Bloghardt's Reflector

St. Luke 18:9-14 – Trinity 11 2011
Zion Ev. Lutheran Church
August 3-4, 2011
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In the name of Jesus. Amen.  Two men in the temple.  The first with tons of religion.  The other with nothing but sins.  Who goes home justified?  

Imagine the first. He is basically good –  “I'm not swindler.   I'm not unjust.  I've never committed adultery.”

I'm an upstanding member of my church.  I give my ten percent before taxes!  I am a good person.  I have sins, but unlike some people, I'm working through them.   Thank God, I'm not like...  that guy.

Now, imagine that guy.  Sitting next to you in church.  I mean – a filthy rotten sinner.  Someone dressed a bit different, or not from your culture, or maybe a different color than you.  

Perhaps that guy is a woman who is pregnant and shouldn't be or a man who has a history... and not a good one.  That guy wronged me, he messed up, he just doesn’t carry his weight in this church.  Why are they even here?  We all know what that guy did.  They just don't fit in. They just aren't right.

They do that for a living.  It's unbecoming.  It's disgusting or kinda sleazy.  In the ancient world you don't get much worse than a tax collector.  They were extortioners and thieves.  They would over charge taxes and keep the extra bit.  No one likes that guy.  

St. Luke 19:41-48 - Holy Trinity 10 - 2011
Zion Ev. Lutheran Church
August 27-28, 2011
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In the name of Jesus. Amen.  Jerusalem had the temple.  She was filled with God’s people.  By birth, children of Abraham. So, in 70 AD, when they defied the Romans, they figured God would rescue them.  

And when the Romans arrived with all the vengeance of Almighty God Himself, they chanted “The Temple of the Lord!”  God’s temple, God’s city would rescue them.

The Romans laid siege to the city on the Passover.  On the Passover! They broke through the walls north of the temple and overran it.  And in the Holy of Holies, where sacrifices had been made to God, the Roman legionaries made sacrifices to the Emperor.  

The Romans burned the temple to the ground to teach a lesson to the Jews.  Over a million people were killed.  Ninety-seven thousand people were taken prisoner.  

Jerusalem was barricaded, surrounded, hemmed in, torn down to the ground, and then slaughtered.  God’s temple was destroyed.  It was the judgment of Almighty God.  Just as Jesus said...

Yet, for His Jerusalem, for us, Jesus will endured the same.  He will be surrounded by guards.  He will be treated criminal, dragged before the chief priests and teachers of the law, beaten and mocked.  They will teach Him a lesson on how to speak to the chief priests as they beat and mock Him again and again.  

The Romans, those experts at killing and breaking things, will drive nails into His hands and feet.  They will crucify Him.  They will not stop until He dies.

St. Matthew 7:15-23 - Trinity 8 - 2011

Zion Ev. Lutheran Church
July 14, 2011
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In the name of Jesus. Amen.  Dear friends in Christ, beware of false teachers.  

And this isn’t me saying, “If you listen to different preachers, it’s bad for business at Zion...”

This isn’t me at all, it’s Jesus’ words:  Beware of false prophets, they come to you in sheep’s clothing but inside they are ravenous wolves.”

Beware.  Watch out.  Stay away from.  All messages aren’t the same.  Some messages lead to life and others that will eat you up.

You see, if you think you are going to be near a sheep and it turns out to be a wolf, you’ll probably be eaten!  Not cool!

So, what’s a wolf look like?  What’s he dress like?  Well, he looks like a sheep, talks like a sheep, maybe even sounds sheepy.  If he looked like a wolf, you wouldn’t be near him, would you?

Jesus points you to the fruit:  You don’t get grapes from thorn bushes and you don’t get figs from thistle.

St. Mark 8:1-9 - Trinity 7 - 2011
Zion Ev. Lutheran Church
July 6-7, 2011
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In the name of Jesus. Amen.   Tired.  Exhausted. Spent. Sapped.  As if the energy and the life that you had in you has been drained.  

Seems like you were running faster last year, doesn’t it?  Didn’t things seem better just a year ago?  Now, it feels like it’s getting harder and harder even to breathe.  

It just gets exhausting.  You put one foot in front of the other, but it’s just seems to be getting hotter and hotter in this desert, this world, you live in. 

And life isn’t slowing down.  It just moves faster and faster and wants and more more from you.  Nothing seems certain.  Meetings at your job.  Is this when they lay me off?  Finding a job now is near impossible!

You look at those around you for help.  They care -  well not like you would like them too care.  At least they haven’t de-friended you on facebook!  Yet...

“Keep it positive!  Chin up.  Lemons to lemonade, you know?!”  But, yet, there’s a part of you that is just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  So you avoid going to the doctor cause when you do, he’ll give you that test and then...

There just has to be more than life in the desert of this world.  More than texts messages, paying bills with money you don’t have, hurt, rejection, sickness, and death.  Some rest from all this...some peace.

Jesus had compassion on the crowd in today’s Gospel.  He has compassion on you.  He sees how hungry you are - hungry for real life, eternal life, life that goes on and on and on without end or without pain.

He has forgiveness.  His Cross is your forgiveness.  His resurrection is life.  He gives true rest and nourishment.

St. Matthew 5:17-26 – Trinity 6 – 2011
Zion Ev. Lutheran Church
July 30-31, 2012
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In the name of Jesus. Amen. We thought, we honestly thought, that of all the commandments that the Lord God gave to the children of Israel – we had this one down.

We might sometimes value money too much. Doubt God’s love for us or not even believe in Him at all. We might despise His Word. We might skip church, disobey our parents, our marriages fail, there’s porn on our computers. We might steal – at least only from the government, maybe covet, or we’ll gossip a bit... Or a lot. 

But, it’s not like we went and murdered someone. It was just our piddly little sins. We didn’t actually hurt anyone. We didn’t pop a cap in them. Evil people do that sort of thing...and we aren’t evil like those people.

You’ve thought it. I’ve thought it. The fifth commandment is one of those litmus tests for bad people. “I’m not a bad person, it’s not like I’ve murdered anyone.”

Then along comes Jesus. We often think Jesus softens the Law, makes it easier – more doable. That He is more merciful with the Law and cuts us some slack.

But He doesn’t. He specifically says that the Law will not pass away.  So, to save us, He says, “You’ve heard...You’ve heard before that you shall not murder and that murderers will be judged. But I say...”

St. Luke 6:41-42 - Trinity 4 - 2011
Zion Ev. Lutheran Church
July 16-17, 2011
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In the name of Jesus. Amen.   So let me get this straight.  We are walking around with these big giant planks in our eyes.  All the while, our brothers in Christ, have these itty-bitty specs in their eyes.

Big plank.  Little speck.  The example requires a visual.  If your optometrist came out with this in front of their eyes, would you let them do surgery on you? Its simple eye surgery, you see.  I'll just take my tweezers here and help you out.  Hold on... Gimme a sec... Almost .. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

Now you'd think with this in front your eyes you couldn't see a thing... but we claim to have 20-20 vision!  Talk about slap stick!  

Now, even with the planks in our eyes, we look for our neighbor’s mistakes, their faults, their blemishes.  We magnify them.  We investigate for their sins, their gossip, their deep dark iniquity.  

We don’t always rejoice in their failures, but sometimes we push ourselves up with them.  They are so bad, so at fault, so icky.  We’re not so bad, at least not as bad as them.