St. Matthew Lutheran Church

“Rejoice in the Lord Always–Even in 2020!” (Philippians 4:4-13)

As you’ve probably noticed, many people have been saying that this year, 2020, is the worst year they can remember. Maybe you’ve said so yourself. I mean, think of it. The year 2020 has seen one disaster after another: The Coronavirus pandemic got everyone’s attention back in March. Then came the shutdown all across the country. The economy went south in a hurry. The whole thing stunk: People lost their lives. People lost their jobs. People lost their businesses. That was March and April. And then: “Who had murder hornets for May?” And starting at the end of May, riots broke out in many cities, burning and looting and mayhem. One thing on top of another. People were wondering what else would go wrong. What else? Hurricanes in the east. Wildfires in the west. We’re still dealing with Covid. Lots of places are still shut down. There are still more riots. And now we’re just a few weeks away from the election, and everybody’s uptight about that. It’s been reported that, whereas one year ago, 8% of Americans had symptoms of depression, now that number is up to 28%. All in all, then, 2020 has not been the most joyful year.

But now here today, St. Paul comes along and tells us: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Always? Are you kidding, Paul? Don’t you realize, Paul, this is 2020? How can anybody rejoice during this year, of all years? Easy for you to say. You lived all those years ago, all those centuries ago. You didn’t have to put up with all that we’ve had to put up with here in 2020.

Oh really? Well, actually, Paul and the folks back then did have to put up with quite a lot. They suffered a lot. Christians back in the first century encountered persecution from all sides. The Jews didn’t like them. And the Greeks and Romans didn’t, either. The persecution came in various forms: Physical violence; Christians were beaten or killed. They were economically marginalized. They were socially ostracized. So it wasn’t easy for them. Yet Paul tells the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And the message is still the same for us today: “Rejoice in the Lord Always–Even in 2020!”

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Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 4, 2020

“From Rubbish to Righteousness to Resurrection” (Philippians 3:4b-14)

I’m sure many of you have heard of a “rags-to-riches story.” A rags-to-riches story is one in which the hero starts out poor and penniless, but then, through hard work and perseverance, overcomes all odds and hardships to become a great success. That’s a rags-to-riches story, and we all love to hear one.

Well, today in our reading from Philippians 3, we hear a different kind of story. It’s the story Paul tells about his own life. Only in this case, Paul himself is not the hero. And it’s not a matter of rags to riches. Rather, it’s a story of going from rubbish to righteousness. And then Paul takes it even to a third step: “From Rubbish to Righteousness to Resurrection.” So listen now, brothers and sisters, as Paul tells us his story, because–guess what–it’s your story too!

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Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 27, 2020

“Work Out Your Own Salvation?” (Philippians 2:1-18)

Last Sunday we began a series of four straight weeks with readings from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Last week our theme from chapter 1 was “For Your Progress and Joy in the Faith.” Paul said that he was writing to the Philippians to help them make progress and find joy in the Christian faith. This week, we move into chapter 2, where Paul continues along those same lines. And we’ll begin our message today by looking at the part of our text where Paul tells the Philippians: “Work out your own salvation.”

“Work Out Your Own Salvation?” Huh? Did I hear that right? What’s going on, Paul, have you lost your mind? How can you say, “Work out your own salvation”? I mean, after all, you’re the same Paul who told us in Romans, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” And in Galatians you told us, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.” Likewise in Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works.” But now here in Philippians, Paul, you’re telling us, “Work out your own salvation”? This does not compute.

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Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 20, 2020

“For Your Progress and Joy in the Faith” (Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30)

Today we begin four weeks in a row of readings from Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians.  Four chapters over four weeks, starting with much of chapter 1 today.  The epistle as a whole is not very long–you can read it in less than 15 minutes–so you might want to consider reading Philippians a number of times over the coming weeks.  You won’t regret it.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians:  What do we know about Philippi and Paul’s relationship with the congregation there?  A little background is in order.  Philippi was a city in Macedonia, the northern part of Greece.  Paul had gone there on his second missionary journey, when he crossed over from Asia Minor into Europe.  And Philippi was one of the first places he went.  You can read about it in Acts 16, where there are accounts of the conversion of Lydia, Paul and Silas in jail, and the conversion of the Philippian jailer.  That was the start.  And from that beginning, the church at Philippi had grown and had a good relationship with the apostle Paul.

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“Rejoice in the Lord Always” (Philippians 4)

“Rejoice in the Lord Always”: So says Paul in our Epistle reading today. Really? “Rejoice”? “Always”? Are you kidding me? “Rejoice always”? That’s easy for you to say, Paul. You don’t know what I’m going through. If you did, you wouldn’t be telling me to rejoice always.

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Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 8, 2017

“The Joy of Knowing Christ” (Philippians 3)

I noticed in the news about a week ago–maybe you saw it too–that Monty Hall died. He was the longtime host of the television game show, Let’s Make a Deal. You remember how the show worked? Monty would pick out a member of the studio audience and offer that person, say, $200 for the tennis shoes she was wearing. Then Monty would suggest a deal. Do you want to keep the $200 you have in your hand, or do you want to trade it in for what’s behind the curtain, where Carol Merrill is standing? Of course, the catch was, the contestant did not know what was behind the curtain. It could be a zonk booby prize, like a bucket of sand. Or it could be some fabulous expensive prize, like a dream vacation to Cancun. That’s how the game worked. Do you think what you have in your hand is worth more than what’s behind the curtain? Or not? Which would you rather have? What you’re holding on to, or what you could have instead?

Well, we kind of get a version of that in our Epistle reading today, in Philippians chapter 3. There St. Paul is saying that what he had in his hand before, while it may have seemed rather valuable to him at the time–now he can see that, in comparison to what he has now, what he had in the past is not even worth comparing. Because now Paul has received as a gift what is of infinitely surpassing worth–and something you can be absolutely sure of, as well–and that is, “The Joy of Knowing Christ.”

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