So Long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!

Please pray with me as I prepare to deliver my last sermon here at Holdrege Seventh-day Adventist Church:

God our Father, Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin of all that is:

Thank you for calling me to faith, for planting your Word in my heart, and for delivering me from my sin.

Thank you for calling me to your service, for giving me the ability to teach your Word and share this good news with others.

I am overwhelmed at the thought of teaching on the gospel. I feel so inadequate to deliver something of value about news that is priceless. I am unworthy to be given the privilege of thinking deeply about news too marvelous for angels to comprehend.

Be ever gracious to me. Let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of my understanding. Give me confidence in the power of your gospel. Grant me clarity in understanding and proclaiming the truths of your Word. Edify your church through this work.

Father Almighty, empower your people to tell the gospel story, to recount your wondrous deeds which shine light on your glorious and holy character.

Lord Jesus Christ, empower your people to announce the good news that you have brought to earth the life of heaven, that you have sacrificed yourself for sinners, that you have been raised from the dead and exalted as Lord over all creation.

Holy Spirit, empower us to live in light of the gospel, declaring its truth with our words, and embodying this truth through our actions. Give us love for you and love for one another. Amen.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

William Shakespeare wrote this line for Juliet about 424 years ago. In this particular section of the play, the famous Bard was trying to convey a rather…spicy romantic banter between two teen lovers from rival houses, and more specifically, one of the titular characters, Juliet. This line denotes a bittersweet flavor to their parting; to Juliet, it is sweet, as anything that is done with Romeo she would consider sweet, but also sorrowful as Juliet obviously longs to spend more time with her paramour (1). And thus we have a phrase that has been used, albeit with new context, to describe any bittersweet parting.

Church friends and family, that is where we find ourselves today. I said goodbye to all of you as a pastor back in September. Today, my family and I say goodbye as friends and family. Today marks thee beginnings of a bittersweet parting. By now, most, if not all of you, know my family’s story, and what have led us to this point. For those not aware, my wife and I have been professional foster parents for upwards of over two years now, and the first of our foster kids, as well as their adorable and ornery little brother will be becoming our kids forever this coming Friday at 11 am at the Buffalo County courthouse, and we hope to see you there. Even more so, I was diagnosed with MS last August, and found that I am cold-weather sensitive, and this last winter was absolutely brutal. After much prayer and discussion, my wife and I have decided to relocate to Huntsville, AL, from where we moved to here. We will be in a warmer climate, with a large support structure, and we will all have a new start.

Preparations for Leaving

Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of :

English Standard Version Chapter 15

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

In this portion of John’s Gospel, Jesus is trying one last time to prepare His disciples for His pending betrayal and death, but this time, trying to give them some last instructions. Let’s dive in and see what He’s saying:

Jesus begins this particular section with an affirmation, that His love for the apostles is as the Father’s love for Jesus. He then affirms his statement regarding his commandments, that all who love Him will follow His commandments. This is not to say that following the commandments will save you, no. But when you love Jesus, you want to please Him, and He is well pleased when we follow his prescription for life. But the thing here, is that he doesn’t specify the commandment or commandments he is referring to until verse 12, where He specifies: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

It’s So Simple

It seems like ages ago, I preached a sermon with that title. In all actuality, it was in September of 2017. In that sermon, I talked about the simplicity of the Gospel, and how it is found simply in love, that is, how we are to love one another. We are to love one another as Jesus loves us. If you see verse 13, He spells it out: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Jesus is telling us that we are to love each other to that point, to the point of willingness to lay down our lives for each other. And that’s it. That’s His commandment to us. Let me ask you something: if you love someone, will you murder them? Bear false witness against them? Covet their spouse or goods? Steal from them? Of course not! But Jesus doesn’t leave them there. He calls his apostles His friends, saying that they are not slaves any longer, but friends.

Yes, Stacy and the kids and I are going away to another state, to a new and fresh start away from the memory of struggles many of my clan had to endure here. But we leave behind people and families that we have gotten to know and love over the last three years that we have been in the area. You have watched my family grow in number, and my children grow in stature and in their walks with Jesus. You have watched our triumphs and our struggles; with having the boys come to live with us permanently, with the struggles involving the Maring clan, and the assimilation of three of that number into our own as part of the Krones household. You have watched me at the beginning and end of my time in paid ministry.

The Humanity of Jesus

Jesus was as much Man as He was God. And as such, He felt the pain of the knowledge that He was leaving His friends here on earth. He knew each of their individual fates: that each of them, save John (and not for lack of trying) would be martyred in painful and horrific ways. He knew that He Himself was going to a perfect Heaven to rejoin the Godhead, and that on the way, He would be abandoned by those He has just now called His friends. How sad and lonely for the Son of Man. He also knows the struggles that each of them are facing right then in their hearts: Thomas, ever the skeptic, Peter, the racist, John and James and their getting their mother to vie for power for her sons, and even Judas Iscariot, who was trying to force the hand of Jesus into Judas’ own view of what the Messiah was supposed to be, just to name a few. But Jesus was watching all of this with a broken heart, knowing that He would be abandoned, and even denied by one of the apostles who was His closest friend.

Church family, we too, have watched each of you grow as individuals, and collectively as a church. We rejoiced at the addition of Gayle, we praise God for the leadership and friendship of Pauline, the dedication and boldness of Jo, the care and concern of Connie, the love and support of Claire, the growth, both spiritual and physical, of Matthew and Benjamin, the grace and hard work of Mike and Elena, the smile and friendliness of Red, the gruff smile and hard work of Doyle, the faithfulness and prayers of Corby and Laurie. Each of you has had an impact on myself and/or my family for the better, and for me, always a positive one.

We have seen many trials and tribulations, but we have also seen joys and triumphs. How well we remember what brought the girls and Gideon to our home. How we still mourn Manni and his victims. But by God’s Grace, as much as Satan attacks us, it is our love for each other and our community that keeps us going. Our love redecorated our sanctuary. Our love welcomed a young man into the church, and gave him shoes and fed him, and tried our best to make sure he was going to be okay. Our love put on the Nedley Depression and Anxiety Recovery Program. Our love has gotten us through so much together.

Love

I’ve done more than a few sermons on God’s love. Remember the one where I talked about the different kinds of love? The one where I picked that lovely hymn based on that nobody actually knows and that we all butchered trying to sing at the closing? Well, I do. For those that weren’t there or don’t remember, I remember making a “joyful noise unto the Lord.” It wasn’t pretty, but it sure was joyful.

I spoke of God’s love so much because of how absolutely important and imperative that His people understand it! Jesus felt the same, and thus the instructions and the commandment He gave His apostles. Notice the wording in our Scripture reading today: Commandment. He gave them, and therefore us, a new commandment. That means that it is to be read as importantly as the decalogue. In fact, if you recall the previously mentioned sermon, I talked about Jesus summing up the 10 commandments in two Bible verses: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, body, and soul, and Love your neighbor as yourself. Anyone remember that? What is the key in what Jesus quoted? That’s right: love. Love God with everything of your being, and love your neighbor as much as it is assumed that you love yourself. Love covers the whole of the commandments.

We have seen many trials and tribulations, but we have also seen joys and triumphs. How well we remember what brought the girls and Gideon to our home. How we still mourn Manni and his victims. But by God’s Grace, as much as Satan attacks us, it is our love for each other and our community that keeps us going. Our love redecorated our sanctuary. Our love welcomed a young man into the church, and gave him shoes and fed him, and tried our best to make sure he was going to be okay. Our love put on the Nedley Depression and Anxiety Recovery Program. Our love has gotten us through so much together.

I Feel Rushed

Two years ago in July of 2017, I preached a sermon on worry and anxiety. You see, I was in the process of moving into a new home, and the previous sermon I’d preached wasn’t…up to par. It was down-right horrible. And mostly it was due to the overwhelming amount of things that were on my mind at that time. I feel like I am in a similar place to that lately. With a lot of things going on, not the least of which is a move, not just to another house in the next town, but across the country. I have stresses and anxieties aplenty lately. But I take comfort in the abiding presence of Jesus, or at least, I try to.

In our reading today, Jesus says that if we follow His commandments, we will abide in His love, just as He follows His Father’s commandments and abides in His love. Family, I implore you to continue to love one another. If you have old hurts, I urge you to mend them, in love. If you know another is in pain, or dealing with a lot, show them love and care. Remember that Jesus gave the world a stick to measure us against, to show the world that we are followers of Him: how well we love each other. This means that we love each other that are or were within these four walls, and we love our next door neighbors, even the ones that keep trying to buy the empty space next to our sanctuary!

Adieu

I remember once preaching a sermon here that

Well, I didn’t want to preach everything to you today. I wanted to remind you of the things that God had given me to give to you, much in the same way Jesus said he was doing. I encourage every single one of you to continue to grow spiritually, and to be faithful to the calling you have been given. This means that you use the spiritual gifts that God has blessed you with. This means that you continue to treat everyone in your circle of influence with love and grace. This means that you continue to be the church that I joined and that has loved and accepted me and my family since we walked through these doors three years ago. This means that this church remains a spiritual hospital, a place where people can come and expect to be healed by the Good Doctor. This means that Jesus stays at the very center and focus of literally everything you say, think, and do.

As He Himself said in - He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus is coming sooner than any of us can expect. Be ready, stay vigilent, and pray unceasingly. Pray for your pastor, pray for each other, pray for our church leadership, and pray for those who don’t know Jesus.

In closing, I wish to pray one of the oldest prayers in Scripture that I know over this congregation, my church family over the last three years:

English Standard Version Chapter 6

24  The LORD bless you and keep you;

25  the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

26  the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Amen.

https://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/good-night-good-night-parting-such-sweet-sorrow