Homily for Lent 4

Real Refreshment
Text: John 6:1-15 (with Exodus 16:2-21 & Acts 2:41-47)

Today is about refreshment, real refreshment, from the Lord of life Himself. For three weeks in Lent we’ve been hearing about the heat of battle. First, it was the battle against temptation. Next, it was the battle of faith. Last week, it was the battle against the devil himself. Are you feeling weak and worn down yet? Well, today we get a refreshment break. That’s why today is also called “Laetare”—“Rejoice! Sunday.” It comes from Isaiah 66(:10-11): “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast.”

Can we really rejoice in the middle of Lent, though? Isn’t Lent all about repentance and reflection? Yes, and that’s why we had the battle imagery for three weeks. But today we get a little pause for refreshment. We need this refreshment, because starting next week we will go down into the valley of the shadow of death with our Lord Jesus. So, let Jesus refresh you here today. You see, when Jesus feeds you on Himself, He gives you real refreshment for both body and soul.

Today we hear the story of Jesus feeding and refreshing over 5,000 people. The Gospel of John links this event to the Passover celebration in Jerusalem. That reminds us of Old Testament Israel as each family sacrificed a lamb, then roasted it, and then ate it in haste. After all, once supper was over, they quickly had to get up and escape from their Egyptian slave masters. It was a refreshing meal of God’s salvation and rescue.

The other gospels also tell us that Jesus had been teaching all day. So He and His disciples and the large crowd were physically exhausted. It was also a meal of physical refreshment. Jesus comes to feed and refresh both soul and body.

Jesus looks at the hungry, tired crowd and asks a question of His disciples: “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” Yes, Jesus knew exactly what He would do, but He also wanted to see if His disciples could figure out how to trust Him. It’s as if He threw them a hot potato. And everyone knows that you don’t hold on to a hot potato. Instead, you toss it back. But the two disciples tried to hold on to that “hot potato.” Philip worried about  and lamented the great need. “Two hundred [days’ wages] would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little,” he complained. Andrew, on the other hand, worried and complained about the meager resources. “Lord, we only have five little barley rolls and two small ‘fishies.’ It’s merely a boy’s lunch.” One worried about the great need. The other worried about the meager resources. But neither of them looked to Jesus, the Bread of Life.

Now, isn’t that just like you and me? We do that all the time. Not only is our habit of worrying a sin against God, and not only is our complaining a sin against God, but such fruitless activities also exhaust us and wear us out. Take your time, for example. When Monday morning rolls around, you look at the great need of things you have to do through the week. Shuttle the children to school. Rush to work and do all those work tasks. Go to the doctor and have those tests taken. Rush home. Fix dinner. Eat dinner. Do the grocery shopping. Oh, and help with homework, clean the house, and get everyone ready for bed. Then you look at your meager resources. Only 24 hours in a day and only 7 days in the week. How will you get it all done in such limited time? And if one more thing gets added to your “To Do” list, you feel like your head will explode. But you forget to look to Jesus. Is it any wonder you are worn out?

Or take another example: your family finances. First, you worry about your great need—all those bills, all those expenses, all those unexpected things like car repairs and medical bills. Then you worry about your limited, meager resources. How will you make that paycheck stretch through the next two weeks, especially when most of it seems to evaporate within hours after you deposit it? You worry about your great need, then you worry about your meager resources. You might even throw in a little complaining for good measure. But you keep forgetting to look to Jesus. Is it any wonder you feel tired and worn out?

We can also apply this to our life together in the congregation. We worry about the great need—conducting services in the Lord’s house; educating our children in the Christian faith; supporting our workers who bring us the Gospel in word and song; paying the bills for heat, light, insurance and other needs; making needed repairs. Oh, and did I mention setting aside and giving away money to promote the Gospel and help other people around the globe? But then we look at the meager resources. How will this week’s offerings look? Next month’s income? How many bills must we hold before we pay them? It doesn’t help, but we still worry. It doesn’t help, but we still complain. And we keep forgetting to look to Jesus!

Yes, Jesus knew what He would do. He just wanted to see if His disciples would learn to trust Him. He knows exactly what to do with you, your life, and our congregation. He also wants to see if we will learn to trust Him. And, as we see in today’s refreshing story, Jesus takes care of all of our great needs even with the most meager of resources.

Jesus told His disciples to have the people sit down on the grassy hill. He took the five little barley rolls, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples so that they could distribute them to the hungry people. You can almost hear them as they give out the pieces of bread: “Take, eat … given for you.” Then Jesus took the two little ‘fishies,’ gave thanks for them too, and gave them to the disciples to give to the crowd. Now, can you imagine how the disciples must have reacted? They dole out little pieces of bread and fish, and yet the bread and the fish don’t run out! They just keep on doling out the little morsels. And it's an all-you-can-eat feast! And everyone ate until they were full!

What a great picture Jesus gives of Himself! In fact, after this feast, He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (Jn 6:35). There were 12 whole baskets of leftovers. There’s always plenty of Jesus, the Bread of Life, to go around. Remember, He is the bread born in Bethlehem, the “house of bread.” He is also the bread that was baked and broken in the hellish heat of the cross. You see, He gives His Body for food and His Blood for drink. The very Body broken and Blood shed on the cross are also given to you in a most refreshing Meal. As Jesus also says, “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (Jn 6:54-56).

The disciples worried about the great need, but Jesus showed them that He meets every need. They worried about the meager resources, but Jesus showed them that they had food enough to feed the crowd, and plenty to spare. The twelve baskets left over tell us that there’s always plenty of Jesus to go around. There’s plenty of real refreshment with Jesus. Remember, Jesus also says, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28-29). You see, in Jesus, there's plenty of rest and refreshment because in Jesus you have full and free forgiveness. In Jesus, all of your worrying, all of your complaining, all of your forgetting to look to Him--it's all forgiven.

You know, it continually amazes me. So many of us these days lament and moan about how frazzled and frustrated we are, about how little time and money we have, and about how many demands are made on us. People are just plain fed up and worn down. Is there any real refreshment? Many people look to more activities—such as sports events, spendy vacations, or shopping sprees. But often these things only add to the frazzle and frustration, especially when the bills come due, when the fun is over, and when life’s demands come rushing back.

Would you like some real refreshment for your troubled souls and hectic lives? Here it is: Jesus the Christ, who gives His Body and His Blood for you to eat and to drink. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” (Ps 34:8) When you have Jesus, you have real refreshment. And when you look at your time, your finances, and your congregation, you need not worry or complain over the great needs or the meager resources. Instead, look to Jesus, the very Bread of Life. As we will soon sing:

“O living Bread from heaven,
How well You feed Your guest!
The gifts that You have given
Have filled my heart with rest.
O wondrous food of blessing,
Oh, cup that heals our woes!
My heart, this gift possessing,
With praises overflows.” (LSB 642:1)

Amen.

Sasse on Christian Revelation

In his essay "The Church and the Word of God," delivered in 1934, Dr. Hermann Sasse contrasts Christian revelation over against the personal revelation views of Cherbury, Fichte, and young Schleiermacher. What is Christian revelation? Here's Sasse:

The truth of our faith depends upon the fact that Jesus Christ appeared once, was sacrificed once for (Heb 7:27; 9:26, 28), that he suffered "under Pontius Pilate" [Apostles' Creed]. Should it be shown that the NT recounts not historical truth in its witness to Christ, rather only a myth, the apostles would be false witnesses (1 Cor 15:15). Then what Paul wrote would apply: "Your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" [1 Cor 15:17-18 NKJV]. And finally, Christian revelation, directly because of this historical character, is bound to the witness of history and thus also the witnesses of history. It is bound to their word and to the written record of this word.

The contents of the Christian faith are not simply the objects of our experience. The incarnation, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ are not facts which we can know from our own experience. We know of them only through the testimony of the Scriptures....

Biblical revelation is an "offense" for the religious and moral man of every age, just as it is "foolishness" to the philosophies of all ages [cf. 1 Cor 1:23]. It is a foreigner also in the world of religions....

The content of Bible revelation cannot be expressed in any theoretical thesis, neither in a thesis concerning the love of God and men, nor in the form of "the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men." The content of biblical revelation is much more the truth as a person; it is Jesus Christ. (Hermann Sasse, "The Church and the Word of God" in The Lonely Way: Selected Essays and Letters, Volume I (1927-1939), 151-152.)

Homily for Lent 2

Our Truest Friend
Text: Matthew 15:21-28, with Genesis 32:22-32 & 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7

Last week’s readings reminded us that we Christians have an enemy who likes to act like our friend. Today’s readings remind us that we have a Friend who sometimes seems to act like our enemy.

What do I mean? Satan comes to us with his mask of friendliness, but behind that mask he has only malicious  intent, hatred and destruction. The devil befriends us because he desires to torment us and drive us away from God. But our true Friend, who sometimes wears the mask of an enemy, or so it seems to us, has a different desire. Behind His occasional rough handling of us, He desires only that we come to share in His joy, His peace, His light, and His love for all eternity. The enemy sugarcoats his malice. But our true Friend sometimes disguises His benevolence behind a guise of bitterness.

Jacob learned this as he wrestled through the night with that mysterious figure on the banks of the Jabbok River. Yes, he walked away from the encounter limping and in pain, but he walked away a blessed man. He even walked away as a man with a new name: “Israel.” He wrestled and struggled with God and with men, and he prevailed. With that new name and that blessing, he was strengthened and encouraged to face his brother Esau. Remember, Jacob last saw his brother Esau 20 years earlier, and at that time Esau wanted to kill him for stealing the family blessing. So this mysterious figure wrestling with Jacob may have seemed like an enemy, but He turned out to be Jacob’s dearest Friend. He was the same Friend who had promised Jacob: “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen. 28:15).

And what about the woman in today’s Gospel? She knew something of the Friend who disguises Himself as an enemy, wouldn’t you say? Like so many others, she came to our Lord, crying for mercy. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” And look at how her best and truest Friend treated her: “He did not answer her a word.”

He just ignored her…as though she weren’t even there…as though He never heard her cry…as though He did not see her desperation! He just kept walking. Who could blame this woman if she thought that this was no Friend at all, but rather an enemy? But did she give up? No! She kept crying out behind Him, begging for His mercy. The disciples must have wondered, “What on earth is He up to? This is getting downright embarrassing! Look at all the people starting to stare! “Send her away,” they cried, “for she is crying out after us.”

And how does her dearest and truest Friend answer that? “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Who was He looking at, when He said that? Was He looking at the disciples, or at the woman? If He was looking at the woman, was He making it clear that He knew she was not a Jew? Yes, she had called Him “Son of David,” but He knew she was a Canaanite. He knew she had no claim on Him at all. He owed her absolutely nothing. So, would she give up now? Would she just crumble and lie on the road in a heap of despair? Would she believe the whisperings of the real enemy when he told her: “See, He does not love you. He doesn’t care for you at all. You don’t belong to those who might hope for His kindness. Despair and die!”

Such thoughts probably did wage war in her heart. But she did not give in to them. She refused to take “No” for an answer. She refused to believe that the love and mercy of this Friend is too small to embrace her and her daughter. So, as Jesus was answering His disciples, she ran around Him and planted herself in the dust right in front of Him. She lifted her tear-stained face to Him, to heaven,  and pleaded with persistence: “Lord, help me.”

Surely He would help now, right? Wrong! He delivered His sharpest blow yet: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” He didn’t just call her a dog, did He? Yes, He did indeed! Luther was quite honest. He said, “If he had spoken in this manner to me, I would have been scared off…. I would have been frightened to death” (HP 1:325). But the woman does not let her Friend scare her off. She looks up at Him and says, “Yes, Lord.” Yes what? Yes, Lord? “Yes, Lord, I am a dog. I am nothing but a dog. I have absolutely no right to the children’s bread. But I am Your dog, Lord. Won’t you please give me just a little table scrap? Won’t you please toss some little crumbs under the table for me? That’s all I ask, just a crumb of mercy for my little girl. Please?” Luther said this about the woman’s faithful comeback: “Thus she catches Christ with his own words, and he is happy to be caught” (HP 1:325).

In that split second, the guise of the enemy vanished. Instead, Jesus showed Himself for who He really is: her Friend—her dearest, best, and truest Friend, her Friend who will not abandon her in her need. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” He gave her that little crumb she begged for: “her daughter was healed instantly.”

Have you walked in this woman’s sandals? Perhaps you are kneeling in the dust beside her even now? Your dearest, truest Friend seems to ignore your pleas for mercy. His followers seem rude and impatient. He seems to insult you. He seems to handle you or someone you know quite roughly. And Satan sneaks up behind you and whispers in your ear: “Go ahead, hang it up. Forget about Him. He has no room for you in His heart.” But, dear friends, don’t ever pay attention to those sly, deceptive whispers! Instead, hold on tight like Jacob did: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Be persistent like the Canaanite woman was. Plead for His mercy; fall down before Him crying, “Lord, help me!”; be glad to be the little dog who loves the tiny crumbs of His mercy.

Persist in believing that your Lord truly is your truest and best Friend forever! After all, He is! He showed it by the path that He walked for you…all the way to Calvary…all the way to the excruciating pain and forsakenness of the Cross. As Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). Yes, He laid down His life for yours. He shed His blood to blot out your doubts and despairs. He poured Himself out into death so that death may no longer hold you. And your Friend did not stay dead—no matter what cable TV shows or Hollywood movies may try to sell us this season. Your truest, dearest, best Friend did rise from the dead, triumphing gloriously over death and grave. And His triumph is His pledge and promise that the life He gives you—even now in His holy Meal—is the life that never ends.

Dear friends, this is your truest Friend! As the hymn says, “But, oh, my friend, My friend indeed, Who at my need His life did spend.” Since your Lord Jesus Christ has done all this for you, faith knows that behind the mask of all the rough handling, it will find a Friend complete with mercy and kindness and love. “Here might I stay and sing, No story so divine! Never was love, dear King, Never was grief like Thine. This is my friend, In whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend!” (LSB 430:2, 7).

This is why the Apostle Paul can urge us in our second reading to grow in living and pleasing God, and to “do so more and more.” Even when we see our dearest Friend wearing the mask of rough handling, the Apostle reminds us that “the will of God is [our] sanctification”—the will of God is to make us holy, make us His children. Our divine Friend is purifying us from the impurities of our doubts and despairs. He is making us holy in the same faith that the Canaanite woman had. And as the Apostle says elsewhere, “We have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s a peace that helps us rejoice in the midst of our sufferings. It’s a peace that helps us know that God uses our sufferings to produce endurance, character, and hope, “and hope does not put us to shame” (Rom. 5:1-5).

So, don’t let the rough treatment scare you. God’s love has been poured into your heart through the Holy Spirit. Even though He may seem to ignore your prayers or insult you, or even leave you limping, He IS your dearest, truest Friend, the One who endured cross and grave, and left the grave empty. Faith clings to Him and never lets go, because He works all things for our good. Amen.

Homily for Lent 1

(Better late than never, here's my homily for Lent 1 - Invocabit, focusing on the Gospel reading of Matthew 4:1-11.)

The REAL Bible C.O.D.E.

Perhaps you’ve heard those ads on the radio or seen them on your favorite websites. They’re about a secret code that, once you learn it, will unlock some hidden message in the Bible. There’s “The Biblical Money Code.” According to this code, you’ll learn “lost investment principles of Scripture to go from making $15,000 a year … to giving away up to $50,000 a year.” Sounds appealing. And there’s the ad for a “Hidden Bible Code” that gives an unknown treatment for cancer. When you search the Internet, gobs and gobs of Bible code sites come rushing for your attention. Supposedly, if you can discern the correct letters of the Hebrew or Greek text, you can unlock the “real” hidden message of the Bible. People have been trying it for centuries.

Well, today let’s play along just a bit. But today let's figure out right here, right now what is the REAL Bible C.O.D.E. And to do that, we’ll use the letters of the word “code”—C-O-D-E. And, by the way, once you learn this “code,” I guarantee you that you will never need to waste your hard-earned money or your precious time on any of those books or CD sets at Barnes & Noble or on the internet.

The “C” in the real Bible C.O.D.E. stands for “Christ.” Martin Luther said that the Scriptures are the manger that hold and deliver Jesus the Christ. When you have Christ, you have THE key that unlocks all of the Bible. Without Jesus, the Bible will always remain a locked book. That’s what leads people to search for investment secrets or patterns in Hebrew and Greek letters. They miss the real secret—the true mystery—that comes through in every page of the Bible. And that mystery is Jesus Himself.

When you begin reading your Bible, you can see Jesus there, always there, from the very beginning. He is the Word through whom “all things were made…and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn 1:3-4). Christ is even there in the Garden when Adam and Eve fell to the serpent’s wily deceit. What? You didn’t hear that in our first reading? Just because you didn’t hear it doesn’t mean He wasn’t there.

After Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God told them not to eat—after they brought sin and death into God’s good world—they tried to hide from God. “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden.” The Hebrew word for “sound” is literally “voice.” “The VOICE of the LORD God” was walking in the garden. And what is that “voice” but the Word of God—the same Word that created; the same Word that goes walking and running to find and rescue His fallen creatures. Not only that, but Adam and Eve also tried to hide themselves from God’s presence. Literally, it says, “from the FACE of God.” And which Person of God has a face? Jesus the Christ.

And, if that weren’t enough, Christ Himself shows up in the first promise of the Gospel. God told the old evil foe in serpent’s guise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Not only was Christ right there in the Garden, but, as God promised, He would also come to squash the satanic serpent’s head. Christ Himself would rescue His fallen creatures—all human beings—from sin and death. And just to give a foretaste of how that feast would taste, “the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” A small gracious act that prepares all of us for God’s grace in Christ on a cross. A sacrifice would be made. Blood would be shed. Adam and Eve, all humanity, including you and I, would be recipients and beneficiaries.

So, Christ Himself is THE key to the real Bible C.O.D.E. When you fix your eyes on Him, you see what the real and quite apparent message of the Scriptures truly is. No spiritual hucksters need apply.

What about the “O” in the real Bible C.O.D.E.? It can stand for “overcomes.” Or “outwits.” Or “overthrows.” Or even “offsets.” From the Garden, we fast forward to a desert. Jesus Christ goes fresh from His Baptism into the hot, dry, dusty wilderness to be tempted by Satan. The old evil foe wants to try his wiles on the Son of God made flesh and blood. “Hey,” he thinks, “it worked in the Garden all those centuries ago. Let’s make it work again in the barren wilderness.”

But that first Gospel promise was still in effect. In fact, it was kicking into gear in fullest measure. This hungry, thirsty, tired, worn out Man who is also God, overcomes the devil’s seeds of doubt. He overcomes the traps of temptations. And how does He do that? Jesus Christ outwits the sly, satanic foe by trusting His heavenly Father and appealing to the Scriptures. You see, those Scriptures are not a book of magic incantations to unlock secret pearls of wisdom. They are very clear and open truth. They reveal God’s rescue story for all of us.

Not only did Jesus overcome and outwit Satan in the wilderness, but He did the same things on the Cross. And all for you. Let’s add the word “overthrow.” What Jesus did on a smaller scale in the wilderness, He did on the universal scale on the Cross. He fully and finally overthrew Satan and his evil, lying schemes. He fully and finally overthrew all of the temptations that lead you away from God, that lead you to think you are in control of your world and everything in the world. He overthrew your sin and your death. We call that “forgiveness of sins.” And all by being weak, by suffering, by dying, and finally by rising again.

Now let’s add the word “offsets.” It’s a synonym for “redeems” or “atones.” Jesus Christ “offsets” your sins, your doubts, your weaknesses in time of temptation. He has made amends for you before God. He has made restitution for you before God. He takes Satan’s accusations against you, and He offsets them, makes up for them, atones for them. Oh, those accusations are true, to be sure. You are a sinner. You and I have not feared, loved, or trusted God as we should. You and I have not loved our neighbor as we should. But your Lord Jesus cancels out those sins by His shed blood and His innocent death.

Now to the “D” in the real Bible C.O.D.E. Just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, let’s attach two words to this letter—“death” and “devil.” Here’s the good news for you today and every day: Christ, true God from eternity and also true Man, overcomes and offsets death and the devil for you. We see it in the Garden; we see it in the wilderness of temptation; and we see it especially on the Cross. And we’ll celebrate the victory in full measure on Easter.

And finally, what does the “E” stand for in the real Bible C.O.D.E.? We could say “everyone.” After all, Jesus suffers temptation and cross to redeem the whole world. But let’s keep two other words in mind—“everyday” and “eternally.” Christ Jesus overcomes, outwits, overthrows, and offsets death and the devil each and every day for you, and His victory lasts into all eternity.

You know how you are tempted. You know how you often give in to those temptations to stray from God and His way, to doubt God, to ignore God. You know how you constantly give in to temptations to not love your neighbor. So, Jesus is always at work to overcome the wiles of Satan and the stench of death in your life. Hebrews 4 reminds us that our Lord knows exactly what you and I go through day after day. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

That’s how we begin this season of Lent—fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. His work of overcoming sin, death, and the devil continue each and every day. We cannot win the battle. But Christ already has. And so you and I may “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.” You and I “may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” That, dear saints, is the real “code” to the Bible—hearing and receiving Jesus and His forgiveness, His life, and His salvation.

And one final thought. You’ve probably noticed that Hollywood is getting into “Bible-based” movies. A movie called The Son of God just came out, and a movie called Noah will soon come out. I can imagine some Christians saying, “Awesome! Bible-based movies.” I can hear others asking, “Is that really how it happened?” Well, don’t let those kinds of movies replace the real thing. Read the book! Use this time of Lent to open your Bible and see Christ at work for you. Go to the source. You don’t need  to rely on Hollywood’s version of the Bible, and you certainly don’t need any secret codes to unlock some hidden mysteries in the sacred pages. You have the  real C.O.D.E.—Christ overcomes, outwits, overthrows, and offsets death and the devil. And He does it everyday and for all eternity. Just for you. Amen.

Honoring St. Patrick

On this day of remembering St. Patrick, many are donning the Irish green, drinking Irish stout beer (or beer colored green with food dye[?]), and dining on corned beef and cabbage. All this even though St. Patrick himself was not Irish, but rather a Roman citizen from Britain.

That's all fine and good in a First Article sort of way. But how about honoring St. Patrick for the truth of the Gospel that he confessed and proclaimed? After all, he was a Christian missionary to the land of the Irish, and he stoutly defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

I can think of no better way of honoring St. Patrick than looking to and even singing the hymn attributed to him--a hymn that boldly confesses the Holy Trinity and our life in Him by virtue of our Baptism.

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By pow'r of faith, Christ's incarnation,
His Baptism in the Jordan River,
His cross of death for my salvation,
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heav'nly way,
His coming at the day of doom,
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The pow'r of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need,
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The Word of God to give me speech,
His heav'nly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
the hostile foes that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In ev'ry place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me those holy pow'rs.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three,
Of whom all nature has creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit Word,
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
Salvation is of Christ the Lord!
(Lutheran Service Book, 604)

Prayer of the Day: 
Almighty God, You chose Your servant Patrick to be a missionary to the Irish people who were wandering in darkness and error. You bound unto them the trinitarian name through Baptism and faith that they might dwell in the light of Christ. Bind unto us this same strong name of the Trinity as we remember our Baptism and walk in His light, that we may come to dwell at last in the eternal light of the presence of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Treasury of Daily Prayer, p. 1285)

Original Promo Video for "Steadfast Throwdown"

Message for Lenten Season

LCMS President Matthew Harrison gives this message for the 2014 Lenten season:

“Steadfast Throwdown” Hits the Airwaves

Cross posted from steadfastlutherans.org:

After three months in the making, the weekly program “Steadfast Throwdown” is now hitting the airwaves on KNGN, AM 1360, broadcasting from McCook, Nebraska, and on Pirate Christian Radio. Co-hosts Pr. Eric Andersen and Pr. Randy Asburry seek to confess the truth of God’s Word, fight the good fight of the faith, and give the smack down to false teaching.

The first episode of “Steadfast Throwdown” will debut on KNGN on Monday, March 10 at 11:00am (CT). Andersen and Asburry will interview Pr. Joshua Scheer from steadfastlutherans.org, and then will “throw down” against the “Pagan Lies” related to Ash Wednesday and Lent. Pr. Joseph Abrahamson will be the guest for that segment.

Episode 1, “Pagan Lies,” is now available for on-demand listening at kngn.org. To listen, click on “Steadfast Throwdown” in the “Listen” column.

KNGN will repeat each week’s broadcast on Tuesdays at 12:00am, Fridays at 6:00pm, Saturdays at 11:00am, and Sundays at 1:00am and 4:00pm. Broadcast days and times on Pirate Christian Radio will be announced at a later date.

“Steadfast Throwdown” will highlight authors, articles and topics from Brothers of John the Steadfast (http://steadfastlutherans.org/) in an informative and entertaining manner. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/steadfastThrowdown. You can also email questions, comments, and suggestions for show topics throwdown@steadfastlutherans.org.

Check out the introduction to the show, with music by Adam Spanier, here.

Take Care How You Hear

Here's my homily for Sexagesima (23 February 2014), based on the day's Gospel reading, Luke 8:4-15, and including Jesus' words from Luke 8:18:

Today we hear Jesus say, “He who has ears to hear, let Him hear!” But what should you listen to? Better yet: how should you listen? And right after Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower, he says, “Take care then how you hear.” As we continue preparing for the Lenten journey, we need to take care how we hear.

Do you hear as the wayside soil—the seed of the Word bounces off of you and the devil rushes in to gobble it up before it even has a chance to grow? Or do you hear as the rocky soil—receiving the Word with joy but also with little root, and thus falling away in time of trial? Or do you hear as the soil under thorn bushes—the seed of the Word takes root and sprouts, but the cares, riches, and pleasures of everyday life choke out the faith that comes from the Word? Or do you hear, as Jesus commends, as the good soil—receiving the Word with a good heart, holding that Word in you, and thus bearing fruit?

Some people may very well have hearts and minds that are hard and unyielding to God’s Word. God’s sacred truths revealed in His Word bounce off of them as seed bounces when it hits a paved road. Unclean spirits and Satan himself have trodden such hard hearted and hard minded folks and they are quite sterile and unfruitful.

Some people might have hearts and minds more like the shallow, rocky soil. They hear God’s Word proclaimed, even Sunday after Sunday, but their faith and their religion have no root. They might sit in the pew, enjoy the surroundings, delight in seeing fellow saints. They take part in the sacred mysteries—the Gospel and the Sacraments—but perhaps with little attentiveness to what’s really happening, perhaps merely out of habit, perhaps only to be entertained or “personally fulfilled.” And when they leave church and go home, they easily and quickly forget the holy teachings that have been planted in their ears.

Some people might have hearts and minds like the thorn infested soil. The seed of God’s Word is planted in them, but it soon gets choked out by the cares, riches, and pleasures of the world. Making a decent living, paying for college, planning for retirement—they can very well choke out God’s Word. Anxiety about your health, your children, making ends meet, or about our decaying, self-centered, pleasure-seeking culture—they too choke out God’s Word and faith. You know the Word is being choked out when you view life from Monday through Saturday as the “real deal,” but Sunday morning is only an optional diversion. You know the Word is being choked out when you think more about your latest Facebook status than you do about your status before God and how He genuinely “likes” you in Christ Jesus.

Three kinds of hearers hear the divine Word to no fruitful effect. The fourth kind of hearer, though, is different. Some people have hearts and minds like good soil. When the seed of God’s Word is planted in them, they patiently endure the attacks of Satan. They persevere through the trials and persecutions. And they resist being ruled by the cares, riches and pleasures of this life. In other words, they bear much fruit. Life with God takes priority over the shallow kind of church life that sees Sunday morning as only a time with friends and familiar faces. Life with God sustains you when the scorching heat of trial comes upon you. Life with God helps you put the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life in proper perspective. Life with God bears fruit as you no longer fixate on your wealth, as you no longer get anxious when troubles arise, as you view life as a time of service rather than a time of pleasure-seeking. Life with God bears much fruit.

So “take care … how you hear,” Jesus says. How you hear God’s Word really IS a matter of life or death.

I’ve been using the phrase “God’s Word.” How many of you heard those words—“God’s Word”— and thought of “a book, the Bible”? Or how about “the words that come from the pastor’s lips”? Jesus does say, “The seed is the Word of God.” But what is that Word which is the seed? The Seed-Word is not primarily a book, nor is it primarily words from a man’s mouth. The Seed-Word IS, first and foremost, a Person. The Seed is the Word of God Himself—Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, the Word made flesh. The Father sows His Son in the world, and the divine Word—Jesus Himself—is received in these different ways. Now you see why it’s crucial to “take care how you hear”!

How can the Seed-Word be a Person? Well, God prepared us for this. In the Old Testament, God promised to bless Abraham and said, “In your [seed] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). Then, in the New Testament, Galatians 3(:16), St. Paul shows us how to understand this one: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his [seed]. It does not say, ‘And to [seeds],’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your [Seed],’ who is Christ.”

About 1000 years after Abraham, God spoke to David in the same way. David wanted to build a house for God, but God turned it around and promised to build an eternal house for David. God told David, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring [seed] after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” (2 Sam. 7:12). That Seed is Christ, who would come 1000 years after David. Psalm 89(:29) even ties David’s throne with the Seed whom God will send: “I will establish his offspring [seed] forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.” That eternal Seed is Christ.

So “take care how you hear,” because you are hearing Jesus Christ Himself, your very life with God. The very Son of God is being planted in your ears, in your hearts, and in your minds to bring you God’s mercy and to enliven you with His own life. If you use the time during the sermon to read your bulletin or write out your offering check, you’re most likely putting up a hardened, footpath kind of soil, and the Word who is Christ simply bounces off. If you come to church, hear the words of Scripture, sing the hymns, and listen to the sermon, but really your mind is constantly distracted by what people in the pews around you are doing, then the Seed who is Christ cannot take very deep root. And while your Lord does want you to bring your cares and anxieties to Him, you don’t want those cares and anxieties to consume your attention while you hear the Word who is Christ. Yes, bring your cares and troubles to Jesus. He promises to take care of them for you so that they will not choke out your trust in Him. After all, He promises to make your burden light.

You see, when God the Father plants His Seed, His Son, the Word made Flesh in the world and in you, He wants to accomplish some amazing things. His Word who is Christ “shall not return to [Him] empty, but it shall accomplish that which [He intends].” The Seed who is Christ will always “succeed in the thing for which [the Father] sent [Him]” (Is. 55:11). God planted His Son in the world first in the womb of the Virgin Mary, but later He planted the Word made flesh into the ground itself. Remember when Jesus was crucified and buried? Right before He went to the cross, our Lord said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn. 12:24). He was talking about His own death on the cross and His own resurrection. So Jesus bears much fruit. In His death, your sin is trampled down and gobbled up, and death itself is choked out. In His resurrection, you also are made alive to God in Christ Jesus.

So think of the fruit that Jesus bears in your Baptism and in His Supper. As St. John says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s Seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God” (1 Jn. 3:9). In your Baptism, you have been born of God. And in the Holy Supper the Seed who is Christ comes into you and remains in you. That’s how you can bear abundant fruit—the fruit of trusting God in trials and worldly cares, the fruit of enjoying life with God, the fruit of living together in love toward one another. After all, we all have the same Seed who is Christ in us.

In ten short days we will begin the rigorous journey of Lent. Last week we heard that the journey will be work, but work that receives the wages of God’s grace. Today we hear Jesus’ call to “take care how you hear.” Let’s remember to hear and heed the Word who is Christ. After all, He comes to bear fruit in us, and that fruit comes through patient endurance. We can and we will patiently endure the disciplines of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—because the Seed who is Christ remains in us. So, get ready for the journey, for the praying, for the fasting, for giving to the poor, and especially for the repenting and being forgiven. These are the good fruits of Christ planted in you. Amen.

The "Wages" of Grace

Here's my homily for Septuagesima (16 February 2014), based on the text of Matthew 20:1-16:

Look at the altar for a moment. Notice the wooden screen behind the altar—called the reredos. All around the edge you see vines with grapes on them. It’s a nice reminder that you and I are called to work in Christ’s vineyard. You and I are called to work at different times of the day of this world. You and I are called to work for the wages of God’s grace.

Today we enter the mini-season of Pre-Lent. We have seen the goodness of God in Christ in the Babe of Bethlehem. We have witnessed our Lord revealing Himself as God in man made manifest. Now we turn our attention to a season of serious reflection on Christ’s teaching and kingdom.

The scene in today’s Gospel reading sounds a lot like the time of the Great Depression. People who lived through the Great Depression remember the days of standing idle outside of factories and offices, just hoping that a foreman would come out in the morning and say, “I need people to work today.” If you were fortunate, you would be told how much you’d be paid at the end of the work day. Then you could take it or leave it. If you refused the low pay, someone more desperate than you would gladly accept the job.

But rarely would you refuse. Any job was a good job. If you worked really hard, and if the foreman liked you and your work, then you might get invited back the next day, or the next time they needed workers. The dollar or two that you earned might have been the first cash you saw in weeks. In those days no one assumed they had a “right” to health care, or paid vacation, or retirement benefits, or even “income equality.” You took what you could get, even if it meant you had to leave your friend outside, standing idle in the market.

By our current standards, this was a time of “unfair labor practices.” Men and women did not get what they thought they deserved for their labor. And this was often true. Some employers certainly took advantage of the high unemployment to hire people for a pittance.

And yet there have also been times when some people got paid very well, and still they thought that they were underpaid. Even today, when you ask someone if they are getting paid enough, I doubt they will say, “Oh, yes, I’m getting paid a lot. In fact, I think I’m getting paid more than I’m worth.” Just doesn’t happen, right?

No, most people—no matter how well they are paid—will complain that they aren’t being paid nearly enough, especially compared to someone else. You know how it goes: it’s always the other person who’s overpaid and underworked, and it’s always you who are overworked and underpaid.

In God’s vineyard—the spiritual realm—things work much differently. The ultimate reward is living with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, along with all His saints. But you cannot earn this “reward” with hours of labor or “community service.” The wage is God’s forgiveness, and you receive it only by His grace in Christ Jesus.

So, let’s learn to picture ourselves as Jesus mentions in the parable: as unemployed, doing no works that profit us spiritually. You see, by birth, we stand idle outside the Vineyard of God. And our sinful self continually seeks to stray outside of God’s Vineyard.

But then in His kindness, our Lord Jesus comes to us and arranges for us to have profitable labor in His Vineyard. First, He announces the wage of His grace. God gives benefits for any and all who labor in His Vineyard—eternal life at His banquet table and the resurrection of our bodies on the Last Day. Like workers during the Great Depression, you and I get to view God’s call to work as an undeserved invitation to receive wages that save our lives in desperate times. So, don’t think you deserve to work for Him. And don’t think you can bargain with Him for wages or perks.

You see, you will receive all the “wages” God delights to give you. And you will not receive any more or any less than your fellow workers. God does not give one person half-pay and the other person full-pay. No, He gives only full-pay to all workers in His Vineyard. And what is that “full pay”? Forgiveness of sins, eternal life with Christ Jesus, and resurrection of your mortal flesh. There’s no way you can earn a greater or lesser “reward” than that!

So, if you have worked your whole life for the Lord, do not expect your Master to reward you with extra, even though you’ve borne the heat and burden of the day. Instead, be ready to joyfully receive your fellow sinners who come to faith late in life. Also, don’t look around the vineyard of the congregation and think, “I do more for my church than him or her! Who has worked harder, or longer, or at more events than I?”

Put these thoughts as far from you as the east is from the west. As Jesus says, the only worker who got what he deserved was sent away empty. Everyone who works in the Lord’s Vineyard is “overpaid,” always receiving more than he or she deserves. Yes, your labor in the vineyard of Christ’s Church is just that—undeserved wages of His grace and mercy. Thank Him that He has placed you in this world and in His Church to work for Him. Rejoice that you labor long and hard to love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul, and mind. Count it all joy when you love your neighbor as yourself … and get no earthly reward for your work!

And what happens if you fail at your work? ‘Cause you know you will. When you look at God’s Commandments, His “job description” for truly loving Him and your neighbor, you realize that you have failed to keep them fully. You always do. You always will. But don’t despair. You and I will never perfectly perform the work the Lord gives us to do. Yet God is kind and merciful. He still calls you to labor in His vineyard. He still rewards you with the wage of His grace: forgiveness of sins and life with Him both now and into eternity.

He has washed you in the water connected to His Word. His Spirit lives in you by the free gift of your Baptism. He feeds you week after week with His own Body and Blood to sustain you in your work for Him.  So, when you do fail to labor as you should in loving God and and loving your neighbor, your merciful Lord of the Vineyard still rewards you with forgiveness, resurrection, and life eternal.

So, when you fail to love your family and friends as you should, “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful.” Ask Him to make you a profitable worker day by day. If you have neglected your family and friends for years, or if you have borne the heavy toil of loving the people God puts in your life, remember that Jesus rewards with a feast of eternal life at His banquet table. And you get a foretaste of that feast here today!

Perhaps you fail to labor constantly as God wants you to. Perhaps you pridefully look down on your fellow workers, thinking you’ve done more than they have. Jesus still “pays” you from His treasure store the very same wages He pays to all. Christ is the One who labored and toiled, all the way to the bloody cross. Jesus is the One who bore the burden of your sins and the heat of God’s wrath. He does all the labor, and you get all the “wages” of His grace and mercy and forgiveness. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

So we come to this day with a funny sounding name—Septuagesima. It’s Greek for “About 70 Days”—about 70 days until we get to celebrate the joys of Easter, the joys of God’s banquet table and eternal life with Him. Until then, we labor in His Vineyard. Lent, the time for preparation, is coming. We labor in things like confessing our sins and returning to the Lord and His forgiveness.  We labor in things like fasting, giving to those in need, and praying. We labor in things like relearning and rehearsing the Catechism teachings. So, start planning now to take out your Catechism, and blow off the dust if necessary. Get ready to open up that Catechism and relearn the Commandments, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Then tackle the Catechism meanings and explanations. Then move on to the Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution, and Communion. Your labor will not be in vain. No, it will be very profitable. You see, you’ll relearn and rehearse the “wages” of God’s grace for you in Christ Jesus.

So, dear friends, the labor is not your own. Christ labors with you. In fact, Christ’s work—His life, death, and resurrection—make your labor profitable in body and soul. He is your great reward and your only benefit. And that benefit gives you abundant life. Christ comes to you, forgives you, and invites you into His Vineyard. Remember the vines around the altar. He promises you the wage of His grace, the gift of eternal life, even now.