Today on the Church Year calendar we remember "The Visitation." This is the moment when the Virgin Mary, with Christ in her womb, visited her relative Elizabeth, who was soon to give birth to John the Baptist. Click here for Scripture readings and collects for the day, and here for more information about this observance (and ignore all the rosary stuff!).
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Visitation (May 31)
Today on the Church Year calendar we remember "The Visitation." This is the moment when the Virgin Mary, with Christ in her womb, visited her relative Elizabeth, who was soon to give birth to John the Baptist. Click here for Scripture readings and collects for the day, and here for more information about this observance (and ignore all the rosary stuff!).
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sermon for the Day of Pentecost
The Day of Pentecost (May 27, 2007)
“The Meaning of Pentecost for Us Today” (John 14:23-31)
(Based on an outline by Dr. Harold Buls)
You’ve heard me say before that every Sunday is a “little Easter.” Week after week, on the first day of the week, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It was on that day, after all, that Jesus rose to life again. We recall that Christ rose from the dead and so we too shall rise from the dead. We may not pull out all the stops like we do on Easter Sunday. But every Sunday is indeed a “little Easter.”
We might also say that every Sunday is a “little Pentecost.” On that first New Testament Pentecost in Jerusalem the Holy Spirit came to teach the apostles all things and to remind them of all that Jesus said. That’s similar to what happens now every Sunday. God the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Word of Christ. He teaches us all things necessary for our salvation. Pentecost is a reminder that our relationship to God is by faith in Jesus. And St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 that God strengthens us “with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Eph 3:17)
So every Sunday is not only a little Easter. Every Sunday is also a little Pentecost. Listen to the Gospel lesson one more time as together we consider “The Meaning of Pentecost for Us Today.”
Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. (John 14:23-31)
PENTECOST MEANS THAT FAITH IS NECESSARY
First of all, Pentecost means that faith is necessary. In our text, Jesus talks a lot about “loving God.” To love God means to believe in Him. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Matt 22:37) What else can this mean than to believe in him...to trust in him?
The disciples were weak in faith at this point in their lives. In verse 28, Jesus says, “If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” The disciples were sorrowful because Jesus said he was going away. He was on his way to the cross...followed by the empty tomb...and after that to be received in the cloud on the Mount of Olives. All this talk about Jesus going away made them sorrowful, even though, as Jesus explained, it was his Father's will. Jesus said that “the Father is greater than I.” According to Christ’s human nature that was true. And so the Son of God completely submitted to his Father’s will by dying, rising, and ascending for the salvation of the world. But the disciples’ understanding was darkened and their faith was weak.
What about you? Are you weak in faith? Well, so were the disciples. But notice how Jesus treated them. He treated them with kindness and patience. He didn’t cast them out.
And that’s the same way our gracious Savior treats us. Scripture says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.” (Is 42:3) And Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (Jn 6:37) He sends his Holy Spirit to us through his Word and creates faith in our hearts. And where there is faith in Christ, there God makes his home. God himself comes and takes up residence in the believer. Recall last week’s Gospel lesson from John 17 where Jesus said, “I in them and you in me.” Remember David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” And Jesus promises in vs. 23 of our text: “We will come to him and make our home in him.” The Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—lives in your heart by faith. That's Pentecost.
PENTECOST MEANS THAT WE CONTINUE TO LEARN
Pentecost also means that we continue to learn. Verse 26 of our text says, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Victor Borge, the late piano-playing comedian, told the story about a couple going on vacation who were standing in line waiting to check their bags at the airline counter. The husband said to his wife, “I wish we had brought the piano.” The wife then said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! We have sixteen bags already!” And the husband said, “Yes, I know...but the tickets are on the piano.”
Have you ever done something like that? Did you ever find that you had forgotten your airline tickets when you were already at the airport? I’ve never done that, but I was with some friends once who forgot our concert tickets after we were already at the arena. We listened to half the concert outside while they drove all the way back to their house to get our tickets. But you and I have forgotten more important things than that. You and I have hurt our spouse when we have forgotten something important he or she told us. We’ve disappointed people when we have forgotten birthdays or anniversaries or other important information about them that we should have remembered. We have forgotten to pray for those to whom we promised “I’ll remember you in my prayers.” And we have sinfully forgotten portions of God’s Word that we should know better and remember.
Sinful human beings forget very quickly. That's why we have Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came and reminded the Apostles of what Jesus said. Read the sermons of the Apostles in the book of Acts. They are full of what Jesus said. Then the Spirit caused Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to write all that Jesus said and did. We have all of that, including the words of Jesus that tell us that we are forgiven for our sinful forgetting.
The Holy Spirit would also teach the apostles everything. They were God’s inspired witnesses to record for us what Jesus said and to bring us the very teachings of Jesus. The biggest problem in the early church was circumcision. The Jewish Christians said that Gentiles had to be circumcised before they could become Christians. But the whole New Testament says: “You don’t have to DO anything. Christ has done everything. He offers Jews and Gentiles full salvation without requirements.” The Holy Spirit caused Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude to record the Epistles in which we have teachings based on the word of Christ. They are not their own words. They are God’s Words, inspired by the Spirit as II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”...as well as II Peter 1:20-21, “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Pentecost means that we continue to learn from God’s Spirit-breathed words.
PENTECOST MEANS THAT WE ARE ASSURED OF GOD’S PEACE
AND FAITH IS STRENGTHENED
Finally, Pentecost means that we are assured of the peace of God and that he strengthens our faith. The peace of the world only means that war has ceased...and that kind of peace, as we well know, is few and far between. The world's peace does not make our hearts courageous and brave. The world's peace does not forgive us our sins or give us everlasting life.
Before Pentecost the disciples were fearful. After Pentecost, they were changed men. Just read the whole book of Acts. They stood before government officials and religious rulers and said, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19)...We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).” The peace of God gave them fearless and courageous hearts. And God’s peace in our hearts will do the same for us.
Pentecost strengthens our faith. Jesus says towards the end of our text: “And now I have told you before it takes place so that when it does take place you may believe.” In other words, he said, “Just wait, guys. It’s going to happen, just as I promised. I will rise again. You will see me alive. I will ascend into heaven, and you will see that, too. And I will send the Holy Spirit. Then you will believe.” The fulfillment of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, and 10 days after Ascension, indeed strengthened their faith.
So many times, we say, “If only I could have been there. If only I could have seen Jesus alive. If only I could have seen him going up into heaven. If only I could have heard that rushing wind. If only I could have had one of those tongues of fire upon me. If only I could have spoken in tongues like those Christians on the day of Pentecost.” But really, you and I are even more blessed. We may not have been there. But we have the eyewitness testimony of the apostles recorded for us. And we have ALL of God’s inspired Word. That’s more than what the first Christians could say. Not all of them had the inspired words of Paul recorded for them. Not all of them had all four of the Gospels in their possession...Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But you and I do. So we, too, know the faithfulness of God in all of his fulfilled promises. The Spirit was poured out upon us in Baptism. The Spirit comes to us even today when the Gospel is proclaimed. We have all that those disciples had that first New Testament Pentecost. And that causes us to believe in Christ more and more each day, as we await that one unfulfilled promise of Jesus coming back again. But he has a pretty good track record, so you can count on that happening, too. Let’s prepare by loving Jesus, keeping his word, and knowing that God himself has made his home with us.
And remember: Every Sunday is Easter...every Sunday is Pentecost.
Amen.
“The Meaning of Pentecost for Us Today” (John 14:23-31)
(Based on an outline by Dr. Harold Buls)
You’ve heard me say before that every Sunday is a “little Easter.” Week after week, on the first day of the week, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It was on that day, after all, that Jesus rose to life again. We recall that Christ rose from the dead and so we too shall rise from the dead. We may not pull out all the stops like we do on Easter Sunday. But every Sunday is indeed a “little Easter.”
We might also say that every Sunday is a “little Pentecost.” On that first New Testament Pentecost in Jerusalem the Holy Spirit came to teach the apostles all things and to remind them of all that Jesus said. That’s similar to what happens now every Sunday. God the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Word of Christ. He teaches us all things necessary for our salvation. Pentecost is a reminder that our relationship to God is by faith in Jesus. And St. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3 that God strengthens us “with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Eph 3:17)
So every Sunday is not only a little Easter. Every Sunday is also a little Pentecost. Listen to the Gospel lesson one more time as together we consider “The Meaning of Pentecost for Us Today.”
Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. (John 14:23-31)
PENTECOST MEANS THAT FAITH IS NECESSARY
First of all, Pentecost means that faith is necessary. In our text, Jesus talks a lot about “loving God.” To love God means to believe in Him. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Matt 22:37) What else can this mean than to believe in him...to trust in him?
The disciples were weak in faith at this point in their lives. In verse 28, Jesus says, “If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” The disciples were sorrowful because Jesus said he was going away. He was on his way to the cross...followed by the empty tomb...and after that to be received in the cloud on the Mount of Olives. All this talk about Jesus going away made them sorrowful, even though, as Jesus explained, it was his Father's will. Jesus said that “the Father is greater than I.” According to Christ’s human nature that was true. And so the Son of God completely submitted to his Father’s will by dying, rising, and ascending for the salvation of the world. But the disciples’ understanding was darkened and their faith was weak.
What about you? Are you weak in faith? Well, so were the disciples. But notice how Jesus treated them. He treated them with kindness and patience. He didn’t cast them out.
And that’s the same way our gracious Savior treats us. Scripture says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.” (Is 42:3) And Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (Jn 6:37) He sends his Holy Spirit to us through his Word and creates faith in our hearts. And where there is faith in Christ, there God makes his home. God himself comes and takes up residence in the believer. Recall last week’s Gospel lesson from John 17 where Jesus said, “I in them and you in me.” Remember David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” And Jesus promises in vs. 23 of our text: “We will come to him and make our home in him.” The Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—lives in your heart by faith. That's Pentecost.
PENTECOST MEANS THAT WE CONTINUE TO LEARN
Pentecost also means that we continue to learn. Verse 26 of our text says, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Victor Borge, the late piano-playing comedian, told the story about a couple going on vacation who were standing in line waiting to check their bags at the airline counter. The husband said to his wife, “I wish we had brought the piano.” The wife then said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! We have sixteen bags already!” And the husband said, “Yes, I know...but the tickets are on the piano.”
Have you ever done something like that? Did you ever find that you had forgotten your airline tickets when you were already at the airport? I’ve never done that, but I was with some friends once who forgot our concert tickets after we were already at the arena. We listened to half the concert outside while they drove all the way back to their house to get our tickets. But you and I have forgotten more important things than that. You and I have hurt our spouse when we have forgotten something important he or she told us. We’ve disappointed people when we have forgotten birthdays or anniversaries or other important information about them that we should have remembered. We have forgotten to pray for those to whom we promised “I’ll remember you in my prayers.” And we have sinfully forgotten portions of God’s Word that we should know better and remember.
Sinful human beings forget very quickly. That's why we have Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came and reminded the Apostles of what Jesus said. Read the sermons of the Apostles in the book of Acts. They are full of what Jesus said. Then the Spirit caused Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to write all that Jesus said and did. We have all of that, including the words of Jesus that tell us that we are forgiven for our sinful forgetting.
The Holy Spirit would also teach the apostles everything. They were God’s inspired witnesses to record for us what Jesus said and to bring us the very teachings of Jesus. The biggest problem in the early church was circumcision. The Jewish Christians said that Gentiles had to be circumcised before they could become Christians. But the whole New Testament says: “You don’t have to DO anything. Christ has done everything. He offers Jews and Gentiles full salvation without requirements.” The Holy Spirit caused Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude to record the Epistles in which we have teachings based on the word of Christ. They are not their own words. They are God’s Words, inspired by the Spirit as II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”...as well as II Peter 1:20-21, “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Pentecost means that we continue to learn from God’s Spirit-breathed words.
PENTECOST MEANS THAT WE ARE ASSURED OF GOD’S PEACE
AND FAITH IS STRENGTHENED
Finally, Pentecost means that we are assured of the peace of God and that he strengthens our faith. The peace of the world only means that war has ceased...and that kind of peace, as we well know, is few and far between. The world's peace does not make our hearts courageous and brave. The world's peace does not forgive us our sins or give us everlasting life.
Before Pentecost the disciples were fearful. After Pentecost, they were changed men. Just read the whole book of Acts. They stood before government officials and religious rulers and said, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19)...We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).” The peace of God gave them fearless and courageous hearts. And God’s peace in our hearts will do the same for us.
Pentecost strengthens our faith. Jesus says towards the end of our text: “And now I have told you before it takes place so that when it does take place you may believe.” In other words, he said, “Just wait, guys. It’s going to happen, just as I promised. I will rise again. You will see me alive. I will ascend into heaven, and you will see that, too. And I will send the Holy Spirit. Then you will believe.” The fulfillment of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, and 10 days after Ascension, indeed strengthened their faith.
So many times, we say, “If only I could have been there. If only I could have seen Jesus alive. If only I could have seen him going up into heaven. If only I could have heard that rushing wind. If only I could have had one of those tongues of fire upon me. If only I could have spoken in tongues like those Christians on the day of Pentecost.” But really, you and I are even more blessed. We may not have been there. But we have the eyewitness testimony of the apostles recorded for us. And we have ALL of God’s inspired Word. That’s more than what the first Christians could say. Not all of them had the inspired words of Paul recorded for them. Not all of them had all four of the Gospels in their possession...Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But you and I do. So we, too, know the faithfulness of God in all of his fulfilled promises. The Spirit was poured out upon us in Baptism. The Spirit comes to us even today when the Gospel is proclaimed. We have all that those disciples had that first New Testament Pentecost. And that causes us to believe in Christ more and more each day, as we await that one unfulfilled promise of Jesus coming back again. But he has a pretty good track record, so you can count on that happening, too. Let’s prepare by loving Jesus, keeping his word, and knowing that God himself has made his home with us.
And remember: Every Sunday is Easter...every Sunday is Pentecost.
Amen.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Burial or Cremation?
As summer approaches, you might think that cremation is a strange topic to cover. On the other hand, is there really any time that is appropriate to bring this up? I once asked a funeral director if business picked up around the holidays, after I observed that it seemed like I officiated at more funerals around Thanksgiving and Christmas. He replied, “No, we’re pretty steady all year ‘round.” So, I guess this is as good a time as any.
Not long ago I read a book that has made me reexamine my own thoughts about cremation. It’s entitled Dust to Dust or Ashes to Ashes? A Biblical and Christian Examination of Cremation by Alvin J. Schmidt (Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 2005). I’m still working through some of the things that Schmidt brings up. I encourage you to read this book. It certainly is thought-provoking and, whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it will help you to make some God-pleasing decisions about how our bodies are handled after we die. If you have been involved with a loved one’s cremation or if you yourself plan on having your body cremated, please don’t take this as an assault on your conscience. I simply want to address some issues surrounding the decision whether to bury or cremate our bodily remains.
Schmidt’s bottom line is that cremation is un-Christian and sinful because of the pagan origins of cremation and the violent way in which the body is disposed of in the cremation process. I’m not prepared yet to say whether all cremation is sinful, but I do agree with many points he makes in his book. However, I do think that it is important for us to treat with dignity and respect our bodily remains. The care taken with Christ’s body after his death can certainly be instructive for us. His body was placed in a tomb to await his resurrection. Therefore, since the days of the early church, burial has been the preferred practice of Christians. The words and actions at a Christian funeral—along with the presence of a casket with a body inside—can be a powerful testimony not only to the “wages of sin” but especially to the resurrection to eternal life of all believers on the Last Day. The absence of a body at a “memorial service” or a small box with ashes do not seem (and this is not meant to be glib) to carry the same weight. Likewise, if at all possible, the funeral should be conducted in the church, where the deceased regularly heard the Word of God and received Christ’s body and blood. At the funeral home, there are no symbols that point us to the cross of Christ, nor is there any font or paschal candle that remind us that the deceased was baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.
Also, if cremation is decided upon in certain instances, the Christian family must make some important decisions about how to handle the remains of the deceased. Once again, we must treat them with dignity and respect. That will probably mean a proper inurnment and placement in a columbarium or mausoleum or other appropriate resting place that can be visited by the family in the future. My opinion is that the scattering of ashes is not an appropriate witness to others who may not be Christian. Some people choose the mountains or gardens or the ocean or the baseball field because, “Mom really loved her garden” or “Dad felt at home on the baseball diamond.” But if mom and dad were believers in Jesus, then they are certainly not in the garden or on the ballfield. Their souls are in heaven awaiting the resurrection. Christians know that. But others may not, and we give a false testimony about Christian doctrine concerning death and resurrection when we do or say such things.
Whatever decisions you make about how you want your body handled after death, make sure that they are ones which will give a firm testimony about your Christian hope...that because Jesus Christ died and rose for you and has forgiven you all your sins, therefore you have the promise that although your body is at rest in the ground, your soul is with Jesus in heaven, and on the Last Day, your soul will be reunited with your body, and you will rise to life again just as your Savior Jesus did, never to die again, and with all the other departed saints you will gaze upon your Living Redeemer, as Job said, “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:26-27)
What else should Christians want to be their parting message to all who will gather for their funeral but the wonderful Gospel message to which they clung throughout their life?
Not long ago I read a book that has made me reexamine my own thoughts about cremation. It’s entitled Dust to Dust or Ashes to Ashes? A Biblical and Christian Examination of Cremation by Alvin J. Schmidt (Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 2005). I’m still working through some of the things that Schmidt brings up. I encourage you to read this book. It certainly is thought-provoking and, whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it will help you to make some God-pleasing decisions about how our bodies are handled after we die. If you have been involved with a loved one’s cremation or if you yourself plan on having your body cremated, please don’t take this as an assault on your conscience. I simply want to address some issues surrounding the decision whether to bury or cremate our bodily remains.
Schmidt’s bottom line is that cremation is un-Christian and sinful because of the pagan origins of cremation and the violent way in which the body is disposed of in the cremation process. I’m not prepared yet to say whether all cremation is sinful, but I do agree with many points he makes in his book. However, I do think that it is important for us to treat with dignity and respect our bodily remains. The care taken with Christ’s body after his death can certainly be instructive for us. His body was placed in a tomb to await his resurrection. Therefore, since the days of the early church, burial has been the preferred practice of Christians. The words and actions at a Christian funeral—along with the presence of a casket with a body inside—can be a powerful testimony not only to the “wages of sin” but especially to the resurrection to eternal life of all believers on the Last Day. The absence of a body at a “memorial service” or a small box with ashes do not seem (and this is not meant to be glib) to carry the same weight. Likewise, if at all possible, the funeral should be conducted in the church, where the deceased regularly heard the Word of God and received Christ’s body and blood. At the funeral home, there are no symbols that point us to the cross of Christ, nor is there any font or paschal candle that remind us that the deceased was baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.
Also, if cremation is decided upon in certain instances, the Christian family must make some important decisions about how to handle the remains of the deceased. Once again, we must treat them with dignity and respect. That will probably mean a proper inurnment and placement in a columbarium or mausoleum or other appropriate resting place that can be visited by the family in the future. My opinion is that the scattering of ashes is not an appropriate witness to others who may not be Christian. Some people choose the mountains or gardens or the ocean or the baseball field because, “Mom really loved her garden” or “Dad felt at home on the baseball diamond.” But if mom and dad were believers in Jesus, then they are certainly not in the garden or on the ballfield. Their souls are in heaven awaiting the resurrection. Christians know that. But others may not, and we give a false testimony about Christian doctrine concerning death and resurrection when we do or say such things.
Whatever decisions you make about how you want your body handled after death, make sure that they are ones which will give a firm testimony about your Christian hope...that because Jesus Christ died and rose for you and has forgiven you all your sins, therefore you have the promise that although your body is at rest in the ground, your soul is with Jesus in heaven, and on the Last Day, your soul will be reunited with your body, and you will rise to life again just as your Savior Jesus did, never to die again, and with all the other departed saints you will gaze upon your Living Redeemer, as Job said, “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:26-27)
What else should Christians want to be their parting message to all who will gather for their funeral but the wonderful Gospel message to which they clung throughout their life?
Friday, May 25, 2007
Bede the Venerable, Theologian (May 25)
Today we commemorate Bede the Venerable, an important English monk of the Middle Ages. He is also the author of the Ascension hymn "A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing" (LSB 493).
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Asked of me at the preschool closing ceremony in the church sanctuary this morning...
Preschooler: "Pastor, is there a baseball game here today?"
Me: "No, why do you ask?"
Preschooler (pointing to the hymnboard): "Well, then, what are all those numbers doing up there?"
Preschooler: "Pastor, is there a baseball game here today?"
Me: "No, why do you ask?"
Preschooler (pointing to the hymnboard): "Well, then, what are all those numbers doing up there?"
Monday, May 21, 2007
Constantine and Helena (May 21)
Constantine was the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire. He is commemorated today as a Christian ruler, the kind of ruler for which Luther encourages us to pray in the Small Catechism (Lord's Prayer, Fourth Petition). Also, we remember today his mother Helena, who was a pious and devout woman...the kind of mother for which we give thanks and ask God to give all children. Who knows, maybe the children of pious mothers will be...well, not emperor...but faithful rulers one day because of the care and prayers of their mothers.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter
Seventh Sunday of Easter/Confirmation Day (May 20, 2007)
“That Thay May All Be One” (John 17:20-26)
Today, three young people of our congregation will reaffirm the promises that God gave to them in their Baptism. After instruction in the Catechism over the past two years, they will stand before you and say “Yes” to all of God’s promises and publicly confess faith in Jesus as their Savior. The congregation will pray for them, asking the Holy Spirit to confirm them...to strengthen them...in their God-given faith.
But did you know that Jesus once prayed for you? Did you know that he prayed for you while he was here during his earthly ministry? Our Gospel lesson today from John 17 records that prayer for us. It’s been called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” In it, he prays for his disciples. He would soon be leaving them in his death, resurrection, and ascension. The Holy Spirit would be poured out upon them later on the day of Pentecost, which we will celebrate next Sunday. Some of those men, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would write portions of the New Testament. Each of them went out and preached the Word of Christ. And in the portion of John 17 that was read a few moments ago, Jesus prayed for “those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.” That’s you and me he’s talking about. Jesus prayed for you and for me.
Individualism: It’s all about me!
The words of Jesus’ prayer speak against something we all struggle with. There is a streak of independence and individualism in all of us. It’s the attitude that thinks, “It’s all about me.”
Take my daughter for example. At her age, she thinks it’s all about her. She sees a train go by or she hears a train in the distance, and she gestures that she wants to ride on it. She sees a picture of a boat or a horse in a book, and she gestures that she wants one or that she wants to go on it. She gets through eating plenty of her own food, but immediately after she’s done she runs up to mom and dad and opens her mouth to mooch like a little puppy dog. Another toddler comes over to visit, and if she doesn’t like the fact that the other one is playing with her toys, she’ll let the kid know with a swift smack of the hand. It’s all about her right now. Like all toddlers, she thinks the world revolves around her.
But this is not just limited to toddlers. As you continue in your teenage years, you are going to find that sometimes it seems like the world is against you. It really isn’t. It just seems that way. Why? Because in this time in which you are in-between being a child and an adult, you are discovering more about being independent. You are finding out who you are as an individual. You will soon be learning that the world does not revolve around you. And this often causes conflict with your parents, with your teachers, with your friends.
And you know what? Things don’t really change all that much as we grow up and enter the world of adulthood...whenever that is. Most of us don’t go around smacking other adults if we don’t like what they do or say. But each of us from time to time engages in behavior that isolates us from others. Hurtful words, cold shoulders, and unforgiving hearts drive others away from us.
By the time we become adults, we should already know that the world does not revolve around us...but we sure would like it if it did. Even when we get older, we would prefer to think that it’s still “all about me.” Each of us has a bit of self-centeredness inside of us that can potentially alienate ourselves from others.
That was the problem all the way back in the Garden of Eden. It wasn’t about what God wanted. It was about what Adam and Eve wanted. The devil tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, telling them that if they did, they would be like God. Now that’s a tempting offer: “Instead of having to be subservient as part of God’s creation, I could be just like him.” You know what happened. Eve ate the fruit. She gave some to her hubby and he ate. And what happened next? They knew what they had done. They covered themselves up. They hid from God. They blamed everyone else except themselves for their sin. Adam even pointed the finger at God... “The woman whom you gave to be with me...it’s all your fault, God! You brought this on! Couldn’t you have given me someone else, someone who wouldn’t have brought this fine mess upon us?” What was the result of God’s creation taking a turn down a path he didn’t intend them to go? What was the result of Adam and Eve acting in such a self-centered way without any thought of God’s command...without any thought of God’s love for creating them in the first place and placing them in a perfect paradise? Isolation. Hiding. Alone. Kicked out of God’s perfect paradise.
This problem of thinking that “it’s all about me” causes us to be isolated from each other and from God forever. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ version of hell in his novel The Great Divorce. In the book, hell is a huge gray town that goes on for millions of miles in all directions. One of the occupants describes it this way: “As soon as anyone arrives he settles in some street. Before he’s been there twenty-four hours he quarrels with his neighbor. Before the week is over he’s quarreled so badly that he decides to move. Very likely he finds the next street empty because all the people there have quarreled with their neighbors—and moved. So he settles in...He’s sure to have another quarrel pretty soon and he’ll move on again.” The speaker explains that’s why the town is so huge. Everyone keeps moving farther and farther apart from each other until each inhabitant lives thousands and thousands of miles from the next one.
Hell will be much worse than just a huge gray town where everyone lives miles apart. But you can see Lewis’ point. God never intended us to be isolated from him or from each other.
One in Christ: It’s all about Jesus and His Church
That’s why Jesus had to be all alone on the cross...so that you and I don’t have to be isolated from God forever. The leaders of his own people condemned him to die. His friends deserted him. One betrayed him. His brothers rejected him as insane. Only a few women and the apostle John remained at the foot of the cross...and even then, Jesus gave his mother into John’s care.
Above all, his Heavenly Father turned his back on him. Although he was without sin, Jesus died as if he was the greatest sinner who had ever lived...and that meant that God the Father had to turn his back on his own Son. Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus felt the weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders. The one who kept God’s Law perfectly became a curse for us who have not kept God’s Law (Gal. 3:13). He felt the very same isolation and aloneness that Adam and Eve must have felt in the Garden...the very same isolation and aloneness that each of us feels when we come to recognize that we are sinners who also ought to be cast out of God’s presence.
But God has not left us alone. Jesus our Savior rose to life again and appeared alive to his disciples. He pronounced them forgiven and does the same to all who trust in his saving death and resurrection. He ascended into heaven so that he might be present with us always as True God and True Man. And he sent his Holy Spirit to us to call us by the Gospel, enlighten us with his gifts, sanctify, and keep us in the one true faith.
And God has also not left us alone to be “Lone Ranger” Christians. He places us in the Church so we can share God’s love and God’s gifts with one another. When you are baptized into Christ, you become part of a new family. Notice how Jesus puts this in his prayer: “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that world may believe that you have sent me...The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” As members of God’s Church, we are made one with God and with each other. You and I are brought into the same close relationship as the members of the Holy Trinity have with each other. God the Father’s love is in us even as God the Son is in us, as he prayed, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
As we remain faithful to God’s Word, we make known our oneness to the world. “I made known to them your name and will continue to make it known.” What does this mean? (There’s a good confirmation question, for you) Remember how Luther explained the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. God’s name is kept holy when we teach the Word of God in its truth and purity and lead holy lives according to it. So that’s how we show our oneness to the world...by faithfully holding to the truth of God’s Word and by living God-pleasing lives by his grace. And through that Word, his love will empower and motivate us to love each other, to forgive each other, and love others who are not yet part of his Church.
You know, really, there is one sense in which it IS “all about you.” That’s why Jesus went to the cross...because he loved you so much...each and every one of you. But when it comes to our life in Christ, it’s all about Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith alone in Him. In Baptism, he places us into a new family called the Church, where we confess a common faith and serve one another in love. And in Holy Communion, as we kneel together with those whom we are united in that common confession of faith, Jesus gives us his very body to eat and his very blood to drink, forgiving us and assuring us that he is truly with us...that we may all be one.
It’s not about you...it’s about Jesus...and it’s about being a part of his family called the Church.
God bless you today as you make that confession of faith with us today.
Amen.
“That Thay May All Be One” (John 17:20-26)
Today, three young people of our congregation will reaffirm the promises that God gave to them in their Baptism. After instruction in the Catechism over the past two years, they will stand before you and say “Yes” to all of God’s promises and publicly confess faith in Jesus as their Savior. The congregation will pray for them, asking the Holy Spirit to confirm them...to strengthen them...in their God-given faith.
But did you know that Jesus once prayed for you? Did you know that he prayed for you while he was here during his earthly ministry? Our Gospel lesson today from John 17 records that prayer for us. It’s been called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” In it, he prays for his disciples. He would soon be leaving them in his death, resurrection, and ascension. The Holy Spirit would be poured out upon them later on the day of Pentecost, which we will celebrate next Sunday. Some of those men, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would write portions of the New Testament. Each of them went out and preached the Word of Christ. And in the portion of John 17 that was read a few moments ago, Jesus prayed for “those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.” That’s you and me he’s talking about. Jesus prayed for you and for me.
Individualism: It’s all about me!
The words of Jesus’ prayer speak against something we all struggle with. There is a streak of independence and individualism in all of us. It’s the attitude that thinks, “It’s all about me.”
Take my daughter for example. At her age, she thinks it’s all about her. She sees a train go by or she hears a train in the distance, and she gestures that she wants to ride on it. She sees a picture of a boat or a horse in a book, and she gestures that she wants one or that she wants to go on it. She gets through eating plenty of her own food, but immediately after she’s done she runs up to mom and dad and opens her mouth to mooch like a little puppy dog. Another toddler comes over to visit, and if she doesn’t like the fact that the other one is playing with her toys, she’ll let the kid know with a swift smack of the hand. It’s all about her right now. Like all toddlers, she thinks the world revolves around her.
But this is not just limited to toddlers. As you continue in your teenage years, you are going to find that sometimes it seems like the world is against you. It really isn’t. It just seems that way. Why? Because in this time in which you are in-between being a child and an adult, you are discovering more about being independent. You are finding out who you are as an individual. You will soon be learning that the world does not revolve around you. And this often causes conflict with your parents, with your teachers, with your friends.
And you know what? Things don’t really change all that much as we grow up and enter the world of adulthood...whenever that is. Most of us don’t go around smacking other adults if we don’t like what they do or say. But each of us from time to time engages in behavior that isolates us from others. Hurtful words, cold shoulders, and unforgiving hearts drive others away from us.
By the time we become adults, we should already know that the world does not revolve around us...but we sure would like it if it did. Even when we get older, we would prefer to think that it’s still “all about me.” Each of us has a bit of self-centeredness inside of us that can potentially alienate ourselves from others.
That was the problem all the way back in the Garden of Eden. It wasn’t about what God wanted. It was about what Adam and Eve wanted. The devil tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, telling them that if they did, they would be like God. Now that’s a tempting offer: “Instead of having to be subservient as part of God’s creation, I could be just like him.” You know what happened. Eve ate the fruit. She gave some to her hubby and he ate. And what happened next? They knew what they had done. They covered themselves up. They hid from God. They blamed everyone else except themselves for their sin. Adam even pointed the finger at God... “The woman whom you gave to be with me...it’s all your fault, God! You brought this on! Couldn’t you have given me someone else, someone who wouldn’t have brought this fine mess upon us?” What was the result of God’s creation taking a turn down a path he didn’t intend them to go? What was the result of Adam and Eve acting in such a self-centered way without any thought of God’s command...without any thought of God’s love for creating them in the first place and placing them in a perfect paradise? Isolation. Hiding. Alone. Kicked out of God’s perfect paradise.
This problem of thinking that “it’s all about me” causes us to be isolated from each other and from God forever. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ version of hell in his novel The Great Divorce. In the book, hell is a huge gray town that goes on for millions of miles in all directions. One of the occupants describes it this way: “As soon as anyone arrives he settles in some street. Before he’s been there twenty-four hours he quarrels with his neighbor. Before the week is over he’s quarreled so badly that he decides to move. Very likely he finds the next street empty because all the people there have quarreled with their neighbors—and moved. So he settles in...He’s sure to have another quarrel pretty soon and he’ll move on again.” The speaker explains that’s why the town is so huge. Everyone keeps moving farther and farther apart from each other until each inhabitant lives thousands and thousands of miles from the next one.
Hell will be much worse than just a huge gray town where everyone lives miles apart. But you can see Lewis’ point. God never intended us to be isolated from him or from each other.
One in Christ: It’s all about Jesus and His Church
That’s why Jesus had to be all alone on the cross...so that you and I don’t have to be isolated from God forever. The leaders of his own people condemned him to die. His friends deserted him. One betrayed him. His brothers rejected him as insane. Only a few women and the apostle John remained at the foot of the cross...and even then, Jesus gave his mother into John’s care.
Above all, his Heavenly Father turned his back on him. Although he was without sin, Jesus died as if he was the greatest sinner who had ever lived...and that meant that God the Father had to turn his back on his own Son. Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus felt the weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders. The one who kept God’s Law perfectly became a curse for us who have not kept God’s Law (Gal. 3:13). He felt the very same isolation and aloneness that Adam and Eve must have felt in the Garden...the very same isolation and aloneness that each of us feels when we come to recognize that we are sinners who also ought to be cast out of God’s presence.
But God has not left us alone. Jesus our Savior rose to life again and appeared alive to his disciples. He pronounced them forgiven and does the same to all who trust in his saving death and resurrection. He ascended into heaven so that he might be present with us always as True God and True Man. And he sent his Holy Spirit to us to call us by the Gospel, enlighten us with his gifts, sanctify, and keep us in the one true faith.
And God has also not left us alone to be “Lone Ranger” Christians. He places us in the Church so we can share God’s love and God’s gifts with one another. When you are baptized into Christ, you become part of a new family. Notice how Jesus puts this in his prayer: “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that world may believe that you have sent me...The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” As members of God’s Church, we are made one with God and with each other. You and I are brought into the same close relationship as the members of the Holy Trinity have with each other. God the Father’s love is in us even as God the Son is in us, as he prayed, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
As we remain faithful to God’s Word, we make known our oneness to the world. “I made known to them your name and will continue to make it known.” What does this mean? (There’s a good confirmation question, for you) Remember how Luther explained the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. God’s name is kept holy when we teach the Word of God in its truth and purity and lead holy lives according to it. So that’s how we show our oneness to the world...by faithfully holding to the truth of God’s Word and by living God-pleasing lives by his grace. And through that Word, his love will empower and motivate us to love each other, to forgive each other, and love others who are not yet part of his Church.
You know, really, there is one sense in which it IS “all about you.” That’s why Jesus went to the cross...because he loved you so much...each and every one of you. But when it comes to our life in Christ, it’s all about Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith alone in Him. In Baptism, he places us into a new family called the Church, where we confess a common faith and serve one another in love. And in Holy Communion, as we kneel together with those whom we are united in that common confession of faith, Jesus gives us his very body to eat and his very blood to drink, forgiving us and assuring us that he is truly with us...that we may all be one.
It’s not about you...it’s about Jesus...and it’s about being a part of his family called the Church.
God bless you today as you make that confession of faith with us today.
Amen.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Sermon for the Ascension of Our Lord
The Ascension of Our Lord (Observed) (May 13, 2007)
Acts 1:1-11
The Ascension of Our Lord is one of those days that doesn’t get a lot of attention. One reason it doesn’t is that it never falls on a Sunday. Forty days after Easter, the Ascension always falls on a Thursday. Another reason is that I don’t think we fully appreciate the significance of the Ascension. We just got through having a big shindig to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. That’s the big one, right? Well, yes, that is right. But we dare not overlook the Ascension as an important event in the life of our Lord Jesus.
The Ascension should not be understood as the “departure” of our Lord, as he if is gone from us and is now in another place. Don’t view the Ascension as a spatial event, where Jesus has simply traveled from one location to another.
Years ago, an atheist Russian cosmonaut who was orbiting the earth said, “I don’t see God up here anywhere. He must not exist.” He might as easily have said, “I don’t see Jesus up here anywhere.”
Also, I remember seeing one of those nutty tabloid magazines with a picture on the cover of a crystal city jutting out from an asteroid. The headline said, “Hubble Telescope Discovers Heaven”...as if heaven were to be located in a certain set of coordinates in outer space.
But heaven is not simply above the clouds somewhere. Heaven, rather, is that unseen realm where God is. It is an eternal and infinite realm not limited to time and space...or an asteroid. We know from the Scriptures that God is present everywhere, and therefore, so is his right hand. So when we confess that Jesus bodily ascended to the right hand of the Father as true God and true Man, we are not saying that he left us. Instead, we are saying that he has entered into the unseen glory of his heavenly Father and is no longer visible to our eyes. And so, St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4 that Jesus “ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph. 4:10) And earlier we heard these words from Ephesians 1, that God “put all things under [Christ’s] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:22-23) The Ascension of our Lord, then, is not about our Lord’s absence. It’s about his presence, especially FOR the Church and IN the Church.
Jesus ascended to be with us always. And remember, he did this IN THE FLESH. Jesus doesn’t only fill all things as true God. He also fills all things as true Man. It’s not as if the Second Person of the Holy Trinity hung his “Jesus costume” on a coat rack when he ascended into heaven. No, Jesus remains true God and true Man. When Jesus is present, he is present not just spiritually but bodily as well...even if you cannot see his body. How can this be? I don’t know. But God always does what seems impossible to us, so this shouldn’t be so hard for us to accept. So if you want to come into the presence of Christ, you must seek him according to his human nature, in those concrete places where he makes himself tangibly present for you. Although you can’t see Christ, you can hear him whenever his Word is preached and taught in its truth and purity. Although you can’t see Christ, you can come into contact with him wherever his Sacraments are rightly administered. It is through those real, physical things that the hidden Jesus is perceived and grasped by the faithful.
So let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions. “Do we properly recognize the reality of Christ’s presence? And when we are gathered for the Divine Service, do our actions fit with this truth of our faith?” Very often, our answer must be “No.”
Take, for example, the hubbub surrounding the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth to the United States. First of all, I want to say that I don’t understand what the fuss was all about, briefing all of our officials on the proper way to greet the Queen. If our officials had been in England, that’s one thing. But she’s here on our soil, and as far as I’m concerned it should be “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” But the English press, and even some American reporters, had a fit when President Bush, after he mistakenly said that the last time she was in the USA was to celebrate our bicentennial in 1776, turned and gave the Queen a little wink. How dare he do such a thing! You just do not act so informally with royalty! And then, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was greeting the Queen, she extended her hand first, instead of waiting for the Queen to extend hers first. The Queen apparently was quite put out over this display of impropriety. My response: Who cares what the Queen thinks? Didn’t we declare independence from English royalty? I mean, I understand being polite, but who makes these silly rules? The point here is that, apparently, there is a certain amount of decorum when you are in the presence of royalty.
If such a fuss is made over earthly royalty, shouldn’t we be even more concerned with how we act in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? When a person comes into the real presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the appropriate attitude would be one of reverence and holy awe. And yet, people often come into church without bowing to the altar of the Lord or praying to him or honoring him in any way. They plop down in the pew with no sense of humility for where they are. They bring in their lattes and mochas and begin to carry on conversations as if they were relaxing at Starbuck’s. And I must confess, that I, too, am guilty of this. I don’t bring my coffee in with me, but I am often worried more about how I come across to the congregation rather than bowing in reverent humility as we prepare together to enter into the Holy of Holies of Word and Sacrament.
Many worship services nowadays are conducted and constructed as if Christ were not really here but far away in heaven somewhere while you and I are doing our own things here on earth. But is that really how we should conduct ourselves when we truly believe that we are in the presence of royalty, standing before the King of Creation?
All of this betrays our unbelief in the truth of the Ascension, our disregard for the real presence of Christ in his preaching and his Supper. Therefore, let us repent together of our lack of faith. And let us learn again the amazing, comforting reality of the Ascension, a reality that is still in effect today. Just as the watery cloud received Jesus on the Mount of Olives, so also he is here in the waters of Baptism to cleanse you by his Spirit and make you a child of God. Just as the two men in white spoke the words of God to the disciples as they looked up, so also ministers are sent by the Lord precisely for the purpose of being his mouth and his voice, to speak the Gospel of forgiveness right into your ears in his stead and by his command. And just as it was the body of Christ that ascended, so also he gives his very body and blood into your mouth under the bread and wine, that you may be partakers of his life. Christ Jesus, who fills all things, is literally present in the flesh in his Church to fill you with his mercy.
The risen Lord comes to you in this way in order that you might share with him in his Ascension and in his divine majesty. In fact, Jesus took on your human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary precisely so that you would be raised with him from the depths of sin and death to the heights of the life and glory of God. And now, in the person of Jesus Christ, we see our human nature raised to the right hand of God.
And your Ascension with Christ is not only a future thing. There is a sense in which it is also a present reality. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2: “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ...and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:5-6) Now there is an awesome truth! By baptism, you are in Christ. Christ is seated in the heavenly places. Therefore, there is a sense in which you are already in the heavenly places with Christ. Here’s how Paul puts in Colossians 3: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3) Your very existence, your eternal well-being, is kept secure in Jesus, who has ascended into heaven.
There is not much else that can make you more certain of your salvation and eternal life than this. When you begin to waver in your Christian hope, when you aren’t sure whether or not you are saved, remember the Ascension. Remember that you are a member of Christ’s body. He is at the right hand of God as the victorious ruler of all. Nothing can conquer this Conqueror, this Redemeer of yours. It is as Romans 8 puts it: “[Nothing] in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Therefore, he is truly able to work all things together for the good of those who love him, for you who have been called according to his purpose. Even in the midst of the ups and downs of your life, the Lord, who has begun his good work in you will bring it to completion in the Day of his return. You will rise again on the Last Day and you will bodily ascend into heaven, just like your Savior did.
So then, brothers and sisters in Christ, take comfort in the Ascension of our Lord. Know that he is Lord over all things for the sake of his Church. Believe that he is with you always by his Word and Sacraments. And have confidence that just as Christ shares fully in your humanity, so also in him you share forever in the life of God himself.
Amen.
NOTE: This sermon is a revised version of one I preached on Ascension Day 2001. As I was working on this version, I recall possibly borrowing some material from another source. I didn't note that source on my manuscript from 2001, so if anyone recognizes any copyrighted material here, I will gladly delete this post from my blog.
Acts 1:1-11
The Ascension of Our Lord is one of those days that doesn’t get a lot of attention. One reason it doesn’t is that it never falls on a Sunday. Forty days after Easter, the Ascension always falls on a Thursday. Another reason is that I don’t think we fully appreciate the significance of the Ascension. We just got through having a big shindig to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. That’s the big one, right? Well, yes, that is right. But we dare not overlook the Ascension as an important event in the life of our Lord Jesus.
The Ascension should not be understood as the “departure” of our Lord, as he if is gone from us and is now in another place. Don’t view the Ascension as a spatial event, where Jesus has simply traveled from one location to another.
Years ago, an atheist Russian cosmonaut who was orbiting the earth said, “I don’t see God up here anywhere. He must not exist.” He might as easily have said, “I don’t see Jesus up here anywhere.”
Also, I remember seeing one of those nutty tabloid magazines with a picture on the cover of a crystal city jutting out from an asteroid. The headline said, “Hubble Telescope Discovers Heaven”...as if heaven were to be located in a certain set of coordinates in outer space.
But heaven is not simply above the clouds somewhere. Heaven, rather, is that unseen realm where God is. It is an eternal and infinite realm not limited to time and space...or an asteroid. We know from the Scriptures that God is present everywhere, and therefore, so is his right hand. So when we confess that Jesus bodily ascended to the right hand of the Father as true God and true Man, we are not saying that he left us. Instead, we are saying that he has entered into the unseen glory of his heavenly Father and is no longer visible to our eyes. And so, St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4 that Jesus “ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph. 4:10) And earlier we heard these words from Ephesians 1, that God “put all things under [Christ’s] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:22-23) The Ascension of our Lord, then, is not about our Lord’s absence. It’s about his presence, especially FOR the Church and IN the Church.
Jesus ascended to be with us always. And remember, he did this IN THE FLESH. Jesus doesn’t only fill all things as true God. He also fills all things as true Man. It’s not as if the Second Person of the Holy Trinity hung his “Jesus costume” on a coat rack when he ascended into heaven. No, Jesus remains true God and true Man. When Jesus is present, he is present not just spiritually but bodily as well...even if you cannot see his body. How can this be? I don’t know. But God always does what seems impossible to us, so this shouldn’t be so hard for us to accept. So if you want to come into the presence of Christ, you must seek him according to his human nature, in those concrete places where he makes himself tangibly present for you. Although you can’t see Christ, you can hear him whenever his Word is preached and taught in its truth and purity. Although you can’t see Christ, you can come into contact with him wherever his Sacraments are rightly administered. It is through those real, physical things that the hidden Jesus is perceived and grasped by the faithful.
So let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions. “Do we properly recognize the reality of Christ’s presence? And when we are gathered for the Divine Service, do our actions fit with this truth of our faith?” Very often, our answer must be “No.”
Take, for example, the hubbub surrounding the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth to the United States. First of all, I want to say that I don’t understand what the fuss was all about, briefing all of our officials on the proper way to greet the Queen. If our officials had been in England, that’s one thing. But she’s here on our soil, and as far as I’m concerned it should be “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” But the English press, and even some American reporters, had a fit when President Bush, after he mistakenly said that the last time she was in the USA was to celebrate our bicentennial in 1776, turned and gave the Queen a little wink. How dare he do such a thing! You just do not act so informally with royalty! And then, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was greeting the Queen, she extended her hand first, instead of waiting for the Queen to extend hers first. The Queen apparently was quite put out over this display of impropriety. My response: Who cares what the Queen thinks? Didn’t we declare independence from English royalty? I mean, I understand being polite, but who makes these silly rules? The point here is that, apparently, there is a certain amount of decorum when you are in the presence of royalty.
If such a fuss is made over earthly royalty, shouldn’t we be even more concerned with how we act in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? When a person comes into the real presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the appropriate attitude would be one of reverence and holy awe. And yet, people often come into church without bowing to the altar of the Lord or praying to him or honoring him in any way. They plop down in the pew with no sense of humility for where they are. They bring in their lattes and mochas and begin to carry on conversations as if they were relaxing at Starbuck’s. And I must confess, that I, too, am guilty of this. I don’t bring my coffee in with me, but I am often worried more about how I come across to the congregation rather than bowing in reverent humility as we prepare together to enter into the Holy of Holies of Word and Sacrament.
Many worship services nowadays are conducted and constructed as if Christ were not really here but far away in heaven somewhere while you and I are doing our own things here on earth. But is that really how we should conduct ourselves when we truly believe that we are in the presence of royalty, standing before the King of Creation?
All of this betrays our unbelief in the truth of the Ascension, our disregard for the real presence of Christ in his preaching and his Supper. Therefore, let us repent together of our lack of faith. And let us learn again the amazing, comforting reality of the Ascension, a reality that is still in effect today. Just as the watery cloud received Jesus on the Mount of Olives, so also he is here in the waters of Baptism to cleanse you by his Spirit and make you a child of God. Just as the two men in white spoke the words of God to the disciples as they looked up, so also ministers are sent by the Lord precisely for the purpose of being his mouth and his voice, to speak the Gospel of forgiveness right into your ears in his stead and by his command. And just as it was the body of Christ that ascended, so also he gives his very body and blood into your mouth under the bread and wine, that you may be partakers of his life. Christ Jesus, who fills all things, is literally present in the flesh in his Church to fill you with his mercy.
The risen Lord comes to you in this way in order that you might share with him in his Ascension and in his divine majesty. In fact, Jesus took on your human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary precisely so that you would be raised with him from the depths of sin and death to the heights of the life and glory of God. And now, in the person of Jesus Christ, we see our human nature raised to the right hand of God.
And your Ascension with Christ is not only a future thing. There is a sense in which it is also a present reality. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2: “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ...and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:5-6) Now there is an awesome truth! By baptism, you are in Christ. Christ is seated in the heavenly places. Therefore, there is a sense in which you are already in the heavenly places with Christ. Here’s how Paul puts in Colossians 3: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3) Your very existence, your eternal well-being, is kept secure in Jesus, who has ascended into heaven.
There is not much else that can make you more certain of your salvation and eternal life than this. When you begin to waver in your Christian hope, when you aren’t sure whether or not you are saved, remember the Ascension. Remember that you are a member of Christ’s body. He is at the right hand of God as the victorious ruler of all. Nothing can conquer this Conqueror, this Redemeer of yours. It is as Romans 8 puts it: “[Nothing] in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Therefore, he is truly able to work all things together for the good of those who love him, for you who have been called according to his purpose. Even in the midst of the ups and downs of your life, the Lord, who has begun his good work in you will bring it to completion in the Day of his return. You will rise again on the Last Day and you will bodily ascend into heaven, just like your Savior did.
So then, brothers and sisters in Christ, take comfort in the Ascension of our Lord. Know that he is Lord over all things for the sake of his Church. Believe that he is with you always by his Word and Sacraments. And have confidence that just as Christ shares fully in your humanity, so also in him you share forever in the life of God himself.
Amen.
NOTE: This sermon is a revised version of one I preached on Ascension Day 2001. As I was working on this version, I recall possibly borrowing some material from another source. I didn't note that source on my manuscript from 2001, so if anyone recognizes any copyrighted material here, I will gladly delete this post from my blog.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Cyril and Methodius, May 11
Cyril and Methodius were missionaries to the Slavic peoples. Lutheran Service Book commemorates them on May 11. Read more about them by clicking here.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
C.F.W. Walther, May 7
Forgot about this one yesterday. In the Lutheran Service Book commemorations on the church year calendar, C.F.W. Walther is remembered on May 7, the day he died and became a member of that "great cloud of witnesses" of which the author of Hebrews wrote (Heb. 12:1).To read more about Walther, click here to go to his page on the Concordia Historical Institute's website (although note that they give the day of his death as May 17, not May 7).
Check out this page also at Wikipedia.
Kansas Tornado Relief
Lutheran Church Charities out of Illinois is coordinating some relief efforts for the recent tornado that decimated Greensburg, Kansas. To find out more about how you can help, click here to go their website.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 6, 2007)
“What God Has Made Clean” (Acts 11:1-18)
It was May 13, 1947 according to some accounts. The Brooklyn Dodgers were playing in Cincinnati that day. They had a rookie first baseman by the name of Jackie Robinson. Today, almost 60 years later to the day, his presence on a ball field wouldn’t draw much attention. Back then it did, because Robinson was black...the first African-American to play major league baseball.
Some of his teammates even distanced themselves from him. Earlier in the season some of the white southerners had even gone so far as to sign a petition saying they would not take the field with a black man. One player from Kentucky, however, refused to sign, and that was the end of the matter. No one boycotted, but they still kept their distance.
That player from Kentucky was the Dodger shortstop Pee Wee Reese. And on that May day in Cincinnati, Reese did something that surprised everyone. The Cincinnati team was mercilessly hurling racial comments at Robinson from the dugout. Now, Robinson had endured all kinds of nasty words thrown his way in previous games, but it was exceptionally mean and hateful that day. As the story goes, the Kentucky-born white shortstop crossed the diamond, stood beside his black teammate, and put his hand on his shoulder. That one action put a stop to the attack by the hecklers.
Years later, Robinson recalled the incident and said, “Pee Wee kind of sensed the sort of hopeless, dead feeling in me and came over and stood beside me for a while. He didn't say a word but he looked over at the chaps who were yelling at me through him and just stared. He was standing by me, I could tell you that. I will never forget it.”
Now, flash back even farther to first-century Jerusalem, to a gathering of Christians discussing the actions of the Apostle Peter. Remember that at this time the church in Jerusalem was entirely made up of Jewish converts. Some among them were part of what today’s reading from Acts calls “the circumcision party.” This group demanded that non-Jews had to become Jews first before they could become Christians. And the first step in the process was undergoing the Old Testament covenant of circumcision. If you did not, then you were still considered an unclean, impure Gentile, in some ways less than human. And no self-respecting Jew would ever sit down and eat at table with an uncircumcised Gentile. Eating at table expressed close, intimate fellowship in those days...not to mention the fact that the meat which you eat might have been offered to an idol. So Jews and Gentiles should eat separately. If there had been drinking fountains in those days, there would have been separate Jew and Gentile ones. If there had been buses in Jerusalem in those days, the Jews would want the Gentiles to sit in the back. And so, the criticism was leveled at Peter, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Shocking!
But Peter proceeded to explain that he had received a vision in which he saw a sheet come down from heaven with all kinds of animals upon it, evidently ones that the Old Testament called unclean and therefore ones that you shouldn’t eat. A voice told Peter to help himself. Dig in. Have a little barbecue right then and there. But Peter replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But the voice replied, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” Three times this happened, driving the point home.
This vision prepared Peter for the visit that God wanted him to make. He was summoned to the house of Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army...one of those common, unclean, impure Gentiles to be avoided. Peter got the point of the vision. He went to Cornelius’ house and preached “a message by which you will be saved” as the angel had already told Cornelius. And as Peter preached that message, the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and the members of his household in the same way as it happened on the day of Pentecost. Peter said that the Spirit “fell on them just as on us at the beginning.” The previous chapter says that Peter and the other believers who were with him heard them speaking in other languages and praising God. Chapter 10:45 says that they “were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.” I love how the word “even” is inserted in there. It’s as if to say, “Wow! Who would have thought that Gentiles could receive the Holy Spirit, too? I never would have expected that!”
This was God coming across the diamond to the Gentiles at first base, putting his hand on their shoulder, and quieting all who were opposed to them. Of course, Pee Wee Reese’s actions with Jackie Robinson didn’t solve all of the race relations in our country. But it was Reese’s own way of comforting his teammate and saying “It’s okay. You are one of us” and saying to the crowd, “He’s our teammate, no matter what his skin color is. So shut up.”
In a similar way, God’s actions with the household of Cornelius didn’t completely solve the issue of “How do Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity get along?” The church continued to struggle with that issue as is evident in other parts of the New Testament. Nor does this event describe the way that every conversion is supposed to happen. This event with Peter and the household of Cornelius was God’s public stamp of approval on the Gentiles as ones who were not to be excluded from God’s grace and salvation. And the church in Jerusalem glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Common
Now let’s flash forward to our present day and age. We don’t have separate drinking fountains anymore. Rosa Parks made it possible for people to sit anywhere they darn well please on buses. No one (at least I hope not) demands anymore that you must be circumcised before you can become a Christian. But in some ways, things haven’t changed a whole lot within the church. It’s still very easy for us today to look at certain people and view them as common, as unclean, impure, or defiled. It’s easy for us to exclude others from our fellowship for various reasons. Maybe it is their skin color. Maybe it’s their language. Maybe it’s the way they dress. Maybe it’s the side of the tracks they live on. Maybe you know something about them that others don’t know, some secret struggle or addiction they have. It’s easy to look at those people and think to yourself that they are common, unclean, not worthy of our attention...that there is no way that a person like that could possibly fit into our little fellowship here at 92nd and State.
For some of you, it can be very easy to see yourself as “common.” You don’t think you are anything special. Besides, you also know what you have done to displease God, and that makes you unclean and impure. You know your inner thoughts and attitudes that prove your heart is defiled. At times, it can be very easy to look inside ourselves and think that we are not worthy of God’s attention.
But excluding others for whom Christ died is a sin. And viewing yourself as “common” shows that you think God is not big enough to love you or forgive what you’ve done...that Christ’s work at the cross was not enough.
Clean
But Christ’s work at the cross WAS enough. Christ’s work on the cross was for the whole world. Jesus said, “For God so loved the WORLD”...not “For God so loved only the lovable”...not “For God so loved only those who are respectable and who act properly.” No one is excluded from his love on the basis of pigment or past history. “The message by which you will be saved” is preached to us, too. It’s the message about Jesus Christ, Lord of all, crucified on the cross, bearing the sins of the whole world, raised to life again on the third day...and as Peter preached to the household of Cornelius, “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (10:43)
Our sins do indeed make us common and unclean. But we are made clean by the shed blood of Christ. 1 John 1:7 says, “the blood of Jesus...cleanses us from all sin.” (see also Rev 1:5; 7:14). We are made clean by the Holy Spirit in the washing of Baptism. Acts 22:16 says, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins.” Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ has “cleansed [the church] by the washing of water with the word.” And Titus 3:5-6 says that God saved us, “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” You and I are born again in the waters of Holy Baptism as God’s Spirit works through water and the Word of God to give us “repentance that leads to life.”
No one is excluded from the work of the Holy Spirit on the basis of race, gender, or social status. St. Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) The blood of Christ cleanses all and makes no distinctions. In Revelation 5:9, the gathering around the Lamb of God in heaven sing to him, “by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” That’s the same cleansing blood which we drink from the chalice. As we drink of that cup, let us also pray that we will not stand in God’s way so that nothing will keep our gathering around this altar from looking like that gathering around the Lamb’s throne.
Amen.
“What God Has Made Clean” (Acts 11:1-18)
It was May 13, 1947 according to some accounts. The Brooklyn Dodgers were playing in Cincinnati that day. They had a rookie first baseman by the name of Jackie Robinson. Today, almost 60 years later to the day, his presence on a ball field wouldn’t draw much attention. Back then it did, because Robinson was black...the first African-American to play major league baseball.
Some of his teammates even distanced themselves from him. Earlier in the season some of the white southerners had even gone so far as to sign a petition saying they would not take the field with a black man. One player from Kentucky, however, refused to sign, and that was the end of the matter. No one boycotted, but they still kept their distance.
That player from Kentucky was the Dodger shortstop Pee Wee Reese. And on that May day in Cincinnati, Reese did something that surprised everyone. The Cincinnati team was mercilessly hurling racial comments at Robinson from the dugout. Now, Robinson had endured all kinds of nasty words thrown his way in previous games, but it was exceptionally mean and hateful that day. As the story goes, the Kentucky-born white shortstop crossed the diamond, stood beside his black teammate, and put his hand on his shoulder. That one action put a stop to the attack by the hecklers.
Years later, Robinson recalled the incident and said, “Pee Wee kind of sensed the sort of hopeless, dead feeling in me and came over and stood beside me for a while. He didn't say a word but he looked over at the chaps who were yelling at me through him and just stared. He was standing by me, I could tell you that. I will never forget it.”
Now, flash back even farther to first-century Jerusalem, to a gathering of Christians discussing the actions of the Apostle Peter. Remember that at this time the church in Jerusalem was entirely made up of Jewish converts. Some among them were part of what today’s reading from Acts calls “the circumcision party.” This group demanded that non-Jews had to become Jews first before they could become Christians. And the first step in the process was undergoing the Old Testament covenant of circumcision. If you did not, then you were still considered an unclean, impure Gentile, in some ways less than human. And no self-respecting Jew would ever sit down and eat at table with an uncircumcised Gentile. Eating at table expressed close, intimate fellowship in those days...not to mention the fact that the meat which you eat might have been offered to an idol. So Jews and Gentiles should eat separately. If there had been drinking fountains in those days, there would have been separate Jew and Gentile ones. If there had been buses in Jerusalem in those days, the Jews would want the Gentiles to sit in the back. And so, the criticism was leveled at Peter, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Shocking!
But Peter proceeded to explain that he had received a vision in which he saw a sheet come down from heaven with all kinds of animals upon it, evidently ones that the Old Testament called unclean and therefore ones that you shouldn’t eat. A voice told Peter to help himself. Dig in. Have a little barbecue right then and there. But Peter replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But the voice replied, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” Three times this happened, driving the point home.
This vision prepared Peter for the visit that God wanted him to make. He was summoned to the house of Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army...one of those common, unclean, impure Gentiles to be avoided. Peter got the point of the vision. He went to Cornelius’ house and preached “a message by which you will be saved” as the angel had already told Cornelius. And as Peter preached that message, the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and the members of his household in the same way as it happened on the day of Pentecost. Peter said that the Spirit “fell on them just as on us at the beginning.” The previous chapter says that Peter and the other believers who were with him heard them speaking in other languages and praising God. Chapter 10:45 says that they “were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.” I love how the word “even” is inserted in there. It’s as if to say, “Wow! Who would have thought that Gentiles could receive the Holy Spirit, too? I never would have expected that!”
This was God coming across the diamond to the Gentiles at first base, putting his hand on their shoulder, and quieting all who were opposed to them. Of course, Pee Wee Reese’s actions with Jackie Robinson didn’t solve all of the race relations in our country. But it was Reese’s own way of comforting his teammate and saying “It’s okay. You are one of us” and saying to the crowd, “He’s our teammate, no matter what his skin color is. So shut up.”
In a similar way, God’s actions with the household of Cornelius didn’t completely solve the issue of “How do Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity get along?” The church continued to struggle with that issue as is evident in other parts of the New Testament. Nor does this event describe the way that every conversion is supposed to happen. This event with Peter and the household of Cornelius was God’s public stamp of approval on the Gentiles as ones who were not to be excluded from God’s grace and salvation. And the church in Jerusalem glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Common
Now let’s flash forward to our present day and age. We don’t have separate drinking fountains anymore. Rosa Parks made it possible for people to sit anywhere they darn well please on buses. No one (at least I hope not) demands anymore that you must be circumcised before you can become a Christian. But in some ways, things haven’t changed a whole lot within the church. It’s still very easy for us today to look at certain people and view them as common, as unclean, impure, or defiled. It’s easy for us to exclude others from our fellowship for various reasons. Maybe it is their skin color. Maybe it’s their language. Maybe it’s the way they dress. Maybe it’s the side of the tracks they live on. Maybe you know something about them that others don’t know, some secret struggle or addiction they have. It’s easy to look at those people and think to yourself that they are common, unclean, not worthy of our attention...that there is no way that a person like that could possibly fit into our little fellowship here at 92nd and State.
For some of you, it can be very easy to see yourself as “common.” You don’t think you are anything special. Besides, you also know what you have done to displease God, and that makes you unclean and impure. You know your inner thoughts and attitudes that prove your heart is defiled. At times, it can be very easy to look inside ourselves and think that we are not worthy of God’s attention.
But excluding others for whom Christ died is a sin. And viewing yourself as “common” shows that you think God is not big enough to love you or forgive what you’ve done...that Christ’s work at the cross was not enough.
Clean
But Christ’s work at the cross WAS enough. Christ’s work on the cross was for the whole world. Jesus said, “For God so loved the WORLD”...not “For God so loved only the lovable”...not “For God so loved only those who are respectable and who act properly.” No one is excluded from his love on the basis of pigment or past history. “The message by which you will be saved” is preached to us, too. It’s the message about Jesus Christ, Lord of all, crucified on the cross, bearing the sins of the whole world, raised to life again on the third day...and as Peter preached to the household of Cornelius, “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (10:43)
Our sins do indeed make us common and unclean. But we are made clean by the shed blood of Christ. 1 John 1:7 says, “the blood of Jesus...cleanses us from all sin.” (see also Rev 1:5; 7:14). We are made clean by the Holy Spirit in the washing of Baptism. Acts 22:16 says, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins.” Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ has “cleansed [the church] by the washing of water with the word.” And Titus 3:5-6 says that God saved us, “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” You and I are born again in the waters of Holy Baptism as God’s Spirit works through water and the Word of God to give us “repentance that leads to life.”
No one is excluded from the work of the Holy Spirit on the basis of race, gender, or social status. St. Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) The blood of Christ cleanses all and makes no distinctions. In Revelation 5:9, the gathering around the Lamb of God in heaven sing to him, “by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” That’s the same cleansing blood which we drink from the chalice. As we drink of that cup, let us also pray that we will not stand in God’s way so that nothing will keep our gathering around this altar from looking like that gathering around the Lamb’s throne.
Amen.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Infant Baptism
I've been having a conversation lately with some folks about infant baptism. Here are three articles from an old Issues, Etc. journal that do a nice job defending this important Biblical doctrine. Click on the titles below to go to the articles online.
In Defense of Infant Baptism
Baptism and Faith: Just Whose Work Is It?
Infant Baptism in Early Church History
Also, click here for a short summary from the FAQ's on the LCMS website.
In Defense of Infant Baptism
Baptism and Faith: Just Whose Work Is It?
Infant Baptism in Early Church History
Also, click here for a short summary from the FAQ's on the LCMS website.
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