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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be

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acceptable in your sight.

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Oh Lord our Rock and Our Redeemer. Amen.

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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior

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Jesus Christ.

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It wasn't what he said.

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But it was the way that he asked it.

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You see the organist of this traveling duo came to the visiting church

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and asked one of the congregation members.

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Do you guys prefer the Picardy Third at the end of our pieces? Now

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if you don't know what the Picardy Third is.

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This is a music theory term.

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You do hear it all the time.

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When an organist plays music you see if the if the hymn that's being

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played is in a minor key very often at the end of that hymn

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the last chord will be changed into a major key. And you probably heard

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this before if you're familiar with that for instance

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if you're in the key of A minor the last chord will have a C sharp in

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it. Just to make you feel better before you go out the door and on your

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way.

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Now, this actually was something that that JS Bach would do and many

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folks before him as well.

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But it was really the way that this question was asked by this

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traveling musician that caught the eye of the congregation member.

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You see this traveling duo of Pastor and organist / worship leader.

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Had a great idea.

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There were so many churches that were vacant without a pastor to fill

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so they were just going to go on tour and they were going to have

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one sermon and one order of worship that they could play and speak so

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that they could reuse this and that these congregations that were

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without a pastor could receive the word and the sacrament. But you

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see

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what happened a week earlier

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was that the organist did not play the Picardy third.

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And the congregation was a little put off by that because they were

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used to hearing it at the end of their service.

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But what's even funnier than that is the reason why this organist did

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not play the Picardy third was because the congregation before that

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heard the Picardy third and did not want it.

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In fact, they said this is not a good thing

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we really prefer our natural minor.

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Now you can imagine as a traveling duo traveling from California to

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New York island and from everywhere in between North and South so it

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seems everywhere.

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They're getting a very different receptions on how this is played.

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In fact the Picardy third was not the only problem that they ran into

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along the way.

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You see the pastor this day was wearing a polo shirt and khakis. And

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why was he wearing a polo shirt

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and khakis because the congregation before saw when he was dressed up.

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They said, you know pastor we appreciate you being here and receiving

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the word and Sacrament from you is wonderful, but we believe that God

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wants us to come as we are so we dress down a little bit.

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And the reason why he was dressed up that day was because the week

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prior to that he was told that he wasn't fancy enough.

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In fact, he wasn't wearing a suit that day and they said, you know

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pastor we think that you should bring your first fruits and that you

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should dress up and present yourself presentable to the Lord.

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So this was a challenge going from church to church with so many

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different opinions. So you see it wasn't even six months earlier that this traveling duo

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with pastor and worship leader came up with this fantastic idea, which

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would dominate the next few months of their lives.

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I mean it is a beautiful thing for these churches to have received the

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word and the sacrament.

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But the pastor and the worship leader as they were putting together the

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schedule for the months to come.

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They thought, you know, we'll get to do some traveling will get the

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site see.

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I'll only have to write one sermon you only have to do one service and

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will be able to replicate that across many different churches.

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It's a win-win.

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I'll just reuse my sermon and the Order of worship.

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And oh the traveling Pastor knowing that this one sermon was going to

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be reused

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did he write the sermon of his lifetime.

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This sermon was awesome.

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It had everything in it that you could imagine it was it had the best

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humor there was concern for people the transitions were perfect.

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The structure was amazing.

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There were personal stories.

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There was emotion it was provocative.

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There were theatrics.

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There was a lot of heart there was passion it was intellectual and

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their exegetical reflections.

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It was deep and introspective.

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I can go on and on.

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And also the same thing could be said about the organist the worship

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leader. He put together the perfect perfect order of worship that you

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can imagine that could be reused it had everything.

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So why all of this rejection it seems he couldn't get it, right if he

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wore a tie.

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He was supposed to not wear tie.

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If you didn't wear tie, he was supposed to wear tie.

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The organist was supposed to play the Picardy third when he couldn't

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they didn't know what to expect when they came to the next church.

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This day however went fairly well.

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And the pastor then at the end of this day went and collapsed on his

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bedroom in the hotel and he prayed reflecting on these past weeks

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wondering why he was so rejected.

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And all of these churches in all of these different ways that it was

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received they all kind of blur together.

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He remembers a little bit someone of the Picardy someone a natural

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minor some wanted to wear casual clothes some wanted him to robe up.

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Holy shnikies Lutheran Church really like jokes.

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Some wanted it to be happy Wrath of God Lutheran Church really needed the

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law.

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Holy smokes Lutheran Church, really enjoyed their incense.

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Some like me to walk around some like him to stand in the pulpit.

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And that this very same sermon and this very same order of worship

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could be delivered in so many different locations and received in so

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many different ways.

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He was quite perplexed.

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But this one did seem to go well, and he realized thinking of all

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these things.

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That he failed to fix the congregations eyes

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on Jesus.

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He was concerned with a lot of detail and he realized in this moment

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as he laid crashing on this bed.

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But there is no one-size-fits-all sermon or one-size-fits-all pastor.

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Because all of the alls are all different,

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after all.

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They weren't received the same at all. Each church

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he realized needs someone specifically devoted and learning them who

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they are.

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What they desire, what their sports teams are what they like to dress

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or where they like to eat.

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The manner in which the message is delivered and whether or not we

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will hear the Picardy third at the end

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of the hymn..

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In our text today in Thessalonians

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a lot has happened before

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Paul, Silvanas and Timothy get to Thessalonica.

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They have a very difficult time in Philippi by before they get there.

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In fact, we are we here in our message our text for today that there's

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a lot of suffering that is happening here in Thessalonica. As they're

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spreading their faith in the gospel throughout the nation's. Their

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suffering

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in fact for their faith.

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They're rejected in many ways.

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But Paul expresses his thankfulness for their steadfastness and their

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love enjoying Christ as the surrounding nations are hearing about

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their faithfulness and their faith is going out in the midst of all of

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the rejection.

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This vocation of Pastor

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and as we look for here in this place our calls and where we might be

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placed it is this intersection of Christ connecting with humanity.

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He connects with humanity through baptism.

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As we hold fast to that here today and he connects with humanity

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through the Lord's Supper the preaching of his word the hearing of the

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word spoken from the lectern as it's being read.

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We know that this is what happens here in this place.

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But what is important is the one of whom we speak the one who truly

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was rejected the one who truly hung on the tree.

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The one who rather than being criticized for his garments.

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They just took them and cast lots for them.

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We know that in our various calls we are representing this man. This

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God who became man.

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And God has a place in mind for you in your call. It may have

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difficulty it may have suffering or maybe the perfect fit.

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It may take some adjusting.

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There may be lots of controversy.

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But when your place at your church individually with your strengths

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and your weaknesses get to know them who they are live and breathe

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with them.

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God has placed uniqueness in you which will serve the uniqueness in

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the place that he places you.

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And it made me the place you never thought would be right.

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So he laid on the bed perplexed this pastor.

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What is the conclusion of this story?

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Well, there isn't one.

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Because this story is yet to be written.

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The end of the story is yours.

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What will you do?

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How will you connect the word of God in the truth preached in this place

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with your congregation?

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Will it be with jeans and a t-shirt?

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Will it be on the streets?

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Will it be with the Picardy third?

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Will it be with jokes or professionalism?

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But will be wonderful as we hear in our passage today

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is that

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there will be an opportunity to hear of the faith that is presented

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and that this Faith goes out one way or another.

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So you can tell me the end of the story.

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Maybe we'll get together at a Winkle sometime or at a National

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Convention or district convention.

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Let me know what those challenges were that were placed in front of

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you and how God used them to display his glory.

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So whether it's the Picardy third whether you're wearing a polo shirt

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or collar.

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Just be faithful.

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Live it out.

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So that it would be said of us as we heard today that your faith in

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God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything. For

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they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception

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we had among you. And how you turned to God from idols to serve the

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living and true God and to wait for his son from Heaven whom he raised

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from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

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All praise and honor and glory and power and might be to our God who

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reigns forever and ever. Amen. And the peace which passes all

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understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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Amen.

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We rise for our hymn. Hymn 544