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Sermon Archive - October 18, 1998
Pastor Danielson
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St. Luke, Evangelist
This is the day the Church has historically set aside to remember the life and
personage of "St. Luke the Evangelist." Since your pastors and Worship
Committee have elected to return to a Church Year cycle that will, in the
future, bypass observances such as most "Saint's Days" we best give this look
at Luke our best shot.
Loyal friend and traveling companion of Paul, Luke, the "beloved gentile
physician/evangelist" was in the opinion of some scholars the author of The
Third Gospel, as well as The Book of Acts. Others contend that while both New
Testament books were most certainly written by the same hand, it could not
have been that of Luke. And yet, we have this age old tradition and we have
these prescribed texts for "Luke's Day" suggesting that Luke was indeed an
evangelist for and a writer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Whether one person or two, less is known of the Lukes in toto than of any
other single, principal New Testament character. We do know that
"evangelists," distinct from apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers, went
from place to place proclaiming the "good news" to anyone willing to listen
and even to those who would not. Evangelists were tied to nothing and
beholding to no one other than Jesus Christ himself. Even those scholars who
opt for two Lukes admit that they were very similar in almost every respect.
The evangelist had the background of a writer and the writer had the
temperament and zeal of an evangelist. Whether or not "Luke the Evangelist"
eventually wrote down everything he knew about faith and faithfulness, we know
that at a point in time he said yes to his God as revealed to him in Christ
and from that day on there was no turning back.
Saying "Yes" to Jesus Christ is saying "Yes" to life like never before
imagined. Saying "Yes" to Christ means that your life will be immersed in
commitment, change, and choices ---not to mention a fourth "C"--- charity.
Commitment to telling the "good news" of the Gospel, as well as, a radical
Change of heart, mind and soul in order that right and eternally beneficial
Choices can be made reflecting Charity toward others in all things!
This was the life into which Luke willingly walked and worked, even to his
death, bridging Greek, Roman and Jewish worlds of his day with remarkable
energy, insight and, as some insist, literary genius. Although not an eye
witness to the Christ event, no one better understood how God worked out his
plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Only Luke has such narratives as that of "the boy Jesus in the temple," "the
raising of the widow's son at Nain," "the dialogue with Mary and Martha," and
"Jesus' visit to the home of Zacchaeus." Some of the best known parables
appear only in Luke: The Good Samaritan, The Lost Coin, The Rich Man and
Lazarus, The Prodigal Son, and the Pharisee and the Publican. Only Luke gives
us the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the annunciation of Jesus'
birth to Mary, the birth of Jesus in a manger with angels and shepherds
attending.
Luke's Gospel is distinct in its history and poetic beauty throughout ---even
to the cross and the resurrection and ascension beyond Calvary. And even
though Mark's Gospel may have been the first, Matthew's the more historically
complete, and John's the more theologically astute ---Luke's Gospel is clearly
the more loving, the more sensitive, the more thoughtful, the more human . . .
more the work of an evangelist! ---one "sent," but who willingly went to live
among the hungry, hurting people of God. One who was not afraid to say, as
did the hymnist Thomas Dorsey:
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, help me stand;
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light;
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
Putting that same hand, as did another hymnist Gene MacLellan:
(Putting that same hand)
. . . in the hand of the man who stilled the water.
(Putting) his hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea.
(Taking a look at himself and thereby seeing others differently.)
By putting (his) hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.
Last Sunday I worshipped with members and friends of Our Saviour's Lutheran
Church, Iron Mountain, Michigan as we joined in celebrating the 75th
Anniversary of that congregation. Bishop Dale Skogman of the Northern Great
Lakes Synod preached at both services while former pastors and ordained sons
of the congregation spoke at the reception that followed. We were each allowed
4 to 5 minutes which we all extended in proportion, it seems, to the length of
time we have served in the ministry.
The oldest pastor present spoke at length about what it meant to serve Our
Saviour's during its years of most rapid growth, to "evangelize" a community
that over a short span of time had doubled, tripled and quadrupled in size.
Pastor Faust spoke not from personal experience, but about what others told
him of my father's ministry as "mission developer" from 1929 to 1939.
"Danielson, he said, was certainly pastoral in every way but he was far more
concerned about evangelism than any other task pastors must faithfully do." So
much so that after nearly 10 years of "growing" that congregation he was
called to Chicago and the office of the Board of American Missions to oversee
the development of the Augustana Lutheran Church's mission congregations in
five states. In that capacity my father was able to really evangelize. Not
tied down to any one congregation he was, for the next nine months, until a
week before his death, free to travel far and wide, visiting sometimes three
congregations a day ---evangelizing, evangelizing, evangelizing! Telling the
Good News Story of the love of God in Christ to any who would listen and even
to some who didn't.
A pastor several years older than I, who had served as an intern assigned to
Our Saviour's, said that a favorite saying of my father's, spoken over and
over again, no matter what the task, but especially as they would go about
their 80 home visits a week ---the favorite saying was this: "Either I do it
or you do it, but it will get done." "We interns," Pastor Jack Jetty
continued, "so wanted to please him that we literally leaped up in response to
the challenge, but he was usually already out the door."
This, my friends, is the way of evangelists in any age, laity or clergy
---unbridled eagerness, blind trust, unfailing hope, a certain faith, and an
enormous embrace of goodness. Luke's interest in oppressed people, especially
women and the poor, is not simply expressed in terms of sympathy but in terms
of optimism, hope and assurance for the future. Likewise, Jesus himself is
portrayed in Scripture as an evangelist-like bringer of "good news" and doer
of "good deeds;" and finally, the Kingdom of God is pictured in Scripture as
God's gracious gift, laid before us by evangelists; ---a gift that is freely
given and that no one should refuse.
AMEN.
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