Here are some of our youth at Trinity Lutheran Church. They delivered Thanksgiving dinner to a family in Girard and one in Virden. What a great way to share with others.

Friday they will be in the Virden Christmas Parade.
They have decorated a John Deere Gator with lights and an angel.
They will give out 500 Candy Canes with our Christmas Worship schedule on it.
Watch for pictures to follow!

Thank you youth and parents.

Advent 1, November 29–30, 2008

“Behold, Your King is Coming to You”

Matthew 21:1-9

Advent 1, November 29–30, 2008

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The world celebrates holidays all backwards. Have you ever noticed that? All of the celebrating is virtually done before the day ever arrives. This is especially so with Christmas. All the feasting, the decorating, the nostalgia are done up front. You’ve got Christmas movies and Christmas music and Christmas parades not only before Advent but even sometimes before Thanksgiving! By the time the actual holiday arrives, Christmas seems almost anti-climactic. By December 25th, you’re tired of the songs and the phony holiday cheer and you’re ready to move on, especially if things didn’t quite live up to expectations.

That’s the way it is with the world because that’s the way the world looks at life. You live for a while, you have your fun, and then you die and it’s all over. So you better make your time now count. First there’s life and then there’s death. But with the church it’s the other way around. First there’s death and then there’s life, both with our Lord and with us. Life really begins when we are freed from sin’s curse and are with our Lord in the resurrection. So our days in this world are lived differently, as preparation for that coming time when the celebration will really begin.

This faith is reflected in the way we observe Christmas. The church doesn’t celebrate a holy-day, a holiday until it actually arrives, and in the days following. The 12 days of Christmas that you hear about in the carol are the days from Christmas to Epiphany on January 6th. That’s the real Christmas season. What we’re in now is the Advent season. Advent is a time of penitent and hope-filled preparation. In the early church, Advent was a time for fasting, praying, and devotion, believe it or not. This is a time not for mere sentimentality but to dwell more fervently on the Word of God to make ready the way of His coming to us–which is the reason for the additional midweek Advent services. We eagerly anticipate Christmas, but now’s not the time for the full celebration. We don’t sing the “Glory Be to God on High” yet in the liturgy. That’s the song of the angels that doesn’t come till Christmas Eve. Now’s the time for waiting and discipline and focusing on the coming of our Lord in the flesh to save us.

That’s why we have the Gospel that we do today. The Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the donkey five days before Good Friday may seem out of place at first here in Advent, but in fact it dramatically emphasizes what this season is about. Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” This Gospel teaches how our Lord comes to us–humbly, whether on a beast of burden or in a lowly manger. Jesus comes not simply to be born; He is born to humble Himself even to the point of death on a cross, to give His life as a ransom to rescue us from sin and death and the devil. “Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Note that there are two donkeys Jesus rides, an older one, the mother, and a younger one, a colt, the mother’s foal. These two donkeys represent God’s Old and New Testament people. First, Jesus rides the old, to show that He is the fulfillment of all that Israel was about and all that its prophets foretold. Then Jesus rides the new, which is born from the old, the new Israel, which is the church. Our Lord comes to make all things new by dying and rising again. Out of the old order of death comes a new order of invincible life for us in Jesus. He unites all believers, from the Old Testament and the New, from every nation and race, together as His true and everlasting Israel.

And don’t forget that we are the donkey, a very stubborn animal, hard-headed, set in our sinful ways, eager to go our own direction, or else just sitting back and refusing to budge. So we must be driven. Christ rides us and gently but firmly drives us toward the cross. He drives us to die with Him, to die to ourselves, so that we may also rise with Him to new life, real life. He drives us to repentance through the Law so that through the Gospel we may have His full and free forgiveness.

The people spread their clothes on the road before Christ. This is a fitting sign of their repentance and their faith in Him. For we must all lay aside our filthy rags. St. Paul exhorts us, “Let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.” You too, then, must cast your filthy rage on the road before Christ, laying aside the stubborn works of your sinful nature. For that is how you repent and prepare the way of the Lord. Do not engage in gluttony and drunkenness. Do not indulge in immoral passions and lusts. Do not give way to strife and division and envy and pride. For if you persist in wearing such “clothing,” it will constrict you and choke you and squeeze you off from the life of God.

Be rid of such garments and receive by faith the clothing that only God can provide. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” For He is your righteousness, as Jeremiah says. Jesus wore all of your dark, sin-stained clothing. He took that all upon Himself and made it His own so that you would be free from it. Jesus Himself became the beast of burden, bearing and carrying the sin of the whole world to the cross. He became Sin for you, so that you would become righteous before the Father by His holy sacrifice. Jesus perished in the darkness so that you might wear His garments of light and be robed in His holiness and live as children of the Day.

That’s the sort of king you have in Jesus, not one who forces you to serve Him, but one who lays down His life to serve His subjects. Every other king sends out soldiers into battle to fight on His behalf. But this King goes into battle Himself to fight on your behalf. He rides not on a stallion with glittering armor, but on an ordinary donkey, an animal of peace–for He comes to bring you peace, as the Christmas hymn sings, “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” This King will ascend His throne not by wearing a crown of gold but a crown of thorns, not by defending Himself but by becoming defenseless, dying so that you may live and escape from the enemy’s grasp. This is the King who is coming to you.

Notice that He’s the One doing the traveling. You don’t have to go out searching for Him, as though He were some far-off guru sitting high atop a Himalayan mountain. No, Jesus searches you out and comes to you. Martin Luther put it this way: “Jesus is a king like no other. You do not seek Him; He seeks you. You do not find Him; He finds you. For the preachers come from Him, not from you. Their preaching comes from Him, not from you. Your faith comes from Him, not from you. And all that your faith works in you comes from Him, not from you.”

You don’t–indeed, you can’t–come to God through your own spirituality or works or emotions. But God can and does come to you in His grace, 100% of the way. Without our asking or help, He came down from heaven right to where we’re at, right into our very body and soul, taking up our human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. He even went so far as to come into contact with the slime and the slop of our sin and death on the cross so that we might be cleansed and rescued from them by His precious blood.

And our Lord still is coming to us now to dish out all the benefits He won for us. You must learn to recognize the donkey on which Christ is riding to you. Don’t look for glitter and fanfare. You must learn to see the meek and humble ways in which Jesus still enters into this place and into your lives. This church is Jerusalem. The gates through which Christ enters this holy city are the Word and the Sacraments. The Savior-King rides to you on the baptismal water. He travels to you through His spoken and preached words. For indeed, you have the triumphal entry in every celebration of the Sacrament of the Altar. For the Lord who came in His flesh and blood to Jerusalem comes also to you here in His body and blood to give you the forgiveness of sins which He purchased on Calvary. He “saddles” the bread and wine and rides right to where you are, that He might live in you and you in Him forever. So it is that before receiving the Sacrament, we sing the Sanctus, which contains the very same words that were shouted to Jesus in the Gospel, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” For the King still rides.

Let us, then, come forth to meet our King Jesus with heartfelt Hosannas. Hosanna means “Save now.” “Save us, Lord.” It is a penitent cry of praise which is confident that the Lord will help us. We know that Jesus comes to us here, to give us poor beggars His royal and divine treasure. While the world madly rushes by seeking to create a perfect moment of nostalgia and find peace and comfort, let us receive Him who alone gives real peace and lasting comfort, who comes to you humbly and lowly. “Daughter of Zion, behold, your King is coming to you. He is righteous and having salvation!” In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thanksgiving 2008
November 26, 2008
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
Rev. Keith E. GeRue, Pastor
Deuteronomy 8:6-18
Give Thanks

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We should be thankful for indoor plumbing, hot water, and microwave ovens. But we’re not. Not really. Not normally. We don’t really notice them until something goes wrong. We should be thankful for the spice aisle and a wide variety of fresh produce all through the winter. We should be thankful for penicillin and band-aids. Are you? How about asphalt, co-axial cables, and synthetic rubber? What about soap, toilet paper, and Kleenex?

That is the problem with lists of things we’re thankful for. If we made an honest list, it would be empty. To fill it up we have to rename it to things we should be thankful for but mostly aren’t. Even then we’d only hit a few highlights. We’d say: family, friends, food, America, and good health. But would we remember water and gasoline?

Man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Yet how many hours have you spent daydreaming about what you’d do with a million dollars? Money does not buy happiness. But it can buy a lot of opportunities, security, beauty, and peace of mind. That is why the love of it is the root of all evil. The love of money is love of self and the desire to make one’s own way in this world. It is the opposite of thankfulness.

In the Christian heart thankfulness is not expressed in saying “thank you” so much as in saying “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” For any thought of all the good things in our lives immediately brings to mind our daily ingratitude and our unworthiness. As many and as innumerable are our sins, so also are the good things in our lives, the things that we take for granted. We cannot possibly list them all. We have not noticed them all.

This is how the Lord warn Israel: Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God. It is God the Lord who gives you power to get wealth. He laid the copper in the hills and the coal on the ground. He caused the wheat and grain, vines, fruits, and trees to grow and the sweet water to flow down the valleys. He brought His people out of slavery and made them free in a land of prosperity when bread was not scarce, where they lacking nothing. But this prosperity brought danger. Do not forget. Do not grow complacent. Look out for the serpent.

Woe unto us. We have forgotten! Why else would we not list toilet paper and asphalt on our lists? How could we forget to thank God for Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, and Nikolai Tesla? Did we think, like teen-agers, that if we throw our dirty clothes on the floor fairies come and clean them and put them in our dressers? Did we think the refrigerator fills itself? Silly, to be sure. But serious as well. For our view of creation has been no less self-centered and vain. Repent.

But do not be afraid. For if earthly mothers keep doing laundry and keep grocery shopping, even buying the junk food that some teens think is the only substance that qualifies as “real food,” then God is more faithful, more loving, more devoted to your well-being. He does not love you because you say “thank you.” He loves you because that is who He is. It is what He does. He is love. While you were still a sinner, while you hated Him, He sent His Son. He sent His Son because He loved you. And this is the way He loved you: He sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary, so that you wouldn’t die eternally. This is Love. Shouldn’t we be thankful for it? Of course. But our thanks does not add to it. God does not need our thanks or praise. He does not need someone to love, but He loves to love, He loves to give, He loves to forgive. And since it is not mother’s day I’ll even dare to tell you a secret: He loves you more and better than your mother does.

We pray then that God would fill us with thanks and praise, that we would bless His Name, and be served by Him. We pray that He make us thankful not only for the ordinary things of this world, co-axial cables and fresh fruit all winter; but that we would look in awe at the Bible; that God Himself would cause us to realize that we hold His holy and infallible Word! Thank God for doctrine, for the revelation of the Son, for the true teaching. God Himself would speak with us, comfort and encourage us, guide and protect us. May we remember at the Altar that we are surrounded not only there but at all times with armies of holy angels who protect us from the demons and join their worship to ours. May we tremble with joy at the thought that God would enter into our flesh and join Himself to us through simple bread and wine.

Of the things for which we should be thankful there is almost no end, least of which is certainly not the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. Thank God for them. But what God has done for us, our hearts cannot contain, our thanks and praise cannot express. Our cup runs over. God is good. His mercy endures forever. He loves us and forgives us. Soon He will bring us home. We will live in the promised land, of heaven, free of serpents temptation with no forbidden fruits. In the blessed name of Jesus´. Amen.

“Prepared for the End”

Matthew 25:1-13

Last Sunday in the Church Year -Christ the King

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Church

Girard, Illinois

Rev. Keith E. GeRue

I. Ten Virgins

“Oh, come on, you’ve got to share.” It’s the pleading voice of five foolish virgins as the Bridegroom draws near. The wedding feast is about to start, and they’ve found themselves unprepared. All ten are trimming their lamps, readying for the procession to the feast; five of them are out of oil.

“Come on, you’ve got to share. We’re all in this together. Look at us-we all look the same. We’ve all been waiting here together. We’ve all dressed up the same. We’ve all kept ourselves pure and maidenly. We’ve all been waiting for the same Bridegroom. We’ve all got lamps. We talked and waited, and eventually we all dozed off together. The only difference is that you’ve got oil, and we’ve run out. Come on, share.” NO!

“No? Why? What is it? All right, we’ve been foolish, it’s true. Somewhere along the way, we ran out of oil. Maybe it’s because we just figured that the Bridegroom wouldn’t care, that He wouldn’t take this oil-thing so seriously. I mean, weddings are fun, and we’re fun people, so maybe we just figured the oil wouldn’t matter. We know better now. He hasn’t even spoken a Word yet, but there’s something about His appearing that tells us we’ve messed up. Come on. Give.” NO!

“Still no? Look, we said we were foolish-and maybe a little vain. Maybe we just figured that our looks and smiles and neatness and likeability would carry the day. We figured that we qualified for this procession because of us. We were wrong. Give us some oil. Quickly.” NO!

“No?! He’s almost here, and He’s not going to be pleased. We’re pleading here, all right? You want more? Okay, like we said, we’re foolish. We’re so ditzy that we didn’t even realize that we were out of oil. There. Satisfied? You’re better and smarter and more prepared than we are. Now give us some oil-He’s almost here!” NO!

“No, still? Now?! What kind of wise virgins are you-you call yourselves Christians? We need help, and you won’t help us! We’re desperate! Why won’t you share your oil?” We can’t.

“‘Can’t?’ We’re not good enough, is that what you’re saying? What sort of an elitist club is this?” Please, listen. We’re trying to help you. We didn’t say we won’t share. We said we can’t share. We are unable to do so, whether we want to or not.

“What?!” What we have isn’t sufficient for you, because it has to come from those who give out oil. You know this, because once upon a time you received oil from them. We are called to be virgin bridesmaids; to give out oil is the privilege of somebody else. Quickly, go to those who sell the oil, and get some for yourselves. We can tell you about them. “Oh, we have no time or choice. Quickly, let’s go. We’ve got to find those who sell oil and buy some before the Bridegroom arrives and takes us to the wedding feast. I’ve heard of this guy across town who stays open all night and sells all sorts of things. I wonder if he has any oil. Let’s go.”

Wait! No, don’t run off into the night! Come back, because the “guy across town” doesn’t have the oil you need; only those who have oil can help you, and they will. We can tell you about Them-One has created you. One delivers the oil to you in abundant quantities. And One has paid the price already so that the oil is free and everlasting. In fact, He’s on His way to His wedding feast, and He wants you there. Come back now, before it’s too late. When He shuts the door, all whom He knows will be inside!

They didn’t hear us.

They’re gone.

II. Watch Therefore

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. This is the Lord’s solemn warning as He concludes the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Therefore watch, and heed the Law which He proclaims to you.

First, be prepared for His coming, for you don’t know when it will happen. The Bridegroom delays, but He is still coming. He calls you to His wedding feast, and He gives you the oil that you need: His merit. You were lost in your trespasses and sins. You were unfaithfulness to Him, and had no place in His banquet feast of heaven. But your Bridegroom is unconditionally faithful. He has laid down His life for you, that He might sanctify and cleanse you by water and the Word-that He might present you to Himself as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that you should be holy and without blemish. He who lived a pure and holy life has suffered for your impurity and sinfulness; and He credits you with His purity. Therefore, the Father of the Bridegroom looks down upon you and says, “I will not permit a wandering, unfaithful woman for My Son. But I see nothing impure or unfaithful about you. My Son has poured out His merit and righteousness upon you by His Word and Sacraments. Therefore, come into the feast-you are made pure by the merit of Jesus, which He freely gives to you.”

This, oh hearers in Christ, is your hope. Be prepared. Be prepared. It’s a term we must use carefully, because you have been fully prepared already, and there is no preparation left to be done. When you are forgiven for all of your sins, you already have eternal life and salvation. So when we say, “Be prepared,” perhaps we should say, “Be on guard, because the devil, the world and your own sinful flesh will try to un-prepare you.” This is the plight of the foolish virgins, who look like part of the wedding party-and even believe that they are part of the wedding party. They are so foolish that they have even fooled themselves. They walk the walk and talk the talk, but they do not have the one thing needful. Once they did, but no longer; somewhere along the way, they ran out of oil. So it will be with all too many churchgoers on the Last Day, astonished to hear the Lord say, “I do not know you.”

Perhaps they figure that the Lord doesn’t really care about sin. Sure, He speaks rather harshly about it in His Word, but someone has to hold the line so we don’t stray too far and do something really sinful.

Perhaps they believe that their Baptism was enough, and have gone on to ignore the Bridegroom ever since. It is true, Baptism is enough: It gives all the grace that is needed to give you life and salvation. To say “I am baptized, and I need not be forgiven again” is a foolish as saying, “I was born, therefore I need not eat again.” Baptism imparts faith and Jesus’ merit, precious gifts; but if the sinner ignores them, he will replace them with things he finds more important, things that cannot save.

Perhaps those whom the Lord doesn’t know figure that they heard enough about forgiveness, and that it was time to move on to something else. Again, a foolish notion: When should you stop hearing that you are forgiven for your sins? Only when you are no longer sinful, because that Word of forgiveness forgives-it gives to you the merit of Jesus, who lived and died for you.

Perhaps, occupied with the cares of life, they simply considered this preparation to be unimportant. How evident the sinful nature becomes: Diagnosed with an illness, people want it treated right away. Constantly plagued with sin and temptation, they push off absolution until another day.

Whatever the reason, it is no excuse. The Lord is coming; and when He gathers all for judgment, there is no more time. Those prepared by His blood and merit have eternal life, because by His blood and merit they are made pure and holy. Those who are unprepared are still impure; they have unfaithfully ignored their Bridegroom in favor of other gods, and the Bridegroom will not have an unfaithful woman as His bride on the Last Day.

So we pause here and ask, What of you? Are you prepared for His coming? Do you care about righteousness and take sin as seriously as the Lord does? Do you constantly feed the faith given in your baptism with the Word of God-do you always long and rejoice to hear that you are forgiven? Do you always consider this preparation to be more important than all other things? The answer is no. As long as you are plagued by the sinful nature, the answer is no-by your merit and strength, you are not prepared. That is why you don’t just confess your sins; you confess your sinfulness as well. You confess that, though you often rely on your own reason, strength and merit, they are futile. The Lord forgives your sin, and thus He prepares you once again.

Listen to one more warning from the five foolish virgins. Though desperate for oil, they look everywhere for it-except to the One who has plenty of oil. The Bridegroom has the merit; they want it from the wise virgins instead. But the wise virgins are only wise because of the Bridegroom’s merit; they cannot give their own merit to share with the foolish virgins, for it will not help them. So they bid the foolish virgins to go to where oil is to be found. So it is with the sinful nature today. It is still taught by some that saints have lived such good lives that they have merit to share with you; if you don’t have enough to please God, then Sts. Peter and Paul have extra to share. But these apostles would be the first to deny that they are saved by anything but the merit of Christ. Don’t go to the saints for help-they are no less sinful than you. Go to the One who has saved the saints by His merit.

The foolish virgins then run off into the darkness, away from the Bridegroom who is coming; and the parable gives no hint that they find any oil as they look elsewhere. Many wish to be prepared for heaven, but they shun the Bridegroom who was crucified for them. They seek out religious merchants who teach salvation by other merits or entertainment-by something else than Christ’s death and resurrection. But no matter how attractive the message, it is not the saving oil. This is the way of the sinful nature: Run off into the darkness and look everywhere for help except to Christ. But only Christ has salvation. No one else has died for your sin. No one else shares his merit with you. All other gods demand your works and merit, and none of them can save.

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. So declares the Lord, and you are well aware of sins that would leave you unprepared. Nevertheless, you watch and wait with joy.

You watch because you are alive to watch-alive with the life of Christ. You live and watch for the Bridegroom because He has saved you by His death and resurrection; He has prepared you with His blood and merit. It is true as well for those saints who have gone before us; forgiven, they died well-oiled and prepared. They rest from their labors, but they live even now.

You watch, and watch with joy because although the Bridegroom delays, He is coming. He who shed His blood to redeem you will not forget you now. He is coming; and because He has prepared you by His death, you know the end of the story-yours is the wedding feast, and you will live happily ever after. This is true-not because of your merit, for that is only foolishness. This is true because the Lord has made you wise. By His blood and merit, He has taken your sins away. By His grace and visitation, He keeps you readied for His coming. Truly this day He prepares you still, with His Word and Sacrament that makes you wise unto salvation: You are forgiven all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.