LIVE…UNTO HIM

By Dr. Eric C. Stumpf, Senior Pastor

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

16 & 17 May 2010 + Teacher Retirement + 2 Cor. 5:15

             Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  Because our Heavenly Father accepted the sacrifice of His Son for our sins, we live a new life in Christ, we are a new creation.  This good news is at the heart of what we proclaim from this pulpit, what we share with one another in this church, and what we teach through the various subject in our school to our children.  So do you live unto Christ?

            The other day I was at a local grocery store that has a riding mechanical horse for children.  There was a little boy riding in the front and his sister was riding on the back.  Mom was getting her money’s worth out of the ride.  The little boy turned to his sister and said, “If one of us would get off, there would be more room for me.”  Are you like that little boy?  Do you think that you don’t need to be a new creation?

            This morning our text is a single verse, 2 Corinthians 5:15.  It is a special text for Lois Buuck, our teacher in our school who will be retiring at the end of the term.  It was, and still is, her confirmation verse. 

Live Unto Themselves

            There are a lot of people who live unto themselves and have nothing to do with God.  All they have is themselves.  Life revolves around what they want, what they need, what makes them happy, what makes them feel good about themselves.  But, often, the more they chase after these things the more discontented they are and the more desirous they are for the things for themselves.  Because they are enemies of God and live in their sinful state without forgiveness, their life becomes more and more meaningless.  Other people are there for whatever good they can do for them.  When they no longer meet that need they are disposable like a used Kleenex.   Their end is eternal destruction and damnation because they are apart from God the source of life.

            For those who are not a new creation education has one purpose, to enable them to get a good job to provide the money they need to meet their wants.  This is not the new creation God has in mind.  The education God has in mind is that we know him and worship him as the source of life and forgiveness.  Education prepares God’s people to serve God and one another.  Its purpose is to enable us to know and trust in the truth God gives, that there is no salvation in any other name than in Jesus.

He Died For All…And Rose Again

            Scripture says if you are in Christ, you are a new creation.  Are you?  Were you content and happy yesterday?  Will you be at peace tomorrow?  I grant the world can offer an education which will make you smarter, it can offer you greater career opportunities which have the potential of making you wealthier.  Without the cross, you can buy a nice home which will offer some creature comforts, but only the cross of Christ can offer you a way to have your heart, soul and mind recreated by the gift of God’s salvation which comes to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.  The only answer for man’s deepest needs and heartfelt longing is God’s gracious love and salvation.  Only Christ’s cross can create a new heart within you, can offer you a new spirit.  Only the cross can dispel the old, destroy the sin, and create a new life of joy in this world and the next.  That is the message we stand for, we preach, we teach, we share with one another, we encourage each other with.  That is the message that is heard in our classrooms and shared with our children so they may grow and “live…unto Him.”

            We think of the man in Mark 5 who was possessed by a evil spirit and wandered the cemetery of his town.  Jesus cast out the demon, freed the man, and gave him a new life.  Then there was the blind man in John 9 who not only received his sight, but also received the Savior.  Then there was the leper who was cleansed and came back to give thanks to God and began a new life clean and whole again.  In Luke 19 there was Zacchaeus the tax collector who probably stole more than he could remember, but Jesus came to his home and he was a new creation.  Remember the thief on the cross who was coming to a dead end, but became a new creation and was with Jesus in Paradise.  Then there was Saul who sought to kill Christians and met the risen Christ and became a new creation.  So many who came in contact with the Lord became a new creation.  Are you one of them?

Live…Unto Him

            Lois Buuck was one who became a new creation in Christ.  It began at her baptism, when she became part of Christ in the name of the Triune God.  She was nurtured in the Word as she grew, she was the recipient of the care and upbringing of other dedicated teachers who themselves were new creations.  She received a fine education and was called to serve her Lord and Savior as a teacher.  Some 800 children in the course of 33 years of teaching heard about Christ as Lord and Savior, not just when religion was taught, but in her care for children and her patient teaching throughout the day.  She was a daily example of what Christ does in people’s lives and how Christ daily creates us to be his through the forgiveness of Christ in his Word.  We will close this remembrance of God work in her life with her own words she gave in an interview for our church newsletter:  “Above all, always let Christ’s light shine through you, and continue to grow in your faith.”  Amen.

SDG