Tag Archives: Revised Common Lectionary

Protected by God We Can Witness

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Rev. Enzo Pellini
Luke 8:26-39
 
26 Jesus and his disciples sailed to the area of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped on shore, he was met by a man from the town. The man was controlled by demons. For a long time he had not worn clothes or lived in a house. He lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God, what do you want with me? I beg you, don’t hurt me!” 29 This was because Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times the spirit had taken hold of him. The man’s hands and feet were chained, and he was kept under guard. But he had broken his chains. And then the demon had forced him to go out into lonely places in the countryside.
 
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
 
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus again and again not to order them to go into the Abyss.
 
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. And he allowed it. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep bank. They ran into the lake and drowned.
 
34 Those who were tending the pigs saw what had happened. They ran off and reported it in the town and countryside. 35 The people went out to see what had happened. Then they came to Jesus. They found the man who was now free of the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was dressed and thinking clearly. All this made the people afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the others how the man who had been controlled by demons was now healed. 37 Then all the people who lived in the area of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them. They were filled with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
 
38 The man who was now free of the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away. He said to him, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away. He told people all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
 
***
Today we are once again touching on a topic that has to do with the spiritual aspect or the spiritual dimension. Last Sunday we talked about the Holy Spirit and the Trinity, as the invisible reality of God. Today we talk about invisible and spiritual things as well, but in this case, they do not have to do with the things of God, but rather with Satan.
 
It is a little bit complicated nowadays to talk about Satan, or the devil, or the demon, in our highly materialistic and scientificist society that wants nothing to do with the spiritual or non-visible dimensions. And at the same time with a society so proud of the technological and scientific achievements of the human being, where many believe that this already surpasses everything that has to do with what is not measurable or not scientifically verifiable, call it faith and all spiritual things.
 
For me as a pastor, it is difficult many times to have to preach these topics, because we are dealing, as I said, with this situation. And even sometimes it is also difficult and sad to have to see how there are even preachers who do not believe in this biblical reality at all and seem to stand on the same ideas as non-believing society, even sometimes ridiculing or belittling the aspect of faith and spirituality in other ministers.
I have even known preachers who deny this aspect, emphasizing that the essence of Christians should only be to help socially as an exercise of neighbourly love, (which is very good, that is the second part of the Greatest Commandment; Mt 22:37-40) but they forget the first part, that is worshiping God in spirit and in obedience to his Word. And so many churches even come to not distinguish at all from a social assistance work, for example.
But as on every Sunday I will try to preach the message that has been entrusted to me.
 
Today’s story leads us to a wild and indomitable man who was possessed by a legion of demons. And what we will notice is that the Lord Jesus Christ has full dominion over this issue. Not only at that time, but he has it now in our days as well.
Of course, this demoniac was an extreme case, but nonetheless, it is a warning of what it would mean for human beings to perish under the power of sin and Satan. And this will be so, unless they are delivered by Christ (Eph 2:2) (Col 1:13).
 
Once the demons left the man, the change was radical. Now he was with Jesus “He was sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was dressed and thinking clearly.” No one had dreamed of getting anything like this from this man. And it is that the power of the Lord Jesus Christ reaches where neither the government, nor social workers, nor psychiatrists, nor family, nor friends can reach. Nobody before had managed to make this man at peace with himself and with his fellow people.
 
The same thing happens today. There are people who, like the possessed person in the story, end up in that state, and there are others who, to a lesser degree, also have similar problems.
 
The gospel inform us of the fact that a person can be enslaved by more than one demon at the same time (Mt 12:45) (Mk 16:9), but this case is unique. What is it trying to teach us?
In the same way that the Roman Empire had managed to conquer Israel through its legions, (each legion comprised of an absolute total of 10,000 soldiers) this miserable man was totally occupied and dominated by the demonic forces that kept him in a situation of oppression and death. We note then that the purpose of the devil towards the human being is of a military type: ‘to conquer and dominate’. That is, getting away from fellowship with God, getting away from church, getting away from Sunday worship, getting away from the sacrament with brothers and sisters, getting away from daily personal devotion, through our prayer, our reading of the Bible, our praise, everything that truly builds and strengthens our own spirit. In this way the devil manages to have a spiritual control over our being that makes us unable to feed our spirit through the means of grace. This, over time, makes us weaken spiritually and completely and also physically, because the spirit has control over our entire being.
 
How do we feel when we hear this words? Do we accept it or do we reject it? This is part of our spirituality. In the same way that we preach and confess the Holy Spirit, and say “I believe in the Holy Spirit” as the invisible presence of God, in the same way we have to be aware that the Bible teaches us too: Put on all of God’s armor. Then you can remain strong against the devil’s evil plans.  Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world. (Eph 6:11-12)
 
What does this mean? What does it mean to put on the armor of God? You see that here again, now the apostle in the New Testament, uses military language, he says armour. An armour was used in ancient times to protect oneself, in a hand-to-hand fight.
Why Satan wants to fight? Because he wants to destroy us. He wants to destroy the fellowship we have with God. And our question this morning: How can we best resist the devil in this 21st century world? Resisting the devil in the best way is as Martin Luther also tells us in still updated words: “The word of God and prayer are the best weapons. Whoever serves these, the angels will be by their side.
 
At Christmas, every year, we like to represent the Christmas scene and include angels in it. The children dress as angels. The angels existed and exist, they are a reality. Angels behave mostly as messengers of God, sometimes as protection, spiritual beings of God. If angels exist, they can help us because they are sent by God, we know that they are spiritual beings who, as they please, can make themselves visible as well.
In the same way there are spiritual beings that are not of God that we call evil spirits or demons. Those are the ones who desperately asked to get out of the body of the demon-possessed when Jesus stood in front of them. Those also exist.
How significant it is that when many times in our society there are many who deny or ridicule the belief in God, in Jesus, in the spiritual, in the Bible, according to the story, the same demons, instead, did recognize Jesus as the Son of God. That is one more proof of the existence of God and Christ and of the spiritual world.
 
“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away. He told people all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
This is what Jesus said to the exorcised, to the restored, to the healed.
We are healthy, restored by Christ, badly or well we want to take care of our fellowship with God, because it is the only thing that will fully hold us.
We strive, with our strengths and with our weaknesses, we do our best. Jesus calls us to take care of that fellowship with him. And tell others about our struggles, but also about our new life in Christ and the protection we make of our faith in Him before an indifferent or unbelieving world.
 
Amen.

God Loves Our Praise

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Sermon for the 7th Sunday of Easter- 05/29/2022
Rev. Enzo Pellini
Acts 16:16-34

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.


With the coming of Jesus, a new agreement has been installed between God and humanity. In that new covenant it is clear that there are things that have been renewed and there are things that have been clarified for many. That revelation has come to the people of Israel first of all, and then to the entire known world, including us today and here as well.

One of the things that we have to be clear about is what the presence of the risen Christ means among us. He is the only and the supreme:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev 22:13).
In addition, it shows us that only in unity with him all Christians can be like the Father and He:
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one” (Jn 17:22).
This will be a visible sign of those who belong to Christ.
The reading of Revelations tells us that he is the supreme authority and only source of power.
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” …Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” (Rev 22:17)

Two interesting topics emerge from today’s reading of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. A fortune teller who allegedly had a kind of power and the power of God manifested through an earthquake. Two types of supernatural powers.

The power of the Holy Spirit of God is present on this earth and wants to bless us, help us, comfort us. The power of the Holy Spirit of God cannot be denied. It is part of the reality of God.
In this new covenant, with the arrival of Christ on earth we want to witness that God is present more than ever among his people. He just wants us to focus on him. That we put the true God in the first place of our lives, that we worship only him. Let us discard any other power that, although supernatural, does not belong to God. May we have the ability to distinguish that there are powers on this earth that are not of God! There are the powers of darkness and the powers of light and that as Christians we must know how to distinguish them, just as Paul did.
The miracle in that prison can also teach us believers more things.
I don’t know if this has happened here, but we know of many healers, quacks, fortune tellers, psychists, seers, etc. People who apparently possess a supernatural power that allows them to perform supernatural acts. Have you heard about these? Even many people in our churches also have these types of connections and have even gone to these kinds of people. Is this true, do these people have powers like the fortune teller girl in the story? I would say yes. I myself have evidenced people who have displayed these powers. What is Paul’s reaction to that fortune teller? Paul told her:
“In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” That means two things that the girl actually had a power. And secondly, that power did not come from God, because Paul had to exorcize a demonic spirit from her. That shows us that there are people who have that power on earth. The question is where does that power come from? We see that power is not from God. So, Paul wants to make this clear. Not necessarily all the powers we see on earth come from God. And especially when we think of these healers or fortune tellers or any other kind. We have to be clear about that. There are many people who go to these personalities, even Christian people, sometimes. And there we are mixing with things that are not of God. That does not bring blessing.
So, Paul makes it very clear that there are supernatural powers, but not all of them come from God.

Then we see another case of another power. The power of God manifested in praise, thanks and faith. It is a supernatural power that can miraculously modify natural things. But that power does come from God. God wants to show that he is present in the world supernaturally helping his children, those who believe, trust and focus their praise on him.

How is it that Paul and Silas could sing in such a situation? In truth, there is only one answer: Paul and Silas could sing in this situation because, despite all the misfortunes, they still had reason to! They felt confident of God’s care and grateful to be able to announce the good news about him.

We believers can sing at all times, through thick and thin. When we are sad and when we are happy. Because no necessity can destroy the victory of Christ that was shown at Easter and the bond of baptism that assures us: ‘You are my children; I will take care of you forever’. In this life we will have to suffer, but we must not despair, because our souls are safe in Christ Jesus and will not suffer any harm. Whoever suffers will still be able to sing and praise God; whoever despairs will not be able to do it. Singing releases our fears, it affirms our trust in God. Praise through singing is something that greatly pleases God because it shows a strong confidence. Shall we sing at home? Of course. Let’s try worshiping God by singing at home too. We will be surprised at the outcomes. We don’t have a good voice? it doesn’t matter, the most important thing is what comes genuinely from the heart.

Paul and Silas were not desperate. They could stand by their faith and confidence. They knew that even in prison they were under God’s care. That is why they were grateful for the situation they were experiencing. They were happy to have the privilege, to bear witness to Jesus. The prayer and praise with songs pierced the ears of other prisoners and reached their hearts. And the supernatural, miraculous power that came from God by being called upon confirmed that faith. That manifestation made the jailer himself, with his whole family, reach faith and be baptized. In the same way God wants to manifest himself in our lives as believers. He has a lot to give us, to bless us, to show us, he just wants us to focus on praise, worship, gratitude and our confidence that tells us despite life, I am here and I want to improve your life and give you the strength that is lacking and even show others the power of God in your own life.

We always ask God for miracles and the manifestation of his presence in our lives. Today God gives us a clue through his word about what could be the things that we could offer him: our thanks no matter what our situation is, our praise through singing no matter what our situation is, and putting him in the first place of our lives, no matter what our situation is, as a sign of our steady worship and full surrender.

Amen

God Always Forgives Sins

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Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent- E. Pellini
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
The tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were whispering among themselves. They said, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them a story
“There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger son spoke to his father. He said, ‘Father, give me my share of the family property.’ So the father divided his property between his two sons.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son packed up all he had. Then he left for a country far away. There he wasted his money on wild living. 14 He spent everything he had. Then the whole country ran low on food. So the son didn’t have what he needed. 15 He went to work for someone who lived in that country. That person sent the son to the fields to feed the pigs. 16 The son wanted to fill his stomach with the food the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything.
17 “Then he began to think clearly again. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough food! But here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up and go back to my father. I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven. And I have sinned against you. 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him. He was filled with tender love for his son. He ran to him. He threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattest calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 This son of mine was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “The older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants. He asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come home,’ the servant replied. ‘Your father has killed the fattest calf. He has done this because your brother is back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry. He refused to go in. So his father went out and begged him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I have always obeyed your orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But this son of yours wasted your money with some prostitutes. Now he comes home. And for him you kill the fattest calf!’
31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me. Everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad. This brother of yours was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.’ ”

A wonderful story of repentance and turning to God. A story that can cause the heartbreak of many and even tears. Or a story that may be just nice to some others. Why the difference? Because many of us find ourselves, perhaps, in the eldest son’s position. The eldest son represents believers faithful to God and his church. The youngest son represents people who once had fellowship with God, but because of sin they lost it. The father represents God in this story.

The eldest son represents believers, perhaps like us, who have believed in Christ their entire lives and have been part of the church for many years. Perhaps we never had the misfortune to fall into sin or to separate ourselves from God and the church in such a drastic way, as in the parable, like the separation of the youngest son from the father’s house.

This parable is addressed first of all, to Jesus’ contemporaries. The younger son who wants to leave the father’s house not only represents sinners, but also the people of Israel who did not want to accept and obey Jesus as the Son of God. And this is rejecting God himself, the Father. The religious of then, rejected that Jesus was in touch with sinners, that is with the marginalized of the Jewish religion, such as tax collectors and prostitutes, so Jesus wanted them to be compassionate with them. Not with the sin, but with the people separated from God.
Jesus wanted to show them that the relationship with God must be a relationship of obedience of His commandments, but at the same time to show sinners his same love and mercy so that they too can return to have a fellowship with God the Father.

Likewise, it causes us, sometimes, incomprehension or rejection, as it happened with the eldest son, that people that were separated from God can obtain grace and forgiveness, and they begin to live a life full of faith and trust and commitment to the church that, sometimes it is difficult to understand and to accept. Well, this new fellowship sometimes becomes even more committed than ours. Such was the younger son’s change, and his repentance and recognition of what it means to once again live a life in fellowship with his father.

Two very important messages come from this parable for us today and here: First, sin separates and breaks the relationship with God and that this can happen to anyone of us, we are not exempt from it. And secondly, we must be compassionate with those who are in sin and try to love them so that they can once again find the way to Christ.

I would also like to talk today about the concept of sin. Jesus himself uses this expression. Jesus does not deny the existence of sin. He says that: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)
He makes a clear difference between the one who sins and the one who doesn’t. For him it is clear that they are not two types of people alike.

The word sin in our society, especially for non-believers, sounds like an old-fashioned expression. It’s like something from the past, even outdated and backward. A word that is only used in certain churches, but perhaps not in our realm. For us it is not an old-fashioned word. It is a word that it’s still valid. Sin means nothing more and nothing less than separation from God, remaining far from God’s laws and the benefit of a fellowship with him.

And what is this separation? Or, how can we realize that we live apart from God? The only reference we have to prove it is the Bible. When we do not live our life according to the word of God, we are living a life in our own way, and not as God wants, that is, not according to his will.
Today there are many who question what the Bible says and believe they have more authority over it by wanting to interpret it at their own convenience or put before other philosophies or principles for the interpretation. There are many who question the Bible, saying that the Bible needs to be reinterpreted or adapted to our times, as if our generation were the authorized possessor to give another interpretation or omit certain parts of the Bible according to their opinion. I even heard it once said: God does not intervene in the world through a ‘mere book’—meaning the Bible. They say that God appears and manifests himself in many other ways. And that is true, God constantly manifests himself through his Holy Spirit, but that does not contradict that He himself has manifested more than anything to human beings in the written form of what we now call the Bible. There the Will of God is expressed. That is why we must be careful not to confuse the ‘spirit of this world’ (1 Cor 2:12) with the Holy Spirit of God. Every time we approach the Bible with faith and respect for God, we will receive a message that goes beyond our limits.

For Jesus, sin was something clear. It means to be separated from God. Live a life that has nothing to do with his word. Jesus never discriminated against anyone. He was always there nearby; he approached sinners, but with the intention that they repent and turn to God. And he got it, more than anything because he is God, but also because of his neighbourly love. This is the love that Jesus asks us to put into practice.

Some time ago I read a quote by Billy Graham that I liked, and I am sharing with you: “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love.”
We have to see the whole world with the eyes of Jesus, worthy of being loved, but not for that reason approve what many are doing that may not concur with the will of God. Jesus does not approve of sin.
He expelled from the temple the merchants who wanted to take advantage of people and so desecrate and disrespect the temple; He accused Judas of betraying him; He faced the corrupt life of Zacchaeus the tax collector or the disorderly life of the Samaritan woman; or the morally wrong life of the adulteress. Although he accepted them all, he also forgave them “from their sin” and told them more than once: “Go, and sin no more” (Jn 8:11). He also said: “I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk 5:32).
The society in which we live, however, sometimes not so Christian, tells us to do everything that makes us feel good, to do what we feel, to enjoy life, because the most important thing is to feel happy and love the entire world, showing peace, and happiness, and love. And that’s all true; it does not contradict Jesus’ promise when he assures us of “a live to the full” (Jn 10:10) for all who follow him. But that life in fullness is a new life in Christ based on his teachings.

When Jesus in the words of the father of the parable speaks: “This brother of yours was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.” He is speaking not only of a conversion, that is, of beginning to believe in Christ as the Son of God, but also of a change of life. It is not enough to say: I believe in God, but we are invited to live out God with our way of life.
If today we ask Jesus, where can we get the information to know what are the things that you want us to change so that we can be in your fellowship again? Surely Jesus would tell us:
“They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:21) Where are those commandments? In the Word of God, the Bible, that is the foundation of our faith.
Throughout the history of salvation, we see in the Bible, and in the history of the church that God worked and manifested himself through his Spirit in personal lives, in families, and in many communities that were faithful to his word, it is not otherwise.

May God allow us to remain faithful to His Word that is still valid. And that, through our commitment, the Holy Spirit may work in our midst, so that our lives are filled with the wisdom of God and the true love of his Son Jesus Christ. And may God’s favour and joy for having returned again and again to the father’s house come true.

Amen