19th Sunday After Pentecost - St. John Luana and Waterville Lutheran

Amos 5:6-15

Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name, who makes destruction flash out against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate.Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Psalm 90

Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!

Hebrews 4:12-16

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Mark 10:17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Who then can be saved?
Discovering the True Path to Salvation

In the words of Waylon Jennings:

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in too many faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of...

Are we Looking for salvation in all the wrong places? Endlessly overdoing ourselves to be sure that we are saved:

The Pathway to Salvation which seems perfected according to the law - doing the right things at the right time for all the wrong reasons.

He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”

The Pathway to Salvation through reminding God about our sacrifices.

Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

Our attempts to find salvation through whatever means possible may leave us empty in the end. We may try our best but in the end find ourselves hopelessly lost and empty like the young man and Peter in the Gospel. The prosperity Gospel of Joel Osteem and others leads us down a pathway of finding salvation through the greatness of success and not through the "eye of needle" as Jesus sees it. Ever see hurse pulling a trailer? We cannot take this greatness that we gather in this world with us - the calling to sit down and chew the texts today is ever important. Salvation and the means to the throne of grace is ever important and critical. We Lutherans have a grasp on this salvation stuff. We have a great means of preaching Gospel that is real and resounds with hope. We don't keep a salvation score card but an identity with the Word of God that points to true salvation through a life lived by "taking up ones cross, dying to self each and every day, claiming the grace found through daily diving into the waters of Holy baptism - "that in holy baptism our gracious heavenly Father liberates us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is time to claim our Lutheran identity with confidence and understanding - knowing that we have something to offer to the conversation. Sometimes I think we here in church are at an AA meeting when it comes to owning our identity, "I my name is Kris, and.....and.... I am a Lutheran."

We got lost at times I feel in the conversation over religion - what it is suppose to do for us. Let's face it - some of you are here at church today burnt out because you have been given the task of carrying the torch, the weight of the church, the mission and continuance of ministry here. In desperation we cry out - if it isn't about knowing the law, remembering the creeds, the Lord's prayer, the catechism, the Bible - then what? If it isn't about keeping the letter of the law and dropping our nets to follow - sacrificing all for Jesus - what then are we doing? It is in desperation that we come to Jesus crying out with desperation and perhaps a tinge of anger - "Who then can be saved - it seems impossible." And then Jesus dives into the realm of images - symbolism.

Jesus, O Jesus:

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Then WHO can be saved?

Applying the Scripture to Daily Life

The preacher just finished his sermon for the day and proceeded toward the back of the church for his usual greetings and handshaking as the congregation left the church. After shaking a few adult hands he came upon the seven year old son of one of the Deacons of the church.

"Good morning, Jonathan," the preacher said as he reached out to shake Joanthan's hand.

As he was doing do he felt something in the palm of Jonathan's hand. "What's this?" the preacher asked.

"Money," said Jonathan with a big smile on his face, "It's for you!"

"I don't want to take your money, Jonathan," the preacher answered.

"I want you to have it," said Jonathan. After a short pause Jonathan continued, "My daddy says you're the poorest preacher we ever had and I want to help you."

Realize that Jesus looked at him, loved him - and it is through this love that Christ confronts us.

He was dead wrong. It's not the commandments we follow or don't follow, the sermons we listen to or balance our checkbook through, its not the things we do or don't do - "we confess our bondage to sin and we cannot free ourselves, we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone." He went away grieving for he had many things.

Missing the mark - try these "trick" driver's license questions:

When you are merging onto the freeway, you should be driving:

At or near the same speed as the traffic on the freeway.

5 to 10 MPH slower than the traffic on the freeway.

The posted speed limit for traffic on the freeway.

Visualizing the point through everyday images. Camels and needles. Sinners in need of grace. Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer. The assurance of salvation comes not in our greatness but in the greatness of the triumph that happened on Easter morning. Not in the things we can say or do or fail to do. Embrace the fact that by ourselves we cannot earn or gain eternal salvation - but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” esus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Seek the Lord and live

True greatness comes not in who we are but through gaining a proper perspective of WHOSE we are. As Jesus laid down his life freely and abundantly for the sake of others - to gain salvation for the world we come face to face with the call to take up our crosses and follow Him who has lead the way."for the sake of the Good news." True greatest comes in knowing that we may be last, we may face persecution, and we will find grace! Stand in the amazing presence of a Savior who grants salvation to the gravest of all sinners, a savior who meets us in our weakness and challenges us to see that it is not our looking good, doing good, or being good that accomplishes salvation - it is knowing and believing in the one who grants eternal life through the words, "I am the way the truth and the light, no one comes to through the Father but by me."