Emmanuel Lutheran Church Asheville

The Cattle Prod or the Cross May 28, 2006
Part 3 in Stewardship 06, What We Give Pastor Mark Nieting

The Text for this message is Acts 5: 1-11, with a reflection on Malachi 3: 7-12.

The sermon that I am about to preach will be, for some of you, a very difficult sermon to hear. In fact, there are some who just might be glad it is my second last sermon at Emmanuel! I used to squirm when I heard the same sermon preached, since I took it as an indictment of the way I practiced stewardship. 

For those of you visiting Emmanuel today, we don??t preach about money here nearly as often as Jesus did, but when we do, it??s no-nonsense and straight from the Bible?ñ.and to begin, I??m going to mention a name: Richard Nixon. When I said his name, what came to mind? Watergate, right? Cover-up, right? For those of you too young to remember, during his campaign for president, people working for him broke into the Democrat headquarters to steal some papers. Nixon heard about it and tried to cover it up, making two problems out of one. Ultimately it wasn??t the break-in but the cover-up that cost President Nixon his job. It was bad.

But the same pattern is true of almost all of us?ñ.we make mistakes and then we try to cover them up and it gets worse and worse. I??ve done it and maybe you have too?ñ..but to protect the guilty, I??m not going to use a personal story here! Instead, I??m going to share three stories from Scripture. 

The first is from Joshua 7. It??s about Achan, who was a soldier fresh from battle. He was supposed to give all the plunder to God as a thank-offering for the victory God gave them, but instead, he kept some of the loot for himself: 200 pieces of silver, a gold bar and a beautiful carving from Babylon. After all, times were hard, he had fought for the Lord, so, Achan must have thought, I deserve a few of the good things in life! So he buried them under his tent and life went on. 

Then things took a turn for the worse, not for Achan, but for all of Israel. They started to lose battle after battle and finally, Joshua asked God what was wrong. God said, ?¨Joshua, someone has been cheating on me.?Æ So Joshua went through the camp asking, ?¨Are you cheating on God? Are you??Æ When he asked Achan, he denied it. Joshua was suspicious and searched Achan??s tent and sure enough, he found the stuff that belonged to God. Achan committed two sins: one was cheating on his offerings and the other was lying about it. The punishment was terrible: Achan and his entire family were wiped out.

Now, it??s tough to deal with this story?ñ.but the point is clear, right?


The second story comes from Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. The people of God then were doing what many people of God had done and still continue to do, cheat on their offerings. God has ALWAYS said to bring the first and the best, whether it is money or animals didn??t matter?ñit was a matter of the priority of the heart. Back then every tenth sheep was to be offered to God. One man found that as he counted off his sheep to prepare to give his tithe, the ninth one was a scrawny, little, blind, crippled one and the tenth one was a big fat one. I mean, a perfect 10, sheep-wise. So he figured he would simply swap the 9th for the 10th and he would keep the fat one and give God the skinny one and God should be fine with that. Well, you guess the outcome?ñ.was God fine with that? If YOU were due the offering, would YOU be fine with that one? God??s answer was that the people who did this would be cursed, not blessed! And yet, people still do the same thing, even today, and expect that God??s attitude has changed! Lots of luck!

The third story is about Ananias and Sapphira, from Acts 5. In the early Christian church, people were being very generous with each other. Many believers sold lots of their goods and donated the money to the poor and needy. Last week we mentioned Barnabas as an example of this type of generosity, and we??re in the same sequence here. Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple, saw the fuss made over what Barnabas had done, and they wanted the same kudos for themselves. So they told everyone that they were going to do the same thing Barnabas did. They sold a piece of property, but only brought SOME of the money to the apostles as a gift for the poor. Now that would have been ok if he had said he was bringing just some of the money, if that had been the original plan, but he tried to get people to believe he had brought the entire receipts of the sale, when in fact, he was lying. He knew it. God knew it. Peter knew it, and he confronted Ananias with the truth. Poor Ananias. He got so upset he had a heart attack and died right on the spot. Then his wife came looking for him. Peter went through the same questioning, confronted HER lack of honesty and she died too, right on the spot.

That??s not the happiest story in the New Testament, is it? It??s not a ?¨they lived happily ever after?Æ story, is it? It??s a story that makes some of us downright nervous and makes others of us want to check our blood pressure! In fact, all 3 of these stories can do that to us. We might spin it that these are old stories from the dark ages of the church?ñ?ñbut the truth is, it still happens all the time! In light of these stories, it might be wise if I asked the ushers to distribute NITRO patches and St. Joseph aspirin during the offering today! 


As I said before, this is a no-nonsense sermon. Last week I titled the message, ?¨Hannah and the 3%,?Æ since most Lutheran Christians give about 3% of their income to God. Why is that? Why do we think that is acceptable? How can we even pretend that is ok with God that we cheat Him out of what is His? Most of the time I try to be soft and gentle about the problem, but when Don tells us that we can??t even buy stamps this week in the church office (and Debbie had to pay $40 out of her own pocket to do a simple mailing), and we can??t help a member family that is in need because there is no money in the checking account, then it??s time to say something. In fact, it is far past time.

So what??s the problem? Why are most Lutherans in the 3% category, if that? One possible explanation (I won??t justify this as an excuse!) is that we can feel a huge need to maintain our chosen life-style and it costs us a lot of money to keep up with the Joneses, right? Then, there is a lack of spiritual maturity that can lead someone to believe that tossing in a buck or a Jackson now and again is just fine with God, as if God should be grateful for our leftovers. There are also ?¨ala carte?Æ Christians, where people choose which parts of God??s Word to pay attention to and which they would rather avoid. Also, some of us don??t have the discipline to live with a realistic budget. Some of us might say, ?¨Pastor, you have your way of looking at this and I have a different way, and my Bible says 3% is just fine.?Æ 

Sad to say, many of us are just plain selfish when it comes to our money. It??s US first and others last?ñ.God included. Lastly, it may come down to a lack of trust in God Himself?ñ. We may trust in Him for our salvation through Jesus Christ, but we don??t trust God??s promise in Malachi 3 that HE will open the floodgates of heaven and bless us if we release our first-fruit tithe to Him! 

Are you giving a tithe to Christ? If so, thank you! Bless you! If not, why not? 

I was thinking about images to use for stewardship. In the past I have used a bowl of ten shiny apples. We are free to use 9 of the apples any way we wish once we give the first one back to God in thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us on the cross. That??s a wonderfully positive image?ñ.and the cross wasn??t cheap at all?ñ..it cost Jesus His life and released You and me from that cost! This is a great image?ñbut it doesn??t quite get at the mood of the stories I??ve used today.

So, imagine in my hand I hold a cattle prod. It??s got a fresh battery in it, so when the farmer ?¨sticks it to the cow,?Æ it will shock and stun the cow. It certainly gets a reaction, and WHY? To get the cow moving in the right direction. That??s the way these Bible stories that I??ve told today can hit us: they can give us a jolt, stun us, and zap us. And they do this WHY? To get you and me moving in the right direction. And, to be honest, some of us need to be shocked, stunned, prodded. Sometimes the truth hurts, especially when it is God??s truth, which everything I have said today is.

Christian friends, I struggled for decades over the question of tithing, even after I had become a pastor. But truthfully I can tell you this, along with every other person I know who believes in God??s promise attached to tithing: you will never miss a nickel you give to the Lord when you tithe. In fact, the opposite is true. You will never be blessed so much as how God will bless you when you trust Him enough to tithe. Whatever is holding you back, deal with it prayerfully. Remember the cross of Jesus Christ, who held back nothing, but gave of Himself for your salvation. Trust God gratefully for the cross and there won??t be any need for a cattle prod?ñ.and you too will be blessed, forever!

And to that, the people of God say, Amen.

Please take a moment of silent prayer to reflect on what your commitment to the Lord will be in the coming year. You know what you make each week, month or year. You know what you give to the Lord. Are you tithing, Biblically speaking? If not, I ask you to make a commitment to do so, and receive the blessings God has planned to pour out upon you in your life. Amen!

Stand Close To the Fire Pentecost 2006
Acts 2: 1-12 Pastor Mark Nieting

This, being my last sermon at Emmanuel, is dedicated to the honor and glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and to our four confirmands: Taylor Baldwin, Owen Cothran, Kelsey Keller and Emily Parker. May God bless you richly.

Dear Friends in Christ.

I want you to imagine, for a moment, that you are out in the woods on a camping trip. You??ve hiked by yourself into the deepest, darkest woods you??ve ever been in. The sun is setting, the shadows are getting longer and darker, and the nighttime sounds are beginning to fill your little campsite. You??ve been out gathering wood, started yourself a fire, and cooked your dinner and now you??re just sitting, and imagining what??s ?¨out there.?Æ You??re high in the mountains and as darkness falls, so does the temperature. So, what??s the normal response? You move in closer to the fire, right? After all, it??s the only way to stay warm! You??ve GOT to stay close to the fire. If you don??t, you just might freeze to death.

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Holy Christian Church. It is on this day that we give thanks to God for sending us His Holy Spirit, who has called each of us to our saving faith in Jesus Christ, the faith to which Emily, Kelsey, Owen and Taylor testify on this special day of their lives.

I remember the day of my confirmation?ñ.back on June 8, 1962 at Elm Grove Lutheran Church. I remember rehearsing the day before, being nervous over what questions Pastor Bartelt might ask me. I remember the service itself, marching into church proudly during the first hymn and sitting in alphabetical order between Robert Kari and Eleanor Quandt. I remember reciting my memory verse and taking communion for the first time, trying not to choke on the wine. I felt SO grown up?ñ.and that fact was born out because for the first time, in Nieting family gatherings, I got to sit at the ?¨big people table?Æ with all the adults in the actual dining room, instead of with all the kids in the kitchen. Whoa, that was huge. Now I had TWO forks and TWO spoons! 

It was also kind of scary?ñ.sitting at the big people table. After all, I was the youngest one there, just like you are now the youngest confirmed members of the church. I had to carry on ?¨grown up?Æ conversation. I had to sit there, still dressed up in my white shirt, suit and tie, until the entire meal was over, instead of scattering with all my cousins as soon as they could escape to the back yard. It was my day of ?¨transformation,?Æ just like this is YOUR day of transformation. You are now part of the ?¨big people?Æ of the church. That??s quite a change.


Pentecost was a day of transformation and change for the disciples too. Only a few weeks before, they had squabbled over who got to sit next to Jesus in the Upper Room. They argued over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. They wanted to get things THEIR WAY, each one believing they deserved the place of honor. And each time they acted this way, they actually moved ?¨away from the fire?Æ and out into the coldness of sin. They locked the doors and shivered in fear, worrying about what might happen to them.

Then came Pentecost and the FIRE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?ñ and everything changed. A Spirit of UNITY and BOLDNESS came over the group. Fear left them and they began to make a difference in the world around them, a difference that has led to BILLIONS of people coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Crucifixion and the Resurrection and the Faith brought to them by the Holy Spirit changed their lives forever. Peter and John performed miracles. Philip baptized a man out in the desert. Stephen was martyred. Pentecost changed everything.

We know, young friends, that God has changed you too. We have heard, or read, your testimonies of faith and we know that God has touched your lives?ñ.and will continue to do so?ñ.. IF?ñ. And this is important, IF?ñYou stand close to the fire.

Let??s go back to our imaginary campsite in our imaginary woods. It??s nighttime and the fire is the only light and the only heat around. You??re sitting on a log with your hands spread toward the fire?ñ.so which side of you is warm? The front side, of course. Which side is cold? The side away from the fire. And then your ears think they hear noises in the woods and you imagine MONSTERS, big hairy, scary MONSTERS sneaking up on you from behind! What??s the only think that makes any sense to do? Throw another log on the fire and get closer to the fire?ñ.because MONSTERS hate the fire, don??t they? Monsters won??t get you when you??re close to the fire! It??s the fire that not only keeps you warm, it keeps you safe!

The problem, as I see it, with the Christian church and with many Christian people today is we worry more about getting burned by the fire than we do about being dragged off into the woods by the monsters of the world. Far too many Christians step away from the fire and let themselves grow cold in their faith. They worry about what their friends will say if they pray in public, or if they carry a Bible in school, or if they gather around the flagpole on the National Day of Prayer or if they behave in a Christian manner when others aren??t. They would rather fit in with the crowd than sit tight with the Savior. They?ñand we?ñ can become self-centered and quarrelsome, even when it comes to our Christian faith and our church?ñ..and when that happens, the fire of our faith can grow cold, and it might?ñ.just might?ñ.even go out. 

So what can you do so this doesn??t happen? You STAND CLOSE TO THE FIRE! My call to you, Emily, Kelsey, Owen and Taylor, is to STAND CLOSE TO THE FIRE. How do you do that? 

Let me share with you some ways to do that. First, remember that you are not ?¨graduating?Æ today. I KNOW you are graduating from 8th grade this year?ñbut there??s no way you are done with school, right? Who can survive in this world with an 8th grade education! Who can ?¨stay close to the fire?Æ if you stop growing in the knowledge of God??s word? Keep coming to worship. Keep coming to Bible Class. Stay active in youth group. Keep serving the Lord. Develop a pattern of tithing, even if it is on baby-sitting money?ñ.just keep doing it and you will stay warm and toasty in the fire of your faith. 

When you??re outside sitting by the campfire, sometimes you have to turn around to keep your back-side warm, right? I encourage you to do the same thing spiritually. Turn one way?ñ.and keep that side warm by serving the Lord. Turn another way and keep that side warm with times of prayer and meditation. Turn all the way around the keep that side warm by giving to God of your time and your talent and your treasure?ñ..but the most important thing to do is keep your face?ñ.keep your front?ñkeep your heart?ñ.facing the fire.

There are so many things in this world that would love to turn you?ñ.and all of us?ñaway from our Savior Jesus Christ. They are things that might even seem, on the surface, to be good?ñ.but they are NOT. NOTHING can replace Jesus Christ. Nothing can replace the Fire of the Holy Spirit. Today, my final word of encouragement to you as I leave this ministry and this pulpit after 14 years among you is simply this: STAND CLOSE TO THE FIRE! And as I say this, I realize that there is a tremendous paradox at work in these words. IF you DO stand too close to a real campfire, you might get burned?ñ?ñ..but know this. You can NEVER stand too close to the Fire of the Holy Spirit. You will never be burned by being as close as you can to Jesus Christ. In fact?ñ.. it is the other way around. If you wander away from the fire of the faith?ñ.. it is then that you will get burned!

People of God at Emmanuel. Owen, Kelsey, Taylor and Emily. STAND CLOSE TO THE FIRE, so close that you too will become ABLAZE with, and for your Savior Jesus Christ?ñ..forever.

And to that, the people of God say, Amen.

A Parable of Renewal and Restoration March 19, 2006
John 2: 13-22 Pastor Mark Nieting

This message is designed to be the final ?¨piece?Æ in a presentation by the Emmanuel Katrina Relief Team. Several members of the team have spoken about their experiences in New Orleans: about the tremendous devastation of almost 300,000 homes and apartments, of people??s lives changed literally forever, and about a city that is a shell of its former self. Pictures have been shown of homes filled with destroyed personal possessions and covered literally floor to ceiling with thick and heavy mold. We have been told about Roberta and Consuela, the two women we came to know as we carried their ?¨lives?Æ out onto the curb and deposited everything into huge piles for the city to carry away. You??ve met fellow Lutherans at Camp Atonement, LCMS members from all over the United States, who were there for one purpose: to share the love of Jesus with people in need. If you are reading this on the internet, please click back to Emmanuel??s home page, then click the photo gallery link and the Katrina photos.

In today??s Gospel, Jesus first drove the moneychangers out of the temple, driven Himself by the zeal He had for His Father??s house. The Jews, needing some sign that Jesus had the authority to do what He was doing, asked Him to give them one. Jesus words were wonderfully prophetic?ñ.but way over their heads. ?¨Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up!?Æ The Jews, standing in the massive and magnificent structure that was the Herodian temple, could only understand His words literally?ñ..they thought Jesus meant the building itself, a structure they knew had taken 46 years to build. And for Jesus to say He could rebuild it in 3 days? Even in our highly technological age, it takes ?¨Incredible Home Makeover?Æ a week to build just a house!

Of course we know?ñand after the resurrection His disciples knew as well?ñ.that Jesus meant Himself.

I don??t know how long it took to build New Orleans?ñ..but I know it didn??t take long for Hurricane Katrina to destroy it once the levees were breached. First the 17th street canal levee went, then the London street?ñin two places?ñ and finally the Industrial Canal levee went, literally obliterating the lower 9th ward and turning it into a vision of what I have seen of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. And then the water stayed?ñfor weeks?ñ.and the mold and mildew took over. The longer the houses stayed sealed up, the worse it got, some homes molded literally to the top of their cathedral ceilings. 


So what did we have to do to restore a home? The first thing we did when we went into a house was open all the windows?ñ.even if we had to break them out. Then we tore off all the doors, and even the door frames. We needed plenty of fresh air and lots of room to cart the ?¨stuff?Æ out?ñ..literally by the wheelbarrow load. Out went furniture, which often fell apart in our hands as the glue joints failed. Out went curtains, linens, cushions and carpets?ñ.all molded beyond recognition. Out went books, often so swollen that you had to rip them out of the shelves. Out went telephones, televisions and appliances?ñsome of them to a pile for recycling. And worst of all were the refrigerators: time bombs filled with food that had sat in flood water without electricity, sealed up for 6 months.

Occasionally there was something worth saving?ñ..an item sealed in plastic set high in a closet above the waterline or a piece of jewelry or glassware that could be saved?ñ.but these were few and far between. There were a few surprises: a box of old coins, a computerized artificial leg from Roberta??s deceased husband, a medicine cabinet full of drugs, and a few ?¨flood-bugs?Æ we had been warned about. But mostly it all went onto the pile?ñ.followed by the cabinets, the appliances, the furnace, the water heater and finally the drywall.

The last thing we did?ñ.once the home was stripped down to the studs?ñ.was to spray every surface, every 2x4, every ceiling, every floor with a strong bleach solution, guaranteed (we hoped) to kill the mold. Then the house was left open to dry?ñ?ñsomething that reminded me of the bleached bones of a whale washed up on the beach. Our prayer was that once we left, the house could and would be rebuilt. New Orleans is a city going through the process of restoration and renewal?ñ.one home, one apartment, and one life at a time.

Imagine our lives, now, if you can. Imagine how sin creeps in to each of our lives, like dirty floodwaters swirling up under the doors. The sin in our lives corrupts us, down to the core of our beings. Sin?ñ.mostly committed in the darkness of secrecy?ñis like the mold that grows and infects the homes we saw. Sin ruins our worth and destroys our God-given potential. Like the homes which had been sealed up with the water inside, the longer that sin has a free reign in our lives?ñ.the longer our sin is hidden away in the dark parts of us and is allowed to fester?ñ.the deeper and darker and more ruined our lives become. 

Yet there is still hope. There is still value. God??s love is still real and alive. First, as in today??s Gospel, Jesus CLEANS THE PLACE OUT! He carries our sin out to the curb and places it there to be toted away to the dump. He roots the sins out of the deep and dark corners of our lives, bringing the fresh air and bright light of the Gospel of His love to every part of us. He washes us in the water of baptism, bleaching away the stain of original sin, and He installs in us the saving gift of faith, guaranteed by the live-in presence of the Holy Spirit. And then, from the core of our beings outward, Jesus renews and restores our lives, bringing us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. There is our story. There is our parable!