago we would have made a trip around the world, we would have seen Christmas celebrated by many people of many nations.
In our text we see how this celebration of the Christ’s birth has spread throughout the world. We are told of strangers from a distant land, Gentile Wise Men from the east, coming to find the Christ child. Having found Him, they worshipped Him as Savior and King and presented Him the gifts of their faith and devotion: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They were the first Gentiles to worship the Savior, but in their path have followed many millions of every race to bow in worship to Jesus as their Savior and King.
The festival of Epiphany is still part of the Christmas season. Some call it the Christmas of the Gentiles. The story most closely associated with Epiphany is this story of the Wise Men from the East. Let’s hear their story as they might tell it to us across the centuries.
The story of the Wise Men has stirred the imagination of many and that is due to the cloak of mystery that surrounds these strangers. Who were they? How many were there? Where did they come from? What kind of star guided them? To all of these questions we have to answer, “We don’t know.” The Wise Men came mysteriously over the horizon; they arrive in Bethlehem, worship the Christ child, and present their gifts to Him; then, just as mysteriously, they vanish again beyond the horizon never to be heard from again. All we know is what we learn from the Scriptures; Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
These words do tell us something about these mysterious men. They were wise men from the east. That indicates that they were Gentiles who belonged to a class of men called Magi, men who were recognized and respected by some for their learning. It appears that they were versed in the study of the stars. It also appears that they had some knowledge about the promises of a coming Christ and King to connect the appearance of the mysterious star with the birth of that King. How they came by that knowledge we don’t know. But as they scanned the heavens, they saw a mysterious star that they hadn’t seen before. Somehow they knew that it announced the birth of the king. They interrupted their studies and began a journey to follow the star. They didn’t know where or how far the star would lead them or what hardships they would face along the way. They simply followed the star in faith that it would lead them to the King.
They came at last to Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews. But no one there knew anything about a newborn king. Herod the king was interested and troubled. A newborn king, he thought, would be a threat to him and his throne. He inquired of the chief priests and the scribes where the Christ should be born. They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea. With that information Herod sent the Wise Men on their way. They continued their journey, still guided by the star, and they found the King.
Bethlehem was where their journey ended. They had traveled far; their journey had cost them time, effort, expense, and hardship. But they had found what they were searching for and they were satisfied. In the Christ child they found the one worthy of their worship and their gifts. Now those Wise Men from the East, if they appeared before us today, would have a word for us who are so far removed from them in time and space. Their first words to us might be this:
They might say to us, “The only reason our story is told in your Scriptures is because we found him. You knew nothing about us before we set out to find Him, and we vanished from the scene after we had found Him. That’s because nothing else really mattered. The only thing that counts is that we found Him and that in Him we found that which satisfied us, made our journey worthwhile, and changed our life. In Him we found our Savior and King, worthy of our worship and our gifts. Our desire for you this morning is this: Be sure you find Him. Nothing else in your life can count more than to know Jesus, to know His glory and His saving love and power, to know Him as your Savior and King. Find Him and you will find in Him what we found: Relief from the burden of sin and guilt, a new life, a new joy in life, a new purpose in life, and a new hope for a better life to come.”
They might add, “Don’t let any obstacle bar your way to Christ. We traveled far, endured inconvenience and hardships. We were tempted at times to give up our search. But we didn’t let anything get in our way; we followed the star until we found Him. Are you willing to do the same? Or have you grown so soft that you will let some inconvenience keep you from Christ? Must the way be made easy and everything be made convenient before you will stir yourselves to find and worship your Savior and King? We urge you not to let any obstacle bar your way to Christ, especially your education and learning.
This is a strong temptation for many of you. With your knowledge explosion and your scientific and technological progress some of you have grown proud and sophisticated. You have banished God from your life and have made science, technology, and education your god. You seem to think that these can solve all your problems. Well, we were among the educated of our day. Our knowledge wasn’t as extensive as yours, but don’t underrate the knowledge we possessed. Yet, we didn’t let our knowledge be a stumbling block to faith in Christ.
These Wise Men might have other words for us. Now they might say, “We found a child in its mother’s arms, a child that looked like a thousand others. We saw no sign of royalty or splendor. But the star had led us to this Child. The mother told us the wonderful circumstances of her Child’s birth: The angel’s message to her and her husband, the angel’s announcement to the shepherds, and the angels’ song of praise. So we saw in the Child a glory that was not of this world. What we saw and heard moved us, by the Spirit’s power, to fall down before the Child and worship Him as our Savior and King. Some might call us naïve or simple minded, so be it. But there was a mysterious power at work to open our hearts to see what our eyes could not, the glory of that Child. And seeing His glory, we worshipped Him.”
“Now you all have more to go by than we had. You have the wondrous star of God’s Word to lead you to Christ. Its prophecies point to Him. Its testimony declares that He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, born to save men from their sins and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. In that Word you have the testimony of His disciples, ‘We beheld His glory.” In that Word you have His own testimony about Himself. Now we urge you to follow the star that you have. Let the star of the Word be your guide and under the Sprit’s influence you, too will see the glory of Jesus and worship Him as your Savior and King.”
They might add, “Don’t worship Him with empty hands but rather express your worship with gifts and service.” We read of the Wise Men: And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11) Now they might say to us, “If you have seen the glory of Christ and have received Him as your Savior and King, your worship must be more than lip service. In your hymns and prayers you praise the love of Jesus that moved Him to give His life for you. In one of your hymns you say, ‘Lord of all good, our gifts we bring You now… Tokens of love and pledges they shall be that our whole life is offered to your will.’ Do you really mean that? If you don’t offer your gifts and service than what you are really saying is this, ‘Dear Lord, in spite of all I say about You, this is what I really think of You.’ If you have found in Him what we found, you will worship Him, as we did, with your gifts and your service. He is worthy of the very best you can give to Him.”
So these mysterious strangers from a distant land and time have told us their story. Now, by God’s grace, may we find and worship and serve as they did, the Savior and King they found in Bethlehem. Amen.
Sermon: 1st Sunday after Christmas (1/1/12) 
Author: Pastor Schultz
Text: Luke 2: 22-40Title: Simeon & Anna: Living, Sharing, & Celebrating
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The sermon text for this morning is the Gospel lesson from Luke chapter 2.
Last April, the voting membership of this congregation accepted the new mission statement developed by the Mission Task force. The purpose of our mission statement is threefold. First it clarifies our purpose as a congregation and communicates that purpose. It answers the question; Why did God place St. Paul’s here and at this time? Second it serves as a point of reference for major decisions. This mission statement will guide the work of the Church Council this year and all the work that is done in this congregation. Lastly, it will help us to evaluate the effectiveness of the congregation. In the future we will be able to look back upon the work that was done and determine if we actually lived out our mission.
This mission statement isn’t just for the leadership of the congregation but for all members. It’s our desire that not only will we live out our mission as a congregation but also as individuals as we live our daily lives. In order for that to happen we all must know our mission statement and allow it to permeate our lives. Can anyone tell me what our mission statement is? Can anyone tell me where they can find it? Our mission statement can be found on the front of your bulletin and on the front of the FYI. Let’s all say it together; We are a family of believers living, sharing, and celebrating the love of Jesus in our community and throughout the world.
You might be wondering what our mission statement has to do with our text for today. What does Jesus’ presentation at the temple have to do with living, sharing, and celebrating the love of Jesus? In this text from Luke chapter 2 we are given two excellent role models of God’s children who lived, shared, and celebrated. Let’s first look at how two of the key persons in our text lived as God’s children.
Verse 25 of our text; Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Simeon was righteous, meaning that he lived according to what God requires. He lived his life according to God’s laws. He was also devout, reverent, or pious. He lived a life of religious faithfulness and part of this faithfulness included waiting for the Christ or Messiah.
Verses 36 and 37 of our text; And there was a prophetess, Anna… She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. Anna was also devout in that she was constant in worship, not only in corporate worship but also in private worship. This private worship included fasting and prayer. Today, we would consider her as an every Sunday worshipper who was also constant in Bible study. Simeon and Anna lived according to God’s laws; they were devout in the practice of their faith which included looking forward to the coming of the promised Messiah.
These two faithful children of God also shared. Verses 34 and 35 of our text; And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Simeon shared the revelation that he had received from the Holy Spirit with Mary. He conveyed what he was allowed to see in the future about this child, the Messiah.Verse 38 of our text tells us how Anna shared; And coming up at that very hour she began … to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. She simply told others that this child was the Messiah. Her words spread the Good News that the Savior had come. She didn’t just tell one or two people about this Messiah but she told all who were waiting for this Good News.
Lastly, let’s look at how these two celebrated. Again verse 38 of our text; And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God. Anna gave thanks and praise to God because she saw the Messiah with her own eyes. Anna’s celebration paled in comparison to that of Simeon. Simeon broke out into song when he held the Messiah. Verses 28-32 of our text; he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
In this beautiful song Simeon declares that he is ready to die in peace because the Lord has kept His promise which was revealed through the Holy Spirit; he saw the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ. Simeon declares that the Savior came for all the peoples of the earth; a light for the gentiles and the glory for Israel. What a wonderful song of joy and faith and peace. What a wonderful feeling it must have been to hold that child in his arms, to hold the Messiah, the Savior of the nations, the Redeemer of creation. Can you imagine the joy that you would feel if you held the Savior in your hands?
Looking back on the years of my life, I find it fascinating how much influence teachers have had on my life. I can still remember many of my elementary school teachers, many of whom I had for two years as the school was small and the teachers taught two grade levels in the same room. I can remember how I was influenced by high school teachers, college professors, and even seminary professors. Yet there is one teacher who probably influenced me the most. He was a student teacher who was only in my 8th grade classroom for a short time, maybe a couple of months. Even though the time that he spent teaching me was short, I learned so much from him. His time of influence was tiny yet it made such an impact on my life.
Simeon and Anna are a lot like that student teacher in that their time of influence is tiny. The only place that these two faithful children of God are mentioned in the Bible is in our text for today. None of the other Gospel writers mention them nor do any of the Epistle writers. Their only influence comes from the verses of our text and what an influence they have had. They showed us how we can live, share, and celebrate, the love of our God. They showed us what people look like when they live out our mission statement; We are a family of believers living, sharing, and celebrating the love of Jesus in our community and throughout the world.
Yet Simeon’s influence doesn’t end there. His song of praise has become an important part of our liturgy. His little song of praise is known by its opening words in Latin, namely Nunc Dimittis. This is the song that is frequently sung after Holy Communion, where we, like Simeon, hold the Savior in our hands. In this blessed Sacrament we too see the salvation of the world before our very eyes. In the Sacramental Union, Christ’s body and blood are there, present with the bread and wine. Our joy should be like that of Simeon’s. A joy that in faith brings peace, a peace that allows us to say, “Lord, I am ready to die in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
May God grant you such joy every time that you come to His altar and grant that we can live out our mission statement, as a congregation and as individuals. Amen.
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