Church Sermon - June 12, 2005

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Epistle Lesson; Romans 5:6-11
Old Testament Lesson; Exodus 19:2-8
Sermon Text; Matthew 9:35-10:8

Two years ago one of our shut-in members told a friend, who is a single mother, about our Christian Day School, here at Holy Cross. That single mother enrolled her little, preschool, son here at Holy Cross Lutheran School.

Two and a half weeks ago, at 2:45 on a Thursday afternoon, the first through fourth graders of our Christian Day School all gathered right up here, where the baptismal family is sitting this morning. Our first through fourth graders and their teachers were a little congregation at 2:45 on that Thursday afternoon.

The little boy I mentioned earlier was busy with his mother in the back. He was taking off his shirt he had worn to school all day and was putting on a nice, white, clean, dress, button-up shirt. He then came walking up here, to the front of the church. That little, young, boy had determined in his heart that he wanted to be baptized. He had come to faith in Jesus, as his Savior, and he wanted to be baptized! And, he wanted his school friends to witness his baptism.

One of the things he had requested was that his school friends sing two songs at his baptism. Now, mind you, this is a first grader. I want you to think of the songs he picked out. We began our little service with this song, as his friends were singing to him,

"I pray You dear Lord Jesus,

My heart to keep and train,

That I your holy temple,

from youth to age remain.

Oh, turn my heart forever

From worldly wisdom’s lore,

If I but learn to know You

I shall not want for more."

Certainly, it was a prayer that he would remain a faithful believer of Jesus, his Savior, all of his life. It was a very touching moment, as his school friends sang that to him.

Then he came up to be baptized. As he stood up there with his mom, I asked this little, first grade boy some questions. "Do you believe you are a sinner? If so, answer I do."

With a bold, strong voice he said, "I do."

And then I asked him, "Do you believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? If so, answer I do."

And again with a bold, strong voice he said, "I do."

And finally I asked him, "Do you believe that Jesus died for all of your sins, and Jesus has forgiven all your sins?"

And, before I even had a chance to say, "If so, answer I do," he said with a strong voice, "I do!"

And, I tell you, I had to hold back the tears of joy, to see the bold, confident confession of faith of this little boy, who had come to faith here at our Christian Day School, and was boldly proclaiming Jesus as his Savior from sin.

Then he was baptized.

He sat back down, right up here, with his mom. And, I sat right behind him. His school friends sang the next song he had chosen. And when the refrain came along, this little, first grade boy, who was sitting by his mom and me, was not ashamed to join in with the refrain. He sang, at the top of his lungs, while looking at his Christian friends,

"Surely it is God who saves me.

I will trust in Him

and not be afraid,

for the Lord is my stronghold

and my sure defense,

and He will be my Savior."

His mom had tears in her eyes. I looked over at Mrs. Becker, his first grade teacher, and she had tears in her eyes. And, I was fighting back the tears, myself. But I want to tell you something. Those were all tears of absolute joy.

That moment was a crystal clear picture of why some, in our midst, have chosen to go into full-time work for the Kingdom. That is why some, among us, have chosen to be teachers in our Christian Day School, (though there may not be much money it, and the work may be long and hard) and commit his or her life to the work for the Kingdom. There they saw the fruits of their work - a little boy saved for the Kingdom for eternity, because he had come to faith in Jesus, as his Savior! It was a crystal clear picture to me, why I have gone into the public ministry - a little Lamb of God brought to faith in Jesus his Savior!

Our Lord Jesus has, in fact, instituted the public ministry and instituted what we call the Office of the Public Ministry where He calls people to devote their lives full-time to preaching the Word of God, to teaching the Word of God, to administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

However, our Savior Jesus in today’s scripture reading presents us with a dilemma. Jesus said,

"The harvest is plentiful."

In other words, there are many, many, many souls to be won for the Kingdom.

"The harvest is plentiful,

but the workers are few."

To show that dilemma, let’s just look at our own congregation. Holy Cross has been in existence for 79 years. During those seventy-nine years, do you know how many pastors (whether they be senior pastors, associate pastors, or visitation pastors) we have had here at Holy Cross? Fourteen. It has taken fourteen men, who have devoted their lives to the ministry of the Word, to serve this congregation.

Our school has been in existence for 29 years. Do you know how many teachers we have called into full-time work for the Lord, in the past twenty-nine years? Thirty-seven. 37 teachers.

You add those two numbers of thirty-seven teachers and fourteen pastors and you come up with fifty-one people who have dedicated their life to the full-time work of preaching and teaching the Gospel.

Now, if we had to depend upon our own congregation, from members in our midst, to fill our pulpit and to fill our classrooms how well would we do? If we would look back over the past seventy-nine years, here at Holy Cross, do you know how many of our members, our own sons and daughters, have gone into either the preaching ministry or the teaching ministry? As well as I can count, it is six. So think of that. We have had 51 called workers, and if we had to depend upon our own ranks to fill our ministry needs here at Holy Cross, we have had only six workers. Where would we be today, as a school or a congregation?

And so, Jesus presents that dilemma. He says,

"The harvest is plentiful,

but the workers are few."

So, what is the solution to that dilemma? First of all, the solution is that we must have compassion on lost souls. Scripture tells us,

"When He saw the crowds,

He had compassion on them,

because they were harassed and helpless,

like sheep without a shepherd."

If you ever lost a child, even for a brief time, you know the intense compassion in your heart, as you desire to seek and find that lost child. You multiply that infinitely by a loving God and the compassion that He has for the lost.

Let’s make this very personal today.

Our Savior, Jesus, has absolute intense compassion for

He does not want

to be lost.

Our Savior, Jesus, told several parables in scripture showing His compassion for the lost. You remember the parable He told about a shepherd who had 100 sheep. Ninety-nine of them stay in the pen, but one of them gets lost. That shepherd goes out and looks for that lost sheep. He looks and looks, until he finds it. And, when he finds it, he picks it up on his shoulders and returns home, rejoicing!

There our Savior, Jesus, is expressing His compassion for lost souls. Our Savior, Jesus said, "There is more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent."

The Bible tells us that when our Savior, Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem, from a hilltop, "He wept."

He said, "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you together, like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not."

What did our Savior, Jesus, do for you?

He has sought us and He has found us. How thankful we are!

There was a pastor one day who was preaching about Jesus’ intense compassion for the lost, for sinners. He was reading from his old King James Bible, and he read this passage.

"Jesus receiveth sinners and eateth with them."

There was a little girl sitting in the congregation, and at that point her ears perked up. After the church service, (and by the way her name was Edith), she walked up to the pastor and said, "Pastor! I did not know that my name is mentioned in the Bible!"

The pastor looked at her and said, "Oh Edith, your name is not in the Bible."

And she said, "Yes it is! You read that passage today that says, ‘Jesus receiveth sinners and Edith with them.’"

Now, maybe she didn’t get the passage quite right, but her application of it was an awesome application. Jesus receiveth sinners and little Edith with them.

You and I can make that same application. Jesus receiveth sinners and Mark with them.

Our Savior calls us to have that same compassion for the lost. God forgive us, that we have not always had that compassion for the lost. As you look out the front window of your house and you see your neighborhood, the fields are ripe for harvest. There are many souls out your front window who don’t know Jesus, their Savior, yet. As you look out over Madison and see all the children playing, the fields are ripe for harvest. There are many children who don’t know Jesus, their Savior, yet. Our Savior calls us to compassion. He says,

"The harvest is plentiful,

but the workers are few."

Next, I want to address three different groups of people here this morning. First of all I want to address parents. I would like to read a little part of an essay that was written by the first dean of our Evangelical Lutheran Synod Seminary. His name was Norman A. Madson, Sr.. The title of his essay is: How Our Synod Got its Ministers. Listen to what he says, as he directs this right at parents.

"How did our synod get its ministers? It got them from homes where child-like trust in God’s precious promises has been instilled in them from earliest childhood. We have reason to believe that the most powerful influence was the living example given them by pious parents in homes, humble though they may be, where the Bible, the catechism, the precious hymn book were as beloved as they were worn with age. Faithful ministers for the church? So long as God raises up faithful Loises and Eunices (that was the grandmother and mother of Pastor Timothy) who sit in the quiet of their homes, see to it that the more sure word of prophesy is diligently taught their little ones, there will be no lack of Timothys, who will gladly enter the ministry, no matter what persecutions may await them. What a tribute to that godly home over there in Asia-minor, is paid by the imprisoned Paul, writing his last epistle to his younger coworker Timothy. ‘But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou has learned them and how from a child you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation though faith in Christ Jesus.’ Where such homes are found in congregations in goodly number, there means must and will be found to establish the institutions of learning, so needful for the training of those who are to be our shepherds of our flock. Study the roster of our present ministers and ask yourself how many of these have been trained in the public schools? You will find that had it not been for our Christian Day Schools, our Christian College, not to mention our Christian Seminary, we should have but few ministers. The school of the prophets, as they were called in the Old Testament days, is as needful today as they were in the days of Elisha. Our very existence as a synod will depend upon the faithful indoctrination of our youth in the one thing needful. As God provided bread for Israel in the wilderness, so He has provided for the administration of His means of grace to this very day. And, He will continue to provide, so long as we are obedient to the word of reconciliation."

So, he says that he believes the primary breeding ground for people who go into the public ministry are Christian parents. And, to show how accurate he was in that statement, he was a man who had a godly household, where he raised his children knowing Jesus, their Savior. They were indoctrinated in the Word of God. Three of his sons went on and became pastors in our synod - Joel Madson, Norman Madson, and Paul Madson. And, our congregation has dearly benefited from the Christian homes of his children. Three of the people who have served our congregation in the public ministry are his grandchildren! Jonathan Madson, who was a teacher here and then went on to become a pastor here, Dan Madson, who taught here for twenty years at Holy Cross and Miss Camilla Dashcund, who is a granddaughter of Norman A. Madsen.

Devout Christian homes are the breeding ground for those who go into the public ministry. We ought to pray that God give our congregation many devout Christian homes, because the fields are ripe for harvest, but the workers are few.

The second group of people I want to talk to are the boys and girls who are here. God certainly needs Christian doctors, Christian farmers, and Christian construction workers, but He also needs people who go into the public ministry, such as pastors and teachers. As you think about an occupation in the future, you all ought to consider that.

You may say to yourself, "Well, I am not worthy to become a pastor or a teacher. I am not qualified to be a pastor or a teacher."

Well, that is a good attitude to have. The greatest preacher in the New Testament Church, a man by the name of Paul, said this about himself, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

He recognized how unworthy he was to be in the office of the public ministry.

Moses was a great preacher in the Old Testament. When God called him into the public ministry, he said to God, "God I am not capable."

But God made him capable.

Jeremiah, who was called into the public ministry as a young man, said to God, "God, I am too young."

But, the Lord made him capable and the Lord worked powerfully through him.

Certainly, none of us are worthy or truly qualified to be in the public ministry. St. Paul, talking about those who go into the public ministry said, "We are jars of clay." In 1947, a young shepherd boy in Israel happened to discover a cave. And, when he went into that cave he saw a whole bunch of clay jars, big clay jars. Inside those clay jars was an incredible treasure - something called the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was the oldest manuscript of the Bible found to date! So, those clay jars contained an awesome treasure. St. Paul says about those who go into the public ministry, "We are jars of clay." We are weak. We are brittle. We are breakable. We are sinners, just like the rest of the congregation. But the treasure, the Word of God that we preach and teach, is able to win souls for salvation and keep souls in their faith, through the Word and the Sacraments.

The third group I would like to talk to is the rest of the congregation. Jesus says,

"The harvest is plentiful

but the workers are few."

He says that to all of us. If you know a young person whom you believe would be a good candidate for being a preacher or a teacher in the church, I would encourage all of our congregation members to talk to him or her. When I was a young boy, I don’t know how many times my brother and I heard somebody from our congregation ask us, "Are you boys going to be pastors like your dad someday?"

We heard that over and over. And you know what? We both did become pastors. That idea, implanted in our head over and over, came to fruition. Jesus also tells all of our congregation members this,

"The harvest is plentiful,

but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,

to send out workers into His harvest field."

I will tell you this, being a pastor or a teacher may not carry with it any worldly recognition, whatsoever. And, the pay may not be very good. The hours may be long and the work may be very difficult sometimes.

However, nothing in the world compares to the joy of pouring water on a little baby’s head, in baptism and forgiving their sins.

Nothing in the world compares to hearing a little one, which you have ministered to, saying, "Jesus loves me, this I know!"

Nothing in the world compares to the pride of seeing Confirmation Students, who you have taught, stand up here and publicly, boldly profess their faith in Jesus, as their Savior.

Nothing in the world can compare with announcing to either a congregation or a single sinner sitting in your office troubled by sins, that announcement, "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven!"

Nothing in the world can really compare to during an adult information class, seeing somebody, for the first time, coming to the realization, "I am saved, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone!"

Nothing else in the world really can compare to going to the hospital, sitting at the bedside of someone who has cancer, and bringing him or her the deepest comfort of the Word of God.

Nothing else in the world can compare to sitting with a member who is moments from his or her death, knowing that in just a few moments that person is going to be with Jesus, our Savior, in Heaven.

We all are called on to have compassion for souls. We are called on wherever we are, whoever we are, to spread that Good News. As we look out over the fields, the fields are ripe for harvest.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."

Amen.

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