RAsburry's Res

Move on over - to "The RAsburry Patch"

2011-04-15T16:03:00.000-05:00

Note to all followers and readers: "RAsburry's Res" is moving. Come and join me over at "The RAsburry Patch"!

Why am I moving (er, changing my blog's name and look)?

I just plain want to.
It's time for a newer, crisper, cleaner look.
I'm ready for a new name that's more easily accessible.
(Yeah, I thought I'd be smart with the Latin word "res" and its alliteration with "RAsburry," but it's time for less explanation and more ease of access.)

All the posts and comments from "RAsburry's Res" can also be found over at "The RAsburry Patch," and that is where my blogging will continue.

So, followers (all 36 of you), please come on over with me and follow my blog there. Other readers, come over too, and please become followers there.

Thank you for your continuing support and readership ... and I look forward to seeing you over at "the Patch."

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 5

2011-04-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

Covered by Innocent Death
2 Samuel 11:1-12:14 & Matthew 27:32-66 (Passion Reading V)

How we love to cover up our sins! David sets the example, and we gladly follow in his footsteps. He was Israel’s greatest king, after all, a man after God’s own heart, a good role model, to be sure. But notice how he, a man who could sing God’s praises like no one else, could also cover up his sins like no one else.

It began before the cover-up, before the murder, before the adultery, even before the coveting of another man’s beautiful bride. It began as David neglected his vocation, his God-given calling. It was “the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle.” It’s what kings do. It’s in their “job description” under the heading “Defend and protect the citizens of your nation.” But that one time David neglected that duty. He presumed he had better things to do, more important things to accomplish – like play peeping tom and ogle the topless beauty next door. “Who is she? Oh, Bathsheba. Bring her to me. But keep it hush, hush. No one needs to know.”

God knew, though.

Then David, the suave, debonair, romantic lover, easily concealed his sin of neglecting his vocation. And one sin led to another quite naturally and all too easily. A little sweet talk. A lot of passion. Don’t worry about the guilt or others finding out. After all, he’s the king. Surely he knows how to keep such things under wraps. They don’t call it “Secret Service” for nothing.

Then the big “Uh-oh!” She’s what? Pregnant? Oh, my! Everyone will know soon enough, especially when she starts showing. Hmm. How to fix this? How to clean up this unfortunate mess? Ah-ha! Bring hubby home. Get him to sleep with his wife. Everyone will think it’s Uriah’s child. No one will be the wiser.

Except God.

It turns out that Uriah the Hittite, the foreigner, the little man from an unbelieving people, had more honor and integrity than powerful, respected King David. Enjoy the comforts of home while his army buddies were still out suffering the heat of battle and the fog of war? Perish the thought! And perish David’s cover-up plan too, as it turned out. Even stone-cold drunk, Uriah had and displayed more honor and integrity than King David, intent on covering up his sins. So when Uriah would not participate and cooperate, David would eliminate, in the battle, where it would be sad, to be sure, but only natural. Who would suspect a thing?

God would. And God did.

Notice the pattern. David’s first unnoticeable sin—neglecting his vocation—led to another—coveting—and then another—adultery—and then another—murder—and all under his man-made cloak of secrecy. But God’s X-ray vision sees right through the sheer and flimsy strategies we use to cover up our many transgressions.

God sent Pastor Nathan to confront and rebuke King David. Not only was he risking his very life—because the King could easily say, “Out of my sight and off with his head”—but he was about to do the more dangerous task of exposing sin. So Nathan shrouds his rebuke in an innocent story: a poor man cheated out of his only lamb by a rich man who should have taken from his own God-given wealth. When David heard the innocent-sounding story, his passion for justice burned hot. You see, covering up your own sins often makes you quite self-righteous, hotly indignant, and overly judgmental about the sins of other people. All of that pent up energy from keeping your own sins under wraps explodes and erupts at the least little transgression … of someone else.

Nathan’s rebuke of David comes in the simplest of words: “You are the man!” He might as well point the finger and say those same words to each of us: “You are the man! You are the woman! You are the boy! You are the girl! Yes, you are the one who has sinned. Cover it up all you like; you cannot hide it from God. Conceal it under your every excuse and rationalization; hide it with deeds that appear honorable and even devout; but you still cannot fool God. As He says elsewhere: “Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper.” Man-devised cover-ups never work. No way, no how!

But here is where David becomes a salutary role model once again. He simply confessed his sin and sins—no excuses, no justifications, no more covering up. “I have sinned against the LORD.” They are words for you too—and words to utter with no excuses, no justification, no more covering up. “[I] have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what [I] have done and by what [I] have left undone.” “Lord, to You I make confession: / I have sinned and gone astray, / I have multiplied transgression, / Chosen for myself my way. / Led by You to see my errors, / Lord, I tremble at Your terrors” (LSB, 608:1).

Then, for David and for you, God’s words delivered through the pastor’s mouth come rushing in to heal, to restore, and to give life. “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Sins exposed, forgiveness uttered, life bestowed! What a sweet and glorious moment! What a life-changing and liberating message! God’s own forgiveness comes through the voice of a man, a fellow sinner. As God says in the Proverb: “but he who confesses and forsakes [his transgressions] will obtain mercy.”

There’s a curious little conclusion to David’s confession and absolution, however. Yes, David confessed, but that’s not why he was forgiven. Merely confessing and forsaking our transgressions does not earn or achieve God’s life-giving forgiveness. Listen to God’s words uttered through Pastor Nathan’s mouth: “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.”

At first we might hear these words as God unfairly withdrawing His absolution, or suddenly hiding His mercy behind a cloak of retribution. But let’s take these words as glorious and comforting Gospel instead! The LORD put away David’s sins; he would not die. But the Child born to David—the Son of David yet to come, ten centuries down the road—He would die, and He would die carrying David’s specific, concrete, and now-exposed sins. The Absolution was certainly free for David, just as it’s free for you and me. But it is very costly for the Child of David named Jesus. No, you will not die for your sins, God says, but the Son of David will. The Son of David has. As we sing: “For Your Son has suffered for me, / Giv’n Himself to rescue me, / Died to save me and restore me. / Reconciled and set me free. / Jesus’ cross alone can vanquish / These dark fears and soothe this anguish” (LSB 608:3)

And we – like role-model David before us – are now covered by an innocent death. Instead of feebly covering our sins, and multiplying them exponentially in the process, we can take comfort in the innocent death of the sinless Son of God and Son of David. When Jesus died on that cross, the centurion marveled saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!” He could have said just as truly, “This was the Son of David—the innocent Child whose death covers our sin.” And when the greater Child of David covers the sins that we expose in Confession, they remain truly covered—covered by His innocent blood, covered from God, covered from us, covered and never to be exposed again. The Lord who has suffered and died for you has put away your sin; you shall not die. Amen.

Now this is funny!

2011-04-13T16:45:00.000-05:00

Vice-President Joe Biden apparently did not find his boss' recent speech on budgets, debt, and finances (i.e. raising taxes and punishing the wealthy, let the reader understand!) too terribly riveting.

Check it out yourself here.

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 4

2011-04-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

No Cover for Cover-ups
Joshua 7:16-26 & Matthew 27:1-31 (Passion Reading IV: The Praetorium)

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Prov. 28:13) Achan sure excelled at concealing his transgressions. Truth is: so do we. But there’s no cover for cover-ups. You see, when we try to cover up our sins, God will make sure that they, and we, are exposed. That’s what we cover-ups have to look forward to on the Last Day.

Achan’s greedy sin and cover up actually began with the Lord’s glorious victory over the city of Jericho. They marched around the city once a day for six days and seven times on the seventh day. They blew their trumpets, the walls came tumbling down, and Israel rushed in to conquer, just as God had promised. It was a glorious victory and a joyous day. But God had also given two clear mandates—first: “keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction”; and second: “all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.”(Josh. 6:18-19)

Then Israel turned to its next target for conquest, the city of Ai. Things went much differently. Intoxicated by the victory at Jericho, they assumed they would conquer yet again. But no! They received the thumping of a lifetime; they got their clocks royally cleaned; and God Himself made sure of it. Despair descended on all Israel. Joshua tore his clothes in humble lamentation. “What happened, Lord? Have you rescued us from Egypt just to turn us over to the godless pagans of Canaan-land?” And how did God respond to being put on trial by his puny, defeated general? “Come on, Joshua! Get up! Man up! ‘Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.’” (Josh. 7:12)

Can’t you just see Joshua dropping his jaw and scratching his head in confusion? “We, Israel, have sinned? We have taken Your possessions, the spoils from Jericho? No way! We heard Your instruction. We followed Your commands. What on earth is going on?”

The Lord, though, told Joshua how to root out the lone culprit of the people’s demise. The whole people of Israel consecrated themselves and presented themselves before Joshua and before God. Then came the process of elimination: the tribe of Judah was singled out, from them the clan of Zerah, from them the household of Zabdi, and finally Achan, the son of Carmi, the suspect and culprit. The sin of this one man, from this one household in this one clan of the one tribe had spoiled things for all Israel, the whole nation, all the people. Other people died because of Achan’s sin!

“Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” One man’s sin of greed and theft had handicapped the whole people of God. Joshua implored Achan to give glory to God by confessing his specific, concrete sins of greed and theft to him, a fellow sinner.

You see, we all sin because we’re all sinners. And when we sin as individual sinners, we affect and trouble the people around us, especially the whole people of God called the Church. It’s like throwing a single stone into a large pond. It’s only a small piece of rock, but the moment it splashes into the still water, the ripples emanate outward and affect the whole body of water. When one of us commits sin—the single stone tossed into the water—the whole body of Christ is disturbed by the affects that ripple outward. And so, we confess.

“Achan answered Joshua, ‘Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” (Josh. 7:20-21) See how Achan gave glory to God: by getting specific in confessing his sins. Not just: “I coveted and stole something,” but: “I coveted and stole that beautiful cloak, that silver and that gold. And I’ve hidden them in my tent.”

Will we confess our specific sins? In agonizing detail? To a fellow sinner, usually our pastor? Will we confess at the altar rail before the pastor that we get just as greedy as Achan did? Will we expose our sinful stealing such as cheating on those income taxes, or keeping the extra change we mistakenly received, or getting paid for goofing off at work? Will we admit that we actually do steal from God Himself by thinking and claiming that our money and goods belong to us, not to Him, and by living that lie when we give cheaply in the offering or neglect to help our needy neighbor?

I know: Scandalous! But Joshua did call it giving glory to God, even when confessing to a fellow sinner. After all, why should we be nervous about confessing the dirty details of our rotten sins to a fellow sinner who has his own dirty, rotten specific sins? That sinner cannot do anything to us. In fact, he may even be able to relate to us, in that twisted misery-loves-company sort of way. We really should tremble, though, to confess our sins “directly to God,” as we just love to say. Why? Because He can – and He does – do something about them! Jesus said, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt. 10:28) Confessing sins to a fellow sinner certainly does not kill the body, but what about the rest of that verse? Well, it still applies. Bury your sin, and God will bury you!

Joshua sent his messengers to find and verify Achan’s stash of stolen goods, and it was there. Then Achan received his just desserts for his sin that troubled all of Israel: he and his family were stoned with stones and burned with fire. What?! No absolution? No forgiveness? No second chance? No…? No. Should we think that Achan’s confession somehow deserved God’s response of absolution? God’s mercy is not founded on Achan’s confession – nor yours, nor mine. No, your confession is where the Achan in you must simply die. No putting the coin of your confession in the heavenly vending machine for absolution to pop out on queue. Just stark, repentant confession that says, “Truly I have sinned against the LORD God.” Then leave it there, and realize the Lord can, does, and will have His way. No cover up for us cover-ups, not even in our confessing.

When we confess, we do pray with Psalm 38(:21-22): “Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.” And with the Lord Jesus who suffered mock trial, unjust verdict, cruel mockery, and torturous crucifixion, our God does hasten to help. No, He did not help Achan, but He does promise to help you, to be your salvation. When you bury your sins, God will bury you. But when you expose your sins in confession, God will bury them with His Son hanging from a cross and buried in a tomb. You see, that’s where His true love for sinners is truly exposed—not in the anguish of confessing, not in suffering the just desserts of our sins, but in the glory of Christ crucified, buried and risen. And when He absolves in His mercy, he does not bring the Achan in you back to life. No, He gives you His life, His contentment, His trust in the God who is your salvation.

So we do not cover up, but we confess. And we sing with the hymn: “O Jesus, let Thy precious blood / Be to my soul a cleansing flood. / Turn not, O Lord, Thy guest away, / But grant that justified I may / Go to my house at peace with Thee: / O God, be merciful to me.” (LSB 613:3) His blood does cover. His peace does go with you. Yes, He is merciful to you. Amen.

Homily for Lent 4

2011-04-05T10:59:00.000-05:00

The fourth Sunday in Lent - Laetare - brings a little rejoicing and refreshment during the long journey of penitent discipline through these 40 days leading up to Easter. The day's Gospel reading, John 6:1-15, certainly strikes this theme as our Lord graciously feeds the 5000. Not only does He provide daily bread for the body, but He also shows Himself to be the true daily Bread of Life for our souls. Thus Sunday's homily found us "Rejoicing in the Lord's Refreshment."

To listen to the audio file of "Rejoicing in the Lord's Refreshment," click here, then download the audio file and then listen.

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 3

2011-03-30T18:26:00.001-05:00

Sins Covered: For Even the Worst
2 Chronicles 33:1-13 &
Matthew 26:57-75 (Passion Reading III. Palace of the High Priest)

Johann Gerhard, the great Lutheran theologian, wrote once that the devil has two trick mirrors. He uses “the minimizing mirror” when he’s attempting to lure us into sin; to make us think that the sin is “not that big, not that bad.” Then, after he’s snared us into the sin, he whips out his “maximizing mirror.” With that mirror he makes the sin look magnified in order to make us despair of God ever being able or willing to forgive sinners as terrible and awful as we are.

No doubt the devil tried that out on Manasseh. Manasseh’s father was the good king, Hezekiah. But as so many sadly discover: godly parents are no guarantee of godly children. As good and wise, as devout and kind as Hezekiah was, Manasseh was as stubborn and wicked – yes, downright evil. I don’t doubt that it started little by little – toying around with idolatry, moving into the occult and practicing Satanic arts, finally fighting against the true faith and seeking destroy everything that his father had done to restore that faith in Judah. The writer of 2 Kings even says that Manasseh was so depraved that he ended up burning his own son as an offering to some demon parading as a “god.” Manasseh was responsible for filling Jerusalem with all kinds of blood shed. You get the picture of this guy? He was bad news. Surely, if ever there were a person that God would simply have given up on, washed his hands of, let go straight to hell, it was Manasseh.

But the Lord’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. As the Psalmist sang: “The LORD is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made” (Ps. 145:9). All? Yes, all. In mercy and unspeakable love, the Lord let Manasseh experience some unspeakably hard times. His enemy at the gates, he was captured and carried away with hooks and shackles into a foreign land, to Babylon.

And as his own life had come crashing down all around him, a remarkable thing happened to the evil king. He remembered everything his father had taught him about Yahweh—how He is gracious and merciful, and how He delights in forgiveness and steadfast love. Did he dare to hope?

No doubt, Satan pulled out that maximizing mirror and pointed it directly at old Manasseh. “No way! There’s no way that someone as evil as you can have hope! You’ve murdered people left and right. You’ve been down on our face worshipping other gods. You’ve consulted necromancers and mediums and done every abomination that the Lord says he hates. You’ve even killed your very own child! You’re toast. You’re going to roast with me forever. Hang it up!”

But through a miracle of God’s grace, Manasseh didn’t believe Satan’s accusations. Oh, he knew he was sinful, bad to the bone, evil to the core. He knew he deserved absolutely nothing. But in hope against hope, he prayed to the Lord. His prayer is actually a book of the Apocrypha. Listen in to part of it:

“O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous offspring… your glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable; yet immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy, for you are the Lord Most High, of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and you relent at human suffering. O Lord, according to your great goodness you have promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against you, and in the multitude of your mercies you have appointed repentance for sinners, so that they may be saved. …You have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied! I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquities. I am weighted down with many an iron fetter, so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief; for I have provoked your wrath and have done what is evil in your sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses. And now I bend the knee of my heart, imploring you for your kindness. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my transgressions. I earnestly implore you, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me; do not condemn me to the depths of the earth. For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, and in me you will manifest your goodness; for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy, and I will praise you continually all the days of my life. For all the host of heaven sings your praise, and yours is the glory forever. Amen.” (Prayer of Manasseh 1, 5-15)

Now isn’t that an amazing prayer? We heard in our reading today that Manasseh in his distress humbled himself greatly before the Lord and prayed. We also heard that God was moved, heard his prayer, and restored him. “Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”

He experienced first hand that the greatest filth of human wickedness is but a spark that is soon extinguished in the vast ocean of divine mercy and love. Then He knew that the Lord was God. Satan’s mirrors are tricky, but when we lift our eyes from our sin to God’s vast ocean of mercy, we soon see the truth.

I’m sure Peter had his experience with the mirrors too. No big deal, right. Just say: “I don’t know him.” And then when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered. He remembered exactly what our Lord had said would happen. Suddenly Satan was holding up the magnifying mirror: “You think he could possibly forgive a man who swore that he’d stand by Him even if he had to die with Him, and who then caved at the question of a little servant girl? Your sin is too big, Peter. Despair and die.” Peter’s bitter tears witness how the sight in the mirror terrified and saddened him—just like Manasseh. But also like Manasseh, Peter would find in the Man whom he denied a forgiveness deeper than all his sin, a love wider than all his denials.

You can find that too. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Dear friends, the mercy that awaits you in your Lord is simply and unbelievably huge – far bigger than your sin, far mightier than your betrayals and denials of Him – immeasurably and unspeakably firm and steady and unshakable.

So when Satan would use his “maximizing mirror” on you, when he would suggest to you that YOUR sin is just way too big, too bad, too awful, too ugly, too hopeless, remember Manasseh, remember Peter. Most of all, though, remember Him who came into the world to save precisely such honest-to-God real down-and-dirty sinners: Jesus Christ, whose blood has indeed blotted out the sin of the whole world. No sin is the match for His grace. No sinner is so far gone that His love cannot reclaim and restore. Confess to Him, and you will see! Amen.

A Bit More on Complaining

2011-03-30T13:20:00.001-05:00

Last Wednesday's homily for Lent Evening Prayer - "Uncovered Cure: Look and Live" - focused on the complaining of the Israelites, which resulted in the fiery serpents as per God's judgment. Mr. Roland Letter, host of "Studio A" on KFUO Radio (kfuo.org), read that homily (posted here on this blog) and decided to discuss the topic a bit more. And so we did on yesterday's edition of "Studio A." Check it out here.

Homily for Lent 3

2011-03-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

Today's homily, "Healing for Houses Divided," drew from the Gospel reading of Luke 11:14-28 (Lutheran Service Book, One-Year Series) in which Jesus heals a man with a mute demon. When He is accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, Jesus says, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls." Jesus Himself is the "stronger man" who invades the realm of "strong man" Satan and thus heals us from our "divided houses," our various divisions and separations.

To listen to the audio file of today's homily, click here and then download the audio file.

"Veteran Broadcaster"?

2011-03-25T10:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had the great privilege of being the "Guest Host" with Paul Clayton for his "Morning Essentials" show on KFUO radio (AM 850). Not only that, but I also had the equally great privilege of interviewing Dr. Harold Senkbeil, Executive Director for DOXOLOGY. Talk about a double-treat - getting to join Paul on the air and getting to interview my mentor and friend! What's even better, though, is that the word of DOXOLOGY - its program and its excellent benefits - is getting out more and more. Here's the audio of that interview segment.

Oh, and notice that it was Paul Clayton - not yours truly! - who used the term "veteran broadcaster" ... and tongue in cheek, I'm sure. (I'm sure my interview technique can stand some work! :-)

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 2

2011-03-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Uncovered Cure: Look and Live

Impatient! The people grew impatient—impatient with the way God was leading them. If only He would get with the program and do it their way! And so the response was grumbling, complaining, kvetching. And it’s actually kind of funny: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food!” Wait, I thought there was no food? Hmm. He had indeed faithfully led them…and fed them.

The people had first griped about the water. They were convinced that God had really screwed up. He’d led them into a dead-end, out in the howling, barren wilderness where there was not a drop to drink. And then God told Moses to walk out in front of the people and strike a certain rock. Strike it he did, and the waters gushed and gushed. Um, no. God had not misled them; He had led them directly to gushing, overflowing waters—waters enough for all of them to enjoy. They just didn’t believe it because they couldn’t see it—at least, not at first.

Have you been there? Have you been griping to the Lord about the way He’s been leading you? Have you doubted His loving care for you? Have you wondered if that verse—“all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28)—is just a nice-sounding fairy tale that only a fool could actually believe? Have you thought that God has led you into your equivalent of the dead end alley? And have you insulted and rejected the gifts He has given you because they weren’t exactly the ones you wanted Him to give you? “Manna? I’m sick of it. If I can't have a filet mignon, at least give me a cheese burger!”

Their griping did not please the Lord. He thought they needed something to really complain about. Enter the fiery serpents. Their bite wasn’t just an irritation, not just an inconvenience, not even something to gripe about over the back yard fence with your neighbor. No, the bite brought death. And suddenly everything is put into perspective. Death can do that. It sets things in the harsh light of reality.

Faced with death, the people see their sins and they confess: “We have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against you, Moses.” Here’s a confession brought by terrified hearts—hearts that realize the cold, hard reality: beyond all the journeying of this life, there comes an end, a time for leaving this pilgrim way, a time for facing the One who sits upon the throne—naked, face to face with Him who knows us from the inside out. And what hope do we have then?

The people beg Moses to pray for them. He does, and the Lord who is gracious and merciful beyond any of our deserving, He commands one of the oddest things recorded in all of Scripture: His mercy, His forgiveness, His amnesty of the people’s rebellion and sin. It isn’t just spoken. It’s spoken and shown. A promise is made, but that promise is attached to a very physical thing. Moses is to make an image of that which is killing them, a fiery serpent. He’s to lift it high on a pole, atop a piece of wood. The promise is one of sheer grace: “everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” Look up, and be healed. Look up, and then the deadly snake venom is rendered powerless. That’s it! Just a look! The promise of life attached to a visible sign: believe it, and you look up, and you are healed. Don’t believe it, and you don’t bother to look up, and you die.

Remember John chapter 3. Jesus says that that image of the snake on the pole is just like Him, and He is like that snake on the pole. HE would be lifted up—raised on a cross, on a pole of wood. He would give the gift of life, real life, eternal life, to those who will only believe, look up at Him, and be healed.

That is what’s facing Him in tonight’s Gospel. He’d known all along that this is where He was headed—just like you’ve known since you were a child that you’re going to die. But it’s entirely different when that moment is facing you down and you realize that it’s not some hypothetical event out there in the distant future; it’s suddenly your here and now reality. So Jesus sweats and trembles before the cup from His Father reaches Him. He begs for another way out besides this horror of being left to die alone with the sins of the world upon Him. And yet unlike us with our grumblings and complaining about the way God leads, our Lord finally and fully submits to His Father’s direction and plan, praying: “nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done.“ He prays it again and again. And then He goes forth in peace to fulfill it. He has spoken His firm “yes” to His Father’s great plan—that plan from the foundation of the world that He would be raised on that tree of the cross for us, so that we, who have been stung by the serpent’s deadly bite, might look up and not die—so that we might see and believe and live in Him, with Him forever.

Remember, then, our theme verse for this Lent: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

Dear saints, many times God will use disasters in your personal lives, in your community or nation, in the world - remember Japan - to bring you to repentance and confession—just as He did to the Israelites. He will use heart-wrenching troubles to open your eyes to see your sins, especially the sins you’ve thought of as “no big deal”—such as your sins of grumbling against Him! But in that very moment when you confess your sins, in that very moment, He will invite you to turn your eyes from your wretched condition and look instead—look in wonder and awe—at His free and gracious remedy. He invites you to see and be healed by a love that will take your breath away—to behold your Savior upon the Tree giving to you the promise of a life that never ends. That’s how He’s loved you, my friends, with a love immeasurable, deep, and divine! He’s given you an eternal life that is utterly free to you, but quite costly to Him.

Yes, we who confess our sins have “obtained mercy,” mercy beyond anything we could imagine. And for all that, glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever! Amen.

Why People are Forsaking Church in Droves?

2011-03-22T13:19:00.003-05:00

HT: to Anastasia over at "Kyrie, Eleison!" for composing and posting this pithy, and accurate, little poem on why people are forsaking church, that is, "neglecting to meet together" (Heb. 10:25) to receive the Lord Jesus and His life and forgiveness of sins in the Divine Service. All I can say is: "Spot on!" Thanks much, Anastasia! (Reprinted here with her permission.)

Why are People Forsaking Church in Droves?

One reason for people’s churchly severance
Is, they miss good old-fashioned reverence,
Which doesn’t fit well at services
With balloons and whirling dervishes.

To fix your soul you must face what’s wrong,
Which is hard to do to a happy-clappy song.
You won’t even see where you’re not so great
If all you do is celebrate, celebrate.

Celebrations will draw them for the short run,
For people love playing and music and fun.
But you need ever more to keep getting those highs,
Inevitably you crash, and what’s left but sighs?

Entertainment grows wearisome, feelings go flat,
You have to give people much more than that.
Sentiment sours and pleasures aren’t joys,
And church-going folk are not all girls and boys.

Adults want substance and not just feeling,
But wisdom and truth and meaning and healing
In short, they’re searching for things profound
That have little to do with clowning around.

Fun is for picnics, church camps, and youth meets,
Ditto, dancing and movies and magical feats.
In church, theoretically, God is right here;
If so, then with love, awe, and reverence draw near.

If not, there’s your trouble; go back to square one.
You’ve but ethics to offer, and feelings and fun,
And people will seek the deep Mystery elsewhere,
Or give up and pretend they no longer care.

The secret attraction is Himself, Jesus Christ,
By Whom, more than anything, folks are enticed.
Dearer than all else, all our Hope, all our Heart,
With decorum receive Him, before more depart!

Homily for Evening Prayer of Lent 1

2011-03-16T20:44:00.000-05:00

This evening's homily, "Covered by Mercy," was the first in this year's series: "Cover Up: A Lenten Series on Confession and Absolution" (co-authored by Pr. Weedon and myself). Tonight we focused on Daniel's prayer of confession for the collective sins of his people, the nation of Israel, in Daniel 9:1-19. What does Daniel's prayer teach and exemplify for us regarding Confession and Absolution, especially corporately for the whole people of God? Read on:

God says: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Prov. 28:13) “Yes, yes,” we say. “Sounds good,” we think. But do we live it? After all, each of us would much rather cover up our sins and hope no one will notice. That way we can appear decent, look honorable, and even seem devout to other people, or at least that person in the mirror. We are like the young boy who took his grape juice into the living room. He knew he shouldn’t, especially on the nice furniture and white carpet. But then he spilled his juice on the white carpet. After sopping it up, he chose to cover it up—move the couch over just a few inches. Better than admitting he had done wrong!

Welcome to “Cover-Up: A Lenten Series on Confession & Absolution.” This Lent we will explore how we sin, how we try to cover up our sins, and how we do better and live longer if only we will uncover our sins, if only we will confess them so that God can cover them with His absolution. You see, if we cover up our sin, it will be exposed in the End. But if we expose our sin and our sins, God graciously covers them up, and in a way that can never be uncovered.

Tonight we begin with Daniel. The people of Israel had gone into exile. For 70 years they lived with the shame of disappointing and disobeying the God who had loved them and saved them. In centuries past, God had called Abraham, had rescued them from Egypt and sent Moses to lead them through the wilderness, had brought them into the Promised Land with General Joshua leading them, and had given them kings such as Saul, David, and Solomon, along with great peace, great prosperity, and great acclaim.

But they thumbed their collective nose at God. Through the centuries they decided they knew best. They decided that they could trust themselves, their prosperity, and their crowd-pleasing worship that appealed to the unbelieving peoples around them. They decided they did not need to listen to God’s prophets calling them to repentance and confession. They thought they could do no wrong. But God sent His own people into exile in Babylon. Imagine Christians trying to live, pray and worship under the watchful eye of a communist nation such as China or the old Soviet Union, and you get the idea.

Along comes Daniel, with his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel and his friends showed their faithfulness to God. They ate their own God-given diet and showed themselves more fit than others in the king’s service. They worshiped the Triune God rather than the golden image of the king. And despite being thrown into a blazing fiery furnace, they were saved by One who “is like a son of the gods”—the Son of God Himself. Daniel interpreted dreams of kings and revealed God’s saving plan for all nations. And when the king’s advisors snuck through a law that said, “Pray only to the king; only he can help and preserve you,” Daniel remained faithful to the true God in his prayer life. He prayed to God and suffered the consequence of being thrown into a lion’s den. Daniel trusted and relied on God’s goodness and mercy; and God rescued him from hungry lions.

In all of this Daniel knew something that we must learn and live: you cannot cover up sin, even the sin of a whole nation. He was stuck in Babylon not because of his sins, but because of the sins of others—sins from times long gone and a land far, far away. Their sin was now his sin, just as his sin was surely their sin.

Dear friends, your sin is my sin, and my sin is your sin. We don’t sin merely as individuals. We sin as a people, as a nation, as the whole people of God. My sins affect you and your sins affect me. When I don’t fear, love, and trust in God above all things, it rubs off on you. When you don’t call upon God’s name, pray, praise, and give thanks, neither do I. When some of us don’t listen to God in His Word, hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it, the rest of us are also hampered in hearing and believing.

So Daniel prayed to the Lord God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but… To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.” Daniel does not try to cover the sins of his leaders or his people. He does not try to explain them away. He simply puts them out for all to see, and he joins himself to them. “Yes, Lord, we – we all – have sinned against You.” It’s the exact opposite of what Peter tried. Jesus said, “You all will fall away.” Peter contradicted Him with a false bravado: “Though they all fall away … I will never fall away.” Let none of us say, “Though they sin, Lord, I will never sin.” Let’s learn from Daniel to confess all together and for our corporate shame.

Daniel continues: “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.” We also sin against God and the messengers He sends. They tell us we’ve sinned, but we ignore it or rally against that unwelcome news. They show us specific charges and clear evidence, but we deny and obfuscate. We even obfuscate with forgiveness assumed: “Yeah, well, that doesn’t matter. I know God forgives me.”

Daniel keeps praying: “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.” Our Lord does turn His anger and wrath away from His city and His holy hill, but only because He first directed it at His holy Son on that holy cross, perched on that holy hill. Jesus gave His blood “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Not just forgiveness for individual sins, but also corporate forgiveness for corporate sins. And by making His own Son a byword among the nations, our gracious God frees you, His people, to be accepted once again by Him.

Daniel comes to the climax of his prayer for his whole people: “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.” Let’s pray the same! Let’s pray and confess not only for our individual selves, but also for our whole congregation, our whole synod, and the whole Church. After all, we don’t pray, we don’t confess, and we’re not forgiven “because of our righteousness, but because of [God’s] great mercy”—mercy in His Son who goes to the cross for us. When we uncover our sins, individually and corporately, God is quick to cover those sins with His blood-bought mercy.

So we pray, with Daniel and with the psalmist: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” (Dan. 9:19) “O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” (Ps. 130:7)

Prayer for Those in Japan!

2011-03-11T15:01:00.000-06:00

In light of today's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the resulting and massive devastation, we commend all affected to our gracious God:

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy!

Almighty God, merciful Father, a very present help in time of trouble, again we are brought to realize that Your thoughts are not our thoughts, Your ways are not our ways. In Your wisdom You have permitted the disastrous earthquake and tsunami to be visited upon Japan and surrounding nations. We implore You, let not the hearts of Your people despair, but sustain and comfort them. Heal the injured, console the bereaved and afflicted, protect the innocent and helpless, and deliver any who are still in danger, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Another Quilt Rack Made ... and Sold

2011-03-09T22:32:00.000-06:00

Ah, what a joy it is to cut wood, make some sawdust, shape the red oak with decorative details, stain and finish it (and enjoy the smell?), and then do the final assembly. From plain old red oak comes a quilt rack, this time sold to the lady who cuts my hair. Nothing like seeing the fruits of one's labors!

Homily for Ash Wednesday

2011-03-09T22:19:00.000-06:00

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12). So our gracious God calls us to come to Him as we begin this Lententide. This evening's homily - "Return to the Lord" - tied this call from God together with Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." Not only is this call to return to the Lord by confessing our sins the perfect theme for Ash Wednesday all by itself, it also introduces our coming theme for this year's Lenten Evening Prayer services: "Cover Up: A Lenten Series on Confession and Absolution."

Just in case what you hear in the sermons I post here sounds an awful lot like what Pr. Weedon may post on his blog, it's because we developed and wrote the homilies for this series together.

To listen to this evening's homily, click this link, download the audio file, and hear the Lord's call to return to Him by exposing your sins with the promise that He will cover them with His Son's blood-bought forgiveness and righteousness.

The Litany for Lent

2011-03-09T11:48:00.000-06:00

Here's a good, right, and salutary greeting from LCMS President Matthew Harrison as we begin the solemn season of Lent. He also urges us to pray the Litany throughout the season.

Discussion on Holy Baptism

2011-03-08T21:00:00.000-06:00

Check out the post over at "Lutheranism 101" called "Holy Baptism, Regeneration, and Faith." Yours truly has been privileged to respond to some very important and frequent questions on the relationship between Baptism, repentance, and being "born again." Until now this discussion has transpired in the Comments section of another post, but as ScotK says, this vital discussion deserves a post of its own.

Homily for Quinquagesima

2011-03-06T20:50:00.000-06:00

Today's homily for Quinquagesima (50 Days Before Easter) focused on the Gospel reading of Luke 18:31-43 and is titled "Christ's Cure for Your Blindness." What a great reading with which to prepare for Ash Wednesday and the whole season of Lent. As He did with His disciples, Jesus must remove our blindness - of sin, that is - so that we can see with the eyes of faith and follow Him to Jerusalem, to the Cross, and ultimately to the joyous festivity of Easter and celebrating His victory over death. After all, only our Lord Jesus can open our eyes to see that His sacrificial death on the Cross brings forgiveness and life for us.

To listen to the audio file, click on this link and then download the audio file.

Homily for Sexagesima

2011-03-02T14:57:00.000-06:00

Sunday's homily, based on Luke 8:4-15, focused on Jesus' own interpretation of the Parable of the Sower, specifically the "interpretive key" that "The seed is the Word of God" (Luke 8:11). What happens when we take that "Word of God" in light of John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"? The Father plants His Seed - His only-begotten, beloved Son - in the field of the world, and His saving words and works are heard and received in different ways (the four soils). Thus, Sunday's homily was titled "The Divine Seed." Click here to download the audio file and listen.

Johann Gerhard gave a marvelous way of introducing this take on "The Divine Seed":

In His Creation, God the Lord not only made the earth fruitful with various and multitudinous seeds, but He also sowed a noble Seed into the heart of the first two people--it was, of course, the image of God. From this Seed within their hearts there was supposed to sprout up and grow forth the noble fruits of divine knowledge, as well as perfect love for, and heartfelt praise to, God. Indeed, the fruit of eternal life was to grow forth from this Seed in their heart. (Postilla, 199)

Preparing for Lent

2011-02-22T19:27:00.001-06:00

A big "Thank you" to Pr. Weedon for his thoughts on Gesimatide and preparing for Lent (and for plugging our joint Lenten series - titled "Cover Up" - on Confession and Absolution)! Here's what Pr. Weedon offered over on his blog to help us do some "warm up exercises" for the marathon of Lent:

Using Gesimatide to Prepare for Lent
from Weedon's Blog by William Weedon

Okay, the days of Gesimatide are upon us. The Gospels for these Sundays teach us that our salvation is a gift, not the result of our efforts; that it is accomplished by the power of God's Word; that by faith in our Jesus, we will go up to Jerusalem with Him, having our eyes opened to see that He is indeed the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. With this wonderful theological grounding, we also remember the wise words of Adolf Köberle: "At all events even asceticism can be described by the paradoxical statement: Its exercise can give salvation to no one but its neglect can corrupt anyone."

So as not to fall into that corruption, the Lenten disciplines are set before us. Not as though they are tools we ought use only during the Lenten days, but as training for all our days of battling the old man in the power of the Holy Spirit and with the joyful concurrence of the new man.

* Prayer - can I spend more time intentionally in prayer this Lent? Here's a prayer that might be of use:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy On Me a Sinner
Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Word of the Father,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, the Word through whom all things were made,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, foretold by the prophets in signs and words,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time conceived by the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Holy Virgin,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, hymned by the angels,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, adored by the shepherds,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, worshipped by the Magi,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, held by St. Simeon,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, praised by St. Anna,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, obedient to your parents,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to a sinner's baptism,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, fasting in the wilderness,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, driving out demons,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, cleansing the lepers,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, teaching the precepts of the kingdom,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, raising the dead,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, walking on water and changing water into wine,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, praised by the little children,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, riding into Your city as the sacrifice appointed,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, giving your body and blood to be eaten and drunk,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, praying in the garden,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, bound and mocked,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, stripped and beaten,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, innocently condemned to death,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, opening Your hands upon the cross to embrace the world,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the loneliness of our exile and our sin,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, trampling down death by death,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, pouring forth water and blood to save the world,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, sanctifying our graves by lying in a tomb,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, harrowing hell and releasing the prisoners,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, rising in victory over death and corruption,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, appearing to the disciples in the broken bread,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, ascending in triumph,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, coming on the clouds of glory to renew all things,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, dread Judge at the Last Day,
have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

* Almsgiving - can I find ways to increase my giving to the poor and suffering in this world? Can I grow in my experience of the profound truth of our Lord's words: "It is more blessed to give than to receive"? What can I do to concretely bless the poor this Lententide both in my own local community and in the world (LCMS World Relief is a good place to start for the world!)?

* Fasting - can I limit my intake of food during these days? One tradition of the Western fast would encourage you to eat only 1/4 meal at breakfast, a regular lunch, and 1/4 meal in the evening. No one who has a medical condition that would endanger their body (or is pregnant) should fast in this way; but others might find it a very fruitful and useful reminder that "man does not live by bread alone; but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

* Confession - before you head into Lent, why not schedule a time with your pastor to confess your sins and receive forgiveness? This wonderful gift is far too underutilized in the Church - Luther professed that he was so blessed by it, that he'd never let anyone deprive him of it. Sadly, we've been depriving ourselves far too often.

* Commitment to attend the extra services - make a commitment to be present when the Word of God is preached, His praises sung, His sacrament distributed during the Lenten days. The Lenten midweeks are a great blessing as we follow our Lord's Passion. The sermons at St. Paul's (and Hope in St. Louis - Pr. Asburry and I wrote our series together) for the Lenten Midweeks this year will focus on Confession and Absolution. It is the Word of God that transforms us, and so the more richly we let the Word of Christ dwell in us, the more our joy in the Kingdom will increase.

Just a few thoughts as we prepare to launch into the great days of Fastenzeit - Holy Lent!

What do you get...

2011-02-15T21:03:00.003-06:00

...when you cross a bona fide sinner with a pastor who knows his Bible and teaches it with gusto with a president of a church body, namely the LCMS?

Watch and find out! It's only about 30 minutes, but well worth every second. Enjoy and be edified as President Matt Harrison speaks to the LCEF Fall Leadership Conference on the emphasis of "Witness, Mercy, and Life Together."

Homily for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

2011-02-13T19:42:00.000-06:00

For those of us who use the One-Year Lectionary according to Lutheran Service Book, today marked the Transfiguration of Our Lord and the conclusion of the Epiphany season. (Three-Year Lectionary folks in the Lutheran Church will celebrate this great feast in three weeks, and others in Christendom will celebrate it on August 6.) The Gospel reading from Matthew 17:1-9 gives so much on which to preach--the Lord's transfigured appearance; the "exodus" of Jesus' imminent suffering, death, and resurrection (cf. Luke 9); Peter's response; and the Father's voice from the cloud proclaiming Jesus His "beloved Son" with whom He is well please (a nice bookend to our Lord's Baptism in Matthew 3).

Today's homily focused on the "Glimpse of Glory" that our Lord gives us when He Himself is transfigured in brilliant, radiant glory. When we "see" Him transfigured in this Gospel account, we do get a foretaste - a glimpse - of the glory which He bestows on us purely by His grace and favor. Focusing on this "glimpse of glory" flows from the Collect of the Day in which we prayed, "Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heaven."

Listen to the audio file of today's homily - "A Glimpse of Glory" - by clicking on this link and then downloading the audio file.

A Must View!

2011-02-08T09:54:00.000-06:00

Especially if you text while driving, or - I'll be bold and add it - if you like to chat on your phone while driving. This 11 minute documentary is a good, sobering wake up call!

Thank you, AT&T for making this available!

Homily for Epiphany 5

2011-02-08T09:50:00.000-06:00

On this very rare occasion when we have a full compliment of Sundays after Epiphany, it was actually delightful to preach on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (tares) from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. In keeping with Article VIII of the Augsburg Confession, our Lord does prepare us for and comfort us, as Church and in the spiritual realm, to deal with the very real presence of evil in the world and in the Church. With our Lord, the Sower, completely in control of His field (the world) and His crop of wheat (His Christians), it really is "Time to Do Nothing" - that is, we need not seek to eradicate evil but can learn to suffer hypocrites and the ungodly in the ranks of the Church. Oh, and be sure to listen for the "Gospel handle" on how "forgiveness" fits in with this parable! (An idea not original with me, but I'm glad I came across it.)

To listen, click on this link for "Time to Do Nothing," download the audio file, and listen away.

Homily for the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord

2011-02-04T15:52:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, 2 February 2011, saw not only the fruits of a severe winter storm complete with freezing rain, sleet, and snow (affectionately called "snowmaggedon" or "snowpocalypse"), but it also gave us the privilege of celebrating the feast of The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord. Nine of us, including the Kantor and the Pastor, braved the elements and gathered to celebrate our Lord's presentation in the temple forty days after His nativity. The homily, "Great Promises in a Small Package," focused on Simeon holding the Infant Savior, his now immortal song, and what it all means for us in the Lord's Church.

Click this link (or the title link), download the audio file, and listen to "Great Promises in a Small Package."

Homily for Epiphany 4

2011-02-04T15:13:00.000-06:00

One of the great themes of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only the forgiveness of our sins, but also the restoration of all creation. That focus comes out in the readings for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, especially Romans 8:18-23. When Jesus calms the storm, He reveals Himself as the Lord of creation and promises to restore it, along with us, on the Last Day.

This homily for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, on Gospel reading from Matthew 8:23-27, was delivered on 30 January 2011 with the title "Even the Winds and Sea Obey Him!"

Click on this link (or the title link), download the audio file, and hear the homily.

Homily for Epiphany 3

2011-02-04T15:06:00.000-06:00

This homily for the Third Sunday after Epiphany was delivered on 23 January 2011, along with a focus on Pro-Life Sunday. The Lord Jesus reveals Himself as the Lord of Life when He touches the leper and speaks healing for the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:1-13). He is "Lord of Life in Deed and Word." What a great text to connect with the sanctity of human life in our day!

To hear the homily, click on this link, download the audio file listen.

Now that's a "slam dunk"!

2011-01-28T13:24:00.000-06:00

Check this out from some timeout entertainment at a Phoenix Suns basketball game:

"Wow!" and "Ouch!" are about the only ways I can think of to describe that.

Homilies-Long Overdue

2011-01-24T12:04:00.001-06:00

I must apologize to all followers and regular readers for not posting in such a long time. I especially apologize to any and all who may listen to my homilies as posted here on this blog. But now, at long last, I'm finally getting caught up. So here are links to several homilies spanning from Advent through Christmas and now into the Epiphany season.

As usual, just click on the title (the link) for each homily listed below, download the audio file, and listen away.

Fourth Sunday in Advent (12/19/2010)
Text: Luke 1:39-56
Title: "Mercy Magnified"

The Nativity of our Lord, Christmas Eve (12/24/2010)
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Title: "How to Receive the Infant Savior"

The Nativity of our Lord, Christmas Midnight (12/24/2010)
Text: Luke 2:1-20
Title: "Yes, Our God IS Small!"

St. Stephen, Martyr (12/26/2010)
Text: Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51-60
Title: "Merry Martyrdom!"

The Epiphany of our Lord (1/6/2011)
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Title: "True Light Shining For You!"

Second Sunday after Epiphany (1/16/2011)
Text: John 2:1-11
Title: "God's Will for Empty Vessels"

Advent Message from a Genuine Pastor

2010-12-03T15:30:00.000-06:00

Here's a great Advent message from President Matthew Harrison, President of the LCMS. How great to have a pastor with a pastoral heart at the helm of our church body!

Advent Blessing from President Harrison from VimeoLCMS on Vimeo.

Great Tribute to Veterans

2010-11-29T20:04:00.000-06:00

Here's a great tribute to our nation's veterans as sung by some 3rd grade students:

Homily for Advent 1

2010-11-28T20:05:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe we've begun yet another new Church Year. But Advent has, well, come and I must say that it's nice to see a color other than green on the altar.

Today's homily borrowed from the Collect of the Day (in Lutheran Service Book) for its direction and outline. With the theme "Come, Lord Jesus!" we hear just how our humble, donkey-riding King stirs up His power and comes to rescue us from the threatening perils of our sins.

Click the link to download the audio file and listen to today's homily for Advent 1.

Homily for Thanksgiving Day

2010-11-28T19:47:00.000-06:00

This year for our Thanksgiving Day Matins service I chose to use the readings for "Harvest Observance" in Lutheran Service Book. What a refreshing change for this national - not ecclesial - observance. (After all, preaching on the ten lepers in Luke 17 can get a bit repetitive after awhile, especially when the reading pops up in both the One-Year Lectionary and the Three-Year Lectionary not too long before Thanksgiving Day!) The readings for Harvest Observance are: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; 2 Corinthians 9:6-15; and Luke 12:13-21. From these readings came the central thought that real thanksgiving cannot happen without giving that precedes it. Hence, the title of the day's homily: "Thanks Comes After Giving."

To listen to the audio file of this homily, just click this link and download the audio file.

Homily for Last Sunday of the Church Year

2010-11-28T19:35:00.000-06:00

November brought a reprieve from the pulpit on Sunday mornings, though only to concentrate on preaching several funerals as well as the normal Wednesday routine of Morning Prayer (school chapel) and evening Divine Service.

However, on 21 November it was great to get back in the pulpit for the Last Sunday of the Church Year (a.k.a. Trinity 27) and preach on the Gospel from Matthew 25:1-13. It's amazing how many different angles a preacher can take on a single text over the years. This time it was a joy to focus on the theme, "Don't Miss Out!"

Just click on this link to download the audio file and then listen to the homily.

Robert Farrar Capon's treatment of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins was certainly compelling throughout. But this quote, which also concluded the homily, was hard to ignore:

“’Watch therefore,’ Jesus says at the end of the parable, ‘for you know neither the day nor the hour.’ When all is said and done—when we have scared ourselves silly with the now-or-never urgency of faith and the once-and-always finality of judgment—we need to take a deep breath and let it out with a laugh. Because what we are watching for is a party. And that party is not just down the street making up its mind when to come to us. It is already hiding in our basement, banging on our steam pipes, and laughing its way up our cellar stairs. The unknown day and hour of its finally bursting into the kitchen and roistering its way through the whole house is not dreadful; it is all part of the divine lark of grace. God is not our mother-in-law, coming to see whether her wedding-present china has been chipped. He is a funny Old Uncle with a salami under one arm and a bottle of wine under the other. We do indeed need to watch for him; but only because it would be such a pity to miss all the fun.” (Robert Farrar Capon, Parables of Judgment, 166)

Homily for Funeral of Nadine Macko

2010-11-28T19:23:00.000-06:00

On 8 November 2010, I had the privilege of finally giving Christian burial to a long-time saint and member of my congregation. Nadine had been a shut-in just a little longer than the nine years that I've been back at Hope, St. Louis. When I served at Hope as Associate Pastor (1990-1994) I also had the privilege of visiting Nadine's sister Laura. Back then sister Laura really wanted to go home and be with the Lord, and for the past nine years Nadine has had the same sanctified desire. I often reminded her of St. Paul's words to the Philippians: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (1:23).

Well, finally, the Lord blessed Nadine with a peaceful rest as she awaits the Resurrection on the Last Day. My homily for Nadine's funeral focused on the three readings - Isaiah 25:6-9; Romans 8:31-39; and Luke 2:25-32 - and was titled simply and fittingly, "Finally!"

Just click on this link and download the audio file to listen.

Homily for Reformation Day

2010-10-31T18:11:00.000-05:00

On Reformation Day we hear the great news that the Son of God sets us free from sin, death, and hell. Today's homily was based on John 8:31-36 and titled "Free from What? Free for What?"

To listen to the audio file, click on this link, download the file and listen away.

Another Reason to Pay Off Debt

2010-10-27T09:23:00.000-05:00

In his most recent blog post Steve Stewart over at MoneyPlanSOS asks, "Is there a reason to pay off debt?" Then he answers his question with with some responses that he has heard:

Admit it, we all know that debt is bad. For those who don’t mind carrying balances on credit cards or believe student loans are “good debt” know that it would probably be a good thing to pay it off. For some, paying it ALL off has become a priority – but why? Paying off debt is a pain in the butt, so there has to be REASON. A couple with $112,000 in debt asked during our first session “Are we going to be miserable in order for this to work?”, I replied “Aren’t you already miserable?”

I have never heard anyone say they wanted to pay off debt because it was the right thing to do. Here is a short list for some reasons I have heard:
Reduce Stress / Save Marriage
Save for retirement
Save for kid’s education
Save for daughter’s wedding
Start a small business
Buy a hobby farm
Buy a second home
PS – Notice that Reason #1 is the ONLY one you can’t pay for, but it does have a cost.
.
What is your reason? What would you do in order to WIN with money? What is holding you back? Think about your answer carefully, make sure it is a reason and not an excuse.

Those reasons listed are certainly good and salutary, but allow me to add a reason, this one more philosophical, if you will, and one that largely explains why "we all know that debt is bad." This reason actually comes from God Himself in Holy Writ and adds more weight to the dilemma of debt, showing why it's more than just a bad idea or an inconvenience or just a "pain in the butt." This reason just might help people to articulate that they want to pay off debt because it's "the right thing to do."

The "right" reason, among so many other good reasons, to pay off debt is this. Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave of the lender." (Thanks, Dave Ramsey, for pointing this one out!) Why pay off debt? To be free from the slavery of the lender--free indeed from ever-fluctuating interest rates and costly fees, but especially free from being obligated to send my money to other people who have other purposes and designs for it.

As a recovering "debt-aholic" I can tell you that the simple liberty of being completely "debt-free" is quite refreshing and so relaxing (Can you say cut back on the stress big time?). Now my wife and I can manage the money that God gives us both for His glory and for the benefit of our neighbors.

Sorry, lender-task-masters, you don't dictate how my money gets used anymore! And now I'm free to plan for some of those other reasons listed.

Reformation Text Study

2010-10-25T10:21:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a text study to aid in preparations for celebrating Reformation Day (October 31), please consider this humble offering. It was presented last year (2009) at our weekly Pericope Study group, and I offer it here for wider consideration and use.

"Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defends us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever." (Collect for Reformation Day, Lutheran Service Book)

Homily for Trinity 21 & Stewardship Sunday

2010-10-24T17:03:00.001-05:00

Never would I consider myself a "stewardship expert," but it was an honor and a joy to preach this morning for Zion Lutheran Church, Edwardsville, IL, and Trinity Lutheran Church, Worden, IL, on the topic of stewardship. Pr. Heath Curtis graciously invited me to preach the Word of God on stewardship and tithing on the occasion of his congregations' "Consecration Sunday" - and using the lectionary readings for Trinity 21.

So utilizing today's readings - Genesis 1:1-2:3; Ephesians 6:11-17; and John 4:46-54 - the homily was titled "Enlivened to Live as Givers," and focused on our gracious God creating us in and restoring us to His image so that we may live all of life as givers.

To listen to the audio file, click on this link and download the file.

And on a related note, I am very intrigued by the program that Pr. Curtis uses, "Consecration Sunday," written by Herb Miller. I want to examine it myself. (Check it out here at the Cokesbury website or here at Amazon.com. The Southern District of the LCMS offers a PDF file adapting the use of Miller's education program.)

It's quite encouraging to hear lay leaders sing its praises and tell how it has turned their congregation around. One gentleman said it's "just so positive," as opposed to the stewardship programs that seem to beat folks over the head with the Bible's teaching on tithing and giving. The financial secretary rejoiced that it's made her job "much easier" because they can actually pay the bills without having to worry or borrow. Now that's high praise!

Homily for Trinity 20

2010-10-18T05:57:00.000-05:00

"The Lord loves a banquet. He is happiest when His people are gathered at the table with Him." That's how Dr. Norman Nagel began his 1996 sermon on Luke 14:15-24 at Zion Academy. It's also a line I was happy to adopt for my 2010 homily for Trinity 20 based on Matthew 22:1-14. Under the title and theme of "R.S.V.P." we heard how God loves a banquet, invites the bad and the good, and wants our R.S.V.P. for attending His feast of forgiveness, life, and salvation given through His Son.

To listen to the audio file of this homily, click this link and then download the audio file.

Homily for Trinity 19

2010-10-11T09:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's homily focused on the Gospel reading from Matthew 9:1-8, when Jesus heals the paralyzed man first by forgiving his sins and then by healing his physical malady. It's the "Absolute Healing" that comes from Jesus' Absolution.

To listen to the audio file, click on this link, download the audio file, and listen away.

Milton Friedman on Capitalism & Greed

2010-10-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

Here's a classic defense of Capitalism by Milton Friedman as he defends it against the typical yet trumped up charges of greed, here leveled by Phil Donahue. Not only do I really want to learn more from Friedman and his writings, but this is great to see Friedman leave Phil Donahue speechless.

HT: New Zeal

Circle of Spiritual Care for Pastors

2010-10-04T11:51:00.001-05:00

Here's a great quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the circle of things that make up spiritual care for pastors:

The life of the pastor completes itself in reading, meditation, prayer, and struggle. The means is the word of Scripture with which everything begins and to which everything returns. We read Scripture in order that our hearts may be moved. It will lead us into prayer for the church, for brothers and sisters in the faith, for our work, and for our own soul. Prayer leads us into the world in which we must keep the faith. Where Scripture, prayer, and keeping the faith exist, temptation will always find its way in. Temptation is the sign that our hearing, prayer, and faith have touched down in reality. There is no escape from temptation except by giving ourselves to renewed reading and meditation. So the circle is complete. We will not often be permitted to see the fruits of our labors; but through the joy of community with brothers and sisters who offer us spiritual care, we become certain of the proclamation and the ministry.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Spiritual Care (Fortress Press, 1985), p. 69.

The Truth about Tax Returns

2010-10-03T21:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I used to think that that tax refund check that came in the spring of the year was pretty sweet. After all, it did seem like "free money" or a "big bonus." But then I learned the truth: it was always my money. I had just "given" too much to the federal government in the form of withholding from my paycheck! Not a wise way to manage the money that God Himself gives.

I know many people think that the tax refund check is pretty sweet. After all, they can use it to pay a bill (We see this quite a bit with our day school and back tuition payments.), to spring for something special (like a new TV or computer?), or just plain to think that they got lucky and won some kind of lottery.

Actually, the truth still remains: that money has always been yours. If you're getting a sizable "refund" from Uncle Sam's IRS, then you're loaning too much to Uncle Sam in the first place, and not getting any interest back for your "generosity." Wouldn't you rather use your money yourself, rather than let government bureaucrats and politicians decide how "best" (Do I hear pork calls and sounds of earmarks?) to use the money that God gives you to manage?

Here's a series of helpful articles over at MoneyPlan SOS - Financial Coach that helps understand the problem with withholding too much, receiving too big a tax refund, and how to correct the problem:

Tax Refunds: Part 1 (Tax Liability)
Tax Refunds: Part 2 (Withholding)
Tax Refunds: Part 3 (Tax Returns)
Tax Refunds: Part 4 (The REFUND)

Be sure to check back with the financial coach for future articles. I'm sure they will be just as helpful as these first installments.

And now...

2010-10-03T20:58:00.000-05:00

...for something truly frightening! As New Zeal reports, a recent rally in Washington D.C., obviously meant to counter-balance, counter-act, etc. the Glenn Beck rally held back on 8-28-10, is dominated by Socialists and reveals just who supports our current President and his obviously Socialist policies and direction for our nation. Lord, have mercy!

Check it out at New Zeal.

Homily for Anniversary of the Congregation

2010-10-03T20:32:00.003-05:00

Hope Sanctuary - January 6, 2008

Since Lutheran Service Book offers propers for observing the Anniversary of a Congregation, we decided a while back to set aside the first Sunday in October each year to thank God for His blessings given to Hope through her history. And we did just that today. October 8 is the official anniversary date - the date in 1916 when Hope congregation held its first worship service in what was called "The Portable Chapel." As mentioned in the homily we really can thank a mailman - humanly speaking, of course - for the beginning of this congregation when this part of St. Louis City was still farmland transitioning into city outskirts.


Hope Lutheran Church, built 1930

The homily, "Hope in St. Louis," gives a good bit of Hope's history because many who are newer to the congregation have never learned it. To listen, just click this link and then download the audio file.

Homily for St. Michael and All Angels

2010-09-30T09:12:00.000-05:00

Last night's homily for St. Michael and All Angels focused on the theme of "Praising God with the Angels," and drew together all three Scripture readings: Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3; Revelation 12:7-12; and Luke 10:17-20. Also, without actually citing it, the homily tried to reflect our prayer to God in the Collect of the Day: "that, as Your holy angels always serve and worship You in heaven, so by Your appointment they may also help and defend us here on earth."

To listen to the homily, just click on this link and download the audio file.

Homily for Trinity 17

2010-09-29T16:58:00.000-05:00

Here is the audio file for Sunday's homily on the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, "Healed to be Humble," based on Luke 14:1-11. Click the link, download the audio file and listen away.

New IE Video

2010-09-24T08:51:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest Issues, Etc. video, this time running with the theme of friends proclaiming the Gospel to friends. And it's truly an honor to "make an appearance" in it (not that I had anything to do with that little editing faux pas :-)

Homily for Trinity 16

2010-09-23T15:38:00.000-05:00

Sunday's homily for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity focused on the account of Jesus raising the widow's son at the town of Nain (Luke 7:11-17).

To listen to the audio file of Sunday's homily, "His Life Invades Our Death," just click on this link, download the file, and listen.

Homily for Trinity 15

2010-09-12T20:24:00.001-05:00

Sometimes a preacher looks at a text such as Matthew 6:24-34 and wonders how he can really "improve" upon it by proclaiming and applying it. After all, in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, Jesus' words are pretty clear in themselves. He gets right to the point when He says: "Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on." How much clearer can He be than when He says: "Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" And then there's that immortal saying: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." The preacher (okay, at least this one was) may certainly be tempted simply to read the Gospel for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity and say, "'Nuff said. Just do what He says. Amen. "

But don't worry! I did not do that! :-) Rather, I took an image from Johann Gerhard's Postilla for this text about our fallen, sinful state being like brute beasts, focused on earth rather than God and heaven, and - Voila! - ready-made sermon title and theme. This morning's homily, "Slaying Beastly Worry," wrestled with our worries but then took consolation in our Lord Jesus Christ giving us His food, His drink, and His clothing of righteousness.

To listen the audio file of today's homily for Trinity 15, click on this link, download the audio, and listen away. May our gracious Lord bless you and strengthen your faith as you hear His saving works for you ... works that slay your beastly worry.

You go, Gov.!!!

2010-09-09T20:55:00.000-05:00

Get a load of this exchange between NJ Governor Chris Christie and a disgruntled NJ public school teacher. With such clear common sense and simple, logical facts on his side - not to mention his tell-it-as-he-sees-it approach - I say we clone him 49 times over and fill all the rest of the governors' mansions and offices with him. How refreshing to see and hear a public official strive to have his state live within its means!

HT: theblaze.com

Homily for Trinity 14

2010-09-05T21:12:00.000-05:00

Today's homily on Luke 17:11-19, Jesus healing the ten lepers, is titled "Show Yourself Clean." Just as the one leper - and a Samaritan at that - returned to Jesus the true Priest and showed himself clean, we also return to our Lord in the Divine Service to be cleansed of our leprosy of sin and death.

To listen to the homily, click on this link, download the audio file, and listen away.

Our Joyous Mission

2010-09-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

This article also appears in our congregational newsletter, The Hope Lutheran, for September 2010.

A Scary Story

A brother pastor recently told me a story that’s both scary and instructive. This story involved his daughter, a very bright and discerning young lady in her early teens, and the recent LCMS Youth Gathering held this summer in New Orleans. This was the first national youth gathering this young lady had ever attended. As are most youth, she was excited to see so many other Lutheran youth gathered in one place and she did enjoy getting to know some new brother and sister Christians.

However, one thing disappointed this young lady: the very guilt-laden “missions” message pushed by presenters. Gathering presenters may have meant well in teaching the youth to bear witness to Jesus, but their message actually ended up burdening the young people. The presenters were so focused on prompting these Lutheran youth to carry out the mission of making disciples for Jesus Christ (a.k.a. “witnessing to Jesus”) that the youth felt guilty for not witnessing enough. That’s how this pastor’s young daughter received the message, but it’s hardly the way to teach people on the Church’s mission.

The scary side of the story did not end there though. As the true story goes, many of the youth went on a tour of a New Orleans cathedral. As the group was touring inside the large space dedicated to worship and prayer, my friend’s daughter got separated from the group as she was looking at something else. All of a sudden an older man, evidently homeless and dressed in tattered and dirty clothes, approached the young lady. The man told her that he was an atheist and began mocking religion in general.

Guilty for Not Witnessing?
What makes this part of the story so scary is the moral dilemma that flooded the young lady’s mind. Should she stay and try to “witness” to this obviously bitter and unbelieving man, or should she return to her tour group and its certain safety? She knew she should have paid more attention and stayed with her group, but now she was also feeling guilty for wanting to flee to safety and not witness to this unbelieving homeless man. She chose to leave the confrontational man and return to her tour group. However, as she did, she also felt incredibly guilty. She had not, in fact, witnessed to that older man. And wasn’t that, after all, the message she had been hearing at the gathering?

For me—and I’m sure for my brother pastor and his wife—the mere prospect of this young lady, off by herself, being abducted by this stranger is truly scary. However, what’s even more frightful is that she was compelled to feel guilty at choosing her safety over “witnessing to Jesus” at a time like that. That’s what happens when mission work (a.k.a. “missions,” “evangelism,” “outreach,” or “witnessing”) is presented and taught in a burdensome, guilt-giving manner. And, sad to say, these days we hear the Church’s mission taught and proclaimed more and more in this negative manner.

An Instructive Story
However, here’s where this story transitions from being scary to becoming instructive. It actually instructs in what not to do and how not to teach Christian witnessing.

This pastor’s daughter was exactly correct in seeing through the “missions” presentations for what they really were: burdensome guilt trips dressed in the sheep’s clothing of “witnessing to Jesus.” She was also exactly correct in fleeing from the stranger and returning to her tour group. She need not feel guilty about “not witnessing” to him. Rather, she actually did witness to him. How? By returning to her God-given vocation of being a) a student learning about the cathedral, b) a participant in the youth gathering, and c) a daughter who needed to return home to her family safe and sound.

At first we might think: “But how do those things bear witness to Jesus?” That’s easy. The young lady bore witness that she is a Christian by learning more about that cathedral (That was her purpose at that place and time.), by returning to and staying with the group of Christians that brought her there (She was under the care of gathering chaperones.), and by loving and honoring her parents (Remember what mom and dad said about not talking to strangers?). Believe it or not, this young lady did show that she is a Christian in these very normal and ordinary ways.

No, she did not spark up a conversation about Jesus with that confrontational stranger. But let’s be honest, such conversations born out of such confrontations rarely “make disciples.” If anything, a quick and off the cuff talk about Jesus and religion most likely would only further solidify that man’s hard-hearted hostility toward Christ and His Church.

The Joy of Mission Work
Should this young lady—and we—be concerned about lost, unbelieving people such as the stranger in the cathedral? Of course! It’s basic Christian love. Now there’s the proper motivation for “mission work” (a.k.a. “missions,” “evangelism,” “outreach”).

When “mission work” is taught in a burdensome, guilt-giving manner, it’s usually done with some kind of self-serving purpose—a purpose such as increasing the size of an institution or ensuring institutional survival (either of a congregation or of a whole church body). That’s hardly Christian love for the lost neighbor!

The joy of carrying out our God-given mission work comes when we love our neighbor enough to show them their “lostness” in their sin and then show them the Savior who comes to seek and save the lost—them. It’s a lot like putting up road signs and barricades on a highway that leads to a deep canyon where the bridge is out. Road crews put up the signs and barricades out of love for their neighbor. After all, authorities do not want cars racing down the highway, especially at night, and plunging into the canyon to their doom. When we Christians bear witness to Jesus in our daily lives, and when the Church proclaims Christ crucified and risen to rescue us sinners, we are trying to love people enough to turn them from plunging to their eternal doom.

The joy of witnessing to Jesus comes not in keeping tabs on how many times we’ve sparked a conversation about Him with unsuspecting people around us. Rather, it comes from living as God’s redeemed children and enjoying the forgiveness and life that He freely gives in His Gospel and Sacraments. It comes from faithfully receiving His goodness and mercy in the Divine Service.

The joy of witnessing to Jesus shows as we love our neighbors enough to want them to enjoy the forgiveness and life that Jesus brings for them too. We certainly invite them to join us in the Divine Service at church, where they get to hear the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection for them. Most of the time, though, witnessing to Jesus simply means living in our God-given vocations—such as father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, worker, citizen, etc.—and showing that we Christians live differently than other people around us. We spend time with our families and learn the Word of God together; we work diligently at our jobs; we do works of mercy for those in need; we love and pray for one another, both inside and outside the Church.

As one of my professors once said, witnessing to Jesus is as simple as: “Pray, and when you get a chance, say.” Pray for your neighbor who does not yet know Jesus Christ, and then when the time comes, speak of Him and what He has done for you and your neighbor. St. Peter said it well: “In your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

I’ve often used the illustration of a young lady wearing an engagement ring for the joy of mission work. No one needs to coax or cajole her to show off her new ring. She is just plain happy to do so every chance she can! In fact, you cannot stop her. :) Christians bearing witness to Christ are like that. In their Baptism they have been engaged to Jesus the Bridegroom, and now they joyfully spread the word and want others to join them in that joy. After all, the wedding feast on the Last Day will be a superb joy! Perhaps instead of focusing on coaxing and cajoling youths and adults to “Get out and do the mission work (or else!),” we need to focus on the joy of life from Christ, life with Christ, and life in Christ.

If our mission work is lackluster, it’s probably because we do not find our joy of life in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen. However, when we cling to our Savior and treasure the boundless depths of His forgiveness, grace, and life, then our joyous mission properly – and naturally – falls into place.

You Cannot Multiply Wealth by Dividing It

2010-08-21T22:29:00.000-05:00

Here's a quote given the comments of my previous post on Socialism. After reading and pondering it just a bit, I think it's worth more than just comment status and so I'm putting "up front" in its own post. Thanks to DRG for posting it.

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 - 2005

On Socialism...Because We ARE There!

2010-08-21T09:33:00.001-05:00

The bumper sticker a few blocks away in the neighborhood summed up Socialism quite well: "Socialism is a great idea...until you run out of other people's money!"

Fr. Hollywood has also summed it up quite well in his recent post, "'Socialist' isn't just an insult." Well said, Fr. Hollywood! The graphic also says it all.

Just remember, no matter how politicians and/or pundits try to spin us away from the dreaded "S" word, we are there. We have been growing toward Socialism for about a century, bit by bit, nudge by nudge. No, Socialism isn't just an insult; it's a downright scary reality!

And that's why American citizens need to learn their history and their Constitution, get more active in the course of their country than in who wins "American Idol," and effect a wholesale firing of the crowd now in Washington and put in place people who will take us back to our roots of less taxes, less government, and more freedom.

Homilies for Trinity 9, 10, & 11

2010-08-18T20:28:00.001-05:00

My apologies for not posting links to the audio files of my homilies for the past three Sundays! When I heard the first portion of the homily for Trinity 9, I was a bit taken aback by the very pronounced lisp that I had ... on the audio file, not in real life.

So I decided to wait before posting it until I could figure out why the lisp was not only present but also so pronounced. After a couple of weeks of experimenting, I believe I've figured out the culprit: the lower quality of recording. For the past year or so I've been using the "Good" setting in iTalk Lite to record as I preach. Why choose the lowest setting? In order to keep the audio files from being too large.

However, this past Sunday, for Trinity 11, I decided to bump up the quality (and hence the size of the file) with the "Better" setting, and that seems to avoid the lisp sound. So we'll see how it goes.

At any rate, here are links to the past three weeks of homilies--Trinity 9 & 10 still with the "Good" setting, but Trinity 11 with the "Better" setting. As usual just click on the link, download the audio file, and listen away.

Trinity 9 - "Faithful with Riches" - Text: Luke 16:1-13
Trinity 10 - "Cleansing for God's Nation" - Text: Luke 19:41-48
Trinity 11 - "A Tale of Two Pharisees" - Text: Luke 18:9-14

From a Former Drunken Sailor

2010-08-12T16:00:00.001-05:00

Give that former drunken sailor a drink!

Another Dave Fan ... and More Money Wisdom

2010-08-12T15:45:00.001-05:00

It's no secret - the RAsburry household has thoroughly enjoyed being completely debt-free for the past 8-9 months (that is, out of debt, no credit card payments, owe no one any money, not making credit card companies rich and making the family poor - How sweet it is!). And it's no secret - I highly recommend the get out of debt plan taught by Dave Ramsey and his "Financial Peace University." What a blessing these have been!

It looks like someone else has been rather taken by Dave and his approach to managing money and having financial peace. Check out "MoneyPlanSOS," both a website for services and a blog.

Perhaps you'll really appreciate this financial coach's wisdom on things we say that keep us broke.

Or perhaps you need to learn how to teach your children some "four-letter words" that can actually help them.

I happen to like this guy's little pearl of wisdom on still tithing while getting out of debt.

But I especially like the notion of eschewing the labels of lower, middle, and upper classes - along with the constrictions and/or expectations that normally go with such nebulous labeling. From now on, no matter how much money I have or don't have, I'll proudly throw my lot in with "The Other Class."

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce" (Prov. 3:9)

"One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." (Prov. 13:7)

And speaking of mature...

2010-08-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

...here is a quote from a recent hand-written note sent by one of my former parishioners. A few years ago she moved out to California and now attends a LCMS congregation out there. Evidently, and quite sadly, the liturgy is in short supply. Here's what my member said in her short note:

"Everytime [sic] I go to church I'm thankful that I grew up in a traditional church. Liturgy is sometimes not part of the service, sometimes only parts are used. Newcomers don't know what they're missing. When I die, make certain my funeral has liturgy -- THIS IS THE FEAST OF VICTORY [sic]."

Now that's some mature faith coming out there! And, yes, dear former member, you shall have the liturgy for your funeral, as I've already promised you when you return ... and I'm sure we can find a way to fit in "This is the Feast."

Mature over Hip ... any day!

2010-08-10T17:52:00.000-05:00

Amazing what an impression a mature, straight-talking, forgiveness-seeking, and grace-of-God-giving church leader can make. I'll take him any day over the "hip" kind of "preacher"(?) shown here by contrast!

HT: Extreme Theology

Homily for Trinity 8

2010-07-26T09:36:00.000-05:00

The theme given to us in the readings for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity focus on discerning false prophets. The Jeremiah 23 reading indicts those who proclaim their own dreams and visions and not the words of God, the Acts 20 reading testifies to St. Paul's faithful proclamation of God's word of grace, and in the Gospel reading from Matthew 7 our Lord Jesus Christ exhorts us to beware of false prophets. So under the theme "Beware of False Prophets" this homily addresses three questions: What does Jesus mean by false prophet? How can we tell a false prophet from a true one? And would we be able to know a false prophet if we heard one?

To listen to the audio file of this homily for Trinity 8, click on this link, download the audio file, and listen away.

Everyone's a winner at Pinochle

2010-07-23T23:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Pr. Weedon, for posting the pix of the pinochle winners. Notice who got the last word. (Okay, so it was technically a tie, but last word must count for something, right? ;-)

Ambrose on the Psalms

2010-07-23T12:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a great meditation from Ambrose on the Book of Psalms:

Though all Scripture is fragrant with God’s grace, the Book of Psalms has a special attractiveness.

Moses wrote the history of Israel’s ancestors in prose, but after leading the people through the Red Sea—a wonder that remained in their memory—he broke into a song of triumph in praise of God when he saw King Pharaoh drowned along with his forces. His genius soared to a higher level, to match an accomplishment beyond his own powers.

Miriam too raised her timbrel and sang encouragement for the rest of the women, saying: “Let us sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; He has cast horse and rider into the sea.”

In the Book of Psalms there is profit for all, with healing power for our salvation. There is instruction from history, teaching from the law, prediction from prophecy, chastisement from denunciation, persuasion from moral preaching. All who read it may find the cure for their own individual failings. All with eyes to see can discover in it a complete gymnasium for the soul, a stadium for all the virtues, equipped for every kind of exercise; it is for each to choose the kind each judges best to help gain the prize.

If you wish to read and imitate the deeds of the past, you will find the whole history of the Israelites in a single psalm: in one short reading you can amass a treasure for the memory. If you want to study the power of the law, which is summed up in the bond of charity (“Who loves their neighbor has fulfilled the law”), you may read in the psalms of the great love with which one person faced serious dangers singlehandedly in order to remove the shame of the whole people. You will find the glory of charity more than a match for the parade of power.

What am I to say of the grace of prophecy? We see that what others hinted at in riddles was promised openly and clearly to the psalmist alone: the Lord Jesus was to be born of David’s seed, according to the word of the Lord: “I will place upon your throne one who is the fruit of your flesh.”

In the psalms, then, not only is Jesus born for us, He also undergoes His saving passion in His body, He lies in death, He rises again, He ascends into heaven, He sits at the right hand of the Father. What no one would have dared to say was foretold by the psalmist alone, and afterward proclaimed by the Lord himself in the Gospel. (Explanation on Psalm 1, 4, 7-8; cited in J. Robert Wright, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church, 318-319)

Congress read the Bill? Sounds good to me!

2010-07-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Next move? How about repeal the recent bills - several in the neighborhood of 2000 pages! - that have been passed in the past couple of years? After all, many in D.C. have already admitted they never read the bills passed, and we keep finding out just what dangerous stuff was lurking in them all along.

Wish List for New LCMS Prez - Item #2

2010-07-22T10:24:00.001-05:00

The first item on my “wish list” for new LCMS President Matthew Harrison was to keep our focus on sinners (referring to himself and us) and their need for the forgiveness that only Jesus (not synodical bureaucracy, bylaws or resolutions, etc.) can give. Aside from this first item being most important and thus placed first in order and priority, subsequent items really have no priority other than when I happen to think of them and write them up.

I also tried to clarify and qualify the purpose of my “wish list.” No, I do not set Pres. Harrison’s agenda, and no, I really don’t expect my words to be seriously entertained as agenda items. These posts are merely “a view from the pew” from a simple parish pastor – in an office divinely instituted by Christ Himself – spoken to one who now occupies a high and lofty – yet humanly instituted – office. If he reads and hearkens, fine. But these “wish list” items are chiefly intended for consideration and conversation in this forum.

So, on to Item #2. If I could offer our new synodical president my “wish list” for how he can best serve our church body, I would say next: Mr. President, please do not give us missions brow beatings or evangelism guilt trips. Instead of haranguing us to perform some burdensome chore (as though not doing mission work will cause the world to implode and the LCMS to disappear from history's radar screen), inspire us and lead us in the joyous mission task of proclaiming our glorious and gracious Savior and His good gifts.

You see, Mr. President, haranguing us to "get out" and “fulfill” (Can that actually be accomplished this side of heaven?) the Great Commission is not what we need. Yes, our Lord has certainly summoned us, His Church, both clergy and laity, to “make disciples” (Mt. 28), “proclaim the Gospel” (Mk. 16), proclaim “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk. 24), and “forgive the sins of anyone” (Jn. 20). But constantly thumping us on the head and pulling us by the ear with mandates of “Get out and go, go, go!” or “Witness, witness, witness!” because, after all, so many people are going to hell with every passing moment or every snap of the finger? Well, let’s just say chicanery is not really necessary, nor is it becoming of Christ's holy people.

Missions brow-beatings in general remind me of a small though pesky thing from seminary days. The Daily Announcements used to include a brief feature called "Mission Minute." Those pesky little bulletin blurbs were well intended, I’m sure, in wanting to keep the Lord’s mission foremost in our hearts and minds. However, I also recall the typical guilt-trip tones and unwritten assumption that sent a clear, and perhaps unintended, message: "You just don’t care enough about missions! You don't quite yet have a 'heart for missions.'" I also recall (as clearly as 20 years down the timeline will allow) several seminary buddies and I pondering: "Hmm. What are we doing studying at the seminary and preparing to serve as pastors if not to carry out the Lord’s mission?"

Guilt-trips and harangues really don't further the Church's missionary task; rather, they produce, well, only burdensome guilt. I distinctly remember one dear man from a former parish who was so burdened about that unsaved person on the other side of the globe in India. "What should I do about him?" he would ask in Bible class. Aside from buying a plane ticket and going to track down that unspecified, unnamed person seared in his consciousness, perhaps pray for him and let the Lord take care of him? But the man in my former parish just could not unload the burden.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to be callous or indifferent toward those who do not trust Jesus Christ for their forgiveness, life, and salvation. Far from it! I most certainly want everyone possible to join in the life of Christ in the life of the Church and for life eternal. But is their potential damnation caused by my/our stumbling, even failing, mission efforts? Will the Lord of the Church hold me, for example, responsible for one or more of those folks who reject Christ and end up separated from His love and life for all eternity? What about those words from Deuteronomy 24:16: "Each one shall be put to death for his own sin"?

No, the mission of the Church cannot and dare not be inspired or motivated by snapping fingers or tabulating how many people have gone to hell since I started writing these words or you started reading them. We need some other motivator, some better, more Gospel-centered and Christ-focused inspiration.

We need love ... and joy.

Yes, love. Not fear of folks going to hell; not guilt for not doing enough to prevent them from entering hell; but love. Love for our neighbor who does not know Christ Jesus. The great love that flows from the Lord who loved us and died on a cross to rescue us from sin and death and eternal separation from Him. Mr. President, please lead and motivate us to reach out to our sin-infected, death-bound neighbors out of love for them, with the same love that Christ has already shown us.

And yes, we need joy in our mission work. Who cares how many souls we may or may not divert from perdition's flames, or how many souls we can tabulate for congregational or synodical rosters? That's not the point! The point is that we want our family, our friends, our neighbors, and even that homeless, unemployed man down the street to join us in the joy of sins forgiven now, the joy of life with God now, the joy of peace in Christ's presence now, as well as the joy of living together with them and with the Holy Trinity for all eternity.

We need to learn and treasure the mission work that our Lord has given us - indeed that He carries on in our midst - week in and week out. Yes, the mission work is being done when a person, young or old, is baptized at the font. Yes, the mission work is being done when sinners are hearing that their sins are forgiven, both corporately from the pulpit and individually in the sacrament of Absolution. Yes, the mission work is being done when Christ's people gather around His Table to feast on His life-giving Body and Blood. And, yes, the mission work is being done when Christians leave the Lord's house, return to their own homes and daily live holy lives and bear witness to the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus in their daily vocations. Mr. President, please keep reminding us that our Lord is actually carrying out His mission in these ways and through us earthen (cracked-pot?) vessels.

At the risk of sounding too simplistic, our mission work needs to look less like the business man meeting his quota of products sold and delivered. Instead, it needs to look more like the young lady who has just received an engagement ring. She doesn't need to be cajoled, harangued, or coerced to show it off and announce to any and all who will listen, "I'm getting married!" No, she does all of that quite naturally and even with a certain improptu and vivacious spirit. She does it out of sheer joy that the one she loves wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

Our mission work, Mr. President, needs to be like that--inspired and motivated by the sheer joy that the One who died and rose for us loves us sinners more than we can either deserve or fathom, and He wants to spend all of eternity - all of His life - with us. With such an engagement to our heavenly Bridegroom, we cannot but show off the jeweled "ring" of His Gospel goodness and mercy.

Thanks...

2010-07-22T09:10:00.000-05:00

...to Daughter RAsburry for showing me this clip. The dog sure sounds like he's barking "Batman!"

(Okay, so you may only get a real kick out of it if you remember the good ol' '60s cheesy TV version of Batman with it's theme: "Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, Batman!" But even if Batman's not you're thing, the dog's bark is still funny to hear!)

Wish List for New LCMS Prez - Item #1

2010-07-19T18:02:00.001-05:00

Now that the 64th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod is concluded and entering the history books, official and otherwise, the dust is beginning to settle. And a great amount of dust there is to settle and to sift through: massive restructuring of the synodical bureaucracy (the effects of which we cannot even begin to fathom at this point), a new LCMS president (a faithful pastor and theologian whose responsibilities and burden of office have just increased exponentially), and by all accounts many other good and faithful officers and servants to help guide and steer the ship of the LCMS.

With the advent of a new LCMS president on the horizon the mood of many in the synod may very well be summed up as: "What next?" Perhaps we can even say that the mood leans toward: "What will President Harrison do to restore, guide, heal, etc. the Missouri Synod?" So with such thoughts in mind, allow me to be so bold as to make and publish my own personal "Wish List" for our new POTS (President of the Synod).

Before I get to Item #1 on my wish list for Pres. Harrison, though, please also accept a few points by way of disclaimer and qualification. In no way do I claim to set any kind of agenda for Rev. Harrison as he takes the reigns of a church body that desperately needs to be brought back on line with its own stated confession of doctrine and practice. I fully acknowledge that Pres. Harrison, by God's forgiving grace in Christ Jesus and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, can figure out his own agenda for leading the synod.

In no way do I expect Pres. Harrison to read, consider, or ponder my wish list items, let alone acknowledge them in any way. After all, I'm sure that he has plenty to do just to transition into his new position, plenty to do once he's in that office, and will have many capable assistants and advisers who are much more apt at advising than I.

However, what I do want to offer here is simply a "view from the pew," as it were, some wishes from the vantage point of a simple parish pastor. Someone has called it the "highest office" in the Church, de iure divino (by divine right) for those of you know and like the Latin. Perhaps this "view from the pew" from a parish pastor might provide some benefit for one who has just been thrust into a high and lofty position, that is de iure humano (by human right) for those of you who want even more Latin. Or maybe it will just spark some thoughtful consideration and conversation in this forum (which is my real intent).

Now, disclaimers and qualifications aside, here is my Item #1 on my "Wish List" for Pres. Matthew Harrison.

Pres. Harrison, you said some pretty amazing things in your address to the LCMS Convention just moments after being elected. Most crucial and most refreshing were your words about sinners and forgiveness:

I wish to inform you that you have kept your perfect record of electing sinners as presidents of the Missouri Synod. I guarantee you I will sin and fail. I will fall short. I will sin against you. I wish also to say, that right now I forgive all who have in any way have [sic] sinned against me or anybody else, and plead your forgiveness for anything that I said or did that offended you. I beg of you your prayers, I beg of you your daily prayers and intercession (http://steadfastlutherans.org/?p=11559).

The number one item on my "Wish List" for you, Mr. President, is that you keep this focus on sin and forgiveness, both for yourself and for us. I know it's easy to say so now, at the beginning of a new chapter, and, no doubt, an overwhelming one, in your life and the life of the LCMS. But I also know that the passage of time, the daily routines and the usual, laborious grind of churchly business, returning phone calls, attending meetings, and dealing with many and various crises can tend to overwhelm and take precedence.

Mr. President, please don't let the land of synodical bureaucracy - a.k.a. "synodocracy" - zap your sense of being a sinner who needs forgiveness from Jesus Christ. Please do not let strong winds of bylaw bureaucracy and convention-resolution-mania or the earthquakes of massive restructuring or the fires of urgent issues and crises muffle the sound of the Lord's low whisper of sins forgiven by the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, we need to hear that focus on sin and forgiveness, both for yourself and for us. We need to hear it because it is the Lord's very breath of life, both for you and for us. Bylaws and convention resolutions come and go, and ne'er a one gives life with our gracious and loving God. But the message of God's forgiveness in Christ? That makes all the difference in the world--all the difference between life and death, between heaven and hell, between the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and a church body merely seeking to make a name for itself.

Keep reminding us, most genuinely and most humbly, that you are a sinner. We need to hear that! No, not to denigrate you or your office, but for other reasons. First, we need to be reminded that you are not our savior nor the savior of the LCMS. Many of us--myself included--trust that your pastoral heart and your theological mind will certainly bear wonderful fruits for confessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spreading that Evangel and living the compassion of Christ, but we also need to be reminded that you are merely a sinner, as are we, and simply serving at the behest and pleasure of our merciful Lord Jesus Christ, the real Savior of the Church.

Second, we need to hear that you are a sinner in order that we may follow your example. Yes, we need to learn to admit that we are sinners too. Please lead us by example. As a parish pastor, I need to admit my own sinfulness and failures. Not only do I need to do so more and more, but I also need to do so more publicly before my parishioners, just as you have admirably shown before the convention. Thank you!

Most of all, keep reminding us, most genuinely and most boldly, that we are all forgiven by the blood of Christ. We desperately need to hear that! Keep reminding us that without Christ Jesus, without His sacrifice on the cross, without His ongoing presence and His gifts given in the Gospel, in Baptism, and in the Holy Supper, we have nothing. Please keep reminding us of our forgiveness in Christ in order that His life-giving Word may bear fruit in our lives, especially the fruits of trusting Him for all things, of caring for one another, and of getting that message of forgiveness out into the world. Keep reminding us of the eternal Evangel, and then we will trust that the task of evangelism will, by the Spirit's guidance, fall into place.

Please, Mr. President, keep our focus and yours on sinners who need the forgiveness that only Jesus Christ can give. And since you have requested our prayers and intercessions, please know that you have them from me, a simple parish pastor.

Harrison Election in the News

2010-07-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

Stltoday.com, the online version of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ran these stories on Rev. Matthew Harrison's election to serve as president of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod:

Harrison beats Kieschnick for Lutheran presidency

Conservatives' pick wins Lutheran denomination's presidency

New President, Old Message

2010-07-13T15:50:00.000-05:00

This afternoon the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod in convention elected the Rev. Matthew Harrison to serve as its next and 13th president. Very interesting in light of the power-centralizing measures that the convention has also approved in the past couple of days.

I thank our gracious God for His servant Rev. Harrison - yes, for his recent election as LCMS President, but even more so for his faithful service as a sinner relying solely on God's forgiveness in Christ Jesus. It's truly the age-old message on which the Church lives, survives and thrives. Rev. Harrison's remarks right after being elected said it all.

First, he cited St. Paul's words from 1 Corinthians 12:26: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." What a fabulous verse to acknowledge the reality of an election such as this! Yes, those whose candidate did not get elected are suffering, and we suffer with them. And those whose candidate did get elected are rejoicing, but let's do so in the same humility with which Rev. Harrison approaches his new responsibility.

Then Rev. Harrison commented on his need for forgiveness, asked for forgiveness from the assembly for any and all against whom he had sinned, and offered his forgiveness to any who had sinned against him. Now that's a great way to begin a presidency: focusing on the forgiveness that comes from Christ Jesus and that we are called upon to bestow on and share with one another. That's the age-old message that heals and binds us together as the Body of Christ.

I truly treasure the humorous comment Rev. Harrison made regarding the LCMS convention and himself. To paraphrase, he commended the convention for keeping its perfect record of electing a sinner to serve as president of the LCMS. Nothing new is needed! The age-old message of sinners in need of Christ's forgiveness - especially sinners who are put in positions of leadership - and sinners truly receiving that cross-won forgiveness is the healing balm that we all need, both inside and outside the LCMS.

So I will continue to pray for God's mercy to be showered upon Rev. Harrison and the LCMS, especially as he takes on this new mantle and our church body learns to follow his lead. I also commend to Rev. Harrison and to all who serve in the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod these words from St. Paul:

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found [faithful]" (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

Homily for Trinity 6

2010-07-11T17:05:00.001-05:00

In years past when I've preached on today's Gospel reading, Matthew 5:17-26, I've focused on the "big picture" of our righteousness needing to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Today, however, I chose to focus in on vv. 23-24, especially where our Lord says, "First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." With that theme - "First Be Reconciled!" - today's homily focused on reconciling with one another because our Lord has already reconciled us to His Father.

To listen to this homily, click on this link and then download the audio file. The Lord bless you and keep you!

(The statue shown here is by Josefina de Vasconcellos who made it at the age of 90. It was donated to the Coventry Cathedral on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II [1995].)

And speaking of Vocation...

2010-07-06T13:09:00.000-05:00

...here's a great quote from Dorothy Sayers, compliments of the Doxology website (www.doxology.us), on just what makes a "good work."

The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and is orderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.

Church by all means, and decent forms of amusement, certainly—but what use is all that if in the very center of his life and occupation he is insulting God with bad carpentry? No crooked table legs or ill-fitting drawers ever, I dare swear, came out of the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth. Nor, if they did, could anyone believe that they were made by the same hand that made Heaven and earth. No piety in the worker will compensate for work that is not true to itself; for any work that is untrue to its own technique is a living lie.

Yet in her own buildings, in Her own ecclesiastical art and music, in her hymns and prayers, in Her sermons and in Her little books of devotion, the Church will tolerate, or permit a pious intention to excuse work so ugly, so pretentious, so tawdry and twaddling, so insincere and insipid, so bad as to shock and horrify any decent draftsman.

And why? Simply because She has lost all sense of the fact that the living and eternal truth is expressed in work only so far as that work is true in itself, to itself, to the standards of its own technique. She has forgotten that the secular vocation is sacred. Forgotten that a building must be good architecture before it can be a good church; that a painting must be well painted before it can be a good sacred picture; that work must be good work before it can call itself God’s work.

Let the Church remember this: that every maker and worker is called to serve God in his profession or trade—not outside it. The Apostles complained rightly when they said it was not meet they should leave the word of God and serve tables; their vocation was to preach the word. But the person whose vocation it is to prepare the meals beautifully might with equal justice protest: It is not meet for us to leave the service of our tables to preach the word.

The official Church wastes time and energy, and, moreover, commits sacrilege, in demanding that secular workers should neglect their proper vocation in order to do Christian work—by which She means ecclesiastical work. The only Christian work is good work well done. Let the Church see to it that workers are Christian people and do their work well, as to God: then all the work will be Christian work, whether it is church embroidery, or sewage farming.

…If work is to find its right place in the world, it is the duty of the Church to see to it that the work serves God, and that the worker serves the work. (Dorothy Sayers, "Why Work?" Creed or Chaos? [Harcourt, Brace: 1949/1974 ed. Sophia Institute Press], pp. 77-78)

Homily for Trinity 5

2010-07-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

What's a preacher to do when a major societal holiday, such as the 4th of July, or Independence Day (U.S.), falls on a Sunday, the Lord's Day? It's always a conundrum because our people in the pews are most certainly thinking about and participating in the societal holiday, and fittingly so, and yet the conscientious preacher needs to focus on what God says and let the Church's sense of time remain paramount.

Such was the case this past Sunday. The Gospel reading for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 5:1-11, gave us Jesus teaching from the boat and giving Peter and company a great catch of fish. It gave us Peter confessing his sinful state and Jesus absolving him with the words, "Do not be afraid." It also gave us Jesus calling Peter to his new vocation of "catching men alive," that is, proclaiming the Gospel and thus rescuing people from the "sea" of their sin and death by bringing them into the boat of the Church.

And yet Independence Day was also predominantly on the minds of the hearers!

What's a preacher to do? Stay faithful to the text (I hope) and yet give recognition that it is a big day in the life of our people (and, yes, in the life of the preacher as well).

So for Sunday's homily I tried to maintain this balance: preach the text and apply it to the context in which my hearer's found themselves. It was also a great opportunity to touch on the Christian understanding of "vocation," especially as citizens in our nation. Since "freedom" and "independence" were obviously on the minds of my hearers, I used the title "Real Freedom Where God Has Called You" to proclaim the freedom of Jesus' Absolution and how that freedom leads us into our vocation as citizens.

To listen to the audio file of Sunday's homily, click this link, download the audio file, and listen away.

Helpful Quote on Preaching?

2010-06-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

The following quote comes from Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) in his Yale Lectures on Preaching of 1872. It was today's Reading IV in For All the Saints, vol. IV, p. 173. Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know what you, the readers of this blog--especially the clergy though also welcoming responses and insights from lay readers--think about the content of this quote:

There are, also, some specialties in this true Christian love and sympathy that bear upon the pulpit. In the first place, the whole cast of your thought and the subjects with which you deal are to bear the impress of this good news,--that God is Love, and that God so loved the world, that, having died for it, he now sits at the right hand of God, a risen Saviour, to live for it.

If you preach justice alone, you will murder the gospel. If you preach conscientiously, as it is called; if you sympathize with law and with righteousness as interpreted by the narrow rule of a straight line; if you preach, especially, with a sense of vindictive retribution,--I do not care who the criminals are,--you will fail of your whole duty. There must be justice, and punitive justice, of course; but, after all, "Vengeance is mine," saith the Lord. It is a quality so dangerous to handle that only Infinite Love is safe in administering it. No mortal man should dare to touch it, for it is a terrible instrument. You are to administer all the great truths, the most rugged truths, in the spirit of the truest sympathy, benevolence, and love.

So, what say you? Is the content of this quote helpful for the preaching task or not? If so, how so? If not, why not? How does it help, or not, the preacher diagnose our sin and then give us the healing medicine of Jesus the Physician of the soul? Pros? Cons? What's helpful? What's not?

Now it's your turn. Comments, questions, or "smart remarks"?

Homily for Trinity 4

2010-06-29T09:31:00.000-05:00

My homily for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity this year focused on Jesus' familiar image of a speck in your brother's eye and a log (plank) in your eye. With the title "Seeing Specks and Pondering Planks" I tried to focus on the differences between the verbs that Jesus uses in Luke 6:41. "Seeing" the specks of sins in our neighbor's eye is almost matter of fact. However, Jesus summons us to "intensely ponder" the large plank of our own sins. How does God's mercy in Christ Jesus rescue us from focusing too much on our neighbor's sins? Listen and find out.

To listen to this past Sunday's homily, click this link, download the audio file, and listen. May our Lord bless you as you hear His word of mercy and life.

Moving toward Glad Giving

2010-06-22T17:13:00.000-05:00

This article is a follow-up to my previous article on tithing. After some feedback on that article, first published in the April edition of my congregation's newsletter, I decided to step back and try to give a more "Gospel-way" of moving toward the salutary practice of tithing. Yes, tithing can seem like a burdensome law, but it need not. Rather, we can view and approach it as a God-given goal for living the Christian life, trusting God to provide for us and loving our neighbor in need. This article first appeared in the June-July 2010 issue of "The Hope Lutheran."

Back in April I used this column to introduce and teach the topic of tithing—giving 10% of your income to your congregation. God clearly teaches tithing in the Bible, both by example and by challenge. Yes, God actually challenges His people to tithe and see how He will bless! See Malachi 3:8-10. April’s article also ended with this interesting and, I think, inspiring quote from Lutheran pastor John H. C. Fritz: “If the Christians of our day would give ten per cent. of their income,…the treasuries of the churches would always be filled to overflowing, and there would no longer be the proverbial church deficit.” (Pastoral Theology, 259-260)

Now I can almost hear the voice in your head wanting to cry out: “Pastor, that’s all well and good. But we have light and phone bills to pay. We have to buy clothes for the kids and put food on the table. We have to pay the credit card bills, the doctor bills, and the mortgage or rent. We can barely get by and make ends meet as it is! How can we possibly tithe, or give 10 percent of our income?”

Bear with me. April’s article is not the only piece of the puzzle. It certainly was not meant to be a club to make you feel guilty. Not at all! Let’s look at God’s teaching on tithing as the destination (goal) where God wants us to live our life. Yes, God teaches it. Yes, He wants us to learn to give. And, yes, as His redeemed people, we do want to live life as He teaches and grow in His ways. After all, we do trust that our heavenly Father knows what’s best for us.

But we also have to deal with our real life challenges, where we find ourselves right now—budgets stretched as tight as a drum, perhaps debt up to our eyeballs, maybe learning to live with lower family incomes, etc. Real life is where we are now.

So let’s ask ourselves: How can we go from point A to point B? How can we move from where we are now to the destination God has for us in managing our finances? How can we move from our stress-filled financial pictures to the joyous and peaceful goal of living and giving as God teaches? How can we move from money worries to glad giving?

A Matter of Grace
The first thing to remember about the Biblical teaching on tithing is that it is a matter of grace. Yes, God teaches it in the Bible. Yes, I devoted my April article to it. But it’s not intended as a club, or a law, or a guilt trip – in any way.

If you cannot possibly give 10% of your income in the church offering at this time, God is not mad at you, and neither am I. Your salvation does not depend on whether you tithe or not. You are not a better Christian if you do tithe, nor are you a worse Christian if you don’t.

Your heavenly Father loves you, saves you and provides for you completely by His grace and mercy as revealed in His Son Jesus Christ. He does not teach you to tithe in order to burden you. Not at all! Remember St. Paul’s words: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Now that’s grace.

Also take a look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34. There our Lord Jesus exhorts you not to be anxious – not to worry – about your physical needs. God knows that you need food, drink, clothing, shoes and other bodily and daily needs. And God graciously provides for them purely out of His grace and goodness—because He already loves you.

So let’s always remember that tithing is a matter of God’s grace and learning to live in that grace He gives through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

A Matter of Growth

Since tithing is one goal that God gives us, it also makes sense that God wants us to grow into that way of life, that is, move in that direction. It’s part of what St. Peter says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Back in April I mentioned that God is the greatest Giver. He has created us and redeemed us to grow in His image, that is, grow into being better and better givers. This, of course, applies to all areas of life, including when we manage His gift of money.

So the question for each of us becomes: “How can I grow into tithing? How can I move toward being a glad giver?”

One practical step is to work at getting out of debt. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Debt is just plain dumb! I know, that’s not how our government acts or what our society says these days. Radio ads routinely advertise taking out another loan (more debt) in order to get out of debt. Sorry, but you cannot dig your way out of a hole!

The Bible actually does teach us about the folly of being in debt. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Also look up Proverbs 6:1-5. Think about it this way. When you are in debt – any debt, no matter how big or how small – the money you must use to pay the credit card bill or the student loan bill, well, it does not belong to you. It belongs to the creditor. And since that money belongs to the creditor, you really do become “slave of the lender” until you completely pay off those debts! (Think fees and interest rates!)

Then consider this: what better things could you do with that money if you had the say so over where it goes? How would it make you feel to use your money for purposes other than paying creditors? Instead of playing endless “catch up” with VISA, MasterCard, or Sallie Mae, you could actually use the money God gives you for more productive purposes, such as saving for a rainy day, preparing for college for your children, or even giving to help those in need. Yes, when you get out of debt – when you have the real say in how to manage the money God gives you – then you can give more freely and more gladly.

A second practical step in moving toward being a glad giver is to plan and work at increasing the percentage that you give. (And if you are used to giving a certain dollar amount, then simply figure what percentage that amount is. Take that amount, either by month or by pay period, and divide by the amount of income per month or pay period. Presto, you have your percentage. :))

Let’s illustrate. Let’s say right now you can only give 5% of your income in the offering. Thank the Lord for that! That’s a good gift and accomplishment. As you more carefully plan how to use the money God gives you, and as you pay off those unnecessary debts (everything except the house payment), then challenge yourself by raising that percentage figure. Perhaps in a couple of months you can increase it to 6% or 7%. Maybe by in a year you can bump it up to 8% or so. As you keep taking the steps to manage your money (instead of letting it dictate to you!), you can plan to increase your percentage for giving, and you will rejoice in being able to do it.

Giving with Gladness
So, tithing is a matter of God’s grace—we are saved by His grace and we grow into being better givers by that same grace. It’s also good to remember that everything we have in life, including money, really belongs to God, not to us. Check out Psalm 24:1. As someone once said, “It’s very easy to give away someone else’s money.” That’s how we can learn to give with gladness: we realize that the money does not belong to us in the first place; we are simply “asset managers” for God.

In 2 Corinthians 9 St. Paul gives good instruction and sage advice on how to live as Christians who are also glad givers. In verse 6 he says, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Gladly giving has great benefits. Since God has freely given everything to us, especially forgiveness of sins and eternal life, we can also “sow bountifully,” that is gladly give – in all areas of life.

St. Paul continues: “Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (v. 7). No, God does not want grumpy givers, people who give only because they have to or because they think somebody else is forcing them to give. Remember God’s grace! Instead, God “loves a cheerful giver.” The Greek word translated “cheerful” is the word from which we get “hilarious.” So, “God loves an hilarious giver” – a giver who laughs when he/she gives, a giver who finds great joy in giving to help other people. (Hmm. Can you imagine everyone joyfully laughing as they put their offering in the basket? :))

Finally, St. Paul gives a glorious promise. It’s a promise intended to comfort and inspire us as we spend our whole lives learning to trust our Lord and move toward glad giving: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work…. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” (vv. 8-11)

Homily for Trinity 3

2010-06-21T16:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's homily for the Third Sunday after Trinity probed the question of just how willing we are to be "lost," that is, to live life in repentance, confessing our sins, and being found by our merciful Lord, and Shepherd, Jesus. Based on Luke 15:1-10 this homily is titled, "Willing to be Lost."

To listen to this homily, just click this link and download the audio file.

Funeral Homily: "Resting with Good Shepherd Jesus"

2010-06-21T15:57:00.000-05:00

Last Friday presented me with a first in my time in the Pastoral Office and a very unique avenue for pastoral care: a "double funeral." I've done multiple baptisms before. I've heard of, though not personally seen or officiated at, "double weddings." But a "double funeral"? It has to be one for a history book somewhere.

Robert and Geraldine Pinkney were long-time members at Hope. They both had been battling various health problems for many years. They moved to Laclede Groves a year or so ago. They both have been in and out of the hospital quite frequently in recent years. On Friday June 11 I had the privilege of praying with both of them together, and then the Lord took Robert home to be with Him early on Saturday June 12. Funeral plans proceeded as normal.

But then the unexpected happened: Geraldine, Bob's wife, went home to be with the Lord early on Wednesday June 16. Wow! I've heard of and witnessed one spouse "following" his/her beloved into eternity within a few months. But just four days later?! What an incredible situation and what an opportunity to care for the flock of God in this place.

Since the family was in from out of town, and since funeral plans had already been made, we simply included "Gerry" beside her life's companion, Bob. Hence my first (and historic?) "double funeral." We rejoice that our resurrected Lord has taken Robert and Geraldine home to be with Him, and we especially thank Him for His answer to the many, many prayers for healing that have gone up to Him for many years. Robert and Geraldine now have the full and complete healing that only the Good Shepherd, Christ Jesus, our resurrected Lord can give.

A "double funeral" also opens up some pretty great ways to proclaim the Gospel for the comfort of family and friends. As Bob and Gerry lay on either side of the Baptism font in the Laclede Chapel, not only did we get to hear about being baptized into Christ's death and resurrection, but we also got to think of a wedding, especially the wedding of Christ the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church. Even as they lay in their caskets in the chapel, Bob and Gerry provided a picture of the eternal communion of Christ and His Bride! What great comfort!

Here's the homily that I delivered at Laclede Groves Chapel last Friday, June 18. Click on this link, download the audio file, and listen.

Disturbing Video!

2010-06-14T10:26:00.001-05:00

Here's a disturbing video of a congressman, an elected official who is supposed to serve the people, assaulting a college student as the student evidently was trying to get his attention to interview him. No doubt there are more details than the video shows, but the image of a congressman bullying a citizen is very disturbing!

Yes, our country and our leaders desperately need our prayers:
For the government and all who have been set into positions of leadership, that they may use the authority entrusted to them honorably and for the good of the people, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Amazing and Inspiring

2010-06-13T16:58:00.000-05:00

Check out this video at thegolfchannel.com of Butch Lumpkin, a man with no arms who can play golf and tennis ... and probably whip most who play in those sports. Pretty much puts things in perspective when we think we're having a "bad day" for whatever reason.

(Sadly, no embed code is given at thegolfchannel.com)

Homily for Trinity 2

2010-06-13T16:48:00.000-05:00

Today's homily for the Second Sunday after Trinity came from Luke 14:15-24 and is titled "Where IS Everyone?" How truly amazing that our Lord nails it regarding the excuses people make for missing out on the great banquet of His Gospel and Sacraments. It's also amazing how this reading is so well suited for this time of year, when so many of those invited to the Eucharistic banquet make so many excuses for why they just cannot attend (sports events aplenty, weekends away at the lake, sleeping in after traveling, etc.).

To listen to the audio file of today's homily, just click here and download the file.

PrayNow

2010-06-10T11:57:00.000-05:00

So, you want to take Treasury of Daily Prayer with you in your pocket? There's an app for that!
You want the Psalms, Scripture readings, and orders of prayer at your finger tips on your iPhone (or iPod or iPad) at all times? There's an app for that!

Concordia Publishing House has put out a great app called "PrayNow." Just call it the wealth of Treasury of Daily Prayer meets the ease and usability of iPhone. For a mere $8.99 you can have a great resource for your prayer life with you at all times. Check it out here.

TITHING: God’s Way of Managing Church Budgets

2010-06-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

Here's an article that first appeared in the April edition of my congregation's newsletter, The Hope Lutheran. I hope it will be beneficial, instructive, and edifying for others as well.

People like to dream of possibilities. Here are two questions to help us dream of possibilities when it comes to our congregational work and finances:

What could we at Hope do to proclaim the Gospel, do works of mercy, and teach our children if we had no budget deficit?
What could we at Hope do to proclaim the Gospel, do works of mercy, and teach our children if we actually had a budget surplus?

“But, Pastor, how on earth could that be possible?” you ask. I’m glad you asked. :)

Believe it or not, we don’t have to wring our hands over the church’s finances. We don’t have to fret that our offerings won’t be sufficient to pay for church staff salaries or the heating and light bills or needed maintenance and repairs on the building. We don’t have to live in continual anxiety that tuition income won’t be able to cover teachers’ salaries and benefits or buy textbooks. There is a simple and Biblical solution to our so-called money problems. But it does involve some sanctified sacrifice.

That solution is called tithing. What is tithing? Where does it come from in the Bible? How can we possibly do it?

Defining Terms
Before we can understand what the Bible teaches on tithing, we need to define some terms. Tithing is not just any old offering or pledge of giving money in the offering. Here are the key terms:

Tithe = a tenth (10% or 1/10) of one’s income, off the top (“first fruits”).
Offering = a gift of any other amount, a gift above and beyond the tithe.
Pledge = a promise to give a certain amount to a certain cause or purpose.

Based on these definitions, “tithing” is the practice of giving 10% (or 1/10) of one’s income—for Christians, usually to their local congregation.

Biblical Examples of Tithing
The Bible teaches tithing more as an example than a command. Yes, God did command His Old Testament people to tithe, but we do not see the same kind of command in the New Testament. In fact, as Christians we can view tithing not only as an example, but also as a minimum for God’s New Testament people.

We find the first Scriptural example of tithing with the patriarch Abram (later named Abraham) in Genesis 14. After Abram conquered some kings and rescued his nephew Lot, he “gave [Melchizedek, priest of God Most High,] a tenth of everything.” What was that “everything”? All of the spoils, or income, from his battle against the kings.

We next see tithing when God commands His redeemed people—rescued from slavery in Egypt—to tithe from their crops in the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 14:22 says, “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.” The seed of their field was their increase, or income.

In Deuteronomy we discover more details attached to tithing. In chapter 26:2 God instructs His people: “take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.” God instructed His people 1) to give their offerings off the top (“first of all the fruit”), that is, before doing anything else with their income, and 2) to bring them to the place where God dwelt, that is, His house.

Later in Deuteronomy 26 the story of God rescuing His people from Egypt is recounted (verses 5-11), and then God gives more instruction:

When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be fulfilled, then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me.’ (Deut. 26:12-13)

Notice three things about the tithe. First, it is called “the sacred portion.” That means it is set apart and devoted to God and His purposes. Second, God wants the tithe to be used to support two kinds of people: workers in His house (“the Levites”) and people in need (“the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow”). Third, the tithe is given so that these people “may eat within your towns.” That is, the tithes that come into the Lord’s house provide for the physical needs of those called into His service and those who have specific physical needs.

Malachi 3:8-10 rounds out our look at Biblical tithing. In this passage God catches His people in the sin of their stinginess, and then He challenges them to trust Him for His blessings:

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Mal. 3:8-10)

According to this passage, people were robbing God by not tithing! Perhaps they were giving “a little something,” or perhaps they only gave what was left after all other expenses were paid, or perhaps many just weren’t giving at all. Whatever happened, they were robbing God … and God confronted them.

But God also gives a pretty bold dare. He says, “Put me to the test…if I will not pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” God promises to bless those who tithe. It may not necessarily be a monetary blessing; it could be the blessing of giving to help the needy, or the joy of helping a fellow Christian and becoming better friends with him or her, or the blessing of not having “more need” (Can you say, “No more money crunch”?)

Basically, then, for Christians tithing means giving 10% (1/10) of one’s income off the top (also intentional, planned) to the local church (God’s house; storehouse).

How Can We Do That?

God does not teach us to tithe in order that we make Him love us. He already loves us! (See Eph. 2:8-9) We don’t tithe because God somehow needs it. He already owns it all! (See Ps. 24:1) No, we tithe – and give in general – because God has already given to us. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9)

The reason God teaches us to tithe is so that we may become more and more like Him, that is, so that by His grace we may become givers. God Himself is the supreme Giver. (See John 3:16 & James 1:17) God has made us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), and He has also re-created us in His likeness (Ephesians 4:24). That means that God makes us GIVERS, people who, like our heavenly Father, give and give and give, and thus help other people.

More specifically and practically, how do we tithe? It’s quite simple. Whether you are married or single, write down the amount of income you take in each month or each pay period. Figure out 10% (one tenth) of that amount. Then make out the first check for that budget period for that 10% figure and give it in the offering. It’s that simple! It comes off the top (“first fruits”) and it’s intentional as you set apart and give that amount to provide for the needs of others, namely, God’s workers, God’s house, and those in need.

Here’s some good “food for thought” for how tithing can help us manage the church’s finances:

It is self-evident that the Church needs money, this convenient means of exchange, to carry on its work. The financial needs of the Church do not exceed the financial possibilities of its members; the Lord does not expect that Christians give more than they are able to give. If the Christians of our day would give ten per cent. of their income, as the Jews did in the Old Testament (in the New Testament this is not obligatory), or if the Christians of our day would support the Church to the extent of their power and even beyond their power, as did the poor Macedonian Christians, 2 Cor. 8, 3, the treasuries of the churches would always be filled to overflowing, and there would no longer be the proverbial church deficit. (John H. C. Fritz, Pastoral Theology, 259-260, emphasis added)

Homily for Trinity 1

2010-06-06T16:20:00.000-05:00

Jesus' story of the Rich Man and Lazarus seems to hold in tension the primacy of faith in God and the necessity of love for neighbor. This homily aims to bring out this tension with the title "The Intersection of Faith and Love."

To listen to the audio file of today's homily for the First Sunday after Trinity, just click this link, download the audio file, and let your ears do their thing.

Homily for the Feast of Pentecost

2010-05-25T22:28:00.000-05:00

For this past Sunday's homily, as we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost, I used the theme of the Collect of the Day though without directly citing it. Based on the petition, "Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy consolation," I wanted to highlight the Pentecost theme of "The Spirit's Comfort" as it comes through in the Gospel reading of John 14:23-31.

Click on this link to download the audio file and listen Sunday's homily for the Feast of Pentecost.

Homily for the Ascension of Our Lord

2010-05-14T14:44:00.000-05:00

Last evening we celebrated the Ascension of Our Lord. Inspired by Luther's House Postil on the Ascension (1532, if I recall correctly), it was a delight to proclaim our Lord's coronation in light of Ephesians 4:8-10 under the theme "No Longer Captive."

To listen to the audio file, click this link, download the file, and listen away.

Help keep the Internet free!

2010-05-12T04:58:00.000-05:00

It appears that the FCC - a panel of only three people! - wants to reclassify the Internet as a "public utility." Why does this matter? Because reclassifying the Internet as a public utility would enable onerous regulation, control, and taxation of Internet activity.

Here's an ad designed to alert people to this looming government takeover of the Internet and enlist their help in calling on Congress to stop the power-hungry FCC. Please help spread the word!

For more information and to sign a petition to keep the Internet free of government regulation and taxation, go to No Internet Takeover.

How Cool!

2010-05-10T10:47:00.000-05:00

Now this looks fabulous, especially if, like me, you've dreamed of flying by means of a jet pack since you were a kid. I wonder, what would shut-ins think if they saw the pastor fly in and land the thing in their front yard?

HT: Fr. Hollywood.

My, how things have changed!

2010-05-07T19:37:00.004-05:00

Get a load of this flash back, courtesy of Kim Komando, in the advertising of things digital. What will they say about our day (2010) in, say, 20-30 years?

Homily for Easter 5-Cantate

2010-05-02T12:33:00.001-05:00

Today's homily picked up on the name of the day, Cantate (Latin for "Sing!"), and proclaimed Christ crucified and risen under the title "Singing the Savior's Sermon."

Click on this link to download and listen to the audio file. The Lord bless you and keep you!

The Pocket Knife Wedding

2010-05-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

The following event actually happened when I served Immanuel Lutheran Church in Boonville, MO (1994-1998), though I don’t remember the precise date. This is a story that I've told many times over the years as "oral legend," even promising to include it in "my memoirs" someday.

Now I learn via email that the bride and groom have submitted video of this event to America’s Funniest Videos, and they want me to sign a release form for the show to air the video. On top of that, I also recently received an email from one Tim Pearson, a writer with Midwest Magazine, soliciting wedding stories from a clergyman’s perspective, evidently for a book that he is researching and writing.

So with all of this in mind, I finally move my story of "The Pocket Knife Wedding" from oral legend to story in print for possible publication … and eventually "my memoirs."

THE POCKET KNIFE WEDDING

Friday Evening: We had just finished the rehearsal for John and Phyllis' wedding. We sat in the church basement enjoying the rehearsal dinner put on by the family. After the dinner, the bride's brother-in-law came over to tease her about possible pranks to be played on the wedding day. One of the pranks he mentioned involved the rings and the pillow on which they would be tied. Phyllis gave a stern warning: "You will not touch those rings!"

Saturday Afternoon: The wedding was going without a hitch and according to plan. The procession, the exhortation on marriage, the Scripture readings, the sermon and the hymn all proceeded without incident. Then we finished the all-important wedding vows and moved on to the ring ceremony. As we had rehearsed the evening before, the ring bearer tried to untie the simple bow on the pillow in order to give the rings to me. He could not loosen the knot. After he gave a couple of firmer tugs in vain, I reached over and tried to untie the knot myself. No luck. I tried with a bit more force. Still no luck. I could sense the wedding party getting a bit restless. I took the pillow from the young lad, held it in my left hand, clamped my officiant’s book between my left elbow and my side, and with my right hand tried to untie the knot again. Nothing. The congregation was beginning to stir. I set the book on the Communion rail and the pillow on top of the book, hoping to get a better grasp on the ribbon and better leverage on the pillow for pulling. I gave it good yank, but the knot would not budge.

At that moment John’s aunt, who was sitting in the front pew, shouted loudly enough for all to hear: "YA NEED A POCKET KNIFE?" Everyone burst into laughter. John and Phyllis both turned red with embarrassment. John did an about face, descended the three steps to the nave floor, and went to receive the pocket knife from his aunt. Many in the congregation were still chuckling, some much more loudly than others. John came back up into the chancel and returned to his place beside his bride. He extended his hand to give me the pocket knife.

As soon as I took the knife, we heard a funny sound and John had a surprised look on his face. The front clasps on his suspenders had come loose. The suspenders sprang up while his slacks suddenly fell down! This time the congregation erupted with raucous laughter as they saw John’s slacks drop beneath his tuxedo coat! He quickly caught them before they dropped much farther. He hiked them up and scrambled to prevent his tuxedo coat from getting caught in the back of his pants.

As the congregation continued to laugh, I used the pocket knife to slice through the white ribbon on the ring pillow. The rings finally came loose. I placed them on my officiant’s book, returned to my place in front of the bride and groom, and the service continued. As the laughter died down, John and Phyllis apologized, but I said, "Don’t worry about it. You'll certainly remember 'your day' now." Then John whispered, "Well, at least we're having a good time."

Following the service, the bride and groom greeted guests in the church basement for the punch and cake reception. As I had to take my robe and stole off, I was last in line to greet the newly married couple. When I greeted them, Phyllis apologized profusely. I thought she was referring to the service itself and said, "Don't worry about it. It's all done." She said, "No, you don’t understand. I tied that knot on the pillow. I was so afraid my brother-in-law would get to the rings that I must have tied that knot super tight."

Postscript: Three or four weeks later, after John and Phyllis had returned from their honeymoon, they came to church one Sunday morning. In the greeting line after the service, John said that he had a gift for me. I said, "Oh?" He pulled out a Swiss Army style pocket knife, handed it to me, and said, "Keep this in your pocket for future weddings." Thankfully, I have not needed it for any weddings, but the pocket knife still sits in my desk drawer in my home study.

There's No Place Like Home

2010-05-01T13:55:00.001-05:00

For years I've been proud to claim that I belong to the "Society of the Native Oregon Born" (S.N.O.B.). As far as I know, there's not really a society by that name, though one of my employers at a college summer job had a mock certificate with that title on it, and I've decided to wear the moniker proudly (I think :-).

Well, thanks to this YouTube video, you can see glorious land that I call home. And there really is no place like it. I may not equate Heaven with Oregon, as does the song, but I have been known to call it "God's country," and now you can see why. Also, thanks to my Uncle Bob for sending the link.

On Christ's Ascension I Now Build

2010-04-30T05:05:00.014-05:00

In order to prepare us for celebrating our Lord's Ascension, this article will appear in the May edition of my congregation's newsletter, "The Hope Lutheran."

At Christmas celebrated God the Son coming down to us and taking on our human flesh and blood. In Lent and Holy Week we celebrated Jesus’ descent into suffering and death, humbling Himself further, to rescue us from sin and give us life with Him. On Easter Sunday, and for several Sundays since, we have celebrated His rising to life again and His victory over the grave.

On Thursday, May 13 we will celebrate Jesus' enthronement, His victorious reign, and our abundant life in Him as we celebrate The Ascension of Our Lord at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Jesus' exaltation began when He descended into hell and continued with His rising to life. But it did not stop there. Jesus' Ascension completes His Father's mission to accomplish our salvation.

Sad to say, though, Jesus' Ascension doesn't get as much attention as do Christmas or Easter. Perhaps it's because we celebrate it on a Thursday. Why a Thursday? In our hectic world we want a pretty good reason for adding yet one more thing to our frantic schedules. We're so frazzled from shuttling the kids to school and sports and juggling our own schedules that a Thursday evening is prime time for "vegging out" in front of the "boob tube."

Why celebrate Jesus' Ascension on a Thursday? Because it marks 40 days after Jesus' Resurrection. After He rose from the dead Jesus remained on earth 40 days (see Acts 1:3), teaching His apostles and others what His dying and rising meant (also read Luke 24 and John 20-21). Jesus had to put all the puzzle pieces together for His followers—what kind of Savior He is, what kind of life He gives through His Gospel and Sacraments, and how they were about to be sent out to teach others.

Another reason Ascension Day may not be a big deal is that we've lost its meaning. We may think that once we've celebrated Easter, we've finished the salvation story. But that's like leaving a baseball game at the seventh inning stretch! Your team may be ahead by one point on the scoreboard, but you haven't seen the exciting conclusion. Your favorite player may yet hit a grand slam to clinch the victory. To echo Paul Harvey, Jesus' Ascension gives us "the rest of the story."

On Christ’s Ascension…

The Formula of Concord says: "Now He has ascended to heaven, not merely as any other saint, but as the apostle testifies (Ephesians 4:10), above all heavens. He also truly fills all things being present everywhere, not only as God, but also as man." (FC, VIII, 27)

What does this mean?

First, Jesus' Ascension means that His work of saving all people is done. When Jesus died on the cross, He said, "It is finished." When He ascended into heaven, Jesus showed that everything for our salvation is accomplished. Our eternal life with God is a "done deal." Love came down at Christmas, accomplished forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation on the cross, rose victorious over death, and then returned to God the Father. Jesus finished His journey. Our life with God, now and into eternity, is safe and secure. What a comfort when doubts annoy, temptations assail, and sorrows come crashing in!

Second, Jesus' Ascension means that a perfect human being has entered heaven and sits at God's right hand. We can try all we want to get to heaven on our own steam, but we cannot get there. The people at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) tried to get up to heaven, but their pride was their downfall. We try to impress God with our good lives, but then our pride leads us to ruin too. No human being can enter God’s glorious presence and live. Until now! Jesus not only breaks the bonds of death, but He also opens the barrier between God and human beings. Our ascended Lord gives us the hope of entering God’s glorious, eternal presence.

Third, Jesus' Ascension means that He rules over all things. Without this step in Jesus' exaltation, we in the Church would wander through life aimless and scared. Terrorist attacks, political scandals, or economic bad news would lead us to despair. We would vainly try to create some kind of heaven on earth. Without Jesus' Ascension, we might think that we should mould and shape the Church like a wax nose—make it look and act differently with every passing fad of "popular" teaching.

But with Jesus' Ascension, we have peace. Jesus rules all things for the good of His Church. Everything from terrorist attacks to church struggles to personal tragedies takes on new meaning. Jesus uses everything—even the conflicts and wars, even our personal trials and stresses—to strengthen us in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another. Nothing is out of Jesus' gracious control. He works it all for the good of His people.

Faith comes by hearing…

How does this good, Biblical teaching of Jesus' Ascension help us in faith and life? Why is it important for the Church to hold on to Jesus' Ascension as one of its prime teachings?

First, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit for His followers. While Jesus goes away from physical sight, He does not leave His Church. He promises to be with her "in, with, and under" the work of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26 Jesus says, "He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." In John 15:26, our Lord says, "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me." Jesus promises the Holy Spirit who, in turn, keeps our focus on Him.

Then in Acts 1:9 we read, "When He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight." Notice: this key verse does not say that Jesus is gone! The great joy of the Ascension is that while Jesus may be out of sight, He is not out of mind, and He most certainly is not absent. He's still with His forgiven, precious people!

Here's an illustration. A mother and her six month-old baby are playing together on the living room floor. Mom has to get up and go into the kitchen. The baby looks around but doesn’t see Mom. She starts to fuss, fearing that she is alone. What does Mom do while she is in the kitchen? She speaks. She speaks so her baby can hear her: "It's alright, my dear. Mommy's still here." The baby is comforted. How? Not by the visible presence of Mom, but by hearing her voice.

That's what the Ascension of Jesus means for us Christians. A cloud hid Him from the disciples' sight, but He was not absent. Instead, Jesus comforts His disciples, then and now, with His voice. So Jesus' Ascension teaches us something very important: the Church does not live in the time of seeing, but in the time of hearing. Faithfully hearing the Word of God read, preached, and sung is the most important thing any Christian can do in life. As St. Paul says, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

Based on this clear, comforting Ascension teaching from the Bible, we in the Church must, and can, trust our ears more than our eyes. Too often our eyes lead us astray. If pews look empty, we despair and don't trust Jesus' eternal care for His Church. If pews look full, we gloat and pat ourselves on the back for how we ingeniously brought people into "our" church. Instead of relying on our eyes—and the common, worldly standards of success and failure—our Lord calls us to rely on our ears.

After all, the more we hear the Gospel of Jesus' gifts of forgiveness and life, the more we are comforted and strengthened in faith. The more we hear the Gospel, the better equipped we are to give "a reason for the hope that is in [us]" (1 Peter 3:15).

Supposedly Dr. Martin Luther (1483-1546) was once asked about a preacher who had distracting mannerisms in the pulpit. The upset church member complained to Dr. Luther, "I just can't watch him and get anything out of the sermon." Dr. Luther replied, "Well, then, take your eyeballs out of their sockets, put them in your ears, and listen!" Jesus' Ascension ushers us into the time of hearing God's Word. After all, hearing God's life-giving Word is the fountainhead of our life with God.

So, set aside Thursday, May 13 to attend the Divine Service. When Jesus ascends to God’s right hand, so do we. And Jesus promises to rule all things for the good of His body, the Church. As we sing in the Ascension Day hymn:

On Christ's ascension I now build

The hope of my ascension;

This hope alone has always stilled

All doubt and apprehension;

For where the Head is, there as well

I know His members are to dwell

When Christ will come and call them.

(Lutheran Service Book, 492:1)

"Imagine There's No Global Warming"

2010-04-25T20:43:00.004-05:00

Okay, I'll be bold and admit it: I never really have cared for that infamous song by John Lennon called "Imagine," especially due to the lines about imagining "no heaven" and "no religion," not to mention the completely God-less, humanistic message of the song.

However, here's a version that I rather enjoy. No, it's not by John Lennon, though it does use his tune. No, it doesn't tout the same anti-God, man-centered philosophy as the original, but it does give a message that we need to hear these days, especially on the heels of reports not long ago on the "cooked books" of global warming climatologists.

Perhaps it's best to remember that "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." (Ps. 24:1) Somehow God has seen us through the scares of global cooling and nuclear holocaust; something tells me that He's still tending His creation and won't allow us puny human beings foolishly to destroy it.

Homily for Easter 4-Jubilate

2010-04-25T12:36:00.004-05:00

As we continue to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection and His victory over sin, death, and the devil, we rejoice in His gifts of mercy, life, and forgiveness. On this day the Church bids us to "Rejoice!" Today's homily was titled "The Joy of It All," and drew several themes from the great little book by Rev. Matthew Harrison, A Little Book on Joy: The Secret to Living a Good News Life in a Bad News World. (I highly recommend this great little book!)

To listen to the sermon, click on this link, download the audio file, and enjoy!

Pastors as Sheepdogs

2010-04-20T17:02:00.005-05:00

I first encountered the following quote from Evelyn Underhill when I attended "DOXOLOGY: The Gathering" back in January 2009. What a tremendous picture it is for refocusing a pastor's attention on his proper vocation! I've also used it to teach my congregation what a pastor's job really is, and the most recent attempt at this came in this past Sunday's homily for "Good Shepherd Sunday," a.k.a. the Third Sunday of Easter. For all of my brothers in office, may these words and this image help you, as it has helped me, to "transcend mere dogginess."

Now those sheep-dogs that afternoon gave me a much better address on the way in which pastoral work among souls should be done that I shall be able to give you. They were helping the shepherd to deal with a lot of very active sheep and lambs, to persuade them into the right pastures, to keep them from rushing down the wrong paths. And how did the successful dog do it? Not by barking, fuss, ostentatious authority, any kind of busy behaviour. The best dog that I saw never barked once; and he spent an astonishing amount of his time sitting perfectly still, looking at the shepherd. The communion of spirit between them was perfect. They worked as a unit. Neither of them seemed anxious or in a hurry. Neither was committed to a rigid plan; they were always content to wait. That dog was the docile and faithful agent of another mind. He used his whole intelligence and initiative, but always in obedience to his master’s directive will; and was ever prompt at self-effacement. The little mountain sheep he had to deal with were amazingly tiresome, as expert in doubling and twisting and going the wrong way as any naughty little boy. The dog went steadily on with it; and his tail never ceased to wag.

What did that mean? It meant that his relation to the shepherd was the centre of his life; and because of that, he enjoyed doing his job with the sheep, he did not bother about the trouble, nor get discouraged with the apparent results. The dog had transcended mere dogginess. His actions were dictated by something right beyond himself. He was the agent of the shepherd, working for a scheme which was not his own and the whole of which he could not grasp; and it was just that which was the source of the delightedness, the eagerness, and also the discipline with which he worked. But he would not have kept that peculiar and intimate relation unless he had sat down and looked at the shepherd a great deal.

[Evelyn Underhill, “The Teacher’s Vocation,” Collected Papers of Evelyn Underhill, Lucy Menzies, ed. (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., Inc., 1946), pp. 182-183.]

Homily for Easter 3-Misericordias Domini

2010-04-20T16:54:00.004-05:00

Picking up on the "Easter Evangel" theme from my homily for Easter Sunday, I wanted to tie the Good Shepherd theme into the Church's "Easter Evangelism." Here's a link to the audio file of this past Sunday's homily, "The Bishop, the Sheep, and the Sheepdogs."

Click on this link, download the audio file, and listen.

Taxman

2010-04-16T09:12:00.003-05:00

At times something comes along that provides perfect commentary on life in our land. This is one of them, and this is too perfect not to pass on. After all, the best humor is always rooted in truth--sometimes sadly so. One might also wonder just how applicable 1 Samuel 9:10-18 is for us these days. HT to Fr. Hollywood.

Comforted by the Resurrection

2010-04-06T17:35:00.003-05:00

“Faced with Death We Are Comforted by the Resurrection”

by Ephraim the Syrian

Christ the Resurrector will appear in the heights of glory. He will bring the dead to life and raise those in the graves. The children of Adam, who was made of earth, will all arise together and give praise to the Resurrector of the dead.

Let not your hearts be sad, ye mortals. The Lord’s day shall come and He will awaken and gladden us who have reposed. Those who have kept the law shall be roused before the Lord, and the angels shall rejoice in the day of resurrection.

Let not your souls be sorrowful, ye who were redeemed by the cross and called into the kingdom. The Lord’s day shall come; He will give voice to the deceased and the dead will arise and give Him praise.

Let us glorify and worship Jesus, the Word of God, Who, according to His love, came to save us by His cross and is coming again to resurrect Adam’s children in the great day when His majesty shall shine forth.

Grieve not, ye mortals, over your corruption. Christ the King shall shine forth from on high; He who is omnipotent shall beckon and thus raise the dead from their graves, and clothe them with glory in His kingdom.

If death has reigned and laid waste to our nature because Adam sinned and violated the commandment, then shall we not be justified and saved all the more by the sufferings of Christ Who has vanquished death and vindicated our nature?

Our Lord has granted the deceased hope and consolation, for He Himself rose from the grave, vanquished death, promised resurrection and life, and bestowed great blessings on Adam and all his children.

Praise and glory to the Father Who created us, to the Son Who saved us by His cross, and to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to the all-praised and incomprehensible Trinity Who raises the dead and clothes their bodies with glory. (A Spiritual Psalter, #149, p. 231-32)

Homily for the Resurrection of Our Lord

2010-04-06T17:27:00.006-05:00

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

As we celebrated the Resurrection of Our Lord this past Sunday, the homily was based on the Gospel reading, Mark 16:1-8, and titled, "The Easter Evangel."

Click this link to download and listen to the audio file.