Emmanuel Lutheran Church Asheville

THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY (2/18/07)
Sir, we would see JESUS! 
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC 
Luke 9: 28-36
IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

?¨A Glimpse of Jesus?? Eternal Glory?Æ

Dearly beloved, please pray with me: Lord Jesus Christ, our glorious Savior and Redeemer, You have revealed so clearly in Your holy Word that once You came to earth You are not only a real human being, but also truly and completely our glorious God come to rescue us. As You hold this truth before us again this day, fill us with Your Spirit and guide us with Your truth, so that with increased faith we trust that You did indeed enter our world to do everything necessary for our eternal salvation. This we ask in Your holy name. Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Epiphany King and glorious Redeemer, precious children of God:

Jesus?? appearing in His eternal heavenly glory at His Transfiguration is what we might call one of those ?¨WOW!?Æ moments in the Bible. Wouldn??t you have loved to have been there? I surely would have. Fortunately for us this almost indescribable event is reported by Matthew, Mark and Luke in their Gospels. Let??s take a closer look!

The disciples had not asked for this miraculous sign. Bit by bit they had come to believe that Jesus was the Savior promised by God. About eight days before this Peter had boldly confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, ?¨the Christ of God.?Æ By His Transfiguration the Lord gave Peter, James and John visible proof that Peter was absolutely correct in that profession of faith. For they saw their Master transformed in all His divine splendor and heard the awesome voice of their heavenly Father reinforcing that Jesus is truly His own chosen, beloved Son. A ?¨WOW!?Æ moment indeed! An awesome event the disciples never forgot!

These three disciples never forgot these moments on the mountain. About sixty years later John wrote of Jesus in his Gospel, ?¨We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.?Æ [John 1: 14b] Some years before that Peter wrote in his Second Epistle, ?¨We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ?´This is My Son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.?? We ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.?Æ [2 Peter 1: 16-18] The vision of our Savior??s glorious Transfiguration was printed indelibly in their minds. 

Luke records that all this took place as Jesus was praying on that high mountain. Christ??s appearance was changed, and His clothing became as brilliant as a flash of lightning. Then on the mountain Christ??s heavenly Father sent Him two great former heroes of faith, who had already departed this life trusting Jesus?? future saving death and ultimate victory. They came to talk with Him precisely about His impending battle against all evil. These valiant servants of God already had a share in heaven of the victory Jesus would win. They talked with our Savior about ?¨His departure (or exodus) which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.?Æ [9: 31] What a strange way to talk about death! We can only suffer death. Jesus, however, would ?¨bring to fulfillment His death!?Æ Because He was truly God, no man could take His life from Him. He had to surrender Himself into death. Our Savior accomplished what He set out to do ?± His greatest work, to die for our sins. It was this tremendous, saving purpose that Moses and Elijah held before our Savior??s eyes. Jesus came down from the mountain ready for the battle, heading purposely toward Gethsemane, the judgment halls, and finally to Calvary??s holy mountain, the place of His crucifixion to cry out in final victory over all our spiritual enemies, ?¨It is finished!?Æ [John 19:30] That glorious Transfiguration of our dear Savior did not happen by mere chance. It took place for the sake of Jesus, for those disciples, and also for us. 

These were days when Jesus?? popularity was waning. More importantly all through His life Jesus clearly foresaw before Him His suffering and death. He was now entering those last weeks just before He was to accomplish His death at Jerusalem with all its horrors. Those agonies included much more than His physical pain and suffering as intense as that would be. He would also take upon Himself the sin and guilt of the whole world ?± that of everyone who ever lives. Upon the cross He suffered the punishment that should have come to us all. Christ would receive the full force of His heavenly Father??s wrath. He would be forsaken by His Father as He hung in torment suspended between heaven and earth there on the cross. Since from His birth Jesus was not only God but at the same time completely a human being as God intended us all to be, the Transfiguration took place to strengthen Jesus?? humanity.

The Transfiguration of Jesus took place for us, too, or it would not have been incorporated in the Bible by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We, too, have heard the thundering voice of our heavenly Father, ?¨This is My Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to Him.?Æ At first those words should well strike terror in our hearts, for in all honesty we must confess that we have too often not put our Savior??s words into practice. We have heard Him say, ?¨Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.?Æ [Matthew 6: 33] But have we always done so? Sad as it is to say, No way! Did you always give God first place this week, or did TV come first? Did you spend more time in reading that fascinating novel, at your computer or another special interest than in God??s Word? Our gracious Savior has assured us, ?¨Lo, I am with you always even until the end of the world.?Æ [[Matthew 28: 20b] Yet how often have fears and worries crept into our hearts and minds. All we have to do to see our own sin and failings is to take any of the revelations of God??s Law, His Commandments, God??s holy will for our lives, and we will quickly see that time after time we have gotten caught in the quicksand of our own rebellion against our holy God. Even with our good deeds we bring along our corrupt, sinful nature, so that Scripture reveals that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. [Cf. Isaiah 64:6] Tragically each day we sin often against the Lord. 

Our Savior knows we live in a fallen world. Our merciful God knows that as earthly pilgrims we travel down the river of life where we shall encounter rapids and waterfalls. Times of peril and great pain sooner or later come to most of us. Such trials greatly strain our faith and patience. Unless the Day of Judgment comes first, sooner or later we all face death. To prepare us for such times, the Lord in His loving care for us takes us up the mountain of His Word to see His glory so that we have His assurance that we also by faith will ultimately share His victory. Our blessed Savior will not walk away from us in the darkest hour. Jesus will always be our shield and sure defense at such times. He will not only lead us to the sunshine on the other side, but the day will come when through His faithful grace we shall behold Him in all His glory in heaven. We will then experience that blessed bliss of eternal life in our Triune God??s glorious presence and the warmth of His unfailing love. 

Most importantly, under the guidance of the Spirit this morning we have caught a glimpse of our Savior in His resplendent glory for an even more important reason. In those very moments when He reassumed for a short time His magnificent splendor as our almighty and holy God, what is the content of His conversation with Moses and Elijah? He??s talking about the depth of His love for you and me, about His saving death on the cross, how He would lay down His life willingly in our place and shed His holy, precious blood to drown all our sin and rebellion in the bottomless sea of God??s perfect love and grace. Listen carefully and take to heart, dear friends, as our loving Redeemer speaks these words anew to us today, ?¨God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.?Æ [John 3: 16] In amazing grace Christ shed His holy precious blood that even now we might walk in His love and have full assurance that God is on our side, that none can be against us. By faith in the Son of God we already have the gift of eternal life. Dear Lord Jesus, keep us in this faith! Take not your Holy Spirit from us! Amen. 
To GOD alone be the glory!

© The Reverend Frederick A. Stiemke, DD, Vacancy Pastor

THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY (1/28/07)
Sir, we would see JESUS! 
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC 
Luke 5: 1-11
IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

?¨Launch Out into the Deep!?Æ

Dearly beloved, please pray with me: Lord Jesus Christ, our dear Savior and Redeemer, nurture us this day by Your holy Word and fill us with Your Spirit, so that we revel in Your wondrous grace and forgiving love and gladly share You and Your saving love with those whom our lives touch. This we ask for Your name??s sake, who lives with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

In the name of Jesus, precious children of the heavenly Father:

There are times with our limited vision, knowledge and experience as human beings that following the commands of our God may seem completely ridiculous. Yet when a person is empowered by the Holy Spirit in child-like faith to do just what our Lord tells us in His Word, great blessings follow. Today??s Gospel reading makes this abundantly clear.

Jesus had already met with Peter and the other disciples a number of times. They heard Jesus teaching in the area synagogues. Following one such service Jesus went home with Peter where they found Peter??s mother-in-law quite ill with a high fever. At the family??s request, Christ spoke His powerful Word and Peter??s dear family member was healed immediately and able to serve her Lord and the group gathered there. Some days after that healing, Jesus borrowed Peter??s boat so that he could teach a large crowd of people about their God and His mercy. On that occasion Peter and his fellow fishermen would learn more valuable lessons from our Lord God.

When our Jesus finished teaching the crowd, He told Peter to launch out into the deep water to let down the nets for a catch of fish. Some commentators who know the Sea of Galilee and its fish well have written that this was the wrong time to head to deep water, as normally the fish headed into shore to feed toward evening. It was then that Peter told our Lord that this had been a bad day for these veteran fishermen. They had fished all through the night and caught absolutely nothing. Yet recalling how Jesus had taught with authority and performed so many miracles, Peter responded in effect, ?¨Since You say so, I??ll do it.?Æ What blessings followed that obedience!

They caught so many fish that their nets began to break. When they called to their partners on the shore to get help hauling in the catch, the number of fish was so great that their boats began to get swamped. But that tremendous catch of fish was not the greatest blessing of the day. What followed were far greater treasures.

First of all, Peter came to know Jesus for Who He really is. Through this miracle it suddenly dawned on Peter that this Jesus of Nazareth was not just a great teacher, but none other than his holy God. So He fell at Jesus?? feet and cried, ?¨Go away from me, LORD! I am a sinful man.?Æ [5: 8] Peter recognized that he didn??t even deserve to be in the Lord??s presence because of his sinful ways, just as Isaiah also did in the Old Testament reading this morning. That??s exactly as it should have been. In the same way, none of us deserve God??s mercy because we ?¨all have also sinned and come short of the glory of God.?Æ [Romans 3:23] None of us can claim that we have always obeyed God??s holy will and Commandments perfectly. We??ve fallen woefully short and have every reason to be fearful in the presence of our holy and sinless God.

Yet note well the Savior??s response to contrite Peter and all who humbly confess their sin. Jesus didn??t say, ?¨Go away! I want nothing to do with you.?Æ NO! Our loving Savior responded, ?¨Don??t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.!?Æ [5: 10b] Jesus not only forgave Peter, but showed that His forgiveness was so complete that He even had special work for Peter and His friends to do ?± to bring others to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. That was the greatest blessing of almighty God that day. And how blessed they were as our Redeemer prepared them for that great mission for the next three years! They continued to hear Christ preach and teach, as well as seeing Him perform many more mighty miracles ?± even restoring the dead to life again. They would witness our Lord??s crucifixion for the sins of all mankind, His victorious resurrection, and finally His return to glory in heaven. Indeed Jesus was God, the promised Savior!

The world would say Jesus made a big mistake, choosing these rough, unschooled fishermen to be His witnesses. Though they were still extremely rough gems, what jewels they all ended up being after their schooling with the Savior and refinement by the Holy Spirit when they were led by our heavenly Father to obey the Son of God! (Only Judas Iscariot ended up walking away from Jesus.) What prompted the disciples?? obedience to let down their nets for a miraculous catch of fish and then later to follow their Lord and Savior, leaving their valuable nets and boats, their livelihood and their families behind? It was the clear, strong Word of God and the authority with which Jesus spoke that Word.

In amazing grace our Savior still speaks to us today with the same authority. Where? ?± In His holy Word as we find it in the Bible, as well as His Word linked to the water in Holy Baptism and to the bread and wine in the Lord??s Supper. Our Savior also calls as His ambassadors our pastors and teachers to speak His saving Word to us. Thus it??s wise to heed our Savior??s directive to His disciples, ?¨He who receives you receives Me, and who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.?Æ [Matthew 10:40] The One who sent Him is our heavenly Father. He chose His only Son to save sinners. Reject God??s called servants and one rejects God Himself. Thus, the writer to the Hebrew Christians also strongly encourages God??s people, ?¨Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work may be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.?Æ [Hebrews 13:17] True, God instructs all of us to weigh all that is taught us to see that it agrees 100 % with Scripture, as did the believers in Berea in Paul??s day. But where the word of our pastors and teachers agrees with the Bible, we should receive their message with joy and thanksgiving, putting it into practice. It is after all God??s Word shared through Christ??s chosen vessels.

As a called servant of the Word, I come to you today with a challenge for you parents. A short time ago a group of our children was asked how many opened their Bibles at home during the week. Only one out of a large number answered affirmatively. In part that may be because your children do not see you taking time with God??s Word. Thus I challenge you to take time one day a week to open your Bible with family and read God??s precious Word. Every day would be much better, but I am asking for just one day a week. If you don??t know where to begin, I??d suggest you start with the Gospel of John or a carefully selected Psalm. The Bible is God??s treasure chest, and from it you and your loved ones will gain much. And by the way, to those of you who are not parents, I challenge you to do the same. You also have much to gain by spending time every day with the Word of God. There are daily devotion books behind our new doors in the narthex to use if you do not have other guides.

Today our precious Savior stands before us saying in effect, ?¨Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.?Æ [5: 4] In other words, ?¨Live and act in faith upon My Word and promises. Walk by faith rather than by sight. Know that I am with you and that when you do as I say, you will be richly blessed ?± not necessarily as the world counts blessings, but blessed in ways that count eternally. Whatever your situation, know that I am with you. And when you stumble and fall, turn back to Me as did Peter and find in Me your forgiving Savior who has work for you to do.?Æ

Among the work our Lord has for us to do is above all pointing one another and others to the open, waiting arms of our dear Savior that they also may know how complete the love of God is. Through His Word Jesus says to us in unfailing love, ?¨Don??t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.?Æ And what a joy it will be as the Spirit uses us to lead others to those arms of our dear Savior! You parents and grandparents, treasure the time you have with your loved ones pointing them to Jesus, the One thing needful and our only Savior. All of you, as Christ opens doors to the hearts of others to share His saving love and grace, DON??T BE AFRAID! Our Savior assures you, ?¨I am with you always, even to end of the age.?Æ

What an awesome God is ours! He not only forgives us, but also calls all of us to service in His Kingdom, entrusting the future witness of His Church into our hands and hearts. God richly bless you and your service and witness to Him! Amen. 

To GOD alone be the glory!

¬© The Reverend Frederick A. Stiemke, DD 
Vacancy Pastor

ASH WEDNESDAY, (2-21-07)
Sir, we would see JESUS!
Emmanuel, Asheville, NC
2 Samuel 12: 13-14 
In the Name of JESUS!

?¨Mercy and Pardon for the Penitent?Æ

?¨Then David said to Nathan, ?´I have sinned against the Lord.?? Nathan replied, ?´The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you shall die??.?Æ 2 Samuel 12: 13-14

In the name of Jesus, our crucified, yet victorious Redeemer, dearly beloved:

Lent is the time when we especially ponder the immeasurable suffering and death of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to take away our sin. As we have already been reminded by the Bible readings and Imposition of Ashes, Lent is also a time to recall that our sin is the reason Jesus suffered so very much. Because of our many failings both John the Baptizer and our Savior began their ministries with the cry, ?¨Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near!?Æ [See Matthew 3:2 & 4; 17] Christ also said, ?¨Unless you repent, you too will perish.?Æ [Luke 13: 3] Since these strong directives are recorded in the Bible, they also apply to every one of us without any exceptions. Thus, it is well for us to meditate this Ash Wednesday upon what is involved in repentance and how we can genuinely repent of our own sin and trespasses against the Lord. 

One of the Biblical narratives that is helpful to us to grow in a penitent, trusting relationship with our heavenly Father is the story of King David and Bathsheba recorded in 2 Samuel, chapters 11 & 12. 
I think many of you are familiar with this event ?± how one sin led to another, as so often happens in our lives also. If you know the story, you can recall that King David lusted for Bathsheba, another man??s wife. That led to their committing adultery. When Bathsheba told David they were now expecting a child, David as king set things in motion so that her husband, Uriah, was killed in battle. Then David married Bathsheba in an attempt to cover up his sins. But no one can hide his wrongdoing, even our wayward thoughts and desires from our all-knowing Lord. 

In God??s faithfulness the Lord did not forsake David in his sin so that he would end up in hell eternally. Mercifully he sent the prophet Nathan to set the stage for David to repent. Wisely the prophet, giving the impression that it was an actual event, told David a parable which went like this: ?¨There was a rich man and poor man living in the same village. The rich man had many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned just one little ewe lamb, which was a precious family pet. The poor man loved that lamb like a daughter. He even slept with it.?Æ (David, of course, who grew up as a lad tending sheep, could really identify with the poor man??s affection for his one and only lamb.) Nathan continued, ?¨When a traveler came to visit the rich man, instead of taking one of his own sheep or cows to feed the traveler took the poor man??s little ewe lamb, slaughtered it, and served that lamb for dinner.?Æ

David became furious upon hearing this. He ordered the rich man not only to reimburse the poor man four times the cost of the lamb, but stated that the rich man deserved to die. With that, Nathan confronted the king, ?¨You are the man!?Æ Then he reviewed how the Lord had made David king, delivering him from the hand of King Saul when he tried to kill him. He went on to show how now David was living in the king??s palace with many wives. The prophet did not gloss over the fact that David had killed Uriah with the sword of Ammonites. Note well: Nathan didn??t say that David had Uriah killed. He condemned David as the murderer. He added that in all this David had despised the Word of the Lord Himself. Then Nathan revealed that God would cause David and his household to suffer the consequences of His sinning and not repenting.

Suddenly David couldn??t hide behind his false pretenses anymore. He faced the horror of his rebellion against the Holy One of Israel and confessed, ?¨I have sinned against the Lord.?Æ Note too: The king faced the fact that he not only sinned against Uriah, Bathsheba, and others, as well as being a horrible example for all God??s people, bit Hhe also knew deep in his heart that above all he sinned against God Himself! It was only then that Nathan could assure David that the Lord had taken away his sin. However, though forgiven, David would still have to face the consequences for his sin in the days to come. Among them was that the baby he fathered would die.

This Biblical account helps us see anew how very attractive sin can look and how one sin often leads to another. We see reflected the tendency we have to cover up and deny our sin, but at the same time the futility of doing so. Nothing can be hidden from God, who even knows our thoughts, desires, feelings and our motives before we have them. We all must face the fact that sin is sin, and it is always against our holy and righteous God. Remember, too, that our sinful deeds ultimately have consequences. So what are we to do? The answer, of course, is ?¨REPENT!?Æ

But have we heard the word REPENT so often that it has frequently become nothing more than a pat answer to all our woes. If that is the case, you do not understand REPENTANCE. Let??s take a closer look. How do we know we should repent and what does this really involve. Well, obviously we need to repent because we sin daily.

It was because God sent His prophet to speak His corrective Word to David that he confessed his evil deeds. So, where does the Lord speak to us today so that we repent? It??s through His holy Word, the Bible. We certainly hear God??s Word shared, preached and taught to us here in the Lord??s house. That Word may come from a pastor, a family member, or caring friend. It is also critical that we continue to take time during the week to spend time reading and meditating on the Bible. Without spending time in the Word, we too easily become callous and unwilling to repent. Then we??re in deeper trouble and face the possibility of our being lost forever!

Of even greatest importance is the truth that our loving God in heaven faithfully forgives His people when with the help of the Holy Spirit they are genuinely sorry for their sin and turn to Him for pardon. The Hebrew word for ?¨repent?Æ literally means ?¨to do an about face.?Æ It is through the Word of God that the Spirit empowers us to turn from our sin to seek the forgiveness of the Holy Lord. Upon doing so, our God does not turn away from us. As we shall hear in the coming weeks therein was the difference between Peter and Judas. Peter turned back to Jesus for His mercy, while Judas turned his back and eternally walked away from his Savior.

To make forgiveness possible for us wretched sinners, our heavenly Father even before the creation of the universe chose His Son, Jesus, to make full payment for our transgressions. Amidst the dark threads of this Lenten season with its somber tones calling us to repent are the golden threads of Jesus?? unfailing love and mercy for us. That??s one of the main reasons Christ suffered and died for us, that rising from the dead as Victor over all our spiritual enemies, He might forgive us and cleanse us, granting us the free gift of eternal life.

This day our faithful God sends His prophet to confront us, saying, ?¨You are the man! You are the woman! You are the child! ?± who has so sorely failed ME!?Æ May the Holy Spirit enable us not to deafen our ears or harden our hearts to the Lord??s righteous judgment! Rather may He in His mercy lead us to repent even of our half-hearted repentance! Then by God??s undeserved love we will flee today to the waiting arms of our forgiving Savior to hear Him say,. ?¨I, the Lord, have taken away your sin!?Æ And when Jesus forgives, our pardon is complete and sure! This has an unshakeable base in the assurance of God??s holy Word, ?¨Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.?Æ [1 Corinthians 15: 3], and He also ?¨was raised to life for our justification.?Æ [Romans 4: 25] How I rejoice that this day because of Jesus?? unfailing grace and forgiveness, I can say to you, ?¨Go in Christ??s peace!?Æ And the seal of the gift of Jesus?? peace you will find in Holy Communion as our loving Savior feeds you by His almighty power and promise with His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Amen.

To GOD alone be the glory!

© The Reverend Frederick A. Stiemke, DD, Vacancy Pastor