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

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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)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

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.