Faith Lutheran Church Desboro

Palm Of Christ

Philippians 2:5-11. ESV
Palm Sunday

13/04/25

     Palm trees are the marker for a tropical destination. If your photo is taken with palm trees in the background, likely you are on vacation in a warm, equatorial climate. Palm trees appear in gardens, even on the grounds of homes in the southern part of our great Province. But these plants don’t like our cool, comparatively dry air, and must be taken inside for the winter if they are to survive.
     Palm trees appear in the Gospel reading for today: branches cut from palms growing on the outskirts of the holy city Jerusalem waved by the crowds greeting Jesus as He approached, riding on a donkey. We remember this event signifying the start of Holy Week with palm fronds folded into the shape of a cross. That’s a powerful symbol! Palm branches were a sign of victory in the ancient world: Kings returning victorious from a military conflict were welcomed home just as Jesus was on Palm Sunday: by singing crowds waving palm branches. However, the victory of our Lord was not won by sword and shield, nor by army, horse, nor chariot. Christ overcame His enemies and ours by His cross.

Eating Out Of Their Hands
     Global salvation: the Lord Christ had the world well in hand. Yet, powerful forces did their utmost to pry the souls of mankind out of His hand. Satan’s temptations hit the God-man where it hurt—still, Jesus held firm to God’s Word with unflinching grip. Pharisees, Sadducees, and religious leaders in the world did their best to discredit the Lord’s teaching and ruin His reputation. Still, the crowds flocked the Saviour’s divine words so that the Pharisees uttered in their frustration to each other: “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him” (St. John 12:19). The worst attacks from the devil and the world could not loosen His compassionate grip: the people of the world held in the palm of Christ.

 
Hands That Lay His Glory Aside
     Yet, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v. 6). To meet us where we are tempted, assaulted in our faith, and laid low in our sins, Christ Jesus emptied Himself (ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν). The passion, the suffering of Holy Week, indeed His whole earthly ministry meant that the Lord of heaven and earth, with His own hands, set aside the glory of His divine nature, choosing not to make full use of the power of His godhead. While remaining true God, equal to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, Jesus submitted to earthly rulers: to Pilate, Herod, Annas, Caiaphus, the Sanhedrin, Roman soldiers. From His conception in Mary’s womb, His birth in Bethlehem, His obedient, flawless life led to the unjust sentence of death by crucifixion: “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8). For us and for our salvation, the hands, feet, and side of the Lord were pierced. Our forgiveness and salvation are in His hand: the pierced palm of Christ.

Lifted Up By The Father’s Hand
     “Therefore God has highly exalted Him” (v. 9). God the Father is frequently portrayed in art with a hand—the palm of His hand open to create all things, to bless with daily bread; His hand open to  provide and protect, to defend and deliver. So with His powerful hand, God the Father lifted up His Son from the depths of death, the grave, even hell itself, to seat the Lord Jesus at His right hand where He rules over all things. From this position of power, of grace and of love, the Lord Christ cares for His people.
     The palm of Christ pours His forgiving, soul-renewing water of life over us in our Baptisms. The palm of Christ feeds us with His life-giving body and blood under this bread and wine. Can Jesus ever let you go? Don’t you believe it! Jesus promises, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (St. John 10:27-28). We are firmly in the palm of Christ.

Our Hands Serve Others In Christ
     Now, Jesus makes us His hands in the world. Christ has worked salvation for us, so instead of striking at others in anger, He uses our hands to embrace, to calm, to heal. Christ has worked salvation for us, so instead of grabbing for all the gain we can get from others, He opens our hands to give to the needy.
     Christ establishes the works of our hands (Psalm 90:17). With simple or grand acts of mercy, we do in this time, in this life, we serve the needs of others, and also do those things to our dear Lord Jesus (St. Matthew 25:40). With loving deeds, kind words and hearts full of faith, we stand with the Palm Sunday crowds, greeting Jesus with their palms and Hosannas, together with the whole host in heaven, on earth and under the earth who adore His holy name and “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 11).

Amen

Eyes On The Prize

Philippians3:4b-14. ESV

The Fifth Sunday In Lent

06/04/25.

     Wherever you look, that’s where you will go. When the Captain steers the ship, he picks a point on the horizon that will be his destination. With a firm grip on the ship’s wheel, or holding fast to the tiller, he steers with his eyes fixed on that point in the distance until he reaches it.
     Eyes on the prize!
     Navigating through this life, the Apostle St. Paul keeps the end goal and destination ahead of his eyes: “the prize (βραβεον) of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (v. 14). Distractions that might draw his focus away from this celestial goal would cause Paul to veer off course, wasting time and energy going the wrong way, at the risk of  landing in the wrong place, and missing the end goal of heaven altogether.
     Eyes on the prize!

Jettison The Dead Weight
     St. Paul begins this section of his letter like the proud Pharisee in the parable of Jesus as he prayed in the temple, boasting before God about how good he was: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men...” (St. Luke 18:11). Born into the racially pure tribe of Benjamin—zealous—righteous—blameless. By his own honest assessment, Paul was head and shoulders above other Jewish opponents who criticized his preaching and found fault with his teaching. Lining up his stellar qualities for all to see, Paul was superior—not your average Jew. He was rightly proud. Paul had grounds for boasting.
     But, Pharisaical boasting and self-generated holiness were no benefit to him. Tooting his own horn was actually harmful.
     As long as Paul believed in himself; when his faith rested on his credentials, then, those good qualities and pride-filled boasts were not just useless and in the way. Paul’s self-righteous good works were actually harmful: damning him. Self-trust also hurts us (FC SD IV:37). It’s all just rubbish “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish” (v. 8: σκύβαλον - sewage). Paul’s righteous works—as far as he trusted in himself were useless ballast: dead weight dragging him down. Trust in good work weighed down his soul—like lead in a sinking ship.
     Throw it overboard, or drown!
     After forty years spreading the Gospel in Africa, a missionary named Henry was returning to the United States. On board was President Theodore Roosevelt. When the boat sailed into New York harbour, the President was greeted with great fanfare as he arrived home. But, the missionary was jealous. “Where’s my reward for serving the Lord for forty years?” Then, he thought to himself, “Henry, you’re not home yet.”
     Paul gave up the fame, approval, and achievements of his life of good works, and considered it all rubbish so that he could win the prize—Christ Jesus, the Saviour, and make Him his own (v. 12). Just as the Saviour Christ had taken hold of Paul, then named Saul, on the road the Damascus. Not all his good works, zeal, righteousness, nor birthright, but the free gift of grace, that is, undeserved favour of God in Jesus—this free gift by faith—this was the prize before his eyes.
     Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus was a radical shift—a distinct course correction for this Hebrew of Hebrews whose life was going the wrong way. All gain (v. 7 - κέρδος) that the former Saul believed he was stowing away for himself by following the law of God as a strict Pharisee, even his extreme zeal in persecuting the Church and thinking he was serving God—all his visions of gain by his intense and zealous work, all of Paul’s personal righteousness he now discarded as a loss (v. 8 - ζημία), as if dropping his past into the depths of the sea. St. Paul no longer believed he could be righteous before God by his own effort “that comes from the law.” No. Converted Paul believed in the righteousness “which comes through faith in Christ” (v. 9). Saul stopped travelling the path that was popular with his Jewish friends and colleagues: pride and boasting in obedience; glory, riches, and prosperity. His new Master, the Christ would show him the value of suffering (Acts 9:16). Paul would suffer the taunts and jokes of his former Jewish associates as they made fun of him and his new faith all so that he would be closer to his dear Lord, to “share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death” (v. 10). Knowing Christ brings this prize—to Paul and to all the faithful—“the resurrection from the dead” (v. 11).
     Keep your eyes on the prize!

Secure The Prize
     The prize is Christ.
     Jesus has His eyes on us. We are His prize. As Christ Jesus took hold of Paul (v. 12) on the road to Damascus, as a merchant has his eyes on fine pearls, selling everything he had to purchase the pearl of great value (St. Matthew 13:46), so Jesus gave everything He had, His very life on the cross to make us His own . In our Baptism, Jesus marks us with His cross, claiming you and me as His prize.
     Jesus has His eyes on the prize. The world is His prize. 
     To win the prize, Christ set His eyes on the cross, focussed on, and heading toward Jerusalem with determination (Luke 9:51) to pay that high price to win the prize—His innocent suffering and death.

Underway To That Heavenly Port 
     Paul could see it—his eyes were on the prize, Christ Jesus. But, he didn’t have it yet. The first gold pieces of eternal life glittered in his hands—the Gospel’s freeing Absolution, Baptism’s cleansing wash, the Lord’s life-giving body and blood—the treasure chest of the fulness of life with God, the angels and saints in heaven still lay ahead, in the distance. The foretastes, the early samples, the first installments of the heavenly treasure: these, Paul had seen, he had tasted. The full prize was just ahead. So, he pressed on to make this treasure of eternal life in Christ his own. Daily repenting of his sin. Daily trusting in Christ. Paul stretched ahead, like a runner in a race, eager to cross the finish line first, to win by a nose.
     We too have our eyes on the prize, Christ Jesus.
Daily, we return to our Baptism: drowning our sin; joined to Jesus.
     The Captain of a large freighter lived without the comfort of faith in Christ. Unless he could see it with his own eyes, or prove it rationally, he would not believe in God, miracles, or salvation through the cross of Jesus. The ship’s Chaplain ministered to the Captain, reading the Bible with him, praying for him and encouraging the Captain to read the Bible devotionally in his cabin.
     The Holy Spirit overcame the ship Captain’s hard heart and created living faith in Jesus. One night, he died suddenly. The Chaplain was comforted to read the captain’s note beside John 3:16: “I have anchored in a safe harbour. I am at peace, thank God.”
     Jesus, Saviour, pilot me
     Over life’s tempestuous sea (LSB 715:1)
     Keep your eyes on the prize!
     Press on toward the goal. Amen

When You Account For...

II Corinthians 5:16-21. ESV
The Fourth Sunday In Lent

30/03/25.

Count It up...
     When you account for all the years of service I’ve put in here on the farm; when you account for my record of obedience: never breaking even one of my father’s rules; when you account for all the working hours I have logged in when I could have been partying with my friends; when you account for all of the ways I cut corners to save a buck for this operation, while my brother runs off and blows it all, lamented the older brother in the parable of Jesus, Well... when you account for all that, it adds up to this: I have earned the right to be angry. There’s no way I’m going into that celebration for my brother. I don’t deserve to go through that!
     When you account for all of the years I’ve had to put up with him; when you account for all of the times I’ve picked up after him; when you account for all of the money that I’ve spent on this marriage; when you account for all the times I’ve found the seat up; when you account for the fact that I’ve always been faithful to my wedding vows while he was off running around who knows where, lamented the disgruntled wife to her friend, Well... when you account for all that, it adds up to this: I need to throw in the towel.
     When you account for all the work I’ve done for the Lord and His Church; when you account for all the years I’ve obeyed His Commandments; when you account for all the ways I’ve helped out the needy people; when you account for all those times I denied myself to put God first and to put the needs of other people before my own, reckons (λογίζομαι) that selfish, sinful nature within each and every one of us, Well... when you account for all of that, it adds up to this: I deserve special treatment from the Almighty; I’ve got a unique claim on His favour; I’ve earned a spot in heaven.

Countless Compassion
     When you account for the divine, profound love of God for a world of sinners, His love for prodigal, wayward, rebellious sons and daughters; when you account for God’s right to send the world to hell for its sins, but figuring instead the way to underwrite the huge debt of the world’s sins to bring us to heaven; when you account for the awesome and aweful price/cost to be paid to reconcile the world to Himself; when you account for the fact that the holy, sinless, pure and perfect Son of the Father, Christ our Lord became sin—the very incarnation of all the world’s disobedience, deviance, and darkest crime and evil for us and for our salvation; when you account for the cross, where Jesus in His pure and innocent flesh was nailed to transact this blessed exchange: that in Him, through faith in Him, we sinners might become the righteousness of God, receiving His divine pardon, forgiveness, and peace, not as a reward for good works that we have done, but as His free gift through baptismally-worked faith; when you account for this crucified-now-risen Christ who plunges the old nature of our sin into the waters of His Baptism so that the old has passed away; when you account for this new creation we have in Christ emerging from that grace-giving baptismal washing together with our living Lord (v. 17); when you account for our reconciliation to God the Father that has been fulled accomplished by the cross of Christ and by Him alone; when you account for the mind-blowing fact that the Saviour Christ has reconciled not just you or me, but the whole world to God (v. 19) by His rich, life-restoring blood; when you take all that into account, you begin to calculate (λογίζομαι) the phenomenal wealth of the Father’s rich heart of love (Romans 11:33), who reconciles us to Himself in Christ.

Count On Him 
     When you account for God’s free salvation in Christ, the Old Adam’s every attempt to keep a record of his own good deeds, obedience, and purity is nailed to Christ’s cross, died in His body, and buried in His tomb. “In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting [our] trespasses against us (v. 19 ). When you account for that fact: that we are reconciled to God in Christ, it adds up to this, He makes us ambassadors to the world, peacemakers, agents of reconciliation (καταλλαγή).
     When you account for what marriage is all about: that God is the One who joins husband and wife together as one, this blessed institution is no place to keep track of our performance, nor to compare how much one does for the other. Emotional bookkeeping is out of place in the marriage bond, for love “keeps no record of wrongs” (I Corinthians 13:5 NIV). Where differences, disagreements and conflict crop up in marriage, as they are bound to when two sinners are united for life, God in His Word urges, “be reconciled to each other” (I Corinthians 7:11), just as God in Christ is reconciled to us.
     When you account for all that the prodigal son in our Lord’s parable wasted of his father’s property: fully half of the wealth his father had amassed during his lifetime; when you account for the poverty of spirit that led him back to his father in heartfelt repentance; when you account for the surprisingly rich, warm, and compassionate welcome that the father extended to his wayward, prodigal son, and to his sullen, resentful older son; when you take all of that into account, you begin to add up, count and calculate the richness and profundity of this word “reconcile.”
     “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself” (v. 18a).

      Amen.

Cautionary Tales

I Corinthians 10:1-13. ESV
The Third Sunday In Lent

23/03/25.

     Last week, a man phoned the radio station to sell his slide projector.
     “I bet you don’t know what that is,” dared the caller.
     “Oh yes, I do,” countered the radio host. “A slide projector will be of interest to someone. I’m sure at least one of our listeners has slides at their home to use in your projector.”
     Whether it’s a projector scrolling through pictures captured on a small square of film, or images collected in digital format, the Apostle presents this part of his letter to the Corinthians like a slide show. Images from the Old Testament appear before the mind’s eye of those who read this letter with double intent: to warn, and to encourage; to condemn sin, and to generate faith. Law and Gospel. Christians in Corinth and you and I have two things to take away from this slide show: to learn from the past, and to face the future with faith.

Four Warnings
     Law should come before Gospel, so let’s start the show where St. Paul is writing at verse seven.
     The first slide that lights up before our imagination depicts the scene at the base of the holy mountain: Sinai. A shiny new bull calf gleams in the centre of a massive mob, a jovial group of more than a million: eating, drinking, and dancing—sexually suggestive body rhythms intended to worship this golden idol as their god (Exodus 32:4-6). What an ironic image! On top of Mount Sinai, the Lord was giving Moses the Law, including the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 32:4-6). Below Mount Sinai, the whole nation of Israel was busy breaking God’s Law.
     Repent! Don’t do what they did.
     Next slide. Now, this image should include a warning: rated 18A—parents are strongly cautioned. The leaders of Israel accepted an invitation from the pagan nation of Moab to worship idols: services involving feasting and adultery. Nearly a quarter of a million people died because God’s people turned their backs on the Lord and were unfaithful to Him (Numbers 25:1-3, 9).
     Repent! Don’t do what they did.
     Next slide. The nation of Israel became restless as they wandered in the desert, challenging the leadership of Moses and the sovereignty of God. The poison of rebellion led to real poison from snakebites: flowing through their veins—fiery venom from fiery serpents sent from God (Numbers 21:4-6).
     Repent! Don’t do what they did.
     Next slide. Well...this image looks quite pleasant. We see God’s people, Israel, getting ready to enter the rich and fertile land of Canaan that God was giving them. But wait—there’s more to the picture. Most of the forward unit that went in to assess the land came back with a bad report: ‘We would have been better off if we had died in Egypt, or in the desert. For sure, we are going to die here,’ was their cautionary tale (Numbers 14:1-2). The whole nation grumbled (γογγύζω) against God because of this bad report—and died in the desert (Numbers 14:29).
     Repent! Don’t do what they did.
     Lent is the time to repent—to turn from sin. To learn from the horrors that happened to God’s people in the past so that we don’t repeat their mistakes, and carry on in sin. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (v. 11-12). Don’t get comfy with sin and let it continue in your life. Repent!

Temptation Protection
     When tempted to sin, as God’s ancient people were, know that you are not alone. Israel failed because they depended on themselves, and did not exercise faith in the Lord. Even while we are tempted, God is God. He oversees what you and I are facing. The Lord sets limits to what we will endure. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (v. 13). ‘Oh Pastor, when I face temptation, you just don’t know how bad it gets. I feel like I’m in over my head. When I’m tempted, I feel like I have to give in. How does God give me a way out?
     Jesus. He is your way of escape when you are tempted. The flesh and blood Christ “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Just two weeks ago, we heard in the Gospel how Christ faced off against the devil. Jesus, hungry and weak, endured Satan’s snares, stood up to his enticements to sin, and stayed the course of obeying God’s Commands. The Word of God made flesh struck deadly blows with the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) that powerful Word of God to defeat Satan. In the desert, during His earthly ministry, through His Passion, cross, death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus resisted every temptation, remained true to God’s holy will, and endured all this for us and for our salvation. In the end of days, at the end of our lives, and this very day, Christ Jesus stands by your side. He is the way of escape.
     As He has been for God’s people of all ages.

Scene Two 
     Let’s look at some more slides.
     Now here’s an epic scene! Led by a divine pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day, the Lord led the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 13:21) to the banks of the Red Sea. God saved Israel, Moses leading the nation through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water flanking them on either side.
     See God provide for His people.
     Baptism—Paul used that word to call yet another image into your mind: the day when you were baptized. Even if you were a baby & don’t remember that day, picture this water and Word of God joining you to Jesus, connecting you to His Baptism poured over Him by John, visited by the dove of the Holy Spirit, covered by the cloud where the Father speaks His blessing over you for Jesus’ sake
     See God provide for His people.
     One last slide? Picture spiritual food and drink: miraculous manna raining down from heaven every morning, daily bread to feed and satisfy God’s people (Exodus 16), and miraculous water pouring out of a dry and dusty rock in the wilderness of Kadesh (Numbers 20). Spiritual food and drink. Even in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bread of life (St. John 6:35), preserved the lives of His faithful people in the wilderness of this world.
     See God provide for His people.
     Not projected in slides, but before our very eyes, here in church, Christ, the Rock is with us as He promises. Not manna, nor water from a rock, but with His Real Presence. Jesus feeds His people from this altar. Christ is our Rock, accompanying us through the wilderness of this world. His body and blood are true spiritual food and drink to sustain us on our journey.
     The Lord was with the fathers of old. He promises to be with us into the future.
     You’ll see!

     Amen.

Citizenship?

Philippians 3:17-4:1. ESV
The Second Sunday In Lent

16/03/25.

     “Citizen of what country?” That’s the question you may be asked when entering a foreign country. How proud we are to give the answer: “Canada!” For we have a good reputation: gentle, polite, friendly, even known for saying “I’m sorry” quite often. Travellers from Canada proudly display the Canadian flag on luggage and clothing to indicate our citizenship. On the world’s stage, our country has a good reputation.
     “Our citizenship is in heaven...” (3:20), the Apostle St. Paul writes to the baptized believers in Philippi. No matter the country in which you were born, no matter which passports you hold, through faith in Jesus Christ, delivered to you in the water and Word of God in Holy Baptism, you are a member of the celestial commonwealth that’s out of this world: a citizen of heaven!

Membership Has Its Privileges
     Philippi was a Roman colony (Acts 16:12) on the Mediterranean sea. Many residents of Philippi had previously served as Roman soldiers. God the Holy Spirit planted the Christian church in Philippi while Paul and Silas were in prison. God freed the Apostles with an earthquake, leading the jailer and his family to believe in Jesus and to be baptized (Acts 16:16-34). Magistrates (στρατηγός) at Philippi were eager to see this whole business go away: they attempted to release Paul and Silas by dropping the charges against them. St. Paul refused to let the Philippian officials simply sweep this matter under the rug, as it were. “They have beaten us publically, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly?” (Acts 16:37) Red-faced, these Roman judges should never have treated the Apostles so shamefully. They held Roman citizenship (πολίτευμα)!
     That was a big deal.
     Paul was born a Roman citizen. Those who were not born into the Empire valued citizenship so highly that they would pay huge sums of money to buy it (Acts 22:28). Roman citizens enjoyed  all the same rights and privileges given to the residents of the great city of Rome, even if they lived in a far-flung colony, like Philippi. Since he held citizenship in Rome, Paul was protected from unjust treatment, extreme methods of interrogation, or a quick sentence of condemnation. This Roman citizen asked for due process and a fair trial to proclaim the Gospel of salvation in Jesus when he appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:12).
     A Roman citizen had status!

Foreigners
     “But our citizenship is in heaven!” (v. 20). Far greater than the Roman Empire is the kingdom of God. Your body is the passport. God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—has stamped His visa on you in this water and Word of Baptism: the sign of the cross upon your forehead and upon your heart. In Christ, we are citizens of the new Jerusalem, the dwelling place of the saints.
     Our citizenship is in heaven.
     Sadly, many (v. 18) do not hold citizenship in heaven. The world surrounding us has a different identity, the opposite set of values, morals and end goals. St. Paul warns those early Christians at Philippi: “many... walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things” (v. 18-19). Although written 1900 years ago, the way Paul describes the world’s citizens could be ripped from yesterday’s headlines: earning lots of money, buying property and possessions, stepping on others to get ahead in your career, pursuing physical pleasure: gluttony, sexual gratification without being married, parading pride in shameful homosexual and transgender identities, whatever your belly tells you to go for. Worldly glory leads to shame. Despising and rejecting God’s free grace in Christ crucified is to walk as an enemy of the cross of Christ. The Lord has made us citizens of heaven. But all around us, the world urges us to follow the trends, to imitate its example. We are tempted to blend in, to live as if this life is all there is. We buy into the world’s values and live to please ourselves. Without Christ, the end is destruction (3:19).

Going Up...
     But, you’re not from here. Jesus has given you and me a new passport: we are citizens of heaven. All the money in the world cannot buy it. Our best deeds can’t move us one step closer to that celestial kingdom. Our heavenly citizenship is God’s gift to us. Our heavenly status was purchased by the holy, precious blood of Christ, poured out for you and me and all people at the cross. By His innocent death and powerful resurrection, Jesus has forgiven us when we have blended in with the world and ignored our heavenly homeland. In the water and word of God in Baptism, the holy, Triune God changed us from enemies of the cross of Christ to citizens of heaven. Don’t let the world convince you otherwise. You are so much more. God in His Word says so.
     And, we rejoice in heaven’s other citizens. St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi with fondness and tender compassion. These believers who trusted in Christ, “I love and long for, my joy and crown” (4:1), said the Apostle. How blessed this fellowship between heaven’s citizens, especially those who have come to Christ through our witness. We look forward to spending eternity with them.
     Stand firm in Christ (4:1). We are passing through the border crossing of this life, on our way to our true home. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus, eagerly awaiting the “Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself” (3:21). Keep faith in the One who rose from the dead and will change our bodies, weakened by sin, disease and death, and make them like His own living body: strong and deathless in contentment, health and joy.
     So how should we think about our final destination?
     “Citizen of what country?” Heaven!
     Amen.

No Shame In That!

Romans 10:8b-13. ESV
The First Sunday In Lent

09/03/25.

     There’s no shame in saying that you are a Christian. There’s nothing shameful about telling your friends that you believe in Jesus as your personal Saviour. It’s okay to be proud to pray in public with the sick in the hospital, or over a meal at a restaurant. There’s no shame in talking with your neighbour in the driveway while you’ve got a black cross of ashes smeared across your forehead. Embarrassment: our natural, knee-jerk reaction to confessing the cross of Christ, and outing our heart-felt faith in Jesus as Lord is to feel awkward. Embarrassed. Even, shame. Don’t!
     Today, God in His Word promises, “Everyone who believes in [Jesus], will not be put to shame (καταισχύνω) ” (v. 11). Believe in Jesus with your heart; confess Him with your mouth. There’s no shame in that.

For Shame!
     The devil, the world, and our sinful selves have us convinced otherwise. ‘You go to church? You believe in the Bible? You should be ashamed!’
     Judas was. He sold out the Saviour for thirty pieces of silver, as foretold by the Prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 11:12). Judas left the Passover meal in the Upper Room to seal his betrayal of the Lord, just as David sang about it in Psalm 41: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). How the holy heart of Jesus ached to be sold out by one of the Twelve, one of His dear disciples! What a shame!
     Sadly, events unfolded in an even more shameful direction. Judas changed his mind once he saw his Master Jesus arrested, bound, and brought before Pilate. Ashamed, Judas tried to return the money, but could not. The guilt and shame weighed so heavy on his heart, it overwhelmed him, and he killed himself (St. Matthew 27:3). What a shame!
     Peter also was put to shame. Prime among the twelve disciples, nevertheless, Peter was not prevented from being pressured by the people to deny his Lord and Master, Christ. Not Pontius Pilate, not King Herod, nor the seventy Jewish elders of the Sanhedrin—no, all it took for Peter to crack was a servant girl. By the flickering flames of a charcoal fire in the courtyard of the high priest, one of the servants recognized Peter’s face: “This man also was with Him” (St. Luke 22:56), she said, pointing him out. Alarmed. Afraid. Ashamed. Peter had the perfect moment to confess His Lord, the Saviour he clung to by faith in his heart... but, he choked. “I do not know Him” (St. Luke 22:57), Peter solemnly denied. And then, tried to hide his shame by denying Jesus two more times.
     Sadly, events unfolded in an even more shameful direction for Peter. A rooster crowed—the signal Jesus predicted that Peter would be ashamed of Him, would deny Him (St. Matthew 26:34). While that bird’s wake-up call was still ringing in his ears, the Lord Himself turned to lock eyes with Peter. Christ depended on His disciple, His “number one.” But Peter let Him down.  What a shame!
     How about us? Have we shaken off the shame that the world shows Christianity to confess with our mouths the faith in our hearts: “Jesus is Lord” (v. 9)? “Do not be conformed to this world...” (Romans 12:2). Have we succeeded where these Apostles of Jesus failed? Our task is clear: believe and confess. There’s no shame in that.
     But then, there’s that pesky little word, “if.” Paul put it there because it may not happen: faith might not lead us to confess Jesus as Lord. We look around. We notice how people react to us. We don’t want to feel embarrassed, look bad, suffer in our job, lose friends. “...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (v. 9). We might keep silent. We may be embarrassed to say, “Jesus is Lord.”  What a shame!

Shameless Saviour
     Jesus is faithful, even where we are not. Jesus began His earthly ministry alone. With the devil. Starving. Facing Satan’s temptations. For us.
     Shame. For that, Satan was striving to work on the heart and the mind of the Lord Jesus. Starting with His stomach: “command this stone to become bread” (St. Luke 4:3). How he spoke like caring mothers, urging their children who don’t want to eat: ‘What a shame you are not tasting this wonderful meal. Just take a bite. Eat something: you’ll feel better!’ When that temptation didn’t work, the devil worked another angle. ‘What a shame that You—true God in human flesh—have to die on the cross to save a world of sinful people. Let’s cut a deal and avoid all that embarrassment. You worship me—I’ll give you the world.’ When that didn’t work, Satan tried one last thing: ‘What a shame to waste all that power. Since You are God almighty, jump off this temple tower and angels will come to save you.’ That temptation also failed.
     God’s Word alone defeated the devil’s deceptions. Where Judas felt shame and failed; where Peter felt shame and failed; where you and I and all people have cracked under the shaming of the world, the devil and our sinful selves, Jesus kept the faith, obeyed God the Father, and remained true to His Commandments. Protected by the mighty fortress of God’s Word, Jesus resisted Satan’s testing, “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).
     For Judas and Peter, for Jew and Greek, for you and for me, and for all the world, the Lord Christ embraced the curse of crucifixion (Galatians 3:13) to be nailed to the cross of shame in our place. Jesus was humiliated in a public display of scorn to put to death everything that makes us embarrassed to face each other; to erase everything that causes us shame in the eyes of God. Christ crucified is weak and foolish by the world’s estimation. Yet, faith in our hearts teaches us to confess that Christ Jesus on the cross is the power of God to salvation for all who believe (Romans 1:16; I Corinthians 1:18-25).
     There’s no shame in that!
     Amen.

Greater Than God’s House

Hebrews 3:1-6. ESV
The Transfiguration of our Lord

02/03/25

     Welcome to God’s house!
     This building is different from every other place.
     Like the holy houses of God in olden days: the desert Tabernacle and Jerusalem Temple. On purpose, this church was built to approximate the proportions of those Old Testament sanctuaries (Exodus 36:20-30; I Kings 6:2): ninety feet long; thirty feet wide; and sixty-seven feet to the top of the cross on the steeple. This reflects the same proportions God gave Noah to construct the ark (Genesis 6:15): that place of refuge that would protect its eight passengers, and every living creature throughout that year-long, world-wide flood.

More Than Bricks 
     This is a holy place—set apart by the Word of God and prayer (I Timothy 4:5). The first House of God: German Evangelical Lutheran, St. John’s Congregation was consecrated on October 25, 1897. Expansion of St. John’s Lutheran Church was dedicated at a service of worship on December 1st, 1940. The present House of God, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church was set apart by the Word of God and prayer on June 5, 1988. The skill of carpenters and contractors gave the church building the beautiful form it holds today. By His Word and Holy Spirit, the Lord makes this house of God a holy place.
     Which means that some activities are not appropriate here: for example, to set up a net across the middle of the pews for a volleyball tournament; or perhaps to line up targets along the chancel steps to hone your shooting skills; or, perish the thought, to hold some kind of carnival here in the sanctuary. This place is unique, holy, sacred. “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). This is God’s house.
     We show respect for God when we come into His house. For example, even on sunny days in July during Vacation Bible School, children are taught to take off their hats during opening and closing devotions here in God’s house. A simple act to show love for God.
     Why do we do this? Why should we behave differently, think and speak with respect here in church? Isn’t this all just stone and mortar, wood and steel? Yes, but we also have God’s command. He commands us to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. That means we hold God’s Word sacred, gladly hearing and learning it here in God’s house. With His Word, the Bible, and that same Word of God in the Sacraments, God makes this a holy place. By His Word, this is God’s house.
     This building has been established as a place where we meet with God. We speak to Him in the words of our prayers, responses and sing to Him in the hymns and canticles of the services. For His part, God speaks to us in His Word, read from the Bible and preached from this pulpit. The Lord meets with us in His Word and in the water of our Baptisms; in His Word and in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. The Lord meets His people here. For, this is God’s house.

Built Not To Last
     “ ‘Tis good, Lord, to be here! Yet we may not remain;” (LSB 414:5). This is a great house—the house of God. But, like those previous houses of God—Tabernacle and Temple—this house of God, one day, will not be here. When temples and churches are gone, still the Lord of the Church will preside over His people and care for His own for all eternity. For, “the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself” (v. 3).

From The Ground Up
     Look to Jesus, Lord of the Church, transfigured on the mountain in all His divine glory as true God in human flesh, “tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time” (LSB 427:1). “One greater than the temple is here” (St. Matthew 12:6 NIV) . Jesus is greater even than God’s house. Why?
     It’s phenomenally great that Christ Jesus is divine (as the heavenly vision on the mount of Transfiguration shows us). Even more, God Himself became a human being to walk among us.
     Yet, Christ is truly great—far greater than Moses—because He humbled Himself to serve us with salvation (v. 3, 5-6). Moses  faithfully served the household of God, ascending the mount of Sinai to receive the holy Ten Commandments written by the hand of God. Perfectly expressing God’s will for us, that holy Law sits in judgement over Israel’s sin and ours: condemning the ways God’s Word is despised by them, and us. For the Law, cannot save us.
     Jesus faithfully served the household of God, as His true Son, ascending the mount of Transfiguration to meet Moses and Elijah as their Superior, as their Successor. The three men discussed His departure (ἔξοδος St. Luke 9:31). To save the household of God from the curse of sin, Jesus would ascend the hill of the cross. His departure through death, the grave and hell earns salvation for us. He is the firm foundation of the Church. Jesus, crucified and raised, is “our confidence and our boasting in our hope” (v. 6).

You Are God’s House
     You are God’s house. Each and every one of us is a living stone, incorporated by the Lord into His eternal dwelling, the holy Christian Church. This house of God will one day pass away. You, will not. He promises (St. Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:19-21; I Peter 2:5). True, death shakes the foundations of our earthly tent, this flesh and blood body. As the due penalty for our sins, each of us must depart this life. Yet, we “share in a heavenly calling” (v. 1) in Christ, who is greater than Moses, greater than Elijah, greater than all. Jesus calls us after this life to that “building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1).
     In Holy Baptism, each of us has been quarried from out of the world to be joined to Christ, the Chief Cornerstone. His holy body and blood is the mortar cementing us into a divine fellowship, a holy communion together with the Lord Jesus, and all His saints.
     So, hold fast to Christ: “our confidence, and our boasting in our hope” (v. 6).
     Amen
​

Heavenly Bodies

I Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42. ESV
The Seventh Sunday After The Epiphany

23/02/25

     Twenty years ago, reality television show Extreme Makeover featured couples who were looking for a complete physical change. Cosmetic surgery, changes in diet, exercise, hairdressing and clothes were used to alter their appearances dramatically. Once the transformation was complete, family and friends were allowed to see the brand new look effected by this extreme makeover.
     The resurrection (ἀνάστασις) is the ultimate extreme makeover: our shared triumph with Christ our Lord; the ultimate and final victory over death, the last enemy: the resurrection of the body to everlasting life.
     Just as Jesus, our Lord and Master, returned to life three days after His death on the cross, and left the tomb in Jerusalem with His body and is alive now, so also Christians will return to life again after we die, leaving our graves or our final resting places with our bodies to live again with Jesus.
     But, what does that mean? In his great resurrection chapter, St. Paul today describes the bodies that the Lord will give to those who will live again in the life to come: heavenly bodies!
     What will that be like?

It’s Not That... 
     The Apostle is careful to tell us what the resurrection body is not.
     First, the resurrection is not nothing. Sadly, deniers of the resurrection of the body in ancient times and now say that you die, and that’s it. After you die—nothing! The body returns to the earth. Nothing more after this earthly life is over (v. 32). Wrong!
     Those who die without faith in Christ will rise again—and face the final judgment, leading to the condemnation of a physical hell that they will experience in their bodies (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:14-15).
     Others deny the bodily resurrection and think of the life to come as a wispy, disembodied, touch-less, life in eternity as a spirit only. Also wrong.
     On purpose, St. Paul describes the resurrection by repeating words like “body” and “flesh” over and over again in today’s Epistle. He teaches us that we will not be ghosts nor spirits drifting through the air for all eternity in heaven. Touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing, and speech will be enhanced in the heavenly bodies given to us by the Lord in the resurrection of the flesh.
     And certainly, resurrection is not reincarnation. We humans will not trade in our bodies in the next life to live as a dog or a cow, as a butterfly or a flower. While here Paul talks about animals, birds, fish, sun, moon, and stars (v. 39-41), he does not teach that we become these things, like some kind of body-swap based on how much good or evil we have done in this life. Rather, St. Paul emphasizes the glory of the transformed human body that God will give us, and the variety of glory He will bestow on those who are eternally blessed in heaven.

We Are Alive In Him
     So Pastor, if the resurrection is not nothing, is not spirit only, nor it is reincarnation, then what is it? What can we Christians expect our heavenly body to be like? Look to Jesus. Our bodies in heaven will be like His transformed, living, heavenly body is right now (Philippians 3:21).
     After all, Jesus took on flesh and blood to save all of us: our souls and our bodies. True God, Jesus Christ, came down from heaven to be born in our world at Christmas: the human Baby of His dear mother. The Christmas angels sang the good news that God became flesh to save us. Christ’s poor and humble birth at Bethlehem was the seed of a greater life that would emerge alive from the tomb on Easter Sunday morning. Jesus stood on the ground ahead of His disciples, alive in flesh and bone; His wounded now healed hands and side inspected by Thomas; even eating breakfast with them on the beach.
     As our Brother in human flesh, Jesus came to defeat death, the enemy of us all (v. 26). He is perfect and divine: very God of very God. But, Jesus faced, fought, and defeated death and the devil, sin and hell as true man in human flesh and blood. Nailed to the cross in His body, Christ took our place, and that of every sinful person in the world. Death was defeated when Jesus died. Then, He rose again from the dead on the third day to be the resurrection of the body for all people. “As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive” (v. 22).

The Seed Of Life
     A little yellow horseshoe-shaped pellet springs up tall from the ground: a light green stalk covered with cylindrical green ears ending in dark tassels. The seed does not look like the plant. A flat, black oval creeps out of the ground: a meandering vine with yellow, horn-shaped flowers that turn into massive green spheres and ovals, marked with jagged white stripes. The seed does not look like the plant.
     Our bodily, terrestrial lives now are just the seed of the resurrected life in the body that God will give us. The seed does not look like the plant.
     Each and every one of us is a marvelous creation of God—our bodies an amazing network of interconnected systems all working in harmony—fearfully and wonderfully made by God in the wombs of our mothers (Psalm 139:13-15).
     Even after we die, treat this God-created body with respect, with reverence, and with love. Not just because this is the body of our dear loved one. But, this body created by God, will live again in the resurrection of the body to everlasting life. He promises. The seed of a greater body designed to live forever with God in heaven.
     God loves you.
     God will make you a heavenly body.
     Amen.

Always Easter

I Corinthians 15:12-20. ESV
The Sixth Sunday After The Epiphany

09/02/25

     Perpetual motion machine. Engineers have long sought to invent a device that runs on its own power: some kind of contraption that doesn’t need winding, batteries, gasoline or other fuel; an independent set of parts that continues to move without wind, water, nor solar power. While sought after, no one has yet constructed such a perpetual motion machine.
     The resurrection of Jesus set life in motion: perpetual, continuous, unbroken life in those who are joined to Him by faith. What sets Christians apart from other religious people in the world? Christ raised from the dead! His tomb is empty! Jesus is alive! He is with us today, just as He promises! Perpetual Passover: the Lord has passed over from death to life! Even a snowy Sunday is Easter! Now that Jesus has risen. Alleluia!

Most Pitiable 
     Not everybody believes this! Even Christians at Corinth denied that Jesus rose from the dead in body and soul. Influenced by popular opinion, reluctant to go with faith over science, they rejected Christ come back from the dead. Many in the world today, including some who call themselves Christians also deny the resurrection. Without a living Lord, the faith is denied, sin stays with us, there is no hope offered beyond this life, and we are “most to be pitied” (ἐλεεινότερος).
     Makes me think of “Dirty Jobs.” That’s the show hosted by Mike Rowe who, as the name indicates, visits those whose work is especially dirty, and himself gives it a try. What are the dirtiest of jobs? Among the more than 300 dirty jobs he has tried, Mike lists in the top three: “concrete chipper” from the insides of cement mixers; “shark suit tester,” which he said was just plain terrifying; and “sewer inspector.” No explanation needed.
     What makes a show like that so popular? Viewers must feel for those getting absolutely filthy, or in St. Paul’s own words, “most to be pitied” (v. 19); saying to themselves something like, ‘I would not want to be that guy!’
     Life without the risen Christ is worse than any dirty job. If Jesus is not alive, we have no hope: perhaps 70 to 80 years of life and that’s all. Without the resurrection of our Lord, our preaching is false: God’s Word is a lie. Without the resurrection of our Lord, we are still in our sins: there is no forgiveness. Without the resurrection of our Lord, our loved ones who died believing in Jesus will not rise from their graves to live again. Without faith in Christ for the life to come, we are worse off than everyone else: “most to be pitied” (v. 19).

But... The Resurrection Is Real
     Every Sunday, we gather in Church to meet the living Leader: Jesus who died, came back from the dead, and can never die again! We are here because worship is all about Jesus Christ, who “has been raised from the dead” (v. 20).
     Sundays are Easter. Always!
     The cross was needed to take the sadness of sin out of our lives. Out of love for the world that rejects Christian preaching as useless, and God’s Word as false, Jesus gave His life to earn forgiveness. Out of love for all who doubt the resurrection of the body, who live in this world without the hope of life after this life, Jesus was nailed to the cross and died. Out of love for us who struggle with futility, long for hope and seek a purpose in life, Jesus stood in for us, taking the punishment we deserve from God’s Law. And died for all (II Corinthians 5:15). If that were the end, then Christians would be the saddest people of all.
     “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (v. 20). Sin did not have the last word. Death was not the end. The grave in Jerusalem was not Christ’s final resting place. God the Father did not abandon His dear and only Son to the grave. The Heavenly Father raised the Lord Jesus to life again. The resurrection showed that He was pleased with Christ’s obedience, accepting His self-offering on the cross for the sins of the world (Acts 10:40; Rom. 10:9; I Peter 1:21).
     Because Jesus died and rose again: His Word, the Bible, is true. Preaching is reliable, filled with hope, not futility. Because Jesus died and rose again: we are no longer in our sins. The living Christ forgives us in His absolution, in His Baptism, in His Holy Communion. Because Jesus died and rose again: we are filled with the sure and certain hope of the life to come. We look forward to the blessed reunion in heaven with dear Christians who have gone before us. Jesus is alive, never to die again.

We Are Easter People
     The son of the Shunammite woman (II Kings 4:35), Lazarus (Jn 11:44), Eutychus (Acts 20:10). The Bible records others who came back to life after they died. But Christ’s resurrection is different. He is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20). “Firstfruits” (ἀπαρχή) means the first of the crop given by the Lord in field, orchard, and vineyard (Exodus 22:29, 23:19). Israel offered their firstfruits to God, confident that He would multiply and bless that rest of the harvest that would follow. When it comes to the resurrection from the dead, Christ is the Firstfruits. The victorious, triumphant, resurrected Son of God is the source of life for all who look beyond the grave. In Christ, we will live again, in body and soul.
     Easter fits us well: the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. His life is the pattern of our life.
     Always.
     Amen

Build With Words

I Corinthians 14:12b-20. NIV
The Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany

09/02/25

     LEGO. Meccano. K’NEX. MEGA BLOKS. DUPLO. All construction sets children use for building. Among the fond memories I have from kindergarten are memories of building with my classmates. The class worked together using 2x4 wooden blocks, both short and long to build imaginative structures together.

Raw Materials
     Not plastic blocks, metal straps, nuts and bolts, nor blocks of wood are the raw materials for building in the Church.
     What are the building blocks that edify God’s people? Words!
     God speaks. We hear His almighty Word. By faith, we are built up.
     We speak to others. In Law and in Gospel. We speak the truth— in love. The Gospel: the good news of free salvation in Jesus comes from our lips to the ears of others. They’re just words. But... the Holy Spirit uses words to edify, to give faith, to build up.
     The Christians at the congregation of Corinth were hung up on words. God the Holy Spirit enabled many of them to speak in tongues, that is, in heavenly languages. While St. Paul also possessed this gift, he pointed out that the most important words are those that are understood by others.
     We have been given the gift of language for a specific purpose to: “build up (οἰκοδομή) the church” (v. 12). The tools God has given us to build up the church are words. Our aim is to build each other up by what we say. Concerning the eighth commandment, Dr. Martin Luther, explains that our words about our neighbour must “defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way” (SC I:16). Words edify and build up our brothers and sisters in Christ. While there may be nothing we can do to help others who struggle with terminal illness, depression or some other tragedy, with our words, we are able to build them up. We can encourage them by what we say, and give them hope.

Rip It Up
     Sadly, more often, we find ourselves doing just the opposite: we use words to tear people down. Conversations over the phone lines, or over coffee, a few clicks by text or on social media can be used to get caught up on what is new. But getting caught up on the news can quickly degenerate into harmful gossip: words that tear down instead of building up. St. Paul tells us to be infants when it comes to evil and to be adults in our thinking (v. 20). But too often we are infants when it comes to building each other up, and all too mature and experienced in using words to hurt others.
     But words can’t really hurt other people, can they? After all, they are just words. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me—right? Wrong! Words can and do hurt: harsh words divide people, make enemies, cause stress, hair loss, ulcers, loss of sleep and also hurt our God. Just a few words destroy friendly relations between neighbouring countries. The same tools that build others up can just as easily tear us down.
     But that is not the final word.

God’s Last Word
     God gave the Christians at Corinth the gift of speaking in tongues; He has given us the ability to communicate in English. And yet, God has given us His Word in still another way. St. John writes that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (St. John 1:14). Jesus Christ was born into our world as the very Word of God. His gracious and loving words continue to build us up, just as they edified, and built up the people He met.
     But even more important for us is what that Word of God suffered for us. When people doubted and deserted Jesus, He did not lash out at them nor insult them. When our Lord was arrested and sentenced to die, He did cry out nor complain. Tortured by guards who mocked Him; tormented on the cross by those who dared Him to show His power; tempted to come down from the cross, if He was indeed the Messiah: through it all, Jesus kept silent!
     All of the insults and laughter and ridicule Jesus bore—and He carried those hateful words for us, for all of the ways we use our words to hurt others, Jesus suffered. Instead of defending Himself, instead of seeking to get even, Christ prayed. He prayed for us and for all people: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (St. Luke 23:34). In the midst of that flurry of insults and painful words, Jesus died. And by dying, He earned our forgiveness. Christ gives full pardon to all who are sorry for using words to hurt and destroy people, instead of building them up.
     With words of confession, we admit before Almighty God that we have used our words to tear other people down, rather than build them up. But Christ then speaks His powerful words of absolution through His called Ministers: forgiving words to soothe and heal our sorrowful hearts. The same Lord who died for us builds us up with words of comfort and forgiveness:

     Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ... For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (St. Matt. 11:28, 30).

     I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die (St. John 11:25, 26).

     Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved (St. Mark 16:16a).

     Forgiven and built up by the words of our Saviour, we use our words to confess the hurts we’ve said to our brothers and sisters, and to be reconciled to them.
       As Christians, we have the task of building other people up with our words. Especially to speak these words: that we are forgiven and saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
     Remember the power of your words. Choose them carefully. The Lord uses your words to build others up.
     Amen.
​

Close-up 

Hebrews 2:14-18. ESV
Purification of Mary and Presentation of our Lord

02/02/25​

     “All right, Mr, DeMille, I’m ready for my close up.” Norma Desmond, portraying a disturbed actress uttered that line toward the end of the movie, Sunset Boulevard (1950). She wanted to be a star. Instead, she was about to be arrested.

Get Close
     Sometimes, a close-up is a good thing. Those who suffer from weak eyesight may need to get close up to read, see photos, or get directions. Couples who are in love can’t seem to spend enough time together in close proximity. They long to be close-up with each other. Toothpaste promises that you can get up-close to others with sparkling teeth and fresh breath—a clean confidence. Without fear of bad breath or having a piece of spinach stuck in your teeth, a close-up is a good thing.

Keep Your Distance
     At other times, a close-up is not good. In fact, just the thought of getting close-up makes our skin crawl, cringing, looking for a place to hide. Enemies hate the thought of getting close: that’s when the fights start. In fact, that’s how Adam and Eve reacted when the Lord God called them to come close to Him in the Garden. They hid in the trees (Genesis 3:8-10). Because they sinned. Like a close-up mirror shows every wrinkle, scar and imperfection on our faces, the Law of God exposes a close-up view of the damage in our souls caused by our sins. We feel it. Anger. Coveting. Greed. Envy. Insecurity. Despair. Fear. Sin keeps us from drawing close to other people. Sin  breaks our fellowship with God. As he did with Adam and Eve, the devil tempts us to stand alone instead of taking our stand close to God. When we fall for temptation—and we will every time we depend on our own strength—then, our sins make us slaves. In fear of death. This cycle of isolation keeps us alone. In the dark.

Big Brother
     So... Jesus comes close to us: as close as our own flesh and blood. Christ Jesus came down from heaven—the abode of the angels—to be made our Brother in every respect (except He had no sin: 4:15), conceived and born of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem to be close up to us. And, that’s a good thing!
     Simeon knew it. Simeon was waiting in the Jerusalem temple, looking for the Christ, the Messiah, promised by the Lord to bring the light of salvation to all peoples living in the darkness of sin, fear and death. The same Holy Spirit who revealed this conviction in his heart led Simeon to Mary and Joseph. This poor couple came to the temple to offer the proper sacrifices of thanksgiving following Mary’s giving birth, and of redemption for her Firstborn Son, Jesus. This was the moment of Simeon’s close-up. Taking Baby Jesus in his arms, Simeon joyfully uttered the canticle we sing after we have seen Christ the Lord under bread and wine in Holy Communion:
‘Lord, now dismiss Your servant in the peace of Your forgiveness. 
My eyes have seen Christ: the salvation of all peoples, and the light  of the world!’
I’m ready to go; I can die now—I’ve had my close-up with Jesus.

We’re Related!
     I want you to feel that same joy: the ecstasy that filled the heart of Simeon as he held Baby Jesus in his arms. This Child of God the Father shares (μετέχω) in our flesh and blood—close up with you and me, the children of God. The Child Jesus held in Simeon’s arms is like us in every way (except for sin: 4:15). We’re related! Full-grown Jesus saved us by getting close-up with our sins. Christ carried our sins in His body to the cross. There, Jesus paid the price, the propitiation, the atonement for our sins. Jesus died on the cross to destroy the power of death, to deliver us from slavery to sin, and from the fear of death (v. 15). Christ remained close to us by rising from death in His living flesh and blood, to reign in His human body at God’s right hand (FC SD VIII:51). “He is our Brother, and we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. He has instituted His Holy Supper for the certain assurance and confirmation of this, so that He will be with us, and dwell, work, and be effective in us also according to that nature from which He has flesh and blood” (FC  SD  VIII:78-79). Since Jesus partook of our flesh and blood to draw near to us and to save us (v. 14), we draw near to His flesh and blood here in Holy Communion. At the altar rail, we have our close-up with the living Lord Jesus. Like us who have flesh and blood, He helps us (v. 16).

Stay Close
     Especially when we are tempted. We know how we fail when we try to resist temptations to sin by our own strength and determination. We cannot stand firm without Jesus. He helps us. How? He comes close to us. Jesus holds our feet back when we are tempted to go into those places we shouldn’t. He is close. Jesus holds our hands back when they are tempted to reach out and work wrongs. He is close. Jesus keeps our lips from saying hurtful, unkind, false words. He is close. Jesus leads our minds away from dark, destructive desires, filling our minds instead with kind and pure thoughts. He is close. In fellowship with our Lord in His Word and in His Sacraments, Jesus is as close as the blood running through our veins. When we wrestle with temptations to sin, know that Jesus has already resisted those sins for us. Christ forgives us when we fall. We have fellowship with Him in His Word and in His Sacraments.
     Jesus is near to us. Close-up.
     Amen.

The Lord Has A Plan For The Future

Titus 1:1-9. ESV
St Titus, Pastor and Confessor

26/01/25

     Desboro was different. In 1997, the village of Desboro included these landmarks: Desboro Garage,  Desboro Gas station, Dovonvan’s Garage, Community Center, Maluskie’s Farm Equipment, Desboro Hotel, Post office, United and Anglican churches. Fast forward twenty-eight years. Those institutions and fixtures of this place have closed—or changed into something new.
     The future is uncertain. However, the Church—that flock of baptized believers in Christ (SA III, XII:2)—will remain among all the changes of this life, and continue until the end. Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church promises (St. Matthew 16:18). Will the Church continue here? Will our children and grandchildren and their descendants be a part of it? What will become of the church in the future? “The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray [Thy kingdom come] that it may come to us also” (SC III:7).

Planitude
     The Lord has a plan.
     Paul thought about the future. Aging St. Paul had succession planning on his mind as he was running the final lap of the race of his life, as the days of his life, like sand through an hourglass, were being poured out like a drink offering (II Timothy 4:6-7). Who would preach the life-restoring, soul-saving Gospel of free salvation richly poured out on believing hearts through faith in Christ-crucified? Who would dispense the priceless treasure of the Lord’s body and blood to feed the souls of God’s saints? Whose hand would bless children and adults alike with the watery Word of God in Holy Baptism so that the next generation will be born again? Old Paul looked to young Titus. This Gentile believer was not related to the Apostle. Still, Paul calls Titus “son,” that is, his “true child in a common faith” (v. 4). St. Paul left Titus on the island of Crete to ordain Pastors—that is, overseers, to feed and care for the new churches God had established there through Paul and other missionaries. Through called Pastors, the Lord had this plan: to take care of His Church into the future.

Callifications...
     God carefully calls into the Office of the Holy Ministry. Not everyone who feels it is called. Violent, drunken, adulterous, incompetent, candidates are excluded (v. 6). Disciplined, God-loving, friendly, candidates with a firm grasp on the Bible and its teachings are equipped with the tools to serve as overseers (v. 7-9). Pastors are sent as lambs amidst wolves (Acts 20:29; St. Luke 10:3). The Lord only calls qualified men into the pastoral office.

 
Time Lord
     Jesus is not caught off guard, nor unprepared for future events. Christ is Lord of time: He rules over the past, over the present and over the future. “I, the Lord, do not change” (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). All our days are in His hand (Psalm 31:15).
     Christ is the Overseer of the future of the Church. From the cross, Jesus takes in the needs of the Church, and the world for all time: there, He died to take our sins away. To deliver the benefits and blessings of His blood-bought redemption, the Lord calls Pastors to serve in the Church. The Lord of the Church washes away our sins in Baptism. The Lord of the Church speaks His Word to the world through public Bible teaching and pulpit preaching. The Lord of the Church feeds us with His living body and blood, served from the hands of His called Pastors. The Lord has a plan for the Church into the future.

Faces Of The Future
     So pray to Him. “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (St. Luke 10:2). Watch for the way He will answer your prayers. What can we expect to see? The Lord of the Church may choose to answer our prayers for Pastors with candidates from countries like India, Afghanistan, Brazil or Australia. The look and sound of Pastors is likely going to be different. But even if the face of the ministry looks different, the Word preached and taught in Law and Gospel will remain the same. Just as the Lord of the Church endures forever (I Peter 1:25).
     The future is coming. In Christ, the Lord of the Church, the future is a friend of yours and mine. God has us in His plan.
     Amen

For The Common Good

I Corinthians 12:7. ESV
The Second Sunday After The Epiphany

19/01/25

     “What’s good?” a friend asks. “God is good,” is my knee-jerk response. Yes. God is good. And, in the Church, God the Holy Spirit gives gifts to each Church member—gifts that will be a benefit and blessing to all: for the common good (συμφέρον).

Harmony
     Three times, earlier in this letter, the Apostle Paul urges the Corinthians not simply to think about themselves—rather to think about what will benefit others:
     Sexual immorality: “All things are lawful for me—but not all things are beneficial” (6:12). “The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord” (6:13). “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (6:19).
     The single/married life: “I say this for your own benefit” (7:35). “He who marries... does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better” (7:38).
     Food offered to idols: “All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful” (10:23). “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbour” (10:24).
     God the Holy Spirit calls people into the Church from a variety of economic, social, and ethnic backgrounds. In the Church, the Holy Spirit blesses baptized believers in Christ with a variety of gifts, services, and activities. Each of us is blessed according to our abilities, so that we can use those Spirit-given gifts for the benefit of each other and to enrich our world.
     To work together for the common good.

Solo
     Like the members of the congregation at Corinth, we are tempted to look down our noses at others, to boast about our gifts as if we have produced them ourselves, to go it alone rather than use what we have been given for the common good. Like the instruments in an orchestra, God the Holy Spirit has arranged the members of the Church to work together in a beautiful harmony.
     Sin makes us go solo
     “My body—my choice.” That’s the song the world sings in answer to the life issues we consider today on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Abortion. Euthanasia. Sexual intercourse outside of marriage. Research using human stem cells. Medical assistance in dying. The unbelieving world also considers these issues: “well, that’s a personal matter for me to decide. Keep your morality off my body,” says the world without Christ. A matter of individual choice. Only, it’s not. Despising the gift of life, even destroying human life diminishes all of us—rejecting the common good. All the world hurts.  The Church, the body of Christ, suffers.

Coda
     For the common good, the Lord Jesus gave Himself. To bind together and unite as one this fractured world, divided into solitary isolation, and insisting on going its own way, Christ gave His life for the common good. To heal, forgive, and restore every hurting soul, wounded and suffering from the tragic consequences of abortion or from intentional death, Jesus was nailed to the cross for the common good. To offer hope and a second chance to all who live in the dark shadow of despair and death, Christ rose to life again from the grave. The Lord Jesus chose to love us. His body is the gift that saves us: by His death and burial; by His resurrection and ascension. Jesus is Lord! For the common good.
     In the Church, the Holy Spirit blesses each of us with gifts that enrich the lives of others. We are stronger together.
     In a valley surrounded by mountains, lay a small village. The residents enjoyed a quiet, peaceful life. For the most part, they kept to themselves. Yet, often enough, they crossed swords, arguing over small things.
     Troubled by these squabbles, the king paid a visit to this village. As a part of his entourage, the king brought a massive stone upon a wagon, which he unhitched in the centre of the village. The king challenged the people: “Whoever carries this stone to the top of the mountain will be given a hundred pieces of gold.”
     In the minds of the villagers, each thought of how he would spent the loot. But the stone was heavy. And the path to the summit of the mountain was long. One by one, each man, woman, and child tried to budge the monolith, but it was no good.
     Days, weeks, and months passed with no success. Until one day. Most of the residents of the village were in the square, surrounding the stone, trying to figure how to move it, when, all at once, they turned to look at each other instead of at the stone. Someone said what they were all thinking: “Let’s try and move this stone together.” Everyone in the village found a corner. The massive stone rose from its resting place! Together, the villagers moved it off the cart and up the mountain path. It wasn’t easy. The trek up the mountain took more than a week. But together, they did it!
     The king returned with his bag of gold, as he promised. Together, the villagers decided to use it to feed the poor and provide winter fuel for the long winters in the valley. The stone still stands on the mountaintop to remind them that they are stronger together. 
     As are we. Our congregation belongs to a federation of like-minded Christians, a synod of congregations “walking together” in Lutheran Church—Canada. The LCC constitution gives this reason for gathering together: “Our Lord’s will that the diversities of gifts should be for the common profit I Cor 12:4-31... the conviction that such an organization will facilitate our witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our country and throughout the world.”
     We believe that we are stronger together.
     In the Church, the Holy Spirit gives a variety of gifts “to each one individually, as He wills” (v. 11). So, the Apostle Paul asks us, “What do you have that you did not first receive?” (I Corinthians 4:7). Consider how those Spirit-given gifts can make a real difference in the life of someone you know.
     God has blessed us—for the common good.
     Amen.

Stuck On You

Romans 6:1-11. ESV
The Baptism Of Our Lord

12/01/25

     I am stuck on Band-aids, ‘cause Band-aid’s stuck on me!
     That’s the selling point of this ad for Band-aids. When you stick them on over your cut or scrape, they’re not going to let go. Where you stick ‘em—they’re stuck!
     Better than a band-aid, Baptism sticks with us.
     A sticky water of life.

Soul-Stained
     Which is weird. Water’s not sticky: stains are. Like the stain of guilt staining Lady Macbeth’s hands—the bloodguilt that stuck to her after she and her husband murdered Duncan, King of Scotland. Wash and wash and wash—no amount of water could cleanse her guilty conscience. “Out, damned spot! Out, I say” (Macbeth V:i, 38).
     We know right and wrong. We know the Ten Commandments. Yet, we find ourselves hurting other people with unkind words, ensnared by sinful habits. Stuck in the same cycle of sin and the guilt that follows. Tempted even “to continue in sin that grace may abound” (v. 1). That’s twisted logic: daring God to show His love for us while we make intentional plans to disobey Him. Our sins want to make us slaves. Stuck to us!
     Sin makes you feel dirty. When your good name and reputation are slandered by another person. Even when those hurtful words are not true, still, in the court of public opinion, a horrible lie, believed by enough people, will stick.
     How can you get free? How can you get clean?
     Goo Gone. Heard of it? A little yellow, orange and black bottle of stuff that is supposed to get the sticky stuff off: paste, glue... all kinds of adhesives. The thing is... it doesn’t always work. The goopy stuff stays stuck. As disappointed as I am with the solvent I bought to get me unstuck, this product is really a picture of how hard it is to free ourselves of our spiritual stickiness—the goo of our sins that sticks to our souls. We try to free ourselves from sin’s stickiness—but we can’t! Our good intentions and best resolve still leave us stuck. Our best deeds can’t wash off the stain.
     Sin sticks to our souls.

Soul-Rinsed
     So Jesus sticks with us. In Baptism.
     “If we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His” (v. 5). The Baptism of Jesus is our Baptism. He’s stuck on you—in death and in life.
     That’s great news for the stains that stick to your soul—persistant, unrelenting, stubborn spots caused by hurtful words, acts and thoughts—sin that, try as you might, just won’t go away. Night and day. Sticky.
     You can’t get unstuck. But Jesus can do it. All our sins of thought, speech and deed are washed away in Baptism. Return to Baptism everyday to rinse away the stains. Daily drown the Old Eve, the Old Adam: that “old self... the body of sin” (v. 6). Baptism crucifies our worst self together with Jesus—joined to the Lord in His death. All the stickiness of sin is washed away in Christ. Free. Clean.

Sole Companion
     Even better, Jesus sticks with us—for life!
     By His death on the cross, Jesus defeated death that clings to us all. Destroying death, Christ was resurrected alive again on Easter Sunday morning. “Christ, being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him” (v. 9). Jesus Christ is alive—in body and soul! We stick with that promise of Sacred Scripture: life in Christ. He rose from the dead—and we will  rise from the dead, too. Your Baptism seals it: Jesus is stuck on you!
     At the start of every funeral service. As the opening hymn is about to begin; just as the family is about to walk into the church following the body of the deceased: that’s when we hear these words: “...we were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (v. 4). Every time!
     For, Christians cling to this confident hope in our Lord Jesus: death and burial; resurrection and life. Our Baptism joins us to Jesus. What God begins at the font, He completes at the funeral.
     Thanks be to God we are stuck—stuck on Jesus.
     Amen.

The Star Of My Life

St. Matthew 2:1-12. ESV
The Epiphany Of Our Lord

05/01/25

     He had an epiphany!
     This man’s whole life flashed before his eyes in a split second: in the moment when he was about to die.
     You see, he was walking to work down the crowded city sidewalk, just like he did every working day. Inexplicably, this man decided to look up at the very moment when a potted plant was falling through the sky directly above him—a terra cotta projectile accidently knocked off the ledge of a skyscraper many floors above. At the last moment, the man stepped away. His life was saved as the flowerpot smashed on the sidewalk beside him.
     Meanwhile, his whole life flashed before his eyes. Average. Unremarkable. Kind of plain. That’s what this instant review of his life showed him.
     It was an epiphany! He needed to travel more; to do more; to see more; to make the most of the life that he had left to live.
     To become the star of his own life.
     Wise men from the far east looked up in the sky. What did they see? Not a falling potted plant, but a rising star. They had an epiphany! This was no ordinary star: this heavenly body was not like our sun, Alpha Centuri, nor Barnard’s star; this bright light was not a familiar planet, like Mars or Venus, Jupiter or Saturn; nor was this unusual star just another kind of spatial formation, like a quasar, a nebula or a comet. This new star did not behave like any of those things. This star appeared in the east, went before the wise men to show them the way, and stopped over the house where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were living (v. 2, 7, 9, 10). The eastern sages concluded from their studies that this was not a regular star, planet, nor comet. No, this unique star was the birth announcement prophesied in ancient times by God in Numbers 24 (Numbers 24:17). The wise men followed the star, looking for the new King—the King of the Jews (v. 2). “The heavens declare the glory of God, and sky above proclaims His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). For Christ Jesus, God the Father displayed this miracle in the heavens: the Star of His life!
     This epiphany: realizing they saw a miracle of God travelling in the sky before their very eyes, the wise men rejoiced (ἐχάρησαν) with mega-great joy (χαρὰν μεγάλη σφόδρα v. 9).
     And yet, the sight of His star did not make everyone happy. King Herod was troubled (ἐταράχθη). The people Herod ruled in Jerusalem were also troubled (v. 3). This jealous and murderous king would not allow any rivals to challenge his throne. While he pretended to seek the Christ Child to worship Him, Herod only wanted to destroy this newborn King. The male babies of Bethlehem ended up as the tragic casualties of this tyrant who was the star of his own life.
     Tempting: to try and outshine Him who is the Light; to try and eclipse the Star of life itself. Within every single one of us, each of us is tempted to make ourselves the star of our own lives. Not to fear, love nor trust in God above all things. Like King Herod, that in-born sin wants me to be the star of my life.
     The epiphany of repentant faith is this: no one can be the star of her or his own life. Fame runs out. Goodness fails. Our time runs out. The glory burns out. We need to be saved. We need a King over us. We need a Star from heaven. Jesus is the Saviour King born for us. Jesus is the Star for the life of the world.
     While Herod ruled with ruthless jealousy, holding his subjects in the grip of his violence and fear, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, binding together the peoples of all nations with His forgiving love. So, the wise Magi shunned wicked Herod, and with joy followed the divine star to find the infant Jesus. In faith, they presented the Christ Child with treasures: with gold, with frankincense, and with myrrh. “With their gifts, they confessed their God” (LSB 399).
     Gold is a gift fit for a King. “The star proclaims the King is here” (LSB 399). Jesus: Lord and King at His birth. His crown is thorns. His throne is the cross. This King of kings rules by giving His life to save His subjects. Jesus poured out His royal blood to forgive our sins so that we rule with Him in heaven.
     Frankincense was the daily aroma of the Old Testament worship in Tabernacle and Temple. Priests prayed and burned incense: sweet smoke and prayers rising together before God in heaven. Jesus is born to be our great High Priest. He stands between us and God: interceding for us with His prayers night and day.
     Myrrh was the bitter embalming oil of Bible times. Even at His birth, the wise men gave Jesus this gift—myrrh—looking ahead to His mission to save the world. By dying for us, Jesus puts the sins of the world to death. Myrrh is the gift anticipating Christ’s saving death that gives us life.
     Wise and wealthy, the Magi gave gifts to this Child whose star showed that He was far greater than they were: “He who has been born King of the Jews” (v. 2). Seeing Jesus blessed these wise men with the wisdom of faith that saves.
     Jesus is born to give gifts to us, today. The Bible, the very Word of God, is better than gold, yes better than much fine gold (Psalm 19:10). Following His Word, like the wise men, we come to worship Jesus, the Star of our life.
     Baptism is the sweet incense of new life where we are born again. Here, our sins are drowned. Here, we are joined to Jesus, who is born to be the Star of our life.
     Holy Communion strengthens our faith as we travel through the dark valley of the shadow of death. Sin is the bitter myrrh that ends our earthly lives. Still, Jesus walks with us, in communion with us, through this valley of sorrow to be with Him forever: the Star of our life.
     But Jesus is not only the Star of your life and mine. This Star, God in human flesh, is born to be the Light of the world. Wise men travelled across the world to see Him. Jesus shines His saving light of the Gospel through us into all the world.
     The Star of the nations.
     Amen.

    
The Eighth Day

St. Luke 2:21. ESV
New Year’s Eve

31/12/24

     How many sides does the baptismal font have? That’s right: eight! Can you count how many squares there are around the cross on the front of the hymnal? That’s right: eight! How many maids are a-milking in the song Twelve Days of Christmas? That’s right: eight! How many Beatitudes, or “blessed” statements did Jesus preach in the Sermon on the Mount? That’s right: eight! How many days after a baby was born did the law of God require a male child to be circumcised? That’s right: eight! How many days did God take to create all things? That’s right: eight! No, wait... seven. Hold on: six!
     Tomorrow is the eighth day. In a few short hours, today will become tomorrow. This year will become next year. The world looks back at the year gone by. Christians look ahead. In Christ, we look to the future in faith.
     January 1st is the eighth day after Christmas. The brief Gospel reading tells how eight-day-old Jesus was circumcised according to the Law of Moses (Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3). Right after the angels withdrew into heaven, after the shepherds went home, St. Luke records the circumcision and naming of Jesus. When the Baby was eight days old.
     First blood. That’s what circumcision meant for the Christmas Baby and for every male Israelite brought into the covenant of the Lord. Hardly in this world but for a few days and this little boy is inflicted with a sensitive wound, requiring more days of recovery. Why? A sign of repentance. Circumcision cut skin away from the child: repentance is cutting sin out of our lives. By this sign of repentance, you were part of the people of God.

     Deliberate and painful, we repent by letting go of sinful habits, weaknesses and harmful words. Turning from sin is one way God’s people are different from the rest of the world. As the year comes to a close, we repent of sins we have committed during the past year, and pray God’s forgiveness entering the new year about to begin. Repentance lets go of the past. We look to the future with confidence.
     On the eighth day, Jesus was circumcised according to the Law of God. Yet, Jesus had no sin. This innocent Baby had no need to repent. He shed His blood for us. Circumcised on the eighth day, the infant blood Jesus shed was for us. The cut in His newborn flesh looked to the future, when adult Jesus would suffer scourge, nail and spear in His body, pouring out His lifeblood until He died. Innocent Jesus gave His life to redeem us and all people. Our forgiveness is complete through the purity of this Child, circumcised and crucified to open up new life to us.
     So now circumcision has been fulfilled in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. In this water and this Word of God, sins are drowned in a washing of repentance. In this water and this Word of God, we are joined to Jesus. This perfect Child who lived a perfect life for us, gives us a fresh start and new life here in this Sacrament. Here, we are born again in Him who died and rose again for us. Newborn children and all people of all ages gain a fresh start as the children of God here in this Sacrament. Jesus promises, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (St. Mark 16:16 NKJV). 
     Seven days: that’s the order of creation. In six days, God created all things. On the Sabbath, He rested. Seven days. “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5), announces the Lord. That’s what the eighth day is all about. Circumcision, prescribed by God on the eighth day, looked ahead to Baptism. In the week of creation, God created all things good in the beginning. Now, in Christ, the Lord begins a new creation. The eighth day is the first day of the beginning of a new week. Christ rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, the eighth day. We worship the risen Christ when we gather on Sunday, the eighth day. We are a new creation in Him. The best is yet to come.
     In Christ, we look ahead. Don’t look back. A new day is coming... tomorrow. The eighth day!
Amen

The Fifth Day

Colossians 3:12-17. ESV
The First Sunday After Christmas

29/12/24

     Happy Christmas! Happy fifth day of Christmas, to be precise. The birth of God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, at Christmas is too great an event to reserve our joyous worship to one day only. By a proclamation of the early Church (567 AD) the festivities of Christ’s arrival at Bethlehem were spread out over twelve days: from December 25th to January 6th. We still sing the carol that describes the unique gifts given by “my true love” on each of the twelve days. Today, we approach the middle of this fortnight of days: the fifth day of Christmas.
     If you remember the song, the gifts given on the fifth day of Christmas are “five golden rings...” as the lists rhymed off in the song slow down noticeably. What’s that all about?
     The twelve days of Christmas was written as allegory: an instructional song describing major tenets of the Christian faith in symbolic language. God is “my true love.” At Christmas, He gives gifts through Christ His dear Son. Jesus is “a partridge in a pear tree,” the gift of the first day. Other teachings of Scripture captured in the song’s symbolic gifts are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and the four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Especially during times of religious persecution, the song provided the outline for Catechesis in the Christian faith.
     Now back to the “five golden rings” of this day. They stand for the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These foundational books of the Bible describe the creation of the world and of all things, the giving of the Law, God’s Ten Commandments, the origin of sin, and the promise of a Saviour. The Gospel footings laid at the beginning of the Bible were fulfilled when Christ was born. Those five books tell of sin. Christmas gives us the Saviour: the Gift my true love gave to me!
     These days, you might be busy sorting through Christmas decorations, organizing leftovers, taking stock of gifts you have received, maybe even thinking about taking some gifts back to the store for refund, resizing or return. Although our Christmas celebrations may involve a lot of stuff, despite all the gifts and giving, there is really only one gift: Jesus is the gift we unwrap all through the twelve days of Christmas, and all year long.
     The gifts described in the twelve days of Christmas, and the many rich qualities unpacked by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians all spring that first and best gift: God’s own Son to the world. Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving all year long.
     Why do we need Him? The shadow of our sins lurks behind the gracious words of the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter three. Complaining. Refusing to forgive. Cold and loveless hearts. Souls unmoved to worship, praise and give thanks to God. Our sins turn a blind eye to our neighbour in need, make us self-centred and take the song out of our hearts.
     Jesus was born to take our sins away. In our place, Jesus obeyed the Law of God. For Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph presented the sacrificial gifts prescribed in the books of Moses. Christ’s obedience counts as ours. His entire life perfectly obeyed God’s commandments for us. Christ’s obedience would even pierce the heart of Mary His mother, the day when He would give His life on the cross to save the world. Already on the fifth day of Christmas, the Lord’s salvation appears before our eyes in Jesus, the Christ.
     Like a new shirt or sweater wrapped up for you under the tree at Christmas, Paul urges us to put on Christ: “put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience” (v. 12). These are gifts that the Holy Spirit works in us because God, “our true love” gave Jesus to me and to you. And, these gifts keep coming: put up with one another, that is be patient with other people in their sins, and forgive them instead of just complaining. That’s what love looks like. We do this because God, “our true love” gave Jesus to me and to you. Patiently forgiving others in love gives peace to our hearts.  God, “our true love” gave Jesus to forgive us. The Prince of peace rules in our hearts when we trust in Him. We say “thank you” for gifts we have received. How much more thankful we are for the gift of Jesus!
     Which gives us a reason to sing! In the divine services, the Word of God is embedded in the hymns, psalms and spiritual songs of the order of service. In worship, we instruct each other in our singing, just as the twelve days of Christmas was used to teach new Christians in early years. Worship is not simple entertainment. Here, in the services of God’s house, “the word of Christ dwell[s] in you richly” (v. 16).
     Happy fifth day of Christmas!
     Amen.

Christmas Miracles

Titus 3:4-7. ESV
The Nativity Of Our Lord, Christmas Dawn

25/12/24

     Christmas day: miracles of miracles! The eternal, omnipotent God becomes man. Miracles of miracles: God in heaven comes down to earth! Miracle of miracles: the Infant Christ, our true Brother, opens heaven to the world. Christmas is the time for miracles.
     And, miracles are God’s domain. In the beginning, when He created the heavens and the earth, the universe was established in a wonderful order, proclaiming the wisdom and majesty of God: times and seasons, the laws of physics: gravity, heat, light, natural laws governing conception, birth, life and death. The order of the universe gives witness to God’s working in good and decent order (I Corinthians 14:40).
     Miracles. Miracles are exceptions to the Lord’s natural order. The wonderful working of God outside the boundaries of His natural law. Miracles display God’s power as almighty. Miracles show God’s love. Christmas is filled with miracles.
     The miracle of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem displayed God’s miraculous working long before that blessèd night: in the beginning, in Eden. The first couple disobeyed God’s first command. And, sin must be punished. God’s justice demands it. The Lord showed mercy, not retribution. The Child of Eve, Jesus, would destroy the power of sin and Satan as He suffered the mortal wound of the world’s sin by dying on the cross (Genesis 3:15). Faith in this Saviour to come saved Adam and Eve, and all their following generations as they looked forward to the Messiah who would be born at Christmas. Just as faith in Jesus saves us from the guilt of our sins. Not the normal pattern of sin and punishment. Forgiveness and life in Christ. A miracle!
     Miracles surround the coming of the promised Saviour, born at Christmas for us. When you see a miracle, you know that God is at work.
     Like the virginal conception and birth. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus” (St. Luke 1:31), promised the archangel Gabriel. Without a husband; with her virginal honour intact; by faith alone in God’s Word of promise, Mary conceived Jesus in her womb. Highly favoured by God! Blessed above all other women! The receiver of unique grace from God. In this singular way, Jesus came into the world. A miracle!
     Just as the powerful hand of the Lord directed and supported the events that brought the very Son of God into the world as our one and only Saviour. Mary and her betrothed husband Joseph made the arduous journey to Bethlehem in order to complete the Roman census. The heavenly Father protected Mary and her holy unborn Child through the eighty-five mile trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem during the last stage of her pregnancy. Although the inn was filled with visitors, God provided a place for His Son to be born among the livestock. With tender care, Mary wrapped her newborn in swaddling cloths to protect Baby Jesus from the cold night air. A manger served as His first cradle. Not the usual way for a child to enter the world. But, this was no ordinary Child. God the Father brought His miracle Child to us. Christ is born to save us.
     That same night, God provided a miraculous birth announcement. Angels came from heaven to identify this miracle Baby: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord” (St. Luke 2:11). When angels show up, you know that a miracle has happened!
     The shepherds in the fields nearby caught on to that. From their drowsy sheep-watching, these shepherds hurried to Bethlehem. Was it a miracle that they found the Christ Child in the manger while Mary and Joseph stood nearby? Most certainly, God the Holy Spirit worked a miracle of faith in their hearts. They were changed men after the word from the angel, and the sight of the Holy Jesus swaddled in the manger. The Word of God made flesh created saving faith in their hearts. A Christmas miracle!
     As God continues to do the miraculous in us. The Christ who was born at Christmas is born in us here in the Word of God and water of Baptism. This is unusual, life-changing, eternally blessed working of God in us: a true miracle! (Titus 3:4-7).
     The Lord Christ, who gives us the miracle of new life here in Baptism nourishes and strengthens that gift of faith with His real presence here in Holy Communion. Bread and wine are normal food and drink until God’s Word works the miracle of Christ’s true presence in those elements and He is with us. Under the swaddling clothes of simple bread and wine, Jesus comes to us to renew our faith, forgive our sins, and give us eternal life. A Christmas miracle!
     Milagra. That’s the name of one of the Deaconesses in Nicaragua. Milagra means “miracle.” Her mother and father did not think they were able to have children. When she was born, they were overjoyed! This girl came into their lives as a miracle from God’s hand!
     You and I have been born again into a new and living hope (Hebrews 10:20; I Peter 1:3) through God’s own Child born at Christmas:
     A true Miracle!
     Amen.

Let The Little Child Come To Me

St. Mark 10:13-16. NIV
The Nativity Of Our Lord, Christmas Eve

24/12/24

     We love children. Their cuteness captivates us. We notice their mannerisms: how they speak; little things they do. “That looks like Dad,” we might say. “She has Mom’s eyes,” we notice. Even when they act up, babies get a pass: “Awww... isn’t she cute?” Christmas is the time for children: when God Himself took on human flesh to enter our world as a newborn Child. Kids are excited, captivated, eager to celebrate magical moments at Christmas.
     Children were not valued like that in the first century—the days when Jesus walked the earth during His earthly ministry. Our text from the Gospel of Mark is one such example: the appointed Gospel reading for Baptism. When parents brought children (βρέφος, cf. St. Luke 18:15) that is, tiny, newborns, like Baby Jesus born in Bethlehem, the disciples tried to send them away. ‘Jesus is too busy, too important, too grown up for babies.’ The disciples rebuked parents and children. Jesus was indignant. ‘Hopping mad.’ With arms open wide, the Lord invited, “Let the children come to Me and do not hinder them” (v. 14). Lovingly placing His divine/human hands on them, the Lord Jesus blessed those little babies. Still today, the Lord Jesus welcomes children of all ages into the kingdom of God. In Holy Baptism, Christ embraces us with His hands of blessing. In Word and water, Jesus says, “let the little children come to Me.”
     Christmas brings God’s love to every person in the world through His only Son Jesus. Through this holy newborn Baby, God the Father reaches out His compassionate hand of blessing. Grace. Undeserved love. Forgiveness for our every guilt. Protection in body and soul. Life without limits. All by His free gift given through this divine Child. In love, the Father says to our troubled world, “Let the little Child come to them.”
     The powers of darkness seek to block Christ’s coming, just like the disciples did, as they tried to send the newborn babies away. When expectant Mary accompanied by Joseph came to Bethlehem, the inn was full. God’s Son came into the world among the livestock in the stable. Murderous Herod tried to stop the Christ Child from coming, seeking to assassinate the One born King of the Jews. Fleeing to Egypt, the life of this precious Child was spared.
     Still today, the Christ Child is blocked in our world. As the world frantically celebrates this holiday season, some carefully seek to take Christ out of Christmas. Public prayer in the name of Jesus is frowned on and forbidden. Our hearts are so filled with pleasure, and entertainment, they are like the Bethlehem inn: no room for the Child to come and stay with us. Our sins turn the little Child away.
     God is greater than our hearts (I John 3:20). His loving heart provides the way for His Son, our Saviour, to come to us. The whole world being at peace: Caesar Augustus ruled over the Roman Empire. God used Caesar to bring His Son to Bethlehem for His birth, as the Prophets had predicted. Let the little Child come to us!
     Supported by Joseph, her betrothed husband, the Virgin Mary made the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, fraught with hardship and danger. Despite being turned away, God the Father provided a safe maternity room for this new mother to give birth to her dear Son. Among the livestock, Mary brought Jesus into the world, swaddling His tiny body in strips of cloth, and cradling Him in the manger of the stable. Let the little Child come to us!
     Like the newborns brought to Jesus for His blessing, Christ Himself knows what it is like to be small: the newborn Infant of Mary was conceived in innocence, born in poverty, laid on the hay of the manger in Bethlehem. Christmas night Jesus entered our world as true Man: this new life exposed to cold, subject to hunger, weakness, disease, and human frailty. At the same time, this blessed Child is true God in human flesh. Baby Jesus is born to bring blessing to all the world. From Bethlehem’s manger, this Jesus heads towards Jerusalem’s cross. This blessèd Child of God is born to save us from the guilt and punishment of our sins. The ultimate gift of love from God the Father to the world.
     Let the little Child come to us!
     That’s how our souls long for Jesus to bless us today: ‘Let the little Child come to me,’ we pray. Nurtured in the womb of His mother Mary, Jesus was born at Bethlehem to save us. Reborn in the water and Word of God in Holy Baptism, we become the children of God the Father through Jesus Christ in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
     Let the little Child come to me!
     At Christmas, Mary’s Child, Jesus, is born the Word made flesh (St. John 1:14). The living Word continues to speak to us today in sermon, personal Bible study, and daily devotions.
     Let the little Child come to me!
     First wrapped up in swaddling clothes and laid in the manger, tomorrow, God’s own dear Son will be wrapped up in the swaddling clothes of bread and wine, and laid on the altar for us.
     Let the little Child come to me!
     At Christmas, God sends His Son to the world out of love for us. Our souls call out in faith for the Saviour Jesus to make His home in us. Let the little Child come to me!
     Amen

Little Jesus: Big Saviour

Hebrews 10:5-10. ESV
The Fourth Sunday In Advent

22/12/24

     Christmas is God come from heaven to save the world. You can’t imagine a bigger rescue.
     Yet, God saves the world in a small, simple, humble act: just a tiny Baby who was born in a stable.
     Make no mistake: little Jesus is our big Saviour.
     Just a young girl from the town of Nazareth: that was Mary, the mother of Jesus. To this believing girl, God sent His angel Gabriel with a big announcement: ‘You will give birth to the Holy Child—the only One who comes into the world without sin. “Jesus” will be His name. His big mission is to save the world from sin.’ Even though she is unmarried, and has remained pure and honourable, Mary trusts God’s Word and believes that she will conceive and become the mother of this holy Child: “Let it be to me according to your word” (St. Luke 1:38).
     Nine months after the angel’s announcement, Mary and her betrothed husband Joseph travel to Bethlehem, the town of their ancestors. In this little town, crowded with visitors, Mary gives birth to her little Baby: Jesus. She lays her tender newborn on the hay of the manger, since the Bethlehem inn was full. Just a small beginning of God’s big plans.
     At Christmas, Jesus was born to live out the meaning of His name: “Jesus” means Saviour (St. Matthew 1:21). Little Jesus brings a big salvation for all the people of all the world.
     All the Old Testament sacrifices and burnt offerings in the desert Tabernacle and Jerusalem Temple would just not be enough to save people. “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Just one Person can do it: the Baby Jesus, now grown to manhood—the obedient Son of God the Father—He saves us. By offering His body on the cross, Jesus saves us. And not just us. The little Christmas story told in the Bible opens up to reveal God’s big plan of world-wide salvation. The Christ Child born of the Virgin Mary is the Saviour of all the people of all the world. His life for our lives. His offering, in the body, on the cross of Calvary, takes away the sins of the whole world.
     “Once for all” (ἐφάπαξ v. 10,  cf. AC XXV:25-27).
     The angels knew it. Ranks of angels appeared in the dark night skies over Bethlehem to announce that this was not just another child born on that first Christmas. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord” (St. Luke 2:11). This little newborn Jesus is God Himself: the world’s Saviour.
     The shepherds knew it. Following the angel’s direction to the manger of Bethlehem, their eyes were filled with wonder. Jesus was not just another baby. They had only seen one Baby who was lying in a feeding trough: this was the sign prepared by God that the Messiah, the world’s Saviour was here! They hurried off to spread the word. The shepherds made it known to everyone else: the things they had heard and seen (St. Luke 2:20).
     And what did they see? Not just little Baby Jesus. What was the word they had heard from the angel? The Christmas angel announced the great Saviour Jesus, given by God to all the world.
     And we know it now, too. Jesus is the little Baby born to delivers us from all our sins: from problems small and big. Christmas gives us joy now that Christ has come.
     Once for all.
     Jesus came for us. Christ is born for you.
     Amen

Tell Me Something Good

Philippians 4:4-9. ESV
The Third Sunday In Advent

15/12/24

     Why the big grin? What’s that smile on your face all about? What’s the reason for your happiness? Where is the source of your joy? Tell me something good.

On The Bright Side...
     Is it holiday cheer? When the Christmas tree is placed in its stand, all trimmed with tinsel, and bright coloured decorations; when the lights are switched on and all the colours of the spectrum scatter the darkness of these short and gloomy days; when the bouncy tunes of Christmas music fill your ears and repeat in your minds to lift your spirits, it makes you feel good.
     Or how about Christmas get-togethers? When family and friends come to visit; when you are invited over for coffee and cookies; when it’s your favorite meal spread on the dining room table to enjoy with your loved ones, then happiness fills your heart.
     How about a holiday from sales tax? Two months free of GST even if it’s only on certain items would be a welcome break from shouldering the tax burden. And, a $250 cheque in the mail when Spring rolls around? Okay!
     On this Sunday dedicated to joy, St. Paul urges us to fix our eyes and centre our attention on good things: true, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy (v. 8). Solomon a thousand years before Paul wrote, “I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful” (Ecclesiastes 8:15). To husbands, he wrote, “rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18). We do well to enjoy the rich gifts that God has poured out into our lives. The Lord is kind to us. It makes us smile.

On The Dark Side...
     Sadly, there are plenty of bad things to catch our attention, to occupy our minds, and to weigh down our hearts. Sin steals our joy. Bad news turns our smiles upside down.
     Like wars in the world: Russia vs. Ukraine; Israel vs. Hamas; conflict in Myanmar; civil war in Somalia and the Sudan. Although we shouldn’t be surprised to hear nations rise up against nations in open conflict and rumours of wars, since Jesus told us this would happen (St. Matthew 24:6-7). Still, the human tragedy of suffering and loss of life fills our hearts with sorrow.
     Sadder still when Christians suffer persecution for their faith in Christ. For example, the Christians in Syria now face an uncertain future with last week’s change in government. Christians living in China, India, North Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan and elsewhere are pressured to deny the faith or suffer the consequences. In today’s Gospel reading, John the Baptist went to prison for faithfully preaching the Word of God in Law and Gospel (St. Luke 3:20). 
     Close to home, we also face bad news: the ongoing postal strike affects giving to church and charity, delivery of important parcels, and simply sending Christmas cards to loved ones far away. Housing shortages and rising costs of everything, including groceries and gas makes it harder to get through each week.
     Always thinking about the bad in our lives and in the world makes us anxious: the continuous fear that things will only get worse and worse with no way out. Anxiety is the opposite of faith, trusting that God will deliver and save us. Faith trusts God to bring us good. “do not be anxious about anything” (v. 6), commands the Apostle today.
     Anxiety kills joy.
     Bad news can easily dominate our thoughts and cloud over our hearts. Why is that?
     There’s bad news in the world because of sin. As long as we fall under the darkness of disobedience to God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, bad things will hang over us and all the world. We cannot even work our way out the bad news of our sins. If we  obey God’s Commandments to the best of our ability, it will not make up for our sins. We cannot pay it forward to cancel the sins of others. “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).
     That’s the worst!
     Oh Pastor, tell me something good!

The Sunshine Of His Love
     We have a reason to smile: look to Jesus. Our happiness comes from the Lord.
Jesus is true (ἀληθής). By the devil’s lies, sin entered the world. God’s true and undying love gave His only-begotten Son to the world as the innocent Child born of Mary at Bethlehem. All who believe in Him will not perish. They have eternal life. True!

Jesus is honourable (σεμνός). The Son of God came down from heaven to defend our honour, soiled as we have been by our sins.

Jesus is just (δίκαιος). Christ fights the just war against the devil and all powers of darkness. He is our Commander, who died on the battlefront of Calvary to reclaim us as His own dear people.

Jesus is pure (ἁγνος). The only Child born into this world without sin. From manger to cross, Christ’s entire life is pure obedience to the holy will of God, a pure and continuous expression of love for God the Father and for the world. He makes us pure saints: together with all who are baptized and believe in Him.

Jesus is lovely (προσφιλής). Out of compassion for our lost world, Christ modeled the compassion of the loving Father for the sick, the lost and the dying. 

Jesus is commendable (εὐφημος). The kindness of Christ in His words and actions inspire us as the model of love and kindness as we speak to others and show them God’s love by what we do.

Jesus is excellent (ἀρετή). The innocence of this Holy Child we welcome at Christmas is ours since we have been baptized into Him. In Christ, we begin life anew, fresh and clean as newborn babies!

Our Prince Of Peace
     Look to the Saviour with His sevenfold virtues: the Christ Child of Christmas comes to us from heaven to earth to make peace: peace between God and man by the forgiveness of our sins; peace that the world cannot offer us; peace that surpasses all understanding. This peace in Christ—the peace of our sins forgiven—releases our minds and hearts from anxiety. Because of Jesus, all is now right between us and God: do not be anxious about anything! Turn your every need and want over to the Lord in prayer: do not be anxious about anything! The Lord is near to you in His gracious word and His powerful Sacraments. That’s something that’s really good: God’s peace in Christ guards us in heart and mind!
     The Lord Christ is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent (v. 8). Think about Jesus with a deep, heartfelt meditation. Our joy is in Jesus.

This world can be a dark place. Look on the bright side!

     Amen

Three Stage

Philippians 1:2-11. ESV
The Second Sunday In Advent

08/12/24

     A three stage rocket. The Saturn V was the gigantic vehicle NASA used to transport three men to the moon during the Apollo space program from 1969 to 1972. This towering spacecraft needed three stages to break out of the earth’s gravity and atmosphere: powerful engines to travel the vast distance to the moon and back: booster rockets; orbital engines; and a lunar module: three stages.
     As we pass through this life into the next—from earth to heaven—the Christian faith and life also has three stages: Baptism, Life, and Death. In the Apostle St. Paul’s Epistle to the Christians at Philippi, he has the whole scope of the Christian life in mind: our conversion to Christ, our daily struggles in the faith, and our final deliverance from this valley of sorrow to God’s presence in heaven. The Triune God Himself launches our life in Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us to holiness of living as we repent of sin and are forgiven in Christ. The Lord fully completes His work of salvation when He takes us from this life to Himself. With overflowing love and thankfulness to God, St. Paul pictures our three stages.

First Stage: Baptismal Booster Rocket
     For most of us, life in Christ began in Baptism. Liftoff from the guilt of our sins, leaving behind a pointless and futile life bound for the endless suffering of hell: given us in this water and Word of God. Here, God began His good work in us (v. 6). Here, the Old Adam is drowned. Here, is born in us a new creation in Christ. Here, we are converted from selfishness to care for others in love. Here in this Sacrament, all the blessings of Christ’s death on the cross are delivered to us: forgiveness of our sins, salvation from hell, and everlasting life.

     First stage.

Second Stage: Terrestrial Journey
     After Baptism, all the trouble begins. The second stage of the Christian life takes us into the struggles and joys we endure as Christians living in a non-Christian world. We fight the good fight as we struggle against sin in us, as we struggle to say “no” to Satan’s temptations, and as we resist the influence of the world. During this second stage, as we live out our faith in Christ, we pray for other Christians in their various needs, we pray for unbelievers to come to faith in Jesus, and we pray for the world. During this second stage, we witness to others what we believe by the things we are suffering, and in the many ways God has blessed us. 
     Think about it: God doesn’t take us straight to heaven right after we are baptized. He keeps us in this world. Our neighbours need our Christian witness and good works .
     John the Baptist preached a life of repentance: rejecting sin wherever it crops up so that we live new lives (St. Luke 3:10-14). That was Paul’s prayer, too: “that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (v. 9-10).
The tree of the Christian faith God planted in us when we were baptized now produces the fruit of good works in this life (St. Luke 3:9b).
     Of course, we don’t always get it right. We fail to be faithful. “We daily sin much” (SC III:16). Forgiveness is our fuel for this second stage of the journey. Forgiveness in Christ. We are forgiven because God’s Son went to the cross with the sins of the world. Forgiveness is freely given here: in Christ’s word of absolution, as we return to our Baptisms daily, and in His living presence in Holy Communion. The Lord started us on this path to heaven through faith in Christ. He is with us through every step of this life.
     Second stage.

Third Stage: Heavenly Touchdown
     The good work that God began in us when we were baptized, He will bring to completion when we leave this life. For all people, death is often sad and scary. Scripture tells us that death continues to be our enemy (I Corinthians 15:26). But for all who are in Christ, death has now become the gateway to eternal life (St. John 5:24-25, 28-29; Romans 6:3-4). That undiscovered country is largely unknown to us in this present age and stage of life (I Corinthians 13:12). Yet, we can look forward to the life come as the dwelling place of God, His angels and saints and all who are dear to us who have died in true faith (Hebrews 12:22-24). Heaven is the end goal God has prepared for those who are in Christ.
     Third stage.

Eternal Life Encapsulated
     Space travel is a fitting way to picture our life in Christ. Once the astronauts are strapped into their seats, and the capsule door is sealed, they are committed! They depend on their spacecraft for every stage of the journey. There are no alternate paths: outside is the cold vacuum of space. Like our world: a cold, dark valley of sorrow. The only safe path is Christ Jesus, “the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him]” (St. John 14:6). Our path through every stage of life, from this world to the next, is charted by Christ Jesus. We trust in Son of God, who came down from the stars of heaven to be born in the Bethlehem stable to save us and all the world. Back to God Jesus ascended, after making the path clear for us by His suffering and death on the cross for our sins.
      We are on a great journey: from earth to heaven; from the baptismal font to the new Eden of heaven. Trust the Pilot, who makes safe every stage of the trip. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (v. 6)
      Amen

Face To Face

I Thessalonians 3:9-13. ESV
The First Sunday In Advent

01/12/24

     Separation anxiety.
     The Apostle St. Paul eagerly longed to see the good people of the port city of Thessalonica, the saints that God had gathered in that church. “Earnestly” praying his heart out, Paul wanted to see their faces again (v. 10 -  πρόσωπον). Both he and they were going through some things. The distance separating them was not helping.
     They needed to be together.
     During his second missionary journey in 51 AD, Paul and Silas established the congregation at Thessalonica. One of the first Christian churches formed after the day Pentecost, the Thessalonian congregation was called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit as St. Paul boldly preached Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, proclaiming that He is the Christ (Acts 17:2-3).
     A real success story!

Face The Music
     But, “where God builds a church, there the devil builds a chapel” (Martin Luther, Table Talk AE 54). A violent mob quickly formed, attacking the new believers, seeking to destroy the church and disperse this congregation of Christians. For their safety, Paul and Silas were sent away by night to the city of Berea (Acts 17:10). But, the mob followed them, driving Paul out of Berea to stay first in Athens (Acts 17:15), and finally to find refuge in the city of Corinth (Acts 18:1), where he wrote this letter to the Thessalonian church. No doubt, his letter greatly encouraged and informed these new Christians in the faith they had only recently embraced. Paul’s kind words of fellowship and prayer support must have been especially dear to these infant believers as they suffered ongoing persecution for their new Lord and Master Christ Jesus. Still, Paul longed for more contact than simply words on a page, as powerful as that is. As their father in the faith, the Apostle counted them as his children (I Thessalonians 2:7). He would not abandon them. Paul prayed to see them—face to face.

Face Time
     That’s fellowship. Unity of faith in Christ means we kneel (or stand) together here at the altar rail, joined by a common belief in Christ as with our mouths, we receive His real presence. Lovers gaze into each others’ eyes. Those, like Paul, separated by a long absence, such as soldiers stationed on foreign soil, executives on an extended business trip, or missionaries serving in other lands, they all delight to look upon the faces of their loved ones: at the airport, train station, or front door. Face to face.

Hard To Face
     Sin makes those meetings painful, hostile and even despised. Sin that separates means that you can’t look that person in the eye. God asked Cain, “Why are you angry and why has your face fallen?” (Genesis 4:6). Jealousy and anger infected the heart of Adam’s eldest son. God could see it on his face. Self-righteous sin separated the Apostles, Peter and Paul. It was so bad that Paul wrote, “I opposed him to his face” (Galatians 2:11). Jesus refused to look at Peter when he  tried to convince the Lord not to go to the cross. “Get behind Me, Satan” (St. Matthew 6:13), scolded Jesus. The disciple could not face his Master.

In Your Face!
     God comes... to get into our faces. Where sin, shame, and guilt turn our eyes down to stare at the ground, turning our faces away from heaven, making it impossible even to look at each other, then... the Lord leads us to repent, to turn away from our sin, and to turn back to Him. Advent is God tenderly reaching out... to lift up our faces... to look at Him. The Lord comes to bless us as His loving face shines benediction upon us.

For Us He Faced The Cross
     What does that look like? Jesus!
     The innocent Babe born of Mary, the Messiah Christ. Perfect God and perfect man (Athanasian Creed 30). God’s Son, born in poverty, knows the slums of our sins, the isolation induced by our selfishness, the bitter resentment of deep conflict. With His tender flesh at age thirty-three, the Lord Jesus faced your guilt and mine, took it to the cross and suffered our punishment, burying our sins in His tomb. Christ set His face to go to Jerusalem (St. Luke 9:51), determined to carry out this act of love, this work of saving all people. Look to Jesus. By faith, you see “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6).

Face A Fearless Future
     Since God has come to us in Christ, we can face the future without fear. Love is the face God turns to us in Jesus. So, we love others in Him. Paul faced persecution and hardship to travel to his dear friends in Thessalonica. Why? Because of his love for them. Like a fountain spilling over into the lives of others, God’s love flowed out from His pure heart to Paul, then overflowed into the members of the church, from them, overflowed into the world around them, even to the enemies and persecutors of the church. “Perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18). We see that love in the face of Christ.

     Here, O My Lord, I see Thee face to face;
     Here would I touch and handle things unseen;
     Here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace,
     And all my weariness upon Thee lean.
     Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
     Here drink with Thee the royal wine of heav’n;
     Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
     Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven. (LSB 631:1-2)
     Amen

Last... Forever                                 

Isaiah 51:4-6. ESV
The Last Sunday Of The Church Year

24/11/24

     A diamond is forever.
     Jewelry companies know that Christmas is the time when many couples choose to get engaged. Ads picture a beautiful woman in the arms of handsome man. The moment is ever-remembered as he opens the small box to reveal the glittering gold ring and massive diamond at its centre: the symbol of unending love between them in married life together. A diamond is forever. Or is it?
     Certainly, a diamond will outlast each of us. This dense gem is so hard, it will cut through the hardest metal. But last forever? Forever is a long time. Isaiah in today’s Old Testament reading tells us, “the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner” (v. 6). Even diamonds will be destroyed. They do not last.
     The young man was visibly deflated. During premarriage instruction, I regularly ask couples, “How long do the bride and groom promise to be husband and wife to each other?” This eager groom-to-be blurted out: “Forever!” “No,” I corrected him. Your wedding vows are only for a limited time; they only take effect for this life: “until death parts us.” Forever is a long time. Marriage lasts only for this life.
     Although at first, she was not scheduled to perform in Canada, Taylor Swift added six concerts in Toronto to the delight of her fans. The great fanfare accompanying her arrival kicked off a series of sold out shows, memories to last a lifetime. But the tour only lasts for a short while. Last night was her last concert in Toronto. 

For The Last Time...
     So it is with this life. Today is the Last Sunday of the Church year. A new Church year begins with Advent next Sunday, preparing us to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Today, as the Church year draws to a close, we are reminded that all the things that God created in the beginning—“heaven and earth—will pass away” (St. Mark 13:31). Even though they were created good by God, due to the corruption of sin, they will not last. One day will be the last.
     Like us. Sin in us means we will not last. We have that sad reminder every time the season of Lent begins. With the cross of ashes traced on our foreheads, we hear that initial curse of sin repeated in our ears: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). At the last day of the year, we remember that in this world, we will not last.

At Last!
     “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever!” (I Peter 1:24-25). St. Peter’s inspired words in his first Epistle became the anthem and rallying-cry of the Smalcaldic League during the Reformation. Like the withering grass and flowers of the field, the glory and beauty of this world does not last. Even the powerful sweep of the Roman Church in the Middle Ages could not last. Not like the Word of God. The Bible’s truth will never change. You can count on the Lord’s Word to be true. Sacred Scripture lasts.
     Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. Christ is the righteousness of God foretold in Isaiah. Jesus is God’s “justice [set] for a light to the peoples” (v. 4). The righteousness of God draws near to us in Christ—here in His Word read and preached; here in that Word joined to water, bread and wine in the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion. Heaven and earth will pass away. Everything around us changes. This world does not last. But the Word of the Lord—Jesus, the Christ—remains forever.

Everlasting Salvation
     This keeps us from being “dismayed” (v. 6). In Jesus, we have “hope” (v. 5), hope that lasts. For in His great love for us, Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh to bring salvation to the world—salvation that lasts.
      We see God’s strong arm at work—His almighty power under the shame, suffering and humiliation of the cross. Christ Jesus, by very nature eternal and everlasting, chose to suffer the end of His life to rescue us from a short life and everlasting suffering in hell. Carrying the burden of the whole world’s sin, Jesus breathed His last as the perfect Substitute and sacrifice for all. “It is finished” (Jn 19:30)  is the Word of the Lord that remains forever. That is, His work of saving us is entirely completed. In Christ crucified, the Triune God fully accepts us as His own dear children for time and for eternity. “In Christ, you are mine,” says God to His baptized believers. That’s His last word.

Last Place
     The Lord provides us with a home to live in for all eternity: the last place we will ever need. “In My Father’s house are many rooms” the Lord Jesus promised His disciples. “I go to prepare a place for you” (St. John 14:2). What will that be like? “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Corinthians 2:9). One thing we do know about our heavenly home: while “the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment” (v. 6)... change and decay in all around I see” (LSB 838:4), the passing form of this life stands in sharp contrast to the permanent life to come. “We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1).
     That’s the last place anyone will find you. That place, your true and heavenly home, with the righteous Lord who has saved you, will last forever.
     Amen.

​
Who Wrote The Book Of Life?

Daniel 12:1-3. ESV
The Twenty-sixth Sunday After Pentecost

17/11/24.

     Make a list. Some people compile a list on their phones. Some make a list, and post it on the fridge with a magnet. Others scrawl their items on a scrap of paper and shove it in their pocket. Why? Once the list is made, that series of tasks is hard to ignore.  The list keeps your from forgetting the important things.
     God in His Word, the Bible, makes lists. Genealogies: lists of important names—Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests, and pious people—in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Some of the lists are long—books, really.
     For God is a Bookkeeper. He looks over two kinds of books in Sacred Scripture: the Book of life, and books of our sins.

In His Bad Books
     On the Last Day, the Day of Judgment, books will be opened: books that contain the record of your every sinful act, every unkind word, every deceitful thought. All in those books (Daniel 7:10, Revelation 20:12).
How scary is that?
     The books are opened then to all,
     A record truly telling
     What each has done, both great and small,
     When he on earth was dwelling,
     And every heart be clearly seen,
     And all be known as they have been
     In thoughts and words and actions. (LSB 508:3)
     Think of it. If you are pulled over for a traffic violation, the police officer writes up a ticket. “Book ‘em, Danno!” That’s Detective Steve McGarrett’s line to send the bad guy to jail. And, if you are found guilty in a court of law, the judge might just “throw the book at you,” that is, sentence you for your crime to the full extent of the law.
     The verdict of God’s law is much worse. The heavenly Judge sees our every sin, knows our hearts, and records our guilt in His books. We cannot justify ourselves by working off our sins. We cannot erase the condemning words from those books.
     Does that sound bad? Prophetic Daniel warns that “a time of trouble” is coming, worse than any nation has ever experienced (v. 1). One for the history books. Life will go from bad to worse; an intolerable trouble. 

Rejecting Life
     How to escape this time of trouble? What eases our personal suffering? Death, not life—that’s how we are tempted in these days: to take matters into our own hands. Control the time of your departure and go out on your own terms. Medical assistance in dying rejects the gift of life God has given, and ignores His promises of the life to come. You shall not murder—that includes yourself. Daniel warns that after the sleep of death in the dust of the earth, some will be resurrected to shame and everlasting contempt. That’s hell. From the books of sins, God will judge those who reject Him.
     But, for those who are in Christ, there is another book (רפס), a more important book: the Book of Life.

Christ Is The Book Of Life
     The Formula of Concord (FC Ep XI: 7, 13; FC SD XI:13, 25, 66, 70, 89) calls Jesus the Book of Life. He has crossed out the record of sins that stands against us to accuse us—the list written throughout the days of our lives. Christ has cancelled the sentence of guilt that stands against us (Colossians 2:14). By dying on the cross, Jesus has put to death the sentence of eternal death that we deserve for our sins.
     Instead, Christ has written our names in the Book of Life. One Book. One Christ. One list of all the saved. In eternity, before we were born, God chose us for salvation in Christ. From the moment of our Baptisms, God the Father adopted us as His dear children, writing your names and mine in the Book of Life. The same names given by our parents when this water was poured on us, connected to the Word of God. Our names were written by the Lord Jesus; written with indelible ink; written with His blood—saving, divine blood, given and shed on the cross for us; distributed to us here at the altar to strengthen faith in Him. Jesus knows your name!
     My Savior paid the debt I owe
     And for my sin was smitten;
     Within the Book of Life I know
     My name has now been written.
     I will not doubt, for I am free,
     And Satan cannot threaten me;
     There is no condemnation! (LSB 508:5) 
     The Lord once sent His disciples on a mission to preach the Gospel (St. Luke 10:17-20). When they came back from this mission trip, they were excited, enthusiastic, on cloud nine. It was a spiritual high! What’s better than being able to tell evil spirits what to do? To have your name written in the Book of life in heaven! Rejoice that your name is in the Lamb’s Book of life (Revelation 21:27)!
     Who wrote the Book of life?
     Answer: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
     Whose names are in the Book of life?
     Answer: Yours and mine, and every lamb and sheep of the Good Shepherd!
Amen
​

Let Them Eat Cake

I Kings 17:8-16. ESV
The Twenty-fifth Sunday After Pentecost

10/11/24

     “Let them eat cake,” declared the Queen, Marie Antoinette from the balcony of the royal palace in Versailles, France. Crowds of citizens flocked to the gates of the palace. A great famine in 1789 plunged the whole population of the country into extreme hunger. The Queen and all her nobles had no idea. The royal court was well-provisioned with food and supplies. So, when Marie Antoinette stood on the balcony overlooking her people, trying to understand why the angry mobs thronged the palace; why they were shouting, one of her attendants told her, “They have no bread to eat.” To the Queen, the solution seemed simple: “Let them eat cake.”
     Not distant, unaware, out of touch, nor uncaring, but keenly watching out for our needs, the Lord, our heavenly King, looks upon our world: its population lean, emaciated, starving from the famine brought on by our sins. The almighty Father gives Jesus, the Bread of life for this world and for the world to come—the very best for His people. As if to say to the hungry world, “Let them eat cake.”
     In the desolate land of Northern Israel, devastated and barren during a three-year drought, Elijah the Prophet meets a widow and her son. “Make me a little cake (הגע)” (v. 13), he asks. This bizarre, even ridiculous request leads to a massive miracle.

A World In Need
     Two widows living in poverty. Today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings feature two poor ladies at the end of their ropes, desperately trying to make ends meet without earthly goods. Like many people in the world today: Forty-five percent of the world’s population has ninety-eight percent of the world’s wealth. That’s us! We have been richly blessed. With the material blessings that God has given you and me, we can make a real difference in the lives of the fifty-five percent of the world’s population living in extreme need.
     Despite their poverty, these two widows in Sacred Scripture, separated by time and space shared a common trust in God to provide for them. Sometimes weak, sometimes strong, faith looks to God for help.

Recipe For Life
     The Lord provides for His people: in body and in soul. The Lord feeds the world. God sent His prophet Elijah to a starving widow and her son in Zarephath. By a miracle of God, her tiny supply of flour and oil were not used up to make his cake of bread. No. The Lord used that minimal amount to feed the three of them for many days. By this divine sign, the widow and her son had renewed faith in God, the living Lord (v. 12). The backstory of the widow in the temple is largely unknown. The Lord Jesus fills in the important details for us. Christ praises her comparatively small offering—two copper coins—as the greatest of all the gifts given. For these two cents were all she had in the world—her whole income. Without money, what could she do? Depend entirely on God! The Lord would care for her bodily, material needs through the generosity of others. (Just as Elijah cared for the widow of Zarephath). Her simple life, without money nor possessions to fill her days with clutter and distractions gave this widow a faith centred on God, looking to His generosity. He would take care of her in this world, and in the world to come. Nothing could be sweeter!

Hungry To Feed Us
     To feed this world, Christ gave all that He had. Out of love for a world gone wrong, Jesus left the sweet richness of heaven, humbling Himself to be born in poverty in a Bethlehem stable. The drought of our sins leaves everyone spiritually poor—like the widows in today’s Scripture readings—powerless to look after the needs in our souls. For us and for all people, Jesus gave everything: the offering of His body and His soul on the cross. The debt of the world’s sin is too great for any of us to pay. So God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, ate it—swallowing the bitter pill of the world’s guilt for sin; drinking the cup of punishment we deserve to that cup’s bottom. Jesus gave it all: emptying the cup of wrath for sin to fill us with life forever.

Forever Feast
     For Jesus is the Bread of life (St. John 6:35). Christ cared for the widow at Zarephath, and for the widow in the temple. He will certainly also take care of you and me. With daily bread, to sustain our bodies and lives: today, tomorrow, and for as long as we live. The Lord truly provides us with all that we need to support this body and life” (SC II:2).
     Yet, bread and material things will all come to an end sooner or later. Jesus is the staff of life for the world to come. “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die” (St. John 6:50). How sweet is that? Every other food delights the taste buds, nourishes the body, but then is soon gone (St. Matthew 15:17). Only Christ, the Bread of life stays with us—through time, and through eternity. Because Jesus transcends this life, and has passed through death, the grave, even hell itself to rise from the dead, and ascend to heaven, Jesus is now with us always, even to the end of the age, just as He promised (St. Matthew 28:20). Where two or three are gathered, invoking His name in worship, the Bread of life is with us (St. Matthew 18:20). In the sacred washing of water joined to His Word by which He claims us as His own, the Bread of life is with us. Under bread and wine, the living Bread of life feeds His people, as He fed the widow of Zarephath. And, because this body and blood is the real presence of God in the flesh, these gifts from God will never run out; they will never be spent; they cannot be used up (v. 16). Like the flour and oil in Zarephath, Jesus Christ, the Bread of life, will sustain God’s people for time and for all eternity.
     Feed Thy children, God most holy (LSB 774), sings the Church. We have many needs, both material and spiritual. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (St. Matthew 6:32).
     Salvation in Christ is the icing on the cake.
     He feeds you with the best.
     Amen

Who Are They?

Revelation 7:13-14. NIV
All Saints

03/11/24

     Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
     I answered, “Sir, you know.”
     And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

     Who is that guy? Whether it is the congregation gathered at a funeral service to say farewell to a departed friend; a confirmation where family and friends have gathered to pray and show support; or another reunion, the sight of familiar faces you haven’t seen for awhile can leave you scratching your head in wonder: ‘I know that guy! She seems so familiar! Sure, a little older, a little greyer, with a few more wrinkles. Now... what’s her name? Who is that?’

Sincognito
     Sin cloaks our identity from others. Anger, jealousy, impatience, desire for revenge, coveting, unkind words and actions: these sins can catch us by surprise. Sin in us, or sin from others can erupt from hurtful words and loveless actions—even from baptized Christians. Sinful words and acts that don’t look or sound holy or saintly when they come from God’s own people. Sin that hurts our relationships with others. When sin divides and gets between God’s people, the ones He calls saints, we may be shocked by the way we have been treated by others; we may even be shocked by the way we ourselves behave: ‘I don’t even know who you are anymore,’ we might think to ourselves, or even blurt out those words:
     “Who are you?”

Soulpeel
     The saints in heaven, pictured in Revelation from today’s first Scripture reading—these saints are not perfect, only forgiven: they “have come out of the great tribulation” (v. 14). Saints struggle with sin in this life—internal sin from an inherited nature, going all the way back to the first people, Adam and Eve. Baptized believers in Christ struggle with sin also from the tribulation of the world that surrounds the saints. Who are we?
     We repent of sin and its effects—in us and around us. For already, in this life, before we get to heaven, we have come out of sin and its tribulation of suffering—washed clean in our Baptisms. We leave sin behind: daily putting sin to death (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5), turning from it as we repent and embracing the free forgiveness we have in Jesus. In heaven, we will join the saints: those who finally and fully are done with sin.

Bloodwash
     But, there’s more to the saintly identity than just leaving sin behind in our rearview mirror. Saints are washed in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, poured out His lifeblood on the cross of Calvary. The sinless One for the sins of the world. Every other blood leaves a stain. Only the blood of Christ washes, cleanses and makes us pure. By His innocent suffering and death, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, takes away the sins of the world. For the sake of Jesus, crucified and raised from the dead, we stand before God pure, holy and righteous: the saints of God. The blood of Christ, distributed from this altar, has us covered. That gift, together with His true and living body, joins us to that huge crowd of saints in heaven, clothed in white, and singing the praises of Almighty God.
     Who are we? We are washed in the blood of the Lamb.

The Look Of Life
     Who are You? Mary Magdalene did not recognize the living Jesus as He stood before her alive outside the Jerusalem tomb on Easter morning. Through her tears, she thought He was the gardener who looked after the cemetery of the holy city (St. John 20:15). Until He spoke. Until Jesus spoke her name: “Mary.” At the word of the living God, Mary Magdalene believed... and worshipped the Lord Christ. The shroud of sin that covered her eyes and veiled her heart was gone at the Word of the Lord. Jesus is alive! Knowing Jesus, Mary Magdalene knew eternal life.
     Saints alive in heaven forever!

Facial Recognition
     Will we know each other in heaven? Will the great reunion of the saints in God’s presence, pictured by St. John in Revelation today, will that great gathering be a repeat play of the scene we have already known here on earth: walking through that sea of people, looking at familiar faces and asking ourselves the elder’s question: “who are they?” Will God work around this difficulty by issuing countless, personalized, self-adhesive name tags: “Hello! My name is...”? No. Not at all (I Corinthians 13:12). Sin’s blindness will be washed away from our eyes, even as every tear will be wiped away, along with all hunger, every sorrow and finally, death (Revelation 7:16-17). In heaven, we will truly know each other.
     This group wearing white robes, who are they?
     These are the saints of God—washed clean in Christ!
     Amen
    

That’s Rich!

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20. ESV
The Twenty-second Sunday After Pentecost

20/10/24

     Rick was a rich man. After serving in World War II, he opened his own business. Rick lived his life believing the phrase, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins.” Everybody knew Rick drove the best and biggest car in town. If someone else bought a new car, he would head to the dealership and get a newer, better one.
     Sadly, his life ended abruptly one day. Rick left the car running while he went to open the trunk. The transmission slipped out of park into reverse and he was killed. Ironically, that car, the very possession that he treasured to make his life matter was the very thing that took his life in the end. How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God! But you are richer than that!
     Last week on the local news, it was announced that a couple from Owen Sound won $40 million dollars in the Lotto Max draw on September 17. They split the jackpot with another winner from Quebec. Especially notable was that this prize was the largest in Canadian lottery history: $80 million dollars. One person confided in me, and said, “I would not want to win a million dollars. I would not be able to handle it. The money would ruin my life.”
     Money cannot satisfy us. That’s the message from God’s Word to us today. It’s a message we need to hear. How the world chases after money and possessions as the secret of happiness! Our hearts are drawn to love money, too. How easily we become attached to our possessions. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (I Timothy 6:10), Paul tells Timothy. Money is good–it’s a gift from God. But it’s not God. Still, we are tempted to love money and possessions with our heart, soul, strength and mind.
     Money makes a poor god. You’re richer than that!
     Money makes us worry. “The full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep” (v. 12). Hoarders live an unsatisfied, unhappy life of insomnia, fear, and anxiety. The rich man moans, “I’ve got so many things, I can’t sleep at night because I’m worried about how to keep them.” You would think that if a little wealth and a few possessions are good, then a lot of money and stuff will make you more happy. Not so. The world’s first billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, was asked, “How much money does it take to make someone happy?” “Always a little more,” Rockefeller quickly answered. “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income” (v. 10). We cannot enjoy money and possessions if we are anxious, worried and greedy. God has created us to enjoy life richly. Jesus said: “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on… your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (St. Matthew 6:25, 32-33).
     Our text is from Ecclesiastes. That’s the Hebrew title of the book which means, “Preacher.” King Solomon is the Preacher who wrote Ecclesiastes. It’s a sober, sometimes sad book about life “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 &c.). Solomon wrote it near the end of his life. Wisely, he tells us that living just for money and possessions is vanity, meaningless, pointless. And, Solomon should know. God made him the wisest man who ever lived. God also made him the wealthiest man who ever lived. What would it be like to have it all? Pointless. Worthless. Nothing at all, says Solomon, unless you have the Lord to make it all worthwhile. Without Jesus Christ at the heart and centre of your life, nothing amounts to a hill of beans in the end.
     For everyone must leave it all behind when we die. Money, possessions, success, popularity, all human achievements—all gone when this life ends. “As he came from his mother’s womb, he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing from his toil that he may carry away in his hand” (v. 15). You can’t take it with you. There are no trailer hitches on hearses. Money makes a poor god. It will forsake us in the end.
True, a rich man cannot get to heaven by his riches. But then, neither can a poor man get to heaven by his poverty. Love of money won’t do it. Nothing we do can open the door to the kingdom of heaven. It’s like threading a camel through the eye of a needle.
     However—and this is a big however—what is impossible for us is possible for God (St. Mark 10:27). Our gracious, loving God, through the work of His Son Christ has made us richer than we could ever imagine. Heaven is the gift of God to us through faith in Jesus. We enter the kingdom of God as we follow our dear Lord Christ. For us, Jesus has gone where no man has gone before. For us, Jesus passed through the womb of the Virgin Mary to be born our Saviour at Christmas so that we can go to heaven. For us, Jesus passed through death, hell and the grave so that we can go to heaven. Can a camel pass through the eye of a needle? Impossible! But Christ has done even more—so we can enter the kingdom of heaven. And He gives it to us entirely as a gift for free when we love, rely and believe in Him. Trust in Christ Jesus: you’re forever rich!
     So, enjoy what God gives you: money, possessions, home, family, clothes and food – everything under the sun. All this is the gift of God. Don’t worry about it. Don’t covet more. Use them as good gifts from your heavenly Father. Spend those blessings with this realization: we only have them for a limited time—they will be gone one day (I Corinthians 7:31). Use those gifts to help the poor and needy and so show the love of God to them. Enjoy those earthly blessings. Above all, treasure the gifts which can never be taken away from you: forgiveness, life and salvation in Jesus. The everlasting kingdom of God is His gift to you and all Christians.
     In Christ Jesus, you’re rich: eternally!
     Amen

Got bread?  

Deuteronomy 8:1-10. ESV
Thanksgiving

13/10/24

     Give us this day our daily bread.
     What does this mean?

     “When you... pray for daily bread... you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to the oven or the flour bin, but also  to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and brings to us daily bread and every sort of nourishment. For if God did not cause food to grow and He did not bless and preserve it in the field, we could never take bread from the oven or have any to set upon the table” (LC III:72).

     Today, we gather in God’s house to give thanks for His rich blessings in field and farm, in factory and office, in hospital and school, in home and family. This once-a-year thanksgiving gathers up the daily thanksgivings we offer to God when we pray the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread” (SC III:12). Praying for daily bread includes thanksgiving. For God our heavenly Father gives daily bread to all the world. But, we pray “that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving” (SC III:13). 

Bread of Angels
     Bread. In Hebrew, םחל. Ground wheat, barley, or other grains baked into a nourishing loaf. If you have bread, you can stave off hunger. If you have bread, you can make it through another day. Without bread, the hunger deep within you leaves you destitute, begging for the bare necessities to get through the day.

     Bread. The staff of life.
     As the nation of Israel stood on the verge of entering the promised Land of Canaan, Moses urged them to remember: “...remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness” (v. 2). Humbled by their sinful disobedience, compelled to wander in the desert without field, nor farm; without crop, nor harvest, a million Israelite refugees faced certain starvation. Moses had no idea how to feed the hunger in this sea of people. But God did! Heavenly bread: manna, poured down from God’s hand every day. Daily bread kept Israel alive for forty years—until they ended up despising “this miserable food” (Numbers 21:5), this manna from heaven. Here’s what this forty-year lesson taught them: that life is more than food, clothing, shoes, homes, and possessions; and, God gives us what we need: “by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (v. 3).

Bread of Sorrow

Daily bread. So much more than the loaf on our kitchen table. When we pray to God for daily bread, we are asking Him to give us, “everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body” (SC III:14). We are thankful today and always because God has created us, given us life, and each day provides what we need to keep going: life, health, home, families, and more: good government, weather, peace, good reputation, and good friends... the list goes on. So richly has God blessed us with blessings beyond bread alone, that we might just focus on these material gifts and forget all about the Giver. Moses warned Israel: don’t forget how God has blessed you. They did. So, the Lord called them to repent: to remember His good gifts to them.
That same warning echoes in our ears: don’t forget how God has blessed you. But, we do. The Lord, in His Word, calls us to repent: “man does not live by bread alone” (v. 3). “...one’s life does  not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (St. Luke 12:15). “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (St. Matthew 6:25). “Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life” (St. John 6:27). Daily bread comes and goes, like the days come and go. Our hearts are truly thankful to be filled with the true bread from heaven: with Jesus Christ, who declared, “I am the bread of life” (St. John 6:35).
Bread of Life
Jesus spent forty days in the desert, like Israel wandered through there for forty years. The sinless Son of God was humbled, suffering under our sins, tempted by the devil. Satan urged Him to eat: turn these stones into bread. Over the sound of growling coming from His empty stomach, Christ defeated this and every temptation with the words of this Holy Scripture: “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (v. 3). Jesus lived and died by the Word of God, giving His life on the cross to take away the guilt of our sins, our preoccupation with possessions, our love of money. Every thankless sin in our hearts nailed to His cross. Christ, the bread of life, baked in the oven of the cross, the grave and hell for us. But now, He is arisen! The living body and living blood of Jesus Christ, the bread of life, makes us live. The source of true thankfulness lies in the hearts of those who, by faith, eat and drink the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, and have eternal life in Him (St. John 6:53). Jesus is the bread for the life of the world (St. John 6:51).
Got bread? The Lord your God richly provides for all your material needs from this rich land in answer to your prayers, “give us this day our daily bread.” We truly live by the Word of God, Christ Jesus, who is the bread of life.
Got Jesus? Then, you have everything.
A blessed thanksgiving to all!
Amen.

One Love             

Genesis 2:18-25. ESV 

The Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost 

06/10/24.

       Love. Everything that exists started with love—divine love in the heart of God. Earth and all stars; animals, fish, and people. Created out of nothing, by the Word of God, in the beginning, in six days. Not because He had to. All that is, flowed from His compassionate, life-giving, ever-generating heart. Love!
       It was love that moved the Lord to fashion the first man out of the soil in Eden’s garden. Adam. The name means, earth, ground, dirt. This dirt-man became a complex, intricate, living being: a union of body and soul from the loving hand of Almighty God. Not like the rest of creation: the birds and beasts. The Lord lifted Adam up from the dirt of the ground, tenderly breathing his first breath, the breath of life into his lungs. Divine inspiration gave Adam the gift of life. The first human: the crowning achievement of God’s creation: in love.
       But, something was missing. In His wisdom, God created a flawless, perfect world. But... where was the love? Adam had no one, even though beautiful creatures in air, land, and sea surrounded him in this world of wonder. It was not good for Adam to be alone (v. 18) without another to love. Once again, on that sixth day, God created the gift of life. While Adam was under, in a deep sleep, the Lord created Eve—from Adam’s rib. God knew how to fill the hole in his heart—that painful emptiness in Adam. From his rib—from his flesh and bone, right next to his heart, the Almighty made this rib-woman to be like Adam, but also, so different. The woman, taken out of man, was his counterpart, his completion. His love!
       God Himself served as Pastor: the heavenly Officiant at the marriage of Adam and Eve. Like the father of the bride escorting his daughter down the aisle of the church. “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (v. 23), blurted out the first groom, on that very moment when the Lord “brought her to the man” (v. 22). Adam was in love. Nothing in all of creation looked like this woman! She was literally his own flesh and blood. But, better! Adam’s heart was bursting with a love he had not known before: to love and care for this woman, so like him, and yet not! To grow together, to learn about each other and to protect this woman given to him from the Almighty Father! She is like nothing else in all creation. Her name must be more excellent than all other names. Eve means life: for this dear woman will be the mother of all (Genesis 3:20). In holy joy, Adam took Eve to be his wife. The first married couple were united: in spirit and in mind; in possessions and in life; in heart and in body.
       Two people. One flesh. One in love.
       Sadly, love did not last. Tragically, the pure, holy, life-giving love that flowed from the heart of the heavenly Father to the hearts and home of the first people; that love was lost. Adam and Eve did not fear, love, nor trust in God above all things. The next verses of Genesis trace how their hearts were distracted from God’s ardent love to love what He had forbidden; to long for divine wisdom; distracted by fruit that look good in their eyes. Loving what God had made off-limits put them out of fellowship with Him and with each other. Now, Adam and Eve saw that they were naked. Ashamed. Cursed by God. Instead of life, death had come.
       We are the children of Adam and Eve. We follow them. We should fear, love and trust in God. But we settle for lesser loves. Those loves capture our hearts.
       Marriage. God’s gift. Marriage is His solution for a lonely world seeking to love and to be loved: “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (v. 24). Simple. One man. One woman. For life.
       Sadly, sin despises this gift from God: adultery, sexual relations outside of marriage; divorce. Where’s the love? How do we love others when they are caught in their sins? Where’s the love for us when we sin?
       And, everyone sins...
       The Lord loves you. Jesus loves us. Even though our affections set our hearts on what we want, even though we turn away from Him, even though we are distracted down dangerous pathways, yet Christ cares for His Church: as a loving husband cherishes his bride. Even when we are untrue, unfaithful, and loveless towards Jesus, still He loves us without conditions; without limits; with His whole life. One love.
       Because temptations and sins catch us in our bodies, that is, our flesh and blood, God Himself became flesh and blood for us. Jesus was born of Mary for us. Love caused Christ’s incarnation: He came down from heaven for us at Christmas because He loves us.
       That same love led Jesus to the cross. His deep compassion for us, who are shamed by our sins (like Adam and Eve, naked and afraid), Jesus took our shame to the cross, took our place, suffered and died to protect us from eternal shame in hell.
       That’s love. Like the love between a husband and wife.
       Love in action.
       Dearly beloved, look to the Lord Jesus: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” (v. 23a). God shows how much He loves us by taking on the same kind of flesh and bone that we have. And, what He has assumed, taken up, and joined to His divine nature—what He has assumed, Jesus has redeemed! Our fallen flesh is forgiven by faith in Christ crucified and resurrected for us. Our Redeemer is one flesh with us. From a rib in Adam’s side, from his very heart, God made Eve. Now, our Beloved, Christ our Lord, comes to our hearts here, in this Sacrament of His true body and true blood. At this altar, Jesus draws near to us with His blessings: forgiveness, life and salvation. And, as God joined Adam and Eve together as one flesh for this life, Christ unites Himself with us, so that we are one flesh in Him (Ephesians 5:32) for life eternal.
       That’s how much He loves us.
       Endless life. One love.
       Amen.

Friends In High Places Daniel

10:10-14; 12:1-3. ESV
St. Michael and All Angels

29/09/24

     Jed was in trouble—deep trouble! If ever he needed a friend, it was now.
     Jed wasn’t the most gifted one in the family: he knew it. So, when he struck out to make his way in the world, Jed had to work hard for all that he had. Working steady at his job at the factory, Jed bought a modest house in an old neighbourhood. Although he took pride in his house, and kept it in good repair, still Jed took it easy on weekends. His yard and garden got out of hand: garden tools lay just where he left them. For many weeks, the lawn mower sat at the end of his laneway: fully engulfed by the quickly growing grass that mower was supposed to cut.
     The neighbours didn’t like it. Winston kept his family’s much larger house looking like a model home: his lawn and garden were immaculate. Winston hated to look out his window at the shabby shack next door. Jed’s neighbour on the other side, Charlene, took great pride in her property, too. She lived alone in her massive house: a widow who kept up with the latest trends by making regular renovations to her house. Most recently, Charlene installed new hardwood floors in the kitchen and dining room. And, a rich pink carpet welcomed guests into her entryway and living room. Charlene’s state-of-the-art home stood in sharp contrast to Jed’s 1940's time-capsule of a dwelling.
     The trouble started late one night. Winston was coming home late from a business meeting. Since his driveway and the road ahead of his house were filled with other vehicles, he parked a block away. The night was especially dark and starless. Tired and tipsy from a few after-meeting cocktails, Winston was having trouble following the line of the sidewalk as he walked past Jed’s house when suddenly—bam! Winston tripped over the lawnmower, opening a six-inch gash in his leg. In no time, the quiet street was ablaze with lights and sirens from emergency vehicles and EMTs. Winston was admitted to the hospital nursing a row of stitches in his shin, and fighting off a severe infection.
     Turns out, earlier that same day, Charlene’s dog went exploring in Jed’s garden. Rooting through the towering plants in that out-of-control garden, who knows what she got into? But, once she came back home, the dog clearly was not well: puffed up, breathing heavy. She ended up making a horrible mess all over that new, pink carpet. Charlene was furious!
     A handful of police officers showed up the next day at Jed’s doorstep. Winston and Charlene each brought separate legal actions against Jed. This double lawsuit was more than he could handle! What would he do?
     But, Jed had friends in high places. Jed picked up the phone to call Alex, his brother. Alex was a high-powered lawyer in a big-city firm. Alex capably fought both lawsuits in his defence. Jed ended up free of all claims against him.
     We all need friends in high places.
     Daniel knew it. As a god-fearing Hebrew, living exiled in Babylon, Daniel remained faithful to the Lord. He faced lions rather than give up his faith. The stirring words of his prophecy convey visions of angels: both good and evil as we have heard today. Ranks of angels display the order of God’s creation, like military divisions, including ruling angels. Archangels Gabriel and Michael serve as captains of the angel squads under their command. These invisible forces of God for good fight against the evil angels allied with Satan and the powers of darkness. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Daniel describes these evil forces as princes: specifically, Persia, and Greece. In today’s reading, Daniel cowers in the middle of this spiritual struggle: trembling, face down, on hands and knees (10:9-11). Like a soldier under attack, trapped in no-man’s-land. Daniel needs friends—friends in high places.
     So do we. We are not neutral in this spiritual struggle. In the battle of good versus evil, we have taken a side. All who are washed in Baptism, marked with the sign of the cross, and the given the holy name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been incorporated into the body of Christ, enlisted in the Lord’s army. Baptism makes powerful enemies. The devil and all his dark forces have us sighted in their cross hairs. They aim to destroy us. We need allies. We need friends in high places.
     We’ve got them! Almighty God defends and protects us by  sending His angels. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). Just as St. Michael the archangel fought the Persian prince, that ancient archdemon, to defend Daniel, just as angels ministered to Jesus, weakened as He was in the desert after being tempted by the devil, so angels come to protect us and all Christians. In a hidden, but powerful way, God’s angelic servants defend us in ways largely unknown to us. Even without knowing the details of how these heavenly friends work on our behalf, what a comfort it is to know that God loves us so much. He commands the angels to serve us here on earth. “Let Your holy angel be with me,” we pray, “that the evil foe may have no power over me” (SC VII:2, 5). Angels are our friends—on high, and right here with us.
     What a friend we have in Jesus! There is no one higher nor closer to us. As we daily struggle against evil, angels are with us to fight by our side. Jesus has already won the war for us. Angels, archangels, and the whole company of heaven are ranked under their Commander and Chief: Jesus Christ. The Lord faced off against the devil and his dark armies on the hill of the cross. Satan celebrated what looked like Christ’s defeat when He died on Good Friday. But “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8). Christ’s death puts the guilt of our sins to death. The war is over! “It is finished” (St. John 19:30), says the King of angels from His cross. Every spiritual struggle we endure has already been won by the Lord Jesus. His blood has us covered! Angels surround us as Christ awards us with the victory He has won for us: in His forgiving Word, in His cleansing Baptism, in His nourishing Sacrament. The Lord pins the medals of salvation on us in His Word and Sacraments. Your names and mine are now written in the Lamb’s Book of life (Revelation 21:27). What a friend we have in Jesus!
     Now, even death, the final enemy has been defeated (I Cor. 15:26) ... “those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (12:2). After death, when the angels carry the souls of the saints to God’s presence in heaven (St. Luke 16:22), the final and great day of the resurrection of the flesh will see our bodies and souls reunited, transformed for life forever (St. John 5:28-29). After this brief life, our Friend Jesus will raise up His dear, baptized believers to live again with Him on high. He rose again on Easter morning. We will rise too.
     In Christ, we have a forever Friend in heaven on high.
     Amen

​
The Lord’s Got Your Back  

Jeremiah 11:18-20. ESV
The Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

22/09/24

     The ball is snapped. The quarterback drops back. He has just seconds to scan the field and find the open receiver while defensive linemen and a linebacker or two are closing in fast. The pocket is tricky spot! A quarterback can see the rush ahead of him, but he can’t see what’s behind. This is why, for a right-handed quarterback, you need a left tackle: to protect his blind side.
     Bad news hits you like a blind side: a death in the family; terminal diagnosis; your child is in trouble; your boyfriend is breaking up with you; you’ve lost your job. How do you find out those things that change your life forever? The phone rings in the middle of the night. You turn on your computer in the morning when you get up: there’s the ominous email in your inbox. A notification on your cell phone lets you know there’s a text waiting for you. And life is never the same afterwards.
     This is bad news; a true blind side: they were out to get him. Jeremiah’s own people planned to kill him! You could say that Jeremiah just feels sorry for himself. Yet, his “pity party” is not just a product of his paranoid imagination: the threat to his life is real.
In the little town of Anathoth: Jeremiah’s hometown, his own brothers (12:6), hatched a “conspiracy” (11:9) to silence the Lord’s prophet. They just couldn’t bear what God called Jeremiah to say. He kept on pointing out their sins. In Anathoth, Jerusalem, Judah: the people had turned their backs on God; turned instead to worship idols, to bow down to Baal. Destruction was coming, warned Jeremiah unless they repented, unless they turned back to the true God. The Lord had not given up on them. But they wanted to hear no more. The plot was to kill the prophet. “Destroy the tree with its fruit” (v. 19), they reasoned. If he’s not alive, he can’t speak. “Let us cut him off from the land of the living” (v. 19). Bad news for Jeremiah!
     Even worse, he didn’t see it coming. Although he had done no wrong, naïve like a young sheep, Jeremiah was led like a lamb to the slaughter (v. 19). “I did not know it was against me they devised their schemes” (v. 19), he said. His own people plotted in secret behind his back: blindsided! They don’t call him the “weeping prophet” for nothing. Jeremiah was doomed. What a bad scene!
     Our sins can lead us to despair like Jeremiah. We fear that our situation is hopeless. Hurtful words, actions, even the thoughts that race through our heads can leave us fearful that no one is on our side; that everyone means to harm us. Sin isolates us from each other, even from other Christians. Our guilt convicts us: as if no one is on our side. Like Jeremiah, sin leaves us feeling doomed.
     “I call shotgun!” That’s what you say if you’re going on a trip and you want to ride in the front passenger seat: “I call shotgun!” What an odd thing to say! This is a phrase going back to the days of the stagecoach (and also, when those stagecoaches were robbed). Two people would ride up front. The driver drove the horses, using the reins to steer, control the speed, and to stop. What did the other guy do? He sat up high, watching for bandits and keeping an eye out for trouble. He held his rifle at the ready: he rode shotgun. If the road ahead was rough, or the weather wild, even if the driver forgot that his partner sat by his side, still, the sidekick never left. Through every condition of road and weather, he rode shotgun to protect the driver, the horses, the passengers, and its cargo.
     That’s how it is for us: no matter what the road ahead, whether it’s stormy or clear, even when we forget that our divine Passenger is by our side, Jesus is riding shotgun. The Lord’s got your back. Just like He was there for Jeremiah, He is there for you.
You see, Jeremiah did not die, despite their plans. The plot was afoot to take his life, but it failed. The townsfolk and members of his family did not kill him. Instead, Jeremiah continued to serve as the Lord’s prophet for nearly forty years. 
     This is good news: the Lord’s got your back! How do we know? Jesus! The Lord Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb, led to the slaughter so that He would have our back and defend us forever. Not like Jeremiah, who prayed for God to take vengeance on his enemies and destroy them (v. 19). Instead, our Lord Jesus prayed to the heavenly Father to forgive those who crucified Him, “for they know not what they do” (St. Luke 23:34). At the cross, Jesus practiced what He preached in today’s Gospel reading: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (St. Mark 9:35). The Son of God put Himself last of all to make us first in His kingdom. Jesus has our back: He defends and protects us now and always from the penalties of our sins and from eternal death. Christ gave His back to the cruel whips of the Roman soldiers so that He would have our back for all time. Jesus died as the perfect Lamb on the altar of the cross to make us His innocent sheep, the precious lambs of His flock, the Church. Our Good Shepherd: He’s got our back. He defends us from wolf, lion and bear: from sin and death, from devil and hell. Christ who died and rose to life again brings us safely into the sheepfold of heaven.
     Do you feel threatened by people at work or at school?
The Lord’s got your back.
     Are you worried about having enough money to make ends meet?
The Lord’s got your back.
     Do you feel all alone in the world?
The Lord’s got your back.
     Are you fearful about what the future will bring?
The Lord’s got your back.
     Does death scare you?
The Lord’s got your back. No matter what.
     Amen.

     ​
The Lord God Helps Me  

Isaiah 50:4-10. ESV
The Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

15/09/24

     On a warm spring evening in 1979, the Catechism class was waiting on the church steps for the Pastor to arrive and unlock the church for class. One of the students was holding a Bible containing extra features, like maps and a concordance. These extras were indicated by the word “helps” stamped in gold on the spine under the title of God’s Word, “Holy Bible.” I pointed to her Bible and said, “the Holy Bible helps.” Without any expression on her face, she replied, “No, it don’t.” Some unbelief in the heart needed to be overcome!
     Does the Holy Bible help? Yes! It sure does! Does God help? Without any doubt, He does! So says Isaiah, so says the Servant of God in today’s reading, and so also every Christian cries out from the heart, “the Lord God helps (רזע) me” (v. 7, 9).

Looking For Help...
     Isaiah the Prophet needed to poke Israel, to prod and stir their collective memory. Apparently, they had forgotten that the Lord God helps. When attacked by foreign nations, they turned to kings and their armies to form military alliances. Israel did not seek God’s help. To pray for seasonable weather, for abundant crops, and for healthy livestock, Israel bowed down before idols of gold and silver, of wood and stone, seeking help from lifeless images, instead of the living God. As a result, Israel was helpless—deported as landless refugees to Babylon.
     The Lord God is our help. God eagerly invites us to pray, “as dear children ask their dear father” (SC III:2). Yet, how quick are we to ask for His help? Like independent, strong-willed children who insist, “Me do it!” we try to solve our problems and fix things on our own: without help from God or others. Of course now, when you need help, you can just “Google it.” Have you ever heard the saying, “When all else fails, pray?” But why? Why should prayer be the last thing we do? Where’s the faith that says, “the Lord God helps me?”
     Our help is in the name of the Lord
     who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8)
     Jesus speaks in Isaiah today. His Word; His cross; His victory give us forgiveness, life and salvation. Jesus helps us—like no one else can. The Lord God helps me!

Help From The Word Made Flesh
     Jesus helps us by His Word, the Bible. Christ was born at Christmas according to God’s Word of ancient prophecy. This Jesus doesn’t just know that Word: He is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us (St. John 1:14). Young Jesus taught the Scriptures in the Temple, to the amazement of the rabbis in Jerusalem. With that changeless Word of God, Christ defeated every temptation of the devil (St. Matthew 4:1-11). With His pure and holy ears open to the Word of the heavenly Father, Jesus spoke that healing word to sustain those weary with demon possession, with bodily sicknesses, and sin-burdened souls. Jesus helps us by His Word.
     And, His Word helps us. Christians gather in Church on Sundays and holy days around God’s Word. We pray for open ears to hear the Bible’s teaching rightly; for repentant and faith-filled hearts to receive that Word of God joined to bread and wine here in the Sacrament of the Lord. Every day, we seek God’s help in the Scriptures and prayers of our daily devotions. With His divine Word and holy Sacraments, the Lord sustains us. The Lord God helps me.

Help From Christ’s Cross
     Not only with words. Jesus acts. His Passion to save us led the Lord to the depths of His humiliation; to the crisis of the cross. “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (v. 6). With prophetic clarity, over seven hundred years before it happened, Isaiah captures the suffering of Jesus at the hands of Roman soldiers, the Jewish leaders, and the Jerusalem crowds at His trial and crucifixion. With stony determination, His face set like flint (v. 7), Christ carried out the work of saving the world to the bitter end, with His heart full of love. Jesus was hurt to help us. The Lord died to make us live.
     That means, Christ is with us when we suffer. When our faith feels weak, Jesus upholds us. When the world persecutes us for believing in Him, the Lord defends us. When we struggle with crises of conscience, Jesus sustains us. When we are sick, injured, or dying, Jesus walks with us through that dark valley. Because He has already been there, Jesus helps us in suffering. The Lord God helps me.

Help Forever
     By God’s help, we win. Final vindication, victory in the end, comes from Christ. The contest at the cross was not just playing politics; no miscarriage of justice perpetrated by Roman and Jewish leaders. There, at the hill of execution, the Lord Jesus took on our ultimate enemies: sin and death; devil and hell: “cosmic powers over this present darkness... the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan and his dark forces did their best to contend with, accuse Christ and find Him guilty. But the Holy One, Jesus of God won the victory. Vindicated, declared innocent, resurrected from the grave, and ascended into heaven, Christ has won: the battle, the war; for you, for all; forever!
     His victory is our victory. Because the Lord Jesus has defeated all evil, all our enemies have been silenced. The enemy of my enemy is my Friend. What a friend we have in Jesus! He helps us: saving us; giving us eternal life. The Lord God helps me.
     Our help is in the name of the Lord
     who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8)
     Amen.
  

The Choice Is Clear

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18. ESV
The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost 1

8/08/24.

     “Make good choices,” Mom told the kids as they ran out the door to climb onto the school bus. How critical are those early choices: friends and faith; sports and hobbies; work and worship. Some decisions are trivial. They don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. Yet, others are permanent, irreversible, eternal! “Make good choices!”

     “Choose this day whom you will serve” (v. 15). That’s Joshua, successor of Moses, instructing Israel as they are about to enter the Promised Land: Canaan. Joshua, divinely chosen leader of the people of God in his last sermon urged them: make good choices.

Fork In The Road

     What choice? Not a minor, trivial decision: paper or plastic, fries or a salad; coffee or tea. No. Joshua told Israel that they stood at a fork in the road: two paths stretched ahead. Depending on which way the nation went, they would be blessed or cursed: in this life and into eternity. Choose this day whom you will serve: the gods of your fathers, the gods of the Amorites, or the God who freed you from slavery in Egypt. Choose the path of service: idols or the Lord.

     What does that mean? Serving the gods of the Amorites was demanding, cruel, and barbaric. False gods like Baal, Asherah, Molech and Dagon, Mesopotamian and Canaanite idols were thought to control the weather, giving sunshine, rain, and storms, and giving fertility to crops, livestock, even bringing conception and childbirth. Serving these gods required worshippers to degrade themselves in sexual acts (Exodus 32:4; Hosea 4:14; I Corinthians 10:7), their priests shouting their prayers, cutting themselves in pagan rites (I Kings 18:28). To increase yields of crops and number of livestock, those who served these false gods even offered human sacrifices (Hosea 13:2), including their children, believing that the strength of their life-force would enrich the soil and their animals. Who would choose to follow the barbaric practices of such false gods? Sadly, many did.

     Sad and tragic. False gods call to us, beckoning us to forsake the Lord to serve them. No, not idols: images of gold or silver, stone or wood. Money and possessions can become gods to us, replacing our trust in God with an endless craving for more (I Timothy 6:9-10). Sexual sin: adultery, pornography, deviant behaviour, abuse and self-harm all defile our bodies: the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19-20). Despair of life itself leads to assisted dying or abortion. Addiction to drugs, alcohol, or other substance abuse can become the god that takes over our lives. Dr. Martin Luther noted that “whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god” (LC I:3). Why chose this life? We are not free. Sin binds our choices.

In The Spirit

     Only the Holy Spirit can fuel the right choices. When it comes to spiritual matters (I Corinthians 2:14), we are like a stone or block of wood. Even worse, we sin and fight (FC SD II:24) against God and His perfect will, just like Paul who fought the Lord before his conversion (Acts 9:4). “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him” (SC II:6). That ability to choose ended when Adam and Eve chose to reject God’s Word, made their own choices, and ate the fruit forbidden to them (Genesis 3:6; FC SD II:2). “But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel enlightened me with His gifts sanctified and kept me in the one true faith” (SC II:6). Praise the Lord and Giver of life! The Holy Spirit leads us to believe in Christ for salvation. In God the Holy Spirit, our will bends to His, the Lord of life choses what is truly good for us. The choice is life: in Christ.

His Choice

     Christ chooses us. That’s the important decision. The Lord chooses us. That’s what really matters. You and I, who confess we are sinners, Jesus chooses. You and I, who have made bad choices time and again, Jesus chooses. The Lord chooses not to punish us, even though our sins deserve it. Christ chooses not to get even with us, even when punishment is our due. No. Christ chooses the cross. At that spot of shame and punishment, outside the walls of Jerusalem, the Lord dealt with all our bad choices, dead-end paths, and regrets. Christ chose to carry our sins to His cross. By dying, Jesus chose to pay the guilt that we owe, to forgive our sins, and to welcome us as sisters and brothers.

     The cross is His choice—to save us.

     Just as Jesus chooses us here, in Holy Baptism. The Lord chose Israel to be His own people, freeing them as slaves in Egypt, leading them through the Red Sea water to the freedom of the Promised Land. ‘Choose to stay on this path,’ Joshua urged them. So the Lord chose you and me, named us in our Baptisms, freeing us from slavery to our sins by His free forgiveness in Christ through this baptismal water. Now, for Jesus’ sake, we stand on the border of the Promised Land of heaven. Chose to stay on this path, by the care and keeping of the Holy Spirit!

     In 1992, Pepsi introduced a clear version of its cola: “Crystal Pepsi.” It looked just like water, only, with bubbles. This short-lived fad was sold to the world with the slogan: “the choice is clear.”

     The Holy Spirit led you to this choice today: to come here to serve the Lord: to be fed by His Word in worship, by the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, from this altar. You walk the path He has placed you on: from the freedom of the font to the Promised Land of His eternal presence in heaven. Stay on the path. For. After all, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (St. John 6:68).

     Be bold to declare by the Holy Spirit: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (v. 14).
     Amen

Cake Boss

I Kings 19:1-8. ESV
The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost

11/08/24.

     Cake Boss is a television series that provides the viewer with an inside look at a real bakery operating in Hoboken, New Jersey. The siblings who own the bakery and their staff produce intricate and artistic cakes. Holy Scripture today shows that the Lord truly is the cake Boss.

When The Cake Falls

     Elijah was in danger. The Queen threatened to take his life. The Prophet was fed up.
All of this is so surprising: today’s Old Testament reading comes right after Elijah’s showdown against the Prophets of Baal. On top of Mount Carmel, Elijah challenged those false prophets: prove that your gods are real! Prepare one altar for Baal, the golden calf idol, and one altar for the Lord, the God of hosts. The God who answers by sending fire: He is real! In answer to their many loud prayers and cries, Baal was silent: he did nothing, for he is not real. The Lord answered Elijah’s simple prayer of faith by sending a heavenly fireball to consume the whole sacrifice. Only the Lord is God!
     Now, everything had changed! Now, Elijah was on the run from wicked Queen Jezebel who promised to end his life. From Jezreel to Beersheba—an amazing race of fear—some 108 miles, or 173 kilometers. Now, Elijah sat down, stretching out under a broom tree. Totally spent. Alone. Defeated. Now, he prayed to God to end his life (v. 4). ‘I’ve had enough,’ sighed Elijah.
This takes the cake!

Layers & Pound

     Have you been down that road? On the run for your life, like Elijah? Likely not. In this country, Christians are “free to worship [the Lord] without fear, holy and righteous in His sight” (Morning Prayer, Benedictus, LSB 239). If religious persecution should come to us, as Jezebel pursued Elijah, we pray that God would keep us faithful to Him, just as He promises to be with us always.
Instead of running for our lives, the discouragement of our sins can leave us despairing of our lives. Even after a time of sweet victory, when God’s hand has been especially evident and powerful, like fire poured out on Mount Carmel in answer to Elijah’s prayer; even after God’s rich presence feels especially close, like the still, small voice He used to speak to Elijah, still we may doubt, fear, even panic. Sin does that to us. Life itself may even lose its sweetness, value, taste. Like Elijah, we have had enough. Fed up. Defeated. Alone. Totally spent.

Angel Food Cake

     That’s when it’s time for cake (הגע). Not dessert. But, the bread of angels (Psalm 78:25). Angel food cake! The Lord answered His Prophet’s prayer—not by killing him: just the opposite—by feeding him. Once Elijah hit rock bottom, God sent an angel to strengthen him: with angelic touch waking Elijah from his exhaustion, refreshing him with water and fresh cake, its rich, sweet aroma arising from the warm stone near his head. And, not just once. In his weakened state, Elijah needed more sleep, and more of the angel’s cake to restore his health and to build him up for the journey ahead. Did this angel food cake revive Elijah? Yep! God’s care powered his forty-day journey to Mount Horeb (also known as Sinai), a distance of more than 145 miles, or 233 kilometers.
     Makes you think of Jesus. His earthly ministry began with an ordeal in the desert: forty days and nights of temptations from the devil. Only, the Lord had no food to sustain Him, no cake nor anything else. Unlike Elijah who sinned, unlike us, Jesus resisted every temptation during those forty days, remaining obedient in His thoughts, words and actions. He did this for you, for Elijah, for me, and for all. The obedience of Jesus counts as our obedience when we believe in Him. And like Elijah in the desert, God sent angels to feed and care for Jesus in His weakened state when the forty days were over (St. Matthew 4:11).

Living Bread

     Christ’s temptation by the devil in the desert was only the initial skirmish between good and evil. The cross was the site of the final battle. By His cross and empty tomb, Jesus saves us. Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah... and he ran. Herod (St. Luke 13:31), the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin (St. Matthew 26:3-4), and the Jerusalem crowds (St. Matthew 27:20, 23), they all threatened to kill Jesus... and He did not run. Why? Christ Jesus came down from heaven to do the will of His heavenly Father (St. John 6:38); to carry out His mission to give His life for the world (St. John 6:33). How? At the cross. For all people: hungry, hopeless, dying in their sins, the Bread of life gave Himself to give life to the world. The manna that fed Israel for forty years in the desert, and the cakes that the angel provided for Elijah lasted only a short while. But, Christ “is the Bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die” (St. John 6:50). The Lord sent His angel to sustain Elijah. Like divine dessert—the best at the last—He sustains us with the Gospel of free salvation in Jesus Christ while we live, until the resurrection to life eternal. Sweet!

Food Of Life

     Our lives are nourished and sustained each day by Jesus, the Bread of life. Through His Word and Sacraments, He feeds our souls with the free forgiveness He won for us at the cross and sealed for us by His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven. Not what we do, but who we trust gives life to us now and always. “Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day” (St. John 6:40).
Of all the Lord’s rich and certain promises, that’s the icing on the cake!

     Amen.

Shepherds Who Care

Jeremiah 23:1-6. ESV
The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

21/07/24

     “... and that’s when I just stopped caring.”

     As the Pastor recounted his litany of disappointments, tedious stresses, and endless failures in the pastoral ministry, his initial zeal for Christ and compassion for the sheep of His fold gradually eroded—the shine for service steadily becoming less vibrant, his love for the people he was called to serve ebbing away with every casual rejection until that one final frustrating encounter, the moment when he realized: “... and that’s when I just stopped caring.” Tragic!

Careless

     “Woe!” said Jeremiah to the shepherds responsible to care for the sheep of the Lord. Jeremiah, the weeping Prophet, weeps over the leaders of Israel, Kings chosen to care for the people, (הער), that is, to tend, look after and feed them. These enthroned leaders neglected to care for God’s people. Instead, the flock of the people of Israel lived in fear, scattered by unrighteous rule and lack of justice in the land, driven to find refuge in foreign nations. Leaders appointed to serve as shepherds didn’t care for the sheep.

     Do you care? Do you care for the other sheep of this flock, Faith Lutheran Church? Do you care about the brothers and sisters of your synod, Lutheran Church-Canada? Do you care about neighbours nearby or neighbours far away? Has caring about others become more difficult after the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic? Have you heard that phrase more often in recent years: “I don’t care.” Notice how easily it rolls off the tongue. For example:

     ‘Did you know they don’t make red M&M’s anymore? You can still get all the other colours—just not red.’ Don’t care.
     ‘You must have enjoyed that hotdog for lunch. Look: you’ve got some ketchup on your shirt.’ Don’t care.

     ‘That cashier didn’t give you the right change. He short-changed you ten cents.’ Don’t care.

     In the daily flow of information swirling around us, so many details really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. And, for many others, you just don’t have an opinion” Oh, I don’t care.

     But the sheep. The ewes, rams, and lambs of God—those for whom the Son of God died to forgive and save—to know that without saving faith in Christ, those sheep are going to hell. Nothing could be more tragic, demonic really, to say, “I don’t care!”

Shepherd Of The Shepherdless

     God cares.
     The Lord cares for the sheep. Instead of the faithless, self-serving Kings of Jeremiah’s day, the Lord promised to provide a Shepherd who cares: the One born in the little town of Bethlehem among the sheep of the stable. Jesus, the Righteous Branch from the family tree of David, the shepherd King—God’s Son in human flesh—this Jesus would live a righteous life, uniting the sheep of Israel, bringing them back to the fold to dwell in safety and security.

     Christ is the Shepherd who cares. Just look at today’s Gospel. Upon the thousands who followed Jesus to that desolate place, hungry in soul and body, Jesus had compassion. Christ knew they were lost sheep in search of a Shepherd (St. Mark 6:34). So, He fed them. With the true Bread of the Word of God, He taught them, filling their souls. He is the Shepherd who cares. And, He didn’t stop there! Knowing the hunger in their bodies, Jesus multiplied the bread and the fish to feed the thousands—and, there were even leftovers! He is the Shepherd who cares. This miracle shows that Jesus is the Bread of Life who has come down from heaven to give His life for the world (St. John 6:33). His life in exchange for all the sheep—all people of the whole world. “In His days Judah (and all His dear sheep by faith) will be saved” (v. 6). By dying on the cross. By rising again. By ascending to heaven. Christ Jesus, the Shepherd, truly cares for us. He cares for all.

Given To Care

     Jesus, the Good Shepherd, sends Pastors (shepherds) to care for His sheep. With His Word the called ministers of Christ deal with us in Law and Gospel. Shepherds care for the sheep, warning them of dangers from their sins which put souls at risk of going to hell. Shepherds care for the sheep, binding up hurting souls with the Lord’s word of absolution: “I forgive you all your sins.” Shepherds care for lambs assisting in new birth through the washing of Holy Baptism: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we are washed clean of our sins, and born again into God’s kingdom. Shepherds care for the sheep by feeding them. Word and Sacrament sustain the flock of the Lord. Pastors handle the food of life in Holy Communion: caring for the sheep with the body and blood of the crucified, but now ever-living Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Jesus fed the crowd of thousands with five loaves and two fish, blessing that food and giving it to the disciples. Shepherds today distribute the living body and blood of Jesus to feed His sheep.

     And, we are satisfied. Shepherds care.
     Amen

Right Down The Line

Amos 7:7-15. ESV
The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost 14/07/24.

     A plumb line: that’s a plumb bob suspended by a line. I can’t say I’ve ever used a plumb line nor seen it used. But, we see it today: God’s Word, a vision of the Prophet Amos pictures a plumb line.

What is it? An ancient device to provide builders with a point of reference: a true vertical line; a perpendicular guide to ensure that as bricks are cemented into a wall, they are square and true. The plumb line is an important tool for detecting faults and flaws in construction: a wall leaning at an angle, bent, or bulging; workmanship that could result in a building collapse. The plumb line can also be suspended at the corner: the critical juncture where two walls intersect, to ensure that the building is square, level and strong.

Amos sees God standing next to a wall with a plumb line in His hand (v. 7). The plumb line is His Law: God’s commands to His people. The conduct of Israel, His chosen people, are the bricks in the wall.

God, our heavenly Father, is straight with us: in the Ten Commandments, He tells us what is good for us; what He wants for us; what His will is for us; how to live. Here, in His divine, unchanging Law, God tells us what He forbids, and what He commands us to do. Straight talk.

Moses and later Joshua, on either side of the Jordan river, on the verge of entering the Promised Land, taught God’s people Israel, urging them to walk according to God’s commandments:

     You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32; Joshua 1:7).

Out Of Plumb

Sadly, Israel had not followed the path. Prophets frequently were tasked to relay words of correction to their hearers from the Lord. Amos had bad news for Israel: like a badly built wall, crooked and perverse, leaning and about to collapse, the people had not followed God’s word of command. The plumb line of His Law convicted them of worshipping idols in high places instead of worshipping the Lord at the temple in Jerusalem. Even the wicked King, Jeroboam, claimed a sanctuary at Bethel, mixing worldly government with the authority of God’s Word. The plumb line didn’t lie: Israel’s house was about to fall in. They despised preaching and God’s Word. Amos the Prophet called God’s people to repent in the strongest of terms. As long as they went down this road, God threatened, “I will never again pass by them” (v. 8). Nothing could be worse than to lose God’s favour, His forgiveness, His presence.

The Prophet’s warning echoes in our ears. The plumb line of God’s Law is the standard that judges our lives, too. While we are tempted to relax God’s Laws, still we know each time we have stepped out of line. Our conscience accuses us when we listen to others in the world, in government, or online, more than we listen to God in the Bible. We stray when we despise preaching and God’s Word. The Lord gave us His commandments so that we enjoy long life in the land; so that we do not depart from them to the right hand or to the left. But we have stepped over the line. We are convicted by our trespasses, departing from God’s Law. We cannot walk the line to save ourselves.

The path to God is not mapped out by our good behaviour, by our wise building, nor by our obeying the Ten Commandments. True, we delight in the Law of God, just as we admire a magnificent building. Still, we also know our own weaknesses and flaws, which stand out in our minds “like a leaning wall, a tottering fence” (Psalm 62:3). Our hope is not built on such things. We dare not trust in ourselves.

Forever On The Level

God Himself must build our future, mapping out the path for us: not with plumb line, nor brick walls. The path forward is marked by the cross, the empty tomb, the ascended and reigning Christ, God’s own Son. For us, and for our salvation, Jesus walked the line of obedience, true to the plumb line of God’s holy Law, without one single deviation. Christ went straight: from heaven to earth, from the manger to the Jordan river, from the cross to the tomb, resurrected and ascended to heaven. The line of life: true, unwavering, level and lined up for eternity is in Christ Jesus, risen and reigning to be our Saviour. Apart from our good deeds, our building projects, and life goals; despite our sinful deviations, quaking, and collapses, Jesus is the Cornerstone of our faith, the sure and certain Foundation for eternal life, the true and forever resting place for every troubled soul, and solid Footing of the one, holy, Christian, and apostolic Church. Where our sins convict us of having departed from the perfect standard of God’s unchanging Word and will, we trust in Christ. Our faith is built on His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Christ Jesus, the house built on the rock? True!

And, Christ Jesus is the Master Builder. Jesus builds us up in body and soul with His Word and with His Sacraments. In Holy Baptism, we are being “built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets (including Amos), Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). In Holy Communion, the living body and blood of Jesus are the building blocks to keep us connected to the Lord and strong in faith. The blessed and unchanging Word of the Bible feeds our souls daily with the bread of life to keep us on the straight (strait) and narrow in Jesus (St. Matthew 7:14).

The plumb line of God’s Law shows us that we sin and stray from the path every day (SC III:16). Even though sin puts us out of plumb, Jesus restores, forgives and builds us up.

We “run the straight race through God’s good grace” (LSB 664:2).
     Amen

A Tough Crowd

Ezekiel 2:1-5. ESV
The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

07/07/24

     The band was tight: the members had practised so much, they were singing in their sleep. They never sounded better. Lighting, stage, instruments and venue were top-notch. Even though it had been a while since they played together, they were excited to perform all the favourite songs that made them so popular years ago. When they got up on stage and got ready to play, they looked at each other with a smile: this is going to be a good show.
     When the lights came up and the voices sang the harmonies of the first verses, the audience did not react the way they expected. Big gaps in the arena floor were left by the ticket-holders who didn’t even show up. Small groups of people turned away from the stage, talking with each other. Many faces were lit up by their phones, scrolling while the music played. Others who watched the band perform looked bored. After the first song—a chart-topper—the audience applauded politely. But others shouted: “You’re terrible!” “Play something good!” “You’re old!” and other nasty cheap shots. It wasn’t the reception they expected. Tough crowd!

Tough Israel

 
     Today’s Old Testament reads like a recruitment promotion for the Pastoral Ministry: this divine call comes from the Lord Himself! “I am sending you” (v. 2 NIV), the Lord said to Ezekiel. In fact, these verses from Ezekiel could serve as one of the appointed readings for the Ordination and Installation of a Pastor. Not only does God call and send His ministers. No matter if Pastors have receptive hearers or a tough crowd: “whether they hear or refuse to hear” (v. 5), still, God’s messenger comes to them with God’s Word: “Thus says the Lord God” (v. 4). Pastors don’t preach themselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord (II Corinthians 4:5). Even when it’s a tough crowd.
     And Israel was tough. Instead of hearing and obeying God, they did their own thing. They gathered in groups to hold discussions with their pagan neighbours in Canaan, learning the ways of false religions. Their eyes were captivated by the glowing surfaces of idols. Seduced by the idolatry of the surrounding nations, Israel was unfaithful to the Lord. Exile in Babylon: tough discipline from God for their disobedience. Israel was tough. But, sent by God and equipped with His Word, Ezekiel was tougher.

Tough World

     We have been called out of the world by the Holy Spirit: Christians live in the world, but are not of the world. Yet that doesn’t stop the world from calling us back. Sadly, in our sin, we give in to the pressure and temptation to follow where the world without Christ is leading. Sin toughens our hearts. God pours so much goodness into our lives from His fatherly hand, providing daily bread and protecting care each day. Yet we sin when we don’t see it, don’t thank Him. Instead we covet and complain and yearn for more. Without eyes of faith focussed on God and His good gifts in Christ, the world is a tough crowd. And, we confess: we run with that crowd.

Tough Saviour

     When Jesus preached at Nazareth for the first time, His homies—neighbours and relatives—from His boyhood, carpenter days were impressed. Wise words! Miracles! But, their amazement with this young Jesus soon turned to rejection: “they took offense at Him” (St. Mark 6:3). A tough crowd, this Nazareth. Jesus was not what they expected.
     So, how did the Lord deal with this rejection? Christ did not play to the crowd: to sing and dance and charm the people with funny stories and clever speech. The Lord does not save by being popular—even in His hometown. Jesus saves the crowd—indeed, the whole world—by dying for us.
     The dishonour from the hometown crowd escalated to murderous intent from the crowd that assembled in Jerusalem on Passover. Calls to crucify Jesus led to His death under Pontius Pilate: truly a tough crowd!
     Yet, Jesus was tougher. By His death, Christ destroyed the rebellion of our sin. The darkness of the world’s guilt is cast out by the word of the Lord. Tough as evil is in our lives, Christ is tougher. Jesus cleanses us from all uncleanness by the power and authority of His Word. Forgiven by Christ’s Word in the Absolution. Baptized into Him. Fed by His true body and blood. The Word of Jesus carries His authority. In God’s Word and His blessed Sacraments, you know that the Ultimate Prophet has been among you. Thus says the Lord!

Tough It Out

     In the service of the Commendation of the Dying is the Scripture reading from Revelation picturing the massive crowd of white-robed saints in heaven. I was privileged to pray that service last Sunday afternoon. As we are leaving this life, we need to hold before our eyes and hear in our ears the final victory of Christ for His dear baptized believers: that in heaven we enter the presence of God on His throne, forever protected from sickness, and pain, from death and tears, to drink of the river of the water of life forever (Revelation 7:9-17). “Who are these?” the Apostle St. John wants to know. “They have come out of the great tribulation.” This great crowd in heaven has seen tough times: temptations to sin, conflicts with others, doubts and fears, national calamities, disease and death. Every Christian comes through the tribulation of the world, the devil and our sinful nature. We fight the good fight of the faith. We tough it out. And, in Christ, we win: our robes are washed white in His sacrificial, saving blood. The Lamb of God brings this tough crowd: His dear Church, into heaven.

     When we hear such marvels we wonder, can it really be true?
     Count on it: Thus says the Lord!

     Amen.

Until Tomorrow...

Lamentations 3:22-33. ESV
The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

30/06/24

      Are you a procrastinator?

Have you ever said, “Why do it today, when I can put it off until tomorrow?” Truth is, there are very few emergencies that cannot wait, that absolutely must be dealt with right away. Anxious hearts, weighed down with cares, crises, and worries of the day can find fresh courage in our God’s word of promise from Lamentations: the Lord’s steadfast love for us never comes to an end. With the dawn of every new day, the Lord renews His mercy: fresh, and full. He is with us! The Gospel, this good news in Christ makes us look to the days ahead with optimism, joy, and hope... until tomorrow.

Time’s Limit 

Here’s the bad news: we cannot keep on putting off those things that we need to face. We are mortal: we are only in this life for a limited time. We live each day fully expecting that there will be a tomorrow. Sadly, when our last day comes, no tomorrow will dawn.

So, with great urgency, St. Paul urges everyone to care for their soul’s salvation: “Behold now is the favourable time; behold now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2), we heard in last week’s Epistle reading. With an intense urgency that allows for no procrastination, the Apostle impresses on all people the need to turn from sin and be saved. This touches everyone. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin’s common curse hits all of us to “afflict or grieve the children of men” (v. 33). Our souls need saving—this is not work we can do ourselves. Believers throughout the ages have turned from self to Saviour: confessing their sin and receiving forgiveness in Christ. Our salvation is urgent: without God’s steadfast love and mercy, we “will without doubt perish eternally (Athanasian Creed:2) . We can’t be saved without the Lord. We can’t wait until tomorrow.

Lord Of Today, Tomorrow & US

Our Saviour Jesus is Lord over time. For us and for our salvation, Christ the Lord stands with open arms to receive us into His divine embrace. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning...” (v. 23) . No matter how much we suffer under the weight of our sins, no matter how much pain we have given to others, God promises us that His compassions are new to us every morning. No matter how dark and without hope the world appears, God's love and mercy are always there for us. He forgives those who repent of their sins—those who hope in Him.

For us, Jesus endured trial, torture and crucifixion in silence. For us, Jesus gave His cheek to the one who strikes. For us, Jesus was the brunt of those who passed by His cross and heaped insults on Him (v. 28-30). Christ died to free us from hopelessness. Christ’s Passion is a ray of hope shining on us through the window of faith.

No doubt Martin Luther drew inspiration from these verses to encourage us to return to our Baptisms: to remember every morning to drown our sins in repentance and to clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Christ that we have from this Sacrament. “[God’s] mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (v. 22-23).

Love And Mercy

The Lord is merciful. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. In His compassionate mercy, the Lord does not punish us for our words and acts against Him; against others. He has mercy on us. We don’t wait until tomorrow for His compassion. He has mercy on us now. And, His mercies are new every morning!

Steadfast love: that’s what the Lord has for us. The Lord’s covenant He has made in the blood of His Son—His covenant of steadfast love stands for us today... and for all of our tomorrows. Even when we disobey Him, ignore Him, and rebel against Him. God’s love—His steadfast, unconditional, faithful grace-filled love—stands wide open for us: in the wounds of Christ crucified and resurrected; in the forgiving Word of His Absolution; in the Word and water of our Baptisms; in the body and blood of His Supper. Steadfast love in Jesus. God loves you!

They were in love. The teenagers were out on a date. It was Friday night: dinner and a movie. The food was delicious. The film was a blockbuster. Yet, they hardly noticed. They were so taken up with each other: holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes. The night just flew by. He dropped her off and was saying “goodnight,” but found it hard to leave. He kept on talking about something else, looking at her one more time. She also had trouble letting go. But the night had to end somewhere, sometime. “I’ll call you in the morning,” she said. “Until tomorrow...”

Our love for the Lord echoes His selfless, unconditional, compassionate love that He has first shown to us. He has mercy on us when we fall. Christ cares for us through every struggle. His mercies are new every morning. “Come, Lord Jesus!” We long to be with Him in that eternal day which never ends. Until tomorrow, then...
Amen.

God In The Storm

Job 38:1-11. ESV
The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

23/06/24

     Fair weather.

No wind—or maybe a slight breeze from the west. No rain; no snow; no hail—not too hot, not too cold—no waves or great swells on the water. Clear blue sky—just the odd cloud the size of a man’s hand lazily drifting by. 60% humidity. 72º Fahrenheit. Perfect conditions.

     Fair weather.

Think of all the events and activities where we expect to have fair weather: haying and hammocks; gardening and golf; picnics and outdoor photos; cemetery services and committals; sailing and sea travel. Even that day when we stand before the judgement seat of God Almighty. In our mind’s eye, we always picture ideal conditions when making plans: fair weather.

Sudden Storms

     When it storms—then what do we do?

Picture the disciples in the Gospel. Their boat trip across the Sea of Galilee began with fair weather. Suddenly, strong winds whipped up the waves, washing over the sides of their little craft. Even with Jesus in their boat, they were scared to death: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (St. Mark 4:38). Sudden storm: peril on the sea.
Paul was plagued by problems in the pastoral ministry: a storm of setbacks in his mission to preach the Gospel: “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger” (II Corinthians 6:5). As the disciples in today’s Gospel, the Apostle Paul also rode out a storm: in his case, on the Mediterranean Sea. Only, his stormy sea voyage ended in a shipwreck (Acts 27). The book of Acts describes various storms, sufferings, and conflicts which St. Paul endured while spreading the Gospel. God was with him in the storm.

Are there storms stirring in your life? Who doesn’t have some disturbance of conscience or finance, of worry or want threatening on the horizon? Death takes a family member or friend. Money woes and debt plague you. Like Job, lingering illness or painful medical treatments fill your days with suffering. We are sinners, living in a sinful world: the storms come suddenly.

Job, the Old Testament Patriarch, braved intense storms—not weather systems, but major upheavals in his life. Job’s life was fair weather until Satan provoked the Lord. The devil spun a set of severe storms so that Job lost nearly everything: his wealth and property; his children and his health. In this storm of satanic temptation, Job lost it all, except for his wife, his life and his faith. Through thirty-five chapters, Job endured the whirlwind of words from his friends—friends who brought only cold comfort. The upshot of what they had to say: this suffering you’re going through, Job, this must be your fault. Finally, God appeared to Job in our Old Testament reading. Like a visit to the Principal’s office, the Almighty questioned Job with words of Law: ‘I am God; you are not.’ But also with good news, that is, with kind words of protection: ‘I, the Lord, set limits to the tempests that blow into your life.’

Powerless In The Storm

     Not every day is fair weather.

     But take heart: God is in the storm.

Job believed that. So did the Apostle Paul. So did the Twelve disciples. Trust in the Lord’s promise: “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NKJV) . Every Christian discovers what faith means—not so much on sunny days when all is going well—but on those stormy days when “the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew...” (St. Matthew 7:27). We do what we can to prepare for the worst: but storm windows, insurance, and self-care can’t stop the storms when they come. We stand with the disciples in the boat to watch the wind and the waves. Faith founded on the Rock, Jesus Christ is the only way to weather the storm.

Storm Stiller

Jesus is no fair-weather Saviour. Christ’s mission when He came down from heaven to earth was to sail into the storm. Not tornado, thunderstorm, mountainous waves on high seas, nor blinding blizzard. Worse: the storm of our sins. The howling guilt of the world’s disobedience rebelling against God to the eternal destruction of hell—this is the whirlwind (הרעס  λαλαψ  v. 1) Christ sailed into when He became man: born the innocent Child of Mary. Jesus stood firm through the gale-force torrent of all sins: of Adam, Eve, Job, the disciples, Paul, you sins and mine. The Saviour stood solid as a Rock, even through His Passion, death on the cross, burial and resurrection. Only Christ Jesus, true God and true man, could weather such a storm. God Almighty, who laid the cornerstone of the earth and all things at creation (v. 6) has given us His Son, Jesus Christ to be the Cornerstone of our Salvation.

Trust in Him when the storms of life blow in on you and threaten to wipe everything away. Jesus is the God who is there for you in the storm. No matter how bad it gets, Christ speaks His calming forgiveness in Absolution, in your Baptism, and in His Holy Supper: “Peace! Be still!” (St. Mark 4:39). The Saviour stops the storm of sins in our souls. Even while the storm rages, we have great calm in Jesus, the everlasting Rock.

A war-hardened sailor lived as a unbeliever for most of his life. Man’s inhumanities toward man hardened his heart to faith in God, and hope of life eternal. Although he served as the Captain of a Battleship, a deeper war against God waged war in his heart. The Chaplain on board was deeply concerned for the Captain’s soul. The Padre gave him a copy of the Bible, reading from that Word of God and praying with this sceptical sailor. His pastoral ministry for this officer continued through months as his health declined. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit worked faith in the heart of this Captain, calming the storms of his unbelief. One day, the Chaplain went to the man’s cabin, and found him lying dead on his bed. Gripped in the Captain’s  lifeless hands, the Chaplain found his Bible. Open to John 3:16, the officer had written in the margin of the Gospel: “I am moored in a safe harbour: Christ is my Anchor. I am at peace: thanks be to God!”

Amen
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Gardener Father

Ezekiel 17:22-24. ESV
The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

16/06/24

Eddie O’Hare was a good father. Eddie O’Hare wanted the best for his son. But, for most of his life, it sure did not look that way. In the 1920’s, they called him Artful Eddie: an accomplice of the notorious gangster, Al Capone. Living off the profits of organized crime, Eddie became a wealthy man: his family lived the high life. Then came the day when he went to the police and informed on Capone. There would be a high price to pay for squealing—for turning against a crime boss. He knew it. But Artful Eddie took the risk. He didn’t want his son to grow up in the Mafia. He wanted to be a good role model for his son. So, with his life, Artful Eddie paid the ultimate price. Capone’s men gunned him down: two shotgun blasts.

And, his sacrifice did help his son, named Butch. He enrolled in the U. S. Naval Academy. In World War II while serving as a pilot, Butch O’Hare was the first to be awarded the Medal of Honour. What’s more, Chicago named its airport after Eddie’s son. The busiest airport in America bears his name: O’Hare International Airport—all because his father gave his life for his son.

Flawed Fathers

We may try hard. But we all know that fathers are not perfect. Fathers may try to throw their weight around. “Do what I say... Why? Because I’m your Dad, that’s why.” Have any of you fathers ever used that line on your children? Fathers don’t always know best. And, that goes for all of us: whether we are a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife or worker. God the Father, He knows best.

Do our actions show that? Do we trust that God our heavenly Father is looking after us? Do we fret and worry about the future? Or do we confess with a heart filled with peace that God is in charge of our future? You have a heavenly Father who loves you. Do we hide our faith in Jesus and refuse to spread the seed of His Word in our daily conversations with others? Or do we have confidence that God uses us to tell the good news of salvation to others? You have a heavenly Father who takes care of you everyday. Have we convinced ourselves that the Church grows by our efforts—without us, the church will surely fail? Or do we believe that God the Holy Spirit makes His Church grow like a mustard seed where and when He pleases in the hearts of those who believe the Gospel (AC V:2)? Does it all depend on us? No. God leads us to repent. Our Gardener Father wisely tends the garden of His Church. He promises, “I have spoken and I will do it” (v. 24).

Master Gardener

God the Father loves us. Your Father in heaven provides for you here and in eternity. The Heavenly Father gave up His only Son to prepare an eternity for us in heaven. Ezekiel’s prophecy today speaks of Christ, the Messiah. Jesus is the tender top of the great cedar, broken off to become a noble cedar tree, the refuge of all sorts of birds. Jesus was born in the humble town of Bethlehem, laid on the hay of a lowly manger for us: a tiny beginning for the Son of God. For us and all the world, this Child, a branch of the house of David, lived a blameless life under the watchful care of His heavenly Father. Like a flourishing, green tree at the age of thirty-three, Christ was nailed to the tree of the cross. Life ebbed away. Like a tree dried and dead, Christ was laid low in the tomb. Three days later, flourishing with life, the Father raised His Son from the dead, the tree of life for all nations. Like birds of every kind nesting in the branches of a great tree (v. 23), people from every part of the world find a place in the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus. Baptized believers find shelter forever in Christ. The Lord promises, “I have spoken and I will do it” (v. 24). That’s God the Gardener at work.

God The Father Gives The Growth

Martin Luther teaches us, “The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer” (SC III:7). The Church grows by His power: “I have spoken and I will do it” (v. 24). The Lord Himself makes the seed grow—the farmer can’t say how. God’s kingdom has grown from a very tiny seed, quite humble beginnings, into a great tree. Adam and Eve trusted God’s promise of a Saviour and passed that ancient faith down through the patriarchs: to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and David. God did this! Hope in God’s Messiah was preserved through the time of exile in Babylon until the time when John the Baptist was born. God did this! Twelve Apostles preached Christ crucified, and spread this faith across the world to an obscure Monk in Wittenberg, named Martin Luther. God did this! Over the sea, from Europe to Desboro, the Christian faith has come to us and taken root in our hearts and lives. Did we do this? No. God did this!

From small beginnings, the Church now fills the world. The mustard seed has taken root and grown into a large tree where the birds nest in its shade. Although God’s kingdom comes by itself, “we pray that it may come among us also” (SC III:7). “...our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity” (SC III:8). Like birds nesting in the shade of a great tree, we are also a part of this one holy Christian Church. We have God, our loving Father to thank for this. He promises, “I have spoken and I will do it” (v. 24).

Faith trusts in God our heavenly Father: He makes us grow. We have life to the full. Forever. He has spoken. He will do it.
Amen

Originals

Genesis 3:8-15. ESV
The Third Sunday After Pentecost

09/06/24

She got a great deal on a bluetooth speaker! That online deal was amazing: less than half the cost for the same Sony speaker everywhere else! Until that deal was delivered to her doorstep: she opened the box to find a state-of-the-art “Sorny” bluetooth speaker. The imitation passed itself off as the original. Sadly, this company did not accept returns. So, she tried it out. While this speaker sounded okay, she kept thinking of Sony’s advertizing slogan: “Like no other.”

He couldn’t believe his luck! There was only one left on the shelf: a high-end Seiko watch for only a few dollars! Rather than let this one get away, he bought it. Right there. On the spot. Only to find out later that day, this was no original, but a knock-off! He learned the true identity of this timepiece when he read “Seikou” inscribed on the face of the watch.

We pay more for the originals. We highly value the inventors, the trail-blazers, the ones who come first. The origin of the idea, the source of fresh and novel thought—the original creation grabs our respect like no other.

God’s Word appointed for today records for us the originals: original sin and original Gospel. Today, we hear the beginning, the Genesis, the origin and root cause: the first disobedience of the first human beings against God. That origin story changed everything. Today, we hear the beginning, the Genesis, the origin and effective cause to wipe away the sins of the world: the first promise from the loving heart of God to destroy evil and its effects, and to work salvation for the first human beings and all their descendants through the firstborn Son of God the heavenly Father. Original sin. Original Gospel. Sacred Scripture gives us the originals.

Bite

It started with one bite. Even before the teeth of Eve bit into the fruit that Almighty God said, “Do not eat it,” before that first act of disobeying, the mouth-watering morsel of doing the very thing God said not to do was served up to Eve on the platter of the serpent’s temptation. Looked good: colourful, juicy, sweet! Sounded good: to be wise, like God is wise. Satan served up the lie. Eve bit. Then Adam. The serpent succeeded: the first people swallowed the temptation to ignore God, refusing to listen to His Word, breaking His commandment. All it took was one bite. Original sin entered the world, entered the first humans, then passed down to all their descendants. Satan’s fangs inflicted the bite: sin, death, hell.

Blame

Then, came the blame. The signs and symptoms of sin showed right away: original infection of rebellion against God flowing  through their veins. Sin showed as they refused to take responsibility for their actions. Blaming each other. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. We sin by throwing other people under the bus.

The boss yells at you—and you pin your mistakes on a co-worker. Mom yells at her son for writing on the walls—he gets mad and kicks the cat. You’ve been caught in a lie—you blame it on somebody else. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, hid in the garden so God wouldn’t find them, would not see the shame of their sin. Like them, we deal with our guilt by seeking to shift the blame to others. To hide from our sin. To cover it, instead of to confess it. But, original sin has consequences. The effects of that first disobedience brought curses: the slithering serpent; back-breaking labour; painful childbirth; conflict between husbands and wives. Like that couple in Eden’s bushes, original sin leaves us naked and afraid.

Blessing

Right in the middle of this storm of curses, God blesses! Genesis 3:15 is the first Gospel: hope in the midst of despair. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Here, God promises to send a Champion to defeat the original enemy. Eve’s Offspring, Jesus the Christ, will defeat the deceiver of all mankind. Where Eve, Adam, and each of us have failed, and caved in to Satan’s temptations, the Lord has raised up a Saviour for us from the family tree of Eve. In this promise of a Saviour, Eve, Adam, and all believers throughout the ages have trusted and were saved: the first Gospel.

How? By His cross! The promised Descendant of Eve, Jesus the Christ, did not try to charm the satanic serpent, seductively swaying back and forth, singing hypnotic, enchanting songs. Satan cannot be tamed. The promised Descendant of Eve, Jesus the Christ, did not engage the serpent in a war of words, debating the devil with clever speech, or a slick sales pitch, the way that Satan deceived Eve. No. Jesus stomps his head (ףש).

The snake dies.

The hiss of the serpent’s accusations against all mankind is silenced by Christ. Satan’s power over us is sin. Sin’s power comes from the Law (I Corinthians 15:6). But, Jesus has taken our sins from us, and taken those sins upon Himself, taking away the devil’s power over us. For us, who have disobeyed the Law of God, Jesus was obedient to that Law. His righteousness is ours through the faith given to us in our Baptisms, and strengthened by our Lord here in Holy Communion. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8). The promised Descendant of Eve, Jesus the Christ, came to bring His heel down on the head of the serpent. Head crusher! Jesus takes away the devil’s words: words that tempt us to sin; words that truly accuse us with our guilt. Christ silences the devil’s damning words. Original Gospel!

Stepping on snakes is dangerous. The Saviour who crushed the serpent’s head was bit on the heel. Jesus suffered this mortal injury on the cross. Hands and heels nailed to the Jerusalem cross, Christ fulfilled God’s original promise: crushing Satan, and so releasing the devil’s grip on mankind. In this strange and awesome strife (LSB 463:3)—the ultimate conflict of good versus evil, Jesus died. His body buried in a tomb. More than a wound on the heel, you might say. Except that death could not hold Him. The dear Saviour promised by God the Father rose to live again. His life is our hope. Since He lives, we shall live also (St. John 14:19).

Light in darkness. Blessing from God despite the curse of our sins. Eve and Adam trusted in the Saviour God would send and they were saved. We trust in the Saviour God has sent, Jesus the Christ, and we are saved. Original Gospel!

Amen
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Now, For The Rest

Deuteronomy 5:12-15. ESV
The Second Sunday After Pentecost

02/06/24.

The groom was late. In the summer of 1995 in Lloydminster, Alberta, I was in the church office putting the finishing touches on a sermon for the next day. In the meeting room two doors down, the bride fretted. She was decked out in bridal splendour, accompanied by her attendants: bridesmaids and maid of honour. While the organ played, the church was filled with guests, the other Pastor was vested, ready for the wedding nuptials to begin. I walked down the hall to check on the wedding party. The bride was getting frantic: where was her fiancé? In the days before cell phones were common, no one had called the church office. He should have been there long before. At ten minutes past the hour, she joked that he now had cold feet, and had changed his mind about getting married. By twenty minutes past the start time for the service, the bride began to panic. Surely we would have heard from him by now. Something terrible must have happened: only a car accident could have made him this late! How relieved everyone was at twenty-three minutes after two o’clock when the groom came through the door of the church with his ushers and best man. What happened? Car broke down! Once it finally started, the men made a break for the church. Now the service could begin.

The bride needs to be with her groom. The Church is the bride of Christ: that’s you and me. Jesus Christ is the heavenly Bridegroom of the Church (St. Matthew 25:1-13; Ephesians 5:22-32; Revelation 19:7-9). Love between bride and groom makes them yearn to be together. Every day, in our personal and family devotions, the bride hears the voice of the Groom. Jesus speaks His undying love to us in the Bible. At least one day out of seven, we gather here, in God’s house to be with our dear Lord. Jesus speaks to us in His Word. Jesus feeds us with His Sacraments. The Groom’s forgiving voice gives the bride a peace that she cannot find in the world. The Groom feeds her with renewed faith, hope and love: with Himself. Rest for our souls. Now, for the rest!

One day of rest out seven. God designed our weeks from the beginning, from creation. The Almighty Father created all things in the universe out of nothing simply by the power of His Word. Six working days. Then a day of rest. Not because He was tired. On the Sabbath day, the Almighty contemplated His work well done: the perfection of creation before sin entered to wreck it all. On the day of rest, the Creator enjoyed harmonious fellowship with all that He created, especially with the crown of His creation: Adam and Eve. That’s a picture of heaven! The unending unity of angels and saints before God in heaven without the guilt of sin nor the burden of work: in heaven, the bride of Christ is united forever with her Beloved—to rest in peace. Looking forward to heaven, God commands us to observe a day of rest away from our work in His house: one day out of seven.

What if we miss it? When God lays down the rule in His commandment, immediately exceptions to the rule arise. Healing the sick on the Sabbath? Plucking heads of grain to feed the hungry? Should you gather with God’s people in Church if you have been struck with a contagious disease? What if your house catches on fire when you are pulling out of the driveway to go to Church? Does the third commandment keep you from herding the cattle off the highway and back into the field if they have broken down the fence on Sunday morning? What if your donkey falls into a pit on the Sabbath? What becomes of the day of rest? Need and necessity. Emergency. Unpredictable urgencies pop up unplanned and must be dealt with. The weekly flow of work and worship can be disrupted by emergencies that must be sorted out. The Law of God also commands us to care for our neighbour’s property and bodily health.

How easily everything can become an emergency! How one Sunday away from the Lord’s gracious blessing in Church can turn into two, three, one month, one year. Oh, has it been that long? Even with good reason, missing the Sunday rest of our Lord’s presence here in His Word and Sacraments, harms our souls. We need quality time with our dearly Beloved, Christ our Lord. Without the rest He provides for our souls, we never get a break from work, from the demands of God’s Law, from the relentless rule of our consciences as they are burdened by sin. Like Israel in Egypt.

Slavery.

We love the Lord Jesus because He sets us free. The Sabbath rest started in creation, when God rested on the seventh day. After the Exodus, God renewed His day of rest for His ancient people, Israel. Centuries of hard labour while they worked as slaves in Egypt made them cry out to be free. The Lord worked to free His people, bringing them out of captivity, safely through the Red Sea waters, and into the Promised land of Canaan. Because the Lord worked to save His people, they could rest their souls in Him.

We love the Lord Jesus because He sets us free. Not from Egyptian slave drivers, but from the slavish demands of the commandments with their ceaseless accusations. All people are enslaved to sin’s demands. We are unable to free ourselves. Jesus submitted to the guilt of the world’s sin when He was nailed to the cross. By dying in our place, He set us free. The exhaustion of sin ends with His absolution, His word of forgiveness to free our souls. We rest in Christ.

Now, for the rest. We are not slaves to time. We can take a day of rest because the Lord is always working. This day of rest is not a duty we must pay: not a tribute of time, one day out of seven, to give back to God. This day of rest is time for our gracious God to bless us with His gifts: forgiveness, life and salvation that set us at rest, in both body and soul.

A man driving through Pennsylvania saw a large field of donkeys. When he asked about these donkeys, he found out that the animals worked all week in the mine below ground. They needed to be brought up every Sunday so that they wouldn’t go blind.

We are not donkeys. But, some weeks, it feels like we have spent our days down in the mines. After we struggle in this dark and hectic world all week, we also need to come to the Son, at least once a week and let Him fill us with the rays of new light.

Here and now, is the rest.
Amen

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Holy! Holy! Holy!

Isaiah 6:1-8. ESV
The Festival Of The Holy Trinity

26/05/24

When you sit down here in church to listen to the sermon, concerns from daily life in the world come with you: weighing on your heart; occupying your mind. From the Word of God, you listen to hear direction from the Lord: answers to questions like:

How can I get along with my wife, or my husband?
How can I get the kids to behave, to do well in school?
How can I do well and advance in my work?
How can I be healthy and happy?

Today we hear the Old Testament reading: Isaiah chapter six. A vision of God! Angels and seraphim! Smoke of incense! Noises of heaven itself. Holy! Holy! Holy! This is nothing at all like daily life. Sounds like something so heavenly minded, it’s no earthly good.

Or is it?

Actually, what could be more practical for us to come face to face with the Holy God? He changes us.

Wholly Sinful

What happens when Isaiah is confronted with God who alone is holy? What happens to us?
You might think Isaiah’s first words when seeing the Holy, Triune God with his own eyes would be wonder: “Cool! This is awesome! I always wanted to see angels. So that’s what God wears.” But no. Isaiah freaks out. He thinks he is as good as dead. With his own eyes, he has seen the glory of the Lord. No one can do that and live (Exodus 33:20). The holy light of God’s perfection streamed down from heaven to flood the earthly temple, to overwhelm Isaiah’s eyes, to shine a spotlight on the sin in his soul and on his lips. “Woe is me” (v. 5), he confessed.

That’s how we react to what is holy: confessing our sins. Isaiah was a pretty decent fellow: hardworking and religious, compared with others. But not compared with God. “Woe is me!” moaned Isaiah. No angel wings covered his sins from the all-seeing eye of God. No fig leaf covered his shame. “I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (v. 5).

We are like Isaiah: lost, and needing God to find us; dead, and needing God to give us life. Confession is part of being a Christian. We confess that we are not perfect husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, workers. This is practical, daily stuff.  We confess our failings to each others so that we forgive each other. We confess to God so He forgives us.

Holy Forgiveness

And He does. God forgave Isaiah. Gripped by terror as a sinner before the Holy God, Isaiah was paralyzed, motionless. So God came to Him. The Lord sent one of the heavenly angels, the seraphim, flying over to him. Poor, frightened Isaiah! This heavenly being carried a fiery coal from the altar. Imagine his fear as the hot coal touched Isaiah’s unclean lips. Yet, in that moment, His guilt was taken away, his sin atoned for (v. 7).

How did that happen? The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, offered for Isaiah and for all sinners of the world on the altar of the cross. The second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, chose to face the holy fire of God’s anger for the sins of the world. In His body, Jesus burned up our sins, cleansing Isaiah and us by His Passion. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, Isaiah was purified by that heavenly, burning coal. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we are forgiven all the sins we confess.

Forgiveness does not come to us by a fiery coal, carried from the bronze temple altar by heavenly seraphim. Instead, God’s called servant, the Pastor, speaks the words of forgiveness that come from Christ, just as valid and certain, even in heaven (SC V). The fires of our sins are extinguished by the water and words of Holy Baptism. And from this altar, the Lord touches our lips and fills our hearts with His true body and blood in Holy Communion. Here in His Word and Sacraments, the Lord forgives us and makes us His holy people, just as He forgave Isaiah and made him holy.

Why does He do this? We Christians forgive others as we have received God’s forgiveness. This is practical, daily stuff. Husbands and wives forgive each other. Forgiveness sets the tone in Christian homes, on the job, on the farm, in all our relationships with others. Our Holy God forgives us. We lives holy lives when we forgive others.

Holy Calling

God appeared before Isaiah to call him as Prophet. This holy scene was his ordination. Isaiah served as Prophet for 45 years: difficult, often painful years. While King Uzziah reigned, God’s people prospered, the economy was good, the army was strong, there was peace. But the death of Uzziah was the beginning of the end. Spiritual apathy made people forget God. The country suffered. Foreign kingdoms conquered Israel. Hard times for Isaiah. Yet, God sustained His prophet. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” called the Triune God. “Here am I! Send me” (v. 8), answered Isaiah. And the Lord sent His prophet on a holy calling.

Next month on June 28th, it will be thirty-two years since I was ordained. In 1988 when I entered Seminary, LCC had more churches, more members, more money. Things have changed, as they did for Isaiah and for Israel. Still God calls and promises to care for Pastors today. “Here am I! Send me!” The Lord sends them on a holy calling.

Like every Christian. All Christians are privileged to serve others out of love for God. During good times, and when the Church suffers, we show the love of Jesus. Love starts in our homes and flows out into work, school, and the world. We love and forgive our family, friends, co-workers and strangers. This is practical, daily stuff. The love of the holy Triune God through Jesus, who died and rose for us is what drives our Christian calling.

Each day, we live in the presence of our unseen, yet thrice-holy God. He gives us answers to our practical questions and daily struggles. We confess our sin, embrace His forgiveness, and go out into the world to serve others. He sends us on a holy calling.
Amen.

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Hope For The Holidays

Ezekiel 37:1-14. ESV
The Festival Of Pentecost

19/05/24

Pentecost? The Victoria day long weekend? What holiday is this? Hallowe’en? From the sights recorded by the Prophet Ezekiel, you might say Hallowe’en, what with the vast valley of desiccated bones, the spontaneous assembly of body parts without life, an army of inanimate zombies who then come to life: more like horror than hope! But, you are in here church for the high holiday of Pentecost. When God the Holy Spirit comes, He breathes life into those who are slain; He gives faith to those who don’t believe; He inspires hope where hope has died. Welcome home to God’s house for the holidays. Today is Pentecost. God the Holy Spirit gives us hope that looks ahead to everlasting life. By the Spirit, we have hope for the holidays.

Hope Dried Up

What does it mean to live without hope? Life without hope means you believe you have nothing to look forward to. The future stretches before you like a long, dark tunnel: at the end of that tunnel, a solid brick wall. Like a valley filled with dry bones, our sins deprive us of hope. Living without hope is impossible. Without hope, you cannot start the day. In Psalm three, King David pictured hopelessness: “Many are saying of me, there is no help for him in God” (Psalm 3:2 RSV).
Like the nation of Israel, carried off into exile to Babylon: deprived of their homeland, unable to come to the temple, their freedom taken away. While in far-off Babylon, Jerusalem was totally destroyed. Far from the land of promise, the nation of Israel struggled to believe God’s promises. Hope in their hearts dried up. “We are clean cut off” (v. 11 RSV). Can these bones live?

Like the followers of Jesus in the days before the Pentecost miracle. Despite the glad news of Christ’s resurrection, the spectre of the cross, with its shame and suffering, and the grim reality of the grave worked in the hearts of the Lord’s feeble followers. They quivered in fear and hiding between Easter and Pentecost. Like a valley of dry bones. Where is hope? Can these bones live?
Like us, between Baptism and Christ’s return. How often hope seems lost! Are we so different from that valley of skeletons from Ezekiel’s prophecy? Not according to God’s Word. “You were dead in [the] trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), writes the Apostle St. Paul. What is our natural state when it comes to spiritual abilities? “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him” (SC II:6). Spiritual strength like extremely dry bones. Dead!

Hope With Skin On

But then the wind blows. The Holy Spirit comes to us in the Word of God and the water of His Baptism. The dead are raised—we live! The same “Lord and Giver of life” (NC:7) who made  the Israelites in the skeletal valley come to life again has breathed life into us in His Holy Word, the Bible, and in that same Word at work in the sacramental water, bread and wine. God the Holy Spirit “made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5). We, who by our sins were deprived of hope, have been born again into a new and living hope (I Peter 1:3) through Spirit-worked faith in Christ Jesus.

That’s the unique work of the Holy Spirit: He leads us to Christ. The third Person of the Trinity, eternal spirit without a body turns our attention to trust in the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, born in our human flesh and blood to be our Saviour. We trust in God: He has skin like we do! Our hope is in Jesus. For us, Jesus beat death and the grave, the final enemies that steal hope away from us. To save the world, dying without hope, the Lord Jesus, very God of very God was crucified: His bones nailed to the wood of the cross. For us, Christ faced the hopelessness of death brought on by our sins. Jesus descended into hell, traversing the land of skeletons, to bring life where death had ruled. Christ burst out of the prison of the grave to give hope to us, who one day must pass through that same narrow path. The resurrected Lord leads us to the hope that cannot be extinguished: to the real and living hope of life to the full after this brief earthly life. In this way, the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus. To life. To hope.

Like the wind, the Holy Spirit works where and when He pleases (AC 5:2), blowing into our lives with power and precision. The wind of Spirit moves through the Word of God. Sin-flawed Ezekiel, powerless to do anything before acres of human bones, speaks the Word of God—and the bones stand alive on their feet! At the Word of God the Holy Spirit, this huge human army is filled with the breath of life. By the Word of God, they are filled with hope!

Water, bread, and wine are plain elements of creation—daily food and drink. Until the called ministers of Christ speak the Word of God over these elements: and they become much more. The Holy Spirit uses His Word to make the water of our Baptisms a life-giving water, rich in grace (Titus 3:5-7). The Holy Spirit makes our Baptism a fountain of hope in Christ. And, the Holy Spirit uses His Word to lead us to Christ our Saviour and eternal hope here in this Sacrament of His body and blood. Can these bones live? By the Holy Spirit’s direction and inspiration through the Word of God, here we have our faith in Christ strengthened: the gift of hope that cannot die (LSB 417:1).

Eternal life with God after this life—this is the ultimate hope of all Christians. God sent His Holy Spirit to His people Israel, captives in Babylon, filling their discouraged hearts with the sure and certain hope of freedom and return to the Promised land. To renew our faith and fill us with sure and certain hope, the Holy Spirit showed Ezekiel the miracle of a vast army raised from death to live again. In Christ Jesus, who died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, we look forward, in hope, to God’s promise come true: “when I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people” (v. 12). The Lord Jesus lives, body and soul, and will never die. He echoes this same promise to His faithful people: “the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live... the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (St. John 5:25, 28, 29 NKJV).

The resurrection of our bodies to life everlasting—our sure and certain hope—on this holiday... and always!
Amen.
​

With One Accord                                                                                          

 Acts 1:12-26. ESV
The Seventh Sunday Of Easter                                                                                   

12/05/24.

 

            “The best gift is having you all here together.” Mom was simply beaming on her special day: smiling with joy, surrounded by all her children. Unity in her family. Sadly, it cannot always be this way: as sons and daughters grow up, move out of the house, and have families of their own. The children move, and they have children—times together, oneness for mother, dad and their children become fewer.

            Sadder still when the family breaks up before that: when the children, like the prodigal son, strike off into the wide world to go their own way, to do their own thing, and turn their backs on their family home, refusing to honour father and mother. At those times, the hearts of parents long for their children to come back, “that they may be one” (St. John 17:11).

At Loose Ends

            Like Judas. Privileged to be chosen by the Lord Jesus to be among the twelve disciples, those closest to the Lord, who were always with Him, Judas Iscariot enjoyed God’s favour like few other people had in the history of the world: close to Christ—like family! But, he blew it. This close companion of Christ betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver: Jesus was arrested, put on trial and sentenced to be crucified. When he saw his sin, that he betrayed His Lord, Judas fell into despair. Tragically, he ended his own life. This lost sheep wandered from the flock and was destroyed.

            The tragic end of the Lord’s disciple, Judas, is a cautionary tale for each of us: don’t turn from the Lord to go your own way. Inside the fellowship of the Holy Christian Church is safety, encouragement and strength. Look at the example provided by the Eleven survivors, together with Mary, the mother of our Lord, and the faithful women. After Jesus ascended to heaven, this nucleus of the New Testament Church stayed together: the family of Faith. “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (v. 14). A touching and powerful picture of that newborn body of believers: unity in the family of Faith. Unity in the Church. Unity in Christ.

            Outside of that Christian fellowship, Judas, and all other “lone ranger” Christians wander alone, discouraged, defeated, destroyed. James in his Epistle pictures it like this: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). [Post-covid, there are a lot of lonely, lost people in the world, outside the family of the Faith]. Judas fell into despair. Many others do too.

Safe In His Embrace

            Jesus calls back to Himself all who wander, back to the fellowship of the Church. For all people, Jesus prays to the Father, “that they may be one” (St. John 17:11). Oneness, unity, togetherness is in Jesus.

            Through His cross. “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself” (St. John 12:32), said the Lord just days before His crucifixion. All people come together in Christ. His cross is the magnet (LW 311:4). There, on that awful Roman instrument, the body of Jesus broke down and died under the pressure of our sins—the sins that tear us apart. Christ died for all (II Corinthians 5:14). And yet, through His righteous self-offering on the cross, Jesus serves His dear people as the Head of the Church, which is His body. The crucified Lord stretched out His arms to embrace the world in a gesture of love for the whole world when He died. No one is excluded from His forgiving love. Jesus prays that we all may be one. He gave His life so that prayer would come true. Christ died and rose again to bring us together in Him.

            The Holy Spirit calls us out of the world into the Church, which is the body of Christ (SC III:6). We believe in one Church, even while we are so different from each other. We confess that there is “one holy Christian and apostolic Church,” even when church people appear fractured, divided, and so unlike each other in the eyes of the world. That’s the visible Church. Clearly, our differences don’t unite us as one. Sadly, even in the visible Church, there are painful fractures that divide Christians one from another—like Paul and Barnabas who disagreed so sharply, they had to part and go their separate ways (Acts 15:39-40). Where sin divides, Jesus unites. With joy, Dr. Martin Luther writes, “Thank God, today a seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd” (SA III, XII: 2). The invisible Church is one in Jesus.

The Wounded Healer

            We dearly long to be close to one another: in our families, on the job, and in church. Yet sin—our sin and others—is a powerful force to smash friendships, to stand in the way of reconciliation and to shatter the bonds of love: like a precious vase broken to bits.

            Rather than throw the pieces away, the Japanese technique known as kintsugi restores the broken pieces of a shattered vessel. Powdered gold, silver, or platinum is mixed into a laquer to bind the broken pieces back together. Repaired pottery is not perfect: the fractured lines show its history: all that this object has been through.

            We are not perfect. But Christ has bound us up: healing the wounds of our sins. Not with gold, silver, or precious metals, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Bought by Christ’s blood, we are bound together in Baptism, healed in the Sacrament of the Altar with His living body and blood. We all have fracture lines. But Jesus binds us together as one body.

One In His Hands

            Every morning, a mother brought her young son to preschool, kissed him on the forehead and told him, “I’m leaving you in good hands.” Years later, dementia had taken its toll on this poor lady. Her son, now a middle-aged man, took his dear mother to a nursing home. As he said goodbye, he kissed her forehead and told her, “I’m leaving you in good hands.” His mother, who could barely remember the words of a conversation she had just five minutes earlier began to weep. She remembered that those were the same words she had told him so many years ago.

            We are in good hands. Jesus has us. He prays for us to be one. Christ—resurrected and ascended—makes it happen.

                                                                                                                                                Amen​

Chariot Of The Gospel                                                                                 

Acts 8:26-40. ESV
The Fifth Sunday Of Easter                                                                                          

28/04/24.

 

            Philip and a man from Ethiopia meet in a chariot travelling from Jerusalem to Gaza. From the temple to Ethiopia. There in the chariot (ἅρμα v. 28), en route, God visits the man from the court of Queen Candace. God the Holy Spirit enters the heart of this man, converting him to saving faith in Christ. The Word of God is the vehicle, specifically Isaiah chapter fifty-three, verse seven. Saving faith in Jesus leads to the Holy Spirit’s work again: this time in the water and Word of Baptism. The Spirit brings these two men together in a chariot. The Spirit converted this man: creating saving faith then and there. A chariot of the Gospel!

Old Wheels

            The chariot was the mode of transportation for the rich in Bible times. The chariot also worked as heavy military transport in ancient warfare.

            Remember? Chariots of Pharaoh pursuing the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Red Sea (Exodus 14). The wheels of Egypt’s military might drowned by the (baptismal) flood of God’s salvation. Good news—in Jesus!

            Remember? Iron chariots in Canaan spotted by spies exploring the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13). Together with the giant inhabitants of this land, the sight of wheeled warriors on chariots struck fear in these twelve men, and in the hearts of the whole congregation of Israel: cursed to wander for the next forty years in the dry, dusty desert.

            Remember? That saving, flaming chariot, pulled by fiery horses that carried the Prophet Elijah alive into heaven (II Kings 2:11).

            The chariot in today’s reading from Acts 8 is both pulpit and Bible class: the life-changing location for this Ethiopian man. A chariot of the Gospel.

Road Blocks          

            What prevents us? The Ethiopian eagerly asked Philip that question, seeking the blessing of the new birth God the Holy Spirit gives in Baptism. What stands in our way, stopping us from making the most of God’s Word, especially the Gospel, the good news about Jesus (v. 35)? What keeps us from living our baptismal life to the full? Sacred Scripture, the Bible warns us against three roadblocks to the free gifts of God in His grace: the devil; the world; our sinful nature. Even while this official from Ethiopia was rolling down the desert road in his splendid chariot, he hit a solid barrier, a roadblock to understanding what he was reading in the scroll of Isaiah: “How can I [understand] unless someone guides me?” (v. 31), exclaimed the frustrated seeker. The Holy Spirit guides us. The Bible is His Word. The Holy Spirit drives us to Christ.

Divine Delivery

            Christ comes to us. His vehicle is not a chariot, but Himself. By human flesh and blood, Jesus lives with us. From heaven to earth, God, in love, travelled to our world. Christ’s destination? Bethlehem! For us, Jesus came, the tender Child of Mary. The fragile flesh of newborn Jesus: that’s the vehicle the Lord uses to come to His people.

            To save us. The Jerusalem cross stood as Christ’s final destination. Jesus, Son of God, converted this sentence of shame into the vehicle of our salvation—the chariot of the Gospel. Christ’s obedient life headed to this spot of sacrifice—the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world (St. John 1:29). To the delight of the devil and before the eyes of the world, the sight of Christ on the cross: it sure looked as if the wheels had totally fallen off—the world’s salvation at a sudden standstill.

            Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter

            and like a lamb before its shearers is silent,

            so He opens not His mouth.

            In His humiliation justice was denied Him.

            Who can describe His generation?

            For His life is taken away from the earth (Isaiah 53:7, v. 32-33).

            Beginning with this Scripture, here’s the Gospel in the chariot, the good news about Jesus. He gives us His perfection in exchange for our sins. He gives us a clear conscience instead of hearts weighed down with guilt. He restores our broken relationships, opening the bridge between us and God. Now here’s Gospel that’s got wheels! Christ comes to us: from heaven to earth; from Bethlehem to Jerusalem; from the cross through the empty tomb; through Scripture and through Sacrament; Christ comes to us to bring us to Himself. That’s the Gospel: go on your way rejoicing in Christ!

            Go on your way: from Bible to Baptism. Rejoicing in Jesus, go on your way from Scripture to Sacrament of Baptism. This Ethiopian man did. “See, here is some water... What prevents me from being baptized?” (v. 37). Well, nothing. They stop the chariot ride. Put on the parking brake. Together, they climb down out of the chariot into the water of this Palestinian pond. Pastor Philip baptizes this new believer. Word of God combined with water. A roadside Baptism! The good news about Jesus immersed in this Sacrament.

            The distance from the font to the altar—from Baptism to Communion—is about a dozen steps, or about thirteen years for infants through Confirmation. Baptism begins what Communion sustains: chariots of the Gospel to enjoy life to the full through the good news about Jesus. His Word, the Bible; His Sacraments, Baptism and Communion: these are the holy means of grace He uses to keep faith alive in us. Vehicles of the Gospel.

            Go on your way—rejoicing in Christ!
             Amen

Only One Way                                                                                                  

Acts 4:1-12. ESV
The Fourth Sunday Of Easter                                                                                      

21/04/24.

 

            Boy, he was strong, for a little guy! Many years ago, at the Chatsworth Christmas parade, one our members brought his sheep to ride on the church float. “Pastor, hold him for a minute,” he told me as everyone on the float was getting ready. Well, I held that wooly sheep according to the way I was shown—by the horns—but that sheep was strong! He wriggled and twisted to get free from my grip and go his own way. Until the shepherd got a hold of him. Then, in his hands, the sheep behaved for the parade.

Sheep Who Love To Stray

            Shepherds of Israel fill our reading from the book of Acts today on this Good Shepherd Sunday: Annas, Caiaphus, John and Alexander: all from the family of high priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees: all prominent leaders to care for the sheep of the flock of Israel. Only, they were “greatly annoyed” (v. 2). Why? The shepherds were greatly annoyed by the Apostles’ preaching and teaching. The shepherds were greatly annoyed by the resurrection of Jesus! Easter was just too much for them! They hoped that they were done with this Prophet from Galilee, but no! This Healer just won’t go away. A well-known lame beggar is now healed because of this Jesus of Nazareth.

            So, Peter and John were on trial. The same Israelite judges who had recently grilled the Lord Jesus under trial (St. John 18:13, 24) now examined, questioned, and accused His Apostles, Peter and John. Jesus laid down His life for them and for all people. Now, they followed where the Shepherd of the sheep has led: giving “a reason for the hope that is in [them]” (I Peter 3:15), wrote Peter; “laying down their lives for the brothers” (I John 3:16), wrote John.

            Why were they on trial? “A good deed done to a crippled man” (v. 9). Facing court because of a healing? Sadly, it is said that no good deed goes unpunished.

            How were Peter and John so bold to stand trial in defense of their Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd who heals, forgives and saves—and Him alone? These fickle followers, these straying sheep, who not many days before were shivering in fear of arrest and trial before these religious authorities? The Holy Spirit! God the Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, gave faith instead of fears. The risen and living Christ ordained these Apostles as undershepherds of the fledgling flock of the Church of Christ.

            The Good Shepherd calls Pastors—earth-bound undershepherds—and uses them to keep His sheep from straying. His own Word and Sacraments are the rod and staff to lead us back to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

            Wolves are in the world. Ruthless persecutors of the flock care nothing for the sheep. In the first century, wolves tried to steal away the sheep of Jesus with force: threatening monetary fines, jail time, even physical punishment. What makes sheep stray today? Popular today is the opinion that salvation comes by many paths. Diverse religious ideas are as close as the Internet. Sheep of the Lord Jesus stray by the click of a mouse. Not every path leads to salvation. No. There’s one way to heaven—and Jesus is the way. Peter said it (on trial under oath): “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (v. 12).

Won Way

            There’s no one like Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. He laid down His life to save the sheep—to save us as we stray into false paths, dead ends, false teachings, and suffer under cruel leaders. Jesus is the way—there is salvation in no one else.

            Jesus cares for us. The world around us grows increasingly cold and loveless (St. Matthew 24:12). Many seemed to have stopped caring. The Good Shepherd cares. Jesus cares for each one of us, just as a shepherd knows everyone of His sheep. Jesus knows us. He calls us by name—the name you were given here in Holy Baptism—the name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27). Jesus, our Good Shepherd, knows us better than we know ourselves—and still, He loves us. Through the hands of Peter and John, the Good Shepherd healed the lame man. Every day, Jesus provides us with all that we need to support this body and life. The Good Shepherd even gives us Himself—His true body and blood—here in the Sacrament of the Altar to provide us with forgiveness, life and salvation for us, the dear sheep of His flock. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5). Christ keeps our bodies and souls together. He cares for us (I Peter 5:7). He is our Good Shepherd.

            Jesus is the way to the Father in heaven—the only way (Jn 14:6). Although rejected by those He came to save, Christ is our cornerstone: the critical key to our salvation. Despite our straying sins, apart from our good deeds, words and lives, the Good Shepherd saves us. There was only one way it could be done: the Shepherd died for the sheep. The righteous Lamb of God offered Himself on the cross for the sinful sheep of the whole world.

            One sacrifice. Saves all. There is no other way.
            Amen

Times Of Refreshing                                                                                    

Acts 3:11-21. ESV
The Third Sunday Of Easter                                                                                         

14/04/24.

 

            “I need a holiday.”

            The pace was nonstop. Day after day, the lame man begged for coins. Steady was the flow of the faithful: worshippers coming through the temple entrance called “Beautiful Gate” to present their prayers and offerings to God. Many Israelites passed this poor, disabled man, unable to walk, unable to work. Some gave generously: coins of copper, silver and gold to help him in his need. Others ignored the pleas of this lame beggar. Like the passing people, so also the days flowed on: one after another, without much change. This poor man woke up everyday to this same sad reality: his legs didn’t work as they should. Others had to carry him wherever he wanted to go. Others had to provide alms to take care of his daily needs.

            “I need a holiday.” Times of refreshing.

            Along came the Apostles, Peter and John, walking through that Beautiful Gate. As he petitioned so many others, that lame man asked them for money. But, this time was different. Not funds, but function was given. Not gold, but get-up-and-go. In the name of Jesus, by faith in His name, this lame man was made strong in his feet and ankles: “he stood up and began to walk... walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:8). By the power and action of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, this man was blessed with a holy day: relief from his disability, relaxation in his soul with repentance for his sins, return to a right relationship with God the heavenly Father, breathing space in his spirit with the promise of sins blotted out (v. 19). No wonder this lame man “clung to Peter and John” (v. 11), the Apostles who conveyed this life-changing blessing from God to him. This was one of many “times of refreshing” (καιροί ἀναψύξεως) this formerly lame beggar would receive from the presence of the Lord (v. 20).

Holiday For The Soul

            “I need a holiday.” Not a week or two to lie on a beach in the Caribbean. We need rest, relief, refreshing in our souls. Every week, our souls cry out for a break from the weariness of our daily sins: from the relentless pressure of the world to forsake the Faith and walk its way; from the temptations of the devil to live only for ourselves. “I need a holiday,” pleads our soul. The Lord agrees. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” God commands His people. One day out of seven, His Word, the Bible is uppermost in our minds and hearts, His Sacraments feed our souls, the name of Jesus—faith in His name—we hold sacred in trusting hearts. “Times of refreshing... from the presence of the Lord” (v. 20). To give this kind of holiday, the Sabbath rest, God had the temple built: a holy place to meet with His people. To give this kind of holiday, the Sabbath rest, the lame man and all worshippers gathered at the Jerusalem temple. To give this kind of holiday, the Sabbath rest, Peter and John healed this lame man. Then called everyone who witnessed this miracle to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus, now risen from the dead. To experience this kind of holiday, the Sabbath rest, you and I are here today: gathered in church, the house of the Lord, to hear Him speak and to be fed with His Sacraments. Times of refreshing!

Missing Out

            Or are we? Although our souls eagerly long for the rest that only God in His Word and Sacraments can provide, our sinful nature can easily despise preaching and the Word of God. Just as the Israelites in the temple, who witnessed this lame man healed, had some time before despised Christ Jesus, calling for His crucifixion, sadly, we also can reject the times of refreshing that come through God’s means of grace here in Church. St. Peter recalls the trial of Jesus before Pilate. Even as the Governor sought to release Him, the crowds called for a murderer to go free. “Release Barabbas! Crucify Christ!’ They killed the Author of life (v. 15).

            How can God, the Creator of all living things, die? Using the picture of scales to weigh guilt in the coming judgment Martin Luther explains: “We Christians should know that if God is not in the scale to give it weight, we, on our side, sink to the ground. I mean it this way: if it cannot be said that God died for us, but only a man, we are lost; but if God’s death and a dead God lie in the balance, His side goes down and ours goes up like a light and empty scale. Yet He can also readily go up again, or leap out of the scale! But He could not sit on the scale unless He became a man like us, so that it could be called God’s dying, God’s martyrdom, God’s blood, and God’s death. For God in His own nature cannot die; but now that God and man are united in one person, it is called God’s death when the man dies who is one substance or one person with God” (FC SD VIII:44).

Forever Refreshed

            What a paradox: Christ’s death means life for us! This gift of love refreshes our souls at Easter and always. The death of God in the flesh—the very Author of life—Jesus Christ, gives healing to the lame man, forgiveness for our souls. In the name of Jesus—by faith in His name—all our guilt is blotted out. In Him, we have everlasting life: times of refreshing without end.

Now Or Later

            At those times when we are blessed to gather here in God’s house to be refreshed in our souls with forgiveness from the hand of the risen Christ, we pray for those among us who are ill. We trust that Jesus, the Author of Life, whose holy name healed the lame man, gives “perfect health” (v. 16) in answer to our prayers. We rejoice and thank the Lord when we see that healing here and now: that is, while we live in this world. Yet, if healing is not given now, by faith we look forward to the “perfect health” the Lord will certainly give when He will resurrect our bodies: free of all sickness, pain and death in everlasting life: true times of refreshing.

            Our reading from Acts begins with the lame man clinging to Peter and John—this is what faith looks like: leaning on another. Even though he could now stand on his own, even walk and jump, this man chose to lean on the Lord’s servants who brought God’s healing to him. In faith, we cling to Jesus. He died and rose to life again for us. He heals our guilt, and blots out all our sins. We have times of refreshing in Jesus—without end.

            Cling to Him!

            Amen

Great Grace                                                                                                    

Acts 4:32-35. ESV
The Second Sunday Of Easter                                                                                    

07/04/24.

 

            Graham crackers and melted chocolate. If that’s part of the recipe for s’mores, what more do you need? Marshmallows: golden brown, camp-fire-toasted marshmallows, squashed between the chocolate and crackers. The marshmallows make the s’more: gooey, warm, sweet, and comforting.

            During Lent, I read a book on repentance: The Devastating Lie of Marshmallow Grace. The author pointed out this false teaching: that “grace” is the same as “being nice, comfortable, easy.” Such grace leaves no lasting effect on your life or others. Grace like that is soft, mushy—empty calories—like a marshmallow.

            There’s no soft, marshmallow grace in today’s first reading from Acts. St. Luke pictures the life of the newborn Church shortly after Pentecost. This congregation of perhaps 5 000 members, headed by twelve Pastors—the Apostles—was busy, active, alive, unified and caring for each other. Luke’s snapshot of Church life in these four verses makes it clear that great power (δυνάμει μεγάλη  v. 33) was not fuelled by the thin diet of flimsy marshmallow grace. No, things were happening in the early Church because “great grace (χάρις τε μεγάλη) was upon them all.” Christ is risen! The resurrected Christ moved His Church, the body of Christ, into action.

            God in His grace does that. “Grace” means “gift.” And, when your gift is from God, that’s great grace! For His grace is nothing other than this: the free forgiveness of our sins, earned not by our good works, but by His substitutionary death on the cross for us. Jesus is no softy. Christ took the hard road of His Passion, suffering and death because of His rich, full-bodied love for us. Without us asking Him. While we were still sinners. His death counts as life for us. That’s grace.

            The gift of forgiveness for our sins is sealed by His resurrection from the dead. Jesus truly died on the cross and now is alive—Thomas saw the marks in His living body with His own eyes. Marks that proved this really was Jesus! His visit to Thomas means life for us: life for all who believe and are baptized into Jesus. God’s free gift to us. Grace! Great grace!

            Great grace moves us into action. True, faith in Jesus alone saves. But faith in our gracious Saviour is never alone. In the Lutheran Confessions, Dr. Martin Luther explains: “O, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them” (FC SD IV:10-11). Great grace fuels good works.

            Christians in the early Church heard this great grace in the preaching of the Apostles, especially as they proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (v. 33). With believing hearts, they heard this great, gracious Gospel: that God had beaten death in His Son Jesus. Hearing this act of grace moved them to share their property with each other. Wealthy Christians sold lands and houses, bringing the income from these sales to the Apostles. These men of God dispersed these gifts to those among them who were poor and needy (v. 35). This free and joyous giving filled the growling tummies of those who were hungry and thirsty, covered those who could not afford decent clothing (St. Matthew 25:35-36), and promoted a unity in Christ where “no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common” (v. 32). Some twenty years later, this great grace of giving came back to them through the wider church. When a global famine struck central Palestine with great poverty, the Apostle St. Paul gathered assistance from churches in Asia Minor to help the needy in these same churches in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-30; II Corinthians 9:1-15; Galatians 2:10)—a kind of first century “gofundme” platform. Love for fellow members of the body of Christ—that’s great grace.

            The members who constitute this congregation promise that we “will support Lutheran Church-Canada” (Constitution, Article X). Our life together as a synod—a fellowship of churches—in Lutheran Church-Canada gives us the opportunity to show care and concern for Christians who are joined to us in a common faith, the same way that first century Christians looked after each other. That’s our mission: “to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world, to manifest the unity of our faith in Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, to foster Christian fellowship and love, to extend a helping hand in human need” (Constitution, Article II). We give to “current” through our offering envelopes to care for local needs here in Desboro and area. We give to “missions” through our offering envelopes  to care for the needs of the Church in Domestic and International missions, as well as global concerns. Needs in our circuit, region, country and world: together God the Holy Spirit has forged the bonds of fellowship between us in the resurrected and living Lord Jesus. God in His grace has given us all that we are and have: our lives are His gift to us. How can we use those gifts to help others in need?

            Helping others doesn’t earn a place for us in heaven. We are saved by grace: God’s undeserved favour in Christ crucified and raised to life again for us. Since the Lord saves us, we have gifts to help others: great grace!

            Amen​

Bigger Than...                                                                                                

Isaiah 25:6-9. ESV
The Resurrection Of Our Lord                                                                                      

31/03/24.

 

            Christ is risen! Jesus is alive! Death is defeated! Sorrow is swallowed up! Alleluia! This is big! So big, Easter pushes everything else out of the way: sin and sadness, disappointment, despair and loss. Even death itself is destroyed—eclipsed by the life of Christ who died and rose again. God is bigger than all of our enemies. The resurrection of the Lord—is bigger!

            “You’re a bad dog!” I yelled. The dog had just knocked over our garbage can and was nosing through our trash, looking for something to eat. The dog looked up from this mess and ran over to  me, barking. I barked back: “That’s not yours! Stay out of our garbage!” The dog stopped in his tracks. Barked again. He was loud. A big dog. I was bigger.

            Big enemies bark at us in this life. Hunger, unhappiness, separation, poverty, sadness, sickness, death. They are big. Like the funeral pall—the cover on a coffin—they are so big, sometimes they blot out everything else. Sin and death are such big opponents, they cover the whole world, Isaiah writes. Even God Himself, Jesus Christ in the days of His humanity here on earth, was engulfed by these adversaries—swallowed up by our sin, the whole world’s sin, at the cross. The mouth of the grave in Jerusalem swallowed up the Lord Jesus in death. Even hell wrapped itself around the Lord in His suffering and death. Big enemies. But, Christ the Lord is bigger.

Obstacles

            Big barriers stood to block the way on the first Easter morning. The huge stone door. “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” (St. Mark 16:3), said the women to each other as they went to embalm the body of Jesus. No worries—the resurrection of Christ from the dead is bigger than the grave, whose merciless door shuts us in (LSB 685:3). Then, the angel. That tomb was not the way they expected to find it. These ladies came looking for the lifeless body of Jesus. Instead, “they saw a young man sitting on the right side [of the tomb], dressed in a white robe” (St. Mark 16:5). What a shock! No need to worry—Jesus is not in the tomb because “He has risen!” Alleluia! The living Christ is bigger than their morning chores. Finally, there was the obstacle of their own fears. Even when greeted by the open tomb, and the glad word of the angel that the Lord Jesus has risen, still the women flee in fear and trembling.

Big Win

            No worries—the resurrected Christ is bigger than their fears... or ours! Fear comes from sin: against God and others. That’s our big problem: too big for us to solve by doing good things to make up for our bad: sin is just too big. So God did it. God became man in Christ Jesus. He took our sins to the cross and died to save us. Saving the world—that’s huge! “Too big for you,” the devil whispered into the ear of Jesus as he discouraged the Lord, tempting Him to abandon His mission to save the world. Yet, here we are: in the shadow of the cross. Christ is bigger than global sin. The One who was crucified is not here. He has risen! That’s a big win—the biggest, in fact! Alleluia!

Big Meal

            Sin and death, grave and hell have all been swallowed up by life—in Jesus, who rose from the dead. Our final enemy—death—opens its big mouth to swallow us; to swallow our loved ones. But, the living Lord Christ is bigger. In Him, we live, even though we die. And whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. Easter means eternal life for us, together with all baptized believers in Christ.

            Therefore, the Lord spreads a big meal before us: the feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, just as foretold in Isaiah. Here, at the altar, we receive a small sample of the big meal that is coming. Christ Jesus, who rose from the dead for us, is now present for us here in His true body and blood. This sacramental meal is bigger than any other. Christ is really and truly present here, and at Christian altars all around the world. At the Lamb’s High Feast we sing His powerful victory: over sin and death, over the grave and hell. Because He lives, we live also. Nothing is bigger!

            Alleluia!

                                                                                                                                                Amen.​

Beat The Alarm                                                                                       

St. Mark 16:5-6. ESV
Easter Vigil                                                                                                                     

31/03/24.

 

            This morning, the alarm clock woke me up. I set it to 4:30 am. The noisy ringing roused me from a sound sleep. To greet the dawn on this holy Easter morning! The alarm clock woke me up.

            I don’t like it. Many mornings, I’m wide awake before the alarm has a chance to sound and get me up. Before it rings, I beat the alarm.

            The women were alarmed. The faithful ladies who came early to the Jerusalem tomb to anoint the body of Jesus were alarmed: the huge stone door of the tomb stood open; a white-robed man was sitting inside. Where was Jesus? Alarm bells rang in their hearts: Fear! Trembling! Astonishment!

            What alarms you? Bad news, like sickness, unemployment, loneliness, loss, or death? Swift, sudden, irreversible changes alarm us, afflicting us in body and possessions, in our minds and hearts. Alarming! That’s sin in action, ringing its solemn bell, tolling disaster with its dread sound. We’ve all heard it!

            “Don’t be alarmed!” So the angel told the women. “Don’t be alarmed.” So we hear today. All your fears have been nailed to the cross of Jesus. Every alarm that afflicts you has been buried in His tomb. “Don’t be alarmed!” So we hear today. Christ is risen! He is not in the grave. For us, He beat death, the grave, sin and hell. For us, Jesus beat the alarm!

            Rejoice! Alleluia!

                                                                                                                                                 Amen

By His Hand                                                                                              

Psalm 22:16-17. ESV
Good Friday                                                                                                                     

29/03/24.

 

            For dogs encompass Me; a company of evildoers encircles Me;

they have pierced My hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over Me.

            They pierced His hands. Soldiers drove an iron spike through the tender flesh of thirty-three-year-old Jesus, nailing Him to the cross. For us. For our salvation.

            The hands of Jesus. Once, His compassionate hands reached out to touch the sick and suffering. At His hand, the afflicted felt relief, comfort, and healing. The hands of Jesus blessed infants, nursing babes brought to the Lord by their parents. The hand of Jesus reached out to grab sinking St. Peter, rescuing him from drowning, pulling him to safety. In His hands, five small bread loaves and two fish were passed out and served more than five thousand hungry students, just as in our day, Jesus distributes His true body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar to His faithful people through the hands of His ministers. By means of His divine-human hands, Jesus gives life to the world.

            Even when those pure and holy hands are pierced by nails. On the cross, Jesus works life-giving forgiveness for us. The Lord of life dies for the sins of the world: the life of the Holy One for the sins we have committed with our hands.

Sin Hammers It Home

            We long to deny that: we’re not so bad; generally respectable But sinners? God’s commandments say so. Written by the finger of God, the Ten Commandments were inscribed on two tablets of stone: the unchanging Law of the Lord for Moses, for Israel, for the world, for you and me. Our duty to God and to other people. God’s will for all people of all time. The finger of God’s Law points at you and me, pointing out all the things we have done to hurt others, to offend God, even to hurt ourselves. Not just what these hands have done: the Law of God points the finger of blame at our hearts. That’s where it all starts.

            “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). In the palace of the King of Babylon, during an out-of-control drinking party to make fun of God, mysterious fingers appeared and wrote that message on the plaster. The writing was on the wall: the eerie finger of God wrote that ominous sentence in strange script: “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). The writing on the wall pointed out the sin of the King of Babylon and his nobles. Very soon, his kingdom would fall.

            What does it all mean? The deeds you have done with your hands will convict you. Along with the sins of the heart. Our best works cannot offset the weight of our guilt. Our sins pound the hammer blows on the nails piercing Christ’s hands and feet.

            We crucified Him!

Hand-Made Heaven

            That He would save us. Christ chose to be delivered into the hands of sinful men to ransom the world from the guilt of our sins. By the finger of God, Jesus cast out evil spirits; by the finger of God, Christ brought the kingdom of God to the world (St. Luke 11:20). Look to the crucified Christ to see His kingdom coming. Look to the one who was pierced, believing that He gave His life for your sins, then you have complete and perfect forgiveness by His hand. The holy blood of Jesus, pouring from His sacred wounds, from His piercèd hands, erases the record of sin that stands against us. “This He set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). Because He loves us, Jesus placed His palms up, opening His holy hands to receive the nails meant for our sins. So He delivers us from sin’s punishment forever. Now, Jesus lives to welcome His dear baptized believers into heaven. Christ stands with open arms to welcome us into eternity.

Read His Palm

            Even after His ordeal on the cross: suffering, dying and burial in the Jerusalem tomb, even now, the living Jesus still bears the marks of the nails and spear: on His feet, in His side, on His hands. On the first Easter Sunday night, St. Thomas, plagued by doubts, could not believe Jesus had beaten death. ‘I need to see the marks,’ he said. I need to put my finger where the nail was in His hand.’ Such a strange demand! But those scars identify Jesus!

            Eight days later, Thomas had his chance. Seeing. Hearing. Touching the once crucified Christ, doubting Thomas became believing Thomas. He saw His hands. The One pierced had beaten death: “My Lord and My God!” (St. John 20:24-28).

            Doubts plague us today, as they worried Thomas. The suffering Christ bids us pick up our crosses of suffering to follow Him in faith. His Good Friday triumph over sin and death, over the grave and hell itself is our triumph and victory too. Like Thomas, we go to be with Jesus where He has promised to be. Here in His Word, where two or three or more have gathered in His name, the pierced hands of Jesus hold us up. Here at the altar, under bread and wine, the pierced hands of Jesus hold us together. We find Jesus as He has promised. And in His presence, we believe:

            We have eternal life. By the hand of the Jesus.

                        My Lord and My God!

                                                                                                            Amen​

Down And Out                                                                                               

Exodus 2:10. ESV
Maundy Thursday                                                                                                           

28/03/24.

 

            When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

            “Moses” means “to draw out.” The daughter of Pharaoh gave him that name because she drew him out of the water of the Nile where he was floating in a basket.

            Out of the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter took baby Moses from the same river where the lives of so many other Hebrew boys ended—sunk down in the river water. By God’s protection through his mother and sister’s care, Moses went down to the Nile river—floating in the ark of the basket—only to be drawn out by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised as a Prince of Egypt in the royal palace. Down... and out!

            For a greater calling. Out of the burning bush, the Lord called Moses to draw the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The early  favour of Pharaoh and his people turned to oppression. The sons of Jacob and their descendants were down in the labour camps of Egypt—forced to make bricks without straw in the land of idols, superstition, and death. “Let my people go,” the Lord commanded Pharaoh through Moses. God’s powerful Word was accompanied with signs: the first of the ten plagues turned the water of the Nile to blood. This river of life that flowed through all the land of Egypt, whose waters had once aborted the lives of newborn Hebrew boys now dealt death to all Egypt. Hardened down again and again was Pharaoh’s heart as he refused nine times to let the Israelites out of his country; out of the grip of slavery. The tenth and final plague hit hardest. The Pharaoh who commanded Israel’s sons to be killed lost his own first-born son. Everywhere in Egypt, the cry of death went up at the discovery of death: every male child in palace and poorhouse; even the first born male of livestock in the stall.

            Except in the houses of God’s people. Lamb’s blood protected them from this awful plague of death. The destroying angel passed over the homes of God’s people down below: homes where a lamb without defect was slaughtered to mark the doorframes of believers; homes where faithful Israelites ate the sacred meal to commemorate this holy night. In these homes, God’s people ate in haste, eagerly expecting that they would soon win their freedom. For four hundred and thirty years (Exodus 12:40), they were down: slaves under the thumb of their Egyptian oppressors. Now, the Lord would lead them out: through the Red Sea; through the desert; into their own land, the land of promise.

            All of these events point to an even greater deliverance. Since the first man and woman, all people are born down under the slavery of sin. God’s Son, greater than Moses, draws us out of our sins, leading us to the promised land of heaven.

            Christ Jesus came down from heaven to earth to deliver us from sin, death, and hell. How far down did God’s Son sink? Christ’s state of humiliation began at His incarnation: when He took on human flesh of the Virgin Mary. Down and down He sank: born in Bethlehem, rejected by His own people, arrested, punished, crucified, dead, and buried. Jesus sank to the very depths of our sinful guilt, taking our punishment on Himself, even of hell itself.

            To draw us out. To free and forgive us of our sins. To give us life instead of death. To free us from slavery. To bring us out of demonic-occupied territory into the safely of the promised land, the holy Christian Church. Jesus descended to the depths to draw us out to salvation.

            Ever have that sinking feeling? We’ve all been down in that water. Not the Nile. Not even the Jordan. But this shallow body of water: the baptismal font. With just a little water combined with the word of God, the Old Adam drowns under the water, under the judgment of God. That cursèd nature each of us was born with drowns and dies with all sins and evil desires. That means, as often as you think back on your Baptism, by the power of Christ, you tell that sinful nature within: “You’re going down!” Because something new and wonderful is being created in you from this baptismal water. Here, the Triune God joins you to the resurrected and living Christ. Jesus is alive in you because you have been baptized. Down with sin! And out comes a new life in Christ.

            A life He feeds here. Under this bread is the body of Christ. Under this wine is the blood of Christ. For His dear people weighed down in their souls, heavy with sin and guilt, freighted with doubts and fears, the Lord instituted this sacred Supper. The bread and wine go down into our bodies. Christ’s real presence goes down into our souls. As the Lamb’s blood on Israelite doors protected them from the destroying angel, so the Lamb of God protects our hearts with His holy, precious blood.

            When we are down with our Lord’s rich promises in this sacramental meal, He promises to bring us out of the messes our sins have made in our lives into a safe place: the fellowship of the body of Christ.

            Sin got you down? Jesus draws you out.
            Amen

 ​

Right Faith                                                                                  

Zechariah 9:9-12. ESV
Palm Sunday                                                                                                       

24/03/24.

 

            “Use the right tool for the job.” My high school shop teacher, Mr. Magashazi taught us that lesson. Then proceeded to show us how dangerous and ineffective it is when you use the wrong tool for the job: using a knife instead of a screwdriver and stripping the head off the screw, or trying to scrape paint off using a pair or scissors. The bloody knuckles he suffered from doing the work poorly helped drive the lesson home: “use the right tool for the job.”

            So, you might really admire a Harley Davidson and dream about buying one of your own and driving that “hog” on a road trip. But those chrome pipes and orange pin stripes are not what you want if you plan to run through the mud on the back edges of your field. What could be better for that than a tuned-up dirt bike? Who needs chrome and a cool paint job if you’re just going to cover it with mud? The powerful torque of a two-cycle engine and the aggressive tread on a pair of knobby tires: that’s what you need to tackle dirt, sand, slime and gravel. The right bike for off road.

            Fans of Jesus might have preferred to see Him ride into Jerusalem on a mighty war horse. Kings of powerful armies rode into victory after battle on a war horse at the head of their calvary and troops. Zechariah the Prophet pictures it: spectators quake with fear as officers riding chariots with metal wheels thunder through their streets, bowmen march in step, their weapons slung across their backs; and at the head of all these military forces: the King riding on a splendid steed. Impressive!

            But not Jesus: “Your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v. 9). That’s how the Prophet pictured Jesus. And that’s how He came into Jerusalem. The donkey was the right mount. In some ways, a powerful horse also fits as a ride for Jesus. For He is not just any King. Jesus is the King of Kings. True God in human flesh. None greater. “The highest place that heaven affords is His, is His by right” (LSB 532:2). King Jesus should choose the most glorious war horse around.

            Yet He chooses a humble donkey, an everyday form of transport: the moped, the e-bike of the first century. For He has come to make peace, not to make war. Christ has not come to destroy, but to give life. The Lord has not come to make prisoners, but to set the prisoners free. In lowliness and humility, the King has come to give us hope. The right ride is the donkey.

            Jesus is the right Messiah for the crowds who welcomed Him that day. He is the right Saviour for you: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

            Hosanna means, “Lord save us!” The joy and excitement that ran through the Jerusalem crowds on that first Palm Sunday was faith in God. Masses of the faithful in Jerusalem for Passover expected that God would save His people. Previously, that salvation was by military might: a show of strength and power: chariot, war horse, and battle bow (v. 10), says Zechariah. Even the disciples after Easter expected Jesus to take the throne as King and “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6). War and battle continue to rock Jerusalem today, inflicting casualties on Israelis and Palestinians alike. Faith that God will build His kingdom through strife and conflict: that’s false faith. Jesus says “Wars and rumours of wars” (St. Matthew 24:6) are proof that the world’s end is coming. Conflicts between nations reflect the conflict of sin in our hearts: the old Adam at war within us (Romans 7:13-25).


            Our hearts: that is the battleground where Jesus enters as the King to conquer. Not with chariot, war horse, and battle bow. The Lord Jesus puts Himself on the front line: Christ’s own flesh and blood are the weapons He musters to wage war against our enemies: sin and death, devil and hell. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! As the Prophet Zechariah foretold, the world’s Saviour rides into Jerusalem, humble and holy, riding on a donkey. His destination is the cross. What looks like defeat is actually the ultimate victory. Jesus battled Satan, the grave and hell itself when He suffered on the cross. His strategy: since He has no sin, being true God Himself, Jesus took on the sin of the whole world. Like an atomic blast, the death of Christ annihilated the power of sin and its guilt over us. What rule does sin, devil and hell have over us? In Christ crucified, “It is finished” (St. John 19:30).

            With the right faith, we welcome Jesus today: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Like those Jerusalem crowds full of joy when Jesus comes, Confirmation is where we “Lift up our hearts, therefore to the God of all grace and joyfully give answer” to those questions that point to the right faith: faith in the Holy Trinity; faith in His work in our Baptisms; faith in the Word of God, the Bible; faith in the true and right teaching of that Word. By God’s grace in Jesus, we look past the day of our Confirmation to welcome Jesus Sunday after Sunday as He rides into our lives with His Word, preached and taught, and with His Sacrament, the real presence of His body and blood here in Holy Communion. Confirmation looks ahead to a lifetime of faithfulness to Christ our King. Through faith in Jesus, we have the peace of sins forgiven. Through faith in Jesus, we are released from the waterless pit of guilt and the prisons of despair that capture our hearts and minds.  Through faith in Jesus, we have hope in a world that has lost its way. The right faith trusts Jesus Christ: our Saviour and King!

            Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He.

            Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
            Amen

With One Accord                                                                                           Acts 1:12-26. ESV

The Seventh Sunday Of Easter                                                                                    12/05/24.

 

            “The best gift is having you all here together.” Mom was simply beaming on her special day: smiling with joy, surrounded by all her children. Unity in her family. Sadly, it cannot always be this way: as sons and daughters grow up, move out of the house, and have families of their own. The children move, and they have children—times together, oneness for mother, dad and their children become fewer.

            Sadder still when the family breaks up before that: when the children, like the prodigal son, strike off into the wide world to go their own way, to do their own thing, and turn their backs on their family home, refusing to honour father and mother. At those times, the hearts of parents long for their children to come back, “that they may be one” (St. John 17:11).

 

At Loose Ends

            Like Judas. Privileged to be chosen by the Lord Jesus to be among the twelve disciples, those closest to the Lord, who were always with Him, Judas Iscariot enjoyed God’s favour like few other people had in the history of the world: close to Christ—like family! But, he blew it. This close companion of Christ betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver: Jesus was arrested, put on trial and sentenced to be crucified. When he saw his sin, that he betrayed His Lord, Judas fell into despair. Tragically, he ended his own life. This lost sheep wandered from the flock and was destroyed.

            The tragic end of the Lord’s disciple, Judas, is a cautionary tale for each of us: don’t turn from the Lord to go your own way. Inside the fellowship of the Holy Christian Church is safety, encouragement and strength. Look at the example provided by the Eleven survivors, together with Mary, the mother of our Lord, and the faithful women. After Jesus ascended to heaven, this nucleus of the New Testament Church stayed together: the family of Faith. “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (v. 14). A touching and powerful picture of that newborn body of believers: unity in the family of Faith. Unity in the Church. Unity in Christ.

            Outside of that Christian fellowship, Judas, and all other “lone ranger” Christians wander alone, discouraged, defeated, destroyed. James in his Epistle pictures it like this: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). [Post-covid, there are a lot of lonely, lost people in the world, outside the family of the Faith]. Judas fell into despair. Many others do too.

 

Safe In His Embrace

            Jesus calls back to Himself all who wander, back to the fellowship of the Church. For all people, Jesus prays to the Father, “that they may be one” (St. John 17:11). Oneness, unity, togetherness is in Jesus.

            Through His cross. “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself” (St. John 12:32), said the Lord just days before His crucifixion. All people come together in Christ. His cross is the magnet (LW 311:4). There, on that awful Roman instrument, the body of Jesus broke down and died under the pressure of our sins—the sins that tear us apart. Christ died for all (II Corinthians 5:14). And yet, through His righteous self-offering on the cross, Jesus serves His dear people as the Head of the Church, which is His body. The crucified Lord stretched out His arms to embrace the world in a gesture of love for the whole world when He died. No one is excluded from His forgiving love. Jesus prays that we all may be one. He gave His life so that prayer would come true. Christ died and rose again to bring us together in Him.

            The Holy Spirit calls us out of the world into the Church, which is the body of Christ (SC III:6). We believe in one Church, even while we are so different from each other. We confess that there is “one holy Christian and apostolic Church,” even when church people appear fractured, divided, and so unlike each other in the eyes of the world. That’s the visible Church. Clearly, our differences don’t unite us as one. Sadly, even in the visible Church, there are painful fractures that divide Christians one from another—like Paul and Barnabas who disagreed so sharply, they had to part and go their separate ways (Acts 15:39-40). Where sin divides, Jesus unites. With joy, Dr. Martin Luther writes, “Thank God, today a seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd” (SA III, XII: 2). The invisible Church is one in Jesus.

 

The Wounded Healer

            We dearly long to be close to one another: in our families, on the job, and in church. Yet sin—our sin and others—is a powerful force to smash friendships, to stand in the way of reconciliation and to shatter the bonds of love: like a precious vase broken to bits.

            Rather than throw the pieces away, the Japanese technique known as kintsugi restores the broken pieces of a shattered vessel. Powdered gold, silver, or platinum is mixed into a laquer to bind the broken pieces back together. Repaired pottery is not perfect: the fractured lines show its history: all that this object has been through.

            We are not perfect. But Christ has bound us up: healing the wounds of our sins. Not with gold, silver, or precious metals, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Bought by Christ’s blood, we are bound together in Baptism, healed in the Sacrament of the Altar with His living body and blood. We all have fracture lines. But Jesus binds us together as one body.

 

One In His Hands

            Every morning, a mother brought her young son to preschool, kissed him on the forehead and told him, “I’m leaving you in good hands.” Years later, dementia had taken its toll on this poor lady. Her son, now a middle-aged man, took his dear mother to a nursing home. As he said goodbye, he kissed her forehead and told her, “I’m leaving you in good hands.” His mother, who could barely remember the words of a conversation she had just five minutes earlier began to weep. She remembered that those were the same words she had told him so many years ago.

            We are in good hands. Jesus has us. He prays for us to be one. Christ—resurrected and ascended—makes it happen.

                                                                                                                                                Amen