Trinity 17

Luke 14:1-11 - Trinity Seventeen - September 27, 2015
God Exalts the Lowly

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If you’re Norwegian, you might know a few Norwegian jokes.  Some of them are kind of funny since they poke fun of Norwegians and Norwegians don’t mind laughing at themselves.  Likewise, if you’re Irish, you might know some Irish jokes.  If you’re Swedish you might know some Swedish jokes.  If you’re German, you might know some Polish jokes.  What’s funny about all these harmless jokes is that they’re all really the same.  They apply to no one and everyone at the same time.  Everyone just recycles them and changes the names.  They’re not as distinct as people pretend. 

Trinity 16

Luke 7:11-17 - Trinity Sixteen - September 20, 2015
Death & Resurrection
on the Occasion of the Baptism of Mark Rolf Preus

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Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also like a shadow, and continueth not.  In the midst of life we are in death.  Of whom may we seek comfort but of Thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased?  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the Law.  But thanks be to Thee, O God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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One of my favorite Aesop’s fables is the story of the North Wind and the Sun.  They got into an argument about who was stronger.  To settle their dispute the North Wind pointed to a man walking down the road who was wearing a cloak.  He said, “Whoever is able to get that cloak off that man’s shoulders is the stronger one between us.”  So the Sun agreed and allowed his opponent to go first.  The North Wind blew and blew.  But when he felt the cold wind, the man held on to his collar and wrapped himself all the more snuggly.  So the Wind blew even harder and colder.  But the more he blew, even as the poor man was curled over to stay warm, all the more he would not let go of his cloak for dear life.  He clenched onto it more firmly than his feet stuck to the ground. 

Trinity 14

Luke 17:11-19 - Trinity Fourteen - September 6, 2015
The Ten Lepers

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Jesus was heading to Jerusalem for the last time.  On his way, ten lepers saw him outside a certain village and cried out to him for mercy.  Jesus had mercy by speaking his almighty word and healing all ten of them.  Only one, however, returned to thank him.  He was a Samaritan.  Jesus told him that his faith had made him well.  But weren’t all ten lepers made well?  So then, was it something other than faith by which the other nine were healed?  If not, what kind of faith did they have?  And what kind of faith did this Samaritan have that Jesus commended?  In order to relate the events of our Gospel lesson to ourselves, and examine the kind of faith that we ought to have, I’d like to consider these questions. 

Trinity 10

Luke 19:41-48 - Trinity Ten - August 9, 2015
 A Meditation on Divine Wrath

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The book of Lamentations, which is the 25^th book of the Bible, was written by the prophet Jeremiah who also wrote our Old Testament lesson this morning.  Jeremiah was a faithful prophet, who, like every faithful prophet or preacher, had the very unfortunate task of preaching about the impending wrath of God upon the impenitent.  It’s no fun to preach wrath and the threat of hell.  What pastor wants to preach about how God is angry with sin?  To sinners?  Especially when he himself is a sinner?  It’s a burden of the calling, I suppose.  But sin does make God mad.  So it must be preached.  God does send those who don’t repent to eternal hell.  So it must be preached.  God really does threaten to punish, to the third and fourth generation, those who hate him.  So Jeremiah preached it.  And unlike most preachers, Jeremiah lived to see the day when God’s threats were realized – when everyone was forced to acknowledge that he was right the whole time.  This brought no joy or sense of I-told-you-so to the prophet, only sorrow.  Jerusalem was sacked with him in it; and God permitted his people to be carried away by heathen enemies into captivity.  Reflecting on what he witnessed, Jeremiah writes,

Trinity 3

Luke 15:1-10 - Trinity Three - June 21, 2015
Rejoicing in Heaven

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Impenitence is man’s work.  Repentance is God’s work.  This is important to know.  When we sin, it is our fault.  When we turn back to God, it is God’s gracious work.  Jesus tells two parables to illustrate this point.  The first parable of the lost sheep shows us the problem we have as poor miserable sinners.  We got ourselves into the trouble we need to be rescued from.  All we like sheep have gone astray.  The second parable of the lost coin shows us the power we have as poor sinful beings.  We have no power to get ourselves out of the fix we are in.  A coin does nothing to get itself found.  In both parables Christ presents himself as the one who searches out the object of his love.  He is the main character in both. 

Pentecost

John14:23-31 - Pentecost — Confirmation - May 24, 2015
The Spirit of truth

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“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). 

Keidyne, this is your confirmation verse.  I chose it for you because I have taught you the truth from God’s word; because you have learned the truth as it is laid out in Luther’s Small Catechism; and because this morning you will confess that you believe this truth to be the only thing that saves you and gives you eternal salvation.  It is a beautiful passage of Scripture.  And the word truth itself is also a beautiful word that should ring sweet in our ears.  In Greek, the word even has a beautiful sound to it: ἀλήθεια.  In your confirmation verse, Jesus uses this word ἀλήθεια three times.  You wouldn’t notice it right away because of how it’s translated into English.  But we could also say it like this: “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  

Easter 5

John 16:5-15 - Cantate Sunday - May 3, 2015

The Threefold Work of the Holy Spirit

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Oh that I had a thousand voices
To praise my God with thousand tongues!
My heart, which in the Lord rejoices,
Would then proclaim in grateful songs
To all, wherever I might be,
What great things God hath done for me. Amen. 

Today is called Cantate Sunday.  Cantate (which is where we get the word chant) is the Latin word for sing.  It’s in the imperative mood, which means it’s a command to sing, as in, “Sing to the Lord a new song.”  What is a new song?  And why should we sing it?  Far from being a call to always be singing the latest and most up-to-date expressions of faith, this command to sing a new song tells us first to consider what is old and what is new.  This is a spiritual distinction, not a chronological one, and so it’s good that we learn it here.