THEN THEY REMEMBERED

By Dr. Eric C. Stumpf, Senior Pastor

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church – Munster, IN

28 Mar 2010 + Palm Sunday and Confirmation +

John 12:16

              Let us pray:  Blessed Lord, You saved us from our sins and promise eternal life.  Because of our weakness, we often forget Your gifts to us.  Grant us the Holy Spirit to work through the Word we hear, the baptism that made us Your children, so we will remember Your salvation for all our life.  Amen.

             Some people have good memory and others do not.  There are all sorts of memory devices or tricks one can use to remember things.  Some of them are acrostics, e.g., my confirmation students were taught the 4 elements of prayer and how to remember them by using the acrostic for “pray.”  P for praise; R for repent; A for ask; and Y for yield to God’s will.  Another aid is using rhymes, like, “Thirty days hath September, April….”  Using Keywords may be another device.  Learning foreign words can be a real challenge.  For me learning Hebrew words was tough.  But I used keywords, e.g., the Hebrew word for “morning” is Bokar.  I remembered my parents buying coffee at the A & P which was called “Bokar” coffee.  I was quite surprised recently to find that the reason A & P called it “Bokar” coffee was because it was Columbian coffee from Bogata and Cartagena regions, which comes out “Bocar,” except with a “c” instead of a “k”.  I wish I had not read that since now I can’t remember the Hebrew word for “morning” anymore.

            Association is another device.  For example if we saw a very tall thin man wearing a very old fashioned long black coat and pants with a very tall black stovepipe hat, most of us would immediately think of Abraham Lincoln.

            It was this association that enabled the disciples on Palm Sunday to remember later the fulfilling of prophecy concerning Jesus.  Zechariah the Old Testament prophet said one day the promised King would come into Jerusalem riding a donkey.  In their national history every Jewish person learned of the great triumph of the Simon Maccabee who won independence about 170 years before Jesus.  He too rode into Jerusalem on a donkey with people waving palm branches, cheering, singing psalms praising God, and declaring him King.  Jesus was not mimicking this historic event, but fulfilling it.  The disciples would remember witnessing this and then associating it with Jesus’ fulfillment.

            This morning it is remembering God’s Word which was important for the disciples, for us, and for the Confirmands this day.

 What Did The Disciples Remember?

            Jesus chose the 12 disciples to be his eyewitnesses to his ministry, miracles, words, and deeds.  They saw, but rarely understood what Jesus was doing during his three years of ministry.  Once in awhile they would have an insight, but this was due to the revealing by the Heavenly Father, e.g., when Jesus asked who do people say I am, Peter said You are the Christ the Son of the Living God.  It wasn’t until after Jesus rose from the dead that all their memories of Jesus’ ministry made sense.  After Pentecost when the Holy Spirit opened their eyes to understand we find a remarkable change in Peter, for example, who preaches boldly, explaining the prophecies of the Old Testament, and pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation in Christ.

What Do We Remember?

            We have heard the Words of God.  The Law acting as a mirror shows our sinful condition.  We have failed to live up to God’s standards, in fact, we have failed to live up to human standards, and even to our own expectations.  God calls us to understand this fact, to repent, by admitting we are “poor, miserable sinners.”  Sin can not be ignored, excused, or justified, although we often try.  Sin is a life threatening disease that will kill us eternally unless we are healed by God’s grace.

            We remember the words of God’s grace.  He loved the world and you and me.  He gave His one and only Son as our substitute, he died in our place to pay the just punishment against sin.  We have nothing to brag about, God did it all for us, and then offers us the gift of eternal life for free by believing in the Savior.  We remember we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

            God has given his holy precious word which establishes a base which we can recall and reclaim the Gospel for ourselves.  Whenever we see a cross, or a church, or a steeple, we are reminded of God’s work for our salvation.  But the best remembrance aid is the work of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us.  He promises to work through the Word, through the remembrance of our baptism, and through the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.

            It is privilege to share with you today a recent letter I received from a former member which speaks to the issue of remembering (I received permission from Sherri to share this with you0:

Dear Pastor Stumpf,

We have never met, but my name is Sherri Hall, (previously Sherri Stack).  I attended St. Paul's Lutheran School in Hammond, IN and was confirmed by Pastor Moritz at St. Paul's Lutheran Chapel in Munster, IN in 1978, prior to the Church's construction years later.

 I just wanted to reach out and talk to you about all of the help and spiritual care and listening that several of the previous staff provided for me when I had family problems as a child.  St. Paul's Lutheran and so many others have inspired and encouraged my faith and growth.  Since attending St. Paul's Lutheran School, my life has taken many challenging twists both physically and spiritually.  I graduated from Purdue University, eventually married my college sweetheart, and we ended up moving to Raleigh, NC.

 We attend an amazing church called Hope Lutheran, and the word "HOPE" is truly what this church is all about.  8 years ago I was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease and I began dialysis about 6 1/2 years ago in order to prolong my life.  When I thought that I was at my lowest, my husband and I transferred to Hope Lutheran and everything began to change.  I renewed my faith and began getting involved in various groups within the church.  A year and 1/2 ago, my pastor approached me about going through Christ Care training and I hesitantly agreed.  Unsure of what I could possibly offer anyone needing support and strength, I began to look for ways in which I could strengthen my own faith and encourage others.

 My new Christ Care group "Slice of Life" helped me find that strength.  Churches like St. Paul's and Hope Lutheran have helped me find that strength.  I just wanted to reach out and say thank you again and that even when you don't know that you've changed a life, you really have!  The Christ Care group I'm involved with, "Slice of Life", is a faith based walk through God's word which provides encouragement and support for those personally dealing with, or care giving to those with, chronic or debilitating health issues.

 May God bless and continue to inspire you,

 Sherri Hall

 p.s.  On July 8th, 2009, a wonderful family from Florida donated their son's/ brother's kidney in order to give me the opportunity at a more fulfilling life.

  I pray that this opportunity is not wasted and that this gift will give to others as well!

 p.s.s.(sic)  Please say hi to David Brandt and Debbie Schmidt and let them know that I am doing well.  I hope that they and their family's are doing well.  I attended school with Mindy Brandt and Arthur Schmidt at St. Paul's Lutheran School in Hammond.  God's blessings to you all!

             Now the great challenge tomorrow, whether you are being confirmed this morning or you’re an old veteran of the cross who can look back to decades of faithful worship, study, and growing in the Word, is will I continue to be faithful.  Let me assure you that if you are going to rely on your own strength of will to be faithful, you’ve already lost.  But if you are counting on God’s grace to accomplish this through the work of the Holy Spirit in faithful worship, reading the Word, communing, and fellowship with God’s people, then we know you are in the good hands of the Heavenly Father.  Amen.

SDG