A chapter in an ongoing letter to the agnostic son, of infirm faithful parents.

thank you for your note...

I can't say that I know your frustration but, I beg you to humor me as I share mine. Long story, but there is a point...

In the late 90's our family was increasingly faced with our dad’s decline in awareness. (born in 1918).  My mom had already been through a mastectomy, a hysterectomy, and two strokes, and dad had had part of his jawbone removed from cancer. (never smoked a day in his life).

Sort of as you were, I was elected to take car keys from my dad, as mom had related that they he had gotten lost on the way to one of their favorite restaurants.  It was an endless discussion.  Why do you want the keys, I'm okay, how are we going to get anywhere, this is our home but we don't want to get stuck in it, we don't want meals on wheels, mom’s a good cook (in a wheel chair).  Because it's not safe dad.  I'm okay......round and round.  Finally, by chance I said, it's for mom's safety.  For mom?  Yes, for mom. oh..........Why do you want the keys? ….for mom's safety.  Oh, yes anything for mom.  10 minutes later around we go again.

Eventually, I did receive the keys from my dad.  Ironically those keys came to me from the same hand that had given me the keys to that old 63 Falcon, way back when in High School.  He had said then, “This is not your car, it's just to use.  ;-)

Over time we moved our parents from their house to an assisted living facility in a bigger city nearby.  It was a nice place with both minimal care and Dementia care.  They rented two units with a door cut in between so they could use one of the units as a living room.  When dad continued to decline he was moved to the "other" side. 

While mom visited him every day, her nightmare of his relentless questioning was over.  It had gotten so bad that sometimes she would pretend to be asleep so dad would stop asking the same questions.  

Eventually mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away.  But, not before she (at 80), my sister (53), and my niece (13) were all baptized on the same day.  We had taken the whole family to our home church for the service. While there Dad asked where we were, why we where here, and when are we going to eat? See it comes to me genetically ;-)

When the service came to the Lord's Prayer, everything stopped for my Dad, he folded his hands and said the Lord's Prayer.  Later when my mom died dad didn’t know where he was or why the whole family was there.  

As dad's health dropped drastically, I received the call from sisters and was able to see him on a Friday.  While I talked about Jesus, and dad’s baptism and faith, He talked about whether I knew there was a strange person in the bed on the other side of the room.

My next older sister from Alaska arrived that Saturday, my oldest sister lived only a few miles away.  On Sunday, dad woke up out of a nap and talked to them both my sisters very clearly.  He named them by their names and said thank you to both of them for taking such good care of me and mom.  At that time dad had not remembered anyone’s name for over a year.

On Monday my dad's breathing slowed, and my next older sister said the Lord's prayer with my dad as he passed away.  She was/is a Biologist, and was/is maybe an agnostic, on a really good day. My oldest sister had no faith to speak of at that time.

As for me, I was at the Seminary and inwardly had been very mad with God for some time.  How dare he take away my dad's mind?  My dad was a Phd educator with a photographic memory, he made his living on his mind, so for me God had taken away his greatest asset, and then he took mom away from him too.

Four perspectives, 1) my older brother who did not participate at all, 2) how can I help him, 3) it's a process of life, how can I help, 4) damn you God for taking his mind and his wife.

I read the Bible, read self-help books like the “The 36-hour day”, and still was angry.  At the time all this was happening, I was also a chaplain at Lutheran Hospital and saw death every single day, I knew the process, I knew how to help, I knew the prayers, and I knew I was angry.

Finally, it occurred to me that in all the time that my dad had declined, it wasn't he who was suffering.  He couldn't remember enough to know what he didn't have. His joys had been reduced to snitching a cookie from the cafeteria while winking at me.

But, he also didn't know mom was dying, and he did not have to suffer her loss. My fear at mom's funeral was that history would repeat itself, my dad would be like his dad, pounding on the casket and crying.  But it was not to be so.

It was me who was being selfish, I was mad because I didn't have the Dad I wanted, the one I remembered, not even the dad I didn't want to remember.  But, my dad had faith, right down to his last Lord's Prayer.  

God had protected my father in his deepest weakness.  I learned a life long lesson of faith, compassion, and mercy.  Not my mercy, but mercy from my father to me, in his weakness, from The Our Father.

My sister from Alaska is still an agnostic.  My brother passed away the next year, his was my first 'official' funeral service.  My oldest sister passed away too.  Interestingly, she too heard the Lord's Prayer in her last moments from her sister.

Regardless of whether one believes whether belief in God played a role, as I most certainly do, both sisters had mercy on each other in the way that was appropriate for them.  One’s mercy delivered in logical compassion and that same mercy received through faith in Christ.

Today my mom and dad's bodies remain under a hunk of stone that merely states, "Together Forever."  And you know that I believe that their souls are in heaven just as they believed it too.

Your dad said let the situation evolve, and the statement you heard rang ironic.  A creationist telling a evolutionist to let it evolve.  I do not think your dad saying "let it evolve" means what you think it means. Logically dying in one's house by trip or fall, or by starving to death, or whatever horrid ways we may invent in our minds is not the safe or healthy ending we would choose, though it is what they want to choose.

Though they may or may not have been the parents you wanted, together they model a marriage that is to be commended.  One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One man, One woman, One marriage, for life.  That is indeed exceptional, we cannot all have that, sadly for some that too becomes impossible.

At minimum logic and the A.M.A. would tell us to live in their world, as we try to comfort them in this their declining years.  No matter how much frustration is applied, we cannot make them, into who we want them to be, whether in memory or in the present. Intervention sometimes means giving people what may seem to them like a spoon full of assisted living cod liver oil.  For safety’s sake this should considered in the next few days as the next step.

I believe God will take care of your mom and dad, it may not be pretty in a way we want, but it most certainly will be perfect, He will have the last word to your mom and dad…“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

I don't know if this did anything for you, but it was sure good for me.

Blessings, we will continue to stop in and visit your parents at home.  Let me know if there are any other ways I can help.

Pastor

Third Sunday in Advent - Gaudete Sunday - December 16, 2012

Advent 3
Third Sunday in Advent - Gaudete Sunday
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 16, 2012)

Readings:        Is. 40:1–11                             

                                                Psalm 85
                                                1 Cor. 4:1-5                                                   
                                                Matthew 11:2-11
                                               (with some text of Higher Things article dated December 14, 2012)

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

            Today in the church year is the Third Sunday in Advent, it is known as Gaudete, which means Rejoice.  That is the Latin words for the hymn we sing “Rejoice, Rejoice, Immanuel.” But rather than desiring to sing rejoice, rejoice, we take a moment to pause.  For in our Christmas rush to find the right gift to make a special someone smile, we now think of those who will find no simple way to rejoice on this day, nor this season nor for many seasons to come.  For those students, and parents, friends, and families, in a sleepy Connecticut town, are no longer laboring over the thoughts of just the right Christmas gift, but now their chests heave with labor over loved ones lost. 

            St. Paul tells us that we “as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God...are to be found faithful.” Be faithful, that is a pure Law statement.  How can we continue in faith, when our faith wanes, in the darkness of this great human tragedy? The Advent of our Lord is advancing, Christmas is drawing near.  We look outside and see the hours of day-light are waning.  Our world tells us that darkness has stretched a little further this year. Beyond that which we could ever expect, just to slip in the long shadow of the incarnation of pure evil, just before the incarnation of our Lord. 

            It is not hard today to think of those parents and families grieving for their children as people who are certainly today dwelling in a darkness which may never seem to offer light.  Our first reaction is to point this way and that as to what could have been done, should have been, done, what needs to be done.  But those grieving parents only hear words spoken by, “Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more." (St. Matthew 2:16-18) We want someone to blame, we want something to blame, something we can do to make it all right, to bring back innocent children to the bosom of their weeping mothers, to the strong hug of their fathers.  But the evil one spites us once more, the killer is dead, who can we judge?  St. Paul tells us, “do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”

            But we ask if God’s commendations answer the question why?  Commendations do not live. Commendations do not breathe.  Commendations do not bring home squiggly crayon marked pages, commendations cannot be read to, and commendations do not fall asleep in your arms.  Commendations for us are too much like transactions, like a purple heart and a flag, they are indeed honorable but they do not replace the person who earned them.

            The darkness drives us to despair, it drives us to why, it would seem there is no answer.  Thank God that we are no longer people of darkness for we, “have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” Mt. 4:16  Yet we who are with sin point at others to point out their sin.  Oh we deny that we sin, at least not like all these crazy people in the world. We’re certainly not as bad as them.  We say, I’ve never murdered anyone… but, I have called a few people an SOB, I have talked behind their back, I have  set them up to get embarrassed, but no not me, I have never murdered.  We proclaim; “Take away the guns that will stop the evil…Take away the booze and that will end evil…. Send all the evil people off to jail and that will end all evil.  If we just got our acts together we could do it…”  But, in our proclamations, we left out; Let us rip out our tongues which speak evil too.  Take away our hands which commit evil.  Now we must admit…the list of evil does not end, and no one is exempted, for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

            But before the darkness totally overcomes us, just one more crazy thing.  Have your heard?  There is One child who escaped the slaughter of all those innocent children.   In fact, a baby survived the slaughter of all those innocents.  Jesus Christ got away. He got away so that He could grow up and be the Savior of those children who died.  Christ is the Savior of the children in Connecticut, He is the One who died and is the Savior of everyone. In fact, Jesus even died as the Savior of the man who did this. No?  St. John tells us, “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.  Propitiation, that is to say, Jesus was there in the holy of holies, above the ark holding the ten commandments, and offering himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

            But how could Jesus die for man like that?  Because, after all, it’s a person who did this. It is Evil. It is Sin. Sin in people who do horrible things. Let’s remember that. God didn’t do this. Sin did this. We’ll weep for the children and their families. We should weep for the shooter and whatever it was that led him to do it whether it be anger, rage, or maybe mental illness.  Only God knows his final dispensation.  We weep now because He reminded us what the fallen world really looks like, and now we see the evil. We have met the enemy, and he is us.

            What does God have to say those to parents who are cradling their dead children in their arms?  Or what of the first responders who have to clean up the mess? Or the parents of the children who will never be the same ? What does God have to say to us?

            Jesus says, “In this world you will have tribulation. Take heart. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Jesus doesn’t save us by fixing this world. He saves us out of this world and into eternal life. We stare stunned at the incarnation of evil killing children right before we celebrate the incarnation, the birth of the Son of God, as a child!

            Do not weep Rachel.  See what God has done. God came as a child. To be born. To grow up. To suffer and to die. Jesus was murdered by the sins of us evil men.  Forsaken by the Father. Nailed to the cross. Hanging there bleeding and dying because of what we’ve done. What sin has done. What sin has made us.

            But, by the blood and water that flows from His side, into the font, and flows into the cup.  He makes us His children. We die with Him. We rise with Him. To have such a promise that there is nothing in this world that can happen to us that can ever take us away. Jesus has overcome school shootings and the horrors inflicted upon children and others. He has overcome such things not in the way we would like, not by simply punishing them and keeping us safe.

            He has overcome the world by actually taking on sin and destroying its power forever. And there’s more. He rose. His resurrection is the promise and guarantee that death never, ever gets the last word.

            When some terrible disasters happened in His day, Jesus said, “do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:4-5). These words remind us that when we see tragedies like this, there is no blaming and finger-pointing and name-calling and wondering. There is only repentance. Repentance is recognizing that it can only be Christ who delivers us from such evil.

            Things have changed forever for the people involved in this recent tragedy and for all the tragedies of the past, present, and future. Yet, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

            The Lord grant them and us His mercy and the healing that Christ alone can bring us through our bitter tears.  God’s children, “shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:16-17).

            Gaudete.  Rejoice.  Rejoice, Immanuel.  The darkness wanes, the Light has come into the world.  Amen.

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The Church Season of Trinity - The 17th Sunday after Trinity

The Church Season of Trinity

The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, One Year Series

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 30, 2012)

 Readings:        Psalm 2

                        Proverbs 25:6-14
                        Ephesians 4:1-6
                        Luke 14:1-11

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 14^th chapter of St. Luke, especially the following verse:

Luke 14:1–11, ESV

“One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

            The reason the Pharisees watch Jesus closely is because they are hypocrites. They want to catch Him doing something He shouldn’t do in order to get rid of Him. One Sabbath the Pharisees thought they had Jesus trapped in the ultimate Catch-22. Jesus is eating at a friend’s house. Remember, it’s the Sabbath. Suddenly a man appears before Christ who has dropsy. The modern name for dropsy is an edema. It’s an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin. The trap is set. If Jesus heals the man, He violates the Sabbath by “working”. If Jesus ignores the man, He is a hypocrite. Jesus tells others to love and care for each other, yet He does not care for a man who suffers before His face. No matter what Jesus does, the Pharisees have Him trapped.

            The Pharisees don’t care about what Jesus does or says. They want Him to make a mistake so they can yell “Gotcha!” Perhaps you have come to God’s house with the same attitude. Perhaps you have come here in order to catch the pastor as a hypocrite. He says one thing in his sermon, but he does a completely different thing in life. Perhaps you have come to God’s house to look for other hypocrites. “Why is so-and-so here? Doesn’t everyone know that so-and-so isn’t going to listen to the sermon? They drink, swear, steal, and lie during the week only to come here, fold their hands, and look like an angel. You can’t fool me!”

            But, you’ve been fooled. You are the one who is a fool if you think you are the only one who isn’t a hypocrite. The Church Militant is a hypocritical Church. We say and do things that contradict what we believe every day. That’s what sinners do. Sinners want to do better every day, but they will stumble back into their old tricks.

            The difference between hypocrites and Christian hypocrites is that Christian hypocrites are recovering hypocrites. The Christian hypocrite hates the fact that they say one thing and do another. If that wasn’t the fact, then why is that person at Divine Service? Why do you, O hypocrite of hypocrites, stand in the place of Almighty God and judge? Repent. Leave judging of hearts to God. You have enough to worry about each day, let alone worrying about who is and is not a hypocrite.

            Instead of judging others, judge yourself worthy of eternal death yet rescued from that terrible condition by faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of hypocrites. Jesus asks the Pharisees, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Jesus knows the answer, but He wants to hear their answer. He receives silence. So Jesus heals the man of dropsy. In the eyes of a Pharisee, Jesus has broken the Sabbath Law and must die. In the eyes of those made righteous in Jesus Christ, Jesus has kept the Sabbath according to the letter of God’s Law.

            Jesus says elsewhere the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Our heavenly Father knows we need at least one day a week to rest in Christ Jesus. For New Testament Christians, that day is commonly Sunday, the day Christ rose from the dead. This means every Divine Service is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Today Jesus raises a man with dropsy from near death to healthy life. He does the same for you today.

            The Alleluia verse from Psalm 116 says it best: I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. The verse says nothing about hearing only those who are not hypocrites. The verse says He hears your voice and your pleas for mercy. One of the first words said in the Divine Service is “Lord, have mercy.” This is a cry of faith. This cry says, “Lord, I know you are the God of mercy. I know that You promise never to turn a deaf ear to me. Do what You promised me. Have mercy on me. Hear my words of joy and thanksgiving and answer them not according to who I am, but according to Who You are.”

            The Lord is merciful because He lays down His life for you. He could sit on a throne surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand angels and archangels. He could be inaccessible except to those Whom He deems to draw near to Him. He could be inaccessible to mere mortals like you and me. This is not Who Jesus is. Jesus becomes like us, except without sin, in order to exalt us to sit with Him in the heavenly mansions forever. Jesus dies as a mocked hypocrite of a Savior, despised by both God and man, in order to buy you back from the devil’s cunning grasp. Humiliation becomes exaltation. Death becomes life. Hopelessness becomes joy.

            Jesus Christ has mercy on recovering hypocrites everywhere. He bids us ask him to help us control our tongue in order that it may praise Him rather than curse others. He bids us open our mouths to receive His forgiveness and life in the Lord’s Supper on the same muscle that wants to speak ill of God and our neighbor. Instead of cauterizing the tongue or cutting it off, our Lord sanctifies the tongue through His means of grace to bestow mercy that is stronger than hypocrisy.

            Jesus places His forgiveness, His body and blood where sin comes out of our body.  “Oh Lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.” For Christ had said it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the body, but what comes out.  In the sacrament of Sacrament of Holy  Communion not only are your lips cleansed, but also your mind, your life, and your soul.  You are forgiven,  Christ offers that forgiveness everyday and unto eternal life.  Amen.

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The Church Season of Trinity - The 16th Sunday after Trinity

The Church Season of Trinity

The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 23, 2012)

 

Readings:        Psalm
                        1 Kings 17:17-24
                        Ephesians 3:13-21
                        Luke 7:11-17

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message as recorded in the Old Testament Lesson from the 7th chapter of Luke:

Luke 7:11–17, ESV

“Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

            Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. These are comforting words from Psalm 23.  The widow in Nain is probably not thinking about words, she’s thinking about her son, her husband, what now.

            But words do come to this woman from an intruder, from someone who does what is not allowed, not pure or ritually clean, nor right by the eyes of the world. 

            And that intruder is Jesus Christ who is also surrounded by a large crowd who were following Him from His healing of the Centurions servant.  And the very first words Jesus tells the widow is “Do not weep.”  Unbelievable words to this grieving widow.

            But when Christ comes, he comes to help. He came to help these people in the Gospel of St. Luke. And he comes into our presence to help us. He comes to change our wailing into dancing. He comes to change our grief into joy. Surely he knows we have much to wail and grieve about. He sees that we know the pain and anguish of losing those we love, sometimes much too soon. He sees that we know the grief and anguish of being the one lost, the one who dies.

            Yes, we know what its like to be dead—dead in our sins. We know the death that happens inside when we sinfully grieve as if we have no hope. We express our sinful death with words that masquerade as comfort and consolation—like telling those who grieve, "Don't Cry." We die in our sin, again and again, when we gather around our grief-stricken brothers and sisters and do nothing at all that shows true godly compassion and mercy. These and all our sins kill us. They kill us spiritually. In the eyes of God they put us in a coffin and make us just as dead as that young man from Nain. Whether we're grieving over the death of a loved one, or even over our own death, our sins are carrying us to a spiritual grave. We know very well the need for help. We know very well the need for God to come and help us. Because we need Jesus to help us just like he helped this young man and his mother.

            And help us is exactly what Jesus does. Most often, and rightly so, we think of Christ helping us by his own death on the cross. By his death he killed our sins. By his resurrection he seals his promise that we will rise one day like the boy from Nain. This is great help indeed. But there's also a more personal, intimate side to Christ's help. It's the way Christ delivers this help to us today—through his holy Word in the Bible and through his Holy Sacraments of Absolution, Baptism, and Communion. By these gracious gifts, our Lord Jesus Christ comes and helps us. He walks up to the deadly coffins of sin we find ourselves in and he says, "Young man, young woman, I say to you get up! Dear old man, sweet old woman, I say to you, arise! Arise from the coffin of sin that holds you in and I will give you back to our Father in heaven. Your true father, to whom you truly belong. We experience Christ's touch when we hear him say in Holy Absolution, "Your sins are forgiven." We hear him say, "Get up!" as the water is poured over our heads in Holy Baptism in the name of our Triune God. We feel him raise us up from death and give us strength for our lives of faith as he feeds us his true body and blood at this very altar. And all the time, together with these gifts, he speaks to us from the Scriptures, telling us over and over and over again, "Get up. Arise. Walk and live."

            Without Christ meeting us as we walk to our own sinful death, we would remain forever dead. Because, we know exactly who we are without his help. We are the dead. We are dead in our sins. But Christ does come to meet us. He does come to help. With his holy touch in the Word and Sacraments we too arise from our sinful death. We get up—and even though we may grieve the death of those we love, we grieve with sure and certain hope for our eternal future, and the future of those we love. We stand up, strengthened to comfort those who mourn with our presence and with the consolation of the Word of God. We rise from death, even in this life, with our eternal life preserved so we can help those among us preserve their livelihood, their strength, and their own faith. With Christ's help, we walk in newness of life. Christ's heavenly help gives us the faith and the strength for these and all good works.

            Every good work we do, we do in hope. Hope for our everlasting life. Because as we all know, our sin will eventually overcome our mortal bodies. We will finally be devoured by sin, and we will die. People will mourn our death as the widow mourned for her only son. There may indeed be weeping and wailing and great sorrow. But Christ has promised his help even then, precisely then. He has promised help for those who mourn, and help for the dead, as well. His promise of help is his promise to return. And when he does, on that great and glorious day, we will experience the touch of God on our own coffins. We will feel Christ's hand not in Word in Sacrament, but in true, incarnate flesh and bone. With our own ears we will hear his voice, and he will say, "Get up. Get up from the grave. Get up from death. Get up and be alive forever. As his words ring forth, the fields and floods will shout for joy, the rocks and hills will echo with praise. And with his own hand, Christ will take us to heaven to live with him there, and we will see the widow from Nain. We will see her son. We will join with all the nations gathered in heaven and will prove the glories of the righteousness and love of God. And for eternity we will sing words much like those of Psalm 30. You turned my wailing into dancing. My heart will sing to God and will not be silent. Because we will know, most intimately, the blessings of our Lord. Forever, we will know the blessing of the Lord who has come. We will know in full the grace, the mercy and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ—Our God who has come to help his people. Amen.

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The Church Season of Trinity - Holy Cross Day (Transferred)

The Church Season of Trinity

Holy Cross Day (Transferred)

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 16, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 40:1-11

                        Numbers 21:4-9
                        1 Corinthians 1:18-25
                        John 12:20-33

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Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from the Father,

and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

John 12:20–33, ESV

“Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

            God has a plan for your life. You know that already. Yet you may wonder why you still have problems in your life. You ask yourselves; if God has a plan, shouldn't my life get gradually better? We pray for God's help in times of trouble. God most certainly helps you. So why are there still nagging problems? Why does life get so hard? If God has a plan, what is taking Him so long to put it into action? If He is loving, why does He seem so slow?

            It is easy to say that God has a plan for your life. But wouldn't it be nice to know what that plan is? It is one thing to patiently endure troubles if you know how long you have to endure. It is quite another thing if there is no end in sight, and perhaps only the grave will end your troubles. If only God would show you His plan.

            God does in fact have a plan for and the plan is that you follow Jesus. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? As you follow Jesus, you do acts of love and service to help other people. That sounds pretty easy and it sounds good.

            But didn’t Christ said, "Whoever serves Me must follow Me." And before He said those words He said, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." And before that He said, "A kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die."

            Jesus suffered and laid down His life. That is what it means to follow Jesus. God's plan for you is the way of the cross; in other words, to suffer and die. That’s not quite the plan that any of us may think of and it may be just a tad unsettling. Because you’ve heard from the TV Preachers and the people of this world that God's plan is to give you a life with little or no trouble in it, everything will just always be hunky dory. But God actually brings you the troubles. They happen according to His plan.

            Now let me finish before we start wondering if God is cruel, He is not. He is loving, not mean-spirited. Yet He is much wiser than we are. He knows what is best for us, and sometimes that means pain. Maybe a better way to understand this is like when a doctor inflicts pain when he gives an injection, but it is for our good. So God also gives us pain, for our good.

            Consider the life of Christ. He was born into this world for the express purpose of suffering and dying. "For this reason I came into this hour," said Jesus. God's plan for Him was Passion and Crucifixion. The Father sent His own beloved Son to do this.

            We are to be imitators of Christ. That means sharing in His sufferings. He went the way of the cross. We must do the same. We do not suffer in order to earn anything before God, or to atone for sin. Yet we still suffer in the image of Christ our Lord. We must follow Him.

            Too often, we love our own lives. Loving your life here does not mean to enjoy the physical blessings God gives. Otherwise, we would have to stop praying, "Give us this day our daily bread." God gives us many blessings to enjoy. So we should not feel guilty for taking pleasure in His created gifts.

            Yet a Christian following the way of the cross must be willing to die a little every day. Is our life one of accumulating as many things as possible to make ourselves happy? Is it our purpose to live for enjoyment? In that case, our lives would be dedicated to serving ourselves, as if we were the God we worship.

            But we must die daily in sacrificing for the sake of Christ and our neighbor. If we greedily consume our creature comforts, yet our brother suffers in poverty, then how is Christ served by such a life? Should we not instead willingly suffer poverty, if need be, for the sake of Christ and our brother? Not that Christ needs our charity. Yet He has chosen to accept your works of mercy as if they were directed to Him.

            In all we do, we should fix our eyes upon Christ, to see Him above and before all things. In our devotion to Him, all other loves in this life should be pale and small in comparison. Even our own survival should be secondary next to Christ. Should we not gladly cast aside our life, if called upon, so that Christ might be glorified in our death?

            But our sinful nature does not want death. It does not want to carry a cross. It does not want anything to take priority over itself. We often participate in our religion only so long as we feel satisfied and happy. We limit our involvement to those activities with which we feel comfortable.

            And what if we are called upon to face greater suffering? The things we have felt are small compared to the tribulations and persecutions that may yet come upon us, if God so wills. Will we stand firm and accept whatever God sends? Or will we avoid, retreat, or deny? If Peter the Rock could deny His lord three times, then surely any of us could do the same. In our weak self-centeredness, we are likely to cut and run in order to preserve our own life.

            Deep inside, we love our life. The sinful flesh is full of self-love. It does not submit to God's plan. It wants no part of suffering or death. This flesh will be with us till we die. So a part of us always resists God's plan of suffering and cross. Thus, seeking to save our life, our sinful flesh would lead us to lose our life for all eternity.

            To rescue you from this death, the Father sent His Son into human flesh. Yet Christ had no sin and did not resist His Father. To be sure, Jesus was troubled by the prospect of the Cross. In Gethsemane, He felt agony and sweated drops of blood. He prayed that the Father keep the Cross from coming, if it were possible.

            Still, He submitted to His Father's will. There was no other way but the Cross. So Jesus patiently endured it all. He suffered the vicious tortures of man and the burning wrath of God.

Because our rebellious nature resisted God's plan, therefore Christ had to suffer in our place. So this was God's plan, that His Son be slaughtered on our behalf. Pain and death became the pinnacle of God's purpose, and a Man tortured on a Cross became the glory of God. In the precious Blood and in the Crucifixion, the Father's Name is glorified.

            He lifted up His own Son from the ground. He was suspended between heaven and earth, rejected by both. On the Cross, Christ was made an unclean thing to His Father, to receive His full, unleashed wrath against sin. But in this horror of a Man hung upon pieces of wood, God created the greatest good that has ever existed. In this Man, tortured to death, God has made salvation for all men.

            So Christ crucified is drawing all men to Himself. His message has gone out into all the earth. Some reject and resist His Word, even though He draws them. He bore their sins, yet they will not receive Him.

            To you who believe, He is a fruitful Seed that springs up to new life. He plants His own vitality in your soul, so that you cannot die. Even in physical death, you will be a seed like Christ, planted in the ground to sprout and blossom into immortality.

            That is God's plan for you. His plan carries you through death. You must suffer first, because you live in the image of Christ. As He endured bitter pain and sorrow that pierced Him, so you must endure. As Christ's life was carefully planned and set in place by the power and wisdom of God, so your life is prepared in advance for you.

            The Father does nothing lightly or carelessly. His love for you is greater than anyone could ever imagine. Every pain and every tear is known by Him. He sends you these troubles so that you, like Christ, can pass through suffering into an eternity of joyful bliss. For if you reject Christ in order to live a more comfortable life, then you will spend eternity in suffering. But if you embrace Christ through all the trouble that this life gives you, then you will share in His glory in the life to come.

            So you endure many hardships, because you know that Jesus did not choose the easy path, but the hardest one of all. He, your elder Brother, carried the heaviest burden, and your troubles are light by comparison. Take comfort that He has merited full salvation for you by His sufferings. Even when you shrink away from a cross He gives you to bear, He is still ready to forgive.

            So let us gladly die with Jesus. Let us die to our sinful flesh in repentance. Let us die to this sinful world. As we have died with Jesus in Baptism, let us gladly die to this present life and suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from faith in Him.

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The Church Season of Trinity - Holy Cross Day(Transferred)

The Church Season of Trinity

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 9, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 119:9-16

                        Proverbs 4:10-23
                        Galatians 5:16-24
                        Luke 17:11-19

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 17th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit

            Leprosy is an excellent metaphor for sin. Sin is a contagious, incurable, and fatal disease from which you cannot save yourself. Sin, like leprosy, requires healing from outside you. No one has ever cured themselves from leprosy. No one, not even you, can cure you from sin.

            You can’t ignore leprosy. If you ignore it, then it will get worse. The same can be said for sin, although we all try to give ignorance of sin a good try. We think, if only I don’t think about sin. Then, maybe, it will go away. I won’t sin anymore. When I do sin, it won’t be sin. It will be doing something wrong that I know better to do. God will wink at it. He understands.  Or maybe we understand that a little bit better in non-theological terms, maybe better said as, hedging our bets.

            God certainly does understand sin. He can’t stand sin. All sin is repulsive before God. Nothing unclean is able to stand before Him and live. Perhaps that is why we sometimes wink at sin. We can’t do a thing about it, so we go on about our business. We figure we are going to die anyway, so why bother worrying about our lost condition.  Another bet hedged.

            We are worse than a leper is if we think this way.   Our reading from Luke tells us that at least the ten lepers were smart enough to cry out, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! At best, it is possible these lepers believed that Jesus could help them. But they don’t ask for healing, they ask for mercy. Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than what Luke says.

            Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than you or I do. Or perhaps not, as after our blessed Lord tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, nine of them keep running to the priests even after they discover they are healed. You must admit this sounds familiar, maybe just maybe we have done the same. We have bowed our head in prayer to God for something. And once God is merciful and has granted our request, we run away and go on about our business, never stopping to thank God for His mercy. We’ve gotten what we have have requested. That’s all we need. Gee thanks, God, no time to say hello goodbye, I’m busy and late, talk to you later…When I need you, maybe.

            Blessed Martin Luther writes We can do no greater nor better work toward God, nor show nobler divine service, than thank Him…. On the other hand, just as praise and gratitude is to be the highest divine service, both here on earth and there in eternity: thus ingratitude is also the vilest vice. Whoever thanks God gives Him honor. Whoever does not thank God robs Him of honor and makes himself god. The First Commandment says You shall have no other gods. The prophet Isaiah writes I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.

            It is indeed sad to note that most people who call themselves Christians only call upon the Lord when they need Him. And once they receive what they ask, they never bother to thank Him. They never bother to show any sort of gratitude. They’ve gotten their desired handout and keep on running. It is as if you have total control over God’s hand.

            Do not be deceived. God and His Word is not mocked. What happens when God removes His gracious Hand from you if you believe that you can control His mercy? Will you wither and die. What happens when God does not respond as you wish, when you wish, exactly the way you wish?  Will you remember that God is a gracious God, and that He knows what is best for you.  Or will you sulk, because your prayer is not answered to your satisfaction?  Oh I did pray, I prayed and prayed, I pleaded with God, but He did not do as I asked.

            We are driven downward to despair and when we do it is time to repent. We are to believe once again what God’s Word says about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Saint Paul tells Saint Timothy: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. You can’t argue with Saint Paul, he was a filthy, rotten sinner, just like you and me. There’s no need of ranking who is chief. You are chief alongside Saint Paul.

            But, thank God instead, when the perceived result of your prayers are not as you wish.  Prayer is not wishing, prayer is conversation with God.  Our petitions to God are like speaking into a tin cup with string attached.  But just the same God hears every word, every feeling, every disappointment, every heartfelt plea.  And God’s answer does not ring us back with the tin cup, His answer is laser precise, He gives us exactly everything we need.  For, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus did not come into the world to save only grateful sinners. Thank God for that.

            Rather recall from St. John’s Gospel: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. He suffered pain and scorn from the same people He came to save from their sin. Jesus could have removed His gracious Hand from His beloved children. He could have paid for the sin of Gentiles only, or Jews only. But, Jesus suffered unbelief and ingratitude, just as He does today. Jesus suffers unbelief and ingratitude, but still He does not cease to offer His deliverance from the distress of our sins.

            Jesus laments that only one out of the ten lepers returned to give Him honor and praise. St. Luke adds a stingy comment, and [that one]was a Samaritan. The bad has finally won, the Samaritan does what’s right.  He says thank you Lord.  The Leper has been healed for today.  Isn’t it amazing how the Samaritans upstage the Jews in the Gospels. Last week in the Holy Gospel the Samaritan did something he shouldn’t do either. Jesus tells the Samaritan, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.

            Have you ever asked, the question…Okay, I’m standing Lord, but which way should I be going? In this case the Leper turns and goes away, yet is drawn back. The true temple is not a building on a temple mount, the true priest is not gathered with others trying to decide the rules.  The true priest and the true temple are one and the same, one person Jesus Christ our Lord. 

            And the leper cured for a day, will one day die to this world.  Yet he goes in the way of the Lord, walking with Him to Jerusalem for the consummation of forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus takes the Samaritan’s greatest infirmity, sin, puts sin on His back, walks to Golgotha, and dies for it. Jesus does the same with your sin, too. Jesus takes your infirmities and diseases, especially the infirmity of unbelief and the disease of ingratitude, and dies for them on the cross. You are healed. You are forgiven.

            You are made well and absolved from sin, you journey with Jesus through this life, washed clean in Baptism, fed with His True Body and Blood in the Supper, pronounced clean from the leprosy of sin in Absolution, dying in His Name in order to rise from the dead when He calls you forth on the Last Day.

            In the meantime, Jesus’ healing Word powered by the Holy Spirit speaks through you when you show gratitude to your neighbor. This gratitude shown to your neighbor is a fruit of faith. It shows that the healing medicine of Christ is at work in you.

            The Lord keeps His Church in perpetual mercy. He takes away your infirmities and makes you whole. No longer are you a leper, an outcast. You are part of the family of God. You are clean. Your faith, a gift from a loving and gracious God, not something you earned on your own, has saved you. Now you go on your way, or rather the Way that has been given to you…the way of Jesus…and that is the way of forgiveness and eternal life for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit

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The Church Season of Trinity - The 14th Sunday after Trinity

The Church Season of Trinity

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (September 9, 2012)

Readings:        Psalm 119:9-16

                        Proverbs 4:10-23
                        Galatians 5:16-24
                        Luke 17:11-19

+++INI+++

 Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 17th chapter of St. Luke, the following verses,

Luke 17:11-19 (ESV)

¹¹ On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit

            Leprosy is an excellent metaphor for sin. Sin is a contagious, incurable, and fatal disease from which you cannot save yourself. Sin, like leprosy, requires healing from outside you. No one has ever cured themselves from leprosy. No one, not even you, can cure you from sin.

            You can’t ignore leprosy. If you ignore it, then it will get worse. The same can be said for sin, although we all try to give ignorance of sin a good try. We think, if only I don’t think about sin. Then, maybe, it will go away. I won’t sin anymore. When I do sin, it won’t be sin. It will be doing something wrong that I know better to do. God will wink at it. He understands.  Or maybe we understand that a little bit better in non-theological terms, maybe better said as, hedging our bets.

            God certainly does understand sin. He can’t stand sin. All sin is repulsive before God. Nothing unclean is able to stand before Him and live. Perhaps that is why we sometimes wink at sin. We can’t do a thing about it, so we go on about our business. We figure we are going to die anyway, so why bother worrying about our lost condition.  Another bet hedged.

            We are worse than a leper is if we think this way.   Our reading from Luke tells us that at least the ten lepers were smart enough to cry out, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! At best, it is possible these lepers believed that Jesus could help them. But they don’t ask for healing, they ask for mercy. Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than what Luke says.

            Perhaps these lepers know a little more about Christ than you or I do. Or perhaps not, as after our blessed Lord tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, nine of them keep running to the priests even after they discover they are healed. You must admit this sounds familiar, maybe just maybe we have done the same. We have bowed our head in prayer to God for something. And once God is merciful and has granted our request, we run away and go on about our business, never stopping to thank God for His mercy. We’ve gotten what we have have requested. That’s all we need. Gee thanks, God, no time to say hello goodbye, I’m busy and late, talk to you later…When I need you, maybe.

            Blessed Martin Luther writes We can do no greater nor better work toward God, nor show nobler divine service, than thank Him…. On the other hand, just as praise and gratitude is to be the highest divine service, both here on earth and there in eternity: thus ingratitude is also the vilest vice. Whoever thanks God gives Him honor. Whoever does not thank God robs Him of honor and makes himself god. The First Commandment says You shall have no other gods. The prophet Isaiah writes I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.

            It is indeed sad to note that most people who call themselves Christians only call upon the Lord when they need Him. And once they receive what they ask, they never bother to thank Him. They never bother to show any sort of gratitude. They’ve gotten their desired handout and keep on running. It is as if you have total control over God’s hand.

            Do not be deceived. God and His Word is not mocked. What happens when God removes His gracious Hand from you if you believe that you can control His mercy? Will you wither and die. What happens when God does not respond as you wish, when you wish, exactly the way you wish?  Will you remember that God is a gracious God, and that He knows what is best for you.  Or will you sulk, because your prayer is not answered to your satisfaction?  Oh I did pray, I prayed and prayed, I pleaded with God, but He did not do as I asked.

            We are driven downward to despair and when we do it is time to repent. We are to believe once again what God’s Word says about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Saint Paul tells Saint Timothy: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. You can’t argue with Saint Paul, he was a filthy, rotten sinner, just like you and me. There’s no need of ranking who is chief. You are chief alongside Saint Paul.

            But, thank God instead, when the perceived result of your prayers are not as you wish.  Prayer is not wishing, prayer is conversation with God.  Our petitions to God are like speaking into a tin cup with string attached.  But just the same God hears every word, every feeling, every disappointment, every heartfelt plea.  And God’s answer does not ring us back with the tin cup, His answer is laser precise, He gives us exactly everything we need.  For, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus did not come into the world to save only grateful sinners. Thank God for that.

            Rather recall from St. John’s Gospel: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. He suffered pain and scorn from the same people He came to save from their sin. Jesus could have removed His gracious Hand from His beloved children. He could have paid for the sin of Gentiles only, or Jews only. But, Jesus suffered unbelief and ingratitude, just as He does today. Jesus suffers unbelief and ingratitude, but still He does not cease to offer His deliverance from the distress of our sins.

            Jesus laments that only one out of the ten lepers returned to give Him honor and praise. St. Luke adds a stingy comment, and [that one]was a Samaritan. The bad has finally won, the Samaritan does what’s right.  He says thank you Lord.  The Leper has been healed for today.  Isn’t it amazing how the Samaritans upstage the Jews in the Gospels. Last week in the Holy Gospel the Samaritan did something he shouldn’t do either. Jesus tells the Samaritan, Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.

            Have you ever asked, the question…Okay, I’m standing Lord, but which way should I be going? In this case the Leper turns and goes away, yet is drawn back. The true temple is not a building on a temple mount, the true priest is not gathered with others trying to decide the rules.  The true priest and the true temple are one and the same, one person Jesus Christ our Lord. 

            And the leper cured for a day, will one day die to this world.  Yet he goes in the way of the Lord, walking with Him to Jerusalem for the consummation of forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus takes the Samaritan’s greatest infirmity, sin, puts sin on His back, walks to Golgotha, and dies for it. Jesus does the same with your sin, too. Jesus takes your infirmities and diseases, especially the infirmity of unbelief and the disease of ingratitude, and dies for them on the cross. You are healed. You are forgiven.

            You are made well and absolved from sin, you journey with Jesus through this life, washed clean in Baptism, fed with His True Body and Blood in the Supper, pronounced clean from the leprosy of sin in Absolution, dying in His Name in order to rise from the dead when He calls you forth on the Last Day.

            In the meantime, Jesus’ healing Word powered by the Holy Spirit speaks through you when you show gratitude to your neighbor. This gratitude shown to your neighbor is a fruit of faith. It shows that the healing medicine of Christ is at work in you.

            The Lord keeps His Church in perpetual mercy. He takes away your infirmities and makes you whole. No longer are you a leper, an outcast. You are part of the family of God. You are clean. Your faith, a gift from a loving and gracious God, not something you earned on your own, has saved you. Now you go on your way, or rather the Way that has been given to you…the way of Jesus…and that is the way of forgiveness and eternal life for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit

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