Rev. Michael Holmen's Sermons

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Today we have begun a three week series on marriage, sexuality, and various issues that go along with these things. To do a series like this is a little unusual for us. We tend to follow the lectionary. The lectionary is a list of readings from the Bible that have been assigned for each Sunday in the Church Calendar. Pastor Bertram and I are happy to follow the lectionary. The assigned readings make sure that we hear the whole counsel of God’s Word instead of only focusing on certain favorite topics. Nevertheless, we have decided to set aside the normal readings for these three weeks so that we could focus on the topics of marriage, sexuality, etc. To begin our look at this area of life it is good to begin with how God has created us. God made Adam and Eve in a very special way as we read about in Genesis. The way that he made Adam was by taking council within himself, deliberating within himself, gathering some earth, breathing the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils.

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Our Gospel reading this morning tells the story of what happened not long after Jesus’s birth. The Law of God, given to the Old Testament people, required that eight days after Jesus’s birth he needed to be circumcised. Then, forty days after Mary gave birth, she needed to offer sacrifices. This marked the end of her time of ceremonial uncleanness from giving birth. Our Gospel reading describes this. Mary and Joseph went up into Jerusalem. Jesus was presented to the Lord as the firstborn, and they offered two pigeons in the Temple. In a way, these activities were unremarkable. Jewish people had been obeying these Laws for many hundreds of years. Since Mary and Joseph were devout Jews, they did what was expected of them according to the Law. What was unusual about the situation was that Jesus wasn’t just an ordinary Jewish boy. He was also God’s Son. Since Jesus was and is God’s Son, he is the originator of the Law. He is Lord of the Law. He was free. He didn’t need to

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:He rules the world with truth and grace. That line comes from the well-known and well-loved Christmas hymn, “Joy to the world.” “He rules the world with truth and grace.” Who rules the world? Jesus rules the world. Jesus being the king who reigns and rules is a theme that is found in a lot of Christmas hymns. I’ll give you a couple examples. O Come All Ye Faithful. O come all ye faithful to Bethlehem. Why? To behold the King of angels. Or Hark the Herald Angels Sing: What are the herald angels singing? “Glory to the newborn King!” Christmas is about the birth of the king. This king was promised to come in the Old Testament. There are so many prophecies about a great king. He would be from David’s line. He will bring light to those who sit in darkness. He will bring righteousness, justice, and peace. His kingdom will be an eternal kingdom. I don’t think it is possible to overstate the importance of this great, eternal king. But another thing that almost all the Christ

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:I’d like to begin tonight by orienting ourselves. Last week we heard the first two chapters of the book of Ruth. The two most important people in this book are Naomi and Ruth. Naomi used to live near Bethlehem with her husband and two sons, but they needed to leave when a famine came on the land. They had to move to Moab. As they were living in Moab, Naomi’s two sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Not long after that all three husbands died. Naomi’s husband died. Orpah’s husband died. Ruth’s husband died. The women were left alone in their widowhood. This was an especially vulnerable situation to be in during ancient times. Men worked to provide for the family. They also protected the family. Naomi, Orpah and Ruth were poor and extremely vulnerable. What I focused on during last week’s sermon was how Naomi and Ruth, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, loved one another. Naomi urged her daughters-in-law to go back to their homes, to marry new husbands, and a

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:The book of Ruth is about poor people. Being poor can lead to desperate actions. The book begins with a desperate action. A poor family leaves their homeland when they can no longer make ends meet. A famine struck the land. Naomi and her husband Elimelech have to leave their land behind in search of better conditions. They went to the land of Moab where the people worshipped other gods besides the Lord God. Naomi and Elimelech had two sons who married Moabite women. But one bad thing happened after another for this family. Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died. Then both of Naomi’s sons died. The family that was left was made up only of widows—three widows, three in-laws. Naomi was the mother-in-law. She had two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Being a widow is bad enough regardless of whether we are talking about modern times or ancient times. Being a widow carries with it sorrow and loneliness. But in ancient times being a widow also brought about impoverishment and vuln

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:One of the unusual features of the times we are living in is how many different beliefs there are. Perhaps you had a taste of that at your Thanksgiving gathering. Your cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws might have very different understandings about what is right and wrong, the present state of things in the world, or what we should do about all of it. There have always been differences of beliefs. No two human beings have ever had the exact same thoughts about everything. But in the last few years the sheer number of beliefs available to be believed has increased dramatically. Sometimes you might hear of people applauding this development. More free speech and more diversity is automatically good. But many of the new beliefs contradict older beliefs. For example, either we have been made to be male and female—and that means something, or gender is just a fluid social construct. Either male and female is something intrinsic and natural, God-given, or what I’ve just said

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Our country has been celebrating the National Day of Thanksgiving since 1863. In October of 1863 President Lincoln called upon the nation to consider its good fortune. It had been blessed with bountiful harvests, with healthful skies, with productive mines. The president declared that these things came from a generous God. He acknowledged that there were troubles too. The country had been in the civil war for about a year and a half. But, President Lincoln said, things could be worse. Thus he set aside the last Thursday in November as the National Day of Thanksgiving. For our observance of Thanksgiving Day we could do something similar to what President Lincoln did in his Thanksgiving proclamation. We could consider how things have been with us. God has given us a bountiful harvest. This is true nationally as well as locally. President

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:What are you looking forward to? Is there a family gathering coming up? Christmas is around the corner. What gifts would you like to receive? Retirement? Weddings? Children or grandchildren? There are a lot of things to look forward to. What about Jesus Christ’s second coming in power and great glory? Is that on your list? Probably not. There’s a proverbial saying: “It’s not the end of the world.” Behind that saying is a belief that the end of the world would be a bad thing, and that’s not unreasonable. The end of the world means the end of our earthly activities. This earthly life moves into the past. A somewhat unknown future rushes upon us. It is scary to think of all the things we are accustomed to failing and being presented with the unknown.   You, who trust in Jesus, though, should not be afraid of him coming in power and great glory. This is not something you can do just by mustering up your nerve not to be afraid. That won’t work. There is only one reason

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” Today we commemorate the Reformation. One of the greatest consequences of the Reformation was that western Christendom was divided. Prior to the Reformation the Christians in Europe were united under the pope and the bishops under him. After the Reformation there continued to be Christians under the pope and the bishops, but there were also other Christians who no longer recognized the legitimacy of the pope and the bishops. As you might be aware, this division continues to the present day. There continue to be Roman Catholics who are under the pope and the bishops. And then there are also Protestants, Lutherans included, who do not recognize the pope or bishops as having any divine authority over them. Although the Reformation is a very large topic, and we could spend many hours going through the hist

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:For better understanding what is going on in our Gospel reading, it is helpful to know the context. Our reading today is during Holy Week. Jesus entered Jerusalem a couple days before on Palm Sunday. The people hailed him as king. He then went to the Temple, clearing out the money changers, flipping over tables and such. All of this made the leaders in Jerusalem very upset. They had always believed that Jesus was no good. So in the readings for the past few weeks we’ve been hearing about the interaction between Jesus and these leaders in Jerusalem. Our reading this morning is another of those interactions, but in today’s reading the Jewish leaders are trying to trap Jesus in what he might say.  So they come to him with something of a trick question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” To understand why this is a trick question, we need to know something about the political situation at that time. The Jewish people had not been able to govern themselves

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!” In our Gospel reading the chief priest and elders are upset about Jesus. The chief priests and elders had never liked Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a part of their club. He wasn’t from Jerusalem. He didn’t go to the right schools. He wasn’t from the right families. What’s more is that he also appeared to them to be a dangerous heretic. He healed people on the Sabbath, for example. That’s work, is it not? That’s forbidden. And his disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate. Every self-respecting Jew had been washing his hands a certain way from time immemorial! And here these cheeky disciples were flaunting the traditions of their people. So the chief priest and elders already didn’t like Jesus, but what had been going on lately was over the top. The day before our reading took place was Palm Sunday. Jesus entered Jerusalem amid shouts of joy: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Jesus is the King like King David!

 Audio recordingSermon text:Forgiveness can be difficult. It can be complicated. If I accidentally bump into you as we are passing by each other, that’s not hard to forgive. Not all forgiveness is like that. In fact, I don’t know if that really is forgiveness. It’s more like politeness. Forgiveness is more serious. Being polite is easier than forgiving. Since politeness is easier than forgiveness we often try to have politeness be considered a sufficient substitute for actual forgiveness. There’s a phrase that’s common, “I will forgive, but I won’t forget.” That’s like a forewarning for how you’re going to treat the person—coldly and fiercely politely. The recipient of this coldness gets the message quite clearly. He or she knows that they are not forgiven. There’s no forgiveness from the heart. So when Jesus says at the end of our reading, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart,” we should not think that our cold avoidance of the one

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Jesus said, “The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” Let me begin by running a couple ideas by you. How about this idea for a marriage: Husband and wife get married. Like most married couples they thought it was going to be great. They had visions and plans in their heads. Not long after they tie the knot, however, they find out who it is that they really married. Who they married doesn’t match up at all with the ideas that they had in their head. What now? Have I made the biggest mistake of my life? How can I break free? How’s that sound for a marriage? Sound like a good idea? Or how about this idea for a livelihood: A young person goes and gets trained for a good job. The job requires skill and know-how. This young person is fully employed with benefits. This goes on for twenty or thirty years. Then that job is no longer necessary. Technology or globalization mean that somebody else can do the same job a lot cheaper. The person is permanently laid off

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Let’s begin by setting the scene. Our Gospel reading today picks up where last week’s reading left off. Last week Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. Immediately after that, as we heard in today’s reading, Jesus sent the disciples off in a boat on the sea of Galilee. Jesus went up on a mountain by himself to pray. He was praying by himself well into the night. While Jesus was praying, the disciples were in the boat, but the wind was giving them trouble. The wind was making big waves. The wind was blowing against the boat. The wind was whistling in their ears. They were out there all night long, battling that wind. The fourth watch of the night finally came, which in our time would be somewhere between 3 AM and 6 AM. It was at this time that Jesus came towards the disciples in the boat walking on the water. The disciples must have been very tired, given

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with man are possible with God.” In our Gospel reading today we are told about an impressive miracle. There is a very large crowd. Maybe we can use our imagination to get a mental picture of this crowd. The crowd would have been about the size of all the residents of Fairmont. Our town has about 10,000 people. At the end of our reading it says that there were about 5,000 men, not counting the women and children. So if you took every last person who lives in our town, and maybe add a little bit more, then you’d have an idea of how large this crowd was. The occasion for Jesus’s dealings with this crowd is that they heard Jesus was able to do miracles. They heard that Jesus was able to cast out demons, give hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, preach the good news to the poor, and so on. So although Jesus had taken a boat on the Sea of Galilee, to go to a deserted place to pray, the people had followed him, going great dist

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:For the past few weeks our Gospel readings have been from Matthew chapter 13. This chapter has a bunch of parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. So you heard about the kingdom of heaven being like a farmer who sows his seed so that it falls on all kinds of different soils. You heard about the kingdom of heaven being like a field that was sown with good seed, but the enemy came and sowed weed seed. With our reading today we are at the end of this section of parables. We have three more parables about what the kingdom of heaven is like. It’s like a man who found a treasure in the field. He sells all he has so that he can buy that field. It’s like a pearl merchant who finds a pearl of great value. He sells all that he has so that he can buy the pearl. Finally the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that pulls in all kinds of different things. Only when it’s all brought to shore is the good separated from the bad. I’d like to begin today by talking about the parable that s

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:In the Name of Jesus The words that Jesus said in our Gospel reading sound strange: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace to the earth, but rather a sword. I have come to set a son against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” These words sound strange. How can we understand them? The context is important. Matthew chapter 10, which is where our reading came from, is when Jesus sent out his apostles to preach. He told them what they should preach. They should say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.” In last week’s sermon I talked about what that message meant. “Repent,” means that you should change your ways. “The kingdom of heaven drawing near” means that God is coming. He comes to reign and rule. There will be judgement. Let the sinner sin no more, for we shall all be accountable to God for

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Our Gospel reading last week, our Gospel reading this week, and the reading that you will hear next week, is all from the same section. It is from when Jesus sent out his 12 apostles. He told them what they were supposed to do. They should tell people that the kingdom of heaven had drawn near. The kingdom of heaven has at its core the word kingdom. With kingdoms there is reigning and ruling. So with the kingdom of heaven drawing near that is another way of saying that the reigning and ruling of God is near. That could be good news or bad news depending on what you think of the reigning and ruling of God. If you want God to come and rule over everything, then that message is good news. If you don’t want God and his ways to be uppermost, then this would be like hearing that a very powerful enemy was coming to get you. This message that the apostles were given to preach was not unprecedented. It is very similar to the mes

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Are you sick? It’s not easy to say “Yes, I am sick.” Let me illustrate. Sometimes pastors get asked to visit non-members who are terminally ill. I’ve made more than a few visits like that. I usually ask someone who is dying, regardless of membership, whether he or she believes that he or she is a poor, miserable sinner. You’re familiar with that language because we say that in church: “I, a poor, miserable sinner confess unto you…” When someone has never heard those words, or been absent for a long time, those words seem to strike them as being overly harsh. More than one such person has responded to my question by saying, “Yes, okay, I’m a sinner, but I’m not so sure about that poor and miserable part.” I appreciate these folks’ honesty. They are only saying what we all would probably say if we weren’t trained to say something different. People usually aren’t afraid to admit that

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:Today I would like to speak with you about why Pentecost is a great Christian festival. Pentecost is one of the three great Christian festivals. Christmas and Easter are the other two. Among these three, there is a tendency for Pentecost to be overshadowed. Every Christian knows the meaning and importance of Christmas. It’s when the Son of God was born as a baby boy. Every Christian knows the meaning and importance of Easter. It’s when the Son of God defeated death. Because he lives, those who believe in him will live also. Folks are probably not as aware of the meaning and importance of Pentecost. So what is the meaning and importance of Pentecost? You heard about the events of Pentecost in our second reading. There was a mighty rushing wind. Something like tongues of flame appeared above the heads of the disciples. They were able to speak in such a way that people could understand them even though they spoke a different language. What they spoke about were the “mighty