WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.500 --> 00:00:02.200 Good morning. 2 00:00:03.800 --> 00:00:07.100 Grace mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord 3 00:00:07.100 --> 00:00:08.100 and Savior Jesus Christ. 4 00:00:08.100 --> 00:00:08.800 Amen. 5 00:00:10.200 --> 00:00:13.600 Allow me to stand up here today on Dr. 6 00:00:13.600 --> 00:00:14.900 Martin Luther King Jr. 7 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:21.300 Day observed and speak to you. A room of a conservative LCMS Lutheran 8 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:26.600 about something extremely controversial and how we handle it 9 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:31.300 and what we do. If you could give me just a few minutes of your time to do 10 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:33.100 that in referencing the scripture, 11 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:34.100 I'd love it. 12 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:38.400 I'd like to talk to everybody in the room about something that maybe 13 00:00:38.400 --> 00:00:41.600 you've had very little experience with but I know that you probably 14 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.400 have had a lot of experience with. I'd like to speak to you about the 15 00:00:46.400 --> 00:00:49.400 controversial subject of a potluck. 16 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:56.400 A potluck that there's a whole bunch of meals and things that you can 17 00:00:56.400 --> 00:01:00.100 create on your own that spread out in front of you and you can grab 18 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:01.300 different things. 19 00:01:01.300 --> 00:01:02.300 They're going to be meat 20 00:01:02.300 --> 00:01:03.000 that's brought. 21 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.700 There's going to be corn. There's going to be some kind of casserole. 22 00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:13.300 There's going to be other dishes that are all around you. Lutherans know about a potluck. Amen. We invented it. 23 00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:18.400 At least I am going to say we invented it. And what I love about the potluck is that you get a 24 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:25.000 particular plate in which you get to put each and every little piece 25 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:30.500 of your meal on. And I know a lot about plates I'm a guy who likes to 26 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:30.900 eat. 27 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:35.200 I will call myself and eater right, in the best ways and in the worst 28 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.700 ways. And the thing about a plate is that my favorite plate is not the 29 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:44.400 plate where there's those little sections. Ever seen those plates? 30 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:48.500 Where there's a section that you can put meat in. A section 31 00:01:48.500 --> 00:01:50.200 you can put corn in. A section 32 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:54.400 where you can put rice or whatever else. I don't want the section out 33 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:56.100 plate when I'm going to a potluck. 34 00:01:56.100 --> 00:02:02.200 I want the plate that's big and round and open anybody know what I'm 35 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:02.500 talking about. 36 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:04.600 That's a place that I want. 37 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:08.900 I saw a lot of head nods with that one. The plate that's big and round 38 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:13.600 and open where I can pile everything on. 39 00:02:14.600 --> 00:02:19.900 Because the thing about Pastor Bolling is Pastor Bolling is going to try the casserole, but he 40 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:24.500 really wants to meat right and there's ham and there's turkey but he 41 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:27.600 also wants to make sure he gets a little bit of chicken. And I want to 42 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:30.800 try the corn and some of the other healthy stuff, but I want to put 43 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:34.900 the brownie and in all those other things on top. And eventually by the 44 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:37.900 time I reach the end of the potluck table 45 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:43.900 my plate just looks piled on. Saints 46 00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:50.600 I want to talk to you today about a piled on plate as we refer back to 47 00:02:50.600 --> 00:02:55.900 our scripture in in 2nd Peter verses 1 to 15. 48 00:02:55.900 --> 00:03:01.900 There's the section that that jumps out to me about it being a piled 49 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:04.800 on plate. As we get there together 50 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:10.200 we realize as we reference the end of verse 4 that some of the 51 00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:12.000 piling-on happens 52 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:13.900 because of sin. 53 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:16.000 Because of corruption. 54 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:22.600 Because of the way that our world has turned against us and we have 55 00:03:22.600 --> 00:03:24.700 turned against Christ himself. 56 00:03:24.700 --> 00:03:31.500 See sometimes it feels like we pile it on all on our own. All the 57 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:36.100 things that are happening in our world are being piled on covid-19 has 58 00:03:36.100 --> 00:03:39.100 taken over 250.000 people from us. 59 00:03:39.100 --> 00:03:44.800 Some people that I knew and I loved as well. Gets piled on that's 60 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:50.500 racial injustice. Marches have to happen in order for people to see 61 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:55.600 finally that we still have a problem in our country. And it gets piled 62 00:03:55.600 --> 00:04:00.500 on the the things that happened just with depression and the way 63 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:02.300 that things are going at home are not the 64 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:07.200 way we wanted them to go. And the things that we do on our own that we don't 65 00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:11.100 want to admit that we've done ourselves those sins that we're 66 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:14.000 ashamed of that we let out during the pandemic. 67 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:16.600 It's piled on. 68 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:22.300 Divorces have happened in this past year and families have been broken 69 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:22.700 apart. 70 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:25.500 Hurts have been let out. 71 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:27.400 It's piled on. 72 00:04:29.700 --> 00:04:35.600 The world is not our friend and we know that. We try to escape from 73 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:41.700 this corruption on our own by what we can do and what we can say and 74 00:04:41.700 --> 00:04:43.500 how we can smooth talk it. 75 00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:49.100 But in this moment, we realize we piled it on on our own. 76 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:51.400 And this destruction 77 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:53.500 this hurt 78 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:56.700 this moment that's happening right now. 79 00:04:58.200 --> 00:05:01.700 It leaves us in a state of one thing one word. 80 00:05:02.700 --> 00:05:04.400 Helplessness. 81 00:05:06.200 --> 00:05:11.600 That's what this pandemic has taught us about powerlessness and 82 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:12.300 helplessness. 83 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:18.600 Romans 5 -6 speaks to this powerlessness it says "you see just 84 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:23.300 at the right time while we were still powerless Christ died for the 85 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:23.400 ungodly." 86 00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:25.400 That's us. 87 00:05:26.400 --> 00:05:27.700 It gets piled on. 88 00:05:28.900 --> 00:05:30.200 And if we're honest. 89 00:05:31.100 --> 00:05:32.100 We deserve it. 90 00:05:33.200 --> 00:05:38.000 We put that stuff on the potluck place ourselves. 91 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:44.700 But one of the things we have to remember is that as our plates get 92 00:05:44.700 --> 00:05:51.100 higher and higher and more and more food more and more sin more and 93 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:55.300 more corruption more and more hurt gets piled on to it. 94 00:05:55.300 --> 00:05:58.600 Our sinful eyes are bigger than our stomachs. 95 00:05:58.600 --> 00:05:59.100 Amen. 96 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:06.400 We're headed towards destruction, but then he steps in. 97 00:06:07.400 --> 00:06:13.600 In a moment of powerlessness of helplessness and he flips the whole 98 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:14.000 table. 99 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:17.700 I'll never forget it even with my own kids. 100 00:06:17.700 --> 00:06:21.800 They remind me of this everyday. Man, you know when you wake up early 101 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:26.800 in the morning and the bed is warm and you're about to go back to it 102 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:29.200 about 5:30-6 a.m. 103 00:06:29.200 --> 00:06:32.800 That is the time that Satan uses to wake children up. 104 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:34.600 Hey. 105 00:06:35.900 --> 00:06:40.000 My daughter was crying in her crib, right upstairs and I heard it on 106 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:40.600 the baby monitor. 107 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:44.800 My wife was laying in the bed the bed was warm and I said to myself 108 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.300 man you know maybe I'll have her cry it out. 109 00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:48.800 If you don't know what crying it out 110 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.800 is that something that parents created so they can go back to sleep 111 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:52.900 and not feel bad. 112 00:06:52.900 --> 00:06:53.100 Okay. 113 00:06:53.100 --> 00:06:55.100 Maybe I'll have her cry it out. 114 00:06:56.300 --> 00:07:01.400 And as she's crying and crying and then she says daddy there's 115 00:07:01.400 --> 00:07:08.500 something in me that responds to her cry and I can't help but get 116 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:15.600 myself up and walk up the stairs and comfort my powerless child and 117 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.200 put her back to sleep. 118 00:07:17.700 --> 00:07:20.100 That's what Christ does for us. 119 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:22.500 He he comes upstairs. 120 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:24.700 He picks us up 121 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:29.300 and he cuddles us as my daughter would say 122 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:31.800 until were fast asleep. 123 00:07:33.100 --> 00:07:35.800 In our helplessness, we looked at him. 124 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.100 As I said before today, we commemorate. 125 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:40.900 Dr. 126 00:07:40.900 --> 00:07:42.100 Martin Luther King Jr. 127 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:43.000 On. 128 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:43.300 Dr. 129 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:44.300 Martin Luther King Jr. 130 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:46.100 Day celebrated yesterday. 131 00:07:47.200 --> 00:07:48.300 Martin Luther King jr. 132 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:52.800 was famous for speaking about many different things but allow me to 133 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:54.800 not share with you what he spoke. 134 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.600 But share with you what he struggled with, 135 00:07:59.200 --> 00:08:04.300 depression. Incredible depression that Doctor Martin Luther King Junior 136 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:08.200 attempted to commit suicide before he was 10 years old. 137 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:14.900 Deep and dark sadness he'd go into stages of sleeping for hours and hours 138 00:08:14.900 --> 00:08:18.500 on end sometimes days on end and his attendants couldn't get him to 139 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:18.900 wake up. 140 00:08:19.900 --> 00:08:23.800 Achievements beyond what we can imagine getting a doctoral degree 141 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:28.400 before the age of 30, but being denied to be a dean of a college he 142 00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:32.600 graduated from because he wasn't qualified and when he dug deeper it 143 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:33.600 was because he was black. 144 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:43.100 A life filled with hope and peace for us here today that when he 145 00:08:43.100 --> 00:08:45.100 passed before he was 40 years old. 146 00:08:45.100 --> 00:08:50.100 He had a disapproval rate of 70%. 147 00:08:51.800 --> 00:08:55.400 Sometimes not all the things that we think glitter today 148 00:08:55.400 --> 00:08:57.800 were gold back when they happened. 149 00:08:59.300 --> 00:09:06.300 Just like Jesus who flips the table for us. Who invites us to a new 150 00:09:06.300 --> 00:09:12.800 supper a new meal who changes us in that he comes to us and in 151 00:09:12.800 --> 00:09:13.700 powerlessness 152 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:19.100 He empowers us by what he has done. Who lived a life of speculation. 153 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:24.100 Who is this God that says that he can heal the sick and raise the 154 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:24.400 dead. 155 00:09:24.400 --> 00:09:28.600 Who is this Jesus that comes and breaks the law on the Sabbath? 156 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:32.800 Who is this man that thinks he can come up and get his children. 157 00:09:35.700 --> 00:09:39.000 But they didn't realize was that Jesus Christ himself was the 158 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:39.500 embodiment 159 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:42.700 of piling it on. 160 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:50.300 Jesus says pile it on to me pile onto me all the sins, pile onto me all 161 00:09:50.300 --> 00:09:56.000 the hurts, pile onto me everything and I will exchange it for you pile 162 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.800 it on we come to Christ with an empty plate. 163 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:01.600 Nothing on it. 164 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:08.600 We come to Christ not knowing what we need for nourishment as we eat. 165 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:15.600 And Christ piles it on from a tree of life that he hangs on 166 00:10:16.700 --> 00:10:19.700 as his blood runs red and deep 167 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.500 he exchanges for us all the unhealthy stuff 168 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:25.600 we like to eat. 169 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:26.200 Amen. 170 00:10:28.800 --> 00:10:36.200 All of my lack of character in his grace like the scripture says he 171 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:41.600 exchanges for himself. All of my lack of sacrifice not wanting to do 172 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:43.200 anything in his grace 173 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:45.600 He exchanges for us forgiveness. 174 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:50.500 He piles on that resurgence of life that comes from the resurrection. 175 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:53.600 He piles on that peace from his promises. 176 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.000 He piles on the gift that only Jesus can offer. 177 00:10:58.300 --> 00:10:59.200 Bot death 178 00:11:00.300 --> 00:11:01.400 but life eternal. 179 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:06.200 And we eat at a new table with a new host. 180 00:11:07.400 --> 00:11:09.500 We eat family style 181 00:11:10.300 --> 00:11:11.200 around the table. 182 00:11:12.500 --> 00:11:19.300 He gives us himself in that meal his body his blood through the bread 183 00:11:19.300 --> 00:11:19.700 and the wine. 184 00:11:21.400 --> 00:11:28.000 See god add things to our plate just like it says in 2nd Peter he adds 185 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:33.200 goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and mutual 186 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.400 affection and most of all he adds love. 187 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:43.000 Love embodied in himself even at the darkest of nights and at the 188 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:44.100 worst of times. 189 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:46.600 Dr. 190 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:47.800 Martin Luther King jr. 191 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:49.300 One of his most famous quotes. 192 00:11:50.300 --> 00:11:54.000 The darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. 193 00:11:55.700 --> 00:12:00.200 Is that hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that. 194 00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:04.100 Brothers and sisters where we've hated ourselves. 195 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:06.900 God has stepped in with love. 196 00:12:08.400 --> 00:12:10.500 And I want that to be piled onto me. 197 00:12:11.400 --> 00:12:13.800 I know you want that to be piled onto you. 198 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:17.300 He's a balanced host as well. 199 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:20.300 I don't always balance my diet 200 00:12:20.300 --> 00:12:21.100 I'm going to be honest. 201 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.100 I think I know what I need. 202 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:29.900 Then again I come back to it at night in the heartburn is there I know 203 00:12:29.900 --> 00:12:31.600 I didn't need what I was supposed to eat. 204 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:38.700 The balanced host in giving us to himself in the exact right way. 205 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:43.300 Verses 10 and 11 say therefore brothers be all the more diligent to 206 00:12:43.300 --> 00:12:45.200 confirm your calling and election. For 207 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:49.500 if you practice these qualities you'll never fail for then this way 208 00:12:49.500 --> 00:12:55.100 there will be richly provided for you an entrance to the internal 209 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:57.600 Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 210 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:02.200 He balances us by showing us 211 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:02.900 what's most important. 212 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:06.600 He did that for me the other day. 213 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:09.800 It was Friday night and I was leaving our church. 214 00:13:09.800 --> 00:13:11.300 Our church is located in North St. 215 00:13:11.300 --> 00:13:13.100 Louis city. And I stopped at a bank 216 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:17.400 I always stop at right it was it was my bank. Just a little bit later 217 00:13:17.400 --> 00:13:21.400 than I normally would stop there and I'm depositing checks and doing a 218 00:13:21.400 --> 00:13:25.800 bunch of different things and a man comes around the other side and 219 00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:27.200 and he's staying something. 220 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:30.000 I can't quite hear it, but I was on the phone with my mother at the 221 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.600 time and she said somebody's talking to you. 222 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:34.300 Speaker was right there by that door. 223 00:13:35.800 --> 00:13:39.900 And before I could even turn to look at what he was saying a gun was 224 00:13:39.900 --> 00:13:41.200 looking me in the face. 225 00:13:43.300 --> 00:13:48.700 In those moments you think about a million things, but then also you 226 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:50.600 think about one thing right? 227 00:13:52.300 --> 00:13:53.800 For me it was two things. 228 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:58.200 I thought to myself number one. 229 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.700 What would my children do if I was gone? 230 00:14:04.400 --> 00:14:05.900 Thought to myself number two, 231 00:14:07.300 --> 00:14:08.800 this might be the moment I meet Jesus. 232 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:12.900 Although there was a sadness in that moment 233 00:14:12.900 --> 00:14:15.700 there was also excitement too. 234 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:21.500 Because I knew that the promises that he gave to me the things that he 235 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:25.500 said to me are true and I believed that with all my heart. 236 00:14:27.800 --> 00:14:31.900 Luckily, I also believe in hitting the gas as much as I can and as 237 00:14:31.900 --> 00:14:38.000 fast as I can and I drove out and for no other reason, but the grace 238 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.100 of God, he did not shoot. 239 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:43.800 Brothers and sisters, 240 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:50.100 it's important to know that the promises of God are real. 241 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:57.000 For some 250 plus thousand people whoever believed in Jesus Christ in 242 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.300 that group they are with him. 243 00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:02.100 When they breathed their last here. 244 00:15:03.400 --> 00:15:09.400 They looked into his eyes for the first time face to face in the 245 00:15:09.400 --> 00:15:09.800 flesh. 246 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:12.400 You ready for that? 247 00:15:13.700 --> 00:15:15.100 It's an important promise. 248 00:15:16.400 --> 00:15:17.100 And that night 249 00:15:17.100 --> 00:15:20.900 I just remember coming home to my kids and and they were doing 250 00:15:20.900 --> 00:15:21.600 whatever they were doing. 251 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:25.300 And then I threw their iPads aside, right and I hugged them as much as 252 00:15:25.300 --> 00:15:25.500 possible. 253 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:27.000 And as for as long as possible. 254 00:15:28.800 --> 00:15:31.600 They said daddy let Mem go, right. 255 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:34.700 And I said never 256 00:15:36.300 --> 00:15:37.800 you have to let go first. 257 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:43.400 The same thing with Jesus he will never let us go. 258 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.100 His love is piled on in us. 259 00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:52.900 He is connected to us in this life and in this place. 260 00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:59.600 But more importantly we go to meet him and hug him in person in 261 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:00.000 heaven. 262 00:16:01.300 --> 00:16:03.000 The thing we're doing here on Earth. 263 00:16:04.400 --> 00:16:06.300 This is like online worship right. 264 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:12.100 But soon we'll be face-to-face with him and it will be a beautiful 265 00:16:12.100 --> 00:16:20.200 thing and I can't wait for that day when Jesus piled it on and when we 266 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:23.000 know he's made good on his promises. 267 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:27.600 In Jesus name and for Jesus sake. Amen.