HYMN: Oh, Sing for Joy, O Earth and Heaven

In memory of Dr. Ralph C. "Doc" Schultz, former president of Concordia—New York, the director of two of my college choirs, and a man I consider a beloved mentor, I wrote a hymn text paraphrase of Isaiah 49:13-23 on his beloved "Sing for Joy" theme not long after his death. I shared it with his wife, Dorothy, a gifted text writer in her own right. A friend of mine is working on an original tune for this text, but in honor of what would have been Doc's 94th birthday, I share the text here. Feedback is love.

Oh, Sing for Joy, O Earth and Heaven

In memory of Dr. Ralph C. "Doc" Schultz

1. Oh, sing for joy, O earth and heaven;
Break forth, you mountains into song.
Rejoice in God, His great creation:
Apostles, prophets, martyr throng,
For He has shown compassion still
According to His holy will.

2. Oh, sing for joy, O you His children.
His mercy He will not forget.
Christ's hands are marked with His compassion:
His bloody wounds which paid your debt.
All those who seek your ruin fail,
For by His might you shall prevail.

3. Oh, sing for joy, for He will never
Forsake His people in their sin.
Though devastation may befall you,
His grace will surely draw you in.
The end of exile soon will come;
Your loving Brother calls you home.

4. Oh, sing for joy, for God is calling
The nations by His mighty hand.
Oh, sing for joy, you sons and daughters:
He bears you to His promised land,
For all who call upon His name
Shall nevermore be put to shame.

5. Oh, sing for joy, you saints, forever,
For Christ redeems the devil's prey.
No longer shall you dwell in darkness
But rest with God in endless day.
All flesh in joy will ever sing
To Christ, the great Redeemer King.

98 98 88

Alan Kornacki, Jr., b. 1974
O DASS ICH TAUSEND ZUNGEN HATTE (KONIG) (LSB 811)
Paraphrase of Isaiah 49:13-23

Sermon for 6/21/26: Proper 7a

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

Wages and Gift

Romans 6:12-23

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

In terms of how the world works, St. Paul’s time was probably not that different from ours. Things may change, but people don’t. This world has difficulty even acknowledging the reality of sin and those far-reaching fingers of the consequences of sin. We see the evils in our world: the unabated slaughter of the unborn; the starvation of millions because of large-scale political corruption; masses of people, even entire nations, subjected to terror by a few who seem to be operating without conscience. We know that sin is active and destructive. Satan isn’t even hiding his methods anymore. But even we, who should be sensitive to the ugly reality of sin, insulate ourselves against it, thinking sin resides elsewhere; it’s in those people in those places, and we don’t have anything to do with that. But can we see what sin is doing to us?

Throughout this text, and in pretty much the entire Epistle to the Romans, Paul uses the word “sin” in the singular sense. He does not see sin as a series of wrong words or deeds. Now, the world, when it allows itself to consider such a concept as sin, views sin as bad thoughts, words, and deeds, and these add up to something that might be considered bad, sinful, or even evil. That’s because the world believes that all people are basically good. The world denies that we are conceived and born sinful. The apostle teaches us otherwise; he teaches a true definition of sin. Sin is an enslaving power. It is a condition, a sickness—and a desperate one at that.

Simply put, sin is alienation from God. Sin is our resolve to be independent of Him. And that resolve paints a false picture of freedom. Think of it like this. You have the freedom to jump out of a ten-story window. You can do that if you like, and no one is going to stop you if you’re determined enough. But that freedom does not free you from the laws of gravity. In the same way, life is meant to be geared toward God, toward His purpose and His promise. But sin gets dramatically in the way of that. And so, it is not simply a matter of what might be going on somewhere else. But do you really understand that the ill feelings you have at times toward your neighbor, your friend, or even your spouse are actually sin against God? The title “chief of sinners” is not about somebody else; even though St. Paul claims it, it belongs to you.

It’s not a pretty picture. But thanks be to God, for it’s not the only picture. Yes, the wages of sin is death; that is the payment we have earned for ourselves. Our bodies will die; they will crumble and decay. But that is not the end. Christ will call us out of our graves on the Last Day, when we will rise to live forever. For “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Son of God entered this broken world to change this tragic picture. He came to restore and to heal, to draw together everything that was torn apart by sin. Through His death He destroyed sin and death. In that one decisive event at the cross, Jesus overcame the world and everything in it that leads to death. By that one supreme act of grace, He shattered those bonds against which we struggle in vain.

And now, you see that there is the “newness of life” about which Paul had spoken earlier in this same chapter. The whole thrust of this Epistle to the Romans is that the one whom God justifies in Jesus Christ lives! Sin is forgiven; the awful strain it puts on life has been lifted! Striving for righteousness and goodness is no longer a burden because the righteousness of Christ is a gift you are given in Holy Baptism, a gift that accompanies forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. Just as marriage is the beginning of a life together, so this restoration marks the beginning of life with your Father that is completely and forever new!

Paul says that, since we are no longer slaves of sin, we are now “slaves” of God. But this is slavery like no other. We are slaves who know a freedom that passes human understanding. Slavery to sin has been cut off once and for all, so that we might take on a higher service to God. This is slavery in a way that spells freedom and a life that we could never before have imagined! We are God’s; we belong to Him, and He and all that He is and has becomes ours. This is how it will be forever and forever!

How different that is from the world around us, with all its striving and struggling for life. This world fears the end it knows is coming, that moment when all that has been success will be exhausted, when the beauty of the past becomes today’s decay. This remains the wages for those who have lived life for self, without God. But it is not so for you! Here is the gift of eternal life to all who are in Christ Jesus: life and salvation—“the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Receive it this day in the words that enter your ears. Receive it upon your lips as the Savior’s very body and blood fill you with life and joy. It is the medicine of immortality, and it is yours: a free gift purchased and won by the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 6/7/26: Proper 5a (Pentecost 2)

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Calling Sinners to Repentance
Matthew 9:9-13 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 

Saint Augustine is regarded as one of the holiest men in all of history. Among his more famous attributes? First, he fell prey to sexual temptation and gave in to it. In fact, he had a mistress for a long time, fathering an illegitimate son on her. He also allied himself with a cult of heretics that denied the virgin birth of Jesus and the crucifixion. As a student of rhetoric, he was this cult’s best spokesman against Christ.

Obviously I’m putting a spin on the life of Saint Augustine. He was, indeed, one of the holiest men ever to live. He was a dutiful and affectionate son to his mother. He turned his mastery of words into eloquent defense of the Christian faith, as well as insightful exposition of the Word of God in commentaries and sermons. As the Bishop of Hippo he was a faithful shepherd to the flock under his care.

But he didn’t make this tremendous change on his own. Augustine  happened upon a collection of Paul’s Epistles, opened it, and read, “Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites.” When he read this, it opened his conscience, and he believed. His conversion was furthered through his association with Saint Ambrose, who nurtured Augustine, and gave him a firm foundation through preaching and teaching. In addition, his mother Monica, a faithful Christian, worked feverishly and endlessly to bring her son to faith. The Word and those whom that Word called into Augustine’s life had a profound effect on his faith.

We have numerous accounts in Scripture of people whose lives changed in response to the Lord’s call to repentance. Our text today holds one of those examples, that of Matthew. Matthew is a Jew by birth, but he has long been considered an outcast in Jewish society. Matthew is a tax collector by trade. As we see by the reaction of the Pharisees at the end of this text, tax collectors are considered traitors, thieves, and sinners, no better than Gentiles. And there is a grain of truth to those sentiments. These men are working for the Roman Empire, collecting taxes from their own people for the occupying government. And to supplement their meager salaries, it was standard practice to collect more than was required, and keep the excess for themselves.

This is the situation Matthew finds himself in as he sits in his collection booth this particular day. He is an outcast from his own people. And he is a sinner. He is in a rut, whether he knows it or not, and there is no way he could escape from it on his own.

The change comes quickly. Jesus sees Matthew sitting there, and He says to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed Jesus. In the space of a heartbeat Matthew gave up his life as he knew it, and he followed Jesus. It’s more significant than you might realize. In that heartbeat, Matthew had to realize that his life was not as God wanted him to be living it. He had to see his own wretchedness and realize that Jesus could do something for him that he couldn’t do on his own. He didn’t know any other way.

So Jesus gave him what he couldn’t see on his own: a way out. Jesus took Matthew quite literally out of his corruption, right from the tax collection booth. He took Matthew from his outcast state, and offered him a place at His side. He ate with him and other tax collectors and sinners. Jesus did not see Matthew’s merit. He had none to see. What Jesus saw was his need, and He filled that need.

We’re not exactly like Matthew. He didn’t believe, and we do. But we often resemble the Pharisees in our fear and disgust of sinners. We are right to hate sin, but we come to hate the sinner as well. The Pharisees avoid and revile tax collectors and sinners, and they are shocked when Jesus is found in their midst. The Pharisees would allow sinners to remain in their sin. We, too, cry out against those who don’t live the way we want them to, and we show no concern for the person who has sinned. Like the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for eating with sinners, we condemn our brothers, and even our pastors, when they try to take action against unrepentant sinners, not caring that they are trying to bring these sinners to repentance. Like Matthew, we cannot do anything to escape our situation. We can no more care for a sinner than Matthew could escape from his tax booth.

So, like He did with Matthew, Jesus finds us where we are, and He calls us out of our condition. Through His servants He calls for us to confess our sins and repent of them, and He forgives those sins when we do so. He gives us faith which enables us to trust in that forgiveness, faith to reach out to other sinners in their need. Jesus uses the analogy of the physician in this text, and the analogy gains in richness as we realize that the very medicine He prescribes is the very body and blood of the Physician Himself. Jesus became man so that man can enjoy the same ease with God and each other that Adam and Eve shared in the Garden, the ease that allows us to sit and eat with God and our fellows in peace.

We cannot find that ease on our own, but Jesus Himself gives it to us. As we read in the Large Catechism of Martin Luther, “If you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness, go joyfully to the Sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort, and strength. If you wait until you are rid of your burden in order to come to the Sacrament purely and worthily, you must stay away from it forever.” If you struggle with your sin; if you feel its burden; if you feel unworthy of God’s love, then come to the altar and receive forgiveness and life from your Savior. For in this Sacrament, the Lord takes that unworthiness from you and replaces it with Himself. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 5/31/26: Feast of the Holy Trinity (a)

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Does the Trinity Still Matter?
Matthew 28:16-20

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

I’m sure you’re all very familiar with our text for this morning’s sermon. Recorded here is the command of Jesus to the Apostles to “make disciples of all nations.” Evangelism is of vital importance, of course—don’t doubt that for a minute. However, our focus this morning is on the reason we practice evangelism: we focus on God Himself.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity, one of the highest festivals of the Church year, right along with Christmas and Easter. That means it’s one of the holiest days of the Church year. All of this raises one very important question: What on earth is the Feast of the Holy Trinity? It’s not necessarily an easy question to answer. After all, the word “Trinity” never appears in the Bible. Despite this lack, the doctrine of the Trinity is arguably the most important concept in the Bible. This Feast is a celebration of God Himself, because we see God as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word: as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God has, indeed, revealed Himself to us through the Word. However, He does not reveal everything about Himself. Therein lies the problem with celebrating the Feast of the Holy Trinity: we sinful human beings tend to do away with those things we don’t fully understand. How many of us still use that Spanish we learned in high school? How many of us use more than basic mathematics in our lives? And how do you stay interested in a sport if you don’t understand the rules? These are all unfortunate, of course. But we don’t understand how the Trinity can be three Persons in one God, either, and it would be terrifying if we did away with the name of God. If we don’t believe in God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—then we believe in a false god. That’s how important God’s name is. If you weren’t baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” then you did not receive a valid Baptism, and you do not bear that name upon you. If your pastor does not forgive your sins “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” then your sins are not forgiven.

Jesus addresses that Himself. When He tells the apostles to make disciples, He tells them to baptize all nations and to teach them “to observe all that I have commanded you.” This means more than just teaching the Ten Commandments. All that I have commanded you includes everything God has revealed to us through His Word. This means, whether we like it or not, whether or not we think it will be a popular message, we must teach that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. We must teach that homosexuality and abortion are sins. We must teach that Jesus is God, and that anyone who does not believe that is not going to heaven. None of these are popular messages, but we do no favors to anyone if we love them into hell by withholding the truth of what God reveals to us in His Word. If we offend visitors by the preaching of sin and forgiveness, we must continue to preach that message to them in hopes that the Spirit will work in them and bring them to repentance and faith.

You probably know by now that I’m fairly conservative in my theology. Doctrine is a matter of deathly importance. It’s not because I think I’m better than anyone else. It’s not because I want to be a pain in the butt when someone asks me why the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod practices closed Communion or if we should attend worship with Muslims or Jews or Mormons. At my Ordination I promised that all my preaching and teaching and my administration of the Sacraments will be in conformity with Holy Scripture. Sinner that I am, I would love to let everyone off easy. But I promised God and the Church that I wouldn’t, and I take that promise very seriously. Abandoning even one point of what God has revealed through His Word is enough to make me a false teacher. And practicing even one thing that differs from what God has commanded us makes the Church evil. That’s why we unceasingly strive to keep our doctrine and practice pure.

So where does all this leave us? We’ve got a lot to live up to—everything God has revealed to us in His Word, everything Jesus taught His disciples. There’s no way we can be obedient to all that Jesus has commanded us. That’s why we are especially blessed that we have been baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That name is now upon us. The power of that name upon us is that we have been given faith to believe everything that God has revealed to us in His Word. The power of that name upon us is that, when we fail to observe everything Christ has commanded us, the pastor, speaking in the stead of Christ, places the forgiveness of sins upon us “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The Creeds lay it all out for us in a simple form. God the Father has created us, given us everything we need to support this body and life, and has sent His Son. God the Son has redeemed us, being born in the flesh as one of us to redeem us with His precious blood and innocent suffering, death, and resurrection, feeding us with His body and blood which are given and shed for the forgiveness of sins, and has sent His Holy Spirit. God the Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. In doing so, we do not merely celebrate an incomprehensible concept; we celebrate a loving, merciful, forgiving God who generously gives us more than we can ask or imagine. We confess the truth that God has washed away our sins in Holy Baptism, placing His name upon us, marking us as His own. We confess that God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves: forgiving us, giving us eternal life and salvation. Let us carry the spirit of the Feast of the Holy Trinity with us throughout the year; for in the name of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—all that God offers to His children is yours. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 5/24/26: Pentecost (a)

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The Miracle of Hearing
Acts 2:1-21

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Pentecost was accompanied by marvelous signs: the sound from heaven like a powerful wind; the tongues of fire that came to rest on the apostles; and, of course, the apostles speaking the languages of the world as the Holy Spirit gave that ability. Those signs were the indication that God was at work. Too often, however, the signs have gathered more attention than the thing to which they were pointing: the Word of God spoken and heard. Jesus often told His disciples to not speak of the signs they had seen Him do. Jesus didn’t want people to come to Him merely because of signs, but by the Word to which those signs pointed. This is the heart of Pentecost: the Word is meant to be heard and believed. The great miracle in all of this is the miracle of hearing, because it is hearing that receives saving faith.

Apart from receiving the Ten Commandments, what we likely remember most about Moses is signs God worked through him in Egypt, the plagues that eventually moved Pharaoh to let Israel go. But those signs pointed to the Word which Moses was given by God to speak. When God called Moses from the burning bush and told Him to go to Egypt, He gave Moses this promise: “I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.” The all-important thing was what Moses would say to the people and what they would hear. The signs that accompanied the Word could only bear witness to the judgment God would bring to bear on Egypt. It was the Word that would bear the promise of God to save and care for His people. Yes, signs and wonders were often part of prophetic work, but the signs did not save Israel. The signs confirmed the prophetic Word. God’s Word was to be heard, and from the Word come life and salvation. Pentecost gathers all of this together. The marvelous signs were surely there. But they were there to bear witness to the message of salvation. The real miracle of Pentecost is that the people heard the Word.

Ever since that first Pentecost, many have tried to claim that salvation is something of their own doing. Even some who heard the Gospel preached in their own language that day sought an answer apart from the work of God: they claimed the disciples were drunk. But Peter’s sermon turned away any such explanation. He boldly proclaimed that everything that had been done to Jesus, all that He had endured, was God’s doing, and all of it done for the salvation of the world. And when Peter’s sermon was ended, many were so moved by his words that they asked in desperation what could be done. Peter answered: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It was all due to hearing the Word of God.

The miracle of salvation is that it is God who speaks; it is God who makes us able to hear; it is God who saves us. The signs and wonders only confirm that it is God who speaks and saves! You may remember these words from Luther: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel...” The miracle of Pentecost, the miracle of hearing, is that it is God who speaks and saves. It is God who offered up His Son as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It is God who sent His Holy Spirit to preach this Word through men so that those who hear would be saved from sin, death, and hell.

This miracle of hearing continues even today. Immediately after Peter urged those believers to be baptized, Luke tells us: “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The miracle of hearing continues today in the Church’s worship: in the faithful preaching and teaching of God’s Word, in the faithful administration of the Sacraments, and in the prayers of the Church.

If you carefully examine the Acts of the Apostles, the growth of the Church was always initiated and fed by worship and prayer, a work always ascribed to the Holy Spirit, and never merely to the efforts of men. “I planted,” St. Paul says, “Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” We can’t know how or when God will make a congregation grow, but you can be sure that, without faithful preaching and hearing of the Word, a congregation will die in sin, even if it grows in numbers. If we believe that God answers prayer, then we can surely trust that He will provide opportunities to hear His Word. He will surely provide opportunities to confess Jesus and His saving Word in our various callings in life. Whether it is in our families, among friends, in the workplace—wherever it might be, God has placed us there so that the miracle of hearing the Word would occur. He will give you chances to “...give an answer to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that is in you.”

God will continue to bless His Word as it enters our ears. God will continue to bless His Word as He speaks forgiveness to us and as He feeds it to us in Christ’s body and blood for the remission of sins. His Word will not return to Him empty; it will do exactly what He sends it to do. This is truly a miraculous Word: a Word to lead us from the death and despair of this world to life and salvation in the world to come. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.   

 

Sermon for 5/17/26: Ascension of Our Lord (observed)

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Heaven Opened

Luke 24:44-53

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The Ascension of Our Lord is a celebration not at all unlike the celebration of Christmas. It is a celebration of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the One who both was and is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” He took up human flesh through the virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and what was conceived in her, with only God as His Father, was the only-begotten Son of God in human flesh: a Man who is also God. The Father did all this to raise up for Himself a worthy Sacrifice to atone for all the sins of the world. And as a result, those cords that would bind us to eternal death and Hell were severed. By becoming and being Man, the Son of God fulfilled the will of the Father in His dying, in His rising, and in His ascending.

By becoming one of us, becoming a man, the Son of God has elevated human nature. One of the Holy Trinity was, and still is, also one of us. The Son of God has become not only our Savior; He has also become our Brother. Because He took on our human flesh, His Father is our Father. And for the same reason, the Holy Spirit comes to us to be our Defender and our Guide, our Comforter, our Sanctifier. Through the Incarnation of Jesus, we enjoy an even greater honor and privilege than Adam and Eve did before the fall, for as wonderful as the Garden of Eden certainly was, heaven is even more wonderful.

The Son of God, still in His human flesh that was mocked and beaten and nailed to the cross, still in the flesh that was raised again to life, has gone into heaven. From there He sends His Holy Spirit: the Spirit of Truth; the One who lives in us by faith and leads us into all truth; the One who bears witness to Jesus and to all that He has said and done. And from there, Jesus continues to intercede for us, for He is our advocate. At the right hand of the Father, Jesus pleads our case based on the wounds in His hands and feet and side. But His Body is now exalted and glorified, for this Man, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone, the Ransom for our sin, is also God, has always been God, and will never cease to be God. There is no division between His natures. There is but one Christ, who is at the same time both God and Man, and He is capable of all things and of being everywhere. He has no limitations apart from those He set for Himself during the days of His humiliation on earth. So it is that He who ascends into heaven promises His disciples, and us as well, “I am with you always.” And He is.

He ascended in His body…and yet, He is not gone from us. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is present with us in Word and Sacrament. He is present with us in His body in the Holy Communion. He who died, lives. He who went away is here still. This was His dying promise. He said, “This is my body, given for you.” It was given on the cross, a sacrifice for sin and guilt.

And that same body is now given to you as the benefit of that sacrifice: the removal of your guilt. It is the same body of Christ: crucified, risen, and ascended for you. It joins you to Him in this most miraculous way, by His entry into you. It is a most Holy Communion, a uniting of the God/Man to your sinful flesh; and, through His forgiveness, you are pure as He is pure. In Holy Communion, you experience the same blessing as Simeon received in the Temple as he held the Christ Child in his arms and declared that his life had seen its fulfillment. In the Holy Communion, the Feast of Christ’s body, you join with angels and archangels who descend to join with you; you join with the saints and martyrs who went before you. Christ ascended into heaven, but still He is here! He joins you to heaven, to angels, and to all who have gone before you. You are given a glimpse of heaven, though you are still on earth, for you are with Christ and His holy angels. Your sins are removed, forgiven by Divine grace and declaration. You feast on the foretaste of the Feast that will never end.

This is what the Ascension is about. It is not about Christ leaving us, for He has not left. It is about Christ going before us. He goes to prepare a place for us even as He is still with us, still for us, still in us. He who broke down the gates of Hell that would lock us in has also opened the gates of Heaven that would keep us out. His holy, precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death have paved our way and broken the trail before us. He is the Captain of our salvation. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no one left who can hold our sin against us. There is no more guilt, no more shame, no more regret. Our sins are forgiven.

Death is dead. Life lives. Heaven is now open, for Christ, our Savior and our Brother, has ascended. As we pray in the Psalm, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet!” He goes before us to prepare our place, and the door is open to us. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.  

 

Sermon for 5/3/26: Fifth Sunday of Easter (a)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

A Place and the Guide
John 14:1-14

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

Jesus was teaching the disciples in the Upper Room on the night that Jesus was betrayed. Jesus made an important promise concerning the eternal destiny of all believers. He said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” Our home on this earth is only temporary. He has promised that a day will come when He will raise us from the dead to live with Him forever in an eternal dwelling prepared for each of us. These lodgings in the Father’s House are far beyond any luxury that we can even imagine while we live here on this earth.

Then Jesus said something that should give great comfort. He said, “And you know the way to where I am going.” Now, the disciples should have known the way. Jesus regularly told His disciples about the way He was to go. He would go this way for the life of the world, so that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. But as often as Jesus told them about it, the disciples did not have the ability to understand that Jesus would rise from the dead after a cruel death on a cross.

Thomas surely spoke for all the disciples when He asked, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Thomas thought that if he was to be with Jesus, then he somehow had to walk the way Jesus walked. He did not understand that Jesus would do the walking for him. Neither Thomas nor anyone else could ever find the way to the Father’s house. That is what Jesus meant when He explained, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus was telling His disciples and us that He and He alone is the one who is the way. If you know Him, you know the way.

Our natural instinct is to believe that we can and must find the way on our own—in fact, we may even need to blaze our own trail. The devil and the world know about this tendency and encourage it. Satan is more than happy to feed our ego and tell us that we can earn our way into heaven. “The good works you need for heaven might be a bit of a challenge, but you can do it. You’re really a good person. Heaven is within your grasp. You just have to put in a little effort, and it will all be yours.” He’s quite persuasive, but he’s just telling us what we want to hear.

Satan’s view is the opposite of what Jesus told His disciples. The only one who can take us to the Father’s house is the Son who comes from that house, and Jesus is that Son. He is the way to the Father. He is the truth that keeps us on that way. He is the life that is the destination of that way. Without Jesus, there is no way to the Father. Without Jesus, there is no saving truth. Without Jesus there, is no life. Jesus is not just one of many ways to the Father; He is the only way to the Father. Any religion that is not based on the person and work of Jesus leads only to eternal suffering in hell.

At first, this may sound like it is all law and no gospel, but Christ’s teaching really is good news. Jesus Christ did not say we are the way, the truth, and the life; that would be pure law. If it were true, we would be doomed. Instead, Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Jesus makes it possible for us to call God our Father; Jesus prepares our room in His house.

How did Jesus do that? He left His Father’s house and came to us to do the works of His Father. While He was here, He took on human nature and lived a righteous life under the authority of the law. He allowed the authorities to arrest Him, torture Him, and put Him on a cross. By doing these things, He satisfied His Father’s wrath against our sin. This is how He became the way for us to enter His Father’s house. We have confidence that He is the way because He rose from the dead. This is the reason He could say,”If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” His resurrection assures us that we too shall rise from death and that He will take us to live with Him.

What gracious words Jesus shared with His disciples! His words are full of the very life He came to be. How gracious it is of our Lord to prepare a perfect room for each and every one of us in His Father’s house. How comforting it is to know that Jesus will bring us there because He Himself is the way; He even feeds us for the journey. How reassuring it is to know that Jesus is the full presence of God with us. Most of all, how wonderful it is to know that His perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection mean that His Father is also our Father, which makes His Father’s house to be our eternal home. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 4/26/26: Fourth Sunday of Easter (a)

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Sheep and Their Shepherd
John 10:1-10

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sheep are notorious for getting themselves into trouble, for straying away, for ending up lost and confused, subjected to danger and unable to take care of themselves. They’re dirty, smelly animals. Worse than that, though, they’d walk off a cliff without a thought. That’s why they need a shepherd.

Sheep may be stupid animals, but strangely enough, sheep know the voice of their shepherd. Sheep hear the voice of their shepherd and everything seems right with the world. They have their shepherd who will keep them safe from predators and thieves and lead them away from the cliff’s edge to food and water.

One of my favorite sayings, especially when I’m feeling rebellious, is, “People are sheep.” Ask nearly any adolescent why they’d want to do something they know will get them in trouble, and you’ll hear, “All my friends are doing it.” We might jokingly reply, “And if your friends told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that too?” I hope you younger folk aren’t offended. If it’s any consolation, sheep-like behavior doesn’t end when you turn 20, 30, or even 60. Advertisers know they can put pressure on anyone by saying, “Your neighbor is better off than you.” Left to our own devices, we will follow the crowd, even when that crowd leads us into hell. That’s why we need a shepherd, too.

Jesus pays us no compliment by calling us sheep. But that is, in fact, what we are. By nature we walk away from the Good Shepherd right into the jaws of death. As Scripture says, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” This is no temporary disorientation. It is separation and alienation from the God who alone gives us life. Too often we do listen to the voices of those who would lead us astray. We allow other voices to drown out the Voice that really matters. We hear the voice of false preaching, preaching that tells us we can earn our own ticket inside the heavenly gates, and it sounds appealing. The voice of the world is telling us that God really meant to say that abortion isn’t murder, that it’s okay to live together outside of marriage., that we can do whatever we want as long as it makes us happy. What could be more appealing than that? Surely our Shepherd He wouldn’t deny us happiness. Are there thorns in the pasture? Surely not; the grass is so green. We’ve let the thieves lead us out. We are poisoned with the putrid and stagnant water of worldliness with its passing fads which we think will quench our thirst, all the while refusing the streams of living water to which the Good Shepherd beckons us.

In the Old Testament God describes Himself as a shepherd. In Ezekiel, God promises that He will depose the false shepherds of Israel who scattered the flock and fed off the sheep: “As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered…” David, himself a shepherd, confesses, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Jesus is that shepherd. He is the Shepherd who comes to be with His sheep.

The Good Shepherd still calls and gathers a flock by His Word. He says, “the sheep follow [the shepherd], for they know his voice.” He speaks to us through pastors, men He raises up to serve as undershepherds. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these undershepherds will speak to you with the voice of the Good Shepherd. They will lead you to the still waters of Baptism and the green pastures of the Holy Supper. They will restore your soul with the holy word of forgiveness, spoken by the pastor as by Christ Himself.

You are blessed to have a faithful undershepherd in Pastor Rudnik. He speaks to you with the voice of Christ, and he has led and will continue to lead you faithfully to the gifts of God. There are people who will attempt to lead you astray. But you have your standard against which you can compare anyone claiming to be your shepherd. How does what this person says compare to what my Shepherd tells me? Ask that question, and you will be able to tell the true Shepherd and the true undershepherds from the mere hirelings. Listen to the voice. Does what I say to you lead you away from the true Shepherd and His gifts? If so, don’t listen to a word I say. If anyone steps into this pulpit and preaches anything apart from Christ and Him crucified, don’t follow them, and don’t listen to what they have to say. They would lead you away from your Shepherd, the One who would—and did—die to save you.

Martin Luther gave us a beautifully simple definition of the Church in the Smalcald Articles: “Thank God, a seven-year old child knows what the Church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Good Shepherd.” The Church is where the Good Shepherd is. The Shepherd calls you by name in Holy Baptism. Where His voice is sounding in the pure preaching of His Word and Supper, there you will find the sheep that belong to Jesus. Keep your ears attuned to the voice of the Good Shepherd, for He alone has the words which give you abundant life. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 4/19/26: Third Sunday of Easter (a)

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The Breaking of the Bread
Luke 24:13-35

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
 

          The past two weeks, we have watched people who should have known better as they’ve finally come to see the truth about the Lord. First it was Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and John at the empty tomb. Then last week it was Thomas in the room where the disciples were hiding.

          This week we follow two disciples on the road to Emmaus. One is named Cleopas, and the other is unnamed. However, they count themselves in the company of the disciples. They were witnesses to the work and words of Jesus, and ultimately they were witnesses to His death. They were even around to hear the women, who told them that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. But they didn’t believe the women, so they were heading back to Emmaus, presumably to move on with their lives.

          Jesus joined them on the road, but they were prevented from recognizing Him. We aren’t told how, but that doesn’t matter. What follows is important. The disciples give their interpretation of the events surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection. They said to Him, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” When they finished, He rebuked them for not seeing what was before their eyes, and He gave them the true meaning of the events. Using Moses and the prophets, He explained to them why it was necessary for the Christ to die as He did.

          So now they know the good news, but they are still prevented from recognizing Him as the very Christ of whom they spoke. Anyway, they finally reach Emmaus, and Jesus acts as though He will continue on. They invite Him in, and He accepts. And then something odd happens. Although He is their guest, He takes the initiative. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. At that moment, they recognized Him, and He departed from them. After they marvel at how they could have failed to recognize Him, they return to Jerusalem to share with the disciples how Jesus revealed Himself to them in the breaking of the bread.

          The account of Christ’s appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most fascinating Bible stories. It has all the aspects of a story you’d tell your children: the hero; the people the hero saves; an adventure or journey; a feast; even a hint of the supernatural; and, of course, the happy ending. There’s no violence. And the story grows with the child, as every story should.

          But this is no mere story. It is one of the pivotal events in human history. It is the first time a follower of Jesus comes to recognize by faith that Jesus is the suffering and rising Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. It shows Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise to Adam and Eve and to all their descendants.

          But the best part of all this is that the Lord teaches us how He would have us worship Him. Today we have followed the pattern He set in this text, as the Church has for 2000 years. We hear about the person and work of Christ, and then we partake of His body and blood. We’ve added more ritual, but the form is still the same as Jesus used with these two dispirited followers. The risen Lord intends for the Church to continue to gather at table: in remembrance of Him and in anticipation of the eternal Banquet. The Emmaus meal reminds us of that: it reminds us that Christ is present at the meal, and that He reveals Himself to us there.

          So where do you look for Jesus? We often look in the wrong places. We look in Bible Studies. We look on crosses that sit on bookcases and nails in walls and chains around our necks. We look for Him at Lutheran Laymen’s League and Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and Youth Group meetings. Now, before you stone me as a heretic, let me say that He is present in all these places. But we don’t see Him there by our own reason or strength.

          We can’t see Him there, because He reveals Himself first and foremost in the Divine Service. When He reveals Himself to us in the liturgy of the Word and Sacraments, we can then see Him in Bible studies, on crosses, and in meetings. He reveals Himself there as well, but we recognize Him through the breaking of the bread, even as the Emmaus disciples recognized Him so long ago.

          Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: we are on our own Emmaus road today, and it ends at the Communion rail. So I ask you now: What are you looking for as you come to the altar? Comfort? Assurance? If that’s all you want, then you’ve come to the wrong place. When you come to the altar, you come to the cross, where our Lord and Savior hung in pain and suffering to His death. Christ died, not that you would have assurance, but that you would have the forgiveness of sins and life in His name. If you need comfort apart from that, you don’t realize the importance of the gift you are being given. The body and blood of Christ are brought to you and given to you, and you receive them, and in them you receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. And most importantly, when you come to the altar, you see the Savior revealed to you in the breaking of the bread. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia
         

The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hears and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

 

Sermon for 4/12/26: Second Sunday of Easter (a)

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Doubt and Faith

John 20:19-31
 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

          Thomas the disciple doesn’t deserve all the acrimony, the shade we throw at him. Well, maybe he does deserve it, but Thomas is not alone in his doubt. All the disciples doubted. All of them were frightened. All of them thought that they were seeing a ghost. And all of them falsely believed that Jesus was not standing before them in a real, tangible resurrected body, but that He had discarded our flesh in favor of some unreal apparition. It is Thomas in his questioning who makes them bold to confess, and in doing so, he lets us see, too, what they at first did not see, and he helps us believe through their testimony what they at first could not believe.

But notice how difficult it is for him—and for us—to believe. First, we must believe against what we think is reasonable; we must discard what we are sure is true; we must suppress what we feel is good and right. Thomas had to do that because he was absent when Jesus first appeared to the apostles. And when he returned, the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas refused to believe what he heard from his brethren, even if a living Jesus is what he desperately wanted. He instead believed what made sense to him, what seemed real to him, what felt right. Because even after seeing Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, none of them would believe that Jesus would Himself rise from the dead.

And so, for the sake of Thomas—and also for your sake—the Lord comes again as He came before. The doors are againbarred shut. Yet Jesus stands in their midst and says to them, “Peace to you.” The resurrected Lord shows Thomas the nails wounds on His hands, and invites Thomas to touch those wounds and the wound in His side. Don’t think that any of this was an accident. None of this happened by chance. Our Lord’s compassion exposed the doubt of Thomas so that we might believe. For when the doubting disciple was invited to touch the wounds in His Master’s body, Our Blessed Lord then cures the wounds of our unbelief and soothes the aches of our doubts and fears.

So the disciple’s unbelief was of more advantage to your faith than the faith of the other ten. For when Thomas is led back to faith by seeing and touching Jesus in the flesh, you too are made firm in your faith. You are taught to believe that our Lord truly does rise from the dead; He really can convert your dying body into a glorified, resurrected body by the same power that enabled Him to overwhelm death. You believe in and confess the resurrection not just of the soul or spirit, but also of the body—the same body you live in now, only perfected to match your redeemed state as a child of God. You believe in and confess “the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” You bring your infants and children to the font of Holy Baptism with the bold confidence that, if they hold to the one true faith, the Holy Spirit will raise them in their bodies and give them and all believers in Christ the eternal life Jesus died to win for them. You come forward to this altar, where He gives you His holy Body and precious Blood, even if what you see appears to be mere bread and wine; and in this mystery He invites you to put away your doubts and fears, and instead invites you to trust and rely and depend completely and absolutely on Him for all that you need “to support this body and life.”

“Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” That is what Our Lord says, not only to Thomas, but also to you. Do not doubt what you cannot see with your eyes. Do not fear what man can do to you. Do not let your heart be troubled. Christ has already overcome everything that frightens and troubles you. And in the waters of Holy Baptism, He has given you His victory. No longer will fear run your life. No longer can sin control you. Flee from your fears, resist your sinful urges, confess your sins, and be reconciled to both God and man. Believe what your eyes cannot see. For the same Jesus who showed Thomas His hands and side has gained for you the victory over sin and death, and He will raise you up in your body. “Faith shall cry as fails each sense: Jesus is my confidence!” ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.