Peace Lutheran Church - Austin, Texas          January 29, 2012         William J. Sappenfield

1 Corinthians 8

¹Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ²Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; ³but anyone who loves God is known by him.

⁴Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁵Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords—⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

⁷It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸“Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ⁹But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? ¹¹So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. ¹²But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

            Certainty is attractive.  I think humans want to be certain – especially about things that are important. 

            Back in the First Century, Paul had friends in the church at Corinth, a town in Greece.  When he heard they were having troubles in their church, he would write them letters with advice on how to live as Christians.  We read from one of those letters this morning as our second lesson.  The issue at hand was about eating.  Some of the animals that had been sacrificed in the pagan temples in Corinth were finding their way to the local meat market.  Some of the Christians thought that to eat meat sacrificed to an idol would be somehow participating in idol worship and they did not think Christians should do that.  Other members of the church said they did not believe in the idols one way or another, so the only real questions in eating an animal that had been sacrificed to a non-existent deity were “How much does it cost?” and “Does it taste good?”.  They did not want anyone else telling them what to do and they were fond of saying, “all of us possess knowledge.” 

That particular issue is gone from our society.  In my entire career, I am unaware of a single workshop dedicated to the topic of eating meat sacrificed to idols.  The issue is gone but the principle for dealing with it remains.

Paul quoted what he had been hearing, “all of us possess knowledge”.  He acknowledged that is true.  He wrote, “We know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”  Things have not changed.  Issues come and go, but their causes and their solutions stay the same.  To this day, people say some variation of “all of us possess knowledge” just like they did back in Corinth and then they wrap themselves in whatever they are certain about at that particular moment and let the Body of Christ fall where it may.

We love to claim knowledge.  Certainty is attractive.

Since we know salvation is from God and since we long for certainty, sometimes we have a tendency to assume the two go together.  Salvation and certainty seem to be made for each other.  On the other hand, ambiguity and curiosity are seen in our society as signs of weak faith.  God does not promise us certainty.  And, yet, he does not abandon us.  We are not left alone with our uncertainty.  God offers us a gift deeper and more lasting than a confident ability to answer questions – questions that will someday be no more relevant than the issue Paul was writing letters about back in the first century.  God offers us a life with him that we can trust.

            The alternative to certainty is not despair.  The alternative to certainty is trust. 

Peace Lutheran Church - Austin, Texas                         January 22, 2012                              William J. Sappenfield

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

¹The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, ²“Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

¹⁰When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

            The part of Jonah that we read this morning in the first lesson comes after the famous part about Jonah getting swallowed by a fish.  Everybody knows that part of the story.  God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and tell everybody to repent and follow the teachings of God.  Jonah decided that the people of Nineveh were too sinful to bother with so he got on a boat and headed in the other direction.  A storm came, Jonah went in the water, a fish swallowed him and, after three days, threw him up on the shore.  That’s where we pick up the story with today’s reading.  God told Jonah again to go to Nineveh and this time he did – but it was against his better judgment.  I heard a story about a pastor who told some children the story of Jonah.  It makes a good story.  He finished and he asked the children what they had learned.  They thought about it, and one young member of the fold finally said, "People make fish sick."  We are again presented with the opportunity to learn a lesson from the book of Jonah this morning.  Maybe we can do better.

            I suggest a different lesson.  I suggest we learn from the story of Jonah - the divinity of change.  In the Old Testament reading from Jonah everybody changes.  That is a significant lesson.  Everybody changes except, maybe, Jonah.  It's true; Jonah changed enough to go to Nineveh.  He did not want to go but, after some famous persuasion that took place in the belly of a fish, the First Lesson reads: "The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”  Jonah responded and told the people of Nineveh God would destroy them if they did not change, but he did not like it.  He did not want to change.

            However, Nineveh did.  The people of Nineveh really changed.  I do not know what they had been doing but it was bad enough to deserve some special attention from God.  It must have needed changing.  And the story reads: "The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth."  Nineveh really sincerely changed.  And they were better off for it.

            And here is the greatest lesson of all.  God changed.  The scripture reads, “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.”

Peace Lutheran Church - Austin, Texas              January 15, 2012           William J. Sappenfield

1 Samuel 3:1-20

¹Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.

²At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. ⁴Then the LORD called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶The LORD called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. ⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” ¹¹Then the LORD said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. ¹²On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”

¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the LORD.

            This Old Testament lesson records one of the great stories of the Bible.  It is a story about the eminent prophet Samuel when he was a little boy.  We like stories about our heroes when they were little kids.  The story of Jesus when he was twelve years old is always popular.  In this society we like to hear about George Washington as a little fellow with a hatchet.  It's always interesting to think about great people when they were children.

            Samuel had been given to the service of God.  His mother Hannah had prayed for a child and promised God that if he would give her a child she would dedicate that child to the service of God.  She had Samuel.  So Hannah took him when he was a little baby and turned him over to the old man, Eli, who had lived in the temple at Shiloh for a long time.  Some years passed, but not that many.  The boy, Samuel, was asleep in the room where they kept the Ark of the Covenant.  Eli was asleep in another room.  The Lord called, "Samuel".  Samuel was a good boy; he jumped up right away and went to Eli.  He said, "Here I am.  You called me."  Eli said, "No, I didn't call you.  Go back to sleep."  It happened again.  Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am.  Why did you call?"  Eli told him to go back to sleep.  A third time the Lord called, and a third time Samuel answered - but he answered the wrong person - because he thought Eli was calling.  This time Eli realized it was the Lord calling, and he told the boy what to do.  "Go back to bed.  Next time you hear the call say, 'Speak, Lord; your servant is listening'."  So, Samuel did.

            I don't know if this is a story about Eli or a story about Samuel.

            We have a lot we could learn from either of the two characters.  We have all found ourselves in both positions.  I do not mean age.  That is the obvious difference between Samuel and Eli.  Samuel was a child and Eli was very old.  But we have all found ourselves in the position of these two when God comes to speak.

            We have found ourselves in the position of young Samuel - hopeful and eager and willing, but confused.

            We have found ourselves as Eli - experienced, wise, but getting blind.

Peace Lutheran Church - Austin, Texas                      January 1, 2012       William J. Sappenfield

Luke 2:15-21

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

²¹After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

            This year the first Sunday after Christmas has fallen on January 1, the eighth day of Jesus' birth when the scriptures tell us that Jesus went to the temple for the ritual of circumcision and receiving his name.  It is a festival day, so that is our celebration this morning – the name of Jesus.

            We are not going to pass over this opportunity;  January 1 does not fall on a Sunday that often and names are important.  They may be more important than we often think about.

            God's name is very important.  Later in our worship service we will pray the Lord's Prayer, as we always do.  The very first thing we will say in that prayer is "hallowed be your name".  God's name is important.

            God gave us the Ten Commandments.  First he told us that we should have no other gods before him.  Next on his list: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."  This is not a commandment for us to avoid God's name.  It is to get our attention about how important God's name is.  He does not say "Do not take the name of the Lord your God."  He says "Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."       The name of God is not to be avoided; but it is not to be used irresponsibly.  Do not take God's name uselessly.  Do not take it for no good purpose.  Do not waste God's name.

            God's name is a precious thing.  It is given to us by God himself.  It is not to be taken lightly.  But it is to be taken.