November 6, 2016Forty Years of Grace—How Shall We Respond? Colossians 3:12-17
40th Anniversary of Holy Scripture
40 years—by the standards of history that’s not a long time. There are many of us here today who can remember 40 years ago quite well. On July 4, 1976, we celebrated our nation’s 200th birthday. In November 1976 Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford to become our nation’s 39th president. But when you consider everything that has happened in our own country and around the world in those forty years it seems like a much longer time. We’ve had economic boom times and recessions, run-away inflation, stock market bubbles and collapses. The iron curtain fell in Europe; Germany reunited; and the Soviet Union fell apart. Our nation experienced the horrible terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, fought a war in Afghanistan and two wars in Iraq. There have been a lot of changes in the past 40 years. Yet one thing has remained constant. In good times and in bad God has taken care of his people.
What about Holy Scripture congregation? A lot has happened in the past 40 years or so. After preliminary work by Pastor Alan Siggelkow and members of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church beginning already in 1974, the mission board granted the group exploratory status in May 1976 and mission status in November 1976. Donald Thompson was installed as the first resident pastor of Holy Scripture in July of 1977. The congregation became self-supporting in 1989 and built this lovely building in 1990 with members coming together to do much of the construction themselves. Over the years there have been gains and losses in membership. There have been long,frustrating pastoral vacancies. There have been ups and downs. Things have not always gone as planned or hoped. But throughout these years, in good times and in bad, God has taken care of his people and preserved the preaching of the gospel in your midst.
Anniversaries give us the opportunity to reflect on our blessings and consider our response to our Savior’s faithfulness and mercy. Our text gives us some suggestions on how we can do this.Tha’s what we want to consider this morning.
Forty Years of Grace—How Shall We Respond?
- With thankfulness to God
- With love for each other
- With forgiveness for all
Paul was under house arrest in Rome when he wrote this letter. Yet this letter to the Colossians is very positive. In spite of his circumstances Paul was filled with thankfulness because he knew he had a Savior who loved him and died for him. In fact, the theme of this letter is the greatness of our Savior Jesus Christ. Paul’s aim was to lead the Colossians to count their blessings and give thanks to God. He addresses them as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.
I can address you that way, too. You are God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. God chose usin eternity. Think about that. He didn’t choose us because we are so good or so loveable. The Bible tells us that every human being by nature is in the same condition. By nature we are lost and condemned sinners, children of the devil, at war with God. No, he chose us because of his mercy. In eternity, he planned our salvation. At just the right time he sent his Son to be our Savior. When we were baptized, he adopted us into his family. He made us his people. He declared us holy because he placed all our sins on Jesus. That message gives us peace no matter what happens to us in this life. For we know, If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not along with him graciously give us all things! In our text Paul tells us, Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
For 40 years that message of peace has been proclaimed in this congregation. Precious souls have been brought into God’s family through the sacrament of holy Baptism. Children and adults have been instructed and confirmed. In Bible classes your understanding of God’s Word has been deepened. God’s peace has been proclaimed to the sick and the dying. Those who have lost loved ones have been comforted. Troubled consciences have been put at rest. You have been regularly assured that your sins are forgiven in a very personal way in the Lord’s Supper as you have received your Savior’s body which he gave into death and his blood which he shed to win our salvation.
How shall we respondto these 40 years of blessings? With thankfulness to God. Paul encourages us, Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Remember every day to say thanks to God. You might be surprised at how much better life will look if we take the time every day to count our blessings and say thanks to God. With that attitude we will also show him your thankfulness in the way we live. What better way to show our thanks than by living a life of love, love toward God and love for each other.
II.
Paul calls you, God’s chosen people, holy, and dearly loved. Dearly loved. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always feel dearly loved. I don’t feel loved when I face problems in my life, when I’m hurting, or things aren’t going my way or as I planned. Nevertheless, even when I don’t feel loved by God, I can be certain of his love. Jesus says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Are you and I part of the world? Then we know that God loves us and gave his Son for us. St. John exclaims, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! Children don’t always feel their parents’ love for them, particularly when they discipline them. Yet their parents’ love is always there. The fact that they discipline their children is evidence of that love. Think of how much more certain we can be of God’s love for us, the God who demonstrated that love in sending his Son to be our Savior. Our God has his reasons when he allows problems to come into our lives and congregation. He’s training us. That training demonstrates his love whether we always realize it or not. God loves this congregation and every person in it. We can be certain of that fact because he tells us so in hi Word and he cannot lie.
How shall we respond? God’s people respond to God’s love by loving him in return and loving each other. In the early Christian Church the pagans were amazed at what they saw among the Christians. We’re told they exclaimed, “How they love one another!” How do we show that love? Paul tells us,clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience . . . And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Loves shows itself in compassion. Compassion leads us to help those who are hurting. It shows itself in kindness to those in need. It shows itself in gentleness toward those who disagree with us or who have hurt us. It shows itself in patience with others and humility that puts others first. But love also shows itself in admonishing each other. Paul writes, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts toGod. Love does not leave others in ignorance of the way of salvation or living in sin. It teaches and admonishes. What would be more unloving than to keep silent while people do not know their Savior or are doings things which harm them spiritually. But we want to teach and admonish with wisdom. We gain that wisdom when the word of Christ dwells in us richly. That word comes to us in worship, Bible classes, and our personal reading of Scripture. In worship as we sing hymns and psalms we are preaching a sermon to each other. When we confess our faith, we are encouraging others by saying, this is important; this is what I believe. We need each other. Where I am weak, you may be strong. Where you are weak, I may be strong. Love leads us to bear each other’s burdens.
Love also show itself particularly in the way we forgive.
III.
Paul writes, Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Whenever human beings are around each other there is going to be the need for forgiveness. We’re all sinners. We hurt each other by things that we say and do, often unintentionally, but we’re so perverse that we sometimeshurt them intentionally. Sometimes we are hurt deeply. Paul knew that. That’s why he wrote, forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. And how all-inclusive is that forgiveness to be? Paul continues, forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Wow! Do you realize what he is saying? How much has God forgiven us? He has forgiven us everything. He tells us, I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no ore. What is the worst thing that you have ever said or done? Most of us can think of something quite easily. We remember it quite well. But God has forgiven us so completely that he tells us he does not remember it. How can that be? Well he remembered our sins in Jesus and punished him in our place. He does not count our sins against us because he counted them against our Savior. It makes no difference who we are or what we have done. God has forgiven everything.
That’s the message that has been proclaimed in this congregation for the past forty years. What more can you ask for? How shall we respond? By forgiving others as completely as God has forgiven us. We forgive and forget. That means we don’t hold grudges. Yes, it’s true we can’t erase our memories of past wrongs. It’s also true that our God is omniscient. He knows everything—he knows our sins. When he says that he remembers our sins no more it is a beautiful way of saying that he treats us as if we were perfectly holy, as if we had never sinned. If that is how God treats us, how can we hold grudges or refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us?
By the standards of history 40 years is not a long time. Yet a lot has happened in that time. There have been changes. There have been good times and bad. But one thing has remained constant—God’s grace. Forty years of one spiritual blessing after another. How shall we respond? With thankfulness to God; with love for one another, with forgiveness for all. That would be a fitting anniversary celebration indeed!