I Know The Plans I Have For You (Wedding Sermon for David and Anja Durfee)

Dear Anja and David,

Grace and peace are yours in abundance in your knowledge of God and your Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

God’s Word for this day of blessing is found in Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is the Word of the Lord.

“I know the plans I have for you…” Indeed, the Lord God has allowed an incredible plan to unfold in your lives. Elsewhere in Scripture, in the book of Isaiah, we hear: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord, and to that you might say, “boy, that’s the truth.” Not too long ago, your plans and your thoughts may not have included becoming husband and wife to another—but here you are, at the direction of your loving heavenly Father. And so today is a day of great rejoicing, as we humbly and gratefully trust in the plans God has made for you.

Clearly, God knows the plans he has for us, as it says in Jeremiah. The problem from our perspective is that although He may know the plan, it doesn’t always seem like He’s telling us the plan, at least as fully as we might like. At the time, God’s plan seems to us like a brick wall or a dead end. If we’re being optimistic, we might call it Plan B. But over time I have come to learn that, when you submit your life to God, the “B” in Plan B stands for Blessing.

One small example of that happens to come from our own wedding day. I had made reservations with the Ritz Carlton in Cleveland for our wedding night. After driving through a severe thunderstorm to get downtown, we were told that our room was still occupied and there were no other rooms available. After explaining our circumstances to the hotel representative, we were ultimately sent east to the hotel on the grounds of the Cleveland Clinic. With rising hope we were escorted to our room, only to find that the room key didn’t work. More waiting and checking ensued. When our bellhop finally reappeared, he got us back on the elevator and pushed the button for the very top floor. The doors opened to a kind of luxurious accommodation that I had never seen before and will definitely never see again, and later we were told that this is where the oil magnates stay when they’re in town to be seen by the Clinic doctors. Plan B, we learned, stands for “Blessing,” and that principle has held true in our marriage for close to twelve years now.

David, Anja, I think you can relate to the idea that Plan B stands for “Blessing.” The plans that God had for each of you included each other. Who would’ve thought? Well, God did, and that actually provides a wonderful basis for a married relationship. When you are convinced that your Almighty God and Father is responsible for bringing the two of you together, you stand on the strongest foundation possible. Your starting point for relating to each other is that God intends for you to have and to hold one another. David is God’s gift to you. Anja is the Lord’s to you. What satisfaction there is in knowing that your union is really God’s idea.

And yet we must acknowledge that we can frustrate the plans that God has for us. We do that when we make selfish choices and when we do not forgive as we have been forgiven. In marriage, we can frustrate the plans God has for us when we think in terms of “me” instead of “we.” And I think it is interesting to note that when the Lord first spoke the words “I know the plans I have for you…” He was speaking them to the rebellious people of Israel. He was telling them that they would have to live away from Jerusalem for seventy years because of their hard-heartedness! They literally could not go home again—to the land God had given them—because they had turned their backs on Him. God was enforcing the consequences of their actions, in hopes that they would repent…in hopes that they would wake up and realize what they had done…in hopes that they would return in humility to the one who truly loved them. Even as He is punishing them, God gives away His inmost thoughts. He tells his wandering children, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” What love is packed into these words!

I bring up the context of this passage because the success of a marriage is not based on how strong your feelings are toward one another, but how well you can forgive each other. That is so crucial, I will say it again. The success of a marriage is not based on how strong your feelings are toward one another, but how well you can forgive each other. What God wanted from His people was a change of heart. He wanted them to return to Him, so that forgiveness and reconciliation could happen. When your relationship is put to the test, and you must know that it will be, remember that this is what the Lord wants for your marriage as well. Come to each other in humility. When you do wrong, admit it. Confess your sins and return to one another. Forgive one another from the heart, just as in Christ Jesus God forgave you. In this way you will be living according to the plan he has for the two of you.
David and Anja, it is a special privilege to proclaim God’s Word to you on your wedding day, because I know that you will take it to heart. Therefore I say to you, continue to trust in God’s plans; place your mutual hope in Jesus Christ crucified and risen, and enjoy your future together. Celebrate His gifts as husband and wife; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Holy Spirit, Ever Clarifying

Lorenzo deMedici, was a great Florentine patron of the arts who was very proud of the spectacles he staged for the citizenry. Among his productions were several amazingly realistic religious pageants performed in church. But one Pentecost, Lorenzo went too far: he used actual fire to depict the descent of the tongues of flames on the apostles. The fragile stage set caught fire and, before horrified onlookers, the entire church burned to the ground (Marching Off the Map, Harper, 1952). The moral is clear: pray for Pentecostal power, but don’t try to manufacture it.
Unfortunately, there are a couple different ways of misusing Pentecost and misunderstanding the Holy Spirit. Some believe that babbling in a nonsense “language” is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence, and then judge others based on whether or not they’ve had that experience. Reaction to that sort of thinking can be so extreme that the Holy Spirit gets shoved into a closet, rarely mentioned in conversation. Neither viewpoint is Scriptural. Clearly, the Holy Spirit was sent by the ascended Jesus to the disciples for a purpose. Equally clear is the Biblical truth; that “no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” The work of the Holy Spirit was vital at Pentecost and his work is just as vital today. The Day of Pentecost recorded in the book of Acts is a demonstration of what the Holy Spirit does and what he enables human beings to do. Simply put, the Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus and enables people like you and me to believe that is Jesus is the Son of God. On top of that, He creates in us the ability and the desire to communicate the truth about Jesus in an effective way. All of these things that the Holy Spirit does are nothing less than miracles.
The root of our problems communicating with each other and the root of our problems communicating Jesus Christ to others is—you guessed it—sin. In today’s Old Testament lesson we see the outcome of man’s pride: God scrambles their common language. Confusion and lack of communication becomes the norm. An old marketing adage says that you have to send a message seven times before the average person starts hearing you—and we are so bombarded with messages today that some researchers now think that it’s a multiple of seven before your message sinks in. All of which is to say that sin makes it very difficult to communicate well. In fact, it is impossible for us to speak or listen or think accurately about God without His guidance. That’s where the Holy Spirit steps in.
What started at the tower of Babel—communication confusion—the Holy Spirit starts reversing at Pentecost. People who normally were separated by culture and language were hearing the actions of God proclaimed in words they could understand! The Holy Spirit translated the speech of the apostles so that everyone could hear the message of Jesus. The Holy Spirit cuts through the clouds of confusion with a sharp and true presentation of Jesus as saving Messiah and giver of eternal life. The Holy Spirit makes it possible to believe that Jesus lived a perfect life, laid it down as a sacrifice, and returned to life and that He took those actions for me. With all the sinful static and chaotic distractions issuing from my own soul, it is truly a miracle that I could believe this about Jesus. And yet, I do. The credit goes to the Holy Spirit and the wonderful clarity that he brings.
In the final analysis, that is how you can know if the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. It is not a matter of hearing a rushing wind blow through your home. It is not a matter of seeing a flame flickering above your head. It is not a matter of whether or not you have spoken a bunch of nonsense syllables in a trancelike state. It’s not even a matter of how you feel on a given day. All you need ask is, “Do I believe that Jesus is God’s Son and my Savior from eternal death? Do I believe that Jesus went to a cross and came out of a tomb to make things right between God and me?” If you can say yes, then you can also know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is actively working in you, creating the miracle of faith, writing the story of Jesus continually in your heart. That you would hear and respond to God’s voice, with all the deception and distraction that’s out there, is evidence that the Holy Spirit is going about doing what he does.What this means for us as a church is really pretty simple. If the Holy Spirit is present in this place—if he is present in us—then our calling card will be the clear and consistent communication of Christ as our Savior from sin and Lord of Life. We will care about being faithful to Jesus’ teaching. We will have an urgent desire to share our clear communication of Christ with those who need it most, and we will work to make it happen. We will live it. We will put our money where our mouth is. And we will do this with great wonder and joy, marveling that the Holy Spirit would choose us to tell the mighty works of God.

Lydia and the Power of Plan B

In the opening pages of his autobiography, "An American Life," Ronald Reagan writes, “I was raised to believe that God had a plan for everyone and that seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His plan. My mother told me that everything in life happened for a purpose. She said all things were part of God’s plan, even the most disheartening setbacks, and in the end, everything worked out for the best. If something went wrong, she said, you didn’t let it get you down: You stepped away from it, stepped over it, and moved on. Later on, she added, something good will happen and you’ll find yourself thinking -- ’If I hadn’t had that problem back then, then this better thing that did happen wouldn’t have happened to me.’ After I lost the job at Montgomery Ward, I left home again in search of work. Although I didn’t know it then, I was beginning a journey that would take me a long way from Dixon, Illinois, and fulfill all my dreams and then some. My mother, as usual, was right.”
Call them what you want--setbacks, roadblocks, Plan Bs—eventually they happen to each of us. At the time, they only seem like a loss, a defeat. I’m sure that when Ronald Reagan lost his Montgomery Ward’s job he didn’t celebrate. Yet as his mother pointed out, that negative thing paved the way for something better. People who believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit believe His promise; that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” It sometimes takes quite a bit of God-given faith, though, to really trust that the wall I just ran into is God’s way of re-directing me. But that’s what faith does. It looks at the roadblock and says, “All right, Lord, where are we going now?”
For evidence of the power of Plan B, look no further than today’s first reading. The life of the Apostle Paul was a series of Plan Bs—beginning with his conversion and continuing on through ministry teams falling apart, shipwrecks and house arrest. You almost get the sense, reading the book of Acts, that nothing went according to Paul’s plan. And yet everything went according to God’s plan, and Paul learned to live with it.
We have an excellent example of that dynamic in this passage from Acts 16. Paul, Silas, and Timothy had their own travel itinerary, but we learn here that the Holy Spirit had other plans. God wanted them to head to Macedonia, going so far as to send Paul a vision of a man requesting their help. Clearly, Paul had learned to live by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, because it says that the group set out for the Macedonian region “immediately,” concluding that God had called them to preach the Gospel there. Let me just stop the story for a second to ask you: Is the Holy Spirit prompting you to help someone today? Is there a request for help that has reached your ears—a situation that you know you could bring the Gospel to—that the Spirit is quietly drawing you towards? Will you respond with the faithfulness demonstrated by Paul, Silas, and Timothy?
Back to the travelers—when they arrive in Phillipi, God’s Plan B begins to come into focus. There, at the riverside, they meet a woman named Lydia. Lydia was a pretty interesting woman. She was a “worshipper of God”—a phrase used to describe non-Jews who had come to believe that God of Israel was the true God. She was a business owner—and a fairly successful one at that, since purple goods were highly sought after, expensive items. Best of all, as Paul shared the good news of Jesus with her, the Lord opened her heart to receive his gifts, and she, along with her family, was baptized. Filled with the new life of Christ, she is also moved to extend hospitality to the missionary team, and her home likely became a makeshift sanctuary for Philippian Christians. Here is the power of Plan B in motion. The original frustration of Paul and company not going where they had wanted to go gave way to a call for help—and the outcome was the salvation of Lydia and her family. This was not the result of some great strategy or program, just a few men who were open to the direction of the Holy Spirit and faithfully went where He said to go. Do you and I have that same openness today? Or have we learned how to ignore that still, small voice that says, “Go and help people in My name?” Now there’s something to think about.
It is appropriate that on this Mother’s Day weekend, we pause to give thanks for all the Lydias among us; all the faithful women whose hearts have been opened by the Spirit, and who listen eagerly to the saving Word of Jesus Christ. We give thanks for the faithful women who through patient prayer and loving example have brought entire households to the Lord. We give thanks for the faithful women who have taught the faith to succeeding generations, embodying God’s unconditional and forgiving love. They are all around us and we acknowledge you today as honored, vital members of the Body of Christ.
We also give thanks for that saving Word itself; for it is through that Word that the Holy Spirit goes to work. The Word and Spirit confront us with our sins and the death sentence that is deservedly ours. The same Word and Spirit offer God’s solution; it is Jesus, who would stand in punishment’s way for us on the cross and assume our debt--all of it; leaving us forgiven and free. The same Word and Spirit promise an eternal connection to the risen Son of God, meaning victory over death! The same Word and Spirit promises that all things are working together for good for you and that the Lord will shepherd you through every roadblock you experience. If the Holy Spirit has opened your heart to believe these promises, give thanks to Him today, for you own the greatest treasures a person can have! This news is for all people, not only for the Lydias and those searching for truth, but also for those who are far away from God, who as of now are wandering in the dark, waiting for someone with some light. Will you be the one to shine the Gospel of Jesus their way?
Today we humbly and boldly pray that God would put up walls for us to run into—just like with Paul—and that with each wall we run into we ask, “What’s God’s will here?” and that at every turn he would make us open to the Holy Spirit and sensitive to the cries for help. Because it’s not our plans that matter—it’s the people the Lord places in our path. Let’s serve them in Jesus’ name and leave the plans to Him.

Don't Fumble Your Faith; Conquer With Christ (Version Two)

The date: January 17, 1988. The place: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado. The situation: The Cleveland Browns have a chance to tie the game against the Denver Broncos with 1:12 remaining. However, on the hand-off from Bernie Kozar, Earnest Byner is stripped of the ball two or three yards from the goal line, fumbles, and the Browns’ hopes of going to the Super Bowl are dashed. The play known as The Fumble passes into Cleveland sports lore. Another opportunity missed in dramatic fashion.
That may seem like a weird way to begin a sermon, but stick with me. I bring up The Fumble today because the last thing I want to see happen is for you to fumble away your faith, but it can happen. This weekend, seven catechumens are going to stand up in front of the church, and among other things, they are going to say that they would rather suffer death than fall away from the Christian faith. And if you ever made your confirmation in a Lutheran church, you said the same thing, whether you remember it or not. Would you be able to say that today, and mean it with all your heart, that “you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?” If so, I commend you, and I renew my pastoral vows to help support you in any way that I can, because there are so many people and so many circumstances that are trying to strip you of the ball. The devil himself wants you to fumble your faith. He can’t take your faith from you, but you can drop it, and if you fumble it away, you lose. I don’t want to see that happen—no one here today does—so let’s think about what it means to share in the victory of Jesus.
In today’s Epistle reading, we hear God say: “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Do you know what it means when God talks about giving thirsty people the water of life? It means people who thirst for the forgiveness of their sins. It means people who thirst for God in their lives. And you heard God say: “The one who conquers will have this heritage…” The person who conquers, or wins, is the person who hangs onto the ball by staying faithful to Jesus no matter what. That faithful person will have the peace of knowing their sins are forgiven and they will inherit eternal life, all because Jesus was the original champion over sin, death, and the devil. “The one who conquers will have this heritage…”A heritage is a story—a story that you get to be a part of—a story of identity and inheritance—and in this case the story of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection is your story, too. It affects who you are. It affects your decisions and your priorities. And you will inherit all the blessings of eternal life as a child of God…if you don’t drop the ball…if you don’t throw these treasures away. And that is possible. You have the power to walk away from Jesus and to reject His story. But do you understand what you would be losing if you do?
In order to conquer and win with Jesus, you don’t have to live a perfect life or be some unrealistic version of a Super Christian. Instead, winning with Jesus means believing that “God has granted repentance that leads to life.” That phrase is from today’s reading from Acts 11. Repentance that leads to life is a gift from God. It means that instead of pretending to be a perfect person, you are honest with God. You’re real with Him, and you admit your sins to him, trusting that He loves to forgive you. He loves to include you in the story of His Son Jesus. When you have felt the power of forgiveness, you will want Jesus to be the guiding force in your life. You will want to include Him in your decisions. You will always want Him by your side, because even when you mess up, He never turns His back on you. He will never reject you. He wants you to conquer and win. He wants you to be with Him forever. He will give you everything that you need in order for that to happen.
So instead of talking about it, let’s do it. Right now. Let us pray:
“O God, I surrender to you the habits and sins that, like frost, chill my soul and cause your life-giving energy to cease its flow in me. Uproot me from the weed patches of evil wherein I have chosen to sink my roots. Plant me instead in your field of righteousness.”“Direct the searchlight of your love into every crevice of my life that I may see to journey from this long winter of sin, to once again flourish in the summer of your goodness and love.“Send the gracious showers of your forgiveness to break the long drought ofspiritual dryness that has shriveled my soul, and grant, my Lord, that I may become more like you and less like my shadowy self.“This day I pledge to you and to myself that I will begin even now to pursue right thinking and right living, but my God, I need your help. Grant me forgiveness and life in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Pour into me your water of life. Make your story my story too. Amen.”

Prayer adapted from Dr. Norman Shawchuck

Don't Fumble Your Faith; Conquer With Christ (Version One)

The date: January 17, 1988. The place: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado. The situation: The Cleveland Browns have a chance to tie the game against the Denver Broncos with 1:12 remaining. However, on the hand-off from Bernie Kozar, Earnest Byner is stripped of the ball two or three yards from the goal line, fumbles, and the Browns’ hopes of going to the Super Bowl are dashed. The play known as The Fumble passes into Cleveland sports lore. Another opportunity missed in dramatic fashion.
That may seem like a weird way to begin a confirmation sermon, but stick with me. I bring up The Fumble today because the last thing I want to see happen is for you to fumble away your faith, but it can happen. In a couple of minutes, the seven of you are going to stand up in front of the church, and among other things, you are going to say that you would rather suffer death than fall away from the Christian faith. Now, I support you in that 100%, and I thank God that He would enable you to say that, but I also know that the biggest challenges to your faith are ahead of you. In so many ways, people are going to try to strip you of the ball. The devil himself wants you to fumble your faith. He can’t take your faith from you, but you can drop it, and if you fumble it away, you lose. I don’t want to see that happen—no one here today does—so let’s think about what it means to share in the victory of Jesus.
In today’s Epistle reading, we hear God say: “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Do you know what it means when God talks about giving thirsty people the water of life? It means people who thirst for the forgiveness of their sins. It means people who thirst for God in their lives. And you heard God say: “The one who conquers will have this heritage…” The person who conquers, or wins, is the person who hangs onto the ball. It means, the person who stays faithful to Jesus no matter what. That faithful person will have the peace of knowing their sins are forgiven and they will inherit eternal life, all because Jesus was the original champion over sin, death, and the devil. “The one who conquers will have this heritage…” A heritage is a story—a story that you get to be a part of—the story of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection is your story, too. It affects who you are. It affects your decisions and your priorities. And you will inherit all the blessings of eternal life as a child of God…if you don’t drop the ball…if you don’t throw these treasures away. And that is possible. You have the power to walk away from Jesus and to reject His story. But do you understand what you would be losing if you do?
In order to conquer and win with Jesus, you don’t have to live a perfect life or be some unrealistic version of a Super Christian. Instead, winning with Jesus means believing that “God has granted repentance that leads to life.” That phrase is from today’s reading from Acts 11. Repentance that leads to life is a gift from God. It means that instead of pretending to be a perfect person, you are honest with God. You’re real with Him, and you admit your sins to him, trusting that He loves to forgive you. He loves to include you in the story of His Son Jesus. Then you’ll be able to live without guilt and without fear. When you have felt the power of forgiveness, you will want Jesus to be the guiding force in your life. You will want to include Him in your decisions. You will always want Him by your side, because even when you mess up, He never turns His back on you. He will never reject you. He wants you to conquer and win. He wants you to be with Him forever. He will give you everything that you need in order for that to happen. That’s who you are saying “yes” to today. Say “yes” to Him every day. That’s the way to win.