Sunday's Coming
Rev. Delwyn and Sis. Lenita Campbell
God's Mission • Sermon • Submitted
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Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Humility
The story is told of two brothers who grew up on a farm. One went away to college, earned a law degree, and became a partner in a prominent law firm in the state capital. The other brother stayed on the family farm. One day the lawyer came and visited his brother, the farmer. He asked, “Why don’t you go out and make a name for yourself and hold your head up high in the world like me.” The brother pointed and said, “See that field of wheat over there? Look closely. Only the empty heads stand up. Those that are well filled always bow low.”
Said differently, “The branch that bears the most fruit is bent the lowest to the ground.”
Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Servanthood
D. L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves.”
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
The Paradox of God’s Mission
The Paradox of God’s Mission
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We confuse greatness with power, and power with the exercise of control over others.
Money is often seen as power.
People therefore desire money for what they think it gives them.
The only times we see Jesus dealing with money, it’s because others are anxious about it.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
DRACHMA (Drăkʹ mȧ) Greek term used to refer to silver coins (). It was a Greek unit of silver coinage that, during the time of the NT, was considered equivalent to the Roman denarius. In 300 B.C. a sheep cost one drachma, but apparently by NT times the drachma was worth much less.
Chad Brand et al., eds., “Drachma,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 441.
The events recorded in our Gospel text take place in the context of questions about power and authority. Jesus has told the 12 that He is about to go to Jerusalem where, by all appearances, His absolute lack of power will be on display to all.
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
Every single verb in this passage puts Jesus on the receiving end of the actions of others except the last one, and, even then, He is the object of the action, because He is raising Himself. We normally think of those who are subject to others as weak. The strong, by contrast, control others.
Previously, some Pharisees came to him with a question about divorce - not because they respected His authority or wisdom, but “to test Him (10:2). After he deals with that, people bring their children to Him so that He would touch them, but they don’t first ask whether it was ok. Instead, they just figure that Jesus is in the house, and surely He wouldn’t mind blessing their children. The fact that it is true that Jesus is wiling to do so in no way removes the fact that no one thought it necessary to ask. Perhaps the disciples were, in fact, acting out of concern for His well-being.
By verse 17, Jesus is back on the road, and a man runs up to him asking for advice on what he “must do to inherit eternal life.” When Jesus gives the man something concrete, does he say, “Thank you; I’ll get right on it?” No - instead, he walks away “distressed” and “grieving” (λυπούμενος), because he owned a lot of stuff. “Who does this Jesus think that He is, telling me to give up my hard-earned stuff?”
His disciples reacted to this with amazement! It is as if they said, “What is Jesus talking about? It’s hard “for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God?” REALLY??
In most church groups or organizations, pastors are strong. They are large and in charge, decision-makers, movers and shakers. In the LCMS, where we have no bishops, and Presidents may only advise rather than command, we may be beloved, but we are not, as a rule, feared. Missionaries are approximately at the same level, maybe even a little lower, since not all missionaries are ordained, having the responsibility of exercising the Office of the Keys. Concerning his work as an Apostle, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth,
In most church groups or organizations, for example, pastors are strong. they are in charge, decision-makers, movers and shakers. In the LCMS, where we have no bishops, and Presidents may only advise rather than command, we may be beloved, but we are not, as a rule, feared. Missionaries are approximately at the same level, maybe even a little lower, since not all missionaries are ordained, having the responsibility of exercising the Office of the Keys.
For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
There is only one reason that I can think of that anyone accepts this kind of vocation.
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
When I look at the city of Gary, where I am sent as a missionary, I see a city in which over half of its residents don’t think that God’s people can do anything to affect the downward spiral that won’t end until the last widow dies and the last homeless person hitches a ride to Hammond. Of course, by then the politicians will have drained all of whatever life remains, but hey, it’s only Gary.
It’s a city in such poor shape that they had to take a missionary in order to get any sort of pastoral care. Here at [this church], you get to see your pastor EVERY SATURDAY and SUNDAY, EVERY WEEK for Bible Study and Confirmation class, ANYTIME you need counseling. Them? They’re lucky to see me every other week. They are so grateful to the Synod, that they are willing to share me with the rest of the Synod, all of you people who supply the funds that allow me to stay there.
That’s right - the only reason that I am able to be in Gary, is because the congregations of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, congregations like St. Paul, and individuals like Pastor Speckhard, give gifts in support of me so that I can work there with the oldest church in Northwest Indiana, St. John Lutheran Church. I, my wife Lenita, and my children Delwyn 2, Daniyah, and Dinah are so grateful to God and to you for your generosity.
What are Gary’s prospects without the pure Gospel? A year ago, Gary had one functioning church and two congregations on the verge of closure, with third making use of a Baptist preacher. How would you feel if you had to give offerings to a Baptist preacher in order to have something approaching God’s Word coming to you?
A year later, we have two churches, a school, and two transitional residences that have made major differences in the lives of some desperate, destitute people. Imagine what Gary could be like if I didn’t have to spend as many days as possible on the road. What could Gary be like if the light of the pure Gospel were going forth regularly, if the poor were hearing that pure Gospel without fail. What could Gary be like if the political leaders knew that there was going to be a preacher who would not fail to proclaim God’s active presence in both the Left-hand and Right-hand Kingdoms?
God has blessed [this church] in so many ways. I see the evidence in this beautiful sanctuary, in the kindness of your fellowship, in the vigor with which your pastors support this great work. I pray that you will join Pr. Speckhard, both corporately and as the Lord leads you as individuals.
Everything that Jesus said that the chief priests and scribes would do, they did. Everything that Jesus said the Gentiles would do, they did.
saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
Friday, they mocked Jesus like nobody’s business, but then Sunday came.
Friday, they beat Him like He stole something, but then Sunday came.
Friday, they put a heavy wooden cross on His bruised and bloody back, but then Sunday came.
Friday, they hung Him high, they stretched Him wide, He hung His head, for YOU He died - but then Sunday came!
You are here today, because Sunday came.
You are forgiven and justified, because Sunday came.
You have a called Servant of the Word, because Sunday came!
Sunday came - and Jesus rose!
Sunday came, and the Devil was defeated!
Sunday came, and sins are forgiven, bread is broken, a cup is shared.
Sunday came, and God’s promises are declared.
Someday, as a songwriter wrote, it will be Sunday everyday, and we can walk around heaven, all day. For now, Sunday comes every week here, and with the Synod’s help, Sunday can come to St. John’s every week.
Jesus rose on a Sunday morning. Together, we are taking that message to the ends of the earth, and right around the corner.
Join me tomorrow, either tomorrow morning at Bible Study, or tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 at St. John.Beginning tonight and this Sunday, let’s celebrate Jesus, in the power of His resurrection and in the fellowship of His sufferings, both here, and in Gary, with people you know, and with people you’ve never met. One Body, One Cup, One Confession.
Let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, Amen.