Luther Memorial Chapel - Sermons

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2008-01-31T14:21:00.000-06:00

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Third-Last Sunday in the Church Year

2007-11-13T20:43:00.000-06:00

TEXT: Luke 20:27-40
YOU ARE SONS OF THE RESURRECTION
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Jesus said, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”

Dear sons and daughters of the resurrection; in heaven Barbara will not be my wife. Nor will those who celebrate their golden and diamond wedding anniversaries on earth be husband and wife in heaven. In heaven, those who were single all their earthly life will lack nothing. In heaven those who suffered and struggled faithfully in a difficult marriage will lack nothing. In heaven those who were forsaken by a husband or wife on earth will lack nothing.

Marriage is God’s good gift, but it is not His greatest gift. We are to honor marriage and keep the marriage bed pure (Heb. 13:4). Those who continue unrepentant in dishonoring His gift; living together outside of marriage; living in or championing homosexual relationships will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (I Cor. 6:18). Do not be deceived by Satan’s lies in our current culture of decay. God did not give this one-flesh relationship to be despised or perverted. You are to love people by speaking the truth in love concerning God’s gift of marriage.

But neither did God give marriage to be idolized or placed above Christ and His marriage with His bride, the church. There is a reason the marriage vow includes, “until death parts us”. Those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore.

The Sadducees’ question was not asked to receive a valid answer. It was asked with the intention of trapping Jesus and making Him look foolish. They picked a holy number of divine completeness – seven. They picked God’s law concerning levirate marriage. Under this law the brother of a man who died childless must marry his dead brother’s wife to provide a son and keep the family name alive (Gen 38:8; Deut 25:5). From their prison house of unbelief the Sadducees then asked a culminating question. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

Gotcha Jesus – they thought! These were the high achievers on the ACT and SAT tests. These were the Magna cum Laud’s of the university. They were socially elite and theologically liberal. They came from wealthy and privileged families. But they were nonetheless quite down to earth in their thinking. They believed in what they could see and feel. They were focused on pragmatic results and statistical success.

They also belonged to the “death-ends-it-all” school. When you’re dead, you’re dead they thought. So they made decisions to be as helpful and as successful and secure and comfortable as possible in this life. They were very much in step with the Hellenistic culture. Yet, for their temple duty and service as chief priests, they also leaned heavily on the Pentateuch, the books of Moses.

Jesus therefore used their trusted canon, the first five books of the Old Testament - to give a life-giving answer to their loaded, life-denying question – whose wife will the woman be? They had tried to use a practice from Moses concerning marriage to disprove the resurrection. Jesus turned the tables on them and used the same source to prove the resurrection.

Jesus said, “But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

Dear Christians, what a wondrous revelation of trust in God’s written word! Jesus did not view the Old Testament as a collection of sayings to be sifted through and selectively received our discarded. He trusted the Scriptures absolutely! He taught and acted upon them as the one reality that will abide forever in this quickly passing world.

Do you see it? Jesus is saying to these proud Sadducees remember what happened at the burning bush? The angel of the Lord (The Malak Yahweh - who is the pre-incarnate Christ) called to Moses out of the bush. “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had no life after death then what God revealed to Moses at the burning bush was a lie. The great I AM had spoken in the present tense to Moses. Although the patriarchs had died centuries before He said to Moses I AM right now their LORD. Do you see it? Jesus is saying that they were still living in God’s presence at the time of Moses! The Sadducees’ effort to deny the resurrection based on Moses, melted away at the word of Him who spoke to Moses in the burning bush. It was He who caused the Old Testament to be written and who fulfilled all its promises, even giving life after death to the patriarchs.

He comes among us today to speak that same life-giving word. For you see there is a bit of Sadducee in you and in me. We also can be down to earth in our thinking and stop just here. We also like to determine reality from our own intellect and lean on our own understanding. We also like to equate this age with the age to come. There is an epidemic of such conversation in funeral homes and spoken of those deceased.

And perhaps you have heard questions like this? Will I have my favorite pet in heaven? Will I be able to play golf or cards in heaven? Will my family and my favorite friends get together for fun time in heaven like we do now? Please notice the controlling position of “I” and “my” in these questions. These questions center on self. These questions also try to transfer the realities of this age to the next age.

The deepest poverty with such questions lies in what is not being asked about heaven. That is to say, the overwhelming Christ-centered witness that the Bible gives concerning heaven must be overlooked so that questions about self can be advanced. But consider first questions that might flow from God’s revelation concerning heaven.

How is it that you, a sinner, deserving eternal punishment are now counted by God as holy and without blemish, perfectly fit for heaven? How is it that He who shines like the sun and who will replace the sun in heaven is able to be seen by us face to face when we are there? How is it that we will render perfect service and praise to Him and yet enjoy perfect eternal rest from all our labors? How is it that we will live bodily in heaven as those blessed ones invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb and yet we will never hunger or thirst? How is it that we will not be married as we are in this life and yet we will have eternal pleasure and fullness of joy at God’s right hand?

God would have our questions about heaven flow from His revelation and not the poverty of our hearts. When they do He further reveals that heaven has to do with “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Cor. 2:9). Not only is the best yet to come, it is a best that surpasses our knowing. The Psalmist’s question simplifies further, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).

Beloved because Jesus is in your present, heaven is in your future. He didn’t clothe you with His righteousness in Holy Baptism to leave you out. He doesn’t forgive you with heavenly food to exclude you. In faith, you are right now a son of the resurrection. In Christ, you have already crossed over from death to life (John 5:24). If you were to die this very day, your life in paradise would open up to a splendor beyond everything you have experienced, to delights that you have not yet seen or heard.

Indeed, even the truth that we won’t be taken or given in marriage in heaven can help us anticipate that delight. At first it may sound limiting, but think again. In heaven our love will not be limited. In heaven our first family will not be restricted to those we now called our loved ones. In heaven, as the bride of Christ, we will altogether have perfect love for one another. We will never think badly of another or be thought badly of by another. We will never say an unkind word or be spoken of unkindly. We will never leave anyone out of our close-knit groups or cliques on earth nor will we be left out. We will not compare one to another. We will love our neighbors as ourselves and we will perfectly love ourselves in Christ. We can be no more closely knit together than to be the body of Christ and the very Bride of Christ.

Already now we are part of that end-time community that includes Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. As the liturgy leads us to confess, it also includes the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. For Jesus did not say that we would be angels. They are spirits only, while you will live both body and soul in heaven. Rather, you will be equal to the angels in that you do not die and you do not marry.

Beloved, this teaching of Jesus took place on Tuesday of Holy Week. Soon the foolish questions were replaced with false accusations. Soon the Sadducee who was High Priest tore his robe and charged Jesus with blasphemy. Soon the Lamb of God shed the holy blood by which He takes away the sin of the world!

As the great I AM appeared to Moses in the flaming bush the bush was not consumed. But on Calvary the great I AM Himself was consumed by the fire of God’s wrath. He knew our suffering. He saw our affliction. He came to rescue us from oppression of the taskmasters of sin and death and hell. In the miracle of the ages, Calvary became such holy ground that on it God reconciled the world to Himself not counting our sins against us.

When His dead body was laid in the garden tomb it appeared that the Sadducees were right in their unbelief. But there was more holy ground yet to come! From that holy sepulcher, that unique garden tomb Jesus stepped forth in new life. “Peace be with you” he announced, bestowing the forgiveness of sins.

Sons and daughters of the resurrection, Jesus is still the risen Lord. He is this very day, not the God of the dead, but of the living! He is Your God! He is in your midst announcing “peace be with you” and bestowing His forgiveness. God help us to rejoice in the future He is moving us toward and to invite others to receive the life He gives.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

All Saint's Day

2007-11-07T10:46:00.000-06:00

Text: Matthew 5:1-12
Vicar Roy Askins

Beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we celebrate All Saint’s Day. We remember the saints who have entered their eternal dwellings. We remember the saints who are beneath the altar in Revelation, crying out for God to take vengeance for their blood which was shed in persecution. We remember those clothed in white robes (Rev. 7:9), the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 7:14) These we remember.

Yet today, our text is the beatitudes. These are often used to describe people in our world today and throughout history. But I have to wonder, is this appropriate?

For instance today, we remember St. Peter and St. Paul who suffered for the Gospel. St. Peter, it has been rumored was crucified upside-down on an X-shaped cross. What greater suffering can one imagine for the sake of the cross? This must count as suffering for righteousness. What a wonderful example of those whom Jesus says will inherit the earth. But on the other hand, we’ve got to wonder, can Peter who denied Jesus Christ three times really inherit the kingdom of heaven? Jesus also says, “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33)

St. Paul was once almost stoned to death. He explained all the suffering he endured on the behalf of the Gospel in second Corinthians saying, “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;” (2 Corinthians 11:25) An heir of the kingdom indeed. Yet, despite all the suffering Paul endured for the Gospel, we must still wonder, does he who persecuted the church, participating in the stoning of Stephen the first martyr, deserve to inherit the kingdom of heaven?

Let’s keep moving through history. Many more saints have lived who purportedly fulfilled the beatitudes. Consider Saint Boniface, the missionary to the barbarians. Taking no consideration for his own life, he went to the barbarians, preaching against their gods of earth and stone and about the God who became man, Christ Jesus. He certainly had mercy on those who don’t deserve mercy. Will not he be shown mercy? Yet a man he remains, a sinful man.

Don’t the beatitudes describe Dr. Martin Luther? Martin Luther certainly qualified for the first beatitude, being poor in spirit. He recognized he had no claim before God in the matter of righteousness. He tortured himself over his sin attempting to make himself worthy before God. Luther mourned for the church as well. Certainly he deserved to be comforted. Well, I suppose Luther only makes it so far. He wasn’t very meek you know. Kind of bold and brash, he certainly doesn’t deserve to inherit the earth on the basis of his meekness.

Amongst us we have the poor in spirit, the mourning and meek, the ones hungering and thirsting for righteousness and so on, do we not? Do you fit into one of those categories? I’ve tried to fit myself into these categories just like you have. I’ve said to myself, “I’m poor in spirit, just look at me.” Then I realize I’m not being meek. I then say, “Oh how I hunger and thirst for righteousness,” only to realize my prideful heart.

Every time you try to fit your name into one of the beatitudes you find that is the one you fail the most in being. The moment you say, “I am poor in spirit,” you are the least poor in spirit on earth. Arrogance has taken its place. The moment you claim to be a peacemaker, at that moment you realize the horrifying gorge between you and God. The moment you take pride in being persecuted, you realize the persecution you are enduring is not persecution, but the worst kind of self-chosen suffering so that you don’t have to endure God-sent suffering. The moment you say, “I am being reviled for the Lord,” you look closely into the mirror of the law and realize that you are not reviled falsely on account of the Gospel, but suffering rightly on account of your own sin.

The glaring law throws back at us every attempt to claim the beatitudes as our own, as descriptions of ourselves and our loved ones. These beautiful sayings darken our lives with the truth of the law. The beatitudes have often been used for decorative purposes on mirror or cross-stitch patterns and so forth. But seen through the light of the law, they don’t appear all that beautiful anymore. What once was beautiful becomes frightening and ugly without Christ.
After seeing them in this light, we often end up standing with Luther, whipping ourselves and crying out, “Why can these describe the saints, but not me?” We whip ourselves saying, why can everyone else be pure but me, as St. John writes. “Why can’t these describe us the way they describe the saints?” we ask.

But, even though we think the beatitudes describe the saints, we see that the saints end up missing the boat also. Even though Peter and Paul suffered for the Gospel, they do not truly deserve the title of blessed. Through Martin Luther, God revealed the Gospel once again, but Martin Luther does not deserve to be called blessed. Saint Boniface, though he took the Gospel to the barbarian nations does not deserve to be called a son of God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) writes St. Paul.

When we look at the beatitudes, we realize they cannot describe any human being born naturally of Adam’s seed. The beatitudes cannot describe a sinful human being. Yet, when the beatitudes are given to whom they belong, to the one born out of the Holy Spirit through the womb of the virgin Mary, then the beatitudes begin to make sense.

The beatitudes belong to Christ. What does this mean? This means two things: first the beatitudes describe who Christ is, secondly they are His to give to whom He desires. First off, the beatitudes describe Christ. Christ was poor in spirit. What does it mean to be poor in spirit. It means to claim no standing before God, especially in terms of righteousness. It means that no matter what, we do not make any claim to have done any work which in any way contributes to our salvation. Christ was poor in spirit because He was the one “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself be becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) The kingdom of heaven belongs to Christ.

Who is it who mourns? Christ mourns for Jerusalem and her apostasy from the faith when He says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matthew 23:37) He is the one who mourns. What about the meek? Christ. The merciful? Only one is capable of truly having mercy, Christ. Christ hungered and thirsted for righteousness so greatly, He gave His body to be eaten and His blood to be drunk. Only the pure in heart shall see God, and so St. John testifies of Christ in his Gospel when he writes, “the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14b) Jesus is the one who has seen the Father face to face. Christ is the only peacemaker the world has known, for only in the blood of Christ can peace be made for sins.

Unless the beatitudes are seen as descriptions of Jesus, they hold no hope. They depress us, unless they describe Christ to us. While they describe Christ, they belong to Christ. And when they belong to Christ, then He can to give them out to whomever He desires.

What does this mean? Christ gives out the beatitudes as His gifts to His saints. So the beatitudes describe the saints, since they have been born of water and the Spirit. The beatitudes describe you. You have been shown mercy through Christ. You have been comforted, though you mourn for your sins. You have been filled with the body and blood of Christ in order to assuage your hunger and thirst for righteousness. You have received mercy and have become a son of God.

Christ gives these beatitudes as descriptions of you, beloved saints. These beautiful descriptions of you occur only because of Christ’s work on the cross. There on the cross with blood pouring from His side He redeemed you. When the waters of Baptism were sprinkled over your head, He made you into the saints described in the beatitudes. Certainly you still live with sin; you are not perfect within yourself. In heaven, these beatitudes will perfectly describe you forever. In heaven, you will be one of “the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.” (Rev. 7:14) You belong to Jesus; you are saints. In heaven, you will be perfected by the blood of Christ.

And how does the rest of the world react to this description of you? They “revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on [Christ’s] account.” (Matthew 5:11) When this happens, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) These also become descriptions of you, persecuted and rejected. Rejoice when this is the description of you, because you are blessed in that persecution. Though you shed tears of sorrow now, “God will wipe away every tear” from your eyes.” (Rev. 7:17) Though your loved ones at times wept because of their suffering, God has already wiped away every tear from their eyes. They have been freed from every form of suffering. No longer do they hunger or thirst for “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” (Rev. 7:16) These are they who have gone through the tribulation of suffering and death, of existence in this world. And you also have been promised this same comfort from God. You will be freed from all pain and suffering, to live forever before the Lamb in His kingdom.

Beloved Saints of the Lord, “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12). Amen.

Reformation Sunday

2007-10-30T18:54:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Matthew 11:12-19
GOD’S KINGDOM IS NOT TAKEN BY FORCE!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace to you and peace from Him who was and who is and who is to come, and for the seven Spirits who are before His throne (that is the Holy Spirit) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead (Rev. 1:4, 5). Dear children of the Reformation; “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

If you had been alive when He walked visibly on earth, you would have noticed little difference between the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisees were Bible-believing teachers who had a following of disciples. Jesus was a Bible-believing teacher who had a following of disciples. They were serious and conservative of good moral values. Jesus was serious and conservative of good moral values. They were concerned with people getting into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was concerned with people getting into the kingdom of heaven.

Yet, for all their outward similarities and their common searching of the Old Testament, there was a great divide between the Pharisees and Jesus. The difference was as great as the divide between heaven and hell. The difference centered on their teaching of how God’s kingdom is entered. The Pharisees taught that it came by sincere, religious effort in keeping God’s law. Jesus taught that the kingdom came as a gift through His suffering and death and the forgiveness of sins He won.

Fast forward 1500 years to the time of the Reformation. If you had lived in Wittenberg when Dr. Martin Luther first taught there, you would have noticed little outward difference between him and many other teachers of the church. Dr. Luther was a Bible-believing pastor who was concerned with people entering the kingdom of heaven. The teachers of Rome also used the Bible and many of them were also sincerely concerned with people entering the kingdom of heaven. Yet for all their outward similarities, the contrast between Luther and the teachers of Rome centered on the very difference that separated Jesus from the Pharisees.

They differed immensely in their teaching of how God’s kingdom is entered. Luther taught that the kingdom came as a gift of God’s grace through faith in Christ, apart from works of the law. The teachings of Rome more and more centered on the good works of man as the key to heaven. There was the sale of indulgences to pry one’s way out of purgatory. There was the assignment of acts of penance to make satisfaction for sins confessed. There was trust in relics and pilgrimages and papal decrees. There was even the tragic perversion of the Lord’s Supper into a sacrifice thought to be accomplished by the priest and offered to God. Rome taught that by works of the law man could advance his standing before God. Luther taught that the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

Fast forward another 500 years to the religious scene of today. It may seem that there is little outward difference in the many varieties of modern-day religion. Nearly all of them advocate being good and doing good works. Many of them speak highly of God’s love and think highly of Jesus as a special example of that love. But in reality, there is an immense difference in teaching and faith if one truth is not kept absolutely clear and absolutely central.

That truth is the presence of Christ and the total forgiveness which He embodies. That truth is the gift of the kingdom of heaven through the person of Jesus Christ, true God and true man. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence whenever His person and His bloody propitiation are replaced with anything else. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

That means that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence also at our hands and in our hearts. Our sinful flesh is never content with Christ’s forgiveness – it always wants to add itself. Therefore our sinful minds calculate and compare. Surely, when the day of the Lord comes and we must give an account, our lives will add up to “good enough”. Our weak flesh wonders and worries. Perhaps we haven’t done all we should, but God will surely see that our intentions are good. Dear hearers of the Word, beware of such religious reasoning. It always litters the landscape because it is the religion of man. Beware of trying to take the kingdom of God by force, even the force of good intentions.

For you see, the violence that Jesus spoke of was not the violence of those who were trying to destroy the Church. This wasn’t the aggression of communism or an immoral culture. It was rather the violence of those who believed they were pleasing God and advancing His kingdom. It is the violence of turning efforts to keep the law into a false gospel. It is the violence of substituting how-to(s) for Christ’s cry from Calvary, “It is finished”. It is aggressive spirituality that believes it can make up for its mistakes and redeem itself. It is forceful spirituality that may try to outdo the one Lord of one faith and one baptism by attempting to be re-baptized. It is the violence of human judgment overriding God’s judgment. “If God is fair and just, He will certainly welcome the soul of this kind person into heaven” even apart from faith in Jesus whom God put forward as the sacrifice of atonement through His blood.

Beloved members and students, as you mark the Reformation today please remember that it was not the start of something new! God led Luther to rediscover the way of life and the way of death. The way of death depends on man and looks outwardly impressive. It may speak much of Jesus, but it centers on the actions of man and the self-righteousness of man. It is a form of idolatry.

The way of life depends on Christ and looks quite unimpressive. It seems to be out of touch with reality, except to the eyes of faith. It centers on the presence of Christ and the gifts of Christ and the righteousness of Christ. In fact, it is all Christ. It is the eternal Gospel that must continually reform the Church.

This is what the Pharisees did not receive. They read the Old Testament diligently. What they found were rules for living and plans for a Messiah who would bring them earthly success. They read the Old Testament to find eternal life, but they missed the truth that eternal life is embodied in one person. As Jesus said to them, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me;” (John 5:39).

Fast forward to the day of your death and to Judgment Day! The angel (messenger) of Revelation proclaims to every nation, tribe and language and people (and therefore to you) “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

What is it that you depend on for the hour of judgment? What is it that fuels your forgiveness of those who sin against you in this hour? What is it that moves you to give generously to advance the gospel? What is it that gives you hope when everything seems hopeless?

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Oh, the blessed separation – apart from the works of the law. Oh, the blessed forbearance of God! Oh, the blessed redemption that is in Christ Jesus! The only way that the kingdom of heaven can be entered is by the violence he Himself suffered. They called Him a glutton who is the Bread of Life. That called Him a drunkard who drank the cup of God’s wrath for us. All have sinned – except Him! All fall short of the glory of God – except Him! He is the glory of God! The law holds the whole world accountable to God and Jesus settled the account. What occurred on the cross was Judgment Day for the sins of the world. The judgment that fell against Jesus will never fall on you who are in Christ.

Dear Children of the Reformation, it was an age that looked for a link to God in the extraordinary and extreme – relics, pilgrimages, and more. But Luther pointed to the simple yet profound right in front of our eyes: to the cross, to water, to bread and wine, to the Word of God. Ours is an age of visions and dreams and nature worship and spiritual illusions. But Christ is still found in the simple and the profound that Luther pointed to, where Christ has promised to be “for you”.

Not only did He make the sea and springs of water, He made water to be a spring of new life in your Baptism. Not only did He shed His blood on Calvary, He bids you to drink of His blood today. What cannot be taken by violence, He comes to freely give you by His grace through faith.

The Reformation was not the start of something new, but the recovery of that which makes new – the eternal Gospel. God help us to hold fast to that Gospel in sincere and contrite hearts. God help us to clearly proclaim that Gospel in our corner of the world and to every nation and tribe and language and people. In the Name of Jesus, amen.

21st Sunday After Pentecost

2007-10-23T08:40:00.000-05:00

Text: Luke 18:1-8
Vicar Roy Askins

Beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I quote: “We must understand that God is not joking, but that he will be angry and punish us if we do not pray, just as he punishes all other kinds of disobedience.” (Large Catechism, Kolb, pg. 443 paragraph 18) Thus wrote Dr. Martin Luther in the Large Catechism. Luther contended that the failure to pray is failure to be obedient to God. Luther spoke this way to explain the necessity of prayer. We ought to pray because God has commanded it.

Is this the only reason to pray? Are there other reasons for prayer? The world around us says prayer does not serve a useful purpose. They have examined the claims; they’ve done the research. They’ve come to the conclusion that the only real benefit of prayer is that it gives you a relaxed state of mind. Prayer only results in psychological benefits, they say.
Sometimes it seems likes the only reason to pray is to use God like a candy machine. Put in a one dollar bill and get a 75 cent candy bar. Many Christians today think this way. If you pray hard enough, God will give you whatever you desire. Did you get that $100,000 job you wanted? If not, pray harder. Perhaps on the next round God will get you the job.
With all the voices of modern science and hazy spirituality floating about, it is not surprising that we often find ourselves disillusioned with prayer. We often pray half-heartedly or distractedly. We rarely offer to God thanksgiving in dinner prayer. In fact, we rarely pray except when something is going wrong. And yet the stressful times continue to plague us. So we wonder if God really answers prayer. In the end, we end up neglecting prayer.

Not, of course, as though this was any excuse. Luther’s words accuse us today just as much as when he first wrote them. God does require prayer and punishes those who do not pray. Luther explains what Christ meant in the parable when he writes that we are to “drum into [God’s] ears our prayer that he may give, preserve, and increase in us faith and the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments and remove all that stands in our way and hinders us in this regard.” (Luther, LC pg. 441, paragraph 2) This was Luther’s way of saying what Christ said at the beginning of the Gospel, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1)

Continual prayer is modeled for us in the Scriptures. Christ himself would pray. In fact, at every major event of His time on earth He prays beforehand: His Baptism, Transfiguration, and Crucifixion. Many other times as well, Christ goes out and prays alone. He prays also with His apostles. He prays with the crowds as he did when he fed the five thousand. St. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians, “Pray without ceasing...” (1 Thes. 5:17). The Psalmist proclaims, “Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.” (Psalm 55:17) Prayer and crying out to God is a continual aspect of the Christian life. So Christ exhorts and exemplifies for us.

As the Psalmist proclaims in the verse above, the prayer we continually engage in is not merely a passive activity or something we do ‘on the side’ as time permits.

Rather this is a struggle, a combat, a contention in a sense. Jacob, in today’s OT reading, struggled with the Lord. He did not let the Lord pass before the Lord had given him a blessing. And though it cost him a lifelong limp, the Lord also blessed Jacob. Jacob struggled with the pre-incarnate Christ, and received the blessing and the name Israel.

The woman in the Gospel also struggled. When the judge says, “I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming...” (Luke 18:5) the word for, ‘to beat me down’ is one of physical struggle meaning ‘to strike below the eye.’ This is not a physical struggle as Jacob and the Lord struggled. This struggle wore the the judge out from continually being ‘pestered.’ She struggled with him by being persistent. The struggle of faithful prayer is the struggle to remain persistent in the face of doubt.

St. Paul writes to the Colossians about Epaphras who was “always struggling on [their] behalf in his prayers, that [they] may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.” (Col. 4:12) Epaphras struggled with God on the behalf of the Colossians, that their faith might be strengthened and their knowledge of the will of God be fully assured.

Our struggle in prayer ought to follow the patterns of Epaphras, the widow and Jacob. Our pattern ought to reflect the faith they held that God would answer in due season. For their prayers did not gain them salvation; their prayers did not gain them any merit; their prayers did not raise one dead person; their prayers did not get them the million dollar job. Rather, their prayers were answered because their prayer stemmed from faith. For this reason Christ says at the end of the parable, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8)

Christ did not seek abundant prayers for the sake of praying, otherwise monasticism would have redeemed the entire world by now. Christ did not seek long-winded prayers otherwise the Pharisees would have erased the need for a Savior. Christ did not seek prayers for relaxation, otherwise all we would need is psychology or Transcendental Meditation. Christ sought instead the prayers growing from faith. Christ sought the prayers of those who understand their failure to withstand the temptations and attacks of Satan. Christ sought prayers of those who pleaded for redemption from sin, renewal in the Lord’s Supper and renewal in Baptism.
This prayer Christ has bound Himself too. He must answer in the affirmative. Whenever His people cry out to Him with prayer seeking forgiveness of sins, he responds with a resounding, “Yes. You are my people. I have redeemed you.”

God is not unrighteous or reluctant. If the unrighteous judge granted the woman justice against her adversary, even though he cared nothing for her or her problems, how much more does Christ, our judge, grant us the redemption we need? Will not Christ, who suffered unjustly on our behalf, grant us the fruit of His sufferings? Christ was judged by sinful humans who had no right to judge him. He hung from a cross He did not deserve to redeem those who unjustly sacrificed him.

From this tree God wreaked vengeance on all sins and transgressions of mankind. God wreaked his vengeance on Satan. God gave justice to Christ who suffered the greatest injustice. From this place, God made Christ the judge of all mankind. Will not this judge “give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?” (Luke 18:7)

He has and he will continue to do so. The delay that this judge takes is not a delay but forbearance. This judge could decide to give justice right here and now for all the sins we have committed. He could have sentenced you to eternal damnation from the moment of your conception. Yet His forbearance moved Him to delay in order that you might be brought to faith in Him and from this faith to accomplish the works He has set before you.

And so we are in a sense, the widow, who approaches the judge imploring him to grant her remission, to grant her justice against her adversary. Who is our adversary? St. Peter answers that question, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8b) This is your adversary. This is he who stirs up against you your sinful flesh and the world, to lead you into vice and shame. Against him we plead to the judge.
We cry out against Satan and all his minion with those in Revelation, “who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:9b-10) With these who were given white robes we cry out to God for justice and vengeance. We cry out for Satan to be destroyed with all his works and ways. We cry out for the strength to endure until we join this host of witnesses. This also is the struggle in our prayer.

Our prayer does not fit into the categories of science. Our prayers do not always have tangible results. For science, this doesn’t work; according to science, you must be able to duplicate the experiment in order to prove it works. Our prayers consist of more than a psychological relaxation and reorganization of the brain to face the challenges of the day.

No, our prayers are fervent pleas to the creator of the heavens and the earth. They are pleas to deliver us from the attacks of our adversary satan and to redeem us from our transgressions. God is also aware of our physical circumstances, and is concerned with them. Satan often uses our physical circumstances as means by which to turn us from God. So we also pray for our physical well being as Christ taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. And while our primary need is reconciliation with the Father, we also pray for strength to endure the struggles and hardships incorporated in our daily lives.

I began with an exhortation by Martin Luther to prayer from the Large Catechism on the Lord’s Prayer. It is fitting to conclude, then, with these words from his Lord’s Prayer hymn, verse 9 :

“Amen, that is, so shall it be.
Make strong our faith in You, that we
May doubt not but with trust believe
That what we ask we shall receive.
Thus in Your name and at Your Word
We say, ‘Amen, O hear us, Lord!’”
(LSB 766 vs. 9)

20th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-10-16T21:14:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 17:11-19
Christ Jesus Says, Rise and Journey, Your Faith Has Made You Well!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

As Jesus journeyed up to Jerusalem, one leper out of the ten returned to praise God. With His face on the ground at the feet of Jesus, Jesus said to Him, “Rise and journey; your faith has made you well.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Are you a person of faith? That question is fashionable in today’s culture. It is acceptable to ask about “faith” and to talk about “faith”. In fact, the word “faith” is a large component of the current presidential campaigning. If one of the candidates were to begin saying, “No, I don’t have faith – I see no need for faith” poll numbers for that individual could be expected to go south in a hurry. In politics, the word “faith” is in play, whatever is meant by the word. In daily life, the word “faith” is common and considered important. In crisis circumstances you are well aware of statements such as “my faith carried me through” or “you just have to have faith”.

But faith by itself is nothing! The value, the worth, the benefit of faith comes from its object. “You have to have faith” in what, in whom? Some academics have faith in science – it is their idol. Some Hollywood sophisticates have faith in scientology and sincerely believe in aliens from outer space. Some people have faith in the pagan practice of voodoo, because it works – things happen. Some have faith in meditation – if it changes feelings or blood pressure. Some have faith in prayer wheels or prayer beads seeking help from other mediators than Christ. Some have faith in nature, the wind or trees or animals or stars. Some have faith in Allah and his prophet, Mohammed. Some have faith in God and country, whoever that god might be. Some have faith in themselves, their learning, their good works, their wealth. One major magazine said that over 90% of Americans believe in god, but that more and more of them are inclined to make up the god in whom they believe. Not so with the leper on the border between Samaria and Galilee!

The ten lepers literally shouted or screamed “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They were supposed to be yelling “Unclean! Unclean!” so that no one came too close to them. Their disease isolated them from friends and family. Their disease forecast a hopeless future and painful death. Therefore lepers were sometimes known as “walking dead men”. But instead of shouting out “unclean”, these ten cried out for mercy to be cured. They wanted to be cleansed. They wanted to be held close again by those who loved them. Word of Jesus had reached their ears even in their leper colony and somehow they had located Him.

From a distance they were yelling, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” These men were not asking for forgiveness of sins nor do we when we sing the Kyrie, “Lord have mercy upon us! Christ have mercy upon us! Lord have mercy upon us! Notice that the Kyrie today came after the Absolution in the Liturgy, not before it.

The Kyrie is not a cry for forgiveness but a cry of total need to one who has total power to help. Like the lepers we are always in a fix in this sin-poisoned world. When we pray “Lord have mercy” our prayer is as wide as the world and as deep as our need. We are asking God for help with our culture and with college and with sinful cravings and with our crumbling bodies and with the cruel pressures and with the hidden pains of life. “Lord have mercy”. We are praying for the aging and the unborn and the starving and the addicted and the sick and the dying and even for our enemies. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Dear Christians the liturgy is so rich! If we just prayed that prayer with true understanding we would never think or say, we didn’t pray about much in worship today. God give us faith to truly pray the Kyrie each week.

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus didn’t touch them. He didn’t even pray for them. When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” In His mercy Jesus could have healed them on the spot, but He didn’t! The law said that those cleansed of leprosy were to have the priest make a sacrifice for them and be declared ritually clean. The priests would kill a bird over a basin of fresh water and dip cedar word, scarlet yarn, hyssop, and another live bird in the blood-stained water. The priest would then sprinkle the bloody water on the cleansed leper and release the living bird. It was testimony to a new life – a life cleansed from leprosy.

So it happened, as they went they were cleansed. Suddenly, miraculously, they were not lepers anymore! They were all healed at the same time and in the same way! Ten “walking dead men” suddenly had a whole new life open up before them. They were now as free as a bird! No imprisoning isolation in a leper colony. No imprisoning pain and decay of body. No imprisoning depression of heart and mind. Dear Christians, it is hard to overestimate the joy and the thrill as they looked at one another and saw skin that was clean and whole.

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. The nine continued to journey to the temple in Jerusalem to follow a law that Jesus came to fulfill. The one returned to the Temple of Jesus’ body, a flesh and blood temple before which he fell in worship. He recognized the giver of God’s healing and cleansing! He thanked God for the mercy He had received by laying that thanks at the feet of Jesus. Dear Christians, “that is faith”!

When Jesus said, “your faith has made you well” He was not saying that the Samaritan had worked up “faith” within himself. He was not saying that this leper’s personal confidence had secured God’s help. He was not saying in some generic way, “faith works”. Rather, by Christ’s person and word, this man was given faith in the only one who can bring healing and release from leprosy of the body and from the leprosy of sin.

“Rise and journey, your faith has made you well”. Jesus is saying, you believed that I have the power to shower you with mercy. You trusted my word of cleansing and now you are clean. In preaching on this text Dr. Martin Luther said that we should look to God for all of our needs and know that He is our only source of help. Luther counsels patiently expecting what we pray for in God’s own time and in His own way, not doubting that God hears and answers.

“Rise and journey, your faith has made you well”. Jesus had sent the lepers off without any obvious healing of their condition. All they had to go on was His spoken word. They acted on the promise contained in Jesus’ command even though they could not initially see it. Fellow-redeemed, Jesus’ words were true all along. He didn’t cleanse them because they had enough faith. He cleansed them because He is a gracious and merciful Master and Lord.

One of them recognized His grace and mercy. One of them recognized that Jesus is the LORD. That is faith! The Samaritan recognized that there could be nothing greater in the Jerusalem temple than this merciful healer. In faith He recognized that Jesus is the Temple and the High Priest, the place where worship is to be offered and the one through whom God’s gifts are to be received. He is the flesh and blood temple conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He is the flesh and blood Temple who was Himself journeying up to Jerusalem where His body would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days. He is the flesh and blood Temple that rose from the grave on the morning of the third day and comes into your midst on the morning of this day with gifts of healing and release.

Beloved, true faith doesn’t just happen. It is the gift of God’s grace by which you trust in Jesus Christ. It comes through hearing and hearing through the speaking of Christ. It comes through water included with God’s command and combined with God’s word. And true thankfulness doesn’t just happen either. It proceeds from recognition of our need for God’s mercy and flows back to God through Jesus Christ. Where are the nine? Jesus asked. Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Jesus recognized the praise and thanksgiving laid at His feet as praise and thanksgiving to God. The nine had a whole new life as a gift from Jesus. Their list of possibilities had just exploded. But Jesus expressed disappointment that they were not thankful to God. Unlike the one, the nine did not have faith that worshipped at Jesus’ feet, faith that saved them.

Are you a person of faith? There is a reason the church has confessed the historic creeds in worship down through the ages. They lead us to confess who the one true God is and how He comes to us in Jesus Christ. Receiving Him is faith, the faith once delivered to the saints, the faith through which salvation is given to you.

The word “faith” itself can mean a thousand different things to thousands of different people. It is a fashionable word today. It is a political positive today thrown about with gusto by candidates for office. But the faith the Heavenly Father gives you through the Holy Spirit is faith in Jesus Christ and His Word. It won’t get you elected president. It won’t insulate you from the struggles of this life. But it is the God-given channel for receiving God’s gracious forgiveness and His mercy in your struggles. It is the God-given channel for eternal life.

Where are the nine? God help us to lovingly bear witness to all whom we know of Him who pierces the darkness of death in this sinful world. God help us lovingly invite them to receive the healing Jesus continues to give and to lay their thanks to God at His feet.

The value, the worth, the benefit of faith comes from its object. The object of your faith is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. As He speaks to you and feeds you and cleanses you today His word to you is the same as to the healed leper. “Rise, journey, your faith has made you well.” Or as we might also say to one another, “Rise, journey, Jesus has made you well.” Amen.

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

19th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-10-10T17:38:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 17:1-10
NO THANKS NEEDED FOR MY THANKS!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

(Please note: As verses from the Gospel are used in the sermon, the ESV translation “increase our faith” will be read with the literal “add to us faith.” The ESV translation “If you had faith” will be read with the more possible and less pessimistic “If you have faith.”)

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord; …when you have done all that you were commanded say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’

Dear unworthy servants of the Lord; just last week Barbara and Mark and I enjoyed your gift of an entertaining and educational trip to Washington D. C. From the three of us we would like to say, thank you, thank you, thank you. We are grateful for your kind gift.

Suppose, however, after expressing appreciation for your gift our feelings got hurt because you didn’t praise us for thanking you. This example may seem far fetched, but think it through with me. 1. The gift is given. 2. The “thank you” is expressed. 3. No praise from the giver of the gift is given to the one for simply thank you. 4. That someone is upset because his “thank you” isn’t recognized.

Jesus didn’t think such a possibility was far fetched for He is really asking His disciples if they expected God to say thank you to them. “Will any of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

It is not Jesus’ intent to picture God as a hard-hearted master with no feelings! It is Jesus’ intent to picture what kind of attitude truly serves God. That attitude could be stated in this way, NO THANKS NEEDED FOR MY THANKS! God would have all the actions of those who follow Christ proceed from gratitude for His undeserved gifts. God would have those who gratefully serve Him as apostles and in other vocations do so with no expectation of praise or recognition.

This goes against our sinful human nature. We generally notice what we do. We would like others to notice as well. It is good business to recognize. It is good human relations to take notice. However, this attitude of seeking recognition and desiring to receive credit is problematic before God. Yet, it doesn’t disappear in the Christian. Even where true faith is present, the devil continues to tempt us to seek recognition and claim credit before God and others in the church.

Therefore Jesus here speaks of duty. “When you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” The word for duty in Greek means, what we owe, what we ought to do. No matter what service is done for God, no matter what gift is returned to God, no matter what hardship is suffered for God, the attitude behind it is simply to be “thank you, Lord”. The controlling thought is to be, “Heavenly Father, I’ve only done my duty.”

What about just the duty Jesus sets forth here? Rather heavy, like a millstone! Temptations are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. Dear Christian, it is your duty never to tempt anyone to sin by gossip or complaint or worry or laziness or greed or apathy for missions or lack of attention to God’s Word or forsaking weekly worship or in any way. Rather heavy, like a millstone! Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him…. Dear Christian, it is your duty to rebuke sin – sins against you and sins against others and sins against God’s Name and God’s gifts. How weird is that on a college campus or in an office or in our homes and cars? Rather heavy, like a millstone! “And if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” Dear Christian, it is your duty to forgive the repentant sinner again and again and again. Without the forgiveness of sins there is no faith. Without the faith, there is no forgiveness of sins. There is to be no score keeping in the light of God’s grace. Gratefulness for the ocean of forgiveness you receive from God is to overflow in forgiveness to others.

The apostles had a problem with that, a big problem. They were utterly inadequate to carry out this command. They knew they couldn’t fulfill this duty. “You must forgive him” Jesus said to all His followers. But notice only the apostles respond to the Lord, saying “add to us faith!” The duty to rebuke sin and to forgive sin in their teaching office was overwhelming. They plead, “add to us faith!”

Notice also that Jesus doesn’t respond by offering them a seven-step plan to acquire faith or to help them forgive seven times. The request “add to us faith” can only be made by those who already have faith. It is like the man whose son Jesus healed who said, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” It is also true that at this point in the ministry of Jesus no one had faith that fully grasped who Jesus is. No one yet understood the release from sin He would accomplish in His bloody death and mighty resurrection. “(A)dd to us faith” they entreat!

Jesus responds to their request for faith with two parables – the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the unworthy servant. The parable of the mustard seed reveals that faith does accomplish the great matter of forgiveness. While this parable is often misused for a multitude of fabricated things about what faith can do, the context anchors it squarely in rebuking sin and forgiving sin. God has not commanded you to uproot a mulberry tree and toss it into the sea. God has commanded you to rebuke sin and to forgive sin. If your brother sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “add to us faith!” And the Lord said, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed…

Fellow-Redeemed, do you see it? Even though the apostles don’t realize it, in Christ they have the faith needed to do miraculous things, to forgive seven times and even seventy times seven. Like a mustard seed, the faith God gives them in Christ conceals great power. Through them Christ will absolve sin and do wonders for His kingdom.

They were sent out as workers in His vineyard. They tended His sheep in the field of this world. They were not worthy of this apostolic office to which He called them. But, this was the duty He gave them. They had no sufficiency in themselves, but as stewards of the fruits of His cross, they would do miracles! Through His authority they would absolve sin and throw it into the depths of the sea.

And so do we in our vocations today. Must we not all with the apostles therefore say to Jesus, “Add to us faith”! Add to us faith that appears as small as a mustard seed and yet receives the casting of our sins into the depths of the sea. In our offices add to us faith that rebukes sin and forgives those who repent again and again and again. Add to us faith that You our Master became our Servant. Add to us faith that when you came in from plowing with your Word and tending Your sheep in the field of this world, you did the unexpected. In the upper room, You, the Master, bid the apostles sit down at table. Instead of saying prepare supper for me and serve me while I eat and drink, You hosted the Last Supper for them and bid them to eat and drink. Only then did you go forth to eat (that is to taste death for everyone (Heb 2:9) and swallow it up forever (Is. 25: 8). Only then did you go forth to drink, that is to drink fully the cup of God’s wrath that you prayed might be removed in Gethsemane.

Add to us faith that You our Master still come among us to serve us; that this very day You prepare for us a banquet of Your own body and Your own blood. Instead of saying, “wait on Me” You our Master still serve us and say, “take and eat”, “take and drink”.

Dear unworthy servants, all this Jesus can do and does do because He bore the millstone of our sin around His neck and was submerged under our sentence. He never tempted anyone to sin. He faithfully rebuked sin, never looking the other way. He perfectly forgave those who sinned against Him even to His cry “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” All that stood against you has been hurled into the depths of the sea. He comes to you who repent forgiving you again and again and again, releasing you from all sin. By His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (II Tim. 1)

So rejoice at His Word like one who finds great spoil! So follow the pattern of sound words you have heard from the Jesus and His apostles! So share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God!

The righteous shall live by his faith. By the faith Jesus gives - you will be able to grow in doing what you could not do (avoiding tempting others to sin, rebuking sin and forgiving sin). By the faith Jesus gives - your soul will not be puffed up thinking you have ever gone above and beyond the call of duty. Is it not a sign of our sin-sickness that we seek recognition and credit before God; that we turn inward and feel slighted and grow weary in God’s kingdom? Is it not the supreme sign of our salvation that our Master serves us with healing food and releases us from every single time we miss the mark?

Beloved, that’s solid, joyful reason to serve God without fear. That’s solid, joyful reason to not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, but to bear witness to others of the hope that we have. That’s solid, joyful reason to pray for one another and to thank one another for the help and encouragement we receive in this place and among this congregation of God’s people. Thank you, thank you, thank you! That’s solid, joyful reason to gratefully serve God with the attitude, NO THANKS IS NEEDED FOR MY THANKS! Before God, So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ In the Name of Jesus - Amen.

18th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-10-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 16:19-31
Vicar Roy Askins

So, have you fed a poor man lately? Have you, clothed in the riches and trappings of this world, taken a small sum from your budget and clothed the man down the street suffering from illness? Have you put the man whose sores ooze disgusting fluids into your car and given him a ride to the hospital?

You don’t have to look long and hard to find a charity case these days. Suffering is here and it needs someone to clean it up. So also with Lazarus who sat at the gate of the rich man, the rich man who feasted sumptuously every day! In fact, feasted so sumptuously that he has more than three meals a day. But there was still suffering there and someone needed to clean it up.

Perhaps you have fed a poor man lately. Perhaps you cracked open your wallet for the poor man on the street. If not that, maybe you added the little extra onto your donation this month for Walther Memorial. If so, congratulations, you have done your duty to humanity and now you can sleep in peace. Or can you? Do the riches you’ve given away really matter? Perhaps a better question to ask is this: are these riches even yours?

Do you think of yourself as the generous benefactor? You might wear a robe of purple, but you justify it by giving your fair share to the poor people down the street, maybe even a little more on top of that. Hence, the robe of purple is your right and you're going to wear it proudly. Is this what Jesus is saying about the rich man in this story, that he didn’t use his riches correctly and so went to Hades?

It might be that you fall on the other side of the spectrum. You are, perhaps the poor man sitting at the gate of the rich one. Blisters well up on the skin of your legs from the plastic seats of an outdated car that barely runs. Your mouth salivates whenever you drive by the fancy restaurant down the street but you go home to a frozen pizza instead. You live month to month. God shall surely, you suppose, grant you some remission from suffering because of the suffering you endured here in this life now. Isn’t that what Jesus is saying about Lazarus?

In truth, your place on the financial scales of this world are entirely inconsequential. The scales themselves are even pointless. For if you have wealth, the wealth is not yours. If you live in poverty, the meager portion of things you possess still do not belong to you. They are not yours. Your poverty does not get you one step up on the road to heaven. For we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. (1 Tim. 6:7) The love of riches can snare the rich man of the world and the poor man of this world alike. The rich man ensnared in the loves of riches hordes what he has and does not give in generosity what has been graciously given. The poor man ensnared in the riches of this world pines constantly about the wealth of the rich man, and desires only to follow in the rich man’s footsteps.

Do these gifts, whether in wealth or in poverty, even belong to you? You know the answer. You have nothing to give that has not been given you. All the gifts, whether of house, family, car, steady job or whatever else you have been given are exactly that: given. They belong not to you. They belong rather to the one whose riches surpassed all riches in this world, for this world belongs to Him and everything in it. They belong to Him who could have taken these gifts for His own benefit but instead made Himself like the very beggars who sit at His gate.

For you see, even those who pretend to wear garments of purple are merely masquerading in the tattered dirty garments of their own works. They masquerade before the gates of the only truly wealthy Man in existence throwing alms to their fellow beggars, alms which amount to nothing more than dust. That is where you once were. At one time you belonged there, in the dust, destitute; devoid of any gift. Though you masqueraded in wealth or promulgated your poverty, you amounted to nothing before the man of true wealth.

And this Man, this wealthy Man left his mansion. A mansion fit only for God, He left and took on the festering sores of mankind. In a loving gracious act, He took on the poverty of our humanity. The sickness and diseases of those who lay at the gates of the rich, he carried himself. The tattered garments of those who supposed themselves rich, He tore away from them revealing their true poverty. And in this state, this state of utter humility, He bore our iniquity. He bore the sins which we supposed were our glory. He bore them to the cross and nailed them there. He bore them to the cross and by His gracious blood, atoned for them.

Christ impoverished Himself so that by this impoverishment, you might not be found on the opposite side of the chasm, the chasm separating Lazarus and the rich man. He impoverished Himself so that you might have a place in His mansion in the bosom of Abraham, by the side of Abraham. As Lazarus who was at the side of Abraham knew, you also know that you are a son, adopted by the Father through the impoverishment of His Son, Jesus Christ. You know you are a son because you also belong by the side of Abraham, a place that has been promised to you. The rich man in Hades repeatedly called Abraham his father, but Abraham did not call him son, but rather child. The one who is at the side of Abraham is Abraham’s son, and this is the place prepared for you. Prepared for you by the Man of wealth who became the most destitute of all.

This impoverishment cost Him His life. And if He had remained dead, then our faith would have been in vain, but He did not. He is the one who rises from the dead at the end of Jesus’ story of Lazarus and the rich man. Not a mere apparition as the rich man wanted his brothers to see, hoping that they might come to believe. No, instead Christ rose bodily from the grave that you and I also might be raised with Him. This impoverished man is Christ who died and rose again that we might be united unto Him forever.

From the very beginning, God intended this humiliation, the sacrificial suffering and death of Christ. How can this be? Note what Abraham says to the rich man in regard to the rich man’s brothers. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus so that his brothers would believe. But Abraham responds, they have Moses and the prophets, if they will not believe in Moses and the prophets, then neither will they believe if someone rises from the dead. (Luke 16:29-31) Moses and the prophets speak of the same saving faith to be found in the New Testament. The Law, spoken in its terrifying severity crushed the unbelieving hearts of the Israelites, while the Gospel of the promised Messiah who would conquer the devil, the world and their sinful natures, bathed the crushed hearts of stone so that they became a living hearts, placed in the breasts of the Old Testament believers by the hand of Christ. The same God of the Old Testament also has mercy on those in the New Testament and today.

He has had mercy on us. The rich man in Hades called out to Abraham, ‘Have mercy on me!’ Or in the Greek, ‘eleison.’ Every Sunday you cry out to God with those same words. At the beginning of the service, we sing the Kyrie, the full name of which is the Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy. We cry out to Christ who sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father, Lord have mercy. But instead of hearing about the chasm that divides us from Him, He rather bridges the gap between us and God. He bridges the gap in a tangible way. He bridges the gap with Himself. This bridge does not exist in some spiritual dimension to be touched only with mind and spirit, though certainly this bridge affects the mind and spirit. Rather, you can also touch this bridge, this wonderful food from the table of the richest man in the world. Not merely a crumb which cascades from the counter of the rich man, not merely a tidbit from the tall table of the wealthy for which you must contend with the dogs. No, this bridge is the full meal itself, the touchable tangible gift of the body and blood of Christ. With this bridge He brings us back to the Father; He sets us by the side of Abraham.

And now we see our riches in a different light. No longer do we need to be concerned with appearing to have riches. We do not have to walk about in tattered rags pretending we have something to give. For first of all, of what value can the material riches of this world possess compared to the priceless gifts given to us by the wealthiest Man, Jesus Christ? Christ has freed us from the ensnaring riches of the world to freely give to those in need. To freely give not only the wealth we have been given by Him, but also to freely give out the wealth we are given in the Word of God preached. How can we who have been given such gifts not also go out and proclaim them from the rooftops? Our wealth is not our wealth, but Christ’s wealth. Our salvation is not our salvation, but Christ’s salvation, His redeeming act.

The rich man did not spend eternity in Hades because he possessed great wealth. Lazarus did not spend eternity in the bosom of Abraham because he possessed nothing. This is not Jesus’ point. The rich man spent eternity in Hades because his wealth was his god. Lazarus on the other hand spent eternity in heaven because his God was the God who became man, the God who impoverished Himself in order to give the manifold riches of His grace to sinful human beings. This God, this gracious God-Man, Christ Jesus, now forms the focus of our relationships with each other and those outside this church.

With our eyes on Christ, whether in life here on earth or in life eternal, our status of wealth is rendered inconsequential. “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we have brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it,” St. Paul writes. (1 Tim. 6:6-7) Rejoice now that you can share your wealth with those in need, sharing always in addition to the gifts you give of earthly wealth, the wealth given to you in this Divine Service of Word and Sacrament. To the Rich Man become poor, to the God who became man, to Christ Jesus our Lord, be all glory now and forevermore. Amen.

17th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-09-24T19:47:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 16: 1-15
WHAT MERCY!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.” Dear managers of God’s gifts; the same Greek word is used for this wasteful and dishonest manager as for the Prodigal Son who squandered his father’s property. It was a sobering charge – like embezzlement or committing fraud or misappropriating. The word indicates a single-minded devotion to himself, his needs, his pleasure, his profit. His office as manager implied loyalty to his master but his service in that office revealed self-centered loyalty to himself. He wasted on himself that which was given him to administer and use for another.

Then came judgment day! Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager. Just like that, the game was up! The words meant “you’re fired.” As soon as he complies and turns them in, the books will be opened. His wasteful deeds as manager will be fully revealed. What a mess of a manager!

Dear Christians, one day soon you will fly away to the judgment seat of God. There the books are open on your management of God’s gifts. He who created the eye has seen every greedy gaze, every lustful look and every condescending stare of the eyes you manage for Him. He who formed the ear has heard every hateful word, every word of gossip and every complaint that has proceeded from the mouth you manage for Him. He who shaped the hands knows what the hands you manage for him have done in worry and waste and left undone in laziness or apathy. Before Him nothing is hidden. He who said You cannot serve God and money knows every corner of your heart and mind in regard to the dollars you manage for Him, the portion you return to Him, the joy and cheerfulness you have in giving to Him. What shall you be like on that day when the books are opened? Oh, what people we are! What a fix we’re in! You and I will be just like the unjust steward.

Too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg, he acted shrewdly (craftily) to plan for his future. He reduced the bills of the rich man’s debtors. At his order, a hundred measures of oil is rewritten as fifty. A hundred measures of wheat is rewritten as eighty. With speed and shrewdness he used his short time in office to make friends for himself by banking on his master’s mercy. While in that office he was still acting with another man’s wealth and still looking out for himself. Yet The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Dear sons of light, that’s the first point! Jesus is not encouraging corruption or dishonesty. Rather He plainly states that the people of this world evidence better management of the things they posses for temporary earthly reasons, than the management God’s people evidence of their resources for eternal, heavenly purposes. Jesus nails us with what the open books of God’s judgment will show. If we want our management of His gifts to be judged by comparing it with others, good heavens! Even the children of this world, that is unbelievers, are wiser than the children of light.

Consider how devoted human hearts are to acquiring more things. In business people grab for wealth, many legally and some illegally. In government one scandal seems to follow another by those elected to serve us. Pork barrel is a phrase we know all too well. Every day millions of people listen attentively to numbers we call lottery numbers. Every day millions of hearts rise or fall with numbers we call stock market numbers. The world pays close attention to and expends first-rate energy on accumulating more, more things, more money, more security.

While the sons of this world strive mightily for these things, those confessing Christ are often neglectful and slow concerning God’s things. Daily use of the Word of God, weekly worship as the source of our life, contentment and patience in loving the people God has placed in our life, seeking first the kingdom of God, none of that comes naturally or easily. We, also, are sorely tempted to be more concerned with earthly retirement and security than with eternal dwellings. An honest look acknowledges the truth that rings out in Jesus’ words. The sons of the world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Jesus continues, And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into eternal dwellings.

Fellow-redeemed, it will fail – all that we accumulate on this earth, all our special things, all our security, will fail. Benefits, retirement plans, investments and real estate holdings may have their place, but they cannot secure for us an eternal place. We brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of this world. Earthly possessions are powerless to provide us with eternal dwellings. It is not a question of “if” they will fail us, only “when” they will fail. I tell you, make friends…so that when it fails they may receive you into eternal dwellings.

These eternal friends are made only through the Gospel. We can’t purchase their salvation with money. We can’t pick who our friends will be, who will believe in Christ crucified and risen. But, we can manage the money God let’s us use to publish the Gospel. As the dishonest steward used His master’s possessions to win short-term friends, so we should use the blessings God gives us to make friends for eternity. God is the master and owner of all that we use. Here He teaches us that even as the unjust steward overflowed with concern for his own earthly welfare, so we are free to liberally and big-heartedly use our master’s goods for the eternal welfare of others.

Such a purpose does not come naturally. Such a purpose is not shrewd in the eyes of the sons of the world. Our old Adam also thinks it stinks. But the sons of light see things with wisdom of a different kind. The sons of light see also the second point that Jesus conveyed in this parable. That point is an absolute trust in the master’s mercy.

The unjust steward recognized that judgment was at hand and that he was totally unprepared. He staked everything on the belief that his master would honor the words nullifying a debt that he spoke in the master’s name. He was still in an office appointed by the master. His last act in that office was to forgive debts in His master’s name. The dishonest steward looked out for his future by trusting the mercy of his master.

That’s amazing trust! And the master did not disappoint. He was unreasonably merciful and forgiving. That’s the second and core point without which we can only misconstrue Jesus’ words. The master acted in keeping with His own honor and the word spoken in His name by another. The debts were reduced by the master as promised by His steward. He didn’t have to, but He did! As a by-product the dishonest steward’s earthly security was achieved. The astounding reason for it all is the mercy of the master whose goods we manage.

Beloved, one day soon, you will fly away to the judgment seat of God. There the books are open on your management of God’s gifts. Your hope then is not that God has closed his eyes to your mismanagement; your hope then is not that your good deeds outweigh your misdeeds; your hope then is not comparing your management with that of another. Your only hope is the very one who sits in judgment on you. Your only hope is to throw everything on the mercy of the master.

And what mercy He has! He who said You cannot serve God and money was sold under our sin for thirty pieces of silver. So deep was His love for the souls of us who are lovers of money! What mercy! He who shaped human hands had His own hands driven through with spikes to the cross. He still speaks peace through those nail marked hands on this side of His grave. What mercy! He who created the ear and has heard all you’ve said, His are the ears that hear your cry for mercy and will not hear the accusations of the devil against you – not one of them. What mercy! He who created the eye and has seen all you’ve done, His are the eyes that closed in death and opened in new life on Easter morning. He sees you now as His beloved Bride, without spot or blemish. What mercy!

In His office as Redeemer, Jesus speaks a word of forgiveness to this whole world of sinners. He completely changed the status of our debt. “He wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us…having nailed it to the cross” (Col 2:14).

Do you see the magnitude of His mercy for you? Do you really see His mercy? Next to Him on Calvary was a manager of God’s gifts so dishonest that he said of his and another criminal’s crucifixion, “we’re getting what we deserve”. Capital punishment and he knew he deserved it. Yet he staked everything on the mercy of the crucified Lord. “Remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” What mercy there is for this mess-of-a-manger as Jesus balanced the books for us sinners! “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Dear friends, on Good Friday, Jesus was making friends for eternal dwellings.
And just like the steward called the debtors one by one before him, so Jesus called you personally before Him in Holy Baptism. He called you to Himself and said, how much do you owe? Take your debt and write cancelled on it, write paid in full! Jesus trusted absolutely in the Father’s mercy for us sinners. Jesus trusted that in His speaking words of absolution to us, the Father would honor them completely. That same trust shines forth as He sent out His apostles. He who hears you hears me, He said. Risen from the grave He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; (John 20). What mercy! The absolving word of the one the master sends will be honored absolutely.

Dear fellow-Redeemed, Christ is still in His office of Redeemer. He is the one mediator between God and man. He is still speaking words of forgiveness and life. Today in the midst of you sons of light He says, “take and drink, this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”. That is, take your bill and keep writing cancelled. Our Lutheran Confessions say that this gift is efficacious (that is, it does its work) even if the steward (pastor) who administers it is dishonest (is an evil man). You still receive God’s mercy in this gift because God will honor His word spoken by another in an office He has given.

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. Dear friends you don’t ridicule Christ because He has given you a new heart. Nothing else in this passing world is really yours. You only manage what God entrusts to you for a short time. Those earthly goods will fail you and they will fail me. In the meantime, God grant us shrewdness in managing our unrighteous wealth to make friends for eternity. To that end, God grant us total trust in His profound, undeserved, immeasurable mercy. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

16th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-09-24T19:39:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 15:1-10
THERE IS JOY BEFORE THE ANGELS OF GOD OVER ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord; “I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Dear hearers of the Word:

It’s big entertainment for millions and big money for a few. Interest in spirit beings is high. This fall’s TV lineup is littered with fantasy shows about super spiritual beings, including angels. They rescue people in a fix. They do battle with politically correct bad things. All in all they make believe about another dimension of life. In one segment of “Touched by an Angel” an angel is sent to help a troubled teenager. Unfortunately however, this angel has an attitude problem and ends up using drugs with the teenager at a party. Such is the fairy tale world of angels as seen on TV. It is largely counterfeit nonsense that is spiritually harmful and destructive of the Christian faith.

Hollywood’s perversion does not portray the real work of God’s real angels. There is such a realm of God’s creation invisible to you at present. You will see it soon, for life here is so very fleeting. In Christ, you will see His holy angels, not just for 50 or 70 or 90 years, but forever. Since we are pilgrims and strangers here, the Son of God desires that we know some of what occurs there. In our text He identifies one aspect of life in the heavenly realm. That is, He clearly states what fills the angels of heaven with joy. “I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

How many television shows depict the jubilation of the heavenly hosts over the baptism of a baby whose sins are washed away? In those waters of rebirth, Jesus hoists a sinner on His shoulders and begins carrying him or her to heaven. This makes all heaven reverberate with delight, just one sinner who is repenting. That means there is rejoicing in heaven today over each heart here that receives in faith God’s Word and Meal of forgiveness. Our text clearly equates repentance with being carried on the shoulders of Jesus.

His words highlight the fact that we are lost sinners who need repentance. Scripture does not mince words or whitewash this sad reality. The tax collectors, known for their cheating, and the prostitutes with their coarse immorality were labeled socially as sinners. The Pharisees, however, saw themselves as separated from such a label. They were grumbling and muttering about Jesus’ searching love for sinners like these. “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Such an attitude is what Ezekiel expressed as the fat sheep pushing and thrusting at the weak with their horns. It was the exact opposite of the prophet’s witness to the messianic Son of David, I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep…declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. Jesus’ parables take issue with the self-righteous, spiritually strong perspective of the Pharisees.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” This was contrary to the thinking of the Pharisees. They had a saying that went like this: “There is joy before God when those who provoke Him perish from the world” (Edersheim – Leon Morris – Gospel of Mark – 239). However that is not what God reveals. He said, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but…that the wicked should turn and live.” (Ezek. 33:11). And here, “There is joy before he angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

What a sharp contrast between muttering over God’s mercy and rejoicing in God’s mercy! The Pharisee’s muttered in self-righteous complaint! Jesus rejoiced in God’s searching mercy for the lost. He did so by reaching out with parables of incredible depth and kindness.

We must understand that Jesus was not encouraging continuous, willful, unrepentant sin. The heart that says “I plan to continue on as a dishonest tax collector or continue in sexual immorality or continue in my own rebellion and idolatry” is not yet the lost sheep that is found here. Jesus was not condoning secure sinners in setting aside the will of God. When He called the tax collectors Levi (Mk 2) and Zacchaeus (Lk. 19) He called them away from cheating and dishonesty to a new life. It is clearly the one who recognizes his or her being lost that Jesus identifies here.

His words also highlight another important truth. This truth is that we cannot repent by our own strength. Man is so proud that he thinks he can actually repent and make God pleased with him. Man is so proud that he speaks of finding God as if we are capable of doing that. But God is not lost! Man is lost! Every single one of us lost sinners needs constantly to be carried on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd in repentance.

While the sheep wandered, the shepherd searched. While the sheep floundered, the Shepherd found. When the sheep is found it is not given a beating, but rather the Shepherd rejoices. He does not lay it over His knees in punishment. Rather, He lays it on His shoulders in rescue. He carries it home with His strength, according to His will.

This is what the Pharisees grumbled at. They felt it was up to man to repent on his strength. It was a strange idea to them that God is a seeking God who takes the initiative. It was a foreign thought to them that God would carry the lost back by His power, not theirs.

God grant us faith to ignore all opinions of men that want to put God in the debt of our searching, our praying and our sincere efforts. God grant us also to ignore all of the contemporary clutter and confusion about angels and find comforting rest in what He reveals here. That is, it is Jesus who carries sinners on His shoulders in repentance. And, “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Fellow-Redeemed, don’t be too fat and too strong to see yourself as that one needing repentance. Dr. Martin Luther’s first of ninety five theses was, “When our Lord and master said, ‘repent’, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” St. Paul, the great missionary, did not see himself as too fat and too strong to qualify. The saying is trustworthy and deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost, even as He went about His missionary work.

Do you see how important you are to God? We live in an age of statistical sainthood, of worshipping big numbers. Yet God puts the spotlight on just one, on one sinner who is repenting, on you. When life’s tasks seem unimportant, when life’s rewards seem non-existent, when life’s suffering seems overwhelming, it is easy to believe that your life is of little or no value, that there is no reason for joy and no ground of hope.

With your humble circumstances and daily struggles, what is your real worth? On a college campus with thousands of students bustling around, who are you? In your later years with the limits of ageing mounting up every year, what’s ahead? With recognition of how much you can’t control and of what you’ve left undone in this world of need and demands, what is your real worth?

Dear Christian, God grant you joy in His joy over you! God grant you hope that does not fade away! Take comfort and daily courage in your great importance to Him. Your worth comes from His undeserved, searching, merciful love for the lost. It is the same worth possessed by the person next to you. It is the same worth possessed by university students who may be lost among the intellectual clouds and thick spiritual darkness on a college campus. It is the same worth possessed by those who may have wandered away from the faith into disobedience and vain teaching.

The Good Shepherd foretold by Ezekiel came down as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. He came down to rescue his flock. To do so He endured a day of clouds and thick darkness like no other. Darkness fell over the whole land from the sixth to the ninth hour, the sun being obscured (Lk. 23:44, 45). Darkness fell over the whole land as God’s wrath for the sin of the whole land fell on Jesus. Darkness fell over the whole land as the man who receives sinners and eats with them was damned for sinners to feed them with the good pasture of His own body and blood. He who came to bind up the injured was injured with our bindings. He who came to bring us into our own land was cast out of His land. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement that brought us peace was laid on Him. By His stripes we are healed.

Do you see why there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents? The shoulders of the searching Shepherd are the shoulders of Him who was nailed to the cross. His shoulders went limp in death on Calvary and were too weak to carry anyone. But His search for sinners took Him right through the valley of the shadow of death. From the thick darkness of the tomb He rose up with shoulders so strong they broke the entangling cords of death. From heaven He comes into your midst today with shoulders strong enough to bear you all the way to heaven.

God grant you calm confidence in His strength to carry you through this passing world. God thereby also grant you calm confidence in His strength to carry you from today to tomorrow. God additionally grant you concern for those yet separated from His care, for those who are lost in the clouds and thick darkness of this sinful world so full of artificial lights.

The chief concern of Christ’s church should be the finding of each one who is lost and the carrying of each one who is found. Like the woman who swept and searched her house to find the lost coin, so the bride of Christ searches to find lost souls. In relationships, in conversations, in first fruit giving, in receiving Christ’s gifts of forgiveness in weekly worship, the church bears witness to the searching, forgiving, love of God. I Tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

The angels are only reflecting God’s joy. They behold His face. They mirror that which delights the holy Trinity. And that delight is you, your repentance, your salvation, your receiving Christ’s forgiveness, your being carried on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd! O Lord my God, I called to You for help and you healed me! You have turned my wailing into dancing; I will give You thanks forever. Amen.

15th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-09-11T04:41:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 14:25-35
THE LOVE AND HATE THAT JESUS GIVES!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear partners in the Gospel; wouldn’t it be great if someone said of all your college costs, “Charge that to my account”? Full tuition and fees and books to the University of your choice - the most advanced computer system with every accessory, a top-quality apartment (full room and board) – “Charge that to my account” “I’ll take care of that for you”. Wouldn’t’ it be great if someone said of your home mortgage or your car loan, your medical premiums and out of pocket costs, “Charge that to my account”? St. Paul said something along those lines to Philemon regarding his runaway slave Onesimus – If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

Dear Christians, in the most gracious, all-encompassing, life-changing way, Christ on Calvary said of the world’s sin; “Charge that to my account”. “I hereby take care of all of it”. If you do not believe that Jesus’ sacrificial death settled accounts for us sinners, if you do not believe that He said “paid in full” to you at your baptism, baptizing you into the death of Christ, then you will not be able to rightly hear the words of Jesus in our Gospel today.

Amid the superstition that infected the Church during the Middle Ages (indulgences, relics, and the like), Dr. Martin Luther regarded it as a distinct blessing that at least the crucifix remained in the Church. Christ crucified - the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:23, 24). Christ crucified - the love of God (I John 3:16). This, Luther said, is how God wants to be known.

The Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world loves you with a perfect love. Yet here He calls you to hate those whom He in other places makes clear you are under obligation to love – your spouse, your children, your parents (those in the pew beside you, those you tuck in at night, write letters to, speak with on the phone). “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

How do your ears hear these words from the lover of your soul? What do you make of Jesus’ command to hate? Elsewhere He taught that we are to do good to those who hate us (Lk. 6:27). Elsewhere His apostles taught that whoever hates his brother is a murderer (I John 3:15). Yet here He clearly states, If anyone comes to me and does not hate...his family…and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

In this age of tolerance, we must be clear that hate is sometimes a beautiful gift of God. God, who is love, can and does hate! He hates evil, He hates idolatry, He hates false worship (Deut. 12:31; Is 1:14). The hatred assigned to God in Scripture is not so much an emotion as a rejection in will and deed. God’s people are also supposed to lovingly hate as He does. The righteous are to hate what is false (Prov. 13:5). To fear the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13). Christians are to hate evil and love good (Amos 5:15; Rom 12:9).

But what is evil about family? Jesus’ command here is so very clear and concrete. Think of your own dear wife or husband, your beloved children, your caring parents, your siblings. How do I hate my father Norbert and my mother Lillian and my wife Barbara and my children, Hannah, Luke, Ben, and Mark and my brother, Ron and my sister, Londa, and even my own life. Why am I to hate them? Is it possible to hate them as Christ commands here and love them as Christ commands elsewhere?

Contemplate how closely related love and hate really are. Think how easily the most passionate human love can turn hateful when disappointed or spurned. Think how hearts may wax hot or cold in loving or hating those who excite and then weary them, who please and then displease them. Human hearts generally think of both love and hate as emotions, feelings we move into and out of.

God’s Word, however, reveals that both love and hate are more properly actions and attitudes, not emotions. When God says, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, He is speaking of faithful, caring actions done day in and day out, regardless of what one’s feelings may be. Agape love is a self-giving and faithful doing, regardless of fluctuating emotions.

This is also the case when Scripture speaks of hate. Is has to do with actions and attitudes, not primarily emotions. This is crucial in understanding what the Son of God meant when He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

This is not hate in a psychological sense. This is hate that mirrors God’s holy and perfect hate. This is hate in the sense of turning from anything that challenges exclusive commitment to God. This hate is doing the opposite of what Moses warned about: “If your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish (Deut. 30:17, 18). Those things that tempt us as idolize them, to worship and serve them surely include ourselves and our families. I think of one father, a football coach and former Lutheran. He had a championship ring on his finger from his own high school football days and he had dreams of coaching his son. When God called his boy from this life with leukemia at the age of 13, he turned away from Christ and His gifts in disbelief and hate. While his son enjoys eternal pleasure at God’s right hand, this father wallows in the misery of his idols.

Jesus is by no means trying to discourage us from following Him. He is lovingly showing us that following Him is more than joining a club. His church is more than a group of like-minded people who want to make a difference in the world. His church is not a family picnic. He who normally says, “come unto Me and I will give you rest” here says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate…he cannot be My disciple.”

Dear hearers of the Word made flesh; that which Jesus puts at the center of this hate target is not the moral crud on the television or crime in the city or corrupt politicians. The bulls eye on this hate target contains those you love and even your own life. His call to hate is a call to turn from and renounce even excellent gifts in so far as they deflect or discourage total commitment to Him. The nature of His call is sobering – no back slapping, game playing here. “Whoever does not take up his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” The nature of His call is so staggering it can lead to only a few responses.

The most common response is to hush Jesus up, to pretend He really didn’t speak the words in our text. It is the modern routine of manufacturing a politically correct, socially sensitive Jesus made in our own image – a Jesus who always makes us feel just right. A second response is to hate the one who spoke this command to hate. Surely we humans know enough to correct Jesus and attack His words here. He must be a bit of a loser to lose it like this. A third response is to hate yourself, that is, to despair of and renounce your own sufficiency and strength to do what Christ demands. “…anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple”.

Fellow Redeemed, it is this last response that Jesus intends. That’s why His words about hate are followed immediately with His warning about counting the cost before starting to build a tower. That’s why He spoke of asking conditions of peace before going to war against an enemy with twice the strength.

What more could Jesus say to clearly and completely illustrate our insufficiency? God commands commitment to Christ with no human reservations. The exclusive and unconditional claim of Jesus will not stop even at the most important and intimate of earthly ties. The disciple of Christ is to disown, renounce and reject loving anyone, even self, more than Christ. Our closest relatives, our loved ones, even our most sincere personal spiritual efforts cannot furnish us with the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We cannot build the tower! Not alone and not as an earthly family! We cannot defeat the mighty enemy! We cannot fear and love and trust in God above all things! With these words Jesus intends to kill all trust in ourselves and in those we love and give us Himself.

Beloved, we can’t do Christianity! Our only hope is to ask for terms of peace. And Christ is our peace! And you are in Christ – baptized into Him – seeking refuge in Him. Remember Paul writing to Philemon of Onesimus, “…receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account”.

We imperfect lovers and imperfect haters have an astronomical bill to pay. Like the national debt assigned personally to you, your debt load before God is not feasible, it cannot be made right. But of you Jesus says to the Father, “…receive him (receive her) as you would receive me. If he (if she) has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account.”

Beloved rejoice! You cannot do Christianity. But you are a little Christ! He who bids you carry your cross is this very day carrying you! Continue to seek peace from Him, for the peace He demands He comes to give you today. His peace! Blood-bought peace! Risen from the grave peace! In your midst to serve you peace! Satan silencing peace! Life-restoring peace! Joy-giving peace! Love your neighbor peace!

When Satan says, “Look at all you start and can’t finish”, “look how weak you are in battle” tell him to go to hell! Tell him what Jesus shouted from the cross, “It is finished”! In fact in your eating of His body and drinking of His blood you all together make that very proclamation today. Jesus didn’t begin to win your salvation and then stop. He counted the cost and with His very flesh and blood He paid it all, He won the war and built the tower.

Christ crucified – the wisdom of God!
Christ crucified – the love of God!
This is how God wants to be known!

Risen from the grave He loves you. Ascended on high He loves those whom you hold in your heart more than you ever can. You love them most by loving Him first!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

14th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-09-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

Text: Luke 14:1-14
Vicar Roy Askins

Did you know that tickets for this upcoming season opener for the Packers range in price from $138 to $25,002. Can you imagine, $25,002? That is a seat of honor, a seat not everyone can sit in. I know I’ll never be in that seat. I might be able to make it into the scrabble for the $140 seats if I’m lucky, but not the $25,002 seat. It is a place of honor.

Jesus in our text speaks of a seat such as that. He speaks of the first seat, the seat of highest honor. This seat you are not supposed to sit in unless someone brings you to it. I can’t imagine the guy who paid $25,002 will allow anyone else to sit there. So also with the wedding feast, there is a seat of honor and it belongs to someone.

Did you know that pews were once like these Packer seats? In early American history, it was not uncommon to accept payment for pews. One church’s historical website records the seizing of one pew from one parishioner who failed to pay his pew taxes. They then sold it to another member who could actually pay the pew tax.

While I don’t know whether or not churches continue the practice, and I certainly hope they don’t, the truth is, in almost every aspect of life, we are trying to get a better seat. Jesus deals with this in the text. Practically, his advice makes sense. It’s better to take a lower seat and have someone to invite you to a higher one rather than take the high one and be humiliated in front of one’s fellows. This makes sense.

Jesus, however, isn’t overly concerned about where you’re sitting at the table. He’s not too worried about the seat you're in, or your neighbor, or the seat I’m in. He’s getting to a deeper problem, a root problem for the Pharisees. He’s rooting out the source of your assurance.

For the Pharisees who invited Jesus over to their dinner, their assurance grew from their keeping the Sabbath. Hence their concern with Jesus when the man with dropsy came. They wanted to know if Jesus would do ‘work’ on the Sabbath. Jesus did work; he did a saving work. He healed the man of bodily and spiritual infirmities. He did this to show them their unworthiness, but they missed the point.

They still tried to jostle each other around, vying for a better seat. They placed their source of worth in themselves, thinking they deserved a better seat. Further, if they grasped a better seat, it might increase their worth even more, especially in the eyes of their fellow men. Here they sat in the presence of the God Incarnate, quibbling over seats of honor. And Jesus warns them, he says, “Do not take the seat of highest honor, lest you rule the lowest seat in shame.” When your source of worth you place within yourself, you will not rule over your fellows from the king’s right hand, but your kingdom will only consist of the lowest shame-filled seat.

So this begs the question: what is your source of worth? Why do you deserve to sit at the seat of highest honor? Is it because you can buy the $25,002 Packer tickets? Is it because you have served the church faithfully, doing everything asked of you for 30, 40, 50 years? Is your claim to the highest seat based on all the good things you’ve done, obeying your parents, working hard, and all those sorts of things? Does your claim to the best seat stem from your every Sunday attendance at church? Is your claim based on the 4.0 GPA, or your name on the Dean’s list?

Jesus here roots out the source of the problem. No matter what we think, we are not worthy of the seat at His feast. We are even incapable of comparing ourselves to one another because we are all equally sinful. The person sitting next to you has not sinned any worse than you. Each sin is equally damning, each sin is worth the master of the feast taking you from the highest seat, and kicking you out of the feast entirely. No human being deserves any seat at this feast.

Yet Jesus does something we don’t expect. You see, he doesn’t really care where you sit, because He has taken the seat of shame. He, the host, went from the seat of highest honor, the place of greatest wealth, and became human. He made Himself human in order to be shamed by those He came to save. So when He, the bridegroom of the wedding feast, sees you sitting at the place of lowest honor, He says, “Come, take the seat of highest honor, I’ve already taken your place of shame.”

For the seat of greatest shame takes the form of a cross. On this throne of shame, Christ dominated and destroyed shame itself. He, who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8) This is the seat of shame.

Now, no longer does shame attack you. No longer do you have to be concerned with putting yourself forward in the presence of the king or standing in the place of the great (Proverbs 25:6). For you have already been told, Come up here (Proverbs 25:7) in the presence of all the nobles of the earth. You have been brought from your seat of shame for it no longer belongs to you. The seat of shame, the cross, has already been taken. Christ has already hung on that piece of wood.

Cursed is everyone who hangs from a tree! (Galatians 3:13) Adam by the tree in the garden fell, and all humanity with him. Christ, by the tree outside of Jerusalem, brought humanity back to God. He brought reconciliation by that tree, and now you, in pews of wood, sit and receive the gifts He gives in His Word preached to you. You do not pay for your pews as some churches used to practice. No, your pews do not cost you anything. Neither does the place at the wedding feast of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

Where is this feast? How are we to know it when we see it? Where does this feast take place? A foretaste of the final feast occurs for you every Sunday. This feast occurs here. And you have been given the seat of honor, the best seat in the house. This seat $25,002 cannot buy. This seat no gift given by human beings can purchase. This seat no one is worthy to claim but Christ alone. Yet Christ comes down to you and brings you from your seat of shame and gives you the seat of highest honor.

This seat is also made of wood. From the same forest, no doubt, as your pews. This seat is the communion rail. The greatest seat on earth. A spot next to the President, a patch of turf on the sidelines with the Packers, a seat next to your favorite singer, or perhaps a lazy chair with your grandchildren on your knee are not as wondrous and glorious - not as honor-filled - as this seat right up here in the presence of God, in the presence of Jesus.

The worth of this table and your place there is not based on yourself. It is not based on anything you have done. Your worth, in fact, derives from the host and the food He gives. The Host: Jesus. The food He brings: Himself, for you. You are, as pastor said in last week’s sermon, The joy that was set before Him, so that He endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And from this seat of power, from the right hand of God, Christ gives to you a feast, a foretaste of the eternal feast to come. Christ has spoken to his servants and has said, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” (Luke 14:21) That is what you once were. Poor, crippled, blinded and lame from sin, Christ healed you and gave you the seat of honor. Christ does not say to you, “Give your seat to this person,” (Luke 14:9) but rather he says to you, “Friend, move up higher.” (Luke 14:10). And he gives you a feast.

Can I let you in on a little secret? He’s going to give it to you again. He gives you this fabulous feast every Sunday! He takes you from the humble seat of your daily vocations where you live to serve Him. He takes you from the vocations that at times might humble you. For the father and mother who spend time cleaning their baby’s dirty diaper, to the nursing care assistant that cleans the aged and infirm, to every vocation, from here Christ brings you every Sunday to give you a feast. From this feast He gives you the strength and ability, power and desire to continue in the vocation where He himself placed you. Come, He is inviting you to take the place of honor; He is inviting you to the communion rail! He is inviting you to the feast of His own body and His own blood. Let us celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb! Amen.

13th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-08-28T17:41:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Hebrew 12: 4-29
THE DISCIPLESHIP OF SUFFERING
THE DELGIGHTFUL TREASURES OF WORSHIP
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son (Heb. 1:1, 2). Dear Hearers of the Word made flesh;

At the Christ on Campus conference here in June, campus pastors and vicars from a dozen states discussed the struggles of and threats against university students today. One conclusion of the participants and the speakers was that there is a pressing need for studying the theology of the cross, for understanding the foundational place of suffering in the life of a Christian on a college campus.

Christian psychologist Dr. Beverly Yanke shared statistics concerning the high rate of depression on modern college campuses. Universities see it as a crisis and are scrambling to deal with its effects. Contributing factors that were voiced included the moral decay of our culture and its deadening effect on young hearts and minds and the hostility it carries to confessing Christ, unrealistic expectations caused by society’s fixation on high self-esteem, idealistic student imaginings concerning relationships, uncertainty about one’s major and the future it will provide, concern over college loans and debt loads, some lack of rigorous discipline in American life, and the pressures of academic pursuit in a new and large environment. Vicar Askins’ first study with the students this fall will therefore be on suffering, on the theology of the cross on the college campus.

Whether we are on a college campus or in the workplace or a homemaker or retired, we are easily confused about suffering. No one gets a free pass from the deathward drift of life in this cursed world. Certainly, some suffering we bring upon ourselves with wrong choices and harmful actions. But the possibilities in a sinful world expand in so many ways. Affliction comes in loneliness, disappointment, never ending demands, intense questions and doubts about self and about God, physical sickness, unfulfilled longings, career reversals, hostility from others, fears for loved ones, grief over losses, and finally the approach and arrival of death. You are guaranteed the presence of suffering in this quickly passing world. You will suffer. You will hurt. There may be hours of painful stress, days of stressful pressure, and years of weakness and struggle. No one is exempt from suffering.

Yet, we constantly think it strange. We also pray for its removal. For those unemployed, we pray for work. For those ill we pray for healing. For those persecuted and tormented we pray for relief. And we should so pray!

Yet God would also have us know that the presence of painful trials and ongoing struggles does not mean He has abandoned us. Quite the opposite in fact! “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons.

Satan tempts us to doubt God’s care and compassion in suffering. He would use times of distress and trial to turn us away from God. He would use suffering to sow despair and bitterness. And bitterness can be contagious. One poisoned heart, one ungrateful attitude, one bitter person, can tragically infect many others. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled…”

A key to rooting out bitterness and living in contentment is to rightly view suffering in our life. In suffering Satan whispers – “you are imprisoned and alone”, “you are in solitary confinement”. In suffering the world shouts, “you are missing out; you are a fool not to go the broad easy way.” In suffering our sinful nature whines and whimpers in self-pity, “no one cares - no one loves me”. But God says, “… the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” He (the Father of spirits) disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

The truth is, we are either being trained by God’s painful discipline in our life or we are turning bitter because of it. The discipline noted here includes sharp verbal rebuke of sin (V.5). It also includes blows of a physical nature (scourges, whips) (V. 6). Whom the Lord loves and receives, he disciplines and whips.

This is crucial in God’s love for us because we sinners want to be theologians of glory. We want to be in control of the outcome of the things that relate to us. We have hopes and plans that easily confuse our personal kingdoms with the kingdom of God even in spiritual matters. To travel through this passing world and not be charmed and seduced by it is possible only with God’s loving discipline. Everyone whom the Lord loves and receives He disciplines. Everyone! Imagine how insufferable you or I would be if everything always went our way all through the years!

The Hebrew Christians had forgotten God’s purposes in disciplining His own. Their property had been plundered and confiscated. They faced public ridicule and abuse for confessing Christ. Some of them had been imprisoned (Heb. 10:32, 43). But the greatest tragedy was their false reading of the situation.

They thought that hardship and affliction meant God had deserted them. They had weak knees and drooping hands. They were showing signs of quitting, of giving up. To this severe circumstance of trial the Holy Spirit caused to be written the amazing words of faith that we heard in previous weeks. Faith is the assurance (the title-deed) of the things we hope for, the evidence of things not seen. He also caused to be written the amazing words about discipline and suffering in this text. Far from being an indication that God has deserted His own, discipline is evidence that He has not deserted them. Their suffering for the Gospel showed that God was treating them as sons. Of course it seemed painful and not pleasant. Of course they prayed for it to be removed. But its presence was because God loved them. Everything that God brings to the baptized, everything, He works for their eternal good.
Dear Christians, the period of discipline isn’t over yet. It is rather the length of your entire earthly journey. In love, God doesn’t spare the rod (Prov. 13:24). Discipline is not reason to despair but a basis for encouragement and perseverance. Growing fainthearted in suffering is a lie from the father of lies; it is not the answer.

The answer is Jesus! The answer to our suffering is the suffering of our LORD who did shed His blood in the struggle against sin. Just before our text is the exhortation, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The joy set before Him was you, sinners turned to Him in repentance and faith. He is the narrow door to heaven. There is no other way! But that door is flung wide open to all us sinners! The consuming fire of God’s wrath roared over Him on Mount Calvary for our rebellion against Mount Sinai to bring us to Mount Zion.

For you He came down. For you He laid down His life in sacrificial death. For you His body was taken down and laid in the garden tomb. And for you He rose up making His cross the gateway to eternal joy! From the right hand of the throne of God He comes into your midst today with all the blessings spoken of in these verses.

The book of Hebrews was written in part to encourage Christians in their suffering not to forsake gathering together in weekly worship (Heb. 10:24, 25). In our text worship is described as coming to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Each week in worship, you come into God’s city. You can’t reach heaven in some strenuous, mystical, nature worshipping, star-gazing way, but God brings heaven to you in His word and Sacrament. On Mount Sinai, sinners were told to stay away or be destroyed. Here at Mount Zion, the place of God’s promised presence, repentant sinners are invited to draw near to the throne of grace, to receive mercy to help them in their time of need. We are to call upon Him in the day of trouble (Ps 50:15).

“You have come to Mount Zion…and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

Beloved when it comes to God’s service to us here, what we have heard in earlier weeks from Hebrews holds true, “… faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). You can’t go by what you see in worship. However you can live and die and live forever by what God tells you in and concerning worship.

As you gather here, there are thousands upon thousands of angels who worship with you. They worship the Lord day and night in joyful assembly. When the LORD is in your midst, they have not ceased their joyful assembly in worship nor have they departed from Him. Even with all of your earthly struggles, the angels are here with you. As you gather here you have also come to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. That is, you have come to the whole body of all believers in Jesus Christ everywhere. With all our differences, with unique joys and sorrows, with diverse families and fortunes and affairs, what we have in common goes far beyond our differences. We share a common birth in Holy Baptism, a common meal of forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper, a common future home in heaven. As we run the race with all of its painful discipline and correction, there is solace here for one another and from one another. We do encourage one another. As you gather here you have also come to God, the judge of all. The word of the law from Mount Sinai says you’re guilty, as guilty as Esau who sold his birthright for a belly full of food. But this is Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. Here the sprinkled blood of Jesus is present and through that blood Jesus mediates to you a new covenant – a covenant of forgiveness, life and salvation. Here His blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. It cries out for your forgiveness. As you gather in worship each week the judge of all says to you “not guilty.” My Son was made your sin and damned in your place. I now give you His birthright, go in peace.

As you gather here you have also come to the sprits of righteous men made perfect. That is, you are in the company of those who have died trusting in Jesus and not in themselves. It can be good to go to a graveside and remember a loved one. It can be good to hold special a photograph or keepsake from a parent or spouse or other loved one no longer on this earth. But, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there is no closer place to those who have died in the faith, then right here in the liturgy each week. The communion preface constantly trumpets this truth. With angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven you praise the risen Christ together with them. Where Christ is, there His saints are. When Christ comes to teach you and to feed you, you are in the company of those whose suffering is ended, whose discipline is done, who have received what we yet hope for.

Until that fulfillment of all our hopes, let us offer God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe and with thanksgiving and joy for His undeserved love for us. Until then, “let us not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” In the name of Jesus, Amen.

12th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-08-22T09:53:00.000-05:00

THE DIVIDING LINE OF PEACE
Vicar Roy Askins

Most people don’t think of the Berlin wall as beneficial. The Iron Curtain has not been extolled as advantageous. Prison walls topped with barbed wire do not evoke beautiful poems from the pens of poets. Trenches filled with spent artillery shells and bodies of soldiers do not make for posters placed on palace walls. Rather artists spend lifetimes attempting to picture peace in their art. They attempt to capture, in colorful detail, whether with the plumage of beautiful birds or by the varied array of wild flowers all the beauty of creation, hoping to convey in some small fashion their understanding of peace. They strive to convey that peace to those who see their art. Many times, when we think of peace, the picture we imagine is of Jesus holding his lost lamb and gently guiding his flock. Why then does the Prince of Peace speak so brashly of the fire he has come to cast upon the earth? Why does he bring into the picture of peace the fire of division?

Perhaps a fly on the wall view of our own homes provides a better perspective to view the division inherent in our daily lives. A fly on the wall view which sees husbands and wives bickering after balancing the checkbook. A view of fathers and mothers divided against their children for their musical preferences. A fly’s view of a father pitted against his son’s plan to move in with his girlfriend, a choice that is destructive to God’s gift of marriage. A fly’s view of mothers pitted against daughters when the daughter responds unfavorably to her mother’s second or third divorce.

Truth be told, we don’t need more division. Division finds us in whichever direction we turn. It does not allow us to enter our own homes without greeting us at the door. It does not allow us to sit down at our work computer without greeting us on the computer screen. Division finds us. So Jesus, why are you bringing us more division? We’ve got enough already.

Yet Jesus said, “A fire I have to cast upon the earth, and would that it already were kindled!” The fire he came to cast upon the earth is the fire of God’s wrath. The fire of wrath against every sin and wickedness committed from the dawn of time. “Behold, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart.” (Jeremiah 23:19-20a) From the first bite of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden to each failure to treasure the preaching of His Word this Sunday, from the first attempt to hide from Him in the garden to any attempt to hide from His Word today, the all consuming fire of God, Christ came to cast upon the earth. For all the divisive sins committed since the dawn of time, the fire of God has come to consume in wrath. This is the all holy God who does not allow to stand before him one sin or one transgression. This is the all-holy God who requires perfection of every son of Adam. This fire Christ cast upon the earth requires obedience of every human being.

How shall we stand before such an all consuming fire? Where can we find the peace this Prince of Peace gives? How shall we who are tainted with sin, divided eternally from our Maker stand in his presence? How shall we stand before the anger of the Lord which will not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart? (Jeremiah 23:20a) We can’t. Jesus does.

For now we are in these latter days, and we do understand it clearly. (Jeremiah 23:20b) For the fire Christ cast upon the earth did consume all the chaff and unholiness of man. The fire of the wrath of God consumed all the sin from the dawn of time to its completion. All of the dividing moments of man, from the highways and byways of Iraq to the familial squabbles at home, and to the divisive tongues of gossip, these all have been consumed by this fire. This unquenchable fire. The true division, the division Christ comes to bring occurred intents Holy Week. On Good Friday, completed on Easter Sunday, Christ brought true and holy division. He divided you from your sin. He divided you and set you apart from sinful humanity. Instead of dooming you to enter eternal existence in suffering, Christ took all sin into himself. The fire he cast upon the earth consumed him. The Baptism of fire he desired to be kindled he underwent on the cross. In that Baptism all the wrath of God was poured out on all the sins of the world. In that Baptism of fire, Christ cried out, “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?” this is the true meaning of division. This is the Baptism he longed to have completed so that in your Baptism you might be divided from your own wickedness.

For while the soldiers divided the garments of Jesus below him, he was dying in order to divide them from sinful humanity. While we live in houses divided by sin and evil, Christ has died on the cross to divide us from these impurities. While we pile on more divisions and more sins, Christ has already divided us from them by His death.

And when He stands here in your midst and by the hand of the pastor divides His body and blood for you... when He breaks bread with you, there He continues to divide and separate you from sin. When you deserved to bear all the suffering you yourself caused, there He stands, giving His body for you, His body which has already born the brunt of Your sin. This is the division Christ brings. This is the division necessary for the Prince of Peace to work peace in your lives.

The peace He brings is peace with the Father, His Father and ours.

Reconciliation. Justification. Reuniting. Where your sin divided you from the Father, Christ with His body reunites you, reconciles you, washes away the dividing line, to bring you peace with the Father. This peace Christ does bring, but it is not a peace which occurs on earth. It is a peace with the Father.
In fact, the division and struggles of this world will continue to plague us. Fathers and mothers will still argue with their children and children will still be willful and stubborn. Sins will still divide one from another. And even more so for the Christian, for when the Christian is baptized, he stands opposed to Satan and the world. Want to know something that will bring division and suffering in your life, try standing up and saying, “I will not live in wild lusts of the heart, for I have been separated from my sin. I will not follow you in jealousy, for it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me!”

These things will bring division; they will bring suffering. These are the results of being a forgiven child of God. Reconciliation with our heavenly Father might mean division from our earthly father, as is the case with any Muslim or Jew who becomes a Christian. Reconciliation with our heavenly Father might mean separation from an errant son who wants nothing to do with his seemingly overly sensitive father. These divisions however do not result from sin, but point to our separation from the world. We never seek out these divisions, but as Jesus says, they will come.

And so Christ comforts us when these divisions occur. In fact, we can even rejoice in sufferings which result from the Gospel. Whether it means confessing Christ before the sword or the executive board knowing your livelihood is on the line, take heart for Christ says, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” (Luke 6:22-23) Whether suffering comes while confessing Christ before the wild beasts of the coliseum or the wild ravings of the college classroom professor, rejoice with Paul who says in Romans, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:3-6) Rejoice then for this division will not last forever. No, the Father has reconciled you to Himself, to live with Him in His kingdom.

Nor do you suffer alone. The church, the bride of Christ, is connected to Christ. Christ is the head of the church and the head cannot go on vacation without the body. The bridegroom doesn’t leave his bride alone in suffering. When the church suffers on account of the Gospel, Christ suffers with you. Christ, present here in this divine service, unites you with the entire church through His Body and Blood, so that when suffering occurs on one extremity of the body, the entire body suffers together. This earthly division cannot divide the head from the body, the bridegroom from the bride; it cannot divide Christ from you.

Know now that Christ has divided you from your sin. He divided you from your sins with a wall stronger than the Iron Curtain. He divided you with a trench so deep it could consume all the trenches of every world war. He divided you with His own blood. His own blood delivered for you on the cross, applied to you in your Baptism by water and His Word and fed to you in His body and blood. This division cannot be destroyed. This is the dividing line of peace. The dividing line that brings peace. This line no earthly artist can picture. This line no art can fathom. This dividing line occurs here in the presence of His Word preached and His gifts delivered from the altar. The dividing line has been drawn. The fire has been cast. Peace has come. Peace which is yours. Amen.

11th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-08-13T19:38:00.000-05:00

TEXT: Luke 12:22-40
GOD’S GOOD PLEASURE IN CHRIST ANSWERS OUR WORRY
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son (Heb. 1:1, 2). Dear hearers of the Word made flesh;

Jesus spoke the parable of the rich fool to a crowd of thousands. He warned them that life without being rich toward God has eternal consequences. Then He addressed only His disciples showing the close connection between richness toward God and the removal of fear and anxiety. Right after the words, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” St. Luke records Jesus saying this and more to His disciples: “Therefore (for this reason) I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?...Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Anxiety and fear! Oh to live your life without anxiety and fear! When I was young one of my occasional nighttime fears was the bear up above the attic hatch in our bedroom closet. This fear was, of course, unfounded. It was nonetheless a fear encouraged and fed from time to time by my older brother who shared that room. Keeping the closet door tightly shut and huddling under thick quilts in winter months were helpful fear reducers. But that attic was always there, right behind the closet door and oh my, what boyhood imagination could put in it!

Anxiety and fear! How glorious a week would be without that pair! As we age, however, there are so many more things, real things to be afraid of and to worry about. Quite early you learn about accidents and disease that take the life of friends and family. You learn about the consequences of failure and the fearful results of crime. You fear missing out and worry about fitting in. You worry about grades in college and fear the years of study might not provide that rewarding vocation. You may worry about finding a spouse or fear losing personal freedom if you do.

Anxiety and fear! If God gives you children, the fears and worries can multiply exponentially. And with aging there are even more uncertainties and more threats to add to the mix. What about failing eyesight and hearing and memory? What about health care and loss of independence?

Anxiety and fear! How are you handling that pair today? Is your heart free from worry over health – family – finances – the state of this country - the state of the church? Is your heart free from fear of cancer and strokes and accidents and Islamic terrorism and falling bridges and the decay of our culture and the effects of bad decisions and threats against the Christian faith of yourself and those you love?

Jesus’ exhortations “not to worry” presuppose the presence of anxieties in the lives of His disciples. The context shows that the worries Jesus identified here were over possessions, over stuff, over the things of life that provide food and clothing. “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.” He said. We do take great care over these things that will not last. We are tempted to covet and to brood over and strive after things that are passing away.

The truth is that there has always been anxiety in this world ever since sin came into the world. There has been concern over clothing ever since Adam and Eve sought to cover up with fig leaves. There has been concern over food ever since they ate of the one tree God separated from the menu of human life. “Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you…you are dust to dust you shall return.”

This means that none of us can avoid anxieties. The diseased and disfigured world we live in offers a profuse menu of threats. But our Lord Jesus teaches us here not to be taken captive by them. There will be duties and responsibilities to harass us in daily life. There will be cares for food and livelihood and loved ones. There will be thorns and thistles aplenty. There will be fear of death as we await our own body’s return to dust.

In fact, it is that final fear that Jesus here addresses with His ultimate admonition. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” A better translation might read “stop being afraid little flock for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Or some 2000 years earlier to Abraham, “Stop being afraid…for I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” In His gifts to us through Abrahams’ Seed, God gives us the answer to all our worries and all our fears. They won’t go away, but neither will God leave us or forsake us.

Dear Christians, here is more help and healing for fear and worry than in the psychology books and counseling techniques of the world. This is not meant to negate the positive help counseling may offer for facing the phobias of life. But here, the Shepherd speaks to His sheep. Here the holy LORD speaks to those who know His voice.

His encouragement acknowledges that his sheep will not transform the world; that the huge herd of the world’s masses will not jump on board. He calls His disciples, not the big gang, but the little flock. That in it self can be a fearful thing in this statistically driven society. “Fear not, little flock.”

Then follow some of the most beautiful words in Holy Scripture. Jesus unveils again the ultimate ground of our comfort, the ultimate source of our salvation, the ultimate reason for us not to fear and not to worry. “Stop being afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure…”

The Father has absolute freedom of will. The crucial issue then is His will toward us? What is the beating heart of what the Father in heaven wants for us fearful, anxious, sinners? What pleases Him in regard to this death-dealing predicament in which we find ourselves? “Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure…to what? If it is the Father’s good pleasure to require or to punish or to pay us what we deserve, then our life is hopeless, then there is reason for depression and despair. You see, everything for us depends upon what follows, what springs forth from the Father’s good pleasure.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you…”

Beloved, rejoice in that word “give”! “To give” is a word rich in grace. It is a word that reaches back to eternity. “To give” to you is the opposite of taking from you. “To give” is fundamentally different than “to pay what is earned”. “To give” is not dependent upon merit or worth. “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you… the kingdom!”

The kingdom! That’s what we daily pray for in the Lord’s Prayer…Thy Kingdom come. Not possessions that grow old and wear out, not temporary pleasures, not bigger barns, not my self determined kingdom but the kingdom – God’s kingdom. All that God possesses, He desires to give to you!

Beloved, stop being afraid that God’s hidden agenda is to give you evil. Stop worrying that God’s deep-down intention might be to delight in making you suffer! He has no secret scheme to get even with you or to make you pay. Rather, He has bared His heart to you in Jesus. He wants you to know the unmistakable, unchanging treasure of His grace toward you. The reason for you not to fear lies within the Father Himself. The reason for you not to worry comes to you through the Son Himself.

The very one speaking to Abraham is the very one who spoke the words in our Gospel and the one who Himself is your shield. He is a shield which nothing can get through. In Hebrews we heard that from one man and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars. The Gospel tells us that from one man who was dead, crucified, dead and buried are born these descendants of Abraham who live by faith (Gal. 3). You are part of that host, numbered as the stars in the sky. Your worry can’t add one hour to your life, but Jesus’ work adds eternity to your life. He is your shield. On the cross He stepped between your punishment and you. Not one accusation of Satan can penetrate your shield. Even when Satan throws flaming arrows of temptation related to death your way, your shield stands firm. The Shepherd of the little flock stepped forth from His grave in resurrection victory, giving us the kingdom. The risen Christ comes into our midst today not to be served but to serve, to continue His gracious giving.

Anxiety and fear! Oh to live your life without anxiety and fear! The truth is that that’s not going to happen. There are too many thorns and thistles! This world is under a curse and besides, our old nature is a master at manufacturing worries even where there are none. While there are no bears in the attic closet (no skeletons either – in Jesus), there is a roaring Lion, prowling around seeking to devour us. There are dangers and disappointments that pursue us and death that awaits us. There is more than enough anxiety and fear to go around. But our Lord teaches us here not to be taken captive by any of it.

“Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” You are His treasure! His heart is set on you! Let your heart take comfort in Him. When you speak the invocation in daily prayer and as you make the sign of the cross (if that is your practice) remember God’s good pleasure in you through His washing of rebirth. He has not lost one drop of the ocean of love behind that blessed, cleansing flood!

When you pray “Our Father” this week, remember that Jesus prays with you. You are not praying to a neutral God. You are not praying to a fickle, moody God. You are not praying to some generic power or spirit of the universe or nature. And you are not praying alone. You are praying to the Father in heaven who spared not His Son but gave Him up for you. As you pray, Jesus also prays for you and with you in keeping with the Father’s will. And you know what His will for you is. “Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

In Him you go home today at peace with God. In Him you lay down in sleep tonight at peace with God. In Him you depart this life in peace even through the valley of the shadow of death. Thank God that in these last days He continues to speak to us by His Son. Amen.

10th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-08-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

TEXT: LUKE 12:13-21
YOUR LIFE CONSISTS IN THE RICHNESS OF GOD
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center: Grace to you and peace from God our Father (Col 1:2). But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: One of the five confirmed deaths in the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota was 60 years old and driving a newly purchased Mercedes Benz home from work. Her husband described it as her dream car. Her vocation involved marketing insurance and mutual funds, helping herself and others save and prepare for the future. It is an honorable and honest vocation. Her personal financial house would seem to have been in good order. Retirement was just ahead with much security and enjoyment to look forward to. But her earthly life ended in an instant when the pavement beneath her car simply gave way. A massive bridge of steel and concrete (the kind we drive on all the time) collapsed in seconds. In an unforeseen moment of time this terrible tragedy occurred. Because of that tragedy, the victims will never again participate in the provisions and plans of this passing world.

Today’s Gospel records two terrible tragedies in this passing world. The first was brothers fighting over their father’s inheritance. This caused Jesus to tell a parable of the second tragedy - a rich man who hoarded his wealth. The immediate background for Jesus’ teaching is dramatic. He had just taught a crowd of thousands that God heard all secret things they ever said (v.2,3). He taught them not to fear that which killed the body (like a collapsing bridge for instance) but the one who had authority to cast into hell (v.5). He taught that the one denying Him before men would be denied before the angels of God (v.9).

Right then, in light of Jesus’ teaching about eternity, a man in the crowd voiced this incredible request. “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” He only wanted his fair share of the family stuff. But Jesus’ response was swift and severe. “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Then Jesus told the parable of the rich fool.

The man in the parable was not a fool because he was rich. God had blessed him with riches. He was rather a fool because he wasn’t rich toward God. He stood on God’s ground in the midst of God’s harvest brought forth by God’s sunshine given growth by God’s rain and said, my barns, my grain, my goods, and my soul. He was rich in caring for himself and saving for his future. But he wasn’t rich toward God.

Let’s call him Ken. Ken worked hard and succeeded. Barns and fields as far as the eye could see. He invested wisely and kept a careful eye on the books. He knew that the future could be unpredictable, so retirement plans were systematically reviewed and updated. When he gave, he gave cautiously, always from his excess, after making certain of growth in equity and mutual funds and 401K’s. Ken had daily bread aplenty and even things in storage for a rainy day.

Still, God continued to shower him with blessings. A bumper crop, a bountiful harvest, produced mountains of new grain. His stomach was full. His barns were full. But not his covetous heart! “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.’

The church father, Ambrose, speaking on this text said that the rich man had plenty of storage space for his grain – in the mouths of the poor. But all the personal pronouns, the I(s) and my(s) in his own mouth didn’t allow room for the mouths of the poor. “I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But they weren’t really his goods and he really didn’t have many years left or even a few days for that matter. God said “Ken”, you idiot! You fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

All that stuff he worried about, that mountain of goods and grain he schemed to squirrel away, didn’t amount to a hill of beans for him. Perhaps he died alone with no surviving relatives. In that case whatever the government didn’t get its hands on might well pass to some distant deadbeat relative. Vanity of vanities! Or, maybe his estate planning was top notch for his wife and children and that is certainly not evil. But what a fatal attitude of accumulation to pass on to them! It was not the riches God blessed him with that were evil. The evil was in his covetous heart that was not rich toward God.

Was the answer that he should have put God first? No. Putting God first is not the answer. God isn’t first on a to-do list. God first, and all our other idols, second, third, and fourth! Rather, as St. Paul wrote to the Colossians, Christ is your life; Christ is all, and in all! God isn’t the first of many on an inventory of life. God is everything! He is the source of life, and the sustainer of life everyday. Christ is all, and in all! All things are created through Him! The grain and the goods and the fields and cattle and the barns and beautiful gifts of food and drink are gifts from the hand of God. Whether we recognize it or not, all that we have and hold for a brief time on this earth is God’s. Our money too!

It’s a gift from God, like grain and sunshine and it is not evil. It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil. And we can get very religious in our love for money. We can be more careful preparing our children for their first allowance than for their first communion. We can be more concerned about how they handle their money each week than how they handle the holy things of God each week. We can avoid teaching them what God says about returning to Him proportionately from what He gives to them. And He does give to them in birthday gifts and allowance and youthful jobs. After all, they’ll have to learn to pinch every penny if they’re going to get ahead. Also just by worry and an always-cautious example, we may rob them of the joy of spontaneous giving. Yes, we should be responsible with our wealth and also prayerfully plan our offering to God. No, we should not give in cool calculation that increases reluctantly while all the time we would rather build a bigger barn. For, God loves a cheerful, a hilarious giver!

Jesus’ conclusion was both condemning and comprehensive. It reaches right into this house of worship today. “‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one (that is anyone) who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Fellow-Redeemed, the rich fool will not be alone in hell. He will be in the company of Shorewood churchgoers who were possessed by their possessions, who richly blessed by God were not rich toward God.

The sin you see is primarily a sin of omission, not one of commission. It is not a sin to be wealthy. It is a sin not to be rich toward God. The sin involves dullness to God’s provision of daily bread and the Bread of Life. The sin involves coveting more of this world’s things, so that whatever our economic status, our pile must grow larger and larger. The sin involves cool calculation that puts the Gospel somewhere on a long list of other priorities. The sin is not that one would take action to diversify holdings or make sound investments for financial security in the future. The sin is letting concern for these bigger barns choke out richness toward God.

Are you being rich toward God? That question cannot be answered by looking at anyone else or by comparing with the average Missouri Synod giver. That question cannot be answered because the dollar figure of giving is in the hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. That question can be answered only by looking at what God richly gives you through Christ who is all and in all.

Are you being rich toward God? If you answer, yes, I’m rich toward God, we are reminded of the Pharisee who stood in the temple and thanked God he tithed from all that he received. From the time he was a teenager on up his giving was statistically rich, 10% rich. Yet, he did not go down to his house right with God.

Are you being rich toward God? Perhaps like me you answer no I’m not rich toward God as I should be. I do worry about money and bigger barns for me and my children, I do covet more things and sometimes envy what others possess, I do give reluctantly and not always cheerfully. Jesus words stand immovable, So is the one (anyone) who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

Does it not often seem as if all is vanity in our striving to be rich toward God? Are we not sorely tempted to turn about and give our hearts up to despair over such labors? Does it not seem as if fulfilling God’s will is a striving after the wind, a hot, withering, you’ll-never-measure-up wind?

Beloved, not for you who have been raised with Christ! You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God! Now that is rich indeed! Your giving also is hidden in the richness of Christ – really! You are freed to live as one who has nothing to lose, as one who is dead, because that’s what you are. You are dead to the world and alive in Christ. You have been buried with Him through baptism into death. Raised with Christ in the life of faith you have all the riches of heaven. You have wealth stored up for you that won’t rust or mold or get stolen. In Christ you have the ultimate retirement plan – eternal life with God and a seat at the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end. All of it comes to you as a gift from Jesus in water and word and bread and wine.

Beloved, because God holds you in His hand and will not let you go you are freed to loosen your grip on the passing things of this world. You are free to let go, free to use your stuff and not hoard it, free to give thanks for your wealth and enjoy it, free also to give a bit recklessly, free also to relax, eat, drink and be merry.

Remember the rich fool’s false delight? I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat drink, be merry.’ What he sought to give himself and couldn’t is Christ’s true delight to give you! The same Greek word for relax is exactly the word Jesus used to proclaim what he came to give you. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest (Mt. 11:28) that is, I will relax you and put you at ease before God forever and ever. I will provide a joyful, banquet feast where you will eat, drink and be merry without end.

That’s what Jesus worked for under the sun. His work for your redemption was not vanity of vanities, not a striving after the wind. It was a striving after your soul. When Christ toiled under the sun on the cross He left all he worked for to us who had not worked for it. It was our souls that He ransomed from the power of Sheol. It was our souls that He was teaching about when He was interrupted with a family squabble over dividing the wealth. His answer flowed from his gracious will to give us His inheritance.

And give it to you He has. Why is it that you believe all of your sin is washed away in His blood? Because God has bestowed His riches upon you in faith! In faith you go home today right with God. He is so recklessly rich in His love for you. You are therefore free to receive your stuff with the hand of faith not the death grip of coveting. You are free to give cheerfully, not grudgingly. You are free to give generously, to be rich toward God.

The ancient Greeks had a slogan like this: “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Since our life is hidden with Christ in God, we can do the Greeks one better. “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we live. Even when the bridges collapse, even when your heart stops beating here, even when you no longer have place in the provisions and the plans of this world – you live! God has made provision for you that won’t collapse and that won’t run out and that will never die.

St. Paul said it this way, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For, you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Amen.

9th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-08-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

Text: Luke 11:1-13
Vicar Gary Schultz

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

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray…”

The disciple’s request seems strange: “Lord, teach us to pray.” Who doesn’t know how to pray? These are the disciples we’re talking about. They’re Jesus’ closest companions. They’re with Him all the time. Surely they’ve seen Him pray before. After all, it’s not that hard. We certainly know how to pray, don’t we?

Or do we? Maybe the disciples’ request isn’t so strange after all. Although we often define prayer simply as “talking to God,” there’s still a lot of confusion about what prayer is or how it is to be done. I often get e-mails from well-intentioned people that claim to be about prayer. Usually, however, they are just messages that encourage people to slow down and enjoy earthly life to the fullest.

There’s a misunderstanding of prayer that says the longer or harder you pray, or the more people you get to pray for something, then God will surely have to answer the way we want Him to. “Prayer chains,” which can be used in good ways, can often fall into the trap of trying to force God to reach our conclusions.

One common misuse of prayer in this way might be pictured as a lifeguard on the beach. A child is drowning out in the lake. A person comes and tells the lifeguard. The lifeguard shrugs it off and doesn’t worry about it. Five more people come and tell the lifeguard about the drowning child. He does nothing. Finally, after ten people tell the lifeguard about the drowning child, the lifeguard says, “All right already. I’ll go save him.” This is complete nonsense, and it is even more ridiculous when prayer is treated this way – as though God is like this lifeguard and will only help when He’s been pestered enough.

Many Christians simply don’t know how to pray. Maybe it is because of our sinful nature, which works hard at keeping us from prayer. Maybe it is because of pervading Protestant American mindset about our need to pray harder – as though there are levels of prayer intensity. Maybe Roman Catholic ideas about praying to Mary or the saints don’t help our understanding of prayer. How often do I pray? How long do I pray for? What do I say? Where do I pray?

Jesus’ words in answer to the disciples are good news for us. He gives us the exact words to say and also instructs us how to form prayers for our own thanksgivings and requests. He shows us the willingness of our heavenly Father to hear and to receive our prayers in love, and His gracious giving of the Holy Spirit to us, to guide us in our prayer.

Jesus’ prayer teaches us about the corporate nature of prayer. We can only call God “Father” because we are clothed in Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. Today we witnessed God giving Lauren new life, clothing her with Christ, making her a member of His family. When we say, “Our Father” – as it is recorded in St. Matthew (6) – we acknowledge that we are praying together with Jesus and with all Christians in the catholic, universal faith. We are not praying with all people, because we only call God our Father through Christ. A non-Christian cannot pray the Our Father. But our prayer – even if done individually – is never private. It is always corporate. We are always praying together with Christ our brother and with all the saints.

Prayer always starts with God’s word. The phrases Jesus speaks in the petitions of His prayer are framed in the language of the psalms. Our petitions of thanksgiving and requests, our joys and our cries, are done in the context of hearing God’s word and receiving His gifts. Prayer is offered in the context of the Divine Service. Having been fed and taught by Christ, we respond in prayer and praise. “Prayer is the voice of faith which claims the promises of God’s Word through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Bender).

“Lord, teach us to pray.” Pray the words Jesus has taught. The Our Father is always a staple of prayer. It can never be worn out. It’s depth and richness cover a lifetime of learning and praying. It is sure and certain and gives us just what we need to say in asking for forgiveness and deliverance from temptation and evil of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature.

Pray the words God has given us to speak to Him. The psalms and canticles and other words of Scripture are to be used in prayer in order that these petitions are pleasing to Our Father in heaven and are heard by him. The Psalms are the very prayers Jesus Himself prays, together with all the saints. They are the prayer book of the Bible.

Pray the liturgy of the church. The church’s prayers that we pray each week are called Collects because they are prayed together – collectively – by the church. The church’s prayers of Matins and Vespers and Compline – Morning and Evening and Nighttime Prayer – are beautiful orders that provide a framework for putting your own petitions, needs, concerns, sufferings, complaints, and thanksgivings in the language of the Bible. And the church’s prayer offices connect you together with Christians from every time and place.

If your daily prayer life is non-existent, or you’re never sure exactly how or what to pray, I would invite you this week to start in this way: List the petitions that you have for concerns and thanksgivings for friends, family, the church, and the world. Begin with praying a Psalm out loud. The lectionary appoints Psalm 138 to be used this week. Then pray the Our Father, and conclude with the Collect for this week as found in the bulletin. In this way, you can unite your concerns together in a simple discipline of prayer that is anchored in God’s word.

The willingness of God our Father to hear our prayer is shown in Jesus’ parable about the midnight guest. Even a person who cares little or nothing about his neighbor’s dilemma in hosting an unexpected guest will help out because of his neighbor’s bold pestering, just to get it taken care of and get back to bed. But our Father in heaven is able and willing and desirous to hear and receive our prayers at all times.

Our Father in heaven is the source of all goodness and blessing in our lives. Any parent or guardian knows that they are to give good things to those entrusted to their care. But Our Father’s promised care is infinitely greater as He provides for all our needs and gives His Holy Spirit to those who ask. His invitation to us to ask, seek, and knock are comforting promises of the Gospel which teach us to rely upon what He has promised us in Christ.

In today’s Old Testament, Abraham pleaded for mercy for ten people that the Lord would not destroy Sodom. Ten righteous people were not found, but God delivered Abraham’s family from the destruction. In Christ, who pleads for us, we are delivered through Him, the truly Righteous One. He was not spared, but gave Himself up on the cross in order that we might be made righteous.

When we falter in our regular prayer, we flee to Christ, who prayed with His arms outstretched on the cross: “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” (Ps 31:5; Lk 24:46). Our life being joined to Christ, we have peace in that he has forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands and now is sitting in Ascended Triumph at the right hand of the Father – there to intercede on our behalf.

“Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus’ prayer tenderly invites us to believe that God is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father. Our life in Christ unites us to Him who prays for us. Amen.

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

7th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-07-16T18:28:00.000-05:00

Text: Luke 10:25-37
IN MERCY AND UNDESERVED LOVE THE GOOD SAMARITAN PAYS IT ALL!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

To the saints at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what do you think of lawyers? In polls sampling respect for this legal profession, positive responses often rise to only about 20%. Part of that negative perspective would seem to be unjustified, for lawyers are trained to look for loopholes. They are skilled at asking questions that stretch a boundary line or limit a requirement. If there is a grey area, a way out, an explanation that favors them or their client, they are supposed to find it. Sometimes this helps the innocent. Sometimes it aids the guilty.

The lawyer in our text had asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. In response Jesus asked him what was written in the law. The lawyer summarized – to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus answered “Do this, and you will live.” Shadowing that statement was its unspoken opposite, “Don’t do this and you will die.” That is, fail in the least bit in loving God or in loving and caring for your neighbor and you will forfeit eternal life. The lawyer understood the crushing weight of expectation in “do this and you will live.” Desiring to justify himself he then asked, “Who is my neighbor?”

It was a smart, lawyerly question, a limiting question, a loophole question. Behind it, in the shadows, lurked another unspoken question, “Who is not my neighbor?” that is, “Whom can I exclude?” In the oppressive requirement of God’s law that I love others like I love myself, that is that I help and support them in every physical need, that I love them with every fiber of my being; where is the grey area? With such a total demand, one could get hurt; one could be emptied of resources in a flash, one could get sued. Surely you cannot mean there are no limits on this demand to love!

“Who is my neighbor?” or from the reverse angle, “Who is not my neighbor?” Could a problem family member possibly be left out? Could persons of another skin color be excluded? Could those of another religion be subtracted? - in our day, perhaps Muslims. What is the extent of this required, extraordinary self-giving love?

To narrow the definition of one’s neighbor before God is to weasel out. It is what sin always wants to do. Sin tries to make self look bigger by making God’s law look smaller. Sin always looks for loopholes in what God commands just like this razor-sharp lawyer was attempting to save face concerning the command to love. “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus didn’t answer his question directly. It was a law question loaded with false expectations. Instead, Jesus answered by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. In so doing, Jesus gave a Gospel answer.

We know this parable, at least we should! Rightly understood it is a beautifully rich story. It condenses much of what God would have us know about ourselves and His mercy. It pictures both God’s mercy to us in Christ and the mercy God would have us extend to our neighbor in His name.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is portrayed by one of our green banners for the Pentecost season. The scene it depicts is full of the comfort and compassion of Christ. In a very deep sense, this parable conveys how Christ provided for us on the cross. It also conveys how Christ continues to provide for us in this place, the inn of His church until He returns on the last day. It also conveys the merciful love we are to show one another and others in Christ.

As the lawyer listened, he heard of robbers who stripped and beat and left a man half-dead. These robbers point to sins of commission in human relationships, violent crimes, dishonest deals, greedy moves, taking vengeance, bearing grudges, taking from others and accumulating for ourselves. As the lawyer continued to listen, religious people were then described as ignoring the wounded half-dead man. They were church people, like a pastor and the congregational chairman or the head of the elders in our day. The Priest and Levite point to sins of omission in human relationships; playing it safe, keeping our religious distance, ignoring those in need.

After telling the parable Jesus asked his own question of the lawyer, “Which of these three…proved to be neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “the one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, You go, and do likewise.” You go and do like this Samaritan who befriended a racial and religious enemy. You go and do like this Samaritan who loved with no limits. You go and do like this Samaritan who paid all that was needed into the future.

Dear Christians, not everyone proved to be neighbor to the man in the ditch. In fact, only one did! When there are no limits as to who our neighbor is in this dying world and when there are no limits as to the perfect love and healing gifts that are to be given to them, only one man fills the bill! The Good Samaritan is a small reflection of the merciful actions of Jesus Christ.

Just like the Samaritan, Jesus was despised and rejected by men and hated by the world. He was once called a Samaritan as an insult by the religious leaders (John 8:48). Just like the Samaritan Jesus stooped down to help those who were helpless – that is us. We are the ones on the side of the road. We are those who have fallen into the hands of the master thief and robber – Satan. We have been stripped of innocence, beaten down and left half dead, physically alive but spiritually dead. Just like the Samaritan, Jesus had the means, the provisions, to clean our wounds and bind up our brokenness. Just like the Samaritan, Jesus helped us helpless ones at His own expense, even when the cost was His own life- blood on the cross. Just like the Samaritan Jesus is the ideal picture of compassion. In fact, the Greek word translated “compassion” in our text is used of no one else in the gospels. It is used in two other parables of the character portraying God, and in real life, only of Jesus. Like a magnet, the godly compassion of the despised Samaritan draws our attention to the godly compassion of the despised man speaking this parable.

The early church recognized this in its use of our text. So did Dr. Martin Luther. He wrote that this Samaritan of course is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This understanding is important to remember in our day. For the world sees in this parable primarily a religion of effort and morality. The world thinks Jesus is simply telling us here to be nice to one another. Our society routinely uses the title “Good Samaritan” for anyone who goes out of their way to help another. And we should be thankful whenever such acts of kindness occur.

But make no mistake about it, the lawyer asking this question was a “Good Samaritan” in this worldly way. Steeped in the law, he was a generous giver. Steeped in the law he knew how to help his family and his neighbor in need. He would have won the good neighbor award in Shorewood. Steeped in the law, he wanted in the worst way to get it right. That’s ultimately why he wanted to pin down just how extensive his commitment to love really was. “And who is my neighbor?”

But remember the question that moved Jesus to speak the parable in the first place. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ answer showed that no one can earn it, not even an expert in the law. No one loves God with His whole heart and mind and soul and strength. No one loves his neighbor as himself. No one except the Good Samaritan, that is.

Jesus lovingly cut the lawyer down to size and in so doing, us as well. We all fall short of God’s glory. The ditch into which we have fallen is as dark as death and as deep as hell. We are the broken and bleeding ones. The Priest and the Levite, two figures of the law offer us no help for by deeds of the law no one is justified (Rom. 3:20). No one can “God Samaritan” themselves into heaven. It is hard to shake the notion that we will receive eternal life because, after all, we’re pretty good people and we do help others. So Jesus hammers away at the stubborn sin of self-righteousness.

The lawyers question was “And who is my neighbor?” that is, “Whom must I love?” Jesus answer is “Which of the three… proved to be neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” or “Who has loved?” Beloved, the answer is Jesus! Jesus has proved to be neighbor to you! He has loved you longer than you have loved yourself. He loves you as He loves Himself - perfectly. He didn’t pass by on the other side. He remembered us in our low estate. He rescued us from our foes.

While you can do nothing to inherit eternal life, He has freely stooped down to bestow the inheritance of eternal life on you. “He has caused you to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” (I Peter 1:3, 4).

He gave you that inheritance when He poured the oil of His grace into your wounds in Holy Baptism. He continues to give you that inheritance as He pours out for you the wine of His blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. Whatever wounds sin and Satan have inflicted, “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses you from all sin”.

Jesus is your neighbor. He has delivered you from the domain of darkness. This place, His gathered Church, is an inn of rest and recovery to which He has transferred you. He has paid for everything to continue your healing and your care. He comes even now to give you the rest and refreshment of His forgiveness until he comes again to take you to Himself.

In the meantime you go and do likewise. You bear fruit in every good work. God cares for the poor and the deaf and the blind. He bids us to see Him in the suffering humanity around us, Christ in disguise, Christ hidden in weakness and want. He has clothed you with Himself and freed you to be neighbor to those around you. As you see Him as the merciful Good Samaritan, so He sees you there in the same way, as a channel of His compassion.

“Lord Jesus Christ, in Your deep compassion You rescue us from whatever may hurt us. Teach us to love You above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.

5th Sunday after Pentecost

2007-07-16T18:15:00.000-05:00

Pastor Kenneth Wieting’s 25th Anniversary of Ordination
Text: 1 Kings 19, 9b-10
Rev. Dr. Edwin S. Suelflow

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“The word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ So he said: ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.’”

In the name of Jesus, fellow Redeemed:

Talk about a discouraged preacher. Elijah, the great prophet of God, was totally depressed - in fact, he wanted to die: “It’s enough now, O Lord, take away my life.”

Kind of a surprising attitude for a man of God.

Remember what happened? Elijah had challenged the prophets of Baal – here are two bulls, he told them, one for you and one for me. We will each build an altar, place a bull on it as a sacrifice, and then we will call on the name of our God to send fire to consume the sacrificial animal. Which ever God will do this, will he hailed as the true God. The prophets of Baal accepted the challenge. They went first – built their altar, put the sacrificial bull in place, and cried out: “O Baal, hear us!” Nothing happened.

When it got to be noon time, Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal: “You will have to shout louder to get the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking with someone - he’s busy - or maybe he is away on a trip - or is asleep and needs to be awakened.” So the prophets of Baal shouted louder, cut themselves with knives, ranted and raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice. But nothing happened - there was no answer - Baal sent no fire to consume the sacrifice.

Then it was Elijah’s turn. He called to the people to watch as he built his altar, and dug a trench around it, and had the people bring 4 barrels of water to pour over the wood and the sacrificial animal, and fill the trench surrounding the altar. Then he prayed: “O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that You are God and that You have brought them back to Yourself.”

No sooner had he finished praying when fire flashed down from heaven. It burned up the sacrificial bull, the wood, the stones of the altar, including the water in the trench surrounding the altar. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces and shouted: “Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!”

Following this display of almighty power, Elijah told the people to destroy all the prophets of Baal - not a single one was to escape. How could the prophet be so depressed after such a public display of God’s power?

Queen Jezebel - notorious Queen Jezebel. When she heard that all the prophets of Baal had been killed, she was furious, and sent a message to Elijah: “You killed my prophets, and now I swear to the gods that I am going to kill you by this time tomorrow night.”

Now what? Elijah did the human thing - he ran away - traveled into the desert by himself until exhausted, he fell asleep under a juniper tree. But God still had work for His prophet. He provided bread and water to
sustain Elijah, as he continued to travel, coming eventually to Mt. Horeb, where Elijah hid in a cave.

It was here that the Lord came and asked: “Elijah, what are you doing here?” Oh, Elijah had an answer: “I’ve worked so hard for You, Lord, but the prophets of Israel have broken their covenant with You ands torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets, and only I am left, and now they are trying to kill me.”

It is said that of all the forms of pity, self-pity is the worst.

Now the Lord put it to Elijah - told him come out of the cave and watch. First there was a wind, so strong that it tore some rocks from the mountain side; then there was an earthquake; then fire passed by the entrance to the cave. After these phenomena of nature, the Scriptures relate: “But the Lord was not in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire.” And then, after the fire had passed by, there came a still, small voice - the voice of the Lord directing Elijah in further service as God’s prophet - a simple reminder - Elijah, the burden of your ministry is to preach My Word - preach My Word.

After the incident in the cave, Elijah continued his ministry, relying on the instruction God had communicated to him. He anointed Hazael as king over Syria, he anointed Jehu as king over Israel, and he anointed Elisha as prophet to be his successor.

In the liturgy of the Church God is communicating with us in His ordered way, through His Word appointed to be read at the divine service. This is to be the focus, the center of attention, even when a special observance takes place during the service. The Word of God you heard today, relating the incident from the life of Elijah, finds application in your observance of Pastor Wieting’s ordination.

God told Elijah - follow, obey, preach My Word - I will give specific
instructions.

At his ordination, Pastor Wieting received specific instructions for his public ministry in the Church from the Word of God. These words of instruction came from the Lord Jesus Himself. As He commented on His suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus said: “Repentance and remission of sins is to be preached in My name to all nations.” What He told His disciples, applies to all Pastors - “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The Apostle Paul, writing to young Pastor Timothy, adds to the list of instructions: “Preach the Word!...convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” And to the Romans, Paul gave his own confession about the ministry: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes.” This is the burden of ministry for every faithful Pastor - preach the Word concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, carrying out God’s plan for the salvation of the world; announce the absolution, in public and in private, to those who come asking forgiveness in the name of Jesus; celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood at every divine service - the assurance that as we eat His body and drink His blood we have full forgiveness for all our sins. Remember the parable of the Great Supper where the servants were asked to go out ands invite the folks in the highways and the byways to come to the feast? The invitation was: “Come, for all things are ready.” The preparations for the feast before God’s throne were completed when Jesus announced from the cross: “It is finished.” Every faithful Pastor, on the basis of God’s Word, invites the folks to come and share in the salvation Christ has earned. He does what an older Pastor reminded me to do: just tell your people about Jesus.

It’s really quite simple. The power to build the church of Jesus Christ lies in the word of God; the power to save souls for the eternal life lies with the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God and the Sacraments. The faithful Pastor will continue to preach the Word and leave the results to God. For the Holy Spirit of God works through the Word of God, when and where it pleases Him.

Elijah felt he was all alone in the church, that his preaching was not producing results. But the Lord revealed to him that were still 7.000 faithful in Israel who did not bow the knee to Baal. In the church today people are enamored with numbers - the larger the congregation, the more successful the Pastor - so the folks in the church growth movement tell us. The smaller congregations must not be doing it right, otherwise they would grow. Elijah had to learn this, and we need to remind ourselves of the criteria the Lord uses in His Church. God tells us: “It is required in stewards - or Pastors - that a man be found faithful” - God doesn’t say a Pastor must have charisma, or be a great orator, or act like a CEO in the congregation - God says: be faithful stewards of the mysteries of My grace - My Word and the Sacraments.

By the grace of God, Pastor Wieting has had the privilege of serving as a minister in the church of Jesus Christ for nigh unto 25 years. Does he ever get depressed, or disappointed, or weary in his work, as Elijah did? He is human, like the rest of us, standing in constant need of God’s Word to sustain and strengthen him. And from personal experience he can attest to the power of God’s Word to sustain and comfort in time of bereavement and in time of personal illness.

And even as we recognize Pastor Wieting’s faithful service to the church, we recognize also the role played by his faithful help-meet, Barbara. She, too, is a gift of God to her husband and to her family.

In closing I would take the words of St. Paul, the closing verse of the great resurrection chapter in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15, and make them personal: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

6th Sunday of Easter

2007-05-22T05:06:00.000-05:00

Text: John 16:23-33
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before His throne (that is the Holy Spirit) and from Jesus Christ, the first born from the dead.

“I have said these things to you that you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Dear hearers of the Word: in the world’s eyes, your pastor is a moron! By the world, I mean the natural reason of unbelieving man. By the world I mean the philosophies of mankind – both academic wisdom and backyard common sense apart from Christ. St. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth “the word of the cross is folly (Greek – moronic) to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” In the world’s eyes your pastor is a moron. But then so are you!

This is not just because you believe in God. Many people believe in a higher power of some kind. Spiritual experiences, hope that their might be something better than life and death on earth – these do not automatically merit the label of “foolish” from the world. Whether it might be the spirit of nature or your inner being or some angelic or star-powered force – who knows? But, if you confess faith in the one Man Jesus Christ and His work of redemption on the cross, that is seen as foolish (moronic) by this dying world.

Jesus said, “…the Father loves you, because you loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” This one man came from God the Father – equal with the Father! It was now Holy Week. In a little while – a few short hours – He would be hidden from the eyes of His disciples in the darkness of the tomb. They would not see Him! Then, in a little while, on the third day, they would see Him. Their hearts would be full of joy as the risen Christ taught them and fed them again. Then, in a little while, forty days more, His Ascension would remove from them His visible, presence. They would not see Him. Yet, in this “little while” until He comes again, He continues with us more then ever through the Holy Spirit. We live by faith, not by sight until we see Him face to face.

How foolish this sounds to an unbelieving world and to our hearts by nature. Jesus keeps talking about Himself as if He is the key to everything! Jesus keeps talking about His person and work as if He makes things right for us with the Father. Jesus keeps talking about things we cannot see as if He gives peace and purpose for what we do see in this troubled world. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. Either He is a proud and misguided man or He is the marvelous Prince of Peace and Savior of the world. What He cannot be fashioned into is nonetheless the most popular Jesus today - a religious nice guy suitable for blending with this world’s idols.

Even the disciples at this crucial hour had misguided thoughts about what He should do. “I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” The disciples thought that they finally understood. “…now you are speaking plainly…they said, we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Years of teaching, hours of praying, multitudes of healings, magnificent miracles on land and sea, yet now they will all leave Him. The hour has come when they will be scattered. Such is the strength of the sinful disciples. Such is our unaided strength as well!

No more than had Jesus predicted their failings, however, than He also made the most astounding claim about His faithfulness. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” The Greek word for tribulation means to be pressed in on, to be squeezed in a narrow place. It includes persecution (I Thess 1:6) and derision (Heb. 10:33) and poverty (Rev. 2:9) and inner sorrow (Phil 1:17) and anxiety and fear (II Cor. 7:5). In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart… The Greek word for take heart means to be bold and of good courage. To the man sick with palsy, to the woman with the flow of blood, to the disciples in a sinking, storm-tossed boat Jesus said “take heart”. Then He acted to heal them and save them! Take heart; I have overcome the world. The Greek word for “overcome” is abstracted from the Greek goddess “Nik-a”. It is the word now used for marketing “Nike” shoes and sports equipment. Those who wear them are winners – so the advertisement says. The New Testament uses this word to proclaim Jesus’ complete victory over sin and death and the devil. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

How foolish that claim seems to the naked eye! Jesus asserts victory just hours before His shameful and brutal crucifixion. I have overcome the world! I, Jesus, who will soon be bound and led away! I, Jesus, who will soon be abandoned by all of you! I, Jesus, who will be humbled to death on a cross and my body placed in the tomb. I have overcome the world! We see again, dear Christians, that there is no doubt in heaven about what will occur on Good Friday and Easter morning! This is the very reason He came from the Father for us.

The world is unbelieving! The world is dying! The world is hostile to Christ and His Church! In open derision or unspoken elitist pity, the world views Christ’s exclusive claims as moronic and us as morons for believing in Him. Therefore the world will put His disciples through all manner of tribulation. The unbelieving world will put you through the same. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world.

Do you believe this? On the sixth Sunday of Easter, 2007, do you see the triumph you have today in Christ? On a day when our society celebrates mothers, do you see the incomparable gift you have received through your mother, the Church? We can scarcely understand the blessings we receive from our earthly mothers? From the knitting together of our bodies in the womb, to years of tender care, to needed correction and ongoing counsel, how they love us! What gifts we receive in this way! Concerning mothers, more than any other reason we should thank God for their encouragement to receive the gifts of the risen Christ. We should praise God chiefly for their part in bringing us to our mother, the Church, for through the Lamb, the Church receives life eternal.

“Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Her radiance is like a most rare jewel – the holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. So fully does she participate in the triumph of Christ over the world that in eternity she has no need of sun or moon – the Lamb gives it light. By God’s grace through our mother, the Church, we are born again in the washing of rebirth. This is not life or light that we can work our way into. Nor is it life or light that the love of our earthly mothers can bestow upon us.

The church Fathers anciently said that no one has God as their Father who does not have the church as their mother. Thus, among all the tribulations and weaknesses and faults of the Bride of Christ, this is where we receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

The human eye is never sharp enough to discern between genuine and apparent victory. God’s victory should be recognized by all, but it is not acknowledged. Rather, human hearts seek refuge in self-delusion. Thus the Greek, when faced by the ultimate threat to existence was taught to draw courage and take heart from what lies within him or herself. Not so with you Bride of Christ. You are to take heart in Christ. Beloved, you are in the hands of the victor over the cosmos. Heaven and earth will pass away but His words will never pass away.

Every tribulation that we will encounter in this passing world is anchored in death, the wages of sin. Whether it is persecution or derision or pain or depression, all of the pressures of this life come from the last enemy. We sang in the Introit, My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. If it weren’t for our sin and God’s curse against it we would not have tribulation.

That’s why Jesus became a curse for us - to unlock the door to the Father’s heart. That’s also why He gives us a sweeping invitation to use His gift of prayer to call upon the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Fathers and mothers and children – be encouraged in the use of this gift! Parents pray for your children and children pray for your parents in Jesus’ name.

To pray in Jesus’ name does not mean to ask for anything you want with the tag line “in Jesus’ name.” This is not a “name it and claim it” promise. To pray in Jesus’ name means to pray with faith in what He has done to save you. For the name “Jesus” literally means “The Lord saves”. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are asking the Father for all of the saving gifts that are given us in the name that is above every name. Such prayer is shaped by God’s Word. Such prayer is offered in faith which asks “Thy will be done” not “My will be done”. God’s will for you in Christ is so good and gracious and grand. Ask and receive that your joy may be full. I have overcome the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ after a little while of tribulation there is an eternity of peace and pleasure awaiting you. Pray with boldness in Him who is the risen Conqueror, who has given you His victory. Believe him when He says, Ask and receive that your joy may be full. Whatever tribulation presses in on you today believe Him who says, “Take heart; I have overcome the world”.

Each week in the Liturgy and again today, He says it to you this way, “Lift up your hearts”. You are right to say, “We lift them to the Lord”. He who has blessed you from your mother’s arms with beautiful gifts of daily bread is here to bless you as the Bread of Life. You are never foolish to love Him and believe that He brings you the Father’s love. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; Amen.

5th Sunday of Easter

2007-05-22T05:03:00.000-05:00

Text: John 16:12-22
Vicar Gary Schultz

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

So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus said to them… “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

We do not know what he is talking about. Here Jesus’ disciples don’t convey much hope or confidence for us. They’ve been with Him daily, hearing Him as He teaches and seeing the works that He does. But when Jesus tells them: A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me, they are confused. If His own disciples didn’t get it, how are we, who didn’t get to walk and talk with Jesus, going to understand?

St. John records these words of Our Lord not long before the betrayal and arrest of Jesus in the garden. In effect, Jesus says: A little while, and you will not see me as I die on the cross and leave this world. A little while, and you will not see me as my body rests in the tomb and I descend into hell.

There was great disappointment and sorrow among the disciples and other followers of Jesus at His death. They thought that all was lost. Their hopes for Jesus to establish a great earthly kingdom and restore the nation of Israel were over. But after a little while, on the third day, Jesus brought joy to them all as He rose triumphant to stand before them to bring peace and comfort in His new creation. After a little while, a three day rest in the tomb, they saw Him again.

A little while longer, and Jesus would ascend into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. A little while longer, and He would be seen again as He poured out His Spirit upon the apostles at Pentecost. The joy Christ speaks about in today’s Gospel is reflected in the early church as Peter reports of the glorifying of God because He has granted to the Gentiles repentance that leads to life. Christ’s presence through the church led to joy that no one could take away. After a little while more, Jesus promised to return again to the earth to judge the living and the dead at the Last Day.

We are in the time of the little while of not seeing Him. To us, this “little while,” going on 2000 years, seems like a lot more than a little. But Our Lord is working on His time, not ours, and He has things under control in ways that we cannot see.

Jesus says: “So also you have sorrow now.” There is sorrow now in this life on earth. There is war throughout the world. There is violence in our communities. There is unexpected murder of 32 students on a college campus. There is sickness and injury among ourselves, our friends, and our family members. There is depression and sadness. Jesus expressed that there will be sorrow now, during the little while that He is not seen. That’s the result of Satan, the prince of this world, working temptation and sin and evil in the world. There was sorrow at the sight of the dying Jesus enduring suffering on the cross. There was sorrow over the fact that the Lord was dead. But after a little while, He appeared again in victory to bring joy. And for us, after a little while, our brief life on this earth, we will be with Christ in heaven, as He says: But I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

The sorrow from the sadness and sin of this world, contrasted with the joy of the life of the world to come does not mean that we must resolve to be sad and destitute for all the days of our earthly life. We also have joy now, even in the midst of the hardships and trials and problems of this life. That’s because in our baptism into Christ, we already have the guaranteed inheritance of eternal life in heaven. That gives us hope now for our new life in Christ. Dear Christians, you have been washed of your sins. Whatever the devil, the world, and our sinful nature throw at us, our hearts still rejoice at the peace that comes from new life in Christ.

This little while of not seeing Christ does not indicate His absence from us. His 40-day appearance on earth before His ascension into heaven does not mean that now He has abandoned us for a little while. Your washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit has brought you into His family, made you an heir of Our Father, so that with all boldness and confidence you may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.

Though we don’t see Him walking about, He is still bodily and physically present with us as He serves us in the Sacrament of the Altar. That’s why we can sing of the Sacrament:

Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen;
Here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon Thee lean.
Feast after feast thus comes and passes by,
Yet, passing, points to that glad feast above,
Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
The Lamb’s great marriage feast of bliss and love.
(LSB 631:1, 7)

At the Lord’s Table, we are just as close to Our Lord as the disciples who stood with Him, discussing what He was talking about. At the Lord’s Table, we are sustained for our little while of sorrow on this earth, before we rejoice in the perfect rest with Christ in heaven. At the Lord’s Table, we are together with Him and all His saints, rejoicing in the salvation won by the Lamb who was slain and now reigns for us in heaven.

It is a unique custom of the Lutheran church to sing the Song of Simeon after the reception of Holy Communion: “Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” We come into the same presence of Christ as Simeon did as He held the infant Jesus in his arms. And His presence gives us joy that no one will take from away. Joy among sickness. Joy among heartache. Joy among distress.

After a little while, we will be joined together with Our Lord in the heavenly Jerusalem where there will be no more mourning nor crying nor pain anymore. There we will be together forever. After a little while, Our Lord will come and bring about the new heaven and the new earth at the Last Day. Then we and all the saints will no longer wait for a little while, but we will see for ourselves the Victor saying: “Behold, I am making all things new… I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Amen.

4th Sunday of Easter

2007-05-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

Text: John 10:22-30
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne (that is the Holy Spirit) and from Jesus Christ, the first born from the dead.

Martin Luther once wrote that even a seven year old child knows what the church is – “sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd”. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Dear hearers of the word, we go down this sheep trail every year at this time in the Church seasons. The gracious provision of Jesus as the Good Shepherd flows directly from the glaring problems of His sheep. As we have considered in years past, there is good reason that no athletic team in this community names itself the Shorewood Sheep.

You have heard from this pulpit that sheep are stubborn, high-maintenance animals. They are prone to straying, inclined to snack on poisonous weeds and drink from polluted water. They are quick to butt heads with fellow members of the flock. They are defenseless against predators. They are in constant danger of going along with the culture, that is, with the momentary instincts of the flock.

Not long ago (July 23, 2005) World Magazine carried the account of a stampede in Gevas, Turkey. Shepherds did not know what to do when the flock began to follow one sheep that turned away from grazing and leapt off a cliff to its death. Ignoring the voices of their shepherds and their efforts to stop them other sheep took the plunge. 10 then 20 then 100 sheep went over the edge then 200 then 500 then 1000 and still they kept coming. In all over 1500 sheep followed one another over the edge. As they fell they created a wooly mound in the narrow ravine below. As the pile grew larger the mass of animals provided enough padding to absorb the shock of late leapers. Nonetheless, the death of nearly one third of the flock in a matter of minutes was a painful economic loss in that poor town of Eastern Turkey.

Dear Christians, sheep are sheep! Dear Christians, we are sheep! Of all the animals in the world, sheep is the predominant figure that God uses in Scripture to picture us. The prophet Isaiah said it this way, We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (Is 53:6). To say, “The Lord is my Shepherd” and to confess that Jesus is the Good Shepherd means that we are sheep. We are “the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand” – stubborn, straying, high-maintenance, easily misled, ornery sheep.

That is why St. Paul expressed the work of pastoral office in this way to the pastors at Ephesus, Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock…I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them (Acts 20:17-35). How easily we sheep follow after other voices than the voice of Christ. We’re tempted to snack on any tasty weed, no matter how poisonous it might be.

Look at all the religions and philosophies popping up around us today. Some are just reruns of ancient pagan beliefs dressed up in new-age garb. Others are more recent inventions. But all of them have one thing in common. The god you seek is ultimately in you and you are not a sheep in need of a Savior and Shepherd. If you want to find the divine, look within by meditation or by communing with nature or by dreaming on the stars. Never mind the cross and open tomb of Jesus Christ. The truth is viewed as yours to find in your own experience.

But remember what Jesus said, “Out of the heart comes murder, adultery, theft, lies, slander.” Remember what St. Paul wrote, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing.” If we don’t understand ourselves as on-the-edge-of-disaster sheep, then we won’t trust Jesus as our nothing-can-separate-you-from-Me Shepherd.

That alone which sets the Christian faith apart from the philosophies of this world and the spiritual imagination of man is Jesus – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That’s what saves us dying sheep in this world of sin and death – not our doing nice things, not our feeling religious, not our bodily exercise, not our getting close to any created thing in reflection and rumination.

The Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ tell us plainly.” They knew His claims to be equal with God, to be the eternal “I AM” (John 5:18; 8:58). They knew His miracles of healing and feeding. Yet they continued to accuse Him of being unclear. They continued to ask questions He had already answered. Jesus answered them again, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.

We also like to accuse Christ of being unclear in what He has revealed – perhaps not in direct protest but in lingering questions and recurring doubts. Our ears are easily tickled by other voices than that of the Good Shepherd. A charismatic college professor jumps off the cliff of eastern mysticism or secular humanism and students follow his voice like sheep. The voices of celebrities or fun-loving, have-it-together peers promise freedom and fulfillment apart from the full counsel of God. Many follow them over the cliff. Only years later, does the imprisoning emptiness of their choices become evident. Voices, voices, voices – sweet voices, seductive voices, serious voices, sincere voices, spiritual voices, self-generated voices. We are often influenced by voices without even knowing how much we are listening.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” What pure and pointed Gospel! Twice were are told we cannot be plucked out of God’s hand because of the tender care of the Good Shepherd for us, His sheep.

Yet, what of the one perfect sheep? He who from eternity was God our shepherd, became the Lamb of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He has two natures. He is both Shepherd and sheep. As the Lamb of God, He laid down His life in sacrificial payment for our sins. . “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” Isaiah wrote, but He didn’t stop there, “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:9). He was crushed for our iniquities.

While nothing can pluck God’s sheep out of His hand, the white hot center of the Gospel lies in the one exception to the rule. At His crucifixion, the perfect sheep, the Lamb of God was severed from, cut off from, forsaken by the Father (Mt. 27:46). That divide is more commonly called “hell”.

“I and the Father are one” Jesus said. That means their hand is one as well, a hand you cannot be snatched out of. Yet there was a gracious tearing apart, a profound mystery of mercy when Jesus was plucked out of the Father’s hand, when Jesus and the Father were not one on the cross. The Father did not die for you there. The Father was not damned for you there. But the Son was! Therefore you are now one with God and no one is able to pluck you out of the Father’s hand.

The voice of the Good Shepherd is the comforting voice that makes you lie down in the still waters of your baptism. The voice of the Good Shepherd is the inviting voice of the one who prepares a table before you today in the presence of your enemies. My sheep hear my voice…I give them eternal life.. He does not say “I gave them eternal life” as if He’s finished with the giving. Rather, He says, I give them”, that is, I am continually giving them eternal life and they are continually receiving it. That’s why He comes into our midst again today. That’s what hearing the voice and receiving the food of the Good Shepherd is all about.

The time is coming when there will be no voices seeking to pull you away from the loving care of the Good Shepherd, but that time is not yet. The time is coming when you will be out of the tribulation of this life. But that time is not yet. The time is coming when He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. But that time is not yet.

The time has already come, however when the Good Shepherd has washed your robes and made them white in His blood, the blood of the Lamb of God. You are part of His flock and to you He says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Amen.

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

3rd Sunday of Easter

2007-05-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Text: John 21:1-19
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne (that is the Holy Spirit), and from Jesus Christ…the first born from the dead (Rev. 1:4). Dear Hearers of the Word:

IT IS THE LORD! He is the one who died and behold is alive forevermore! He is the living one! He is the one the disciples saw on the shore of the lake. He reinstated Peter with the words, “Feed my sheep”. IT IS THE LORD! St. Paul was struck down by Him on the road to Damascus and raised to new life in holy baptism. St. John saw Him in the revelation received on the Island of Patmos…Weep no more; he was told, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, who are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Dear Christians, IT IS THE LORD! The risen Christ is alive and well! His resurrection has changed all things! In the book of Revelation, the entirety of His person and work is flashed before our eyes. The slaughtered but now standing lamb (that is, the true man sacrificed for the sins of the world) with seven horns and seven eyes (that is, this man is true God who is all powerful and all knowing) can open the scroll (that is He controls the future). IT IS THE LORD! His resurrection has changed all things! His resurrection makes our lives new and full of hope!

Then why does everything still seem the same? Why are thousands starving in Africa? Why for some fifteen years have terrorists been attacking our country? Why are the lives of millions of babies snuffed out in the womb? Why is our culture decaying? Why are 32 students killed by one man on a college campus? If the resurrection of Jesus changes all things, then why is everything still the same?

Why do disappointment and depression and despair and death and destruction continue on and on? Why is it that we all know that more bad news will come and that more senseless tragedies will happen? Why is it that we sometimes grow numb with our own struggles in daily life?
Perhaps the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus really hasn’t changed anything. Take the disciples on the lake. Why are they still fishing for fish? Why have they gone back to their former vocation as if nothing has really changed? They had seen the risen Christ. He had absolved them saying “Peace be with you”. He had commissioned them as His apostles’ to forgive sins. Why were they out all night on the lake doing the same thing they had done all their lives?

We could ask the same of ourselves? Why do we sometimes go about our vocations without the conviction that everything has changed due to Christ’s resurrection? Why do we so readily see the tragedies and disasters of life as evidence that no one is in charge? The One who is in charge tells us that tragedies and tribulation will continue to come and calls us to repentance. But the questions still come. And we are still tempted to blame Him or deny He exists.

Why does the human heart imagine that we are alone and that what we see is all there is? Or conversely, why does the human heart so easily invent spiritual refuge in nature or space or in itself? The vision of John can help us see what the world and what our Old Adam cannot see.
The throne room scene from the fourth and fifth chapters is decisive in understanding everything else in the book of Revelation. Some things are not as clear amid the symbols of this book. But this is crystal clear - God and the Lamb are reigning in victory! Here God reveals to you what your five senses do not reveal to you! The victory is won! It is finished! The result of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection is cosmic. The Lamb is worshipped as the one enthroned God. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

IT IS THE LORD! It is the Lord born of Mary, the Lord who hung naked on Calvary’s cross, blood oozing from His wounds and finally pouring from His pierced side, the Lord whose dead body was wrapped in linen and placed in the tomb. Yet, this is now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

The risen Christ is alive and well! IT IS THE LORD who called from shore just as day was breaking, “Children, do you have any fish?” IT IS THE LORD who shortly thereafter asked Peter “Do you love me?” and set Him on a new path. It is a path of depending not on Peter’s commitment but on Christ’s knowledge – “Lord you know all things”. IT IS THE LORD who struck down a persecuting Saul and sent forth a proclaiming Paul. And listen carefully to what He told them!

On this side of His open tomb, Jesus did not pretend that there would now be heaven on earth. On this side of His open tomb the exalted Christ was forthright in acknowledging some depressing realities. To Peter, whom He had just given the teaching office in His Church, Jesus said, “when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” In the early church, “stretching forth of hands” expressed death by crucifixion. When the Lord sent Ananias to Paul he said, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Even for the Lord’s chosen servants, even for those whom He sent out in His name, life in this dying world would not reflect the hidden reality that the Lamb has begun His reign. What would reflect His victory is the word of peace and absolution that they spoke in His name even as they suffered and died.

Fellow-Redeemed, IT IS THE LORD who speaks that same word to you today! The risen Christ is alive and well and so are you – even when death comes. He has given you new birth to a living hope through His resurrection from the dead. He has washed away your sins. Your new status does not depend upon your feelings but upon His blood. That’s the new song that all heaven joins in singing. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God…”
The victory of the risen Christ comes to you in this life by means of His blood. In Revelation, John wrote of Jesus, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood (Rev. 1:5). He described those coming out of the great tribulation …They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). He said of those who conquer the accuser, they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11). His blood is the ground of all our hope. His blood sets us free to be people of God. All the challenges that sin poses in this troubled world must be seen in the light of the eternal victory of the Lamb who was slain. And there is more!

IT IS THE LORD who was persecuted when Saul was persecuting His church. Remember the risen Lord’s question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” What intimate connection there is between the reigning, exalted Lamb and you! For you are also now His body, His beloved bride, His holy church. He has united Himself with you so intimately that what happens to you happens to Him. His intervention in your life is no less miraculous that it was in the life of Peter and Paul. He has not called you to the apostolic office, but He has redirected your life. He has made you a new creation. You have put on Christ (Gal 3:27). United with Him your future is full of life and purpose. He continues to say also to you “follow me”.

His presence in your life does not mean that troubles will disappear. Sometimes just the opposite! But it does mean that in the midst of troubles, the Lamb is in control. He loves you. He brings an end to the weeping (the hopelessness) of the world. He is worthy to open the scroll and even now is working for the good of His Church and for the salvation of all men.
The tragedy that struck in Virginia can pull one’s insides out and leave one feeling helpless. It is so senseless and evil. How? Why? What should have been done? What can be done now? When such tragedy strikes blame and hope are sure to be found. The blame and hope of which we hear, however, is generally limited by the five senses.

The risen Lord stands in your midst each week to reveal what the world by nature and what we by nature do not see or sense. The blame for all death is sin. The hope we sinners have in the face of death is the blood of the Lamb. For those students and faculty who died in Him on Monday, it was not a day of tragedy but a day of triumph. In an instant the cares of this life were exchanged for the eternal joys of the presence of the exalted Christ. He is our life and our hope!

Just as surely as He stood on the shore of the lake in our Gospel, so he stands on the shore of this earth in your midst this morning. IT IS THE LORD! The risen Christ is alive and well! He knows all things! He knows that you love Him! “Even though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him…and you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (I Peter 1:8, 9). As He prepared a meal on the shore of the lake so He has prepared an eternal feast on heaven’s shore. Even now He gives you a foretaste and says, “come and eat”. And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.

1st Sunday after Easter

2007-04-21T20:19:00.000-05:00

Text: John 20:19-31
Vicar Gary Schultz

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

Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side… “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you… Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

We identify pretty well with Thomas. “Sure,” he thought, “Jesus came back here and talked with you. I’ll believe it when I see it.” We like to have proof. We want to see things before we make any conclusions. Thomas’ desire to have some proof sounds good to us. Maybe these other disciples are mistaken. How could a dead man come back and speak with us? If I actually seem Him, maybe then it will make sense.

Not so with matters of faith: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb 11:1). That’s why Jesus says: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Faith poses a problem for us, who through our human reason and senses like to figure things out on our own, to be in charge, to see first, and then believe.

Then we run into more problems. Our own human experience will not lead us to faith in Our Lord. How could God have created the earth and everything in it in six days? It takes months for a plant to produce fruit, years for a baby to become an adult, centuries for fossil fuels to develop. How could God become a man? If God is the creator, He can’t be a creature. He looks like a man. How is He God? How could Jesus, the Son of God, die? Jesus is the Son of the Eternal God. How could a man rise from the dead? It doesn’t make sense for us to believe Jesus raised people from the dead. It doesn’t make sense that Jesus Himself rose from the dead.

When we rely on our own experience, things don’t look too good. We see problems at school, problems at work, problems at home. We see marriages fall apart, hard-earned money get spent away, loved ones die, sicknesses come, injuries happen, wars and natural disasters occur, distress, heartache, pain, loneliness. What we see in creation honestly considered tells us there is a God, but what we experience in this dying world doesn’t point us to our loving Heavenly Father or to the gifts of His Son. Our human reason, our work at figuring things out, tells us that dead people stay dead. When the heart stops beating, when the lungs stop breathing, when organs stop working, it’s all over. Permanently. Death is the end.

Our experience leads only to doubt. Thomas’ experience lead him to doubt: It doesn’t make sense that a dead man would come back here and visit with the disciples. So Jesus comes back for him. Jesus doesn’t reject Thomas in his doubt, doesn’t push him away, but comforts him. He opens His arms to him, and invites Thomas to see the nail prints in His hands, the mark of the spear in His side, the wounds that brought forgiveness, wholeness, and life.

Thomas’ faith was strengthened by the presence of Our Lord, allowing him to confess: “My Lord and my God!” In the same way, faith is created and strengthened in us by the presence of Christ as He comes to us. That’s why we pray that the continued celebration of Our Lord’s resurrection would lead us by grace to confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God (Collect).

When Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, He didn’t just leave us alone on the earth. He isn’t sitting carelessly in heaven watching from a distance disconnectedly. He intercedes for us before the Father in heaven and comes to us here on earth.

Jesus’ resurrection came as a complete surprise to everyone. He had told about it before His death. But Thomas’ doubt sums up how people were thinking until they saw the Risen Christ. The Resurrection changes everything as it begins the new creation and brings life out of death. What great things will Jesus do in this new creation? Will He stop wars, end hunger, and heal bodily diseases and afflictions?

See how Jesus brings peace. See how He comforts sadness and gives hope in the midst of hardship. See what is the substance of the new creation. Jesus’ words “Peace be with you” are connected with the forgiveness of sins – your sins! Absolution, the forgiveness of sins, is the substance of Jesus’ word of peace. Absolution is the life-giving, recreating gift that Christ gives to His Church immediately after His Resurrection. Jesus, in His new creation, is concerned chiefly with your forgiveness.

In Baptism, this forgiveness is first placed upon you in the washing of rebirth. In the Holy Supper, forgiveness is given through Jesus’ body and blood. And in Absolution, we receive forgiveness from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven. This is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.

Private Absolution is another precious gift where Our Lord pours out His rich grace and mercy to you – individually. When Jesus appears to His disciples, He twice shows them His hands and says, “Peace be with you.” His hands accompany the blessing, demonstrating and showing the loving work He has done. So, too, also in Private Absolution, the pastor lays hands on the penitent and says, “I forgive you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

New life is ours as the keys of the kingdom of heaven open to us the gates of righteousness, a seat in heaven with our heavenly Father. Thomas was comforted by the hands of Christ at his time of doubt. John was in great terror when he saw the voice speaking to him in his vision of heaven and is likewise comforted by the hands of Christ, as he testifies: He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Christ has authority through the keys to open heaven through forgiveness, and authority through the keys over Death and Hades.

We see through Thomas the doubt in faith that is part of our human nature. We, like Thomas, aren’t quick to trust in our Lord’s resurrection on our own. We aren’t quick to believe in its life-changing power. We see in Our Lord the signs of His love – the wounds in his hands and side, a reminder of the cross and the grave that He endured for us. We have in our Lord new life and victory over the grave that was won by His triumph over death. We have these things written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Amen.

Easter Sunday

2007-04-21T20:16:00.000-05:00

Text: Luke 24:1-12
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

Alleluia, Christ is risen! HE IS RISEN INDEED, ALLELUIA! Dear friends in Christ:

When Jesus hung in naked, shameful death on Good Friday, there was no panic in heaven. When Jesus breathed His last and gave up the Spirit, the eternal joy of heaven was not diminished! Amid the blood and brutality of Calvary there was a hidden beauty and bounty that all heaven still sings about – Worthy is the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:12). Remember the topic of conversation on the Mount of Transfiguration. What Moses and Elijah, residents of heaven, spoke with Jesus about is what all heaven anticipated. They spoke about His Exodus at Jerusalem, that is, His crucifixion.

In other words, there was no surprise in heaven on Easter morning. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Angels had announced the birth of Jesus as Savior. Angels had also brought to earth His name. “You shall call his name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). The angels of God, His messengers in a realm of creation you cannot see just yet, knew why Jesus was on this earth. With that work finished on Good Friday, with the sacrifice complete, with peace restored, with man reconciled to God by the blood of the cross, the angels now announce His mighty resurrection. It was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. There was no surprise in heaven on Easter morning, only delightful announcement of life from death for us dying sinners. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

But on earth, there was nothing but surprise! On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. The women were expecting to find a corpse on Easter morning. They planned to rub his dead body with strong-smelling spices and wrap it more carefully. Despite what Jesus had predicted, they had no thought that He might be living again. The women had watched His agonized death struggle. They had observed the burial of His dead body. When you’re dead, you’re dead - right?

Surprise – you dying sinners! God’s messengers at the garden tomb asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” O, GLAD SURPRISE, GLAD SURPRISE OF LIFE FROM DEATH! Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

The women weren’t the only ones surprised. When they told these things to the eleven and to all the rest we heard, these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. The Greek word means that they thought the women were delirious, out of their minds. And when Peter ran to the empty tomb and observed the grave clothes, he went home marveling at what had happened. Surprise, surprise, surprise! No one on earth expected that God would fulfill His word. O, THE GLAD SURPRISE OF LIFE FROM DEATH!

Dear Christians, What God says will happen, will happen! The soul that sins, it will die. It is appointed for men once to die and then the judgment. Mankind is continually trying to redefine death to make it more comfortable and at that same time mankind is continually surprised by death. Death is said to be natural and expected since life is said to be an accident. Yet it is so unexpected when it comes, as if we can control it or keep it away indefinitely.

But there is no escape hatch from death. Science is not. Outer space is not. Meditation or oneness with nature is not – for nature is dying. There is no reincarnation. There is no second chance based on pagan superstition or personal speculation. In Adam all die. And when you’re dead, you’re dead – right? That is right! – apart from Christ. Dead, not just in the sense of being cut off from earthly life, but dead also, in being cut off from God in the second death of eternal punishment. It is appointed for men once to die and then the judgment.

But then came the judgment of Good Friday! God the Son was judged in our stead! The Word made flesh suffered the punishment of hell and physical death as our substitute. Indeed, worthy is the Lamb who was slain. As God’s messengers proclaimed, it was divinely necessary for the Son of Man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Their only surprise is that the women hadn’t believed what Jesus had promised, including His victory over death. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” “Remember how he told you?” Surprise, surprise, surprise! What God says will happen, will happen!

Perhaps nowhere was the surprise of Christ’s victory over death greater than in Satan’s domain. When Jesus breathed His last on the cross it appeared he had been swallowed up by death. The first president of our synod, C. F. W. Walther expressed it well in the hymn we just sang. The foe was triumphant when on Calvary – The Lord of creation was nailed to the tree. In Satan’s domain did the hosts shout and jeer, for Jesus was slain whom the evil ones fear. How could that weakness, that humiliation, that gruesome death be anything but total defeat.

Walther’s hymn continues the story. But short was their triumph, the Savior arose, and death, hell, and Satan he vanquished, his foes. The conquering lord lifts his banner on high; he lives, yes, he lives, and will nevermore die. While in the very grasp of death, the Messiah overcomes death. Snatching the keys of death and hell from the devil Jesus burst forth from the dark abyss. In the face of seeming defeat, the victim pulls off the victory of the ages! Instead of being swallowed up by death, Jesus swallowed up death forever (Is. 25: 8). Surprise, surprise, surprise!

And that’s not all, for this day is the beating heart of all our hope! The greatest surprise of all is that God’s victory in Christ is your victory too. As Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though He die, yet shall he live. (John 11:25) But you say, “I can’t believe it for just recently they found “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”. It was on TV and in the magazines. Good heavens, by now you must expect this kind of stuff every Christmas and Easter season.

The Lost Tomb of Jesus will not go down as the greatest archeological find, the greatest story ever told as its producers hope. It will go down like the Titanic – as one of the greatest fabricated interpretations ever imagined. No serious scholars or archaeologists are getting on board. The original excavator that discovered these ossuaries in 1980 finds these claims laughable and disgusting. There is no certainty about the names, even the one said to be “Jesus”. There is no evidence that Mary Magdalene was ever called Mary amna (the elitist ossuary name assigned to her). A recent Issues, etc. broadcast that your mission dollars support detailed the distortions and fabrications concerning this unremarkable find a quarter century ago. It is not credible news. It is more junk on Jesus as the current Lutheran Witness details. Please take a copy along with you as you leave this morning.

So why even speak about it on Easter? Because Satan does and is! You see, the resurrection of the crucified Christ is the beating heart of all our hope! As St. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “If Christ has not been raised our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.” “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus is not a religious idea shaped by human imagination. It is a rock-hard fact. It the 15^th chapter of His letter to Corinth, Paul calls out three sets of two witnesses and numbers more than 500 who saw the risen Lord at one time. The great deed of God is done and cannot be undone!

But you say, “I can’t believe it – it’s too marvelous and far beyond the realities of my daily life. Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ. We are all constantly tempted to trust our own brains and our own feelings more than we trust God. The truth is, no one can believe based on their strength or intellect or will. God’s Word alone works the miracle of faith and gives new life. O, THE GLAD SURPRISE OF THE LIFE OF FAITH FROM THE DEATH OF UNBELIEF. Surprise, surprise, surprise! The angel’s exhortation identifies our life-line. The risen Christ has not stopped speaking to us dying sinners in this dying world. Remember what He said and what he continues to say to you today.

Risen from the grave He said, “Peace be with you” to disciples who had not believed His promise to rise from the dead. He comes into your midst speaking exactly the same today, “Peace be with you”. Risen from the grave He said, “Make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Beloved, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Gal 3:27) Surprise, surprise, surprise, in God’s mind He looks at you and sees you as He sees His beloved and righteous Son.

Through His gift of faith, you have a present and a future full of surprises.

Doubting your worth to God?

Surprise – God’s wants you with Him (He desires none to perish)

Uncertain how He views you today?

Surprise – there was no panic in heaven on Good Friday but there is such joy in heaven today over your repentance

Troubled by disappointment and suffering in your life?

Surprise – God disciplines those He loves and His strength is made perfect in your weakness

Feeling alone?

Surprise – when you pray “Our Father” Jesus prays with you. He will never leave you or forsake you.

Fearful of death?

Surprise – to depart and be with Christ is better by far – when God calls you from this life such eternal joy awaits you that no eye has seen and no ear has heard

As Walther continues in his hymn: O, where is your sting death? We fear you no more; Christ rose, and now open is fair Eden’s door. For all our transgressions his blood does atone; Redeemed and forgiven, we now are His own. Sing your hosanna and raise your glad voice; Proclaim the blest tidings that all may rejoice. God help us to share this glad surprise with all whom we know. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Good Friday

2007-04-21T20:13:00.000-05:00

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, Luke 23:26-43
Vicar Gary Schultz

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The wages of sin is death (Rom 3:23a). It is only a matter of time before death and the grave come for you. There’s no escaping it. The sin that corrupts you leaves you with the inheritance of the grave. The things you do against God’s will each day are only symptoms of the underlying curse of sin – the curse that leads only to death.

The two criminals show us a picture of ourselves. Punishment for sin is what we deserve. Jesus, crucified between two criminals, shows how He lived His entire life, among sinners. As He lived among sinners, He was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. The thief on the cross bore witness to this: We indeed justly [are under the same sentence of condemnation] for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. He was crucified among criminals that He may truly be the innocent among the guilty. Jesus was even tempted to use His divine power and come down from the cross: Save yourself and us, one criminal exclaimed. But He remained and endured the curse of death.

This is how Our Lord wills it to be. God must offer up Himself. He offers up His own son. It’s a tragic, gruesome sight. Jesus has been through torture already, in His agony in the garden, in his betrayal and arrest, in His undergoing the trials of Herod and Pilate, in His enduring mocking and scorn, in the beatings, the flogging, the crown of thorns – the scandal and punishment of sin. Now He is on the cross, at the place of The Skull, even as Jesus was promised to come and crush the skull of Satan. It’s not a pretty sight. The punishment of death is taking place.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. To make His people right again, God must offer up Himself as the atoning sacrifice, that is, for payment. God gave up Himself so that we, His people, might have everlasting life. Our Lord Jesus was not defeated by death. Rather, He defeated death. He crushed the skull of Satan. He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

There is no fighting among the Father and the Son here. Jesus, as the God Man, asked and begged and demanded that the cup of His suffering be taken away. But Jesus, as the God Man, did not have any will other than that of Our Father. That’s why He went willingly, so that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against us. Our Lord gives up Himself to reconcile – that is, make right, the world’s trespasses by taking them away.

It is only a matter of time before death and the grave come for you. There’s no escaping it. Death is an enemy and it will come. But Our Lord’s victory over sin, death, and the devil on the cross takes the enemy of death and flips it around. When death comes for us, it will not be pretty. But it will be the way that Our Lord uses to bring us to be with Him in Paradise.

One of the criminals sought Jesus on the cross. He trusted that Jesus was able to help him. He acknowledges Jesus’ innocence. This criminal knows he’s done wrong. He knows he is being rightly punished. Yet he trusts in Christ: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus assures him: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” So, too, for us. We know that we have only earned death. But Christ our Lord assures us of something different: eternal life. God’s gift of faith in Christ allows these words of Our Lord to be spoken to us when we are ready to depart this vale of tears: Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Your baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection makes the criminal’s words about Jesus now also rightly said of you: “This man, this woman, has done nothing wrong.” God’s righteousness placed upon you is exactly what this day – the death of the Son of God – has accomplished.

Be Thou my consolation, My shield, when I must die.

Remind me of Thy passion When my last hour draws nigh.

Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, Upon Thy cross shall dwell,

My heart by faith enfold Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

(LSB 450:7) Amen.

Maundy Thursday

2007-04-21T20:09:00.000-05:00

Text: Hebrews 10:22, Luke 22:19
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

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

“Do this in remembrance of me”. Jesus didn’t mean “don’t forget Me altogether when you do what I command.” Do this in remembrance of me. Nor did He merely mean, “contemplate what I once did for you in the past” – “retain the information in your mind of how I once shed my blood for you.”

The modern word “remember” has that primary meaning of mental effort to recall someone in the past who is absent at the moment. Understanding Jesus’ words in this way, however, would make Holy Communion a memorial service that was our work. It would then be viewed as a double work of man - doing something and remembering the right person while doing it. Millions in Protestant Christianity view the Lord’s Supper in this way – a symbolic action that is our doing – a deed we need to occasionally satisfy to fulfill a command of God.

But, Dear Christians, the Lord’s Supper is not something that we do! It is the Lord’s Supper for His Church, not the supper of Christians performed for the Lord. Luther taught repeatedly that remembrance does not consist of meditating on Jesus’ suffering with which some have sought to serve God as with a good work.

Do this in remembrance of me. Jesus did not mean put on a play recalling what happened in the Upper Room. Passion plays are major events and can be entertaining and emotional and educational. At this time of year Christian television broadcasts offer dramatic reenactments of the Last Supper. But none of that is what Jesus meant when He said Do this in remembrance of me.

In truth, He meant something that is quite well captured by the writer of Hebrews. As we heard, We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…through his flesh…“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” Dear Christians, there is great comfort and joy in understanding the fullness of what Jesus meant when He said, Do this in remembrance of me. The heart of what He meant is that at His Table we are to receive in faith His body given and His blood shed for us. At His Table we enter the holiest place, that is, the place where God is present on earth for us, to serve us with forgiveness, life and salvation.

Do this in remembrance of me – that is, do this believing that what you receive into your mouth is My holy body to eat and My holy blood to drink. Do this in remembrance of me – that is do this believing that I am here in the flesh to forgive your sins just as I have promised. Jeremiah spoke of My new covenant in this way, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.” The New Testament in My blood is a Holy Mystery. Do this in remembrance of Me – that is, do it in faith for My words make this meal a miracle of love, heavenly food for you on earth.

And He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you.” Jesus used real bread – unleavened bread – the Matzah stipulated for use for Passover. Of the bread he said, This is my body. “Is” (estin in Greek) means is. There is no word present that could possibly be translated as symbolizes or represents. There is no indication that the words of Christ are picture language. This is my body, which is given for you. The giving of His body with the bread is just as real as the giving of His body into death on the cross. Do this in remembrance of me, that is do this believing what my words give to you.

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Jesus used real wine, not tomato juice or pomegranate juice or grape juice. Because water was somewhat scarce and often polluted in biblical times, wine was used much more extensively than it is today. It was used as medicine (II Sam 16;2; I Tim 5:23; Luke 10:34). It was present in joyful abundance at feasts such as Passover.

The rubrics (operational directions) at Passover called for four cups of wine. It appears to be the third cup of wine – the cup of blessing over which Jesus said, this cup…is the new covenant in my blood. The one who said at creation, “let there be light” and there was light, now says “this cup…is the new covenant in my blood.” The giving of His blood with the wine is just as real as the shedding of His blood on the cross. Do this in remembrance of me, that is do this believing what my words give to you here.

Only in this meal does Jesus identify the bread as His very body and the wine (the contents of the cup) as His very blood. Only this meal does Jesus direct His disciples to repeat. Only this meal is the climax of His earthly life and public ministry – it is His last will and testament – given in holy love for His Church only hours before his sacrificial death. Only this meal is a miracle greater than Jesus feeding 5000 from a few fish and loaves. Only this meal has connection to what He said after that miracle, “My flesh is food indeed” and “My blood is drink indeed” (John 6:35).

It is His body and His blood that your mouth receives in this gift tonight, whether you believe it or not. That is, the very same body of Jesus given on the cross, buried and raised the third day and the very same blood that poured from His pierced limbs and side on Good Friday is received by both the worthy and unworthy. Our faith does not make it happen. God’s Word makes it happen.

But it is our faith that receives the forgiveness of sins that is given with this heavenly food. And that, beloved, is what Jesus is holding before us when He says, Do this in remembrance of me. This is the Lord’s Supper for us. As Luther said, the Lord not only instituted it, but also prepares it and gives it himself, and is himself cook, butler, food and drink.

As Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover in the upper room, similar celebrations were being held all over Jerusalem. Normally only one division of priests was on duty but at Passover all 24 divisions were in attendance. Generally there was a 3-fold trumpet blast by the Levites. Some priests then sang the Hallel (Psalm 114-118) and others slaughtered the animals. Bucket after bucket after bucked of blood was poured out in the temple.

But on this day a new thing was taking place. On this day He who led Israel out of Egypt, He who instituted the first Passover, took over the Passover. No longer would the blood of thousands of Passover lambs point to God’s rescue and release because God’s rescue and release was here in the flesh. Now the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was about to accomplish a once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. Soon He would go out with His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane – also singing the Hallel. Soon Judas would betray Him with a kiss. Soon He would be flogged and driven through with spikes and lifted up to die. The blood that He shed on Calvary was not to be smeared on doorposts. Rather, concerning His blood given with wine in Holy Communion He now commands, “Drink of it all of you for the forgiveness of sins.”

That’s why Jesus comes into your midst this evening and each week in the Divine Service. He prepares a miracle in earthly time and space. As He comes He still says to us sinners, “do this in remembrance of me.” That is, do this believing that I am here in the flesh to forgive you exactly as I have promised. Do this in remembrance of me, that is, do this believing that my sacrificial death on the cross finished your redemption and that what you receive into your mouth is my holy body to eat and my holy blood to drink. Do this in remembrance of me, that is, do this knowing that I am here as your Bridegroom to unite myself with you in holy love preparing you for the eternal wedding feast in heaven. Or as the writer of Hebrews reveals, We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…through His flesh…”let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” Amen.

5th Sunday of Lent

2007-04-02T04:55:00.000-05:00

Text: Luke 20:9-20 / (Luke 1:26-38)
Vicar Gary Schultz

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

Then the owner of the vineyard said, “ I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, “This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.” And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

A beautiful vineyard, a very fertile hill, cleared of stones, carefully watered, planted with choicest vines, a prominent watchtower in the middle, with the finest machinery standing ready for producing the best wine. Everything was perfectly planned and prepared. Now it is ready. You can just picture this perfect vineyard, prepared by the master for his people.

This is the picture our Lord gives us of His kingdom through the prophet Isaiah. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Is 5:7a). Yet although the Lord’s vineyard was perfect, He still laments that His people did not walk in His ways. He looked for fine grapes, and it yielded only wild grapes. He looked for justice, but only found bloodshed.

Since the vineyard is a picture of God’s kingdom, it’s no surprise that Christ uses it in this parable just days before He would be killed. Our Lord uses this parable to teach about His kingdom and how it is related to His upcoming death. This parable shows us the infinite love of Our Lord who keeps sending His servants, His prophets, to His people. One by one the messengers are sent, but the people do not respect or honor them; rather, they treat them badly and throw them out.

The Lord sent prophets to deliver his message, but the people had no interest or concern. Some things never change. As in centuries past, today in some countries missionaries are persecuted or killed for bringing God’s message of forgiveness through Christ. In some areas of the world, faithful pastors are threatened with imprisonment for preaching against homosexuality. In our own country, there are religious groups that slaughter the message of Our Lord sent through His prophets, apostles, and pastors. Our Lord teaches that marriage is a blessed union between a man and a woman, giving an example of Christ and His church. Some groups teach that marriage is anything you want it to be. Our Lord teaches that life begins at conception in the womb. Some groups teach that abortion is an acceptable choice for a woman to exert over a lifeless tissue. Our Lord teaches that Baptism is a blessed flood washing away sin. Some groups teach that Baptism is merely an outward sign and of little significance.
By nature we also would like to take control of the vineyard ourselves. It is our chief sin every day. Both pastors and hearers are constantly tempted to add things to or subtract things from God’s care of the vineyard. Instead of earnestly seeking after God’s message, conforming our lives to God’s Word, and rejoicing in the rich blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation freely given, we would rather try to micromanage the vineyard ourselves, through our own teaching, of what seems best to our liking right here and now.

Yet God does not give up on His vineyard. He sends His Son. The Son, the heir, has the full authority of the Father. So, the Son will be respected as the very person and authority of the Father. But they threw out the beloved Son from the vineyard and killed Him. The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. Through the betrayal of Judas and the trial before the governor, they caught him and killed him.

But this death was not in vain. It was through this death that the Father reconciled the vineyard to Himself. God made things right by sending His Son to offer up Himself for the people’s sins. The Father destroyed those tenants and gave the vineyard to others. Jesus became the cornerstone, the stone the Jews rejected. They stumbled on this stone and fell. While the Old Testament was made up of believing Jews, God’s promises to His Old Testament people were twisted into a different, false religion over time. This Jewish religion is crushed to pieces by the cornerstone, destroying it as the owner of the vineyard destroyed those wicked tenants. The vineyard of His kingdom was given to others – to the Gentiles, to us, who through the preaching of the Gospel were brought with the believing Jews into the vineyard of the kingdom of God.

“I will send my beloved Son,” the Father said. In the church year, March 25 has long been honored as an important festival in the life of Our Lord. Today is nine months before Christmas. After the church set December 25 as the commemoration of the Nativity of Our Lord, counting backward nine months to today set the date for the conception of Jesus. This date is known as the Annunciation, the day when we commemorate the Word of God through the angel Gabriel bringing about the conception of God in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is how the Father sends His beloved Son. This is how God comes to His people. This is how the Father will save His vineyard, His kingdom. From the very conception of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin, indeed from the very promise in the Garden of Eden, God planned to save His people by becoming one of them. The celebration of the conception of Jesus as a little baby today, alive in the womb, causes us to remember with great thanksgiving His true human nature for our salvation. “I will send my beloved son.” What a miraculous plan the Father had to come to His people as one of them! God has done a new thing as He comes to us through Jesus, true God in the flesh!

It is through Christ that the vineyard is made perfect and produces the God-pleasing fruits of the Spirit. I am the vine, you are the branches, Jesus says. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Even though the vineyard described by Isaiah was made perfectly by the creator, it didn’t bear the right fruit. Christ describes Himself as the vine. As we are connected to Him in our Baptism and abide in Him through our reception of Absolution and the Holy Supper, in faith we bring forth good fruit. This happens not because of our tireless efforts for Him, but because of His life and His love abiding in us. Abiding in Christ, we long for the Word made flesh, to hear His Word spoken through His messengers, and to conform our lives to His good and gracious will.

It’s fitting that Our Lord speaks of a vineyard as His kingdom. The point of a vineyard is to make wine. And wine is the means Our Lord promised to be present with His people in the church as He joined His blood with wine at the Last Supper – to bring the fruit of the cross to us today. He abides in us, bringing Himself to us through the bread that is His true body and the wine that is His true blood.

Flesh and blood: the Father sent His own Son to the vineyard. Flesh and blood: Our Father sent His own Son to His people in the womb of the Virgin. Flesh and blood: The Son poured out His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of His people. Flesh and blood: Our Lord comes to His people today at the Altar. Amen.

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

4th Sunday of Lent

2007-03-20T10:07:00.000-05:00

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Luke 15:1-3; 11-32

THE FATHER’S LAVISH LOVE FINDS WHAT WAS LOST AND MAKES ALIVE WHAT WAS DEAD

“O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith.” Dear hearers of the Word:

Gender neutral Bibles are not spiritually neutral. The God who created you in your mother’s womb; the God who redeemed you through Him born from the virgin’s womb; the God who gave you new life from the womb of death is God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this age of political correctness and feminization of the church; in a culture in which the true responsibilities of fatherhood are often evaded, take courage and comfort from God the Father’s lavish love for you.

This Sunday’s Gospel parable is usually called “The Prodigal Son or Sons.” The word “prodigal” comes from the Latin word for “lavish.” Dictionaries often give two definitions; first that of reckless spending and wastefulness and second that of extravagant generosity. Today consider this text by focusing on that second meaning as applied to the Father. That is, the Prodigal Father who is so extravagantly generous in lavishing His love upon you.

Lack of understanding His love was the root cause of the grumbling of the Pharisees and the scribes. They were saying of Jesus “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” We have become accustomed to that expression and that general thought. We even sing “Jesus sinners doth receive”. It doesn’t seem surprising or shocking.

But there was nothing conventional about it in the life of Jesus. There He was, eating with prostitutes and with those serving in the disloyal and often dishonest office of tax-gatherer, and with an array of other sinners. It was shocking! If we think about it concretely, it is a bit hard to take at first. Instead of “Jesus receives sinners” consider “Jesus receives whores or rapists or slave traders or child pornographers”. Jesus sits down to eat with Islamic terrorists or dirty politicians or crooked lawyers. Perhaps the temptation to grumble is understandable.

So Jesus told a parable. The younger son demanded his inheritance thereby telling the Father he wished he was dead. He was tired of waiting for the old man to kick the bucket. The Father knows the pain and problems that will result from this impatient grab for gusto. He also knows that He cannot force love and honor from his son. He therefore takes the hurt and divides the property as his son requested.

Free at last, said the younger son by his actions. He quickly put some distance between himself and the Father. With delight he pursued the wild life. He partied and played and chased his own happiness until he was totally unhappy, until he was empty. Short term pleasure was replaced with long term pain - a common story line in our fallen world. It is an understatement to say that he had made some bad choices. It was only when pig food started to look good that he realized just how bad his choices were. Having wasted it all, he considers heading home. Remembering His Father’s love and care, he prepared this confession; “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” The Prodigal (wasteful) son humbly returned to His Prodigal (generous) Father. But he didn’t get quite what he expected.

He expected to be treated as a slave. His best hope was for a second rate place in the household. What a sizable underestimation of the Father’s lavish forgiving love! The Prodigal (generous) Father had never written him off. The Father’s heart was longing for his return, scanning the horizon. O happy day, it happened! While he was still along way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. There is no half-way restoration with this Father. The Father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” The family ring carried the full authority of the family. Servants were barefoot, but not an honored son. And what’s more, the Prodigal Father threw a party to celebrate that His son who was “dead” is alive again.

Dear Christian this is a picture of your heavenly Father’s compassionate love for you. He rejoices over the sinner who repents, and so do the angels who behold His face. He doesn’t love you conditionally but rather with love that is lavish and extravagant and searching and forgiving. His great desire and joy is to have you home with Him forever. God is your Father – your loving Father.

That’s why the Prodigal (generous) Father sent His own Son to be the Prodigal (wild and wasteful) Son. As the Father in the parable gave to the younger son of His livelihood, or literally his “substance”, so we confess in the Nicene Creed that Jesus is of one substance with the Father. As the Prodigal son in the parable went to a far country, even so the Son of God left His heavenly home to go afar. He went so far as to descend into the mess of our dying world in the flesh.

Here He blew His wealth and His substance consorting with tax collectors and sinners and the likes of us. He is prodigal, that is wonderfully excessive and extravagant, in the way He dishes out God’s grace and mercy towards us. He divides the inheritance with us fully and freely and without complaint.

Beloved, He lost it all because of the Father’s lavish love for you. “That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” The Son lost it all for you, dying as your substitute. He was punished as if He were the rebellious son, the self-righteous Pharisee, the prostitute, the glutton, the drunkard, the materialist, the proud one, the greedy one, to win your forgiveness. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When He bowed His head in bloody death on Calvary, He had nothing left to give.

But on Easter morning He did! As the Father in the parable, said, “this my son was dead and is alive again”, so Jesus arose and returned to His Father. Ascended on high He is exalted to God’s right hand and given the name that is above every name. He who was lost for a time to the grave has been found triumphant over sin and death and the devil. He was welcomed back home with honor and glory and the celebration in heaven continues for ever to which you are invited.

In fact you have the place of a royal son of the Father right now. Once you were lost, but now you are found. Once you were dead, but God raised you to life in the washing of rebirth. He clothed you in the robe of Jesus’ righteousness for as Scripture says; “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27). He put His family ring on your finger. Even today He sets the banquet table of His supper to celebrate the return of His repentant, rebel children. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous, religious folks who see no need for repentance.

And that brings us to the older son. When the older son heard about his brother’s return He refused to join in the celebration. He had stayed around home and performed his assigned tasks. But as it turns out, he had been working for himself. He had been working with his heart fixed on his own service and good works. Such statistical sainthood and comparative Christianity is a deadly evil. Sadly, he thought that his place in the Father’s household was earned. He thought that He deserved it and His self-righteous perspective robbed him of joy at the return and restoration of his brother. As the parable ends his self-righteous view has him outside the feast of His father’s love and forgiveness. The Prodigal (generous) Father is begging him to repent and come in.

Fellow-Redeemed, the bible is clear that we are not to participate in the sin of another. We are not to pretend that someone living openly unrepentantly in sin is also receiving grace in God’s household. There is tragedy and pain involved when God’s will is spurned as did the younger son. We are not to act as if this is fine and confirm someone in and ungodly life. But we are to pray for their return. We are to speak of God’s, searching, lavish (yes – prodigal) love. And when someone returns from chasing false freedom we are to rejoice in their full standing in our midst. When someone who has strayed away from God’s will returns in repentance, we are to welcome and rejoice with that one as a brother. For you see, the household of God runs solely on the extravagant love of the Father for us sinners in Christ. We don’t merit our standing in His gracious care.

Jesus does receive sinners – sinners like me - sinners like you – and He eats with them! He knows that you have not viewed every minute and every possession as His gift to you. Good heavens look what happens to our hearts even when His Word speaks to us about returning a first-fruit percentage gift to Him. He knows that you don’t trust His lavish love and care for you perfectly. Good heavens look at the worry and coveting that easily infiltrates our hearts. He knows that fears about health and death trouble you. Good heavens are there not times when we don’t perfectly believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The truth is, God the Father knows that your thoughts and words and deeds are soiled with sin, just like mine. He knows that everyday sin clings to you just like it does to me despite your struggle against it. And with all that knowledge, His lavish love nonetheless embraces you and kisses you as His dear holy son. With all that knowledge, He keeps you covered with the splendid beauty of the robe of Christ. You haven’t earned a stitch and yet everything in the Father’s household is yours.

That is a wonderful position from which to welcome back and rejoice with any repentant sinner? That is a splendid standing from which to see every one of our brothers and sisters in Christ as our equal. It’s all a gift! The robe, the ring, the sandals, the very household of God into which we have been adopted, it’s all a gift. It’s a gift God would have us invite all those we know to return and receive. As we sang, “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples…”

Perhaps as you look back at your life you see yourself more like the younger son or perhaps more like the older son. Perhaps we see how both sons have messed with us and still tempt us. What Jesus longs for us to see in this parable is the lavish, searching, forgiving love of God the Father. Through His son, the invitation of our Prodigal (extravagantly generous) Father is still the same, “Let us eat and celebrate.” In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

3rd Sunday of Lent

2007-03-17T18:49:00.000-05:00

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Luke 13:1-9

UNLESS YOU REPENT YOU WILL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH

To The Church at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center, called as saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear hearers of the Word:

A bus transporting a college baseball team plunges off an overpass. A drunken father loses control with his children in the car. A tornado strikes a high school filled with students in a southern state. Gunfire in this city strikes a man in the head who was just driving by in his van. In each case there is sudden, violent, brutal death for individuals who were doing nothing to actively bring this tragedy on themselves.

Sometimes if you take a moment to dwell on the suffering, the injury, the death that is part of this world everyday, it is simply overwhelming. You soon have to turn your thoughts away in order to continue to function at your daily tasks. A traffic accident, a vicious crime, an airplane crash, an exchange of gunfire, a roadside bomb, someone slipping on the ice, a violent storm, a fire – tragic forms of death just keep coming, day after day, throughout the world and in this city.

Jesus spoke of violent death – worshippers massacred by Pilate. He spoke of sudden, brutal death – 18 crushed by a collapsing tower. “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Dear Christians, such butchery and such calamity has occurred in every generation and in every society. From the death of Abel, to the time of Jesus, until the twenty first century, political violence, horrible disasters and brutal deaths are always at hand. Jesus spoke bluntly about such tragedies and rendered His judgment. His conclusion is both stunning and scandalizing to human hearts.

In the face of death and destruction Jesus does not want us to speculate that those who died were worse sinners or greater debtors than we are. While it is true that sinful acts at times lead to sudden death, this is not ours to judge. Consider those who committed idolatry and sexual immorality in the wilderness, as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (I Cor. 10:1-13) In one day 23,000 died. To say that they died because of their idolatry and sexual immorality is not speculation. God reveals that this is why He felled them in the desert.

But we are not God. We are not to judge others and God when suffering strikes today. The Pharisees believed that calamity was generally punishment for specific sins. They were quick to place blame on those who were afflicted and struck down. On the other hand, it is also common to blame God when the unthinkable happens. By nature we do not believe that death is the wages of sin or that we sinners deserve death. The prophet Ezekiel set forth such reasoning in the complaint of Israel, “the way of the Lord is not just, when it is their own way that is not just.”

To every form of speculation concerning death and destruction Jesus says, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Uncaring? Insensitive? No, just the truth! The Son of God doesn’t make statements to please modern sensibilities. He simple speaks because He loves us. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The word Jesus used for “repent” means continual repentance. Our Lutheran Confessions specify that this word means the entire conversion of man (FC SD V 7). The word Jesus used for “perish” is often used for end-time destruction. It means more than having one’s life end by disaster or tragedy. This happens in a sinful world, also to God’s people. Jesus’ full meaning here, however, is that unless you live in repentance and faith, you will perish eternally in sin that is not forgiven.

Then He spoke a strong warning against despising God’s grace. In the parable of the fig tree Jesus connected faith and fruit. His warning applied to Israel, the original tree in God’s vineyard. St. Paul made clear that His warning also applied to the Gentile Church in Corinth “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” His warning also applies to you and to me, to His church today.

Bloody political terrorism, sudden accidental death, violence and destruction, are signs that all of us are on our way to judgment. It is appointed for you once to die and then the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Reincarnation does not happen. The view that death is a good thing that returns you to nature is not true. It is appointed for me also to die once and then the judgment. In view of the violent, unpredictable, ever-present threats to end our earthly life, Jesus calls not for speculation, but for contrition and faith. Death and destruction are signs that all of us must keep on repenting and keep on receiving the kingdom that Jesus bestows.

In Baptism God planted you in His vineyard with expectation of a harvest (Rom. 6:1-50. He looks at you not for figs, but for repentance (Matt 3:7, 8). He is looking for a heart that humbly acknowledges its own sinfulness and receives in faith the forgiveness God pours out through His Son. The arrogant cannot stand in His presence (Introit). He takes no pleasure in evil (Introit). He will hold us responsible for the fruit of repentance. He will hold us responsible for speaking the truth in love to others.

He said it this way to the prophet Ezekiel. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Beloved, God’s expectations are just the opposite of those of our culture. Our culture speaks of “truthiness”, that is, whatever feels right to you. Elite voices in entertainment, education, and even external religion urge us to go along with the dishonoring of marriage, the idolizing of nature and science, the destruction of embryonic life, and the making light of sin. But that is deadly advice. As I live declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live…” But how can they turn if no one speaks the truth in love?

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and yet He did take pleasure in the death of His holy Son. “The Lord was pleased to crush Him…as a guilt offering” (Isaiah 53:10). Pilate’s mingling the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifice speaks this word to you: “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Pilate’s shedding of the blood of another Galilean on the altar of the cross speaks a different word to you. “His blood cleanses you from all sin”.

Remember the fig tree Christ spoke of? In truth, Christ became the barren fig tree for us for He became sin for us. For three years Christ bore the perfect fruit of preaching and healing and forgiving. But He did so also bearing the whole fruitless mess of our sin. Baptized by John in the Jordan River He was grafted into our tangled mess of rebellion and death – He joined Himself with us. When the Father looked for good fruit in Him on Calvary, there was none. Therefore He who hung upon that tree was cut down.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in this fallen world swords will continue to strike, towers will continue to fall, disasters and sickness and accidents will continue to come. They will come also to us. As we see them around us and as they visit us, Christ uses them to call us to repentance, not speculation.

You know as well as I do that one of the biggest objections to belief in the Holy Trinity is the violence, the disaster, the disease that continues to plague this world. If there is a loving God, how can this be? You know as well as I do that millions upon millions do not see death as the wages of sin and do not believe there will be a day of judgment. The evil in this world then becomes the litmus test by which human hearts deny God. You know as well as I do that when death stands before us, our hearts and minds will not naturally face that defeated enemy with perfect fear and love and trust in God.

But you also know as well as I do that God will not let us be tempted beyond our ability. That is His promise! With the temptation He will provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it. That way of escape is He who is the way the truth and the life. That way of escape rose from death on Easter morning and comes among us even now to warn us and to dig around us and to fertilize us and to nourish us with spiritual food and spiritual drink. The only fruit that will stand in the judgment is the sweet fruit that He brings to us from the tree of the cross

This Lenten season it is good for us to take moments to dwell upon the suffering, the violence, the death that is part of this world everyday. We are to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. But it is also essential for us to dwell upon the suffering and death and resurrection of the Lamb of God for our salvation. He is the way of escape, the only way, for us and for everyone we know. O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. AMEN.

2nd Sunday of Lent

2007-03-17T18:43:00.000-05:00

Vicar Gary Schultz
Text: Luke 13:31-35

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

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken.

Jesus longs to care for His people as a hen takes care of her little chicks, protecting them, loving them, doing what’s best for them. Jesus longs to be their refuge and fortress, to cover them with his feathers, to hold them with complete trust under the wings of His mercy. But His own chosen people aren’t interested. They weren’t interested in the messages of the prophets sent before; they aren’t interested in the message of God’s own Son sent now. They would rather sit in judgment in opposition to the Word of the Lord. It is with great concern and anguish for His people that Jesus laments about the killing of the prophets and the stoning of the ones sent to Jerusalem. While He knows that He is next in line to be killed, His grace and mercy to His people never ends.

How often we go off on our own way, leaving behind the way of Our Lord. How often we are tempted to stray from the love and protection of the wings of Our Lord. How often would we rather listen to messages other than what God’s Word and His messengers teach. How often we would rather sit in judgment in opposition to the Word of the Lord. It is for us also that Our Lord longs to gather us under His wings into Jerusalem, to bring us from the emptiness of our own way to the perfection of His way.

Jerusalem was the site of the temple – the place where God promised to be present among His people. King Solomon built the temple after King David had obtained Jerusalem to be the capital city. The temple was the dwelling place of God, where the ark of the covenant sat, on the holy hill of Mount Zion. At the temple the priests offered sacrifices for the people that brought God’s forgiveness. Jerusalem was the magnificent city of God’s people – the heart and center of religious life and government.

As the years go on, however, Jerusalem’s image changes. It becomes known as the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. We see it already in the Old Testament with the prophet Jeremiah. When Jeremiah is called upon to speak the Lord’s word, calling the people to turn from their evil ways and walk in the ways of the Lord, they responded: You shall die! This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city.

Despite His desire and longing for Jerusalem to be gathered together under the Lord’s word – as a hen gathers her brood under her wings – Jesus acknowledges that He must journey to Jerusalem where He will be killed. I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.

It is tragic that the holy city with its prestigious temple and beautiful religious life became associated instead with violence in opposition to the Lord’s word, whose visible presence with His people was in the nearby temple. This was supposed to be the place of the pouring out of God’s mercy. Now it had turned against the Lord and His teachings and His messengers. But God uses this in His plan, in His will for the salvation of His people – indeed for our own salvation! It is Jesus’ will to go to Jerusalem after His ministry of casting out demons and performing cures to finish His course on the third day at the holy city.

Jesus takes what’s bad and uses it for our good. It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. Jesus shows that He’s the prophet of the Father as He dies in Jerusalem. While the deaths of other prophets for speaking the Word of God was an abomination, the ultimate abomination – the death of God Himself – was for our salvation. It was necessary for Jesus to die in Jerusalem. It was in Jerusalem, in the temple, where the sacrifices were offered up. And now, Jesus – the true sacrifice, the true temple, offers up Himself on the cross on the hill outside the holy city. The greatest prophet – our Lord Jesus – makes right the sins of all people, makes right those things the prophets spoke against in order to give His people salvation. On the third day – Jesus says – I finish my course. On the third day, Jesus, who was killed for our salvation, rose triumphantly over death and the grave.

As Jesus had promised, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Behold, your house is forsaken. The ethnic people Israel is no longer God’s people. The government of the old Jerusalem is finished. The old temple is gone. There are no longer Levites sacrificing animals for forgiveness. That’s not a problem for God’s people anymore. The physical city of Jerusalem and the physical nation of Israel have no bearing on the message of God’s people today. Jesus became the New Temple. The New Jerusalem is heaven, and the New Israel is the kingdom that includes all those who confess the teaching of Scripture – God’s kingdom of the church. Those people who think they need to take over lands in the Middle East to fulfill God’s will for His kingdom are missing the fact that God’s promised kingdom has already been fulfilled in Christ. That’s why we confess: The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray that it may come to us also.

Just as Jesus foretold of the destruction of the temple, He told of the destruction of His own body. Destroy this temple – He said of His body – and in three days I will raise it up (Jn 2:19). On the cross, Jesus – the true temple – was destroyed. But on the third day, He rose to conquer destruction and to bring life. Christ gives us Himself – the True Temple – as we partake of Him today in His body and blood, clothed in bread and wine, given today at this altar. The Temple of His body brings to us the forgiveness that was foreshadowed by the countless bloody sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is brought to us in the Sacrament.

In the Old Testament, God’s people lived primarily in the land of Israel. But our citizenship is in heaven. The church, made of both Jews and Gentiles who trust in Christ, is the New Israel and the dwelling we inherit from this citizenship is heaven. In heaven we will see Jerusalem as St. John testifies: I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coing down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:2-4).

In Holy Baptism, we are brought under the wings of Christ’s mercy in the strength and security of His shield and buckler. We are now citizens of the New Jerusalem, even as we wait for that day when we will be drawn by Christ to Himself in heaven, where we will see fully the glory of Christ our Temple.

Jerusalem, O city fair and high,

Your towers I yearn to see;

My longing heart to you would gladly fly,

It will not stay with me.

Elijah’s chariot take me

Above the lower skies,

To heaven’s bliss awake me,

Released from earthly ties. (LSB 674:1)

In the new Jerusalem of heaven, we will be perfectly sheltered under Jesus’ wings forever. Amen.

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

First Sunday in Lent

2007-03-17T18:25:00.000-05:00

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Luke 6:1-13

THE WINNER STANDS FOR YOU!

Dear Christians, “By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by the devil. Fresh from the water of His baptism, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Satan, the heavy weight from hell, had never been defeated by a man. From Adam onward, whenever he stepped into the ring, the results were the same. There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:12).

Satan too had heard the Father’s words over this man at His baptism, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased”. The devil’s first mighty blow was aimed at the body of Jesus. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

You know what hunger is like, physical hunger, emotional hunger, hunger for happiness, hunger for healing. You know the power of bodily need. The same satanic mouth that swung at Jesus has dropped doubting thoughts into your suffering heart. If God really made you His child in your baptism, then why doesn’t it always seem so? If you are so loved by Him, why does He allow you to be hungry or lonely, or injured or widowed or to face illness or to suffer pain? Satan lures us to turn from the trustworthy words of our Father to the fickle feelings of our hearts. And too often the devil’s temptations strike home. Like a punch in the mid section can knock the wind right out of our lungs so Satan’s powerful blows can leave us spiritually weak and gasping for trust in God.

But not with this man! Nor more had the blow been launched when it was blocked by the Word of God. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.” Instead of turning stone into bread, Christ stuffed the rock solid Word of God into the devil’s open, tempting mouth. Round one in this desert battle is scored perfectly for the Son of Man.

Circling for another attack, the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time…and said…”if you…will worship me, it will all be yours.” This was a head shot! In the first temptation the devil aimed relief from adversity and pain at the body of Jesus, now he held prosperity and delight before his face. The devil knew that Jesus was attentive to the sufferings that awaited him. As he swung again, he held nothing back. This was not a jab to test for weakness, promising a little here or a little there. It was a powerful roundhouse that offered everything this dying world has to tender. Such love of power or position or money or pleasure or more things often leaves mankind sprawled out, down for the count.

But not this man! Jesus came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many, as a ransom for you! And if he came not to be served, certainly he came not to pursue wealth, fame and glory! This roundhouse might have been launched with all the force of hell, but it never landed even a glancing blow. Slipping the punch with unshakeable faith the Second Adam answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” Round two of this battle in the desert is scored perfectly for the Son of Man.

Having been defeated in the first two rounds with our Lord, Satan continues the fight in the dirtiest manner of all. In this temptation, the devil is using the very weapon of Christ and seeking to turn it on Him. “Since you claim to be the beloved Son of God then rely on His word, He will protect you. Take His word and take to the air, O wingless Son of God.”

Dr. Luther noted how much havoc the devil has worked with this temptation; the temptation to twist or abandon God’s clear Word. Luther taught that this is Satan’s greatest temptation. With it the outward unity of the Church has been shattered into scores of denominations. With this tactic Satan has tempted countless people to jump from the pinnacle of the truth and strike their feet on the stone of heresy.

But not his man! Is it not beautiful to hear? Satan sought to wrench the sword of the Spirit from the grasp of Christ? Quoting the 91^st Psalm he grabbed hold of Scripture in a bid to use it incorrectly: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” But Jesus never relinquished His hold on God’s double edged sword. Even as Satan grabbed it from the wrong end, Jesus sliced apart his grip on the razor-sharp blade of God’s Word. “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Round three of this battle in the desert is scored perfectly for the Son of Man.

Do you see what our Lord has done in his conquest of Satan with all of his temptations? What the First Adam did not do, the Second Adam did completely. In the beautiful Garden of Eden, the first Adam was defeated by the ancient Serpent. In the barren wilderness the Second Adam fought off every temptation of the evil one. Every fiery arrow shot from Satan’s bow was doused in the water of the Word. Heaven and hell stood toe-to-toe and hell was left lying in the dust. The tempter whom you could never defeat on your own Christ has defeated for you.

All along the way to the cross Satan tempted Christ - through opposition and through praise, through disappointment and through success. The people at times wanted to make Him king and at times wanted to kill Him. His disciples kept trying to turn Him away from the sacrificial death that He foretold. From the Garden of Gethsemane through the shameful, bloody hours of Good Friday the devil threw all of his strength at this one man. But Jesus held steady. It appeared that the serpent’s poisonous fangs had destroyed Jesus on Calvary, but instead, the heel of this one man crushed the devil’s accusing head.

In this season of Lent remember that Jesus died for you. But remember also that He lived and still lives for you! The blood that He shed on Calvary, the blood that He gives you to drink in His heavenly meal is the blood of the risen Lamb without blemish or defect. He never dishonored His parents! He never gave into the pressure of peers on a college or high school campus! He never complained or murmured against God! He never sinned in lust or greed or pride! He never gossiped or worried or envied! He never lacked fear or love or trust in God with His whole heart! He was tempted in all these ways, just as you are. Yet, He was without sin. In Jesus, the devil met a true man who was his better.

Beloved, it’s all yours! By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). What belongs to the Head belongs to the body and you are the body of Christ. Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.

If you haven’t seen today’s delightful reading for daily prayer in our Lenten booklets, please do so before you turn in tonight. The author recounts Dr. Luther’s thoughts who said, “When I go to bed, the devil is always waiting for me. When he begins to plague me, I say, ‘Devil, I must sleep. That is God’s command. So go away.’ If that doesn’t work and he brings out a catalog of sins, I say, ‘Yes, old fellow, I know all about it. And I know some more sins you have overlooked. Put them down, too. Now begone!’” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the confidence we have in our Lord. His fight in the wilderness was for you. To accuse you the devil must successfully accuse Christ, and that will never be.

“O come let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and finisher of the faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

In His Name, Amen.

Transfiguration of Our Lord

2007-03-17T18:21:00.000-05:00

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Deut. 34; Luke 9 – Selected Verses

YOU SHALL NOT GO OVER THERE

From the heights of Mount Nebo the Lord showed Moses the Promised Land, which God swore to give to the offspring of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And the Lord said to him, “…I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord…”

Dear hearers of the Word: A senior citizen watches with delight the maturation of her grandchild. Excelling all the way through the university, now at the top of his medical class, he has prepared to pursue a career in cancer research. He readily shares with grandma conversations about new drugs and new equipment and new methods that are being studied. She wonders if he may help find better treatments and looks forward to following his work. But then an aggressive cancer strikes her. Surgery is not possible. Within weeks of diagnosis, just days before his graduation, her earthly life comes to its end. What she had fondly anticipated, what would have seemed to hold promise also for her, was not to be.

A young lady finishes school. After several years of paying back loans and working less than ideal jobs, everything has come together. She has been offered a good package doing something she would enjoy and excel at. But there is another possibility. A young man she has been dating for the past year has proposed. She has always desired a husband and children should God grant that and she has grown to love this young man. She chooses marriage and the date is set. Then it happens. An oncoming car skids on the ice crossing the center line. No seat belt, no air bag could absorb the impact. What she had anticipated, the promise of life unfolding is snuffed out in a second.

Dear Christians, there is always an end here. For each one of us comes that final scene of earthly life beyond which we will not pass. In this dying world there will always be disappointed hopes and unfulfilled promises. You know of such, in your family, in your circle of friends.

Sometimes it comes for children or teenagers just beginning, sometimes for young parents with little ones dependent on them, sometimes for soldiers in uniform, sometimes in working years before retirement can be enjoyed, sometimes after 80, 90 or 100 years, but there is always an end here. An accident occurs, a roadside bomb explodes, a disease cannot be treated, complications multiply, a heart stops beating. As with Moses, God will say to each of us, “you shall not go over there”.

Consider Moses. God knew him face to face. He was God’s instrument in bringing the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. He received God’s commandments in person on Mount Sinai. He had survived 40 years of wilderness wandering with its grumbling and scattered graves. He had persevered through adversity and criticism and attempted rebellions. Even at the age of 120 his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. Since Moses, no prophet did such signs and wonders and great deeds. Now, after a vigorous climb to a mountain peak, with his strong clear vision, he could see a whole new land, the Promised Land. Finally, after all those decades and all that disappointment there it is. Yet the Lord said to him, “I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab.

There is always an end here on this earth. For Moses it was by death on the mountain. But not for Elijah! And that takes us to the other mountain in today’s readings, the mount of Transfiguration. Behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Moses is the major model of the Law. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Law of Moses. Elijah is the major model of the Prophets. He was the prophet God promised would return to prepare the way for the Messiah. Elijah was the prophet in whose spirit and power John the Baptizer then came. Moses and Elijah correspond to the Law and the Prophets. Their conversation with Jesus as His Transfiguration, in part testifies that the Law and the Prophets show forth Jesus. More pointedly, the entire Old Testament testifies to the subject of their conversation. It all points to Jesus’ cross and resurrection.

Moses had died. Elijah was taken to heaven alive. Now they both appear with Jesus in glory. You see Jesus has complete and total power over both the living and the dead. No one is out of the reach of His authority. The presence of these two who were taken from earthly life in different ways echoes exactly what the Father said. “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Neither death nor life is closed off from Jesus. He has power over both.

They were talking with Him about His Exodus that He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. The word for “talking” means that serious discussion was taking place, spoken out loud. Of all the subjects we might imagine for consideration when heaven meets earth, the one subject that is not imagined is Jesus sacrificial death for us sinners. That’s how the beauty of this event becomes ours. You see, this holy mystery, this glorious event has everything to do with you! The glory of Jesus is the glory God gives to you His children. Moses and Elijah were unique servants of God to be sure, but they were also sinners, just like us. Both grew frustrated and disheartened. Elijah became so depressed he wanted to die. Yet by God’s grace and mercy they now appear with the same glory that Jesus has. That is also the glory you now have in Christ. The very same!

You are God’s adopted sons. As we prayed in the collect, “O God, in the glorious Transfiguration of Your beloved Son You ….wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace…” St. Paul wrote to the Galatians (3:26, 27) “…in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ”. Jesus is God’s Son by nature. You are His sons by adoption.

That means you share in the glory of The Son even as you go to school or work or rest at home. In Catechism instruction we have emphasized what it means to put on Christ in Holy Baptism. When God looks at you He sees Christ, not you. When we look at ourselves and one another we see something quite different with our struggles and suffering and sin. But that doesn’t change what God gives to you in His Son. The glory you possess in Him is hidden now, just as Jesus’ glory was hidden until the day of His Transfiguration. But the glory you possess in Him is just as real as His.

We understand Peter’s desire to contain Jesus and the glory of heaven here on earth. “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he said. We also want it to be right here. We want to cross over to the next thing and the next thing and not to miss out. We want our hopes to be completely fulfilled like heaven on earth. Why return to a valley of suffering from a mountain of glory?

But the glory Jesus shares with us comes at a price. That price was the subject of conversation as heaven met earth on this Holy Mountain. No tents were to be built because God had already made His tent among us sinners in the flesh of Christ. That tent, that tabernacle was not to be set up but rather torn down as He set His face toward Jerusalem. He was about to undergo the penalty for our sin. The transfigured face of Jesus, shining like the sun, will soon be covered with blood and spit and tears. See who it is Who bleeds for you! See who it is Who is mocked for you! God in the flesh dies for you to give you His eternal glory. As we enter the season of Lent God give strength to our repentance and steady our hope in His sacrificial love.

Dear friends in Christ there is always an end here. There will be a Lenten season that is our last. God wants us to know that, to number our days. Sickness and injury remind us that life here could end at any moment. We will not always be insulated from the accidents and acts of terror and obituaries in the daily news. There will always be unfulfilled hopes in this life, also for us. There will come a time when God will say to each of us, “You will not cross over there”. Here is your earthly end.

He wants you to know this but He does not want you to get used to it! Never! Death is a curse. No matter how much society or secular caregivers describe death as something to accept, a natural part of life that is a lie from the father of lies. God does not want you ever to get used to this truth! Rather He wants you to get past it. That’s why the Son of God left His eternal glory and came down in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That’s why the God/Man came down from this holy mountain with His face set toward Jerusalem. That’s what we fix our eyes on this Lenten season.

So often in obituaries we read that a person is born to eternal life on the day of their death. But that is not exactly true. You were born to eternal life when God gave you faith in His beloved Son, clothing you with Christ. You have already crossed over from death to life (John 5:24). You are co-heirs of Christ and already possess His glory as adopted sons. It is hidden, but it is as real as the presence of Christ in your midst to serve you this morning. On the day that God says to you on earth, “you will not cross over there” He will also say to you in heaven, “you have already crossed over here with My Son.” Moses didn’t miss out when God called him home and neither will you.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

6th Sunday after Epiphany

2007-03-17T18:14:00.000-05:00

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Jeremiah 17:5-8; Luke 6:17-26

JESUS SPEAKS BLESSINGS AND WOES!

In the name of Jesus. Dear blessed ones: Good news or bad? It’s not always so easy to tell. A classic Chinese tale helps illustrate, describing a man who had one son and one horse. When his horse broke out of the fence and fled to the hills, his neighbors said, “that’s bad news”. How do you know asked the man? Sure enough, the next night the horse returned for his normal feeding leading twelve wild horses with him. The son slipped out, locked the gate and suddenly they had thirteen horses instead of one. What good news said the neighbors when they heard of the increase. How do you know asked the man? Sure enough, a few days later his strong young son was trying to break one of the wild horses. He was thrown to the ground severely breaking a leg. The neighbors came by that night and again quickly passed judgment. Your son broke his leg – that’s very bad news. How can you be sure of that asked the father? Sure enough, a few days later a Chinese war lord came through the region conscripting every able-bodied young man taking them off to war. They never returned. The tale ends with this man’s son being saved from a brutal end because of his broken leg. Seemingly bad news turning out to be good! It provides a reminder of our tendency to make snap judgments about whether an event or circumstance is good or bad. Truly, things are not always what they seem.

Dear Christians, what do you think of Jesus’ system of blessings and woes? Weeping is elevated over laughter. Poverty is superior to riches. Hunger is healthy while being full and satisfied is harmful. Being hated, excluded, reviled and spurned on account of the Son of Man is reason to leap for joy. Having all people speak well of you as they did of the false prophets is reason for weeping and mourning. Truly, when it comes to blessings and woes in the kingdom of God, things are not always what they seem.

These words from Jesus are not for everyone! While all the crowd sought to touch him and be healed, when He spoke these blessings and woes, he lifted up his eyes on his disciples. In other words He spoke to His followers telling them that this is what they are in Him, the “poor”, “hungry”, “weeping”, and rejected. Yet at the same time they are also blessed! So Jesus speaks to His church today. So Jesus speaks to you today. Concerning blessings and woes, it doesn’t work in the kingdom of God like it does in the kingdom of the world. Jesus turns our natural way of thinking upside down and inside out.

The prophet Jeremiah said it this way, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” Those who turn from the Lord are like a shrub in the desert. Those whose trust is the Lord are like a tree planted by water.

As Jesus speaks the last blessing and the last woe in each list we are helped to understand the central meaning of them all. “Woe to you when all people speak well of you…” is opposed with “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! He is the key! Jesus! The Son of Man and the Son of God! The Word made flesh! Blessed is the man whose trust is the Lord. Everything spoken here is on account of the Son of Man.

Those who are rich are those who are full of themselves, who trust in their own strength and standing and service to others. Those who are full now are those who feel they can take or leave the healing touch of Jesus’ word and Jesus’ nourishing food. It all depends on their appetite and whether they feel the needs of the moment are satisfied or not. Those who laugh now are those who block out eternity in their daily perspective and find all they need in the things and the relationships of this passing world. For there is plenty of activity and physical blessings to keep us amused and entertained! Woe to those who turning from Christ are rich and full and laughing.

Jesus was right to speak His words directly to His followers. He was saying in detail what Jeremiah said in general. “Cursed in the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength…” Dear Christians, the twelve were doing this all the time. They kept vying for earthly position. They kept depending on their own strength. They kept trying to redefine the work of the Messiah to focus on earthly needs and power. They kept judging by what they saw and felt. So do we all the time, without even trying. We judge by outward beauty or the relief of stress or the temporary satisfying of a felt need or the good opinion of others. Try as we might we can never completely free ourselves from these imprisoning perspectives.

You see, when Jesus said “woe to you who are rich…and full and laughing now,” He wasn’t just speaking condemnation. The word for “woe” in the Greek is also an expression of pity for those who stand under judgment. This is not just a warning from Jesus but also a lament expressing compassion for us sinners! “Woe to you…” Jesus said in sorrow for us who so readily find our strength in ourselves and the shifting sand of our surroundings.

Yet to these same ones Jesus also said “Blessed are you…” The word “blessed” means fortunate in the highest degree. It is the best that God can give you! When Jesus speaks a blessing, His word conveys what He says. His primary intention here is to bless and comfort believers in affliction, to assure them that God knows their lives and their struggles and the opposition of the world. Yet in Him, they enjoy the full blessing of God.

They may weep now over the sin-sickness of the world and of themselves and of those they love, but they will laugh. Sowing with tears they will reap with songs of joy (Psalm 126:5). They may hunger now for more love in the church and more joyful confidence in the resurrection and more faithfulness to God’s will and worship, but they will be satisfied. The verb here is passive. This is something God will do. He will completely fill them with good things. They may be hated and reviled and excluded now for confessing Christ and His Word, but their reward is great in heaven. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Beloved, Jesus speaks here to bless and comfort you! Hang in there! Press on! Continue to pray for all! Continue to speak the truth in love! God disciplines those He loves! God uses trials as refining fires! God’s strength is made perfect in weakness! God works everything for the good of those called according to His purpose, those who love Him. It is now and will always be a mess in this passing world. No Christian gets a free pass. Yet great suffering is to be considered the ground for great joy. Really! Truly! This is how God sees blessings and woes. Therefore never make it your chief goal to be spoken well of by all. Always make it your chief goal to love all in Christ.

The reaction to you personally at any given moment is not the main concern. This is not a popularity contest. How much more clearly can Jesus tell you that confessing Him and His words can sometimes lead to a negative and ugly reaction to you? The welfare of your neighbor for unending moments is the real issue, not your popularity. What appears hateful and negative for you at the moment may be eternally positive and full of future healing for your neighbor.

A person was living in sin, that is openly, willfully and continuously setting aside God’s commandment. A younger family member spoke to him of God’s will. None of your blankety-blank business, he replied. Yes it is, she said, because God loves you and so do I. She didn’t feel blessed, but she was! Blessed are you when people revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy…

Joy is different than happiness which is controlled by our emotions. Joy is God’s gift and it isn’t always felt in the face of hatred or exclusion by others. But there is eternal joy in Christ, whatever the thoughts or actions of others. We tend toward pessimism in trials and thereby aggravate our misery. Our flesh judges by feelings. But here again Christ comforts us, calling us to live by faith, not by sight!

Good news or bad? It’s not so easy to tell. Jesus entered Jerusalem amid shouts of Hosanna and blessed is He. It sure looked good! But soon He hung poor and hungry and naked and cursed; for cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Good news or bad? Nothing could have looked worse! But things are not always what they seem. His cross of death is our tree of life! By God’s grace, all of our woes became His and all of His blessings became ours. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, whose leaf never withers, whatever He does prospers. Through your baptism into His death and resurrection you are also planted in the blessed stream that comes from His pierced side. Blessed in the man whose trust is the Lord.

So which is it for you, blessings or woes? The things you lack at the moment; the recognition of your weakness and your sin and its wages of death; the desires and yearnings of your heart for God’s blessing and healing for yourself and for all people; the struggles of life that make you weep inside or openly sob in sorrow for others in love; those times of drought and the hour of your death when everything feels like it will dry up and blow away? Which is it for you, blessings or woes?

It is not always so easy to tell, so Jesus stands in your midst again today to tell you and to heal you with His touch. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

5th Sunday after Epiphany

2007-03-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

Vicar Gary Schultz
Text: Luke 5:1-11

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

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken… And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Have you ever noticed all the talk about water, boats, and fish in the Bible? There’s Noah’s ark and the flood; there’s Jonah being thrown off a boat and swallowed by a big fish; there’s people walking through divided waters, there’s people walking on water; there’s people traveling on boats, teaching on boats, and boats in storms. There’s lots of water in the Bible, and today we hear another story with water – the account of the miraculous catch of fish and Jesus’ calling of His first disciples.

Jesus uses boats, water, and fish to preach the good news of the kingdom of God (4:43). These were things the people were familiar with. The land of Israel is between the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River. Being a fisherman was a job for many people. Boats, water, and fish were everyday parts of life.

We’re familiar with these images as well. There’s water all around. You’re sitting about six blocks away from Lake Michigan. Shorewood’s geographic location is between this giant lake and the Milwaukee River. Most of you have gone fishing or seen someone fishing before. You know about boats, water, and fish. You’ve seen crashing waves in a storm. You know about the darkness of deep water. So this image of Jesus to tell about His Kingdom continues to illustrate the work of the church and her pastors.

The Psalms speak to us about water as well: Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me (Ps 69:1-2). These words of David portray the biblical imagery of the depths of the sea as disorder, evil, and death. David continues his prayer, showing the depths to be his own sin and unrighteousness. He looks to the Lord to be a deliverer, to save him from sinking in the depths of sin and the enemies of God and His people: But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me (Ps 69:13-15).

Whether we feel like it or not, the storms of this life are filled with temptations pulling us down. Our journey through life on earth is like swimming through a tumultuous sea. The wind and waves of the storms of life threaten to pull us under and drown us. Temptations and troubles come at us from all sides and constantly. We can’t keep our head above water for long. The currents of our society and media sweep along, encouraging us to give into the temptations of the world and our sinful flesh. But Christ is our deliverer to save us from the deep waters, to keep us from being swallowed up by evil.

“Because Christ is present in the boat, it becomes a symbol of the church” (Maximus of Turin). The church building is often seen as the image of a boat. The place where you’re sitting is called the Nave, from the Latin word for ship. Christ is often called the Anchor. Christians weather the dangerous storms, winds, and waves of the temptations and trials of life through the safety of the boat that is the church. Yet, we are not saved merely by being part of an organization. While helpful for record keeping, being in the church roles or pictorial directory won’t amount to anything when our last hour comes. We are saved in the church because it is the body of Christ Himself. The church is what it is because Christ is who He is – God in the flesh, coming to deliver His people from the depths. We, the church, are the body of Christ, and so we pray: Keep Your family the Church continually in the true faith that, relying on the hope of Your heavenly grace, we may ever be defended by Your mighty power (Collect). We are the fish. The nets are the preaching of the Gospel that brings us and keeps us in the true faith in the boat of the church. That’s why Christ still calls pastors today so that through the Gospel in Preaching and the Sacraments, people are drawn to and kept in this saving boat.

Peter and his colleagues worked hard, but caught nothing. But at the word of Jesus, a miracle happens. Peter immediately recognizes the power of Jesus’ word. He knows there were no fish to be caught there – he just finished his fishing and caught nothing. At Jesus’ word, there’s more fish than they could ever have imagined. The nets are full. They call in the other boat. Both boats are overflowing. They went from no fish to an abundance of fish. All at Jesus word: Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

Peter is afraid and astonished. He recognizes Jesus’ miracle. But Jesus assures him: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. Now, Peter will be a disciple of Jesus, called into the apostolic office to preach the Gospel of Christ. Yet, Peter knows that it is not his hard effort that will do the work. When Peter tried to catch fish on his own that night, it didn’t work. The fruits of the labors of his work will be accomplished by Christ and His Gospel. When Jesus spoke to put down the nets, then there was a great result.

New souls are brought into the church through the Preaching of the Gospel.
The church is sustained and grows by the Word of Christ, who works His miraculous catch when and where He wills to. The fishermen let down the nets – the Gospel – trusting that Our Lord knows best what He’s doing.

Just as Christ told the disciples to let down the nets into the depths, so Christ let Himself down into the depths of sin. He endured the waves of God’s wrath, the waves of temptation, the waves of human troubles. He sunk into the deep mire and deep waters where the floods overflow. From the wrath, temptations, and troubles of the cross He was not delivered. But Jesus uses this flood to give new life. The waters of the first flood killed many, but saved Noah and His family. The waters of the Red Sea killed the pursuing Egyptians, but saved God’s people.
The waters of Holy Baptism kill the old Adam, but bring you to new life in Christ. This is primary way that God brings people into His church. Baptism is a flood that both kills and makes alive, a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin. The baptismal liturgy captures the imagery of the church as a saving ship in the storms of life as it directs us to pray: Grant that he be kept safe and secure in the holy ark of the Christian Church, being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving Your name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope, so that, with all believers in Your promise, he would be declared worthy of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord (LSB 269). Amen.

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

4th Sunday after Epiphany

2007-01-31T15:32:00.000-06:00

Text: Luke 4:31-44
Vicar Gary Schultz

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

And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

The people at Capernaum in Galilee didn’t want Jesus to leave. Here they had found a miracle worker to take care of all their problems. He showed His power over both spiritual and physical ailments. He cast out demons and healed fever. All those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

Here we see the mercy of our God. God is not some mysterious force in the sky who made things, set them on their way, and sits back and watches from a distance. Here is a picture of God that is completely foreign to how most people today view God – as some thundering sovereign being. Here is God, mercifully and tenderly coming to His people as a person, laying His hands one-by-one on broken, hurting people, restoring His creation to perfection. If you had been there, think about what diseases and illnesses that would be healed for you or your family: heart conditions, diabetes, cancer, pneumonia. Here is God who steps in to make things right. God came down from heaven in the man Jesus Christ to work His merciful forgiveness for our salvation. His miraculous healings both show His power over sin, death, and the devil; and His love for His creation.

Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus tells about the good news – that is, the Gospel – by both His words and by His actions. Jesus, by His teaching and healing on the Sabbath, puts the Gospel into action. The Sabbath day was to be a day of rest. Jesus speaks and does miracles on the Sabbath so that those oppressed by spiritual or physical troubles may enjoy complete perfection on the Sabbath rest. How appropriate that on the Sabbath, Jesus gives the rest that only He can give.

St. Luke twice records that Jesus’ word possessed authority. They were astonished that His word of teaching possessed authority. They asked “What is this word?” in response to Jesus’ healing. Christ is the Word of God made flesh, so His teaching and healing are the very authority of God Himself.

A seminary professor once shouted at the top of his lungs at his students: “There is no God!” His bellowing voice echoed down the hallways, causing a fellow professor to stop in the class and see just what kind of teaching was going on. His point, of course, was that there is no God outside of Jesus Christ. It’s not like all religions worship God, and then we Christians also have Jesus. No, the person who does not know Jesus does not know God at all. For in [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 1:9).

Jesus continues His work of preaching the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well. Before His ascension into heaven, Jesus gave the gifts of Apostles and pastors to continue the work of His office, to be present with His people gathered in other times and in other towns across the world – from Capernaum to Shorewood, from 30 to 2007. He has come to His creation, in the flesh, in His body and blood, to heal your fallen nature and to make you complete in Him.

Just as Jesus laid His hands upon the people for healing in today’s Gospel, so Jesus continues this “hands on” healing in the Sacrament of Holy Absolution. In the liturgy of private confession, the pastor places his hands on the head of the penitent and says: “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (LSB 293). We receive that forgiveness from the pastor as from God Himself. By it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven, giving us the greatest healing, returning to us the perfect Sabbath rest.

But what about my back problems, my asthma, my cancer, my stress, my arthritis, my heart condition, my addiction, my aging parents, my sick children, my mentally-handicapped relative, my other problems of mind and body today? When is Jesus going to come and take care of these things?
On the one hand, Jesus did not come just to do nice things on earth and make people’s earthly lives better. In the end, all of the earthly lives of those who Jesus helped were ended by one physical ailment or another. Jesus’ miracles served the purpose of proclaiming the good news of salvation, of proclaiming liberty to those captive to sin, and recovering sight to those who are blind in the eyes of faith.

But on the other hand, Jesus does not say: “Tough luck for you. See you in heaven.” Jesus has instituted various vocations of care and service through doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, to diagnose and treat every imaginable medical problem. He provides care through those who care for us at the end of this earthly life. He provides scientists to make medical advancements in treatment, medical machinery, and medications. And He provides support through the prayer of the church, so that we may have open access to voice our concerns to Him, to receive the prayers and intercession of fellow saints on earth and the saints in heaven (Ap XXI), and to know that Jesus Himself is constantly interceding for us in heaven (Heb 7:25). Jesus promises: In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). On the cross, Jesus bore not only our sin, but also sin’s curse. He took every illness, disease, and physical problem we experience upon Himself and it was nailed to the cross. His blood poured out on the cross – poured out in the chalice today – is healing medicine for all our sin and the evils it brings to our lives. The perfect healing awaiting us in heaven is far superior to healing on this earth. And our healing through the forgiveness of sins has already given us a guaranteed place in the perfection of heaven.

Jesus has come and brings healing – healing of body and soul. God does not work from a distance. He works “hands on” to bring you forgiveness each day as you remember your baptism, where He first brought you into His family and continually forgives your sins. He works “hands on” to bring you forgiveness each week as you receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith. He works “hands on” as He speaks His word of forgiveness over you, proclaiming you to be innocent. Through Jesus Christ, God works for the forgiveness of His people, to give them comfort in this life and also to bring us to our greatest deliverance – the Sabbath rest of eternal life in heaven. Amen.

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

3rd Sunday after Epiphany

2007-01-26T19:46:00.000-06:00

Text: Luke 4:16-30

HOMETOWN HOPES AND HILLS
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

To the church of God at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center, called as saints, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; Beloved in Christ,

Many of you have come from towns much smaller than Shorewood such as Bonduel or Fremont or Gillett or Ironwood or Monfort or Plymouth or Suring or Redgranite or put the name from your childhood there. Small hometowns often possess a unique character. Sometimes they’re so small that everyone knows everyone else by name. There is such a thing as hometown familiarity and hometown pride and hometown expectations and hometown contempt. The population of my hometown when I grew up was about 250. It hasn’t been able to sustain those numbers in recent decades, however. The population of Jesus’ hometown as He grew up is estimated at about 500 people. It was just a little town, out-of-the-way, off the beaten path, set in the hills of Galilee. It was not known for anything special. Capturing its reputation was Nathanael’s question of Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)

Gathering places such as churches and schools and taverns are central to hometowns. Not much changes in perception in those gathering places even as the years and decades roll along. Relationships there are pretty set and stable. When I go back to my hometown and to my home church such as at thanksgiving, I’m still “Kenny” to everyone there. It takes you back and keeps you in place. There was also such a gathering place in Jesus’ hometown where the relationships were set and stable. It was the local synagogue. That’s where the events of backwater Nazareth recorded in our text take place. As was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day.

The word for “custom” in the Greek is ethos. It means habit or pattern or way of life. The weekly worship of Jesus is a powerful witness to us today. When our weekly routine omits that which Jesus saw as essential to his life as true man, we are in effect putting ourselves above Jesus. We are saying I’m stronger than you, Jesus. I don’t need what you habitually needed and received. For such thinking repentance is needed. We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

Synagogue worship centered on reading Moses and the prophets from which instruction was then given. It was very much like our service today for Psalms were also sung and prayers were raised. As we heard, Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor were fervent in restoring divine worship after the Babylonian exile. The ears of the people were attentive to the reading of God’s Word and the explanation of its sense. They answered “Amen, Amen” and bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD.

That’s what was taking place in the synagogue of Jesus’ small hometown of Nazareth. …and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Dear Christians, there is so much beauty here in the Old Testament! The blessings are summed up by the year of the Lord’s favor or the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25). Slaves were then set free and property returned and debts forgiven. Everything was renewed and restored! It was a clean slate! The word for “liberty” used here is the standard New Testament word for forgiveness. It indicates a total freeing from captivity to sin. Recovering of sight to the blind indicates eyes no longer held in the darkness of unbelief.

This text is teeming with Messianic marvels and magnificent promises! It is bursting with hope and comfort for people in captivity! And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. The people knew the rumors of his preaching and healing miracles just 20 miles away at Capernaum. What would He do and say now in His hometown? There were no straying thoughts, nor wandering attention in that house of worship. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. They had watched Him grow up as a boy. They had gathered with Him each week in this very synagogue. Their intense gaze was locked on Him as they wondered what He would say.

And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (literally – in your ears). What a wonderful gift! For a moment there was admiration at his gracious words. So long God’s people had waited. So wondrous were the gifts. But Jesus was clearly saying that these promises of rescue and release were fulfilled because He was speaking to them. He was also thereby saying that He was the anointed one, the Messiah, and that they were blind, captive, beggars whom God was rescuing in Him.

And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s Son?” (Pause) No, no, a thousand times, a million times, no! This is God’s Son, in the flesh, true God begotten of His Father from eternity and also true man born of the Virgin Mary! But in His hometown He seemed so ordinary. If He was someone special He would have to prove it locally. If He was someone special then they should have preference for the use of His power. Hometown familiarity boils over into hometown skepticism. Relationships that were set and stable boil over into this question, “Is this not Joseph’s Son?”

And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. Then He gave two examples of God ministering to Gentiles. Elijah fed a pagan widow even when Israelites were starving. Elisha healed a pagan general of leprosy even when there were multitudes of lepers in Israel. Jesus was saying that not only was the salvation He brought not limited to Nazareth, it was also not limited to the sons of Abraham. The liberty He claimed to bring was for all. His words clearly rebuked pride in outward connections and presumptions of hometown favoritism.

Every Israelite knew these stories from childhood. But when Jesus spoke them to their selfish perspectives it was like He had spoken the obvious truth that the emperor had no clothes on and they were the emperor. When Jesus finished His sermon not a single face in the synagogue was smiling. In swift reversal, admiration turned to hatred. Their emotions exploded in fury. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and brought him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff. Pride and wrath combine to lead a hometown mob to a hometown cliff. They intended to take their life-long neighbor and hurl Him to his death.

What about us? What do we expect of Jesus this morning (evening)? Can’t it seem as if nothing much really happens in worship week after week? Isn’t it true that our hearts are tempted with the hometown hankerings of Nazareth? If Jesus doesn’t relieve my personal suffering or take away the struggles in my family or give me smooth sailing in school or make things in this parish perk along, then perhaps we should push Him out and get a different Jesus. I’ve been a Lutheran all my baptized life and what advantage has it gotten me? I’ve paid my dues and hung around, so where’s the payoff?

Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t allow Himself to be thrown down our hometown cliffs. Passing through their midst, he went his way so that He could come into our midst today. His way was the way of the cross. He would go to another hill, not first to be thrown down, but to be lifted up. Not only did His hometown reject Him there, but so did His disciples and the world He created, and His heavenly Father. As He was lifted up on that hill, Jesus was simultaneously hurled down the precipice of the damned. He was flung down our eternal cliff.

Risen from that hellish fall Jesus not only brings good news He is the Good News! He is the Savior of the world! He offers life and salvation to all the poor. Nazareth qualified. So does your hometown. So does this whole world of dying sinners. God use us and that by which He prospers us to bring the Gospel to those sitting in darkness.

He comes today not as our hometown, have-it-your-way buddy. He comes as our heavenly have-it-My-way Helper and Healer. He gathers with us each week in this place to keep the relationships set and stable. He is the Head, we are His body, He is the Shepherd, we are His sheep. He is the Bridegroom; we are His beloved and holy Bride. Gracious words still come out of His mouth, for it is He who says, “I baptize you” and “I forgive you” and “take and eat and drink”. As He speaks all of God’s promises are fulfilled in your ears. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

2007-01-15T20:18:00.000-06:00

Text: John 2:1-11

New Wine!
Rev. Kenneth W. Wieting

When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Dear hearers of the Word made flesh, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. This text overflows with good gifts; God’s good gift of marriage; God’s good gift of wine; God’s good gift of a sign, and God’s Gift of gifts, the Word made flesh!

Dr. Luther in preaching on this text said that young people should pray for a pious
spouse (that is a devout spouse who believes in Christ and gives love and forgiveness based on receiving Christ’s love and forgiveness). Luther said that young people should not be ashamed to call upon God in this matter. If a spouse is God’s gift and not our achievement, we need God’s help in beginning this foundational relationship
in life. So, young people, turn away from the fleshly idols of our time and keep on praying for a godly spouse.

Not all will marry. In Christ a single person is complete. But whether single or married we are to honor marriage. We are to pray for chastity in singleness for ourselves and others. We are to pray for faithfulness in marriage for ourselves and others. God will not permit us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. To our culture, saturated with sexual immorality, fascinated with the falsehood of same-sex relationships, Jesus’ presence at the wedding of Cana speaks a loving and healing word. Marriage, between a man and woman is God’s good gift! God in the flesh honors it and we are to do the same.

Wedding celebrations in that time and place could last for days, even a week. They involved considerable provisions of food and drink. To help celebrate God’s good gift of marriage at Cana, the wedding couple served their guests God’s good gift of wine. Dear Christians, never agree with those who call wine an evil thing. Such talk is really idolatry, putting oneself above God. Such talk comes from Satan, not the Holy Spirit. The abuse of wine in drunkenness is sin (Prov. 23:20; 31; I Cor. 6:10; Eph. 5:18). But wine itself is a sign of God’s love and blessing (Deut. 7:13; Is. 25:6-8; Psalm 104: 14, 15). Wine is God’s good gift!

That brings us to the wine in our text. Describing this miracle later, John said, this, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. Now John does not speak of signs as we think of them. Often we think of a sign as a mere symbol standing in the place of something else. But for St. John the word “sign” means something that is linked with and reveals something else, hidden from ordinary sight. The Greek word for “sign” here could be translated as “mystery” in the same way that “mystery” in Latin is translated as “sacrament” in English.

So these signs in Holy Scripture reveal and give something you wouldn’t otherwise know or recognize. A “sign” is therefore something like a gift from God waiting to be opened. Martin Luther taught that God gives signs as something visible for our faith to hold on to. So it is that the Lord’s holy gifts of Baptism and His Supper are signs, mysteries, Sacraments. They are gifts from God continually to be opened and received.

What a good gift of God this first sign of Jesus was. At the beginning of time God spoke and it was so. He gave the sun to shine and water to refresh the earth. He formed vines to grow and yield grapes. These plants with seed in them that produce after their kind are not the accident of a fairy tale called evolution. God created them and then He created man to care for the vines and produce wine. But truly fine wine takes years. By the natural means God has given, shortcuts in time yield only sour wine or vinegar. Yet, at Cana, it an instant, Jesus created the fullness and sparkle of rich, smooth, well-refined wine. At Cana, in an instant, the Word made flesh gave what He desired to make and give, just like He did when the world was new.

This was the first of His signs, His mysteries. Invited as a guest, He soon became the host. Up to this time He had never performed a miracle. Here He spoke the first words that Scripture records after His baptism by John. In other words, these are the very first words of Jesus in His public work as our Redeemer that God reveals to us.

They may not seem like beautiful words, but hear them again. His mother said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Now when Jesus refers to His hour in the Gospel according to St. John, it is always a reference to His impending crucifixion. For example just before His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday Jesus said, “Father the hour has come, glorify Your son, that the Son may glorify You” (John 17:1) (See also John 7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1).

So the hour when the wine ran out is somehow a pointer to the hour when Jesus life would run out, the hour when He would willingly lay down His life on the cross. The reason is this: the things of this world all run short and ultimately fail us. Because of the destructive entry of sin into the world, things are always draining away, decaying, needing to be replenished. Our rebellion against God has brought a curse on the good gifts God created for us. They simply do not last!

Time races away, as does youth. Energy gets drained. Emotions get emptied. Food is purchased but soon needs purchasing again. Clothes and shoes keep wearing out. Cars rust and houses age and both need constant upkeep. Even our bodies fail us as eyes need glasses and then surgery and ears need hearing aids and joints need replacing and blood vessels grow narrow and on and on. And contrary to the fairy tale of evolution, mutations by and large don’t help us. They bring disease and deformity; they cause cancer and other cell disturbance that brings deterioration not advancement. Our bodies work their way toward empty and ultimately fail us in death. Like a flower that springs up in the morning by evening we are cut down and wither away. Heaven and earth are passing away. As the wine ran out at the wedding banquet, so the wine of our earthly lives is approaches empty as well.

When Jesus provided an overflowing, abundance of wine at Cana, He began reversing the draining force of sin so that there would be bounty once again. Just as Jesus used six stone jars in this miracle, so on the sixth day of the week, Good Friday, He broke sin’s curse. When His hour did come, He destroyed death by His own death on the cross. In the sacrifice of His flesh He did away with the temporariness and impermanence of the old order of things. As water and blood flowed from His pierced side, He brought about a new creation.

Truly of that hour it can be said, “He saved the best till last”. While His first miracle was changing water into wine, one of His last was making wine to be His blood for us to drink for the forgiveness of sins. As the wedding of Cana was on the third day so there was a glorious third day that followed after the hour of His glory. By Jesus’ power, the garden tomb sealed with a stone was not full, but empty. It was empty because the bridegroom lives to love His bride today. It was empty because the bridegroom rose to fill your future with a heavenly feast.

Dear Christians, you are so loved by Him! God rejoices over you as the bridegroom rejoices over His bride. As He brings you to His banqueting house today His banner over you is love. As He was present in the flesh to provide the needs for the wedding in our text, so He is present in the flesh to provide what you need. His grace doesn’t run out; there is always enough. You are never forsaken or desolate.
Whatever your marital status here the Lord delights in you as His bride, holy and without blemish. You will miss none of the eternal joys He has prepared for you.

You are His! Whatever sins have been in your past against His good gifts of marriage or wine or His holy mysteries, Christ cleanses you with the washing of water by the Word. Whatever emptiness there may be in your life today, Christ comes to fill you now with Himself. He is the new wine! He brings the new creation to you! “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb of God (Rev. 19:9). In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Baptism of Our Lord

2007-01-13T15:20:00.000-06:00

Vicar Gary Schultz
Text: Luke 3:15-22

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

When Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Today’s celebration of the Baptism of Our Lord proclaims to us the wonder of the first Christian baptism. Here is the first account of washing with water connected to the Triune God and the Word. The Father speaks from heaven; the Son, the Word Himself, stands in the water of the Jordan River; the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove.

These truths on Jordan’s banks were shown by mighty word and wonder.

The Father’s voice from heaven came down, which we do well to ponder:

“This man is My beloved Son, In whom My heart has pleasure.

Him you must hear and Him alone, and trust in fullest measure

The word that He has spoken (LSB 406:3)

Jesus’ baptism is good news for us! Jesus’ baptism connects us to His death and resurrection. In our baptism, we are connected to Him in complete assurance that we have forgiveness of sins. This is why baptism plays such a central and foundational role in the life of the church. This is why each Christian is called to daily remember their baptism into Christ and the new life that He gives.

With the story of Jesus’ baptism, St. Luke’s Gospel narrative makes a change in direction. The parallels between John the Baptizer and Jesus now draw to a close. John was the last and greatest prophet, and his work was now completed. Through his preaching and baptism of repentance, he prepared the way of the Lord, pointing to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn 1:29). Now the focus turns solely to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus, as He begins His ministry for us by His Baptism, is recorded as praying, just as now in heaven He saves at all times those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25).

It’s no coincidence that last night we were celebrating the Epiphany of Our Lord. The celebration of the Epiphany shows that Jesus Christ is also true God. He is “God in flesh made manifest.” In many periods of church history, the Baptism and Epiphany of Our Lord were celebrated as one event. Jesus being made known as true God and the beginning of His ministry of forgiveness are two closely related events.

All the people were baptized, and Jesus also had been baptized. Jesus was baptized right along with the others. As true man, He’s just like us. But as true God, Jesus’ baptism sanctifies the sin-filled waters of the Jordan and makes them a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin (Luther’s Flood Prayer). Here we see the last parallel between John and Jesus. John’s baptism was for repentance, in preparation of the Coming One. Now Jesus comes and He is baptized for us.

St. Luke records that at Jesus’ baptism the heavens opened. The opening of the heavens signifies the forgiveness of sins. And our baptism opens the heavens to us because the forgiveness of our sins makes us heirs of the inheritance of heaven. Through our baptism, heaven is opened to us. We are connected to Christ our Savior, who tore through the curtain of the temple, giving us complete, free access to Our Father. Heaven’s forgiveness pours over us in the waters of Holy Baptism.

Jesus’ baptism is good news for us! You see, if Jesus’ hadn’t been baptized, then His suffering, death, and resurrection would have no connection to us. Certainly Jesus’ death and resurrection is a real, historic event. But Our Lord does not leave us simply to ponder these things as mere stories. He does not require us to somehow connect ourselves in our minds to his death and resurrection. He does not ask us to ponder if we were there when they crucified my Lord. We don’t need to make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, to any other place. Baptism puts us where we need to be: in His family, in His forgiveness – closer than if we were standing at the manger, in the temple, at the cross, or at the tomb. In His baptism, Our Lord takes the sins of the world in the waters of the Jordan River upon Himself, so that when we are washed with water and His word, His complete perfection is placed upon us. Jesus’ perfect life, innocent suffering, atoning death, and triumphant resurrection are all given to us in the waters of baptism.

There stood the Son of God in love, His grace to us extending;

The Holy Spirit like a dove Upon the scene descending;

The triune God assuring us, With promises compelling,

That in our Baptism He will thus among us find a dwelling

To comfort and sustain us. (LSB 406:4)

We have new lives! We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised form the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Our old way of living in sin, as those who are hopeless, is put away. It’s buried in Christ’s tomb and crushed by Christ’s victorious resurrection.

But what about when we give into temptation and fall into sin? We certainly know that we have not lived the perfect life that we are called to live as God’s children. The devil, the world, and our sinful nature don’t just go away. Our baptism into Christ is always valid, always ready to pour forth forgiveness, always ready to wash away sin. Our baptism into Christ indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Our life in Christ involves daily dying to sin in repentance and daily rising to new life through forgiveness, that through this saving flood all sin in us which has been inherited from Adam and which we have committed since would be drowned and die.
God grant that the prayer spoken at baptism would be our prayer each day, rejoicing that through our baptism we are kept safe and secure in the holy ark of the Christian Church, being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving [God’s] name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope, so that, with all believers in [God’s] promise we would be declared worthy of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Luther’s Flood Prayer). Amen.

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