Sermon: The Feast of the Holy Trinity

3 June 2007 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 3:1-17 (Isa 6:1-7, Rom 11:33-36)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

There are no non-Catholics in heaven.

Do you believe that? It’s what you said just a few moments ago as we confessed the Athanasian Creed: “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.” And, “This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.”

There are no non-Catholics in heaven.

The Creed goes on to describe what the catholic faith is: worship of the Holy Trinity, and confession of the divinely incarnate, crucified, and risen Jesus Christ.

In the other creeds, we confess “one holy catholic and apostolic church” – though we American Lutherans have been saddled with a bad translation of the word “catholic” into English as “Christian.” For “catholic” – as properly translated in today’s Creed – is an important word. It means our faith, the saving faith, the one true Christian faith, is not an individual matter. Your faith is not “your” faith, but “our” faith (just as God is not merely “your” Father, but “our” Father).

The faith through which God saves, the faith of Jesus and the apostles, is universal, not limited by space and time, transcending language, culture, denomination, and nationality. It is the faith that has always been taught by the Church – which is herself a catholic entity – not limited to this congregation or that denomination, this synod, or that political affiliation. To be catholic means literally in the Greek language of the New Testament to be wholesome, universal, holistic, in its entirety, and one and the same regardless of time or place. In other words, the catholic faith is the same now as it was when the apostles preached, when our Lord Jesus walked the earth, when the prophets proclaimed the justice and the mercy of God, when the Triune God Himself created the world and called it “good.”

For apart from the recent superstitious delusion of atheism, everyone knows that creation logically requires a Creator. We can use reason to prove this much. But anything further requires revelation, a revealing, an unveiling of the Truth by God Himself. Without such revelation, men are left to wander and grope in the dark, guessing and inventing myths, speculating about the nature of God and the universe.

Consider Nicodemus in our reading. As a Pharisee, he did not cling to the catholic faith. His religious system denied the incarnation and the Trinity as well as distorted the revelation of God in Holy Scripture regarding grace and works. To his credit, Nicodemus knew that his religion was deficient. He went to Jesus seeking answers. As a lost and condemned person, he had to wander and grope about in the middle of the night in search of revelation. By God’s grace, he received it. But only because Jesus gave it to him.

“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit,” our Lord tells him, “he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” For, to hold the catholic faith is much more than simply being able to give the right doctrinal answer. Jesus informs Nicodemus (and us) that entering God’s Kingdom is not a prize for intellectual cleverness, not a payoff for memorizing the catechism. Quite the contrary, it is a birthright. Those who enter God’s kingdom do so not by their deeds, but by virtue of the silver spoon, having the right parents. You have to be born into this kingdom – born again of water and the Spirit. And having been born anew spiritually, Christians are then fed and nourished for their health and growth.

Christians are made at baptism and are nourished by lifelong feeding upon Word and sacrament - not made (and graduated) at confirmation, nor are they argued into the faith by clever debate or by the will to believe.

This is not something logic and reason can deduce. In fact, this “birthright” way of entering the Kingdom is illogical and contrary to reason. It strikes us as unfair and arbitrary. That is why

God saves us through “the catholic faith” and not through “the catholic logic.

We can no more comprehend the Trinity, understand how the Holy Spirit delivers eternal life through water and Word, grasp the mystery of how bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ, and plumb the “depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God” than a little child can understand the Law of Gravity. And yet, we can confess this catholic truth and trust God’s Word in spite of our reason’s objections just as a little child can trust that somehow he will not fall off the face of the earth even without knowing the first thing about physics.

For just as our Lord verbally teaches, instructs, reproves, and encourages Nicodemus, and reveals the catholic faith to him, he likewise reveals knowledge of Himself and of the other persons of the Holy Trinity to us through His proclaimed Word to the apostles and through the written Word of Holy Scripture.

And while God reveals some things about Himself to His chosen people, the Church, some things remain a mystery. In fact, the pastor’s work in distributing Holy Communion is called “stewardship of the mysteries.” As St. Paul asks rhetorically in our epistle lesson from his letter to the Church at Rome: “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?”

There are those things that have been revealed to us, and there are those things that remain mysterious. And yet, we know enough to know our own limitations. By God’s boundless grace, we can indeed confess what we don’t fully understand.

We don’t know why the Lord is merciful. It is indeed a revelation of the Father when, per our Old Testament lesson, Isaiah finds himself standing before God’s awesome and terrible throne room, doorposts shaking, angels cowering and flying to and fro, incense smoke swirling, eternal divine liturgical worship of the Triune God who is not merely holy, but “holy, holy, holy.” Without anyone preaching the law to him, Isaiah is suddenly overwhelmed by his sins. He is merely feet away from the Almighty, and he knows that he is destined for total annihilation and destruction. But notice what happens: God instructs an angel to carry a holy element to Isaiah’s sinful lips, and Isaiah’s very real uncleanness is burned away by this communion. Reason tells Isaiah that he is “undone,” but the revelation of God tells Isaiah “your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged.” By virtue of his office as a servant of the Word, the angel is empowered to forgive Isaiah’s sin and allow him to stand before God.

Forgiven Isaiah can now “worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.” He can now believe. He can now confess the faith. He can now hold the faith.

This is the catholic faith. This is the saving faith. This is the very faith of which St. James writes in his epistle, the living faith that yields good works. For the Athanaisian Creed further defines the catholic faith in this way: “those who have done good will enter into eternal life and those who have done evil [will enter] into eternal fire.” Our works flow from our faith, and the catholic faith is a mystery.

No amount of clever philosophy or sophisticated scientific inquiry can draw such conclusions about the mystery of our perfect, merciful, triune, and incarnate God. The catholic faith is a revealed faith. It is a confessed faith. It is a lived faith. It is the faith that bears the fruits of repentance and service to neighbor. It is the only faith that bears the promise of eternal life and the boundless forgiveness of sin. It is the faith held by the faithful angels before Adam and Eve were created, and it is the faith rejected by unfaithful Lucifer when he refused to submit to God’s created order. It is the faith lovingly delivered to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it is the faith that was deemed of less value to them than a bite of a forbidden fruit that delivered knowledge not meant to be revealed by God. It is the faith of the New Adam, “perfect God and perfect Man,” the One who submitted to His Father’s will, having become the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all.

For the wants, desires, and yes even the well-intentioned faith of the individual are the enemies of what our Creed calls both the “Christian truth” and the “catholic religion”. The individual in his pride battles against submission to what God has revealed and what the Church of every time and place has always confessed. Even the word “church” in Greek, “ecclesia” – is an assembly, a group. The Church is not an individual thing, but rather as we confess in the Apostles Creed, a “communion of saints.” Our Lord Himself speaks of believers as a diversity of sheep in need of being herded into a flock. He warns of the dangers of those individualistic sheep who become separated, and of the need of shepherds to seek out the lost and the wandering and bring them back to the fold.

The opposite of the catholic faith is the faith of the heretic. The catholic faith is faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as confessed by the church catholic, whereas the faith of the heretic is a faith in himself, in his own private interpretation of Scripture, in his own claimed revelations from God. The world is full of cults and sects who have wandered from the catholic fold and have no idea the danger they are in.

An individual Christian, even one who prays and reads his Bible faithfully, but who avoids coming to church, is living in a state of false security. He trades the catholic faith for a faith of his own invention. He is destined to become food for the lurking wolf and prowling lion. For as we confess in our Creed, the saving faith is not individual, but catholic. It is not held privately, but confessed collectively and in public. We are branches of a common Vine, not separate plants. The true faith is not modern and contemporary, but timeless and eternal. It is not the Missouri faith, nor the Lutheran faith, but rather the catholic faith – having been confessed before there was a Missouri Synod, before the birth of Martin Luther, before the incarnation of our Lord, and even before Adam was formed from the earth.

The saving faith, the catholic faith, is not whatever the individual dreams up, interprets, or desires – but rather is a submission to what God our Father and the Church our mother have taught and continue to faithfully and unchangingly teach their children. For we children are born of water and the Spirit, cleansed by the Word and the mysteries, confessors of the same true faith held by all who have been made worthy to stand in the throne-room of the one true God, whom we worship both in His Unity and in His Trinity, through the incarnate Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, now and unto eternity. Amen.

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

"A Tale of Two Oh!s" or "TGIG!"

I just made the long commute from church to the Presbytère (the Hollywood Rectory) - a three minute trek on foot. Having wearily wiped the blazing Louisiana sun from my presbyterial brow (I love the smell of hyperbole in the cool of the afternoon), I espied a glimpse of a heavy-laden mailbox. What could this be? Perhaps a care-package from my father who has been helping me re-establish my ham radio station (today is Day One of Hurricane Season, after all)? Maybe a book that I've ordered from Amazon and forgotten about (which is always a treat)? Might could be (which is, O Purist, a proper Southern verbal construction) a package ordered by Mrs. Hollywood?

So, with a newfound vigor, I bound up the steps to the porch and make a lunge for it. And what, pray tell, do I see? A shrink-wrapped bundle of Teutonically stiff papers with the LCMS Corporate Logo(tm) emblazoned in its nausea-inducing purple-and-pink glory on the front. According to the verbiage on the cover, it is the "Biographical Synopses & Statements of Nominees Submitted by Committee for Convention Nominations 2007." As if I'm going to interrupt my summer reading of Augustine's City of God to slog through several hundred pages of mind-and-soul-numbing bureaucracy.

"Oh crap!" I exclaim out loud, crestfallen (and please, dear reader, don't ask Fr. Hollywood to make a grammatical clarification as to whether or not the above sentence is proscriptive, descriptive, or merely interjectory).

I begin to shrink faster than Governor Blanco's approval rating.

However, like (hopefully) some Lutheran sermons, this little tale doesn't end on a downer, but makes the shift from Law to Gospel. For the Good News, by the grace of our benevolent, blessed Lord (who is not only merciful beyond measure, but who also bears a sense of humor), is that another package emerged underneath the one that elicited the excretory exclamation. In fact, within less than one second, my sighing "Oh crap!" was turned into a singing "Oh yeah!" The two outbursts were literally uttered in the same breath. What could more precisely embody the Christian life than that juxtaposition of interjections?

With King David and our blessed Lord, I could now proclaim in full Gregorian goodness: "Convertísti planctum meum in gáudium mihi" (Ps 30:11).

This Gospel came in the form of my latest issue of Gottesdienst. It arrived in a weightier package than usual, as I've recently upgraded to a bulk subscription of ten - so as to make them available in the narthex of our church. Gottesdienst is a journal that champions solid, traditionalist theology within the Confession of Augsburg - especially pertaining to the sacred liturgy of the Church catholic.

And, to my delight, further confirming the divine sense of humor, the back page of the current issue (Trinity 2007) of Gottesdienst is a tongue-in-cheek account of the "LCMS Convention Procedings for the Year 2025."

Indeed, the Lord laughs at the folly of men (Ps 2:4).

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing!" (Ps 30:11, as rendered by the NKJV in the secular English as opposed to the heavenly Latin). Or, if you prefer, you could sing the refrain from the Hymnal Supplement 98's version of Psalm 30 at the risk of getting the "And like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" jingle stuck in your head for the next three hours - the choice is yours...

Anyway, if you still aren't getting Gottesdienst, what are you waiting for? This solidly Lutheran(and very reasonably-priced) publication is by far a more valuable use of your time than poring over, shall we say, other kinds of mail that you will receive.

Oh yeah! TGIG: Thank God it's Gottesdienst!

Sermon: Exaudi (Easter 7)

20 May 2007 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 15:26-16:4

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Dear Christians, Satan’s greatest weapons are not the obvious. For we all know that murder, lies, adultery, coveting, rebelliousness, sloth, greed, idolatry, misusing the Lord’s name, drunkenness, and violent acts are the work of the prince of darkness. But what is more insidious and dangerous are Satan’s lies that masquerade as pious-sounding religion.

In a book entitled Emerging Hope, a so-called church-growth expert named Jimmy Long advises us Christians: “Instead of seeing the culture as a battlefield and Christians as warriors, those in the missional church see the world as a mission field and Christians as missionaries.” He goes on to malign tradition while waxing eloquent about the need for the church to change the world by changing itself first. There is no mention of the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit working through humble means to bring people into communion with Jesus Christ unto salvation. No, but he has lots to say about being nice and conforming to the world in order to make people feel they belong.

These touchy-feely words are not the words of Jesus Christ. For what does our Lord say? “The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”

So much for conforming to the culture. So much for changing the church to make it look more like the world. So much for Christians not seeing themselves as warriors!

Listen to what Jesus says instead. The Christian life means people want to kill you. They will consider it honorable to ruthlessly do so. Jesus is giving the church a model of mission that is precisely military, martial, rooted in the ways of the warrior. For Christians are indeed footsoldiers of God, waging battle against the forces of darkness. And it is only the prince of darkness himself who wants you to forget there is a war on. It is the devil that wants to emasculate the Christian warrior and turn the age-old battle into a mere marketing strategy or some limp-wristed means to give people more self-esteem.

By the Rite of Confirmation, we are giving young soldiers their stripes today. They have completed two years of martial training to equip them for battle. They have been armed with the Word of God, and have been told they are expected to follow orders unto death. Today, they will publicly pledge to do so. Their lives are no longer their own. For as warriors, they take commands from the General. They are to slay dragons and stand defiant against diabolical temptation. They are to shout in the face of the enemy, and give him no quarter. They are to defend the defenseless, and use their strength to protect the weak.

No matter what the “experts” and useful idiots of Satan have to say, you Christians are warriors. The Christian life is no child’s play. Furthermore, what we do in this sanctuary is preparation for holy battle. We gather in this bunker to receive our orders and to bolster our courage.

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us we will “bear witness” before the enemies of the cross. That word in Greek is “martyr.” The Christian Church is a bloody church, a long train of warriors stretching back to our Lord Himself. Soldiers prepare to die, and many fall in battle. Christians fight in many circumstances – whether being tested frightfully in the face of temptation, whether having to work up the courage to confess sins, whether struggling to make worship a priority, whether actually laying down life and limb for the Lord and the confession of His holy name.

Confirmation is a bittersweet time for pastors. We certainly celebrate the recognition of baptized Christians taking responsibility for their own spiritual welfare – most taking the very body and blood of the Lord for the first time. It is a joyous welcoming of highly-trained soldiers to the front lines of battle. But we also know that for many, this is the end of the confirmand’s involvement with the Church. Instead of shouldering a weapon alongside of us, in the train of the apostles, closing ranks with the martyrs, taking aim at the enemy with the prophets – many drop their weapons and run before a single shot is fired.

The Christian life is not for cowards, shirkers, or those who cannot submit to authority. The Christian life is an austere warrior’s life. It is a life under orders. It is a life of service. It is also a life of willingness to die for the glorious Cause.

Now, lest anyone get the wrong idea, no warrior under the command of Jesus is perfect. There are times when we all chicken out, when we all don’t carry our weight, when we all rebel under the yoke. We are not the warriors we strive to be. Our many sins, our lack of faith, and our paucity of good works is to our shame. But thanks be to God that our General Himself forgives us, and empowers us with His Spirit – raises our limp bodies from the field, binds up our wounds, brings us back into the regiment, and fights with us, and for us, against enemies visible and invisible.

For the Lord’s mission (not our mission) is destined for success not because of our courage, our strategy, our gimmicks, our clever weapons, or our ability to blend in with the enemy. Rather, our Lord promises a “Helper… whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” For we are merely footsoldiers, carrying out the orders given to us. When we are courageous, it is He who is courageous through us. When we stand firm against the devil, it is He who has crushed the serpent’s head on our behalf. When we are faithful, it is His faith that does it, lest any should be tempted to boast.

I sincerely hope our confirmands will not chicken out, will not flee the battlefield, will not bring shame upon themselves, their families, their congregation, and their pastors. I ask the congregation to pray fervently for them, that the many temptations they will face from the evil one will not penetrate the armor of the Gospel that our Lord Himself has supplied them with. The Christian life is hard. It isn’t for the faint of heart. But it is a life that is backed up by the promise of resurrection and everlasting life. It is a life made possible by baptism and forgiveness, by our Lord’s passion and death, by His resurrection, by the mercy of God, by confession and absolution, by Holy Communion. It is a warrior’s life rooted in the Gospel, focused on the cross, and carried out by the One who has defeated the foe on our behalf.

The warrior lives his life one moment at a time. He revels in every second of life, knowing that death lurks around every corner. The warrior obeys his orders one battle at a time, comes to church one Sunday at a time, confesses one sin at a time, and prays one night at a time. When the warrior stumbles, his comrades help Him up. If he is captured by the enemy, his compatriots liberate him. If he falls in battle, his fellow-warriors emulate his deeds and tell their children of his exploits.

The history of the Christian Church is full of mighty warriors – many of whom fell in fierce battle. St. Perpetua was a 22-year old mother of a nursing child. She, along with her young friend Felicity (who was herself eight months pregnant) were arrested for being Christians more than 1800 years ago. Both women were separated from their children. They, along with other Christians, were taken to the arena for the crowds to watch them being publicly tortured to death. All they had to do was deny Christ, and they could have gone back home. But these warriors held firm to their orders. After being wounded by wild animals, the women were slain with the sword. The last words of Perpetua were spoken to her brother (whose throat had been cut): “Stand fast in the faith and love one another.”

A half century before young Perpetua and Felicity were faithful unto death, an 86-year old bishop, Polycarp of Smyrna, was arrested for refusing to offer just a pinch of incense to Caesar. He too was led to the arena and tortured to death before the bloodthirsty mob. He was burned alive, and finally run through with a sword. When asked to turn his back on Christ, he said: “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

Throughout the church’s history, missionaries died as warriors of the faith. In the 1600s, several evangelists of the Society of Jesus were the first to bring the Gospel to various North American Indian peoples. For reasons not entirely understood, the very people to whom these men ministered rose up and killed them. These soldiers of Christ died on the battlefield also known as the mission field. One need not give up being a warrior to be a missionary. In fact, as two thousand years of church history teaches us, the two vocations are inseparable from each other. The missionary is a warrior, and the warrior is a missionary. The blood of martyrs grows the church – not catchy slogans or marketing gimmicks.

In 1999, only eight years ago, a 15-year old Indonesian boy named Roy Pontoh was attacked by a mob of Muslims who demanded that he renounce Jesus or be killed. The frightened teenager stood firm. His answer did not fit Jimmy Long’s model of the Missional Church. This witness of Jesus said: “I am a soldier of Christ.” His attackers sliced open his belly with a sword.

Christians all around the world face suffering and death for confessing Christ and the Christian faith. And their testimony remains a beacon of light and hope in a world overcome by darkness and death.

In all likelihood, none of us will face such tests, nor have such opportunities to bear witness as martyrs for the Christian faith. Some of us may even wonder if we are worthy to take the field with such soldiers of Christ. Well, Christians, you have been baptized. You are here to listen to the Word. Like it or not, you are part of a vast army of the forgiven. You are worthy because He is worthy, and His Word is truth. Though you may never be thrown to lions, you will be tempted to hide your faith when being ridiculed. Though it is unlikely that you will be burned at the stake, you will be tempted to sleep in and not go to church. Though you may never face the decision to confess Christ before a madman with a sword, you will be tempted to blow off Bible class and absent yourself from Christ’s altar.

Remember, dear soldiers, where the strength of the saints comes from. Remember, dear warriors, what emboldened and comforted Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, St. Polycarp, and the holy martyr Roy Pontoh – even in intense pain and impending death. Only the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments can do such miracles. Only God Himself can equip you for service as a soldier and a martyr. Only in this military hospital called the Church can the wounded warriors of Christ find healing and relief to face another day of raging battle with the forces of darkness that seek to consume us in hell.

We are not called to be friendly with the enemy – but rather to be faithful to Him under whose command we serve.

Hear our Lord’s words yet again: “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble…. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.”

Take comfort, dear Christians, for though battles will be lost, though our blood may be spilled, and our faith at times will be shaken - the war has already been won. “This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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

Sometimes two wrongs do make a right

I hate to say it, but I gotta side with the Muslims against the Lutherans on this one.

The "inclusive" crowd is quite often the most intolerant group of all. Rather than politely yield to the sensitivities of the Muslims, they decided to adopt the "my way or the highway" stance. Of course, it's ironically funny because the whole thing was set up in the name of "interfaith understanding." I guess the halftime group hug and performance of Kum Ba Yah will have to wait till next year. This is the same thing this faction has done to faithful pastors and laypeople in Sweden. The "tolerant" crowd that runs the Church refuses to make allowances for anyone whose conscience doesn't approve of women clergy - (though they are in the minority, they do constitute a sizeable percentage of the Church). Similarly, in Finland, some faithful Lutheran pastors are even being threatened with jail time - unless they march in lockstep with the "sensitive" mob. "Do things our way," say the tolerazis, "and nobody gets hurt."

How tolerant. How sensitive. Nothing like a totalitiarian in fuzzy pink slippers.

Nothing will wipe that phony, plastic smile off the face of a happy-clappy left-wing extremist faster than a "refusenik" who actually believes in the Bible. The mask comes off, and the true, ugly, hateful scowl of the "inclusive" type is exposed for all to see.

If you want to see how "tolerant" and "sensitive" the "tolerant" and "sensitive" folks really are, check out their reaction to the death of Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Sermon: Rogate (Easter 6)

13 May 2007 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 16:23-33 (Num 21:4-9, Jas 1:22-27)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Figuratively speaking, our Lord wears lots of hats. We think of Him mostly as Lord, Savior, incarnate God, Prophet, Priest, King, the Good Shepherd, the Pastor and Bishop of our Souls, the Lamb of God, the Seed of the Woman, the Son of Man, Emmanuel, the Bread of Life, Living Water, the Vine, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the One who shall come to be our Judge.

Often we gloss over the most common title by which our Lord is addressed: “Rabbi” (Teacher). For our Lord’s followers are called “disciples,” and as my junior high discipuli should know, “discipulus” is Latin for “student.”

Teaching is certainly more art than science. For we aren’t computers. We can’t just run a cable from teacher to disciple and download data. Teachers often have to be clever, persistent, gentle, harsh, shocking, or downright crazy – based on the students’ needs – to make their hearers grasp the lesson.

Jesus Christ is the greatest teacher and storyteller of all time. He teaches us about the Kingdom of God using parables. He uses vivid figures of speech and sophisticated rhetorical techniques to drive His points home. Just as adults must often use colorful illustrations and object lessons to teach young children, Jesus uses figurative language throughout His ministry to bring the Gospel to His hearers.

But as our Lord’s earthly ministry draws to a close, as His destiny on the cross and His victory over Satan looms, Jesus speaks more and more plainly. Sometimes, he is so blunt that His disciples wonder if He means what He says. In today’s Gospel, our Lord looks forward to even more direct talk: “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.”

Whereas the world was not ready to come to grips with who he was and who sent Him, our Lord patiently spoke in parables and figures. But now, with His disciples, He lays it out for them without flowery speech: “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

As disciples, as students, they no longer need the object lesson. Their Teacher can speak bluntly with them. And this doesn’t get past the often dull and slow to learn disciples: “See, now you are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!”

The effect of the unadorned Word of God is nothing short of a miracle. The Gospel - articulated plainly, without histrionics or a “dynamic delivery,” without regard to the age or culture of the listener, without concern for self-esteem and mission statements – creates belief in the listener. The Word of God creates faith – not the skill of the preacher, nor any technique, gimmick, or appeal to emotion. Look at the confession of the disciples as a result of this plain speaking: “By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

The Word of God is what creates belief, is what nurtures faith, is what delivers life, salvation, and victory over the grave to those who hear and believe.

It is towards the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, on the night in which He was betrayed, that our Lord speaks the most plainly, without regard to any figure of speech. On Maundy Thursday, hours before His arrest, and one day before His crucifixion and death, our Lord takes bread, breaks it, and gives it to His disciples. He speaks to them without parable, using no metaphor, relying upon no figure of speech, and bluntly says: “This is my body… this cup is the new testament in my blood.” There is no short story beginning with our Lord’s version of “once upon a time,” that is to say: “The kingdom of God is like…” for He is no longer teaching His disciples that way. Jesus says what it is, and then says what it does: “given for you… shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

From the cross, our suffering Lord doesn’t weave together wonderful tales about farmers and seeds, about fishermen and nets, about managers and servants, about lost coins, lost sheep, and lost sons. That time has passed. The Crucified One prays absolution for His enemies, “Father, forgive them.” And as He dies, he says: “It is finished.” The centurion’s very real spear slices into very real flesh. Blood and water issue forth. Even in death, even without words, our Lord’s Word is powerful. For it bears witness to the blood and the water, to the Father, the Word, and the Spirit.

No more must the world pore over the prophets, looking for the key to their understanding. For the Prophet has fulfilled all prophets, and is Himself the Key to all Scripture. No more must disciples of the Psalms furrow their brows and debate over which are “messianic” – for the Messiah has come and claimed all of them for Himself. No more must teachers of the Law debate among themselves about how best to uphold its obligations – for He came into the World not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.

We no longer must peer into ghostly, dim previews of Him who is to come, as did the snake-bitten Israelites who were saved by looking to the bronze serpent raised up on a pole, for we look to Him who crushed the serpent’s head, we look to Him who was raised up for all to see, we look to Him whose blood is the antidote to the deadly bite of the serpent, who is Himself the antitype, the fulfillment, of this hazy image of the Old Testament.

And while we don’t yet know everything about the Kingdom of God, though we cannot process its glories with our feeble, sin-drenched brains, though we have not seen, heard, and tasted its magnificence in all of its glory, we do hear the blessedly plain spoken Word of God declaring us forgiven, proclaiming us heirs of eternal life, declaring us to be free from sin and from its ultimate end, death.

For like the disciples, our faith in the divinity of Jesus doesn’t come from scientific inquiry, but rather our faith flows from the reality of who Jesus is and from Whom He comes. Reason seeks proof, but faith grasps what is already known. Science operates by never-ending doubt and is never sure of anything. Even facts become subject to new theories and evidence. But faith is rooted in the plainly-articulated Word of God – the same Word that created all things, the same Word that says: “Let there be…” and there was.

Our response to the Word is likewise no figure of speech. For faith responds in equally plain fashion. For as James exhorts, we are not to deceive ourselves by only hearing the Word, but we are to be “doers of the Word,” rather than people who encounter the Word of God, and simply walk away unchanged.

There are times for illustrations, proverbs, parables, and other figurative speech. And then there are times for candor and bluntness. Today, our Lord speaks to us plainly, without figures of speech. He invites us to do the same, in word and in deed. And with those first disciples, we confess with our faltering lips the belief implanted into our otherwise-broken hearts: “Now we are sure that you know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.” Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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

"His Word must be believed for its own sake"

I highly recommend Rev. Dr. Burnell Eckardt's book of meditations for use in daily prayer called Every Day Will I Bless Thee (you can see a review here).

I use it for daily faculty devotions, and find it a blessing every year that goes by. The book just never gets old or goes out of style. I believe it is still available (I certainly hope it is) - you can get in touch with the author at his blog. Dr. Eckardt is also the editor-in-chief of "Gottesdienst" - a journal that I consider a MUST for any Lutheran interested in the historic liturgy and Evangelical Catholicism.

Having said that, here is Dr. Eckardt's meditation for today, the Monday of Cantate, which ponders John 8:12-20 (and I'm presenting it here without permission of the author, in faith that he won't be going "synodical" on me and threatening a lawsuit - besides, it is almost a Lutheran confession that it is indeed "easier to get forgiveness than permission")...

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend. I am the Light, says Jesus, and the Pharisees, who are darkness, call Him a liar, because He testifies on His own behalf. Where are His two or three witnesses, to establish what He says? Now let us learn the power of the word: it bears its own testimony, for it is the Word of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Jesus knows that it will not do to argue over these things with His enemies; therefore the Light shines in the darkness, notwithstanding its rejection by the darkness. His word is true, by itself. For it is not His word alone, but the word of the Father, since Christ is Himself the expression of the Father on earth; so also, His words are Spirit, the third heavenly witness. God's triune nature bears its own witness, which is why His word must be believed for its own sake, and not because of the cleverness of its packaging , or any other earthly gimmicks, arguments, or allurements. For it is the Lord - and ultimately no one else - who hath made known His salvation.

What a contrast to the kinds of things I have been reading from our district! We're being bombarded with dire warnings that we must "repackage" the "Gospel message" or else the "youth" will not listen (and I suspect this is hardly unique to my district). Furthermore, they posit, if only we find the right marketing formula that is acceptable to our "postmodern" culture, we can "grow" the Church. What a contrast to how our Lord engages the unbeliving culture! God's Word is mighty, and will not return void. No one is converted to the Christian faith with gimmicks, marketing, or human cleverness. Rather, faith is a mystery, a miracle, the divine action of the Triune God. What arrogance to think that anyone comes to Jesus, repents, and receives eternal life because we picked clever tunes or laid out our sanctuary like a Starbuck's. Such a belief is like the old Roman saying about the rooster who believes the sun comes up because of his crowing.

When the sower casts the seeds of God's Word, most will never come to fruition. The gate is narrow, and most people simply take the broad road. People even rejected the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (perhaps he didn't read the right business journals?). We cannot compel, trick, or market people to salvation. The "cross of the theologian" is so old that it is expressed in Latin: "cur alii, non alii" - "why some, not others?" Why do some people believe, while others reject, the "catholic faith" which must be held by anyone who "desires to be saved"? There is no rational, economic, scientific, or sociological answer to that question.

Praying the daily office of the Church (not simply "reading the Bible") and meditating on those sacred Words in a Christological way is a stark contrast to the never-ending stream of trendy business books and anti-sacramental George Barna polls that our district is constantly trying to jam down our throats. Either we believe in the Word of God and its efficacy, or we believe in our marketing savvy - since I remember reading somewhere the wise injunction that no-one can serve two masters.

Thanks again for your fine work, Father Eckardt! Now please don't sue me. ;-)

From the Circuit, District, and Synod

Just a little bit of this and that from all levels of the LCMS hierarchy:

From the Circuit...

Here is an e-mail I received from my circuit counselor not too long ago...

Dear Friends in Christ,

I have been asked to help with the beginning of a "Circle of Life" group
in the New Orleans are. To that end I am sending this mailing to all
pastors.

The Circle of Life is a process for a small group or for small groups
that focuses on twelve areas of life, such as Spirituality & Intuition,
Nutrition & Diet, Exercise & Fitness, Stress Management, Health Care,
Social & Family Relationships, Work & Carreer, Financial Health,
Humor-Creativity & Play, Environment & Nature, Emotions & Self Esteem,
Life Purpose & Service. Well, I guess that I stated them all!

This process will include working in one area at a time to acknowledge
strengths, set goals, predict challenges, and develop realistic action
steps. Groups will meet once every two weeks for about 2 hours. This
process will use a manual, and there is a cost ($35.00), but there is
also help with the cost. There is no meeting first date or regular day
set at this time.

This process is open to all church professional workers. I hope that you
have received the publicity sheet on this earlier. If you have not,
please let me know, and I will make sure that you receive more
information.

We hope to get this group going in April. If you are interested or if
you have any questions, please let me know. For those who attend the
Circuits 1 and 2 Pastor's conference next Thursday, we will discuss this.
I look forward to beginning this new group with you in the New Orleans
area.


From the District

In the January/February newsletter of my local district (see SOS Jan07.pdf (application/pdf Object)), there are some interesting quotes, including:

"The Christian Church has been in decline and we know that the decline continues to happen in the LCMS and in the ****** District.... [W]e need to readily to [sic] acknowledge the decline is happening and search for new ways to 'package' the Gospel message [sic]."

Perhaps one example of a new packaging strategy is the article about a new church "launch" taking place at a new congregation in our district with a very "hip" name: "CrossRoad Church" (it's a rather trendy practice among marketeers these days to omit spaces between words, compound them, and yet retain the capitalization as if the words were separate). This church planting model:

"seeks to gather a group of people to serve as a 'Launch Team'.... All effort is put into creating excitement, enthusiasm, and curiousity about the new church.... [S]ome people will become committed to the new ministry while others won't. Those that remain excited and committed are then taught, nurtured, and shaped into a new congregation."

Yet another new strategy is laid out as the district offers nine names of people in Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response Services. The district "has provided a list of resources to [its] readers," and we are encouraged to "make use of the following resources" and are encouraged to seek "Spiritual Care" (either as "individuals" or as "congregations,") from the following two people: "Deaconess Loraine Rathmann" and "Rev. Beverly Wallace."


From the Synod

The latest Reporter contains the following front page headline:

"250 missionaries needed - no experience necessary".

Back in February, I (along with presumably all LCMS pastors) received the following letter from a high-ranking LCMS official...

Dear Brothers in Christ,

Greetings on behalf of the global Ablaze! movement of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and its 29 partner churches around the world.

As we embark on the historic Fan into Flame campaign to provide new resources to support Ablaze! goals, I wanted to write every pastor of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to provide a little more information about both Ablaze! and Fan into Flame. E-mail in this series will be sent each month, and I hope you find this information helpful as our church body strives to communicate the saving Word to a world in need of His love and salvation.

Your 9,000 fellow pastors, most of whom are parish pastors, some who serve other ministries, and some who are Emeriti, connect with the Ablaze! movement at various points. Being involved in the pastoral ministry, we know the joy of sharing the Gospel message of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and of being in the midst of people who are sharing that vital message with others.

For us clergy, this is nothing new. Most of us have been sharing the Gospel all our lives. These days we are privileged to do so as pastors. We mean for our lives, touched by the Spirit of God, to be a living witness of Christ in us. Today we call that being Ablaze! It has had other names in the past, and will have other names in years to come.

Next time we will examine what it means to be in the midst of a “movement.”

The next installment, the one promised to "examine what it means to be in the midst of a 'movement' is as follows...

Dear Brothers in Christ,

Greetings on behalf of the global Ablaze! movement of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and its 29 partner churches around the world.

In 2004 the LCMS convention delegates enthusiastically endorsed the Ablaze! vision and the leaders of our 29 global partner churches stood on the stage in support of this confessional movement. Movements, while they can be messy, pretty unpredictable, and seem to have their own life, are yet framed by the Spirit of Christ as He wills. What is central to Ablaze! is that our Lord wants the Good News shared whenever and wherever we can.

It is a privilege to participate in this global movement to bring the message of the Gospel to millions for the first time. As part of the “clergy awareness” for Ablaze!, we can learn from each other, encourage one another, and support each other as we join together in this life-shaping movement of eternal significance.

Our next e-mail will introduce you to resources prepared to support Ablaze!

Good Intentions and Thought Crimes

We all know the old saying about where "good intentions" lead. We've also all read George Orwell's 1984, in which the term "thought crime" was coined. The two converge when government (especially big, unaccountable, pan-national government) is driving the issue. An example of this train wreck can be found here.

Outlawing "hate speech" is a lazy non-solution to a problem that is cultural, not criminal. But modern people have lost touch with things like "culture." So, government steps in to fill the gap. What was once considered rude and socially discouraged behavior is now enforced with fines and threats of jail. What was once combatted with education, free discourse, and intellectually unfettered debate, is now "settled" with jack-booted government enforcement.

The irony is that the occasion of this proposed new law involves the legacy of the Nazis. Of course, they were thugs who used (abused) the compulsory force of government to achieve the ends of setting up one ethnic group over others. One would think the world learned its lesson from Nazism and the Holocaust - but it seems we haven't. What is now being done in the name of opposing Nazism is a form of Neo-Nazism - in which certain ethnic groups become "more equal" (another Orwellian quip) than other groups, where denying the suffering of some groups is legal, but the denial of the suffering of "protected" groups becomes a thought crime. And the enforcement of these edicts are entrusted into the hands of the same folks who brought us every holocaust and pogram in history: government bureaucrats.

Look at the ridiculousness of the debate. The proposal is to criminalize the denial of the Jewish holocaust of WW2, along with, for some reason (political, no doubt), the 1984 Rwanda genocide, while leaving the denial of all other historical facts and genocides as matters of free speech.

An excerpt:

"Diplomats stressed the provision had been carefully worded to include only denial of the Holocaust – the Nazi mass murder of Jews during the second world war – and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.... In an attempt to assuage Turkish fears, several EU diplomats said the provisions would not penalise the denial of mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman troops in the aftermath of the 1915 collapse of the Ottoman empire."

Also, protected species are based on ethnicity, and not other things like religion:

"The proposal draws what is likely to be a controversial distinction between inciting violence against racial or ethnic groups and against religious groups. Attacks against Muslims, Jews or other faiths will only be penalised if they go on to incite violence against ethnic or racial groups, the draft text states."

Common sense would say that all groups should be equally protected. If denial of the Jewish holocaust is a crime, than perhaps denial of the Arminian holocaust should be as well. Better yet, why not restrict the government to protecting people and property and getting out of the business of telling people what they can believe or write. If a person believes that the Nazis didn't gas six million Jews, if a person believes the earth is flat, or if a person believes wearing crystals and a tin foil hat can make them fly - so what?

What is happening is nothing more than the age-old desire to dominate others. It was wrong when Nazis did it to Jews, and it is equally wrong when EU officials seek to do it to citizens with unpopular opinions and ideas. The solution to repugnant speech is free speech. Otherwise, when certain facts become hysterically defended by the government, where dissent is criminalized - this only serves to make people wonder what the government is hiding. Ironically, in criminalizing holocaust-denial, I believe the EU and state governments are only serving to perpetuate the holocaust-denial point of view. Whereas it might have been easy to debunk were free discourse permitted, it now becomes impossible to debate and to refute the idea.

Thus the unintended consequences of "good intentions."

Furthermore, what other unpopular thoughts will once day be criminalized based on this precedent? In Scandinavia, traditional Christians are already being targeted for their biblical view of women's ordination and homosexuality. The United States has also moved in this direction with the enactment of certain "hate crimes" laws that provide different degrees of punishment based solely on the ethnicity (or even sexual deviance) of the victim.

The criminalizetion of unpopular opinions and the gagging of publication of them amounts to the reinstitution of court historians and the Stalinesque brutality that George Orwell (who was ironically a Socialist who lived in what is today an EU state) warned against. "Good intentions" don't justify a new paradigm of jackboots and the crushing of dissent, nor do they ultimately achieve the good they intended in the first place.

You can't fight Nazism with Nazism.

Big Government + Big Business = Big Trouble

This is an oldie that's been sitting in "draft" mode for quite some time. But the collusion between government and business is as old as civilization. It is certainly not surprising to us in Louisiana.

This latest installment is a story of the State of Texas (which has the power to coerce folks into getting vaccinations) in bed with the corporation Merck (which has the power to make millions upon millions of dollars upon selling vaccinations). It's not too difficult to see where this is headed...

This particular issue is loaded with outrages. First, parents, not government bureaucrats, ought to be in charge of their childrens' healthcare - especially when it comes to injecting viruses and various other chemicals into them (which, in the past, has included mercury and other toxic heavy metals). Compulsion and coercion not only violate individual liberty, but also create a captive economy in which Merck and other pharmaceutical giants can virtually charge any price - since insurance companies and taxes will ultimately cover most of the cost. Second, this type of cancer is spread sexually - and injecting 11 and 12 year old girls with it sends a horrible message about what is expected of them. Third, this is nothing more than corporate welfare (if not outright bribery), as Merck is giving thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to the governor (and other legislators) with the power to sign this coercive (and lucrative) bill into law. Of course, this is nothing new. But Merck's unabashed blatency about it - doing it in the open as opposed to in the smoke-filled room - is revealing. Dishonesty and corruption have gone beyond shameful deeds done in secret and have become the accepted way of doing things - until one gets caught and there is some backlash, of course. That's when the "spin" department is called in for "damage control." That's just how the game is played.

The irony is that you might expect big corporations to be in favor of the free market. Not so. They are in favor of making huge profits. A captive market based on compusion, one that thwarts the free-market's limit on the price one can charge for a commodity, is preferable to executives and shareholders alike over and against a free-enterprise approach in which consumers make choices in an open, competition-laden market and vote with their dollars.

I know some will object that the State does allow exceptions, and that "lives will be saved" by this vaccination. However, why should making decisions regarding one's children be a matter of additional paperwork, to be considered an "exception"? Furthermore, not every offering from Big Pharma is actually safe. For the same institution that is being lobbied and feted with money, gifts, and bribes is in charge of safety oversight and regulation. Hence it is of little surprise when drugs and vaccines routinely administered to Americans by the hundreds of thousands or even millions turn out to be unsafe. The cost of litigation is simply rolled into the highly inflated costs of these drugs, and a few "broken eggs" (injuries or death) are just considered a "cost of doing business."

I don't know that any society will ever separate the economy from state compulsion, but what would be a good idea would be for parents to do research before vaccinating their children (you might be shocked at what you'll find) and use your parental authority to decide for yourself what kind of health care your children will receive. You can't control governors or boards of directors of international corporations, but you can control what goes into the minds and veins of your own families. Don't be afraid to educate yourself and put your foot down when the two-headed hydra of Big Government and Big Business wants to feed its insatiable appetite by using your children as parasitic hosts and guinea pigs.

Sermon: Jubilate (Easter 4)

29 April 2007 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 16:16-22

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

While the world has moved on, we Christians are still celebrating Easter. In fact, this is the fourth week of Easter, and whether or not the secular punchers of the cultural time-clock agree, we plan on keeping the party going for another three weeks.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

We celebrate with our blessed Lord as He takes the spiritual equivalent of a “victory lap” in the aftermath of His defeat of sin, death, and the devil. Only this “spiritual” victory lap is as much bodily as it is in spirit, as much in space and time as it is eternal and transcendent.

For in spite of His resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ has not surrendered His humanity. He didn’t suddenly become a spirit or an angel – any more than we will when we have been resurrected. In fact, the risen Jesus shows us what we are meant to be. And so, even as He has one foot in eternity, He still remains in time. And time becomes a major topic in the words of our Lord to His disciples shortly before His time was to come – words He speaks anew to us even as we look back on His crucifixion with the hindsight of the resurrection.

For we live in time. Our feeble minds can’t conceive of not being limited by space and time. We have no rational way to comprehend eternity. And the problem is compounded by our fallen nature. For to a sinner, time takes on a new meaning. While 15 minutes of recess seems like the blink of an eye, waiting 15 minutes for the principal to arrive after you’ve been sent to his office seems like a year or two. While parents watch their children go from infant to adult in the apparent span of a few days, eighteen years in the life of a prisoner in captivity can seem like a dozen lifetimes.

And who hasn’t heard a child on a dreadfully long trip ask that profound theological and philosophical question: “Are we there yet?”

And while Jesus is God, is eternal, is not only the Master of time, but indeed its Maker – yet He willingly lives in time, even as He knows our conception of time is quite different than God’s. Time is often not our friend. Every day that goes by, we are a step closer to death. Our bodies wear out. Time seems to slip away quicker and quicker the older we get. To the elderly, the lonely, and the ailing, time can be a prison, a dull existence of isolation and pain with no apparent hope of improvement.

Our Lord speaks of such isolation, pain, doubt, and fear when He gently warns the disciples of what is going to happen to Him – and to them. “A little while, and you will not see Me.” He has just told them of His impending departure, and that He would send them the Holy Spirit. And yet the part that is most baffling to the disciples is this “little while” business. “We do not know what He is saying,” they cry out in frustration.

Our Lord, in His mercy, explains: “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, and you will be sorrowful. But your sorrow will be turned into joy.” He then compares this “little while” of lamentation, of separation from the Lord to a mother giving birth. For when all is said and done, the most memorable thing about the act of nativity is not the hours and hours of pain and anguish, but rather the “joy that a human being has been born into the world.” What seemed to have been an eternity during the suffering and travail is remembered, in light of the miracle of life, as only a “little while.”

Even as the joy of our Lord’s birth followed millennia of anguish, the Church of the New Testament was birthed in such a circumstance. For though the tiny band of fickle followers of our Lord had fled, and even as their Master was brutally assassinated and publicly humiliated – this “birth pang” was only to be a “little while.” That long night of doubt, pain, guilt, anger, confusion, and depression that raged on Good Friday was only to last a “little while” – even as the once-baby Jesus quickened to life inside the virginal tomb wrapped in the swaddling cloths of mortality. The “little while” of lamentation was to yield to the Church’s centuries of Easter joy, even as our “little while” in this fallen world, in this mortal flesh, in this vale of tears will give way to eternal paradise and triumph beyond measure.

For what seems to be a long time to us – this waiting for the Lord to restore paradise lost, to finally destroy the foe that He defeated two millennia ago, to transfigure our lowly, death-ridden bodies into what they were always meant to be – it is in fact a “little while.” We can take great comfort in these two little words from our Lord. We can trust in the sure Word of God when He promises that what seems like ages to us is indeed but a “little while.” For the consummation of the great heavenly feast, the victory celebration of all the universe, the reunion of the Lord’s beloved people with their departed brothers and sisters from every time and place is as inevitable as was our Lord’s victorious resurrection. The darkness of Good Friday, though darker than that of any day in creation, did not remain. It was but a “little while” to the great Pascal victory. Once more, dear Christians, it is but a “little while” before we are plucked from the prison of time and set free from the cell of sin and the captivity of the grave.

Even as we struggle with sin, sickness, loneliness, disease, and death. Even as our families are in tatters, our dreams up in smoke, our finances shaky, our futures uncertain, our bodies racked with pain, our souls tormented by temptations and assaults of the evil one, our days filled with lamentation and our nights tormented with frightful dreams – we have a divine promise to cling to.

“Therefore you now have sorrow,” says our Lord. “But I will see you again,” he declares, “and your heart will rejoice,” He says. Notice He doesn’t say “might” or “may” – but “will.” Dear baptized children of the heavenly Father, listen to the promise of Jesus, for He is speaking it to you now – right now, in time and in space. It’s not a promise for someone else – it is a promise for everyone within earshot of this pulpit. It is a promise made directly to you. It is not an idle speculation or a prediction of a forecaster – it is a declaration, a done-deal, an iron-clad oath uttered by the lips of the living God. Hear Him! Hear Him, believe, and rejoice! For he says unequivocally: “your joy no one will take from you.”

And though our Gospel text ends at this point, our Blessed Lord’s comfort does not. For He continues: “In that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” So ask, dear children, ask in His holy name that became your name through water and the Word.

Our Lord is offering you more than “pie in the sky,” an ethereal existence in a white robe on a cartoonish cloud with a harp. He is offering you unbridled joy, a removal of all evil, of all pain, of all disease, and of all death. He is promising you everything you truly need so as to be filled with joy. He has already given you new life that cannot be contained by a grave or held captive by time. And so, dear friends, ask Him for that which will make you whole. Ask in the name of Jesus. Ask that your joy may be complete.

For even as we live in this “little while” before eternity, stuck in time and wrestling with sin, we cling to the Lord’s promise. By the words of the introit we sang from Psalm 66, the Lord Himself says it best:

“Make a joyful shout to God all the earth. Sing out the honor of His name, make His praise glorious…. Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. Come and see the works of God, He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth. Alleluia.”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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

Imus

I think Pat Buchanan's article about the Don Imus controversy is spot on. Few people have the guts and integrity to stick their necks out and say what needs to be said. Buchanan does. He is providing a much-needed balance and rational perspective to this whole matter.

Personally, I don't like Imus's show, and have only listened to him a couple times in passing. But think of how many comedians and TV programs get laughs through satire or saying ridiculous and insulting things: South Park, the Simpsons, SNL, David Letterman, Rosie O'Donnell, MAD-TV, Howard Stern, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Family Guy, Comedy Central, Jay Leno, Whoopie Goldberg, etc. How many of the "offended" women on the Rutgers basketball team watch or listen to these entertainers and shows, and laugh when another's ox is being gored? How many of the "offendees" are entertained by to misogynistic and vulgar rap "songs" that routinely call black women "hos" and make liberal use of the "n-word"?

How many times are conservatives, Christians, George Bush, Republicans, pro-lifers, Southerners, home-schoolers, white people, etc. routinely lampooned and made the butt of insensitive remarks by the media (and for the record, I'm no fan of the current president, nor am I a Republican)? How many innocent people have been victimized (really victimized, not merely having been called a name by a comedian) by Al Sharpton? Are apologies or monetary reparations forthcoming from "Rev." Sharpton to the victims of the Tawana Brawley and Duke Lacross team hoaxes?

What's more over the top than a shock jock saying something shocking (imagine that!) is a grown woman, a world class athlete, going on Oprah and sniffing that a radio DJ has "stolen [her] dreams." As they say in the Big Apple: "puh-LEASE!"

Just once, one time, before I die, I would love to see a situation like this happen in which the recipient of the remark would simply roll her eyes and chuckle - and then tell the interviewer that she would like to talk about something that matters. Just once. No tears, no Oprah, no quotes from Maya Angelou, no press release from Hillary, no talk about slavery, no hyperbole, no race-hustlers, no outragious blibber-blabber from feminist groups, no use of politically-correct codewords, no calls for firings, no threats of lawsuits and boycotts. Wouldn't it be nice to see someone display real class in such a situation instead of whining and behaving like a toddler, just once?

Remember "Sticks and stones..."? Remember "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it"? Remember when having a spine was considered honorable?

In the end, the Rutgers basketball players will go on to be successful in life - perhaps even millionaires - while the cancer-stricken children Don Imus would have been able to help (many of whom are black) on his ranch will simply have to suffer. I suspect that none of the "victims," nor Oprah, nor Sharpton, nor Jackson, nor the cowardly Les Moonves (Imus' former boss at CBS) will be lifting a finger to help them.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will continue to get richer and will try to bully even more people. Politicians will continue to exploit this and related issues - continuing to divide (and conquer) our people. Free speech will be further chilled. The hypocritical double-standard will go on, and race relations will further degenerate as whites will further resent (even if only in secret) being bullied by mega-rich race-hustlers and "professional victims."

In the words of Louis Armstrong: "What a wonderful world!"

Sermon: Quasimodo Geniti (Easter 2)

15 April 2007 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: John 20:19-31 (Ezek 37:1-14, 1 John 5:4-10)

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Our risen Lord appears to the disciples for the first time after His death and burial. Of course, those destined to become the first pastors and bishops of the Church are confused and scared. They don’t know what to make of the testimony of the women who were the first witnesses of the resurrection. The doors are shut, for fear that those who took the life of their Master might be coming for them.

In the midst of this confusion and doubt, our Blessed Lord suddenly appears in their midst. Immediately he blesses them: “Peace be with you.” He disperses their fear and banishes their angst. He commands them to be at ease in the presence of God. But this is not merely a visit to strengthen their resolve, or to make them happy (though certainly both happen). For our Lord Jesus Christ has unfinished business with His disciples. They have been His students for three years. They have borne witness to His miracles, His life, His passion, His death, and now His resurrection. They are to be sent out, which in the Greek is to be “apostled.” They are being commissioned to preach the good news and to administer the Holy Supper, to baptize, and to teach. But first, they must be ordained.

For our Lord keeps His Word. Six chapters before today’s text, the Lord promises that He will not leave the disciples orphans. He pledges a coming Helper, a Comforter, an Advocate who will dwell with and in the disciples. And, of course, in the Book of Acts, the Church will receive a manifestation of the Holy Spirit that will see the Gospel spread around the world through preaching in every language, with proclamation radiating out from Jerusalem unto the ends of the earth. But, as St. Paul would ask rhetorically many years later, how will people hear without a preacher? So even before the Holy Spirit is sent at Pentecost, our Lord gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to the men who will be doing the preaching.

For without the Holy Spirit, how can they preach the Holy Gospel? And without Holy Orders, by what authority do they preach? And so, our Lord appears to the disciples on this Sunday not merely to catch up on old times, or even to simply ease their guilt and grief – but rather to prepare them for their ministry, so that His saving work on earth will continue until He comes again.

Without a lot of pomp and ceremony, our Lord passes on the authority He received from His Father to the disciples. “As the father has sent Me, I also send you.” He breathes on them, which is to say, He gives them His Spirit, and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Thus the disciples are now apostles, ordained into the Holy Ministry, sent out with authority to preach, to forgive sins, to retain sins, to baptize, and to preside over the Lord’s Supper. As the Father placed the Spirit upon the Son, so the Son breathes this Spirit upon the apostles. And even as scoffers did not believe the Lord Jesus, a Man, could forgive sins, scoffers will (and do) claim that the apostles and their successors, mere men, cannot forgive sins. But the forgiveness of sins is precisely the authority our Lord gives as he ordains them: “if you forgive…” He says, “they are forgiven”! Just as mankind from the days of fallen Adam and Eve have needed to hear the Gospel, and even as the fallen multitudes listened as our Lord boldly forgave sins, so even today fallen people are dying to hear those blessed words of release, of absolution. Those words of the Gospel. The same is needed today, and so the successors of the apostles also have this authority by virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The whole idea of the Holy Spirit imparting gifts is a controversial issue in the Church. Some claim the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to make people healthy and wealthy. Some claim the Holy Spirit’s work is to inject excitement into our lives and into the Church’s worship. Some claim the Holy Spirit is only present where miraculous tongues are spoken (though unlike the case of the apostles, these so-called tongues have nothing to do with the preaching of real words in real foreign languages to impart the real forgiveness of sins and real salvation).

Notice how our Lord links the gift of the Holy Spirit with the forgiveness of sins. Jesus doesn’t promise fame and excitement, explosive church growth, and tons of money in the bank. In fact, these first apostles actually found harassment, torture, martyrdom, and exile. “Take up your cross,” He had commissioned them before. No, the gift of the Holy Spirit isn’t about fun and ego-stroking, rather it is all about the Gospel – the blood and the water. The Holy Spirit defers to Jesus, who defers to His Father. By the Son’s sacrifice, we are reconciled to the Father. And by the Spirit, we are led to Jesus, we hear the Gospel, we receive His gifts: the blood and the water. And we are kept in the faith.

For the true manifestation of the Spirit is belief. And through that belief, Jesus gives life. For even as John testifies: the Gospel account in Scripture is “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” There is a link between believing and life, just as life and breath are related. For breath is another way of saying Spirit. Without the breath of the Holy Spirit, there is no life in us. We are as dead as the dry bones Ezekiel saw in his vision.

For the bones could do nothing for themselves. And yet, the breath of the Triune God, manifested by His Word, proclaimed by a preacher acting under authority, under Holy Orders, could work the miracle of raising dead, dry bones to life. The proclaimed Word of God resurrected living flesh where the old had rotted away as a consequence of sin. The preaching of the Gospel linked bone with bone, sinew with sinew. And as the breath, the Spirit, entered them, the once-dead rose and stood anew. Ezekiel is commanded to preach to his sinful hearers the resurrection of the dead, the opening of their graves and the gift of the Spirit unto life. His listeners are to hear the preacher’s word knowing that, as the Triune God says: “I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it.”

For when the preacher speaks under the Lord’s authority, it is the Lord’s Word, the Lord’s promise, the Lord’s forgiveness, and the Lord’s gift of the breath of life.

This Sunday, the first after Easter, is known as Quasimodo geniti – which means: “As newborn babes.” For our Introit includes those words from the Epistle of one of those first bishops who received ordination, the gift of the Holy Spirit and authority to forgive sins from Jesus Himself – St. Peter. And with St. Peter we confess: “As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word,” that we have indeed, in the words of the Psalmist and of Peter, tasted that the Lord is good. For our Lord Himself told us salvation was not to be ours unless we became as little children, as those who suckle helplessly at their mother’s breasts.

For every baptized Christian - just like little born-again Matthew Enos - is given life by his Mother the Church, and nurses upon the Word and Sacraments. Quasi modo geniti. And even as babies continue to receive milk for nourishment, we Christians nurse again and again at the font. Quasi modo geniti. We remember our baptism, we drown the old Adam in daily repentance. Quasi modo geniti. And we will be resurrected from the dead to walk in the flesh anew never again to die. Quasi modo geniti.

Just as a baby doesn’t choose life, and even as nursing isn’t a matter of rational thought to a little one, we Christians who receive the Kingdom like children are the recipients of the life-giving milk of the Word of God. A Word that bears the Spirit, the Spirit that bears the forgiveness of sins. The same Spirit that took a valley of rotting skeletons and turned them into complete men of flesh and breath, of life and spirit.

And this, dear friends, is the mystery of life. We continue to celebrate Easter, in which by the breath of the Spirit, in fulfillment of the Word of God, the drying bones of our deceased Lord were raised. He is not merely Spirit, but also flesh and blood animated by the Spirit. For a ghostly apparition can be doubted. It took more than seeing to convince Thomas. It took touching the hands and side of a once-dead body to convince Him that the Lord Jesus lives. In His mercy, our Lord lays his scarred hands upon doubting St. Thomas, forgiving him his sins and ordaining him into the ministry of the Word. In response, Thomas confesses: “My Lord and my God!” He would not only confess it, but he would preach it. He would lay his hands on other Christians in absolution, and would lay his hands on other men in ordination. He would confess and preach until he was himself martyred as a witness of the living Christ and of the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.

For our Lord is no mere spirit. He is flesh, born of the Virgin, amid blood and water. The Spirit bears witness. He was circumcised and was baptized – more blood and water – and the Spirit bears witness. He was crucified and thrust with a spear – more blood and water – and the Spirit bears witness. And the Lord commissioned Thomas and the other disciples to baptize and to administer the Lord’s Supper – more blood and water - and the Spirit bears witness.

And the Spirit gives life, the Spirit points to Jesus, the Spirit empowers the Church to carry out her ministry. The Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies – and keeps us in the faith. It is indeed the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. And the truth, dear friends, is that Jesus has died for the forgiveness of all your sins. You are indeed like newborn babes, born again, drinking the pure milk of the Word. The Spirit bears witness. Quasi modo geniti. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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

Sermon: Easter Wednesday

11 April 2007 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: Mark 16:1-8

In the name of + Jesus. Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Ever since that very first Easter when the women discovered the empty tomb, and the risen Jesus began to appear, Christians have annually celebrated the resurrection feast. It became a New and Greater Passover, in which the meal is no ordinary lamb, but the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Every Sunday’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper was to become a remembrance of that first Easter in which death was conquered by death, in which the Author of Life Himself rose to a life that has no end.

We Christians rightfully celebrate this resurrection, for it is confirmation of our own conquest over death and the grave. It is a banquet of our deliverance from bondage to sin. In His death, our own guilt is put to death, and in his rising, our own literal bodily resurrection is promised.

Every Easter, the entire world has to come to grips with Jesus – either confessing Him as Lord and God, or trying to use tawdry historical trickery to portray his resurrection as a hoax. And here we are one thousand nine hundred and seventy seven years later as two billion people around the world pause to ponder and meditate upon how our universe has never been the same after that April day in the year 30 when an explosion of light burst forth from a stone crypt and a Man of Sorrows and of scars came walking out by His own power, a Man of Triumph, a God of victory.

Nearly 400 years after the first Easter, a Christian preacher named John Chrysostom proclaimed the same crucified and risen Christ as we do today. His short sermon so embodies the meaning of the resurrection that it has been repeated from Christian pulpits now for some sixteen hundred years.

St. John Chrysostom was not only a beloved bishop and gifted preacher, he was himself a man of sorrows who suffered for the sake of the truth, who was persecuted for the sake of the Gospel, who constantly had the name “Jesus” on His tongue and at the forefront of his ministry.

And even as St. John awaits the resurrection, he does so from the perspective of paradise, being a member of the Church Triumphant, one of the hosts of heaven that lauds and magnifies the glorious name of the Lord evermore with us here in this holy sanctuary. Bishop John Chrysostom’s golden mouth may have been silenced in the grave, but his words ring on into eternity even as his soul magnifies the Lord. And those words are our words too, for they are the Church’s words, the Church’s confession, the Church’s testimony of the risen Lord.

So, dear brothers and sisters, please listen to this Easter homily preached around the year 400 AD. Thus preaches St. John Chrysostom:

Are there any who are devout lovers of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Are there any who are grateful servants? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour,let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,as well as to him that toiled from the first.

To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.Let no one go away hungry.
Partake, all, of the cup of faith.Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said,"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Here ends the Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom.

And even as we Christians, two billion strong around the world, prepare to take the proclamation of the resurrection of our Lord into the third millennium, and while our preaching styles and technology may change – the Gospel, the good news, of the death and resurrection of our Lord, does not change. It is as true now as it was in 30 AD, 400 AD, and will be unto the ages of ages. Jesus Christ, the risen one, the holy one, the one who takes away the sins of the world, the same yesterday, today, and forever. All honor, praise and glory be to our crucified and risen Lord, now, and even unto eternity! Amen.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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