HYMN: Lord, You Have Called Your Servant to His Rest

Comedians, artists, writers, and others who have the gift to make art often say that some of their greatest art comes from times of sadness and even depression. The past month has been tough, between the continued stress of the virus and the death of my beloved friends, Kim and Mary Scharff. Kim was my Vicarage (internship) pastor, friend, mentor, and spiritual father and brother. Mary, his wife, was a second mother to me. I’ve already written a hymn text in Mary’s memory, and it seems as if my sadness has loosed the flood gates of creativity once again, this time in Kim’s memory. The purpose of this text is to praise God and thank Him for the life and serve for a now-deceased pastor. My thinking isn’t particularly straight right now, so please, if you catch something that doesn’t sound good or right, something that needs to be fixed, please let me know.

Lord, You Have Called Your Servant to His Rest
In Memory of the Reverend Kim L. Scharff

1. Lord, You have called Your servant to his rest,
To sleep in peace, for now his race is run.
Though we will mourn, we know Your will is best,
For in Christ’s blood the vict’ry has been won!

2. You sent this shepherd forth to serve Your sheep,
To preach Your Word and give the Gifts of grace.
Help us rejoice, for, even as we weep,
You draw us also in to Your embrace.

3. With Pastor’s hands, O Christ, the Church’s Head,
You washed us clean, our new life to begin.
At Your command and serving in Your stead,
He spoke, and You forgave our wretched sin.

4. With great temptations, Satan sought his fall,
With lies and conflict strove to bring him low.
Your great compassion led him through the squall,
Safe in the peace You only can bestow.

5. Soon, soon, we pray You, bring us to that Day,
When saints are raised in light, now free from shame.
And as we wait, oh, give us joy, we pray,
To meet here at Your altar in Your name.

∆ 6. O holy Father, praise be unto You;
O Jesus Christ, our holy Shepherd King;
O Holy Spirit, Fire and Comfort true;
O Triune God, Your endless praise we sing.


(c) 2020 Alan Kornacki, Jr.
10 10 10 10
FARLEY CASTLE (LSB 631)
Occasion: Death of a Pastor

Sermon for 5/31/2020: The Feast of Pentecost

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The Spirit and the Gospel
John 14:23-31

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

 

Fifty days after the Passover lamb was sacrificed according to the Lord’s commandment, the children of Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to hear what God said to Moses. “Then Moses came and set before them all the words which the Lord commanded him.” And the people answered, “All the people answered with one voice saying, “Everything that God has said, we will both do and hear.” They pledged themselves entirely, and surrendered themselves completely, to do what the Lord said. They vowed to deny themselves the luxury of following their own path. They promised to live by the commandments that the Lord gave through His holy prophets. But most of all, with these words, the children of Israel confessed that their life, their health, their well-being, and even their freedom was utterly dependent upon the Lord’s Word. Whatever He commanded was not just good, but led them in the way of salvation.

Likewise, when the day of Pentecost had come, fifty days after the true Paschal Lamb was slain, the children of Israel are once again gathered by the Holy Spirit, this time in the city Jerusalem. This time they would not hear Moses, but Saint Peter and the Twelve. And just like Moses, the Apostle Peter delivers to them what the Lord has said by the same Spirit that inspired Moses. Peter and the others speak in the language of the people “the wonderful works of God.” He preaches to them the Gospel of Christ crucified. He shares the news that God has poured out on them His Holy Spirit so that all creation might also be exalted and glorified by being gathered in Him into His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

When the people heard this, they did not speak with the confidence of the Hebrews gathered at Mount Sinai. Instead, they were terrified. “What shall we do?” they asked. Peter tells them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Those words of the Holy Apostles still reverberate to this day. “Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” And it is my duty to repeat what has always been said by those faithful preachers who have gone before me—beginning with Saint Peter, continuing through Pastor Welp and Pastor Schultz, Pastor Mech and Pastor Esget and Pastor Buetow, and continuing to this day. Jesus says as much in the words you heard today. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” In keeping God’s Word, you realize that your body is no longer your own; it is now “the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

 That is why the Holy Spirit is given to us: not so that we live how we like, but so that we conform ourselves to the Lord’s love by living in His holy Church, gathered around His Holy Supper, which gives us the strength and the courage to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and lay down our lives for all men—even our enemies. For that is how our Lord lived His love for us. And He has generously poured out that love into us by His Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son and who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. Thanks be to God for this inexpressible gift! 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.

HYMN: Lord of Harvest, Ever Planting

This is the text that was set aside for my previous text, “I Have Been Called to Serve, O God My King.” As I said, I’ve been working on this text, pretty much fruitlessly, for about a month now. Then, this weekend, I finally received some inspiration, and I got to work, only to be interrupted by a power outage and then by another, more insistent text idea. Still, I was able to complete the first draft of this text once I got the other one out of my system. 

Originally this was a text with an 87 87 meter, but then I combined stanzas to form as 87 87D text, and the combined ideas seem stronger together than apart. This text is for the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany, based on Matthew 13:24-30 (36-43) text. I tried hard not to sound too much like “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come;” I hope I’ve succeeded. Anyhow, I would appreciate any feedback you could provide.

By the way, this is hymn text 100. Yippee!!!

Lord of Harvest, Ever Planting

1. Lord of harvest, ever planting
Children in the harvest field,
Feeding them by Word and Spirit
To produce a fruitful yield.
Satan hates what God has planted.
He has sowed his blatant lies
To mislead God’s great creation.
Their corruption is his prize.

2. Wheat and tares are sown together:
Worthless weeds and precious grain.
Nobody can tell the diff’rence
‘Til the time to reap again.
Until then, God’s workers tend them:
Word and water, bread and wine.
Wheat and tares, they both will prosper,
Feeding on these gifts divine.

3. Then shall sound the mighty trumpet
On that last and awesome Day.
Christ will send His holy angels
Who will bear the chaff away.
Wholesome wheat, God’s righteous children,
Free at last from Satan’s tares,
Finally rejoice forever
In the wounds our Jesus bears.

4. Son of God, revealed in patience,
Grant that we reflect Your grace,
Loving our unrighteous neighbor,
Seeking good in ev’ry place.
Even as the evil prospers,
Use it for our chastening.
Keep us steadfast, true, and humble,
Faithful to our Savior King.



© 2020 Alan Kornacki, Jr.
87 87D
JEFFERSON (LSB 338)
Occasion: Epiphany V

HYMN: I Have Been Called to Serve, O God My King

Sometimes when I’m working on one hymn text, another text jumps the line and demands to be written. I’ve been working on a text for the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany for about a month now. I finally made some progress this weekend, but a power outage Saturday night slowed me down. And then, today, as I was hoping to finish the first draft of that text, another text idea demanded attention. So I started writing the new text, and, despite changing the meter of the text in the middle of the writing process, I had a first draft in the space of an hour.

This text started out as a text for those serving in the Armed Forces, and it still applies. However, as I wrote, I realized it was also appropriate for those serving in the Office of the Holy Ministry as they wage spiritual warfare or for any Christian on this side of the Resurrection. I’d be interested in hearing how you might strengthen it.

I’d appreciate your feedback. Also, if you are a composer, I would appreciate your thoughts toward an original tune. We have good tunes for the 10 10 10 10 meter, but I’ve already used those for other texts. Anyway, here it is.

I Have Been Called to Serve, O God My King

1. I have been called to serve, O God my King,

To take up arms, to serve as You command.

Blessed be the Lord my Strength—Your praise I sing!

For warfare you have trained my feeble hand.

2. I have no weapon greater than Your Word,

No shield but faith to give me sure defense.

Belted with truth, to combat I am stirred,

Prepared to serve my Lord with confidence.

3. The fight is ever fierce, the battle long.

My foes, like lions, seek me as their prey.

Grant me the courage, Savior; make me strong,

That, faithful, I may rise to face the fray.

4. As my dear brothers come to heed the call,

Help me to give them strength to stand and fight.

When, as the battle comes, I see them fall,

Then give me words to comfort them aright.

5. If it should be, according to Your will,

My lot at last my very life to give,

Then let me die in faith. All fear be still!

And let me rest in hope as I did live.

6. Into Your hands my spirit I commend,

O holy Father and most gracious Son,

Whom, with the Holy Spirit, heav’nly Friend,

Be endless songs of praise while ages run.

© 2020 Alan Kornacki, Jr.

10 10 10 10

TEMPORARY TUNE: LSB 917 or LSB 637 (I had thought of 946, but it's under copyright.)

Occasion: The Armed Forces, the Office of the Holy Ministry

Sermon for 5/24/20: Ascension of Our Lord (Observed)

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Ascended and Still Here

Mark 16:14-20

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

What a difference forty days makes! The Evangelist St. Mark records that, on Easter morning, the women fled from the empty tomb, saying nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Forty days later, everything changes! From now on, no matter what we face, God never abandons us, never leaves us alone. The apostles, once hidden in the upper room for fear of the Jews, now venture forth, armed with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Jesus has sent His men to preach His good news to all creation. He has put His name on us in the waters of Holy Baptism, promising that whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. He has reclined with us at Table, feeding us His body and blood for the forgiveness of all our sins.

God won’t abandon us. How do you know? Jesus was taken into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God. Jesus, who is both true God and true Man, sits right next to His Father and our Father, whispering in His ear that Jesus has died to redeem sinners. A flesh-and-blood Man has the eternal attention of the Father, speaking to Him on our behalf, and His innocent crucified body and shed blood testify on our behalf. This is the miracle of the Ascension of our Lord: in ascending to His Father, in sitting at the right hand of God, Jesus lifts and exalts humanity in Himself.

How often does the Ascension Gospel get bumped from your mind? Or to ask the question another way, how often do you think about the Ascension of our Lord and what it means for you? Do you consider it at any other time than when we mention it in the Creed? How often do other things take over and leave you sad, mopey, and despairing? How often do you wonder if God loves you—or does He even bother to think about you at all? How often do you allow yourself to believe that you’re too great a sinner, that you’re too bad a person for God to forgive? How often do you despair of God’s goodness for you?

When these thoughts confound you and cloud your thinking, remember that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Don’t despair anymore! Whatever else is true about you and God, this is the most sure: the One who died on the Cross, who rose on Easter morning—Jesus Christ, God with us in human flesh—now sits at the right hand of God for you. Everything that God does, He does through His right hand for your good. Jesus is there for you: your friend, your advocate, your high priest, your Savior.

With Jesus at the right hand of the Father, there is no power, no event, no authority in heaven, on earth, under the earth, or anywhere else, that can lay back on you the sins you have committed, so that you need to despair ever again. “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Satan may prowl around like a roaring lion, but his teeth have been pulled; he has no more power over you, no accusation to make against you. You belong to God; Jesus has set you free!

What a difference forty days makes! Like the disciples, we have been tempted to live in fear, whether from disease, financial disaster, or any other tribulation that afflicts our daily lives. But Jesus has entered into our shuttered, fearful hearts, and has breathed on us to give us His peace and the Holy Spirit. He has made Himself known to us in the breaking of the bread of the Holy Supper. And now He stands with us and promises to be with us now and always, even to the end of the age. We have nothing more to fear, for Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God, promises that He will be with us now, and He promises that we will be with Him forever. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sermon for 5/17/2020: Sixth Sunday of Easter

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God Hears and Answers

John 16:23-30

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

Our culture is big on hope, but short on belief. There is paganism and at least a touch of superstition dwelling in our hearts that still thinks dancing around the fire and peering into tea leaves has power. The popular opinion is that anything is possible; reality shouldn’t get in the way. Believe what you want about cancer, the moon landing, or 9/11, but nothing should be held rigidly; certainly nothing should be held to the exclusion of other opinions. We deny absolute truth, and gone with it is the concept of reality.

So it is that, when we find ourselves in a crisis, we are sorely tempted to call together all the religious leaders of the world and have them pray to the pantheon of gods. Just this week Pope Francis, the so-called vicar of Christ, called upon people of all religions to come together spiritually during this pandemic. We behave like a patient diagnosed with a terminal disease, going from one guru to the next, hanging on the words of every wacko in the vague hope of a cure. Maybe we are hoping that the gods would cooperate like comic book heroes. Prayer in such a context, even if the words are used, is not prayer in the name of Jesus. Jesus will not share the stage.

The One who hears His people’s prayers is our God by grace. He has made us His people. He is everyone’s God. It is just that everyone does not know it. In the end they will. Every knee shall bow and every tongue in Hell shall confess that Jesus is Lord. To pray to the Father through the Spirit in the name of Jesus is to confess that Jesus is Lord. That confession cannot stand alongside the rabbis who hold that Jesus is the deceased bastard son of a Nazarene peasant who was executed as a criminal. It cannot stand the idea that Jesus is merely a misunderstood prophet of Allah who did not make atonement for the world. Prayer in the name of Jesus cannot stand with witch doctors and shamans and druids. Prayer in the name of Jesus must condemn those demonic lies.

Jesus is the real God. He will tolerate no pretenders. The One who gave His life to make us His is the One who hears and answers our prayers. God is not like us; His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. He is good; His mercy endures forever. God’s will is always done, and it is always good. And even when it seems bad—even when the Father does not remove the cup of wrath from His Son, even when it means we suffer shame and hatred from the world—we will see that the will of God is always perfect. What we receive is what God’s children need.

Jesus tells His people to pray. You do not need to form the perfect request. Even before you ask, your Father knows what you need. You are not standing before an angry God, for Jesus has reconciled God and man with His blood. For the sake of Jesus, our Father welcomes your petitions. Through Christ, His Father is your Father, and your Father loves you. Nor must you seek vague signs in nature and wonder if, when the phone rings or the dog barks, it is a specific answer to prayer. God provides, not because you pray, but because He loves you. You do not pray to manipulate Him; you pray because that is what faith does. You call upon God because He will give you all things, and you know that somehow, in the end, it will be good.

You are not alone in prayer. God speaks to you in His Word. With that holy and inerrant Word, prayer is not a one-way conversation. In the Bible, God reveals His will for you. He exposes His loving mercy and kindness. This God of grace answers your prayers. He provides friends, family, food, and all things. But most significantly, He who provided the ram in the thicket so that Isaac would go free—He has provided His Son as a perfect sacrifice in your place, and He delivers that same Son to you in His body and blood. By His Word, He provides. He forgives. He renews. He strengthens and encourages. He hears and He answers. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sermon for 5/10/2020: Fifth Sunday of Easter

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A New Song

John 16:5-15

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

                      

The Lord has done marvelous things. They are greater in number than our feeble minds might comprehend. He has called the galaxies to be. He has set the planets on their course. He has formed our bodies, wonderful in their complexity. Then again, according to those who imagined Zeus, Islam’s Allah, Ba’al, the Earth goddess, and all the other deities, those beings have done the same work. And the devil says, “See? All gods are the same. Any name will do. Call him or her what you want. It does not matter to him or to me. We have more in common than that which is distinct. Unity is the highest goal. We should all be nice.”

But the devil always lies. Those so-called divine beings might be marvelous, but they are not gracious. And morality is good. Where the pagans agree with God, thanks be to God; but there is no grace in morality. A false god’s idea of creation and morality reflect what a man imagines in his own heart, and it does not reflect what the True God demands. Repent.

The God of Abraham in the Flesh from Mary’s womb is not imagined, nor is He like us. He has remembered His mercy. His right arm has gotten Him the victory. He submitted to defeat in humility to break death’s teeth. He died and He rose again. He lives. Unlike Zeus or Allah or any imaginary god designed in human fantasy or demonic impulse, our God died to pay for the sins of men who rejected Him. Our God died for us; and He rose for us. No other god has died for His creation. No other god has the power to rise fro the dead; only the true God in Flesh, Jesus Christ, has done this. This is the Truth. He has sent the Comforter to comfort us with that Truth, and that Truth sets men free. His love is perfect and forgiving. It reconciles sinners to the Father. It gives us a song to sing—not of idle fancies, but of history and of the future we have in Him.

Though our God was angry with us for our vile and selfish deeds, His wrath has been turned to the cross. It has been spent upon the Son. Our God sent His Son to die for us and to rise again! We could not have guessed what God would do to make us His, to buy us back again. We could not have expected or imagined such love. He has become our salvation, our strength, and our song. He has taken the sins of the world into His Body. The accuser has been robbed of his accusations. Jesus died for us and crushed the liar’s head. He let us kill Him rather than send us to Hell where we belonged. He is not fair. He is just and He is merciful. He is gracious and forgiving.

Death has no more claim upon us because He took our place. He died our death. It is finished. Death is now empty. There is nothing left. He rose up out of the grave, alive in His body on the third day, reunited with His soul, the Victor over hell. The grave did not hold Him. It cannot hold us. Like unto His glorious body, our bodies will be raised and perfected. This is the most marvelous thing. It defines our God and gives us a song. Our Lord and the Holy Apostles call it the Gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. It is the content of our song.

This is our song: He has ascended to the right hand of His Father. He rules with perfect grace in the hearts of those who believe in Him. They call Him Lord and King. Once He was mocked; now is He worshiped. He has sent the Helper, that Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who inspired the apostles and prophets to write His words, who delivers Jesus to us. And where there is Jesus, there is also life and salvation.

And where there is life and salvation, there is singing. We cannot help ourselves. It springs up from the depths of our souls, for we are forgiven. We are loved. Our lives have purpose and meaning. The Spirit inspires us and puts His words upon our lips, and we sing the new song of redemption. So “sing unto the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things.” ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Sermon for 5/3/2020: Fourth Sunday of Easter

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The Reunion

John 16:16-22

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

As He had prepared them for everything He would lay before them in the days to come, Jesus prepared His disciples for His death. “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.” Death robs us of the visible, tangible presence of those we love. We long to see them, but we cannot. We long to hear their voice, but there is only silence from the grave. We remember all the good times we shared with the dearly departed. We remember all the joy, all the care, all the love. We mourn what we have lost—and rightfully so, for God has blessed us richly through those with whom we have shared our lives.

In that sense, we ourselves know the grief the disciples experienced, nor can we fault them for it. Lacking understanding of our Lord’s teachings, the disciples mourned their beloved teacher and friend. There was a great, fearful silence hanging over the world on that Friday we call good. Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” and then there was silence—a silent, breathless body; a silent, cold tomb; a silent, grief-loaded Sabbath. The enemies of Jesus doubtless rejoiced, for they believed they had silenced this troublemaking rabbi who called Himself the Son of God. In the meantime, His disciples were filled with fear and sorrow. They grieved as do those who have no hope, for Jesus, their Friend and Teacher, was dead. “Your sorrow will turn to joy,” Jesus promised them. “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” In the early morning, Christ’s followers, both the women and the disciples, saw the tomb; they saw that it was open and empty. They heard the good news: “He is risen! He is not here.” That evening they saw and heard and touched Him. And as they recognized their Jesus as the living Lord, their sorrow melted away into unspeakable joy.

Jesus compared that sorrow of grief over death to pains of a woman about to give birth. It’s true that her suffering is great, and it can last many hours. But then, when she delivers her child into the world, she forgets all the anguish—or, at least, that anguish is unimportant compared to the extravagant joy she experiences as she holds that newborn child in her arms. If that anguish wasn’t forgotten, it’s entirely possible that only the firstborn child in any family would arrive. But it doesn’t work that way. The anguish of labor, no matter how long or how bitter, gives way to the joy of a child who is born.

Thanks to our Lord’s death and resurrection, we are given to think of death as a new birth, and our suffering over death as labor pains that will give way to something of incomparably greater joy. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Our present sufferings do not compare with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” There is coming a Day of resurrection and reunion, a great and glorious Last Day. And on that day all the dead will rise, and we will be gathered together with Christ and all who have died in Him. There will be no more sorrow, for Jesus will wipe away all tears. There will be no more death, for our Lord Jesus has conquered death; death is now only the gate to eternal life. And then, as Jesus promised, at last, your sorrow will turn to joy, and your mourning into dancing. For now, we rejoice that we experience a humbler reunion, though no less joyful, when our Lord gathers us around His altar for the family feast. He brings us together “with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven” for fellowship in His body and blood. We will be reunited there soon, God willing, gathered together as a congregation to receive life. Soon and very soon you will see Him, and “and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.” ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!