Easter 4A Sermon: Open Door Policy

Preached on John 10:1–10
The Fourth Sunday of Easter — The Good Shepherd
A Spoken Order of Morning Prayer (LSB 235)
3 May AD 2020

Video: Click to view the YouTube video of Open Door Policy. Morning Prayer from the Lutheran Service Book begins with the Verse (235), the Psalmody (LSB 235–237) with the Venite and Psalm 148, and the Readings with Responses (LSB 238). The sermon starts at the 6:45 mark. The service concludes with the Benedictus (LSB 238–240), Collect of the Day, Prayer of the Church, Collect for Grace (LSB 241), Lord’s Prayer, Benedicamus (LSB 241), and Benediction (LSB 242).

Summary: When we come to our heavenly Father through Jesus, we will never find the door shut in our faces. Jesus opened our access that we might approach God in faith while we live on earth. He is also the door through which we’ll travel when we enter eternal life.

Text: [Jesus said,] “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens.

“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:1–10

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Video: Click to view the YouTube video of Open Door Policy. Sermon begins at the 6:45 mark.

Other Readings: Psalm 23; Acts 2:42–47; 1 Peter 2:19–25

Pentecost 14 Sermon: I’ll Do It Myself

Ezekiel 34:11–24
14th Sunday After Pentecost — Proper 19C
15 September AD 2019

Title: Click to hear the MP3 of I’ll Do It Myself.

Summary: Unable to maintain a positive relationship with God, humanity continually strays from His loving protection. He knew that even the greatest of His prophets would be unable to reclaim straying Israel and to reach out to the Gentiles also lost in sin. Therefore, He declared Himself to be the one who would seek and save us.

He did so by taking on our flesh and living among us. Jesus proclaimed the Good News of salvation and accomplished it by suffering and dying for His sheep. He leads us from disaster and death to full and abundant life now and in eternity.

Text: “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

“And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

“I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.

“And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.” Ezekiel 34:11-24

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of I’ll Do It Myself.

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 119:169-176; 1 Timothy 1:5-17; Luke 15:1-10

Pentecost 17 Sermon: I’ll Do It Myself

Preached on Ezekiel 34:11-24
The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost — Proper 19C
11 September AD 2016

Title: I’ll Do It Myself (MP3 Audio)

Summary: Since those He calls to lead His people continually let Him down and follow their own inclinations, the Lord promises to come and set things right. Unlike the threatening billboards from a few years ago that read “Don’t Make Me Come Down There —God,” His goal is not to spread wrath and destruction but rather to gather the lost and hurting. Only those secure in their own sense of righteousness will fall under His judgment.

The Lord strongly hinted how this would happen. He first claimed to be His people’s true Shepherd, then said, “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David.” God and David both as one true shepherd? Of course, the Lord must be speaking of His Son. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic kingship. David’s Lord is the shepherd king’s final and greatest heir to the throne. He is God come down from His throne. Likewise, He is Immanuel — God with us. He is the Word made flesh, God incarnate, one of us.

God also declared that the rescue would take place “on a day of clouds and thick darkness.” And so we read that at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, as He died hanging on the cross, “from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. (Matthew 27:45)”

This sermon was delivered to residents and staff of Riverview Heights Health and Rehabilitation Center in Lexington, Missouri.

Text: “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

“And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.

“I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.

“And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.” Ezekiel 34:11-24

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of I’ll Do It Myself.

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 119:169-176; 1 Timothy 1:(5-11) 12-17; Luke 15:1-10

Pentecost 17 Sermon: Seeking the Sheep

Preached on Luke 15:1-10
The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost — Proper 19C
11 September AD 2016

Title: Seeking the Sheep (MP3 Audio)

Summary: Physicians are surrounded by sick people but we don’t call them disease-ridden. Attorneys meet regularly with criminals but that doesn’t automatically make them felons. Morticians deal daily with the dead but that doesn’t mean that they are corpses. But let Jesus sit down with low-life sinners and watch the judging begin.

In response, Jesus told His parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son. Today, we hear Him speak of the joy that a shepherd knows when he finds his lost sheep or that a woman has in recovering her missing coin.

He tried to show the Pharisees and scribes that these “sinners” were every bit as dear to the Lord as were the most righteous of Israelites. As much as any of these paragons of virtue who challenged Jesus’ choice in dining companions, so the “tax collectors and sinners” were also among those the Psalmist called “the people of [God’s] pasture, and the sheep of his hand. (Psalm 95:7)”

When we’re feeling the weight of our own transgressions, we need to know that we’re the same sort of sinners whom Jesus chooses to receive. And when we start standing in judgment over others, we need His reminder that we are no holier than the most wicked of sinners. Our Shepherd loves each of us dearly — but He doesn’t appreciate our acting as if were any less in need of rescue than are any other sinners.

Text: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:1-10

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Seeking the Sheep.

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 119:169-176; Ezekiel 34:11-24; 1 Timothy 1:(5-11) 12-17

Funeral Sermon: Knowing and Known

Preached on John 10:14-15
The Funeral of Melba Corinne Amos Strothmann
1 April AD 2016

Title: Knowing and Known (MP3 Audio)

Summary: Our Lord Jesus shepherds us throughout this life and into life eternal. He speaks forgiveness and new life. His voice never speaks falsehood; His directions never mislead us.

The Good Shepherd guides us every step of our pilgrimage through this life. He defends us against sin and Satan and calls us back when we follow the wrong voice and end up lost and alone.

Jesus knows us and we Him. He knows us throughout our lives and in our deaths. We know Him now in Word and Sacrament and trust that — even if dead and buried — we will hear His call to rise up and know Him face-to-face throughout life everlasting.

Text: [Jesus said,] “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Knowing and Known

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 23; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 10:1-18