08 Trinity Sunday Romans 5.1-5
My friends, I greet you this day in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our lesson comes to us from the fifth chapter of Romans, beginning with the first verse.
If there is one thing that we can say for sure about this capital campaign it is this. We are in full swing. And I must admit that I am beside myself. I mean I knew this was a great group of people before, but to see what I’ve seen and hear what I’ve heard over the last couple of weeks, has been absolutely amazing. I have gotten a real sense of your connection to Our Father, and how important the ministry here has been for you.
You come here, as a place for shelter from the outside world. Life takes a whack at you, so to speak, and there is a place of refuge, a place of sanctuary, quite literally. Problems pile up and there is a place where you can go to be reminded that you are loved, that you are important, that you matter.
You come here, sometimes broken and beaten by sin, and there is a place for confession, followed by words of forgiveness and restoration and healing. You come here, hungering and thirsting for the things that only God can offer, and there is a place where he feeds you with his body and his blood. But you don’t just come here in the sad times and when life is hard. But this is a place for the good times as well. It is a place to celebrate.
Children are brought to the baptismal font. It is a place for cleansing and renewal and new life. Where God works in a most incredible way, making for himself sons and daughters, claiming them as his very own, and giving to them the gift of faith. This is a place for Sunday School, a place for that relationship begun by God at baptism to grow and develop. And so this is a place for them to be established in their faith and understanding that God save us by grace through Jesus, and not from anything that we do on our own. There is confirmation, and graduation a few years after that. Eventually there is a wedding and then grandkids, and the whole cycle begins anew.
In a word it is grace. It is God’s favor given to us even though we don’t deserve it. It is grace that is freely given. It is grace that is given without holding anything back. It is a grace that is given beyond our abilities to comprehend. Our Father Lutheran Church is a place for grace, a place for giving grace. It is grace that is given to us by our God.
Paul writes, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” We are given God’s approval through Jesus and his death and the cross. Though we deserve wrath we are given forgiveness. Though we deserve death, we are given life. And because we have that forgiveness we also have peace with God, and it is in that peace that we now stand.
Paul continues, “And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Now this can easily become one of those “yeah right” verses. You know what I mean. You read it and think to yourself “yeah right.” Who boasts in suffering? Are you nuts?
But this is really something good. It’s not that we are to go out and look for suffering, that is not the point, instead though we know that what comes out of the suffering is good. And so we can endure suffering, because we know that what that suffering produces is good. Especially when it is a suffering that is suffered for the sake of Jesus and the Good News of God’s love through him.
All these things we have because God loves us. That love is poured into our hearths through the Holy Spirit. It is a love that is higher and longer and deeper and wider than we can imagine. It is a love that is poured out in abundance. And so this is a place for God’s love.
God’s love flows into our lives, but it is not given to us as so that we will hold onto it and keep it to ourselves. God’s grace is given to us so that we can turn around and then give that grace away to the world around us. It grace that is given so that grace can be given. As God has brought us to himself, he then sends us out to be his agents in the world and to share in the work that he does in making his love and grace and mercy and forgiveness known.
So what does that mean? Well it means that we share in an awesome, incredible and mysterious work. It means we get to all play a role on the team. Have you ever had one of those playground experiences where teams are chosen and you hope against hope that you will be picked for one of the teams. Well in this case, you are part of the team, the gifts and contributions that you bring to the table are essential, and God has placed you in this place at this time to do the work that he has in store for this congregation. It is truly awesome.
It is out of the grace that we have been given that we are then given. But not in a guilty kind of way, as if God were saying, “Well I gave you something that you have to give to me.” No, it is more of like God says, “I love you and have made you mine. Now go and share that love with those around you.”
That is what this campaign time is about. It is about ministry. We talk about money, but only as a means to an end. It may be easy to confuse talk about money as being about the money itself. But the driving force behind this time is doing the work that God has called us to do in this place at this time. He gives us what we need to do it, and asks that we be faithful with it. As we give out of what God has given to us, we are enabling this place, Our Father Lutheran Church, to be all of the amazing things that it is for us, we are enabling this place to be so same amazing things for those who will come after us.
It is not about us, rather it is about the work that God is doing in this. It really is pretty cool when you begin to think about it and just how important this is. Now with that in mind the ministry does not stop when the campaign ends. You are not being asked to give and then to step back and let the staff get to work. No, what you are being asked to do is to invest you whole self into this ministry. And I promise you that when you do, you will know a joy and fulfillment and satisfaction unlike anything you have ever experienced in your life before.
We love because he first loved us. We give because he has given to us, and we want the world around us to know that same love. So we come together in this place to support this ministry and to make it happen. That is the foundation, and the motivation for this campaign. And so with that in mind, let me share this final thought with you.
Show me the money. Is that good? Now let me clarify. Show me the money is not a reference to dollars and cents, rather it is a way of keeping in the front of our minds that which is most important in this time. Money. M.O.N.E.Y. Ministry (to) Our Neighbors Entails You. Show me the money. Now say it with me. Show me the money. Ministry (to) Our Neighbors Entails You. As we come together, loved by God, and made his own dear people, we share in the work that he is doing in this place. We do this together, it requires you. And as we share in that we experience the joy and blessing of living life the way that it was intended to be lived. And as we do that together Our Father Lutheran Church is a place for ministry, a place for service, a place for God’s love. A place for the sad times and a place for the happy times. And may he bless us as we come together to serve him in this place. A place for show me the money. Ministry (to) Our Neighbors Entails You. Amen.