Ascension

Mark 16:14-20 - Festival of Christ’s Ascension - May 29, 2014
Ascension

We confess in the Creed that Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and that from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.  What does “thence” mean?  Why don’t we just say “from there”?  The reason is so we don’t get the idea that the right hand of the Father is some distant geographical location.  It isn’t.  If we said, “and from there he will come,” it might sound that way.  But “thence” means more.  It means not only from that time and place, but it also means from that source, or position of authority.  This is to say that when Christ returns, he will judge the earth with the same authority by which he ascended into heaven, and with the same authority by which he has been ruling his Church for the last 2,000 years. 

And what is this authority?  Of what does it consist?  His authority consists in the forgiveness of sins, the rescuing from death and the devil, and the giving of eternal salvation to all who believe.  It is through the means of grace that Christ exerts his authority as the King of kings and Lord of lords over all nations, and indeed over all creation.  And it is by distributing this salvation which he has won that he shall reign forever and ever.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.  He who does not believe will be condemned.” 

Ascension

Mark 16:14-20 – Festival of Christ’s Ascension – May 29, 2014
Ascension

We confess in the Creed that Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and that from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.  What does “thence” mean?  Why don’t we just say “from there”?  The reason is so we don’t get the idea that the right hand of the Father is some distant geographical location.  It isn’t.  If we said, “and from there he will come,” it might sound that way.  But “thence” means more.  It means not only from that time and place, but it also means from that source, or position of authority.  This is to say that when Christ returns, he will judge the earth with the same authority by which he ascended into heaven, and with the same authority by which he has been ruling his Church for the last 2,000 years. 

And what is this authority?  Of what does it consist?  His authority consists in the forgiveness of sins, the rescuing from death and the devil, and the giving of eternal salvation to all who believe.  It is through the means of grace that Christ exerts his authority as the King of kings and Lord of lords over all nations, and indeed over all creation.  And it is by distributing this salvation which he has won that he shall reign forever and ever.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.  He who does not believe will be condemned.” 

In Psalm 2, the eternal Father speaks to his eternally begotten Son, “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.  You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.”   

Well, his only begotten Son asked of him. 

Easter 5

John 16:5-15 - Cantate Sunday - May 18, 2014
Convicting the World

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

What is a yoke?  My wife is reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder to the kids right now and so I had to explain this to them recently, because in the story the main character Almanzo got a yoke for his birthday.  A yoke is a rather simple device that binds two work animals together so that they learn to walk in a straight line rather than going off in their own preferred directions as young animals are prone to do.  In this way they’re able to share the burden that is placed on them and get stuff done.  What they are meant to do they must learn to do together – otherwise the work is too much for only one of them.  The more stubborn an animal is the heavier the yoke needs to be. 

Jesus says that the yoke he places on us is light. 

Easter Sunday

Matthew 27:51-54 - The Resurrection of Our Lord - April 20, 2014
Good Friday’s Easter Sunday

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

That portion of Scripture which we consider this Easter morning the Holy Spirit caused to be recorded in the twenty-seventh chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, starting at the fifty-fourth verse, which we read as follows in Jesus’ name: 

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

These are your words, holy Father; sanctify us in the truth; your word is truth.  Amen. 

There is no resurrection without the crucifixion.  And so there’s no such thing as celebrating Easter morning if we do not celebrate Good Friday.  Now, obviously this means that we should come to church and hear the word of God on Good Friday.  After all, what more fitting time to mediate on what our Lord Jesus has done for us than on the day when he did it?  And how else are we poor sinners supposed to learn to properly meditate on Christ’s suffering at all other than by gathering as his lambs to hear his holy word?  But more importantly than just being here and doing that on this day or another, the fact that there is no Easter apart from Good Friday means that we should believe the gospel and see the connection between these two events.  To this end, this morning on this indescribably wonderful festival of Christ’s resurrection, we consider also the death that Jesus rose from. 

Good Friday

Matthew 27:45-46 - Good Friday Tenebrae - April 18, 2014
Reconciled to God

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

That portion of Scripture which we consider this evening the Holy Spirit caused to be recorded in the twenty-seventh chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, starting at the forty-fifth verse, which we read as follows in Jesus’ name: 

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

These are your words, holy Father; sanctify us in the truth; your word is truth.  Amen. 

The first thing that God created was light.  He spoke his Word and there it was: light shining in the darkness.  All things that God created were made by the Father through the Son.  He is the eternal Word of God.  Wherever the Son of God goes forth from his Father, the Father accomplishes that for which he sent him.  God sends his Son by speaking.  The Son does what the Father says.  God spoke, and there was light. 

God did not create light for his own sake.  He himself is light.  He doesn’t need what he creates.  We do.  Light, the very first thing that God created, was made for the sake of man, the very last thing that God created.  He is the crown of God’s creation and love.  Everything on earth was made for our sake.

Good Friday

John 19:26-27 - Tre Ore — Word Three - April 18, 2014
Jesus Honors His Father & Mother

Certain things can cause a man to shift around his priorities.  When I was a kid, I remember experiencing the conscious epiphany that it was time in my life to put away playing with my favorite childhood toys.  I loved them and the times I had with them.  But it was time.  It was kind of sad, when I think about it.  But we all grow up and put away old things that once made our young hearts happy.  Now, I didn’t stop playing with my toys because of some duty to grow up.  No one urged me or hinted that I should begin acting my age.  It wasn’t that at all.  Other things just became more important to me, and I knew that I wanted to pursue those things instead.  It’s like when a man leaves his mother and father to be joined to his wife.  He doesn’t need to be told.  He isn’t forced out of his parents’ home.  His desire for his bride simply renews and shifts his priorities. 

Such is life.  We go through stages, and we make several adjustments to our priorities as we go.  And such is death.  Our stages eventually end.  And when a man lies dying, a much more severe adjustment often takes place than when he came of age or got married.  Suddenly, what seemed important for decades, even those things that defined him to his friends, such as fishing or some sports team or even something nobler like a good political cause, all these are suddenly set aside like childhood toys that aren’t important anymore.  Because they’re not.  There’s no duty that tells a dying man to stop caring so much about earthly things he once loved.  Just the reality of ever after and his eternal soul’s future take sudden precedence over everything else.  It’s natural. 

Maundy Thursday

John 13:1-15 - Maundy Thursday - April 17, 2014
May I Give Thee Love for Love

Today is Maundy Thursday.  The word Maundy comes from the Latin word for command or mandate.  Jesus commands his disciples to do for each other what he did for them.  He says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).  This commandment to love is what Maundy Thursday is named after.  We are to pattern our love for each other on Jesus’ love for us.  And how does Jesus love us?  It is as he says, “Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). 

But on the night when he was betrayed, before these events took place, Jesus gave a picture of this love by washing his disciples’ feet.