Sermon for 10/26/19: Festival of the Reformation

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Abiding in the Word

John 8:31-36

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

           

Not long before Jesus spoke the words of our Gospel, He encountered a woman who was being stoned because of adultery. The Jews were not interested in repentance and forgiveness. They were interested in separating the good sheep from those they judged as bad—those who behaved properly from those who did not. Our Lutheran heritage stems from a similar problem, because the Pope and his minions were not interested in speaking God’s Word of forgiveness; they wanted to sell worthless pieces of paper instead of giving the forgiveness Christ died to give freely to His people. And some people thought it was worth it to pay for forgiveness rather than to repent of their sin and attempt to live a life of baptismal faith.

This is the problem of sin: not that we do bad things, but that we do not live as if we believe in the one true God. Is any one of us any different than those Jews who wanted to stone the adulteress? Is any one of us any different than those who wanted to purchase and even sell God’s favor and gifts?

  Today, we find ourselves in a struggle to maintain our distinctive identity as Lutherans, as people who believe and teach Law and Gospel, as people who hold to the inerrant Scriptures as our rule of faith. This ministry is no more popular today than it was in Luther’s time or even in the days our Lord preached and taught among His disciples. We have found that out over the past few years as the world ignores, ridicules, and despises the truth of Scripture and the faith we hold. Abortion providers brazenly dispose of God’s gift of life, treating the murder of the unborn as a money-making scheme. Political candidates gain worldly favor as they promise to punish Christians and congregations who attempt to live their faith in opposition to sin. Even some so-called Christian congregations abandon the truth of God’s Word to curry the world’s favor.

No matter what is yet to come, our Lord remains faithful to us, all the way to the cross. In this world of uncertainty, ambiguity, and even hostility, this congregation exists to bring the Good News of salvation and eternal life through the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Son of God to sinners—even those who may at first and for a time reject it in favor of something more pleasing to them. So we abide; we remain in His Word as His disciples. And He remains in us.

We face an uncertain future as a congregation and dual parish. Truly we trust in God to provide, but we don’t know what that gracious provision will look like. It’s true that our financial situation is not pretty. It’s true that our culture is hell-bent on a spiritual diversity that frowns on anyone who speaks the Word of God with authority, who calls sin what it is. It would be so easy to fill our pews and our plates. All we have to do is sell out the Gospel; all we have to do is sell our souls.

So what does the future hold? Will we have to sell our property? Should we seek out yet another congregation to join with us so that the Word will continue on in this place? Will our pastor face imprisonment for preaching against sin? Will we have to close our doors? All of these are possible. But as we abide in the truth of the Word, our Lord sets us free from sin, death, and hell. We are counted among the faithful remnant. The Holy Spirit keeps us with Jesus in His Church, feeding us the forgiveness of sins in the body and blood of Christ. So even if your pastor is arrested; if we lose our tax exempt status; even if these doors close; “take they our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, though these all be gone, our victory has been won; the Kingdom ours remaineth!” The Lord will continue to provide for your spiritual care. You are His disciples, baptized in His name. 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 10/13/19: Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity

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A Place in the Kingdom

Luke 14:1-11

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

While the kingdom of heaven is a magnificent gift, it does not come easily—not because the Lord does not freely give it, but because we believe it is something we have a right to, something we have earned and deserved. So we must pray, “Thy kingdom come,” because we are inclined to forget that He has so graciously given us entrance to the kingdom in the waters of Holy Baptism. We must remember that, even now in the Divine Service, we miraculously stand within the Lord’s kingdom.

But it’s also important to remember that the tribulations we endure on the way are all part of the life of citizens of the kingdom. There is no smooth route. There is no short cut. “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution,” as St. Paul writes. But Jesus also tells us, “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” We should never think that our life together in Christ will be free of struggle, suffering, or hard work. When we were baptized, we not only received a great Friend; we also lined ourselves up against a determined enemy. Certainly, we were delivered from death and the devil. But we also renounced the devil…and he will not take that sitting down. We promised to strive against our fears and sinful desires, but the devil and the world will do all they can to help us break that promise. As long as we have breath, we “strive to enter through the narrow gate.” Your heart’s desire should be nowhere else than in the Lord’s kingdom, gathered with the saints and martyrs, with the holy angels and blessed dead, eating the bread of eternal life and drinking the chalice of everlasting salvation.

You have no right to be here. But you belong here—not because you impressed the Lord, but because the transforming image of Jesus Christ was placed upon you in Holy Baptism. So you stand here today in the presence of the Holy Trinity, only because He is merciful, compassionate, willing to overlook your past. He desires you even though you don’t always desire Him. Our Lord’s mercy is so great, so wonderful, so large, that He uses your pastor—an unworthy servant and fellow sinner—to invite you to sit at table with Him. Our Lord summons you to eat bread in the kingdom of God. But if you forget what got you here—if you believe that your striving to live a godly life is what allows you to stand before God—then you are no different than those people who scheme to get the best seats at a banquet.

But our heavenly Father already notices you. In His mercy, He notices your willingness to submit yourself entirely to Him. He notices your desire to live against your sinful desires. He notices you as you strive to do what is good and right in His sight. But most of all, He notices the mark of the holy cross on your forehead and heart. He rejoices to see the transforming image of His Son.

Therefore, have no fear that you’ll go unnoticed, or that the Father will forget you. Do not give into your desire to raise yourself up at the expense of your neighbor. Do not compare yourself with anyone else to see how you measure up. Do not strive as if you are in competition with others. Instead, know and understand and believe that our Father, out of His boundless mercy, gives you a place at His table in the marriage feast of the Lamb which has no end. Do not strive for the highest place; come forward in humility, honoring your fellow saints who have been baptized and who stand with you before the Lord in His kingdom. In doing so, “you walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It doesn’t matter where you sit; there is no bad place in the kingdom or at this table. 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 10/6/19: Sixteenth Sunday After Trinity

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Death Meets Life

Luke 7:11-17

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

One problem with hearing about the miracles of Jesus is that they make us envious. And when we are envious, the devil urges us to ask, “When am I going to get mine? When is Jesus going to do for me, just like He did for them?” And then we see Jesus as a wonder-worker, a miracle-man, a super-hero—instead of seeing and trusting Him to be our Lord and God and Savior. Jesus truly is our Savior. But that doesn’t mean that He’s always going to swoop in and clean up our messes, or undo our disasters, or make better our tragedies, or heal our diseases, or prevent our death. Our Jesus has a much bigger view of our life. He sees the big picture. He looks far beyond our latest catastrophe.

So Jesus doesn’t raise the dead man merely because He happened to be passing by Nain, happened to see the funeral procession, and happened to cross paths with that poor mother. Jesus raises the dead man to show us that nothing—not our worst fears, not the destruction of our homes, not the devastation of our life—not even death will stop Him from having the final say. And so, “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Why is she not to weep? Is it not natural to grieve when loved ones die, when tragedy hits home? And why does Jesus not weep? If He is moved with compassion, shouldn’t He show it instead of standing there stoically and commanding a grieving mother to stop crying?

But remember—Our Lord sees the big picture. While He sees this woman and her dead son; while her suffering moves Him to compassion and mercy, what He also sees is death standing in the way of life. Think of it: entering the city of Nain is the Lord of Life. Coming out of the city at the same time is a death march. With the Lord of Life is a large crowd. And a large crowd from the city is marching the dead man to his grave. Which procession will give way? Does Life yield to death? Or is death overcome by Life?

Our Lord will face this scene twice more. The first time is when death and the devil come to claim Him from the cross to lead Him down to the grave and hell. And the second is when He who is Life comes to claim and release His own from the satanic clutches and the snares of death. Who will give way? Jesus or the devil? Which one will have to yield? Life or death? And who will overcome: the Lord of Life and all the living, or the dirt and fallen angels that He made and that must obey Him?

Our Lord Jesus looks at the dead man coming out of Nain and sees the big picture. He sees death challenging Him. Our Lord Jesus is life, and He knows that death must always yield to Life. And so Life Himself comes and touches the open coffin. The death march stops. Then Life says, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” The young man who had been dead comes to life.

As we see the images of death on our televisions; as we hear the tragedies that come every day; as we witness the holocaust of the mass murder of the unborn; as we nurse the dying and bury our dead; and as we feel death slowly creeping up in our own bones, let us not hear today’s Gospel and envy the mother who got her son back. Instead, let us remember that, in the midst of earthly death, Life has us surrounded. Death must yield to Life. And it is the Lord of Life whom we cling to, cry out to, and praise—even as we receive into our mouths His glorified and resurrected body and blood which “transforms our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” For death must give way to Life. So come and receive Life in His very body and blood. 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 9/29/19: Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity

Somebody (*raises hand sheepishly*) forgot to prepare the Propers for St. Michael and All Angels. Sorry.

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God or the World
Matthew 6:24-34

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

There are many persons and things that we love; and there are many persons or things that love us. In the final analysis, however, everything we have, everything we hope for, everything we desire traces back to one of two loves. When you come right down to it, there are only two things that we love, and we must choose between them: God, or the things of this world. These two loves come from opposite sources, and they produce eternally opposite results. Whoever loves the world will have nothing after he passes away. But whoever loves God will have eternal life with the angels and saints and faithful departed. Whoever loves this world cannot have God as his chief love. But whoever truly and earnestly and faithfully loves God will have both God and the world.

That alone convinces very few. The pull of this world is so strong. Our passions are set to desire earthly things. Our minds are prone to see and think about and desire only the here and now. We are so wrapped in the fear that we'll miss out and won't get ours. Somehow we find it hard to believe that the world can let us down, even though we know it often does. We find it hard to believe that our love for the things of this life—things like the praise of others, the pride of accomplishment, and the lust for power or sex or money or good feelings—is worthless. And so, instead of loving the things that last, we love the things that, in the end, will not help us one whit. We love the world so much—too much, in fact. Yet, in our misguided longing and yearning, we are blinded to the fact that the things of this world really do not love us.

While we have many loves, there is in the end only one true Lover—the Father who gives us His Spirit so that we might live safe and secure within Christ, the Beloved One. To love the One who truly loves us—the One who loves us with an undying, unfading, ever-deepening love—to love Him must be our chief desire, so much so that we are willing to throw everything else away, even to break ties with those who drag us away from Him in His holy Church. To love Him above all things means to prefer nothing and no one other than His embrace. To love Him means to fear only one thing—losing Him. And to love Him above all things means to trust that He loves us so much that He has sacrificed all that He has and all that He is so that we may never be harmed.

To love this Lord God with all that we are and all that we have does not harm us. We are told that it will. We are told that the sacrifice is too great, that we will lose out on too much, that life will be hard. But to love the only One who truly loves us cannot hurt us. In the love of God there is no excess. But in the love of this world, and this world's goods and this world's pride—in that love, all is hurtful because all is deceptive. The world says that if you love the things of this world, those things will love you back. But all the things of this world will fade; they will never be able to make good on their promise.

The one true God has already kept His promise of love. From the very first sin He promised a Savior to crush the head of the serpent. Our Father sent His Son, and His Son has loved us to death on the cross. Our Father has made us His children in the waters of Holy Baptism. He does provide what we need for this body and life. But even more than that, our Lord speaks His Word of forgiveness to us; Jesus feeds us with His own body and blood. These rich blessings will never rust or fade, and no one can take them away from 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 9/22/19: Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity

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Saving Faith

Luke 17:11-19

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

           

The Law says that the leper “is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; and his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” The Law also says that, when someone comes near, lepers are supposed to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” But these lepers are near the entrance of a certain village, and they band together. And instead of shouting that they were ritually unclean, they cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” What causes these ten lepers to break the Law? The punishment for violating this law is severe: forty lashes with a whip. They know this. So why do they risk so much?

For mercy, these men will risk much. For mercy, they will knowingly and willingly break the Law. Mercy is what fuels their confidence and stokes their courage—and not even mercy, but simply the hope of mercy. After all, they have no guarantee that their cry will be granted, that Jesus will have mercy. This same Jesus used a whip to drive out money-changers from the Temple, precisely because those merchants broke the Law. He could easily react the same way toward these law-breakers. Yet mercy compels them.

You might think that they really have nothing to lose. After all, they have leprosy, which means they are outcasts and live a miserable life. So why shouldn’t they risk all? Don’t we promise to risk everything—even life itself—for sake of faith? Yet how often we take the easy route, waiting for some guarantee that we’ll get what we want before we put anything on the line. Only if we believe against what the world says; only if we hope against hope—only then might we be willing to lose our life in order to gain something better. Yet these men hope against hope with the faith that Jesus will not turn them in or turn on them, but will have mercy. It is not desperation that drives these lepers, but the Lord’s mercy that invites and draws and encourages them. It is not fatalism; faith makes them bold.

And our Lord does not disappoint those who hope in His mercy. He says, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” Whatever we receive from God, whatever gift He gives that we accept and take to heart, ultimately all depends “not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” And that is where these ten men are: they depend on nothing but the Lord’s mercy. And that is what we are: unworthy beggars who look to, hope for, depend on, and hold to our Lord Jesus and His mercy. And so the cry for mercy must remain our perpetual and eternal prayer.

Like the ten, we are not disappointed in our hope. Our Father is the lover of mankind, and so, through His Son by the power of the Spirit, He has mercy on us and on His whole creation. His mercy is not simply given to the good and upright. Our Father offers and gives His mercy to every single person—even if you don’t believe it, even if you don’t ask for it, even if you don’t think you need it.

That is why our Lord commends the faithful Samaritan. When this man saw that he was healed, he returned and glorified God. By giving thanks to the Lord, this man, formerly outcast both as a Samaritan and as a leper, demonstrated that he loved the Lord and His mercy. So the Lord gives a second, greater blessing: “Arise, go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

Faith which begs for and lives from the Lord’s mercy; faith which cries out in both desperation and joy; faith which then shows the mercy and love of God within you—that is the faith that saves you. This is the faith which you have received in the waters of Holy Baptism. This is the faith which our Lord feeds with His body and blood. And this faith, a gift from your God, sustains you for this life and for the life of 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 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.

Sermon for 9/15/19: Thirteenth Sunday After Trinity

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“Above All Things…”

Luke 10:23-37

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

The Law knows that you know how to love yourself. That is why it tells you to love the Lord your God with all your being and to love your neighbor as yourself. Every sin we commit is based on self-love. Like Eve before us, we think we know what is good for food and capable of making us wise. Eve knew the threat of the Law: “In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” She knew it was true, that God was faithful to His Word. But she wanted that fruit. Her desire blinded her to reason. In the same way, we know what God commands, but our flesh demands to be gratified. If we could truly “fear, love, and trust in God above all things,” then we would not sin. We would not put our own desires before the will of God.

Repent. You know how to love yourself. You cannot bargain with God, but the devil is happy to satisfy the Old Adam. He’ll give you incredible bargains: no interest and no payments until after you’ve died. He just wants you to take the forbidden fruit; however you want to justify it is fine with him. The bottom line is this: you want an evil thing for selfish use. You want the flesh of another, honor and praise from men, possessions and leisure that corrupt—fruit from a tree that God said is forbidden. Repent. The God of Abraham is not like the devil. Nothing escapes His notice. If you have loved yourself or anything else more than Him, you have broken the Law; you have sinned.

The parable of the Good Samaritan shows us that our lives in Christ are to be merciful and full of good works. The Good Samaritan is a perfect example of how to keep the Law. If we ask the Lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” the answer is obvious: everyone is my neighbor. I am to help all of them. I am to sell everything that I have and give it to the poor. That is the standard. That is the Law, and it is good and true. But it always accuses because we are not perfect; we are not without sin. We have not loved perfectly. According to our fallen flesh, we can’t. We don’t even know how. I’m supposed to sell everything? Then how do I feed my children? How do we remain healthy? How do I get to work? It is an impossible standard for fallen men. Even so, it is the standard, and if we are judged by that exacting standard, we are condemned. There are no loopholes. Everyone is your neighbor. Repent.

Hope is not found in the Lawyer’s question: “Who is my neighbor?” The answer to the lawyer’s question is that we are to love everyone: no exceptions, no prejudices, no excuses, no limits. And we fail. Instead, hope is found in our Lord’s question: “Which of these proved neighbor to the man?” One man proved himself neighbor to the man in the ditch. Only one had mercy. That one is Jesus. Yes, Jesus is an example for us, for He shows us how the Law is lived. He shows us what love is. But more than that, He lives that love for us. He gives that mercy to us. He has compassion on us. He intervenes. He comes to earth to bear our burdens, to love us, to fulfill the Law for us, to give His life as a ransom for our bodies and souls. The Law passes by on the other side. It cannot help you. It will only ever accuse you of your failure. It cannot heal or forgive. Jesus comes to you as you waste away in your sin. He washes your wounds. He brings you to this holy house and feeds you the medicine of immortality. He pays for everything with His own blood, and He promises to come back. He loves His neighbor. He loves everyone without exception, prejudice, excuse, or limit. He welcomes all men to Himself by perfect grace, in holy love. He is your neighbor, and you are His beloved. 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 9/8/19: Twelfth Sunday After Trinity

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He Provides

Mark 7:31-37

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

Why does God refuse to act like us? After all, He came in human flesh. Why become a Man only to refuse to do things the way we do them? Why must He always be so obstinate, so steadfast? Why must He turn everything on its head? There are so many other ways—ways that seem more reasonable—for Him to act and to save. For one thing, He could make some distinction between people, the way we do, liking some and disliking others. Who among us doesn’t love our families and hate our enemies? Or do you have the same affection for ISIS as you have for your family?

Or God could choose to save only those who mean well or try hard or make some effort. It is not that they’d have to be perfect. But they’d have to have something that set them apart. He could save those who were somehow marginally better than others, in an outward way: those who haven’t gotten divorced or filed for bankruptcy or called in sick when they weren’t. Or He could save those who are willing to come to Church, to serve on committees, who give money to the poor. Wouldn’t that be more just?

Repent. These are old blasphemies. It is the Kingdom of God that comes in the Man Jesus Christ; it is not your kingdom. That is to say, the Kingdom is within you, but it is not yours to rule. It is a mystery, foolish to the ways and thinking of men. Jesus is far wiser, kinder, gentler, and more gracious than you are. Still, if a man wants to go to hell, if he wants to be judged by his works and faith, if he wants a god like Mohammed or the image in the mirror, then he can go where that god rules.

It is a strange and almost unimaginable thing, but He takes the time with the deaf man because He loves the deaf man. Before Jesus meets the man, the Father has already counted every hair on his head. He has listened to and answered his prayers. We might speculate about how else He might have healed this man, but what we know is that He did it the best way, the way best for that man and for us. His actions are not accidental. He reveals something of Himself and of our fallen nature and our needs.

He came to be a sacrifice, to die for your sins. And to make sure that was complete, that there would be no doubt, that you would not fear you were left out or weren’t good enough, He went ahead and died for everyone, even for those who will not have Him, who insist on their own way, who choose the broad road to hell. He pays for everyone so that you would be His, so that you would be brought home. He reconciles all humanity to the Father. He submits to the devil’s cruel torture so that you would be spared, so that you would not face the accusations of your sins. He declares you to be His perfect, spotless, lovely Bride, the beloved of the Father.

And He has not stopped. He did not simply come to earth and preach a while, allow Himself to be killed as a Substitute, and then rise up the Victor, only to go and leave you to try to follow Him. He is still a Man. He is still flesh of our flesh. And He still comes to you to open your ears, to touch your tongue. He is still wiser than us. He is still making custom crosses and situations for you. He is still chastening and encouraging, speaking and hearing.

He knows what is best. He provides. He is here. He is constant, faithful, steadfast, present in His Body and Blood, so that you would be joined to Him, so that with ears you may hear Him and with your tongue you may savor Him. And then, with the grace of His body and blood still upon your lips, you will confess His name and sing His praise, for, indeed, He does all things well. 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 9/1/19: Eleventh Sunday After Trinity

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Humbled

Luke 18:9-14

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

No one likes to be humbled. And certainly no one like to humble himself. Humbling yourself before anyone is hard. Who wants to admit that he is nothing? Aren’t we trained to be self-sufficient? Don’t we feel ashamed when we have to beg? Haven’t we been taught that God helps those who help themselves? Shouldn’t we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to make ourselves better? Such nonsense goes against true Christian faith because true Christian faith begins and lives in true humility: the humility that puts others before self; the humility that lives first for spouse and children, for neighbor, and even for enemy; the humility that lives to God with all you are and all you have; the humility that firmly trusts that you can do for others and don’t have to do for yourself because the Lord has done all for you, and gives you all you need to support your body and life. But most of all, true humility drives you to your knees, where you strike your chest and say, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

That is what we see in the story our Lord tells us. There, in the tax collector hiding in the back corner of the temple, in the man who will not lift up his eyes to heaven, in the man who knows he really should not be in God’s presence, before God’s altar, near God’s priest and holy things—there is true humility, the humility which demonstrates true faith: faith in God’s mercy, in the mercy that the Father has for us through His Son. This man is the picture of true faith, not because of what he does and how he acts and what he prays; but because of what he believes about himself, and what he hopes for from God.

This man, our Lord says, goes to his home justified rather than the proud, self-confident, self-believing Pharisee. The tax collector lays it all before God and says nothing about himself except that he is a sinner. He offers no excuses, no qualifying words, no blame for others. He throws himself on the infinite mercy of God.

And so he is justified, precisely because he depends solely on God’s mercy and kindness. He goes home justified because he came to God knowing that, whatever he gave, whatever he said, whatever he offered, none of it would be enough. He received in thanksgiving the chalice of salvation that the Lord offered, forgiveness in the blood of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.

This tax collector, who goes home justified, is worthy of our imitation. But you mock him if you only imitate his words or actions. Imitate his humility by refusing to trust in yourself. Imitate him by clinging solely to Christ. Imitate his humility by learning and understanding the fearsomeness of God’s holy law. Quench the thirst of your desires in the cup of mercy that our Lord so generously provides at this holy altar.

And then, you will not only be imitating a fictitious man in one of our Lord’s parables. You will find that you also are imitating the Virgin Mary, who was at the same time humbled and yet exalted the highest. Like her, you will be able to sing, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.” You will be imitating all the saints and martyrs who have gone before, who trusted the Savior even unto death. You will be imitating your Lord, who humbled himself to be born of a virgin in a stable, to be crucified like a common criminal. In His great mercy, our Lord has lifted you up. He has given you life. And, just as he did with the humble tax collector, He will bring you home justified, to dwell with Him in eternal life. 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: Speak, O Prophet! Speak the Story

Though I have completed a text for every Sunday in the 1-year lectionary in Lutheran Service Book, I’m looking to improve some of the texts I’ve written and even write new texts to add to ones I feel aren’t as strong as I’d like. This text is for the Third Sunday in Advent, where our Lord receives messengers from John the Baptist who ask Him, “Are you the coming One?” Jesus answers them with the message that He is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. My text also incorporates the Old Testament (“Comfort, yes, comfort my people...”) and Epistle (“...stewards of the mysteries of God”) readings. The tune I suggest for now (JEFFERSON) already has an Advent connection with the hymn “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,” but I think that’s a good thing. (I had a few other tunes in mind as I wrote, but I try not to use copyrighted tunes or settings unless I have no other choice or unless they were written for me specifically.)

In an odd coincidence—certainly this wasn’t planned—ten years ago today, I posted my first original hymn text. I had posted parodies, and I had also posted a serious re-write of “When Peace Like a River.” But this was something new, something I didn’t adapt from someone else’s work. It was not a particularly strong text, though it wasn’t awful for a first effort. I’d written a hymn parody about a particular subject, but something challenged me to try a serious response to events. I thought it would be a one-time thing; I’m glad it wasn’t. In ten years and over 90 texts, I believe I’ve grown. I’m no Paul Gerhardt or Charles Wesley. But God has given me a love of the written and sung word (and Word!), and I write to His glory.

Anyway, here is my latest text. As always, feedback is love.

Speak, O Prophet! Speak the Message

1. Speak, O prophet! Speak the message.

Tell of Christ, the promised One.

He fulfills the holy Scriptures:

Blind men see and cripples run;

Lepers cleansed, the deaf ears opened;

Life is given to the dead.    

Even now the poor in spirit

Hear Good News from Christ, the Head.

2. Listen, sinner! Hear the message

Of your Savior, Christ, the King:

He who died to win salvation,

He whose love the angels sing.

Lo, He comes to call and claim you:

Word and water make His way.

Bow in humble adoration

To receive His gifts today.

3. Trust in Christ Who speaks forgiveness,

Making all your warfare cease. 

Take your comfort in your Jesus

Who alone will give you peace.

He will lead you like a shepherd,

Guiding you to living streams,

Feeding you in verdant pastures

Where His glory ever beams.

4. Hear the Word! Be not offended.

Oh, rejoice in boundless grace

Given you by faithful stewards,

Sent by Jesus in His place.

Christ has come! The wait is ended.

Worship Him on bended knees.

Find Him present as He promised

In His holy Mysteries.

(c) 2019 Alan Kornacki, Jr.

87 87 D

JEFFERSON (LSB 338)

Advent III; Office of the Ministry

Sermon for 8/25/19: Tenth Sunday After Trinity

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The Day of the Lord

Luke 19:41-48

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

Jesus warns His hearers of what is to come. The holy city, Jerusalem, would be besieged and leveled to the ground. And the words of our Lord were true: Jerusalem was destroyed in the Year of Our Lord 70. The Temple made by hands has been torn down. This is recorded history. In nearly two-thousand years since its destruction, no Temple in Jerusalem has been completed. While the fact of the fulfillment of Christ’s words is important, what has been torn down warns us of the potential overthrow of our life and parish. We can be overrun by self-pride or pride for this sanctuary; by how we cling so fervently to our name and heritage that we will lose our faith.

As our Lord drew near His holy city—the city He Himself had established with the Temple He had commanded King Solomon to build—“He saw the city and wept over it.” His house of prayer had become a den of thieves. His chosen people had become corrupt. And so He wept. But the truth is, He still weeps. He looks upon His children who have given into the passions of the flesh. He looks upon the slaughter of the unborn. He looks upon the electronic idols we have constructed for ourselves. He looks upon those who call themselves Christians but who have compromised the Faith for the sake of peace…and He weeps. Sinners that we are, we ignore the Word of God for the sake of our pleasures; we ignore the hell which such willful disobedience brings. We cannot see or we refuse to see the danger our idolatry brings upon us, for we have come to believe that momentary comfort is better than everlasting consolation.

We must be on guard, then, that we do not live for today, but for Lord’s Day. Satan can easily seduce us to believe that today is the best day, that our best life is now. How does he do this? Whenever we live for earthly gain or fleeting pleasures; whenever we agree with the Truth but pursue compromise for the sake of peace; whenever we look for honor and praise; whenever we place convenience ahead of living the Lord’s Word; whenever we feed our appetites and gratify our desires; whenever we tolerate false teaching by remaining in communion with it—then the devil has lured us away from the Lord. However, the Lord’s Day—both now in the Divine Service and eternally in the heavenly kingdom—that is the day we must live for, the day we must fix our eyes upon, the day we must desire more than any days that we find comfortable. And for the sake of this eternal day, we must be willing to forsake all our self-chosen days.

Our Lord provides us with His mercy in the sacred mysteries. He does this precisely so that we might not deviate from the Way that He is, so that we don’t lose His Way by going our own way. Time and again our Lord extends to us His grace in the Supper so that we might withstand the seductions of the devil, so that we would live for the day of our Lord. We who have been washed in the bloody waters of Holy Baptism have been cleansed, for our Lord has shed His love upon us in holy water and blood. In this He proved and revealed that He is truly the lover of all mankind.

And where now do we find this love? Our loving Redeemer, Jesus Christ, is Emmanuel, the new Temple, the eternal dwelling Place of God among His people. Though we are sinners, unworthy and ungrateful, reluctant to heed the Spirit and flee destruction, our Lord does not take away His preaching or mercy, but continues wondrously, miraculously, inexplicably to bestow on us His rich and soothing and life-giving sacred mysteries. These are the things that make for your peace; because these holy gifts, by the Spirit, are designed to lead you in the way of the Lord, into the peace which the world cannot give, into the life which will never end. 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 8/18/19: Ninth Sunday After Trinity

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A Place for Us

Luke 16:1-13

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

Have you ever noticed that the things that deliver to you the grace of God don’t actually belong to you? You take what was never yours, and yet God gives them to you: things like water, oil, bread, and wine. What’s more, He converts them from things that help your body into the holy Sacraments that lead you from this life to the life of the world to come. Bread and wine, water, and words: our Lord gives them to you precisely so that you would offer them back to Him, ask His blessing on them, believe the blessing He speaks, and receive from His hand the gifts which renew your life in Him.

In that way, we are no different from the unjust steward. He made friends and made sure others would welcome him into their homes by taking what was not his—things that really belonged to his master—and using them to secure his future. He used what had been entrusted to him and, before the ax came down, made it work to his advantage so that he would not live in the outer darkness, outside the city gates.

Modern politicians have nothing on this steward. This man, who had already defrauded his master, defrauded him once more. This sinful man, when he was caught, used sin again to make sure he would not get hurt. He was caught with his hand in the till, and he reached back in to make a new beginning. The nerve of that guy! What audacity! He did not sit around and whine. He didn’t even put up a fight when he was fired. Instead, he did whatever he had to, whatever it took to come out on top.

The master has no choice but to commend the man. And all the time we commend men just like him—usually because we are jealous. Think about it. When we complain that the evil get all the breaks, aren’t we really complaining because we are jealous and wish a little would come our way? And doesn’t that complaint surface strongest when we feel the weight of our sin, or the aches of our sicknesses, or the burden of our age, or the stress of our life? So we admire people who take matters into their own hands, who grab life by the tail and give it a good shake, who turn the tables, who do whatever it takes to land on top. And that’s exactly what the unjust, unfaithful, unscrupulous, unprincipled steward does. He uses unrighteous mammon—things that never belonged to him. But in the end, he will fail, because he is received into the everlasting home of the devil.

So this parable is a warning: Do not take matters into your own hands. Do not worry so much about the things in this life. Everything you have belongs to God, and He will never let you down. Your Father secures that promise by letting you use His things to obtain His heaven.

In that way, we are like the unjust steward. We take what is not ours to begin with—the blood-washed robe of Christ’s righteousness—and we use it to make friends with our Father. He looks at the robe He Himself has placed on us in Holy Baptism, and He welcomes us and commends us as He does His own Son. But that’s because He wants us to use His gifts. He wants us to wear that robe. He wants us to feast on the body and blood of Jesus, so that He may welcome us into His heavenly kingdom.

The unjust steward looked for ways to make himself look better to his neighbors. But we fix our eyes on Jesus, and so we look beyond whatever others think or say. We look to what our Father has in store for us. Our goal is not to be praised by the world. Our goal is to be welcomed by the Father, and then by the saints, the angels, and the whole heavenly host. And by the gifts God Himself gives us, we know that our place is assured; our Father’s arms are opened wide to receive 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.

Sermon for 8/11/19: Eight Sunday After Trinity

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Good Fruit and Bad Fruit

Matthew 7:15-23

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

Appearances can be deceiving. You walk into a church. They have a nice cross on the wall. They use a hymnal not that different from ours. At first glance, it seems like it’s just like our church. But then you listen to the sermon, and you hear about how it doesn¹t matter really what you believe, as long as you’re sincere. You hear that anything done in the name of love, even things God condemns in the Bible, is good in the eyes of God. It looks like the church you grew up in, perhaps, but appearances can be deceiving.

These are messages spoken by the false prophets which Jesus warns against. We usually think of prophets as people who tell the future. But a prophet is someone who has been sent by God to preach His Word. John the Baptist is the perfect example of a prophet. He pointed the finger at Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And your pastors have all been prophets. In warning against false prophets, Jesus warns against preachers who do not proclaim the Word of God rightly. These prophets will come to you. They will resemble, act like, and maybe even sound like the real thing. They will appear to be from God.

Think of the preachers and writers and speakers we are exposed to every day. We see them on television with their shining teeth and their powerful jacket swings. We read their best-selling books. We hear their messages of financial prosperity, social justice, and worldly love. We are all exposed to a huge number of different Gospels and versions of the truth. How is the Christian to make sense of it all? “Beware!” Jesus says. He warns against false prophets who will come in sheep’s clothing. It’s not hard to see Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn for what they are. But what about the churches and preachers that look so similar to ours, yet are so very different in what they believe and teach?

“By their fruits you shall know them.” The Christian faith is about Jesus. When you are called on to judge whether something is true or false, you go to the Word of God. This is the living voice of the Gospel. When you talk about truth and falsehood when it comes to the church, you go to the heart of the matter. Is salvation by Christ alone? Does the preaching hold up Jesus, or does it focus on your own works of the Law? Is Christ’s body and blood truly present in the Lord’s Supper? Does Baptism save? Does Christ speak the forgiveness of sins through the pastor? These questions and others get at the heart of the matter. No matter how amazing the preacher, no matter how enthralling the Christian book or movie, if it doesn’t hold up Christ alone for salvation, then it is not from God.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” And the will of the Father in heaven is that you believe in the One He has sent. In other words, the work of God and the will of God is that you trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. That is how you are saved. It’s not what you do. Only faith in Christ saves. This faith is given to you in Holy Baptism and sustained by the Lord’s Supper.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus Himself is the true Prophet. He is the Lamb who was slain. He is the One who allowed Himself to be slaughtered by the wolves so that you will not be harmed. He has promised that the gates of hell itself will not prevail against His Church. You are the sheep of His pasture. Jesus is your Good Shepherd, who guards and protects you from all harm of both body and soul. And you know Him by His fruits.

God provides faithful pastors and preachers to give His flock the very best things of salvation. He has given you the Church as a place of refuge. He has given you a pastor to preach the word of forgiveness. He has washed you and made you white in the blood of the Lamb. He gives you His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins to sustain you for everlasting life. Christ Himself keeps watch over His people. He gives you the truth of His Holy Word to sustain you all the days of your life. And you know Him and His messengers by those good fruits. 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.