Sermon for 3/10/19: First Sunday in Lent

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Truth and the Father of Lies

Matthew 4:1-11

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

Jesus was hungry, and the devil offered bread. He was shamed, weak, and tired, and the devil offered honor. It seemed as though His Father had abandoned Him in His hour of need, and the devil offered to step in and help, to be His god for a little while. Satan certainly would never ask Him to suffer or to die. The devil would be glad to relieve Him of that duty. That Satan seems so nice.

But Satan is a liar—indeed, he is the father of lies. You cannot have more than one god, no matter how many times the devil says that he does not mind. You will either worship the God of Abraham, or you will worship the devil. There are no other choices. And it’s not just the witches and Satanists the devil gets. He gets all the undecided, all the fence-riders, all the lukewarm pretenders, all those who worship no gods, and all those who worship false gods. He wants Jesus to have bread and honor and be spared His suffering so that men would go without the Word of God.

You would choose to eat. You would choose to jump. You would choose to kneel. Your spirit might be willing, but your flesh is weak in sin. You might even fight it for a time; eventually you would surrender. But Jesus resists. He is tempted, but—unlike us—He is not overcome. He does not sin. He obeys, and He suffers for our disobedience. He lives perfectly by His Word. The Father will provide; the Son will wait. Led into the place of temptation by the Spirit, He submits to His Father. Submitting to the Father, He knows hunger and shame. God provides…but not by removing the burden. He offers up His only Son, who goes silently as a Lamb to the slaughter: without bread, without honor, without a friend. The Father sacrifices the Son to give the Spirit to those who could not resist.

Jesus goes alone to pay for sins He did not commit. He allows them to force a crown of thorns down upon His brow, to drive nails into His hands and feet. He lets Satan do his worst. The price is paid, the sacrifice complete. Jesus has satisfied the Law’s demand. And then He rises from the dead. He makes citizens for His Kingdom by declaring former rebels to be His own dear children and washes them in the bloodstained waters of Baptism. Satan’s fantasy of killing God came true, but it became the source of his utter defeat. All those who saw their sin and cried out to the Lord were set free from their shame; they were welcomed back into God’s embrace!

The devil doesn’t understand: this is who the Messiah is; this is how He desires to be known. Jesus is anointed for a Sacrifice. He is the Lamb that God provides to make men His. He is love in flesh; He desires to have you as His own. He does it all—He hungers in the desert; He carries His cross to Golgotha; He bears mockery; He dies on the cross—all for you. He bore all of this to make you His. You are a Bride so beautiful, so precious, that the Bridegroom of grace pays the dowry Himself to have you.

It is the not the way of power and might. It is not at all like the gods designed in the imaginations of the corrupt hearts of sinful men. It is the way of weakness—at least, as men reckon weakness. It is the way of mercy. Jesus suffered for you. He has forgiven all your sins, and they are not coming back. In the coming Day, God will call you His child, well-pleasing in His sight. What you suffer now for a time is not worthy of comparison to the glory that will be revealed in you. Even now, you are surrounded by the heavenly host, ministered to by angels. And by the name into which you were baptized, the evil foe has no power over you. 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 3/6/19: Ash Wednesday (Return series)

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Return to the Lord We Know

Joel 2:12-19

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

            “Return to me,” says the man to his beloved who has left him. “Return to me. I love you still. I want you back.” But this evening, these words are not from a man or a woman. They come from God Himself. “Return to me,” come back to me. I do not reject you. What good news that is! The truth is, we deserve to be rejected. Think of our confession of sin. Think of all the times we sin, all the kinds of sin, and—maybe worst of all—how casual we can be about sin. We act like it’s really not all that important, as if it really doesn’t matter that we do not listen to God’s Word and instead do what we want anyway. We think that, but only until the consequences of sin come crashing down on us. And then we see, and then we shake our fist at God and ask how He could let this happen, as if it’s His fault!

Still our God calls to us. “Return to me.” Repent. Turn away from your selfish desires and return to me. He wants us back, wayward though we are. His love for us remains. This is wonderful to hear. But we heard other words we heard tonight, also from the prophet Joel: “Who knows whether he will turn and relent?” Those sound monstrous. They seem like words of uncertainty, words that devour, words that plague, words that offer no comfort at all. It sounds as if Joel is asking, “Who knows whether God will forgive you?”

But that’s not what those words mean. Would the God who is calling us back to Himself do so with an uncertain forgiveness? Of course not. He has promised us forgiveness. He has promised us a Savior. Listen to these verses, all from the Psalms: “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.” “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Our sin offering has been lifted high upon the cross for all creation to see. Yes, our sins make a mess of things, but in the sacrifice of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, God is setting us right again. You are forgiven. This is most certainly true. This truth, the promise of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, is the most certain truth we have.

So when Joel asks, “Who knows whether he will turn and relent?” what do those words mean? The forgiveness is sure, but His discipline may continue—not to punish, but to teach; not to push you away, but to draw you closer; not to put you down, but to lift you up. Just like His forgiveness, this chastening is from His love. Sometimes you have to love someone enough to say, “No.” He will end this discipline at the proper time…but only He knows the proper time.

Forgiveness isn’t a guarantee that life will be good or easy. We know the life of faith is a life of trials, temptations, and suffering. Our Lord tells us that. But even if the trials and struggles continue—and we know they will—these things drive us to God and His love, forgiveness, strength, and faithfulness. They drive us into the Word, into prayer, into weakness, to receive the love and life of Christ. When we are weak in ourselves, we become strong in Christ. We remain confident in the Lord and in His love and forgiveness: signed, sealed, and delivered by the blood of the Lamb, shed for you and poured into you.

So tonight, yes, we repent. But even more that that, we rejoice. We rejoice in His love, love that would cause Him to send His Son for you. We rejoice in His love that would call you to repentance time and time again. We rejoice in His love that adopts you as His children, His sheep. We rejoice in His love that provides you with a Church, with His Word, and with His gifts. We rejoice in a love that won’t stop, indeed, that cannot stop. Though our love runs hot and cold, your Father’s love for you remains constant. So… “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” 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: My Debt Is More than I Can Pay

It’s been a while since I’ve produced a hymn text. I’ve been sitting on the Propers for the Twenty-Second Sunday After Trinity for three months now, and I’ve only had the smallest snippet of an idea to work with. And then, this morning, an idea popped. For some reason, it always seems to happen that ideas come to me when I should be doing something else—in this instance, paying more attention at Winkel. (Sorry, guys.)

This text is a treatment of Matthew 18:21-35, our Lord’s great lesson on forgiveness: God’s forgiveness for us, our forgiveness for each other, and how the two relate. My text is pretty on-the-head, but that’s not really a bad thing, I think. The tune I had in my head as I wrote this was the tune to which we sing “All Mankind Fell in Adam’s Fall.” As always, feedback is love.

My Debt Is More than I Can Pay

1. My debt is more than I can pay.

Have mercy on me, Lord, I pray.

I have no merit of my own, 

No right to stand before Your throne.

2. If you should mark iniquity,

One sin would merit death for me.

I kneel, enslaved, from Adam’s fall,

Defenseless in Your judgment hall.

3. You, God the Father, Master dear,

Forgive my debt and still my fear.

Your Son in blood has paid my price

Through His own sinless sacrifice.

4. When I then leave the judgment seat,

My ransom paid, full and complete,

Should I demand to be repaid 

My neighbor’s debt of lesser grade?

5. If I should not forgive the debt,

If Your great mercy I forget,

You, Master, will withdraw from me

The grace by which You set me free.

6. I pray, O Christ: Oh, may it be

Your love and grace abound in me.

Give me to choose the better part,

To love this holy, righteous art.

7. Teach me, O Lord, in whom I live,

To love and always to forgive,

To bear good fruit of thankful praise

And honor You for all my days.

(c) 2019 Alan Kornacki, Jr.

LM (88 88)

Tune: WENN WIR IN HÖCHSTEN NÖTEN SEIN (LSB 562)
Occasion: Trinity XXII (Matthew 18:21-35); Forgiveness of Sins

Sermon for 3/3/19: Quinquagesima

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You Are the Beggar

Luke 18:31-43

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

He’s blind. He is poor as dirt and completely helpless. He’s stuck on the side of a country road. He doesn’t even have the good sense to do his begging in the middle of the city, where there are more people. No matter how hard he tries, he can do nothing for himself. His very life depends on the generosity of strangers. How degrading is that? Doesn’t he have any self-respect? Maybe if someone just gave him a good start, he’d be able to do it himself. But he can’t. He keeps trying and trying and trying, but there is no hope for him on his own. He is stuck alongside the road with no hope of redemption on his own. All he can do is beg for the gifts that will come to him. That is his only salvation.

You are that beggar. You are blind and poor and helpless in God’s sight. You can’t get yourself out of the trap that has befallen you by sin. Certainly there may be times when things go better than others. There may even be months or years when you can forget that you wear the filthy rags of sin. There may be times when you can ignore your blindness, unable to see what sin has wrought in your life. The hardest thing in the world for a human being to do is repent and recognize that you are helpless without God’s love and mercy. But this is the truth: you are that beggar. Consider Luther’s last words upon his deathbed: “We are all beggars. This is true.” Repent of your self-made life and your fantasy world where you don’t need God. Repent, and live.

Now look at that beggar once again. He hears the voice of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and cries out for all he’s worth: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Ah, that great word of faith: mercy. This beggar recognizes that he has no hope and no life apart from the mercy of Christ. That is what drives him. It is in Christ that his very lifeblood can be found.

The crowds around the beggar want him to be quiet and go away. The Old Adam within you wants to be self-reliant, and the world demands rugged individualism. “Don’t trust in Christ! Trust in yourself! You can do it. You don’t need Him. And even if you need Him, someone as important as the Son of God doesn’t have time for your problems.” But the more the world tells this beggar to be quiet, the more this man of faith cries out: “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stood still at the beggar’s cry of faith, listens as he cries for mercy, and heals him. When this beggar, who has nothing and offers nothing, cries out for mercy, God gives it to him.

Now look at that beggar. He once was blind but now can see. He once was dead to the world, but he is now alive in Christ. And if you look a little closer still, you can see this beggar eating at the Master’s table, dressed in the finest of clothes, consuming the finest of food and the richest of wines. This beggar has become a lord. He has become everything he could not by his own power—all because of the mercy of the Master.

You are that beggar. God hears your cry for mercy. He forgives your sin, opens your eyes to see, and lifts you up to the highest place. It is no accident that we kneel to receive Christ’s body and blood at His banquet. That is the proper place for beggars. But God, who is rich in mercy, lifts you up and gives you His greatest treasure: His own Son, dead and alive again.

Our bags are packed. The Sundays of Pre-Lent are done. We begin our journey to the cross with Christ on Ash Wednesday. This blind beggar shows the rest of us beggars that, when we beg at Christ’s feet, He will always come through for us. Come, you who are beggars. Come on the journey of salvation. Come to the cross. Come to the tomb. You will never be the same again. 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 2/24/19: Sexagesima

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A Surprising Harvest

Luke 8:4-15

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

           

God is not like earthly farmers, nor is He like earthly landowners or merchants or kings. Parables, simple words and simple stories, conceal God from men too proud to believe that He is not like them. Parables are easy to misunderstand. The point of the parable of the Sower is that God does not farm the way we do. Being a farmer who works with seed and soil and fertilizer gives very little insight into God and His ways. Farmers work the soil and make it productive. They work the soil for profit, applying all their wisdom to it. But God does not seek profit. He does not gain from sowing. He sows seed in foolish places. He does not work the soil. The seed itself is good, and men are in need. The seed does its work, but all at God’s expense.

His ways baffle us. He sows His seed in foolish, weak, and impossible places, without thought to gain or loss. He sows on the trodden path, the rocky patch, the thorny ground—into the deaf ear, the blind eye, and the hard heart of those who hate Him, who seized the Son and killed Him. He sends His message out in ways and to markets that make advertising executives cringe. He sows where His seed absolutely should not grow. He wastes His love on fickle men with hearts full of lust and greed.

And most is lost. Most is trampled, snatched, withered, and choked. Most is wasted, spent in vain, tossed away for nothing, indistinguishable from chaff in the wind. This Sower does not show a profit. He gives and men waste. He never counts the cost. He does not sow for gain or profit. He does not sow for fame, honor, or prestige. He sows for men. He sows because they are in need. He sows because He would love them again. He sows because He is love. He is lavish in His gifts of grace.

And somehow, miracle of miracles, the seed finds earth. Miserable, scorched, dry, rocky ground though it be—even on the darkest pavement of our hearts—the seed finds the earth, and it grows! That good seed transforms some of those trodden, rocky, thorny patches into soil rich enough to bear a crop a hundredfold! It takes root in ears that could not hear. It grows to life in blind and unlikely corners where men had given up and moved on. It bears a crop that demographics studies and the best laid plans of men could not predict or expect, while well-farmed lands in fertile plains are ripe with weeds. The Word of God bestows wisdom in the midst of foolishness. It harvests life from death. It bears a crop where and when the Spirit pleases, and that pleases our Father.

The Good News of Our Lord’s death and resurrection is the seed; it is the power of God for salvation. And though it seems a foolish waste to human wisdom, it changes lives. It heals disease. It puts an end to war. It brings husbands and wives back together. It turns the hearts of the fathers to their children. The Word always works the way God wants it to work, because it is the creative force of God Himself, and He is not like us.

            It is for you that the true Vine, our Lord Jesus Christ, suffered the weeds that choke, the birds that snatch, the rocks that wither roots, the feet that trample the seed of His Word. He died for you and rose again. He was cut down, but He came up like a shoot from the stump. By His Word He declares you innocent. He opens heaven. There is nothing for you to add or prove or do. He has done it all for you. Foolish and ridiculous though it seems, impossible and wonderful, He has died for you. He does not hold it against you. He has sowed His Seed within you so that you would live and be loved by Him. He has sowed His seed so that you would know your Father. He will make you bloom in the resurrection. Eden and all of creation will be restored. 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 2/17/19: Septuagesima

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Friends of Jesus

Matthew 20:1-16

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

Like the landowner in today’s Gospel, our heavenly Father goes out time after time, hour by hour, to beckon us into His Church; to summon us to return to His home; and to urge us to tend His harvest, just as He first created us to do. Time after time, our Father calls us to Himself. First He uses patriarchs; then prophets; then John the Baptist; then the holy Apostles. And now, in these last days, He issues His loving invitation through pastors. Through these preachers, and through faithful parents, teachers, and neighbors, our Father continues to extend His mercy. No one can question His persistence. No one can say that He’s not done enough.

Yet sinners still grumble. The grumbling says that our benevolent Master has not been generous enough. The grumbling insists that we, who deserve nothing, deserve more. And so we grumble, complain, moan and whine: the language of the dissatisfied, the ungrateful, the lazy, the complacent. Often we hear it from our neighbors. Too often, the mouth that produces such grating and annoying noise is our own. We are like those workers: we believe that the Father is dealing with us, not out of mercy, but out of justice. And we want our just desserts. We demand fair treatment. We insist that the Lord study our case, confident that He will conclude that He should give us even more.

Beware of what you demand from the Lord. Beware of being your own lawyer, especially in the Lord’s field. A vineyard is not where lawyers practice; a church is not a courthouse; and demanding justice and fairness requires that sympathy and mercy be set aside. And beware of turning your Father into your Judge. After all, He has already made a judgment on your behalf: a judgment to sacrifice His Son and, for the sake of His Son’s sacrifice, to set aside your sin. He has already judged that, to save your life, to save your soul, He must not deal with you as is just and righteous. Instead, to save you, He must have mercy.

So let us consider the mercy of Our Father. He gives this mercy to us through His Son by the power of His Holy Spirit. Let us consider this generous work that the Trinity has performed for our salvation, work that our God continues to perform in us so that we might not lose what He has given. He gives us this undeserved gift so that He might return us to the kingdom that we walked away from.

Let us consider the mercy of our great God and Savior, how full and rich it is. His mercy gives us our daily bread. His mercy blesses us with home and family. His mercy leads Him to call us “friend,” even while we were yet His enemies. His mercy wards off the devil and delivers us from evil. His mercy washes us clean in His watered blood in Holy Baptism. His mercy feeds us the medicine of immortality in His own body and blood.

As we consider this mercy from the hand of our Lord, let us be grateful, not only in word, but also in deed. Let us be grateful to the extent that we strive earnestly to imitate His mercy. Let us demonstrate our gratitude by being merciful, just as our Father in heaven is merciful. Let us not exact our pound of flesh from whoever angers us; let us not insist that they pay for how they’ve hurt us. Instead, let us imitate the Lord’s mercy by being slow to anger, quick to forgive, and generous with words of kindness and deeds of love. Most of all, let us imitate Our Lord’s mercy by sacrificing ourselves—our desires, our goods, even our lives—so that our neighbor would see in us and receive from us same the mercy that we have received from our heavenly Father. 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 2/10/19: Transfiguration of Our Lord

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Dwelling in Glory

Matthew 17:1-9

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

There is a temptation to denounce Peter because he wanted to stay on the mountain, as though he were foolish for not seeing what was ahead. Our fallen ears are so corrupt that defeatists sound wise. We are afraid to hope for miracles. We do not want to be disappointed. God means the Theology of the Cross to comfort us, but we have used it as an excuse for despair. Is it not enough to weary men? Must we weary God as well? Are you so proud as to refuse a sign from God? Are you so proud that you will not ask for a miracle or trust in His providence and grace? Repent.

Peter spoke the truth on the mountain. It was good for them to be there. His desire to stay was a godly desire. He desired a good and a noble thing. The Lord did not rebuke him for this. Jesus simply reminded Peter that He is the beloved Son of the Father, in whom the Father is well-pleased; He is anointed as a Sacrifice for the sins of the world. Not the Cloud, the Light, nor the Voice were meant to scare Peter. They were meant to encourage him. Peter was only afraid because he was a sinner. Unlike Moses and Elijah, Peter had not yet passed through death and into life. His flesh was still weak. God’s glory was too much for him, even as it had been for Isaiah in the Temple, as it had been for the Israelites at the foot of Sinai. But today is no longer too much for Peter. Now, today, Peter and the brothers have joined Moses and Elijah. They no longer reside in temporary tabernacles; they dwell in the place prepared for them by their Lord.

God’s purpose in the Transfiguration was not to scare these three, or to show how stupid they were. This was meant to comfort them. He was showing them their own future and planting in them the reality of His divinity. The Transfiguration gave substance and authority to the preaching that followed the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. It gave them comfort. Our Lord desires for you the same strength and comfort that He gave to them.

Today we put our Alleluias to rest for a time. We embark upon that great season of penance and contemplation when the liturgy is dressed in sackcloth and ashes. But our Alleluias shall return. The light shines in the darkness. He is not dead. And we remember, confess, and proclaim even in Lent that the tomb is empty. Still, this is a long time to remain focused, to wait for the return of uninhibited and exuberant joy of the resurrection. And so, as we gather on this new Mt. Zion, where God is present in His mercy for you, bread and wine are the cloud that obscures the glory of the Lord. A slain Lamb is a living feast, given for forgiveness and strength, for life and salvation. You will see that Moses and Elijah, Peter, James, and John were here along, mingling their praise with yours. Even today they cry out, “How long?” praying that all God’s people would be fully united; praying that the peace of God would be revealed at last to all creation; praying that the groaning, complaining, and despair would finally stop.

Is that naive and foolish to desire? Is that not what God promises? Is that not what we believe? Do we not die in the waters of baptism, only to be raised to life with God? There is no room here for despair. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Easter is coming. It is good for you to be here. God Himself is present for you in His Word and in His body and blood. And soon—very soon—the day will come when you will stay, when Peter’s desire will be fulfilled, when we will dwell forever in the glory of the Lord. Alleluia! 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 2/3/19: Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany

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Rebukes

Matthew 8:23-27

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

God is not like us. He does not submit to our ideas. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. We live by faith, not by knowledge or understanding. Unlike every other man, Jesus never considers appearances. He really doesn’t care what people think. He is His own man in a way no one else can be. And whatever He does, whether we understand it or not, it is the right thing.

Such an idea requires faith, because Jesus doesn’t seem to us to be doing the right thing. He seems to be sleeping. He seems to be ignoring us. Wars and disease, hatred and greed, bigotry and addiction: these things don’t seem right. We are plagued with crime and poverty. Families are falling apart. Babies are murdered in their mothers’ wombs. American soldiers die in foreign lands. The government lies. Children cheat. Schools can’t be trusted. Friends betray us. Pastors preach false doctrine. And then, as if we weren’t already our own worst enemies, nature herself comes swooping down on us in hurricanes and tsunamis, in killing frigid temperatures, in ice and snow. And all our efforts against them—our little programs with grief and debt and pregnancy and marriage counselors, our engineering feats and government money—all seem of little effect against the evil that lurks in the hearts of men and the brutal effects of nature. Yet we put our trust in these false gods of flesh and concrete.

Repent. Your answer doesn’t lie in engineered wonders or human ingenuity, in a beautiful home or a perfect meal, not even in happy, healthy, well-adjusted children. You won’t find salvation in human love. Spouses and children disappoint as surely as parents and siblings, as surely as we disappoint ourselves. Repent. Stick to your prayers. Submit in faith to the goodness of God. Be still and wait for the Lord. Your deliverance will be revealed in time. The storms will cease. Jesus is with you.

And what if He rebukes you for your panic, for your desire for safety, for your desperate little faith that thinks it is perishing? Thanks be to God! Thanks be to God that you still have a smoldering wick of faith. Thanks be to God that you know where to go, that you seek salvation in our Lord.  Thank God that you are weak, for it is then that you are strong. He will not let you become dependent on your works. He will purify you with His holy rebuke; He will not let you ride out the storm in false confidence. He will hold you close to Him. Be rebuked again and again. Be broken by His Law. He uses these things to empty you of yourself and fill you with His love. He breaks you to mend you. He kills you to revive you. For His sake we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. And His thoughts are not our thoughts. If we stop feeling the Law, we lose the Gospel. First comes the rebuke; then comes the calming of the storm. First comes the cross; then comes the glory.

Are we of little faith, O Lord? Indeed. We are unworthy in every way. But He is our God. He puts His name upon us. He delivers us from these present evils, for He has died bearing our sins. We have no boast, no claim of our own upon His mercy. But we have His Word and Promise. We have His name. We have His body and blood. That is enough. He calms the storms—even the storms within us: the fear, the heartbreak, the despair. He leads us to call upon Him in prayer. He gives us the faith we lack. He saves us. 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.

PARODY: Hallelujah

It’s everywhere. You can’t get away from it. Every artist covers it. Ever occasion merits a rewrite of it.

The “it” of which I speak is Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” It’s been covered over 300 times. It’s been rewritten for everything from weddings to school cancellations. When I discovered that last this evening, it pushed me over the edge. In about 20 minutes I put together my own rewrite. Enjoy.

Hallelujah: The Parody

Way back in nineteen-eighty-four

Ol’ Leonard Cohen wrote this score.

You know the song I’m referencing, do ya?

At first it didn’t blaze the charts,

But after Shrek, it captured hearts.

Now everybody raves of “Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

It’s really not a Christian song.

It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong,

But you should know that Cohen was a Jew, yeah.

Some lyrics are quite biblical

(Though never citing Gabriel).

He even writes the Hebrew “Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Like much of Leonard Cohen’s work,

The song is full of poetic quirk.

The power of his words just runs right through ya.

The chord progression cleverly

Aligns with Cohen’s lyrics, see,

When speaking of King David’s Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

These days, the song’s so overdone.

It’s covered now by everyone.

You sing it, and it’s hard to listen to ya.

And when one has a favored cause,

One writes new words without a pause

And makes sure this line ends with “Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

But that’s okay, ‘cause no one knows

What Cohen meant. And boy, it shows.

Not even he himself knew what was true, yeah.

I guess we’ll just put up with it,

Although it irks me just a bit

When every half-blown hack sings “Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Well, soon I’ll end this parody. 

I’m sure that some are mad at me

For pointing out how much it makes me stew, yeah,

To hear this song so poorly done

And botched by almost everyone

Who sings or plays or rewrites “Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Perhaps someday—I hope it’s soon—

Well give a break to this lovely tune. 

We’ll learn to write our own songs. That sounds cool, yeah. 

Then, down the line, some music geek

Will rediscover Cohen chic. 

He won’t be sick and tired of “Hallelujah.”

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

(c) 1984, 2019, Leonard Cohen, Alan Kornacki, Jr.

Sermon for 1/27/19: Third Sunday After the Epiphany

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Miracles for You

Matthew 8:1-13

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

We’re supposed to be impressed by this centurion’s faith which trusts the Word of Christ. But it seems like we don’t get the chance to walk up to our Lord and ask for help. We don’t get an offer from Him to come to our houses and heal our sick family and friends. We start where the centurion left off. All we’ve ever asked for is a command from Jesus that will drive off disease. We know He has the power and authority to do it. But it seems like we never get it. We have doctors and drugs and modern equipment…but no miracle. And there are diseases which modern medicine cannot cure.

How hard it is for flesh and blood to endure these sorrows! It weighs us down to pray over and over, and it seems we never get what we ask for. Is it any wonder that we have our doubts, that we are afraid to get our hopes up? There are too many in the cemetery already, too many children in the hospital, too many divorces, too many murders, too many bullies, liars, and cheats. They surround us at work, at school, at the grocery store, even at Church. If only we could go home and find peace! But even there, the reality is less than ideal. How many times will we stand at the bedside of our loved ones and ask for a miracle, and though we are hoping, pining, longing, dreaming of a miracle, never really expect that a miracle will come? We know the stories from the Bible, but we’ve never seen a real miracle for ourselves. The centurion believed and got his miracle. The Lord was willing to heal the leper. But what about those in the Cancer ward? What about diabetes, congestive heart failure, autism, Alzheimer’s, and so many more?

My brothers and sisters in Christ: repent. The truth is, it is hard to live by faith. It is hard to walk the narrow way. The way of the cross is full of sorrow. But our Lord’s gifts are His to give as He pleases. In our Lord’s time, the centurion received his desire. Would you take the centurion’s servant back from him? Would you deny the leper his miracle? You’ve been afraid to hope. But God loves you. He knows what troubles you. He has walked in your shoes; He has borne your burdens. He hears and answers your prayers. Your time will come.

Do not stop praying for miracles. This authority and power belongs to Jesus. He has promised that He will give you whatever you ask in His name. He may give it to you now. He may hold it for you in heaven. But He will give it. In the meantime, you live by faith. You rest in the forgiveness of sins and the hope to come. Our Lord has called you by name; He has marked you as His own. He has fed you with His Holy Body and Blood. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is your Good Shepherd. You wait for Him, believing that He has obtained redemption for you by His innocent suffering and death. He has delivered you so that you will dwell with Him forever. The dead will rise. This corruptible will put on the incorruptible. Jesus did not die in vain. He died for you. His resurrection is no myth. It is the foundational reality of the entire universe. Jesus is Lord. He is your Lord by faith. He loves you. He forgives you. He gives you life.

Your day will come. You will have your miracles. You will not always be disappointed. You will know joy and laughter and peace. You are God’s people. You were Gentiles, the hostile nations that hated God’s people. But now you are Christians with God’s name upon you. He tells you to go, and you go. You make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them, bearing witness to who He is. You do this at home and work, and by your offerings and sacrifices here and elsewhere. You will sit with this centurion, his servant, and with all the saints, basking in the wonderful grace from the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world. 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 1/13/19: The Baptism of Our Lord

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Baptized

Matthew 3:13-17

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

Everything our Lord does, He does for you. He takes up your flesh to fulfill the Law for you. His circumcision, His perfect obedience, His ritual purity—these all count for those who are joined to Him in Holy Baptism. The same is true of the Moral Law. He kept it for you. His fasting and temptation were done in your stead. He fulfilled what you were unable and unwilling to do. But He did not just keep the Law; He also allowed the Law to do to Him all that justice demanded of you. He, who knew no sin, became sin. He did all this so that you would be forgiven and saved.

And so it is that He stands in the Jordan River. John pours the dirty water over His head. He does not need this Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but He submits to it for you. His Baptism is your Baptism. The water does not sanctify Him; He sanctifies the water. The water that falls off His back flows into all the fonts of Christendom: a pure, holy, life-giving water, rich in grace. He who stands in the Jordan is the Word made Flesh. He makes Baptism into that life-giving flood.

This crucified and risen Word is combined with and included in the water. These things together, this holy washing, creates and sustains the faith which receives all of His benefits. This water saves by the power of His resurrection. It joins you to Him, burying you in His death, and raising you by the glory of the Father in His resurrection. You were baptized into Him. His Name—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—was applied to you. You now belong to Him. His Baptism, His anointing, His inheritance, is yours. The heavens opened also upon you. The Holy Spirit descended. The Father proclaimed, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased.” He was talking about you!

There is no one to accuse you. The wrath of God has been appeased. Justice has been served. The payment is made in full. You go free—not back to your old evil haunts, but to the mansions of heaven, to the life of grace. You are a member of the royal household, a royal priest. You feast on the heavenly banquet with brothers and sisters, those still here and those already moved ahead of us. You rest secure in the ever prevailing mercy of His love.

For now it is not always so obvious. There are tragedies: self-inflicted and those suffered at the hands of a cruel world. There are dark times and depression. There is an uncertain future and a murky, turbulent past. Children walk into school with guns. People are starving in great numbers. Babies are violently ripped from their mothers’ wombs and tossed out with the trash. Fathers despise their children and leave their wives. Pain, suffering, and loneliness are all around us.

But do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not rest on fleeting things that come and go: the feelings of happiness or sadness, the sense of well-being and contentment, worry or uncertainty. Instead, rest on the objective, historical reality of Christ’s death and resurrection. Rely on that, for it became yours in Baptism. Trust in the Word of God. There is your hope and your certainty! You are baptized! God promises to love you, to protect you, to provide for you. He forgives you. That is enough! And soon, the fleeting things of this life lived in death will be removed. You will see clearly, as you were meant to see. Then your joy will be complete. Until then, do what He says: eat His Body, drink His Blood, and listen to His Word. That will see you through to the coming Day. Do not be afraid. The Lord your God, born of the Virgin, Baptized by John, crucified, and risen: He goes with you. He will neither leave you nor forsake you. 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 1/6/19: The Epiphany of Our Lord

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file. I didn’t feel like I was rushing as I preached it, but at the end of the preaching, it felt rushed.

Revealed

Matthew 2:1-12

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

When Jesus was born, He was first made known to the believing, and hid Himself from the unbelieving, even the king and people of Jerusalem. But today, “the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament reveals His handiwork.” The preaching of His epiphany, His arrival in our human flesh, has gone out into all lands. It began with the angels singing, “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” “Glory be to God on high!” Then came the shepherds, those first preachers of Our Lord’s nativity. And today we hear that the guiding star leads the Magi to become joyful heralds to those who live in the farthest reaches of the earth.

Yet the splendor of this star and the glory of this day seem sullied when we recall the cruel schemes of wicked King Herod. This earthly king is so in love with his corrupting and corruptible throne, so delighted with his depraved palace, that he is afraid of a tiny infant. And so, when the Magi ask, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” this question terrifies Herod into brutality, and all Jerusalem with him.

But do not let this violence dampen your celebration. For as the Spirit of God proclaims through a star, as He preaches through simple shepherds and clever Magi, so He also uses the fury of Herod to fulfill prophecy and to further God’s mercy. You know what happens when the Wise Men heed the divine warning and so return to their own country another way. Then the ever-righteous, ever-protective Joseph “takes the young Child and His mother by night and departs for Egypt.” There, in the land that once housed another barbaric ruler who sought to kill the infant Moses—there the Son of God will remain. With His presence, He will bless the Gentile nation that once welcomed another Joseph. And in this way, the glory of the Lord will again be revealed; the mercy of God will again be openly made known to all men—including us.

Herod, that enraged tyrant, does not perceive any of this. Neither do the chief priests or scribes, who turn blind eyes to the horrid crime of slaying innocent boys in hopes of killing the Christ—even as our own leaders turn blind eyes and even encourage the murder of the pre-born today. But make no mistake: the priests and scribes all know the Child at Bethlehem is the promised Messiah; they said so themselves. But thanks to the Holy Spirit, we perceive how this slaughter of the innocent martyrs serves as yet another sermon proclaiming the epiphany of our God. This cruel act announces that the true Messiah is here, and it reminds us how He saved us. For that is how our salvation is accomplished: the Innocent Christ is slaughtered. That is how the mercy of God comes to full fruition. And most significantly, that is how we live—by eating and drinking this innocent flesh and blood sacrificed on the cross. So while we loathe King Herod, we give thanks to the Lord whose thoughts exceed our imaginations, and whose wisdom is wiser than any Magi. He uses the cruelty of Herod to further the Gospel of our salvation.

What an epiphany we celebrate! Our joy is heightened not just by the fact that Jesus appears for all men, but also by the undeniable truth that His appearance means that the tyranny of sin is overthrown, the cruelty of man will not remain, the deceptions of the devil are turned to our good, and the reign of terror has ended. Let us give thanks by receiving into our mouths and hearts the flesh and blood of this Child whom angels praised, whom shepherds preached, whom Wise Men worshipped, whom Egyptians welcomed, and whom even Herod—in God’s mysterious way—revealed to be our King. 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.