Sermon in Minneapolis 12.08.2015

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our Wednesday evening service with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this moment when we can assemble around your holy word. Lord, we thank you for your many blessings in life that we have been able to experience and enjoy. And all of this is a gift from you, the Father of light, from above. But above all, we thank you for the gift of salvation, which we can own through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and be members of your kingdom here on this earth.

So we ask that you would be with us this evening, lift our services, comfort and console us, lead us and guide us with your word, and nourish us with your gospel message. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Originally this was supposed to be a turn for Keith Warname, but just less than an hour ago he sent out some text messages that he won't be able to most likely make it and was looking for a substitute. So after a few more back and forth with text messages, it came down to the person who is now sitting here.

So last Sunday was the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, and the theme for this week is times of visitation. And the gospel text for last Sunday, which apparently wasn't used, is from Matthew chapter 11, verses 20 through 24. And we will quieten ourselves to hear these words in Jesus' name.

Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Korazin. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which had been done in me had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. Amen.

As I mentioned already, the theme for last Sunday and this week is times of visitation. There is a time of visitation for a nation. There can be a time of visitation for a locality. And there can be a time of visitation for an individual person. And according to Christian doctrine, a person's entire life is a time of visitation. But there may be a period of time during that lifetime when God especially calls that individual.

In the beginning of the By Faith book, there is a short little writing at the end of the first section, the first chapter, which is entitled The Most Precious Matter in Our Life. And very pointedly, Luther exhorts that beloved Christians buy or accept or receive this gift of salvation when the markets are open and gather, in other words, gather the grace crumbs of the gospel as long as the sun shines and the pleasant weather continues. And use the grace of God and his word as long as they are at hand or close by or able to be received.

For notice that the word of God and his grace is compared to a fleeting rain shower. And we know that a rain shower comes from a certain location and where the rain shower is it will be for a period of time and then it will move on to another area, another locality. And that rain shower then most likely will never return back along that same path where it had been traveling.

And so, Luther uses this as an illustration and saying, referring to different groups of people who had a time of visitation but no longer experience this time of visitation. He says it was with the Jews but is no longer in their midst. Now, they have nothing. Paul brought it to Greece to Athens, the capital, and now it is no longer there. For they are under the yoke of the Turks or the Muslims at the time when Luther was living. The Roman Empire had it but it has been removed. It is no longer in their midst. They have the Pope, says Luther. But you are, my fellow countrymen, and don't think that you can hold on to this gift forever. For on account of your unthankfulness and forsaking, you cannot keep it with you. Therefore, cling to it. Keep it. Who through faith is able to hold and keep it. That is a precious thing. Idle hands are always in for a bad year.

So, we remember that Jesus, of course, was born in Bethlehem and as a young infant he had to flee from Bethlehem to Egypt with his parents because of the wrath of King Herod. And he was there in that country for a period of time. The Bible doesn't say exactly how long, but after some time then it was revealed through or by an angel that they can now return back to Israel.

When they returned to Israel they didn't go to Bethlehem but they settled in the city of Nazareth. This became his new hometown, his home village. And in fact when Jesus was hanging on the cross there was a little inscription written in three languages in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

So he was there until he began his public ministry. And when Jesus began his public ministry during his youth he apparently went to the synagogue every Sunday or every Sabbath day to participate, to partake in the worship service there in that local town.

So now his public ministry had begun and again according to custom, as the Bible says. So this wasn't the first time. He had a custom. Regularly he did this. He went into the synagogue there in Nazareth. And the tradition was such that here in the sanctuary would be sitting male individuals. The females would be sitting in the overflow or up on the balcony or down in the basement. That was the tradition at that time. Only men could be sitting in the sanctuary.

Well, times have changed and now we have equal rights and so on and so forth. So it's not that tradition any longer. Years back even in the old 4th and Newton church as far as even in my early memory men sat on one side and women sat on the other side for the most part. But traditions change as time goes on.

So anyways, Jesus Sunday morning on the Sabbath went into the synagogue there in his hometown and was listening to the scriptures being read and the prayers that were being recited and the songs that were being sung. These were all scriptural and religious and comforting and nourishing in its way.

So the priest would always read a text from the Torah or one of the books of the law or one of the first five books of the Bible called Torah or the Pentateuch in the Greek language or books of the law we could commonly call that. So that was the duty of the rabbi attending the service.

And after this then was the time for the second reading. And the reading was from one of the historical books or one of the books of the prophets. And at that point anyone, any adult male person in the audience could come forward and read a text from the historical book or a prophetical book.

So Jesus on a certain day steps forward and requests the scroll of prophet Isaiah. Now they didn't have Bibles like this divided into all these different books and all the verses numbered and all the chapters numbered and so on and so forth. But the book of the prophet Isaiah was a scroll. And we can imagine that all the scrolls were in a roll in some rack and he requested prophet Isaiah.

So they had to unroll that scroll which was 25 feet long and there were no chapter markings or verse markings. But he knew exactly where to go, where he wanted to go. And he went to, would it be chapter 63 in our division of the Bible today and he began to read and read.

And he said that the blind have received their sight, the dumb are able to speak again, the lame are able to walk, the dead are raised up and brought back to life, and unto the poor are preached the gospel.

So that was fine, he was just reading an Old Testament prophecy of the coming Messiah. But then he began to expound. And they were just amazed at the words that began to flow from his mouth. He speaks differently than the scribes that we normally hear on Sunday morning. He speaks with power and authority.

But then Jesus said something which caused deep offense. He said, now this scripture portion today has been fulfilled in your hearing. So they knew exactly what Jesus was saying. He read this Old Testament messianic prophecy, prophecy of the coming Messiah, and then he equates it to himself. I am that promised Messiah.

And that's when sparks began to fly. They said, we know his father and he's only a humble carpenter. I'm not saying that the occupation of a carpenter is his demeanour in any way, but that's what they thought, that's what they said. His father is a carpenter, and he was actually born out of wedlock. He's a foster child. They were only engaged when he was born.

And they became so enraged that they got out of their seats. And you can imagine the temperament of the Middle Eastern people. They quickly become inflamed and enraged and they couldn't even stay in their seats any longer. They bolted and swarmed around Jesus. They snatched him. They dragged him out of the synagogue and brought him a mile out of town to the top of a high cliff, which was well over 100 feet high.

And some of you have been to Israel. Perhaps you've been to that mount or that hill just out of the town of Nazareth where this event occurred. And they were ready to toss him to his death over the cliff. And suddenly Jesus turned around like on a dime and he walked right through the middle of the crowd and he not one hand any longer was laid upon Jesus.

And the Bible says it was not yet his time. Jesus said that no one is considered as a prophet in their hometown or their own country. They knew him. They considered him lowly and unworthy to be a prophet, to be a minister. And so he said it's time to move on. The time of visitation for that city apparently came to an end.

Did he ever return back to Nazareth? We don't know. Now he moved to Capernaum.

So there are many peoples who have had times of visitation. Think of Luther when he was writing that text that we just read about times of visitation. There were many believers at that time in the country of Germany. They were experiencing a time of awakening.

But how many believers are there at this moment in the country of Germany? There are a few Finnish immigrants who have gone there but now that it's an EU country they can freely go there without passports and work permits. So there's a small number of Finnish believers who have moved from Finland to Germany. But actual Germans who are believing there might be enough to count on the fingers on one hand.

Think about there in Lapland when after Lars Levi Lestavius received the grace of repentance a great awakening occurred. And that awakening was so powerful that they portrayed it in this way that it seemed like the snow drifts were on fire. That there was a forest fire passing over the snow drifts in Lapland.

The revival was so powerful and so great and moving forward with such force. If you go to the areas where that revival was during the time of the life of Lars Levi Lestavius is there even one believer in those regions today? I don't think there was. I don't think there is.

Even if you go back into the Old Testament times when Solomon because of his falls God said that he's going to divide the nation into two parts. The northern nation which was called Israel which contained ten of the twelve tribes and then the southern nation which is called Judah which contained the remaining two tribes.

In the year 721 B.C. Assyria attacked the northern kingdom and conquered it and took its people into exile. And the people that were brought into exile today there's no trace of them any longer. They completely assimilated with other peoples and entirely lost their faith. So those ten tribes in the area of Israel were completely gone. Gone forever. And no longer a spark of living faith among them.

And so even the southern nation of Israel was captured brought into exile. But it seemed like was there even a spark left. And the Old Testament prophet portrays it in this way that it's just like a little twig that is growing from a stump that has been remaining from a cut down tree.

So a stump has been maybe the tree has been cut down maybe ages and ages ago and the stump has been left there to decay and rot and after many, many years you notice that there's one little twig showing that there's yet a small spark of life yet remaining in that stump.

So the southern nation of Judah was brought into exile. They were there for seventy years and after seventy years they were allowed to return back to the promised land to a pile of rubble, dust, and sweat.

So why was it that the southern nation of Judah was allowed to remain? That that spark wasn't extinguished completely? Well, Jesus, in the genealogy of Jesus, comes from the tribe of Judah. And it needed to remain in order that one day Christ, our Savior, would be able to be born here on this earth, to be the Savior of the world.

But yet during the time of Jesus, when he was coming into Jerusalem the last time, as Palm Sunday was approaching, and Passion Week was about to begin, he saw the outline of the city ahead, and he broke down. He began to cry. He said, it's hidden from your eyes, speaking to his followers and his disciples, what will happen in the near future. But it's not hidden from my eyes.

You can see that beautiful city there on the horizon. It won't be that a few years, actually some 35 years later, that the armies of Rome will come, surround that city, destroy that city, and take the lives of every human being in that city. Not one stone will be left upon another stone.

Jesus wept and cried. I have been like a mother hen, says Jesus. I have wanted to gather you like chicks to come under the protection of my wings, but you have not desired to come.

We remember when John the Baptist met his fatal death, and it was at the hands of King Herod. And we could say that the time of visitation for King Herod, as a result of that act, was sealed.

For when Jesus stepped before that same King Herod, some years later, on Monday, Thursday evening, he first was brought to Pontius Pilate to be scrutinized, to be examined. And Pontius Pilate wanted nothing to do with it. It was like a hot potato for him, so he pondered off to King Herod. He says, you're from Galilee. That's the region of King Herod. Let King Herod deal with this man.

King Herod was delighted. Finally, I get a chance to speak to this man that I've been waiting so long for. I've heard so much about him. People have been talking about his great speeches and his mighty miracles. Now is my opportunity to interview him and interrogate him.

When Jesus was brought before King Herod, King Herod looks Jesus up and down and begins to circle him and he begins to question him. Are you a king? No response. Do you have a kingdom? No response.

King Herod: The Old Testament prophecy of prophet Isaiah was fulfilled. He is brought like a lamb before its shearer. He is brought like a sheep before its slaughterer. And he opens not his mouth. Jesus didn't say a word to King Herod.

We could say that the time of visitation for King Herod sorrowfully was over. So we can imagine that King Herod kind of shrugs his shoulders and lifts his hands in disbelief and sends him back to Pontius Pilate. You might will try to do something with this man.

So we can see that nations have had a time of visitation and localities and regions have had a time of visitation and even individuals have had a time of visitation.

The Old Testament or the Gospel or the sorry the Epistle text for today is from Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 3 and it says that how does it say it that pay heed to the word of God and harden not your heart.

And the writer of this letter to the Hebrews is often using as an example the Old Testament to talk about the situation at the time at hand when he was writing. And he is often using the picture of the world on his journey as his starting point.

And when Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, scholars have estimated that there were one million people that began, that passed through the Red Sea leaving the land of Egypt.

When they came to Mount Sinai, we remember Moses came down and he saw that there was a golden calf that was made and he destroyed that golden calf, but God then did something that 3,000 people were killed.

A little bit later there was the heresy of Korah and the earth opened up and swallowed Korah and its followers, 250 were swallowed and then in that same occasion a few days later another 14,700 were lost, were claimed by God.

And when the poisonous serpents came into the camp and began to bite people, 24,000 people were killed.

And when Biliam went and preached where he wasn't supposed to preach and didn't even listen to the voice of the donkey, the donkey even began to speak out like a human being warning him not to go, he went. And as a result, thousands of individuals were lost.

So the letter to the Hebrews says, harden not your heart, that you have this time of grace, pay heed, take heed of it, and bring to it, cherish it, hold on to it, when you have that time and opportunity. You don't know when that opportunity will pass, and you will have it no longer.

So one million people began the journey when they left from Egypt and passed to the Red Sea. How many people from that generation made it to the Promised Land? Two. Joshua and Caleb. From one million down to two. That's very sobering. Very, very sobering. That many people were lost during the wilderness journey.

Years, I just had the opportunity when I was up in Michigan, I spent the day, one day, and went up to Copper Country. And it's always interesting to go to the land, to the region where I was born. I was actually born in Lowrym and spent the first year of my life there in Copper Country while my dad was still finishing his degree at Michigan Tech.

And it's been years and years since I've been there, so I had the opportunity when I was so close at my in-laws' cabin that I took a day off and went up there with my father-in-law. But it's very sobering to go up there on the one hand, but exciting to see the land of my childhood on the other.

But as you're driving through village after village after village, you can see Apostolic Lutheran Church, Apostolic Lutheran Church, Apostolic Lutheran Church, Apostolic Lutheran Church, in every town and every village there's an Apostolic Lutheran Church.

Here on this continent in the 1920s, there was estimated 50,000 believers. 50,000. That's a large number.

When Hedeman, A.L. Hedeman, Father Hedeman, was keeping his confirmation classes in the 1920s, you would have 250 students, and they would be from the surrounding area of a radius about 10, 20 miles. 250 confirmation students from the radius of 10, 20 miles.

When my grandma, Anna Hollinen, went to confirmation, she went in Hancock, which is 10 miles down the road from Calumet, two weeks later. So A.L. Hedeman had a confirmation class of 250 in Calumet, and two weeks later he had another one of 200 confirmation students.

Now when I pass through all of those towns, all of those villages, seeing all of those churches, are there any believers up there at all? Hardly a one. It's overing. Their time of visitation has passed.

So here, just some background on leading up to this text. And so, Jesus, when he left from Nazareth, after he was nearly put to death in his childhood home, he moved on to Capernaum, which became his new hometown.

And now he's speaking to the regions, to the people of this new hometown and his new home village. And he performed many mighty deeds and mighty miracles. And he mentions many of these different towns and villages, which are all in that region around the Sea of Galilee, there in the area of Galilee.

So he's mentioning the town of Chorazin, and he's mentioning the town of Bethsaida, and he's mentioning the cities of Tyre and Sidon, and then he's mentioning Capernaum. And the Thais, that is the town or the village where disciples Peter, Andrew, and Philip came from, and he healed a blind man in this city, and this is apparently where he did that miracle of feeding 5,000 people with two loaves of bread and five fish. Or was it the other way around?

Chorazin was just two miles out of the town of Capernaum. And Capernaum was a bigger village of about 30,000 people, a fishing village, and this is where he did most of the miracles which are recorded for us in the scripture.

This is where he raised Jairus' daughter, and this is where he healed Peter's mother-in-law, and this is where he healed the man who had a withered hand, and this is where he healed the paralytic person who was lowered down through the hole that was made in the roof beside Jesus when he was preaching there in that house for keeping home services.

So these were the areas where Jesus was preaching, and Jesus was teaching, and Jesus was performing many of his mighty miracles, and the evangelist John says, Jesus came unto his own, but sorrowfully for the most part, his own received him not.

And so Jesus has to lament and say out loud, Woe unto you, Parasin, woe unto you, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, these were actually heathen or pagan cities, there in the area along the coast of the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and this is where the Gaza, Gaza, the Gaza Strip is nowadays, that's where the Philistines were from.

Anyways, it was a pagan area. So Jesus is saying, if those mighty deeds and speeches that I have given to you, done for you, had been done in those heathen cities, they would have long ago made repentance in sackcloth, in ashes.

And you, Capernaum, his hometown, you have been exalted up to heaven, but then you have been brought down to hell. For the mighty works which had been done in you, which had been done in Sodom, we recall that this is a text I actually took last Sunday, speaking about Sodom and Gomorrah.

And God told Abraham that he's going to destroy the city. And Abraham began to plead with God that save the city. If there's 50 righteous souls or believers in that city, will you spare it? God said yes. 50 weren't found. He lowers it down to 45. Didn't find 45. Abraham lowers the number to 35, to 30, 25, 20, six different times he lowers it until he brings it down to the number 10.

I don't know why he stopped at 10. Why didn't he go down to 5 or why didn't he go down to 1? There's no answer. But finally Abraham said, if you find 10 believing people in this city, will you spare that city? God said yes. 10 were not found.

But Lot and his family, of the grace and goodness of God, out of the mercy of God, were allowed to flee that city before fire and brimstone came down upon those sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

So, here Jesus says that if those mighty deeds that I had been doing here in my hometown of Capernaum, if I had done those miracles, kept those speeches in those sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, they wouldn't have been destroyed.

There would have been many repentances and 50 or more righteous souls, apparently, would have been found in that city. But, that would have been the case in Sodom and Gomorrah, but it is a different story here in the hometown, my hometown of Capernaum.

So, Jesus says that if I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than it is for you.

So, this theme of times of visitation is a sobering theme, but it reminds us that we are placed like before a fork in the road, daily, momentarily, in our life.

Just as Moses said in his farewell sermon to the people of Israel when he had, after 40 years, brought the people up to the river Jordan, bordering the land of Canaan, God had told Moses that, Moses, you will not be allowed to enter into the promised land for some transgression that Moses had done.

So, Moses eventually was buried outside of the borders of the land of Canaan, and his grave has not been found until this moment.

But, anyways, Moses is now saying farewell to the people that he had traveled with for 40 years, and he knew that Joshua would be the new leader soon, who would bring them across the river Jordan and into the promised land.

And so Moses, I'm sure with tears in his eyes, and people were listening with tears in their eyes, knowing that this would be the last speech that they would hear from his lips.

Moses says, before you is placed two roads, one is the way of death, and one is the way of life. One is the way of blessing, and one is the way of cursing. And I exhort you, choose the way of life, choose the way of blessing.

And so, hopefully, it would never happen as one example. Actually, well, the Bethesda is here tonight, and her father has once told this story when they lived in Haukiburas. I don't know if Paolo was living at that time when they were living in Haukiburas when he was there as a pastor.

And he was called to the deathbed of one man. And I cleaned it from one sermon that he's delivered and I have on tape. And the wife was believing and the children were believing.

And so, he would come with his wife and children often to the hearing of God's word. He brought them time and time again. So, he was able to hear the living word of God, but he never accepted it for himself.

Now, he was on his deathbed and he asked the believing minister to come to visit him. Or did the believing minister know that he was there and on his own initiative go and visit with him.

And that man solemnly lamented out loud, he was crying, that my moment of death has come and I can see the fiery-eyed judge before me.

The believing minister said, well, I have this gospel that I can offer to you. You can believe your sins forgiven.

And he said, it's too late. I can't accept it. I'm not able to receive and accept it. And he died in that condition. What a sorrowful way to leave this life.

There in the area of Dunblain, Canada, there was a family and one boy who grew up in a believing home lost his faith. And mother and father talked to that child, that child, why don't you make repentance? Come back to God's kingdom where there's grace and forgiveness of sins.

And the boy said, well, I know that that is the correct faith and you are, in the kingdom of God and I know that I should make repentance, but not now. I want to enjoy life for a while.

And one day he gets on his motorcycle and he goes on a trip and some days later the parents get a call from a policeman. Man, your son was in an accident and it was a fatal accident. Your son has died. He didn't get that opportunity to make repentance later.

Luther says, at least I think it was Luther, we've never been able to find that exact quote that who puts off his repentance until tomorrow can sometimes be as if setting up your bed in hell.

So, brothers and sisters, we have this gift of all gifts. We have this gift of living faith. We are able to have grace today and believe our sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood through the merits of the sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

And this is our heart's prayer and desire that God would keep us as children in his kingdom, as grace beggars, so that one day we could close our eyes to this life and be translated to that eternal home in the glory of heaven.

So the power of the gospel is that strength which will lift us, it will carry us, and will bring us one day to the destination.

So believe even now, sins and faults forgiven, believe unto peace, freedom and joy, believe sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood.

And can I hear that gospel for myself as well? I desire to believe together with you in Jesus' name, amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us, the Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.