The Lutheran Review

God Barged in Garbed

 

God barged in on Adam and Eve garbed in leaves and sin.

“Where are you?”

The prophet Nathan barged in on David garbed in royal robes, murder and adultery.

“You are the man.”

The angel barged in on Mary garbed in favor and grace.

“You shall call his name Jesus.”

Jesus barged in in Bethlehem garbed in baby soft skin

The Heavenly host barged in on Shepherds garbed in darkness.

“Glory to God in the Highest.”

Jesus barged in on the body of Lazarus garbed in the stink of death.

“Lazarus, come out.”

Life barged in on the graves of saints when Jesus was garbed only in death.

“The tombs were also opened.”

Angels barged in on guards garbed in soldiers wear.

“He is risen.”

Peace barged in on disciples garbed in fear.

“Peace be with you.”

The Triune God barged in and garbed you in Christ in baptism.

Barge into someone’s life that they might be garbed in the gospel.

 

 

 

 

Try the Flip Side

 

I was at the meat counter yesterday at Johnnies Market.  An elderly couple was ahead of talking with the meat cutter.  They had been to the Lake of the Ozarks with some friends.  They had caught 88 Crappies.  The first days catch they had eaten for supper.  But now they had to get home and freeze the rest of the catch.

The gospel lesson for the Wednesday of Easter is John 21:1-14.  Six of the disciples were back down in Galilee.  (I sometimes forget that north is down in Israel and south is up.)  “I’m going fishing, Peter tells the rest.  “We’ll go with you,” the other five chime in.  However, once again they fished all night and came up empty.

At day break Jesus is standing on the shore, but the disciples didn’t know it was Jesus.  “Children, do you have any fish.”  “No.”  “Cast your net on the other side of the boat and you’ll find some,” Jesus advises.  This sounds familiar doesn’t it?  Jesus has done this before.  Sometimes we keep trying something that keeps coming up empty.   If only we would try the flip side, maybe it would succeed.

This morning I was planning a prayer service for National Day of Prayer next Thursday.  Becky looked at what I was doing and said, “This is just another Lutheran service.  You have to be more Baptist.”  But I don’t want to be Baptist.  I’m Lutheran.  Eventually she was able to shake me out of my usual format.

What we arrived at was starting with a responsive reading followed by an Old Testament lesson with a time of quiet reflection and prayer.  I wrote down several prayer suggestions or people could use the prayer section of the hymnal.  Then we have a prayer related reading from an epistle followed by a time in which people can make requests that I will pray from the altar.  Suitable hymns are interspersed.  Finally, after reading from the gospel of Luke we conclude the service with a responsive litany.

Since the service is at 11:00 and most people will be working, Becky suggested we have a basket in the back of the church on Sunday to receive prayer requests to be made during the prayer service.

I think between the two of us we have a service that will be of service both to the worshippers and to the One to whom we are addressing our prayers.

I am going to have to rename my article, because it has taken a completely different direction than I had intended some 450 words ago.   That leaves me with something to write about tomorrow on this text from John             

Raging Furnace, Furious Rage

 

The Old Testament lesson for the Tuesday of Ester is Daniel 3:8-28.

                The Jews were in exile in Babylon.  Once more God’s people were living in an alien nation and culture.  Like Joseph in Egypt, some among the exiles had been given areas of responsibility.  Nevertheless, the higher any Jew rose in prominence, the greater would be the challenge of living faithfully to Yahweh.

 Not unexpectedly, some Babylonians became jealous.  They hatched a plan.  They persuaded the king to enforce his decree that at the call to worship everyone would bow and worship the golden image.  The image set up on the plain of Dura was 90 feet tall and 9 feet in diameter.  Hard to miss.  To fail to worship would mean incineration in the raging furnace.

The call to worship was also hard to miss.  A festival band of three stringed and three wind instruments called the people to a celebration of the golden image.  When the three young men are caught ignored the idol, they are arrested and sentenced.  Nebuchadnezzar, in a furious rage, “Who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

 Yahweh and his people are in an impossible situation.  They have the Babylonians just where they want them.  The Babylonians fall into the trap.  The furnace is heated seven times hotter than normal, to match Nebuchadnezzar’s raging wrath.  They throw the fully clothed and bound men into the fire.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will be in flames before they ever reach the flames.  Here is where things start to go awry for the Babylonians. The executioners are burned alive.

Then the king discovered more people in the flames then had been thrown in.  “I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire…”  One of the four had the appearance “like a son of the gods.”

When the men are pulled out of the furnace their clothes don’t even smell like smoke.  The faithfulness of the three men leads the king to recognize that Yahweh is a God who is able to rescue people out of his own hand.

Nebuchadnezzar issues a new decree that no one should say anything against the three young men.  The 90 foot golden image sitting out on the plain of Dura will be of no help to rescue them.

The God of the Jews had changed the king’s life,

“How great are his signs,

How mighty his wonders!

His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And his dominion endures from generation to generation.”

We recall what the angel said to Mary in regard to the baby king to be born of her, “With God nothing is impossible.”   Even cross, death and tomb cannot prevent God’s plan to rescue you and me from His wrath when we heed the call of other golden gods.             

 

No Trouble Troubles Me

 

It’s Easter evening of the festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord.

The morning service began with the 4^th stanza of Were You There.  “Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?”  That was followed with “Christ is risen” and “He is risen indeed. Alleluia.”

He is indeed.  So we sang in the Charles Wesley hymn that dates back to a Latin version from the 14^th century, “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia.  Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia…”

As we sang the Paul Gerhardt hymn prior to the service (Awake, My Heart, with Gladness) a line in 5^th stanza jumped out.  “My heart from care is free, no trouble troubles me.  Misfortune now is play, and night is bright as day.”  It was the line, “No trouble troubles me, Misfortune now is play.”  I think that will serve as my opening sentence in next week’s sermon.    

During Holy Communion the packed church came to the railing to receive Jesus body and Blood in the bread and wine.  The second song was a Tanzanian hymn (466 in LSB), Mfurahini Haleluya or is you prefer, “Christ has arisen, alleluia.”

Last but not least we ended the service with, “I know that My Redeemer Lives.”

Again stanza stands out.

He lives to silence all my fears;

He lives to wipe away my tears;

He lives to calm my troubled heart;

He lives all blessings to impart.

 

Because of Christ  does in the above and so much more as mentioned in the other stanzas, we concluded, “Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer Lives!”

That is a good place to end and to end and begin the day. 

We Shudda Taken Cover

 

The choir will sing at very beginning of the Easter service tomorrow, “Were you there when God raised Him from the tomb?”  Then I will say, “Christ is Risen!”  The congregation will respond, “He is risen indeed!”

Perhaps I should add a second declaration, “We shudda Taken Cover.” To which the congregation would respond, “We shudda indeed.”

Last night at the Good Friday service the warning sirens went off prior to the service.  We ignored them.  As I was entering the pulpit they sounded again.  I asked, “Should we take cover in the hallway?”  No one responded with a “Yes.”  So we proceeded.  As we moved into the Tenebrae portion of the service with the church growing darker, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled and rain beat on the roof.  The warning signal sounded again near the end of the service. 

When I got back to my office I noticed my wife had called.  I returned the call and she said a tornado had hit the airport and was heading toward Ferguson.  We aren’t far north of that.

By people were generally in the hallway.  Some were turning into their weather APPS with their cell phones.  As the men and young people removed the candles for Tenebrae and started to prepare the church for Easter, the sirens warns again.

We waited around and by 8:40 all was clear.  I started for home going west on 270.  My wife called.  Power lines were over the road ahead.  I was 2 miles from the last exit before the roadblock.  Had she called a few minutes later I would have been stuck in traffic.  The road was not reopened until 3:00 am.

I turned and headed east on 270.  I considered taking 170 south ,but it turned out that highway was blocked too, as we 70, both of which run next to the airport.  So I drove east into Illinois and took 255 around the east side of the St. Louis area and finally got home at 10:00.

Once I got home I began to see the damage shown on TV and of course, more so this morning.  I commented to my wife, “We shudda taken cover.”

Tomorrow morning I will probably comment at the start of my Easter sermon, “Folks, we shudda taken cover Friday evening.”

Lord of the storm, we give thanks that apparently no one was injured or killed.  Look after those who lost homes.  Look after our fellow believers whose churches were damaged.  We thank you for keeping us safe at Immanuel, because we shudda….  Amen.

     

To Die For

To Die For

Who is the worst person of whom you can think?  Would you die for them?  The person may be in your family.  It may be an “ex.”   We might even think that we would all be better off if that person were dead or never been born.

The epistle for the Wednesday of Holy Week is Romans 5:6-11.  St. Paul shows the gap between God and you and me.  The text speaks for itself.  “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”  Our weakness was that we were ungodly, neither righteous nor good.

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  God could have put his love aside and acted on his wrath.  Jesus could have said, “Die for those people?  Give me a break.  If your commandments were the broad side of a barn, they couldn’t hit it.”

Just in case we still don’t get the point St. Paul goes at it a third time.  “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

So what are we to do?  Paul has that covered too.  “Rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

LSB 430,

 My song is love unknown,

My savior’s love to me,

Love to the loveless shown

That they might lovely be.

Oh, who am I

That for my sake

My Lord should take

Frail flesh and die?   

Holy Week Foolishness

 

In the Old Testament reading for Tuesday (Isaiah 49:1-7), the prophet calls out to the far reaching coastlands to listen to him.  He is the very mouth of the Lord.  His word is like a sharp sword.  He is like a polished arrow hidden away in God’s quiver.  God called him to his piercing task before he was born.

However, at some point he grew discouraged.  His word had little effect.  He was more like a crooked arrow that missed the mark.  His word- sword was blunted and dull.  “I have labored in vain.  I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.”  Yet he does believe he is on track in regard to the Lord.  His only payback comes from the God.

 Based on periodic words of encouragement to pastors which come out of the District Office, it’s apparent that the leaders of districts often hear from discouraged pastors.

But congregations get discouraged too.  The pastor of the church where I currently served resigned the Monday of Holy Week in 2010.  In April of this year the pastor of a dual parish where I had served twice as vacancy pastor, called the church president and informed him he was resigning effective immediately and was on the way out of the parsonage.   Other examples come readily to mind.

 What is it we are called to believe?  What are we called to preached?  According the epistle for the Tuesday of Holy Week (I Corinthians 1:18-31) we believe and teach foolishness.  “We preach Christ crucified.”  Consider the gospel lesson in Mark 14:1-15:47.  Jesus brought his disciples together to share with them his body and blood in the Passover meal.  Holy Communion is a clear sign of our unity in Christ.  Yet, at the very time Christ was giving himself to his church (disciples) praying that they all may be one as he and the Father are one, dissension and weakness were already stressing the unity they had in Christ.  Judas would betray him.  Peter would deny him.  They would all fall away.  The whole church would disintegrate. Or so it would seem.

The women, who been with him, ministering to him since Galilee, stayed on and witnessed his burial.  A Roman centurion commented, “Truly this was the Son of God.”  Joseph of Arimathea contributed a grave site.  Joseph had been a follower even while a member of the Sanhedrin. 

However, Christ crucified is ”the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  God deliberately chose what is regarded as foolish as the source of our life in Christ.

 God won’t let the prophet Isaiah resign in discouragement.  God will use his “foolish” word to bring back his own people.  God also broadens his ministry to include the nations.  So that “my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. ‘

That is the foolishness of our belief and our preaching, the power of God and the wisdom of God in Christ crucified.

 

Moth Eaten

 

After my mother died and my dad moved in with my Wayne and Bev, the farm house was left vacant.  Because our mother kept everything and more, having everything plus more was certainly the case with our mother.  To go into the house was to enter a private world of antiques, collectables and much that was simply rummage.  I was rummaging around d one day when I found some shirts still in their packages.   I unwrapped them only to discover they were moth eaten. There was nothing to do but throw them away.

The Old Testament reading for the Monday of Holy Week is Isaiah 50:5-10.  In words that can’t help but remind of Jesus last hours before his crucifixion the Prophet has been arrested while in exile in Babylon for preaching the word of the Lord.  However, he did not turn back from his calling.  Instead he offered his back to those the rod and scourge.  He did not hide his face but offered his cheeks to those who would yank on his beard.  Though he was suffered disgrace and shame, it had no effect on him.  The Lord was near.  God would vindicate him.  If they want to take him on in court well, let them.  How can anyone find him guilty when the Lord is helping him?

The Psalmist does not call for outright vengeance.  Rather, those who contend with him will simply wear out like a moth eaten garment.  They will fall apart and he with the Lord by his side will stand.

The reading concludes, “Let him who walks in darkness and has not light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.”     

Ride on in Majesty

Ride on, Ride on, in Majesty

Gene Autry had Champ; Roy Rogers rode Trigger; The Lone Ranger cried, “Hi ho, Silver.”  Majestic horses all as Gene, Roy and the Lone Ranger rode to rescue the oppressed by the evil strong.

But Jesus, the Christ, rides to rescue the weak from the oppression of sin and death on the back of a nameless donkey.  He rides on in majesty.  What a strange majesty it is.

In lowly pomp to die.

O Christ, your triumphs now begin

O’er captive death and conquered sin.

Henry Milman’s hymn (1827) is considered one of the finest hymns of the English language.  As I read the first line of the stanza above, I wondered, “Isn’t lowly pomp an oxymoron?”  Milman seems to be saying that Jesus came with no visible pomp at all.  He comes to die.  Nevertheless, Christ’s triumphs are already underway on Palm Sunday.  Death is already captive and sin conquered.  Poetically, Milman reminds me of St. Paul’s words in Colossians 2:14-15.  Christ has nailed the record of our sin to cross, thus setting it aside. ”He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them.”  To the eyes of faith, Jesus does enter Jerusalem in majestic pomp of the conquering King with death and sin being led behind him as vanquished foes.

Nevertheless,

 Jesus will ride on, ride on in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die.

Bow your meek head to mortal pain,

Then take, O Christ, your pow’r and reign.

 

The Father on his sapphire throne

Awaits his own anointed Son.

The whole of the hymn (LSB 441, ELW 346) would make for some worthwhile pondering this Holy Week.

 

      

When the Brain and the Holy Spirit work together.

 

My housemate of nearly 44 years said she couldn’t get into my last two sermons.  Maybe I used all my creative juices on writing the hymn I recently posted. It has gone through a bit more revision since then.  Perhaps I was rushing the sermons and not spending enough time on them.  She may be right.  Sometimes my brain cells and the Holy Spirit don’t click.  However, with that wake up call, we seem to have become re-energized.

So my uneventful day was filled with writing the first three and a half pages of a sermon for Palm/Passion Sunday.  I have about two pages to go.  I ran across an idea of concentrating on the minor characters in the passion story and letting them point to the crucified Christ who stands at center stage.  There are the Betrayers, that odd couple, Judas and Peter.  Caiaphas and Pilate comprise another pair.  In them we see power and corruption along with expediency and dereliction of duty.  The accidental characters, Barabbas and Simon of Cyrene enter the picture.  One suddenly finds himself a free man, the other a tourist bystander from North Africa is pressed into carrying Jesus’ cross.  Jesus, the King of the Jews, is enthroned on the cross with two bandits serving as lieutenants.  The women and the Centurion are present through the dark hours.  The light of who is before him dawns on the Centurion as he begins to see that this was no criminal nor even an ordinary man.  Finally, Joseph of Arimathea provides a temporary resting place for Jesus’ body.  The stage is set for Jesus resurrection with the posting of the guards at his tomb.  We know what is ahead for them.  We know what is ahead for us.