Galatians 6:1-10
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
8 July 2007
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
“WWJD: What would Jesus do?”
Remember that little phrase that became wildly popular a few years ago? “What would Jesus do?” You used to hear it all the time. Now you still hear it once in a great while. I’ve heard that phrase used in a good way – in the way that it was originally intended. I’ve also heard people use that phrase in a way I don’t believe it was ever intended to be used – as a way of invoking guilt or forcing action.
Here’s an example of what I mean. St. Paul made it very clear in our Second Reading today that we, as the people of God, should “carry each other’s burdens and, in this way, fulfill the law of Christ.” So, St. Paul equates the “law of Christ”– the standard by which we as His people should operate – with carrying each other’s burdens. That’s great! That’s how people will know that we belong to Jesus!
How about, though, if someone doesn’t want anyone to help bear their burdens? That sounds crazy, I know, but there are some tough, independent, private people like that. And how about if someone doesn’t want anyone to help bear their burdens, but, at the very same time, likes to make others feel guilty for not helping to bear their burden, maybe even using that little phrase, “What would Jesus do?”
“What would Jesus do?”
Some people picture Jesus as a mamby-pamby, sissy punching bag, without any spine or backbone, but in our Gospel today [Luke 10:1-20], Jesus sends out 72 workers in the world. Their commission is simple: go into the world and bring the peace of God to homes. What better thing could there be for troubled hearts and troubled lives, for burdened people, than to bring the peace of God that passes all human understanding? It would seem that would be a welcomed thing, but even Jesus, Whose “law” it is to “carry each other’s burdens” knew in advance that His wonderful peace would not be wanted or accepted by some people, that some people would not want their burdens lightened by the peace of God. So, “What would Jesus do?” Well, Jesus made it clear: don’t stay there. Leave that place. Go to where the peace of God is wanted. Shake the very dust of that place off your feet.
As a pastor, I used to think that I was the only one who attracted people who seemed to want help, who seemed to want advice, who seemed to want a burden-bearer, but as soon as I tried to do just that, everything changed. Suddenly, I was no longer helping. Suddenly, my advice was no longer any good. Suddenly, I was meddling instead of bearing burdens. Then, when I finally got frustrated enough to get to the very edge of my Christianity and throw up my hands and say to myself, “Fine, then just live your miserable life,” that little phrase would pop into my mind, “Carry each other’s burdens” and then I’d really be stuck, not knowing what I should do.
Like I said, I used to think that, because I am a pastor, I just attracted those kinds of people and situations, but I’ve heard similar situations from many of you who come to me and ask me what you should do in that kind of situation. And honestly, I have said to many of you many times, “That’s a tough situation. I wish I knew what to do.” Those words have been very authentic. What usually happens in those situations, because we know the “law” of Christ to carry each other’s burdens, is that we get more and more entangled in the situation and the situation actually grows very unhealthy for everyone involved. The burden-bearer is simply doing what they think the Lord Jesus wants them to do, but in so doing, the burden-bearer grows worn out as their offers to help are rebuffed time and time again. And the one who has the burden gets fed up with the burden-bearer meddling where they don’t belong, but at the same time, they don’t want the burden-bearer to stop. What eventually happens is that the burden-bearer grows calloused to and skeptical about the “law” of Christ and no longer derives joy from fulfilling the “law” of Christ and that’s just sad. It’s not what Jesus intended.
Look at our First Reading today [Isaiah 66:10-14]. Isaiah tells us time and time again, using may different pictures to rejoice, to experience joy, to celebrate what God has done for his people. There’s not even a hint that living as a child of God should be a undesirable burden that makes us miserable.
Look again at our Gospel today. When Jesus said to leave that place and shake the dust off your feet, did He go on to say that after you do that you should sit around and lick your wounds and commiserate with others. No, the natural conclusion is that Jesus meant that through the act of leaving and shaking that we should not allow that situation to affect you but to go somewhere where you can do some good, where your gifts and the peace of God that you bring will be accepted, where you can find joy that the demons submit to your authority.
Being a burden-bearer is not easy and Jesus knew that. He knew that because He would become the world’s greatest burden-bearer, carrying each and every one of our sins to Calvary’s Cross. What a terribly heavy load that must have been, much more heavy than simply carrying that heavy cross. But Jesus did it. He bore that burden and He suffered and died even for those who didn’t want Him to do it, for those who would fight Him tooth and nail to their very deaths not to receive His forgiveness, not to allow Him to bear their burden of sin. Those are the ones that I believe Jesus prayed for from the Cross when He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He loved them despite their outright hatred of Him. And the best thing He could do at that moment on the Cross was to know the true depth of their burden and turn them over to His Heavenly Father.
It’s my belief and my experience that we must do the same thing in bearing the burdens of others, to know our limits, to know that Jesus doesn’t want us to be miserable as we live out His “law,” to know that there are people who do need us to be the hands and heart of Jesus in their lives, but that sometimes we don’t see those people because we’re so busy and so worn out dealing with people who don’t really want our help. In that case it’s best to shake the dust off our feet, to commit that person before the very Throne of God and into His own loving Hands and to look for that person that Jesus wants us to help, that person who will bring joy to us as we help carry his or her burdens.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena
ALTAR FLOWERS are given to the glory of God by Johnnie and Rogelio Douglas in thanksgiving to God for His many blessings of 34 years of marriage and three wonderful sons.
CELEBRATING GOD’S LOVE The additional arrangement of roses on the altar are from some of the more than 140 roses on the campus of Historic First Lutheran. They are a reminder of God’s continuing love for us.
DID YOU KNOW? There’s probably much about Historic First Lutheran that many of us do not know. So, watch weekly bulletins for “I DIDN’T KNOW,” a weekly historical or interesting tidbit of information about Historic First Lutheran.
I DIDN’T KNOW! On this Sunday that we install Reverend Marcello Gómez as our Associate Pastor for Hispanic Outreach, perhaps you didn’t know that we have a long history of outreach to the Spanish-speaking neighborhood around us. Hispanic mission outreach at Historic First Lutheran began in the late 1980's when Pastor Victor Aldana was called by the Pacific Southwest District and deployed to us as a mission developer. After that approach didn’t realize the goals intended, Tom Edelen was called as our Director of Youth and Community Outreach Ministries in 1996. Tom was followed by Maria Bratton as Director of Community Outreach Ministries. Still, these alternate approaches didn’t quite accomplish the goals intended. After much study and creative planning, Historic First Lutheran called Pastor Marcello Gómez in 2004 to serve as Church Planter / Missionary, deploying him part-time to The Los Angeles Nehemiah Project to also do mission work at Hope Memorial Lutheran in Los Angeles. During these past three years, God has worked miracles through Pastor Gómez, resulting in our Spanish worship service witch averages 47 people weekly. God has now opened the door for us to re-call Pastor Gómez full-time in a mission outreach completely funded by us.
TODAY! Everyone is encouraged to attend the Installation of Pastor Marcello Gómez as our Associate Pastor for Hispanic Outreach at 1:00 p.m. The service will be in Spanish, but English speakers will be able to follow. A carne asada barbeque will follow the service. The church will provide meat, table service and beverages. Attendees are asked to bring a salad or a side dish or a dessert.
NEXT SUNDAY Due to Pastor Schaar’s attendance at the Synodical Convention in Houston, next Sunday’s service will be led by our Board of Elders, with Pastor Bill Fackler preaching and instituting The Lord’s Supper.
IT’S OFFICIAL! Just this past week, Pastor Schaar received official notification from our Bishop, Dr. Stoterau, that his title designation has been changed to Senior/Administrative Pastor.
EMERGENCIES During Pastor Schaar’s absence attending the Synodical Convention in Houston, please report all emergencies to Bill Files, Chairman of the Board of Elders – (626) 795-3607 (home) or (626) 796-4651. He will arrange pastoral care from Pastor Gómez or Pastor Fackler, if necessary.
WE ARE ONE CONGREGATION! Please don’t think of us as an “English” congregation and a “Spanish” congregation. Pastor Schaar and Pastor Gómez both minister to all the members. We have a unified budget, supported by contributions in both services. Please don’t think of things as an “us” verses “them” – rather just think of “us.” And praise God for what He’s doing here!
USHERS: TAKE NOTE Next week’s service will involve Usher Team # 1 –Bernadette Hendry, Greg Hendry, Rudy Melinat and Ann Price.
July 8 – Proverbs 19
July 9 – Proverbs 20
July 10 – Proverbs 21
July 11 – Proverbs 22
July 12 – Proverbs 23
July 13 – Proverbs 24
July 14 – Proverbs 25
Sunday 8 July – Ask God’s blessing upon the expanding ministry of Pastor Marcello Gómez.
Monday 9 July – Celebrate the birthdays of friends by praying for them today: Shirley Widdoss (9).
Tuesday 10 July – Pray for the children of missionaries who will also be facing transition, culture shock, illness and unknown challenges and opportunities. Ask God to protect their young bodies and keep them healthy. Pray that missionary families would grow strong together as they settle in and become established. Praise God for the special role that children play in building relationships with new people and for their unashamed witness that Jesus’ love is real.
Wednesday 11 July – Dozens of growing house churches in India long for a place of worship that will establish them as a permanent part of the community. Fan into Flames will support the building of 50 new congregations in India. Pray that the congregations seeking to build will remain strong in the Lord throughout this effort.
Thursday 12 July – “In my life, Lord, be glorified.”
Friday 13 July – Pray for traveling mercies and safety for Pastor Schaar as he today departs to Houston for the Synodical Convention. Please keep his health in your prayers.
Saturday 14 July – Pray for Pastor Bill Fackler as he prepares to share a message from God’s Word with us tomorrow.
This morning we were informed that Mrs. Christine Cooper, daughter of Rev. Dr. Lee and Eunice Settgast, collapsed and died yesterday while vacationing in the Sequoia National Forest with her husband, Christopher and their daughters. Rev. Dr. Settgast, former interim pastor at Historic First Lutheran from 1993-1994, is presently serving as Intentional Interim Minister at West Portal Lutheran Church in San Francisco, and is the former director of Los Angeles Nehemiah Project. Mrs. Cooper is the daughter-in-law of Rev. Paul Cooper and his wife, Darlene. Rev. Cooper serves as the Vacancy Pastor at Hope Memorial in Los Angeles.
Services have been scheduled for Saturday July 7th at 1:00pm at Christ, Brea, 820 W. Imperial Highway. For additional service information, please contact the church office at (714) 529-2984.
Please keep all of Christine's family in your prayers at this time.
Pastor Christopher Schaar
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Independence Day Weekend
1 July 2007
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
On this Independence Day Weekend, instead of looking back east to Valley Forge and Philadelphia, I’d instead like to challenge us to look to the deep south, to San Antonio, Texas. You all, I’m sure, have heard the phrase “Remember the Alamo.” You’ve all heard it, but do you know what it means?
The Alamo, today located on the edge of San Antonio’s very popular “River Walk” entertainment district started out as a Spanish mission, a place not unlike California’s own missions, a place of worship. But after Mexico won independence from Spain, Texans wanted to be liberated from Mexico and join the United States, so the Alamo went from being a mission to being a fortress and Texans took their stand within her mighty walls. The Mexican dictator, Santa Ana, marched toward the Alamo to crush the rebellion. Only 188 men were inside the Alamo, but they included such legendary names as Davy Crockett and Sam Bowie. Those 188 brave men held off nearly 4000 Mexican troops for almost two weeks. All 188 men were eventually killed, but their resistence gave Texans the time to assemble an army that would eventually defeat Mexico and give Texas its independence.
That story about the Battle of the Alamo is fairly well known, especially to those of you who are from Texas, but there is another story about the Alamo that is not as well known, a story about what happened inside the Alamo. The leader of the brave Alamo men, Colonel Travis, gathered them together and told them they had a choice. They could leave the fort while there was still time or they could stay put and meet certain death. Then Colonel Travis unsheathed his sword, drew a line in the dusty Texas ground and said these words, “Those prepared to give their lives in freedom’s cause, come over to me.” Without hesitation, every man except one crossed the line. The one who didn’t cross the line was Colonel James Bowie, inventor of the Bowie Knife. He was sick with typhoid pneumonia and couldn’t physically walk across the line, but instead asked for his bed to be carried over.
That was the dedication that was necessary for freedom. As we are still learning even today, freedom and liberty do not come without sacrifice, without men and women standing up for their beliefs and for the freedoms and liberties of others.
There is a very interesting correlation between what happened at the Alamo in San Antonio and what we read in our Scripture readings this morning. Years and years before the Alamo, both Elijah [1 Kings 19:9-21] and Jesus Christ [Luke 9:51-62] said basically the same thing as Colonel Travis. They both drew lines in the sand and invited their followers to cross over, but challenged their followers that once they crossed over, there was no turning back and there was no looking back.
However many similarities can be found between what was said at the Alamo and what was said particularly by Jesus Christ, there are also some differences. Colonel Travis called his men to sacrificial dedication for the cause of freedom – their own and others. Jesus Christ calls His disciples to the same sacrificial dedication for the cause of freedom, not really for their own freedom – because that would be won for them by Him on the Cross – but for the freedom of others. Colonel Travis called his men to hole up in a fortress and defend it and that fortress itself would become the sign and symbol of freedom: “Remember the Alamo!” Jesus Christ calls and deploys His disciples not to be in a building, not to defend that building, not to have that building become the sign and symbol of freedom, but to be the Church in the world, to daily live as His disciples, to stand firm in their freedom won by Him, to daily live out the fruits of the Holy Spirit, that the eternal freedom of others would be won not by our dying, but by our daily living. Daily living defines us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Can you say that along with me? Daily living defines us as disciples of Jesus Christ. That’s our uniform in today’s world.
You see, a big problem in today’s Church is undisciplined disciples. That term in and of itself is an oxymoron – undisciplined disciples – but I couldn’t think of a better term. The Church as a whole has a whole mass of people who, for some reason or another, respond to the call of Jesus Christ and cross over the line, but who slowly or quickly, again for some reason or another, cross back over the line. Elijah found that with Elisha. Jesus found that with the three men He called to follow Him. That looking back or crossing back over the line is bad enough in and of itself, but what makes it even worse is that so often these folks cross back over the line, but still want the identification and the benefits of being disciples. They want to be disciples – they want to bear the name “Christian” – they want to wear the gold crosses – they want to know that Jesus died for them and that they’re going to Heaven – they want their names on a church roster for when they need to arrange a baptism or a marriage or a funeral – but that’s all it is to them. They don’t want to be disciplined disciples. They don’t want Jesus Christ, or anyone else for that matter, to tell them how to live. To them, they’re independent, free people and don’t need anyone – not even Jesus – to disciple them, to “limit” their freedoms.
Truth be told, freedoms are found in daily living as disciples of Jesus Christ. St. Paul issued the clarion call: “Stand firm and don’t let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” [Galatians 5:1]. What is that yoke of slavery? It’s not daily living as disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s not living the fruits of the Spirit. Instead, the yoke of slavery is what the devil has power to exercise in our lives when we’re not in daily prayer and in daily study of God’s Word. It’s what the devil has power to exercise in our lives when we’re not in Bible study and worship on a regular basis, when we don’t regularly receive The Lord’s Supper. It’s what the devil has the power to exercise in our lives when we as the people of God see something that God wants us to do, but leave it for someone else to do. There is absolutely nothing better that the devil loves in this world than undisciplined “disciples,” “disciples” who view Jesus not as the source of their freedom but as the limitation to their freedom, “disciples” who are too busy providing for themselves, too busy burying family, and too busy saying goodbye to family to have any time for Kingdom work.
Today we set out on a new adventure, adding Pastor Gómez to our staff as Associate Pastor for Hispanic Outreach. Jesus has drawn a line in the sand and crossing over requires some dedication, some commitment and some sacrifice. It’s easy to listen to the devil about how we don’t have the money, or that the money we have should be used for something else or that we as Historic First Lutheran don’t need ministry in Spanish – that we all speak English. The devil would love for us not to do this work because it would mean that the Name El Señor Jésus de Cristo would not be pronounced week after week, because it would mean that our Spanish-speaking neighbors would not be getting baptized, as one did last Sunday, because it would mean that our Spanish-speaking neighbors would not be confirming their faith, as six young people did three weeks ago.
But our Savior Jesus says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” Colonel Travis said a very similar thing: “Those prepared to give their lives in freedom’s cause come over to me.”
Remember the Alamo? Wouldn’t it be great one day to hear people say, “Remember Historic First Lutheran” and then proceed to tell stories about how we fought for the eternal freedoms of others by being disciplined disciples of Jesus Christ.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena