Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday 31, July 2005
Isaiah 55:1-5, Romans 8:35-39, Matthew 14:13-21
Sermon (Merv Desens):
A couple requested a loan from a bank. "Come back in a couple days," they said. They waited. The loan officer opened the file. "Your loan is guranteed. Go ahead and build."
The empty grave of Christ is also a gurantee. The verse from Romans tells us that all are saved, both Jew and Gentile. We are justified through faith. Daily we struggle to be righteous. We have certainty that our salvation is assured, independent of what we say or do, or how we feel. We're dependent on the saving work of Jesus. Salvation is a sure thing. The struggle is ongoing. We are assaulted daily, but we are given divine protection in the face of nakedness, peril and the sword. God has been there for us and will be forever. Our sinful hearts and the Devil will try to separate us from Jesus. Satan tries to get us to doubt. "But I thought you'd get peace unlike what the world gives," he says. Life tries to separate us from God. But God will never stop loving us. We struggle in the midst of the "where is God" conflict. "Is God there?" we might ask, but God is right there, fighting on our side.
Martin Luther was depressed one day. His wife picked up on it and decided to dress in mourning clothes. "You look like God died," she said, "so I thought I'd go into mourning."
We've become sons and daughters of God. We are redeemed through baptism. We trust that even though we can't see or feel God's love, it's there. The sun gives heat even when it's cloudy and the sunlight is hidden.
One time, a sunday school teacher asked her students "why does God love us so much?" To which a student replied, "Because God only has one of each of us." Nothing can seperate us from God.