Category: Catechesis

By Rev. Brent Kuhlman

The Lord’s Supper IS the gospel.  After all, the Lord’s Supper is all about how, Lamb of God Jesus, who takes away the sin of the world, gives away the forgiveness and salvation that He won and achieved on the cross to His sinners.

How in the world does He do that?  Through His words!  He preaches.  He speaks.  What He says He does.  What He promises He gives.  Check it out in Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.

On the night when He was betrayed Lamb of God Jesus preaches a Passover sermon that had never been preached before.  He does what He does.  He gives what He gives, because He is the God-man.  There is no other God than this man, Jesus!  His mouth is God’s mouth.  His words are God’s words.  His sermon is a divine promise by which He gives His last will and testament.  Yes, that’s right, I said it!  Lamb of God Jesus, who takes away the sin of the world, draws up His last will and testament.

He would do that?  Absolutely!  And He does it FOR YOU!

Lamb of God Jesus is the Maundy Thursday testator who anticipates His Good Friday death.  He identifies the estate that He leaves behind and He names the heirs.  Incredibly you, His sinners, are the beneficiaries!  You, His sinners, are given the inheritance—the very salvation achieved for you on the cross!  The Lord’s Supper IS the gospel!

Many would object!  Seriously?  He’s got to be out of His mind.  Nuts!  Wacko!  Cuckoo!  A few cards short of a full deck!  Doesn’t He see what’s happening and who these men are?  Good grief!  Look around the Passover table.

James and John always want to be the big shot bosses.  All the rest of the Twelve resent them.  They constantly bicker and fight amongst themselves.  Iscariot is an embezzling, good-for-nothing thief.  In addition, he is going to commit one of the most outrageous and notorious betrayals in the history of the world—with a kiss, no less!  For a little bit of cash!  Peter, James and John won’t keep watch but will snooze soundly in Gethsemane.  Peter’s, “even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you,” bravado quickly turns into a profanity-laced, liar, liar pants on fire, renunciation:  “I’ve never ever seen this Jesus!  I don’t know him at all!”  Total  denial!  Not once, but three times!  Three strikes and you’re…

Well, at least you’d think so.  But not with Jesus!  Even though He is surrounded by hard-core sinners, He is of sound mind.  He knows exactly what He’s doing. He’s in charge.  He determines the place to celebrate the Passover meal. He’s taken care of every detail.  In fact, He unmasks his betrayer and pronounces divine judgment on him ahead of time.

Lamb of God testator Jesus speaks or bequeaths His will in that upper room.  “Eat this bread.  It is my body.  I give it for you.  Drink this wine.  This cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”  The estate that He leaves is:  “the forgiveness of sins.”  For His sinners!  I’ll say it again:  the Lord’s Supper IS the gospel!

His Good Friday Body and Blood are given with the bread and wine.  He says so.  And you, like those notorious sinners around the table, are named as heirs—given to receive the eternal inheritance.  Testator Jesus promises that His body and blood are given and shed FOR YOU.  He promises that all your sin is forgiven. Name the sin.  He guarantees it’s forgiven.  What about the ones you can’t remember or didn’t know you did?  Forgiven!  What about the sin that you don’t want to do but ended up doing?  Or how about the sin that deserves God’s temporal and eternal punishment?  All forgiven!  Totally absolved!

Like all wills, this one on the night Jesus was betrayed, when it is read out loud every Sunday, is contested as well.  Bitterly.  Some flat out reject it.  “Body?  Blood?  How primitive!  Is this some sort of religious cult like cannibalism?  And forgiveness?  Who needs it?  I sure don’t!  I’m not even a sinner!” 

Others, like Satan, death and the world will be indignant.  Horrified.  They will get in your grill and they will accuse, bind, and condemn you for your sin.  “Look at you!” they scream.  “You call yourself a Christian!  Really?  You’re no better than Iscariot.  You’re just like Peter.  In fact, you’re worse.  You’ve got betraying and denying Jesus down pat.  According to all decency as well as all law and order, you’ve excluded yourself from Jesus’ last will and testament.  You are a betrayer!  A denier!  Sinful!  Unclean!  Unworthy!”

What will you do in light of these accusations against you?  What can you say?

Step up to the plate and tell the truth!  Produce the evidence.  Give them the goods.  They’ve caught you red-handed.  Confess:  “Yes, that’s exactly right.  Truly I am Christ’s betrayer, denier and sinner.  I even colluded in his death!  I gave Him up.  I ran from Him.  I helped spit in his face.  I pounded the spikes into His hands and feet!  Not denying it!  Not one bit!  But He died for me  AND He names me—the sinner—in His last will and testament.  He promises that His estate belongs to me.  I will do as He commands.  I will eat and drink.  I believe His promise.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world—my sin!”

Yes, Lamb of God Jesus gives his estate, the forgiveness of sins in the sacrament, to those who needed it.  Only the sick need a physician.

So the next day, Good Friday, He goes to his death.  Crucified.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  That’s when his last will and testament goes into effect.  Probated.  He says so every time you hear the Words of Institution in the divine service.  It is the public proclamation and reading of His will, just as He intended in that upper room.

And with the promise of forgiveness of sin, Lamb of God Jesus bestows the whole enchilada of His kingdom on you:  SALVATION!  The salvation won for you in his dying on the cross.  Indeed!  The Lord’s Supper IS the gospel!

The day Israel longed for had come. The promised Salvation had now appeared in the flesh and rested in the arms of Simeon.

In his arms, Simeon received the great Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He held in his own hands the fulfillment of the promise given to Adam and Eve—the seed who had come to crush the head of the serpent. The Messiah who had been prophesied through countless generations was now being cradled in the arms of a man.

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29–32)

Simeon burst into a song of praise upon holding the Christ child. The Salvation of the Lord had not come in power but in weakness. Christ was not untouchable in his deity. He had humbled Himself to be received into the arms of sinners for whom He came.

In the Divine Service the Lord gives Himself into the mouths of sinners. He comes to us not in a terrifying display of power but in the bread and wine, His body and blood given for us. We have seen the Salvation of the Lord in the Word and Sacraments.

We can join in Simeon’s song because we too have seen the Salvation of the Lord. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. As Simeon received into his hands his salvation, we have received into our mouths the same Christ.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

We depart the Divine Service in peace along with Simeon because we depart in the peace that Christ alone brings. He has once again united Himself to us through Word and Sacrament. He is our peace and gives to us peace with God through the forgiveness of sins.

Katelyn Hunt

Being a part of our Lutheran confession of faith is not a challenge, it’s a blessing. Being a college student in a world where those who are Christian are looked down upon is challenging. As Lutherans, we have been taught to love our neighbors and help them before helping ourselves. Many people my age have been taught the opposite and, at times, this can make it difficult to get along with them.

When this happens, it can be a struggle to find balance. It can be difficult living with or being surrounded by people who invite temptation from the Devil and have no care about the bounties given by Christ. But, the greatest comfort we can receive in life is with Christ Jesus. Then, even on our worst days – and, of course, on our good days too – we are turned to him and find peace in Christ no matter what the circumstances of our life. No matter how hard school is going, or the dramas that occur, we trust that Christ’s love for us is unending. So when our friends are struggling to find peace, the best thing we can do to love and help them is speak the Good News of Jesus Christ to them.

So how do we engage those friends and classmates who make the subject of every sentence “me”? We recognize that we struggle against the same temptation to make it all about us, and we show them love and pray for them. Our vocation as a friend is to love them as we want to be loved charitably by them. And while we sometimes become frustrated, and just want to ignore them for a time, we also realize that we may be the only person who is there for them. Therefore, don’t be afraid to invite them to church, even if they say no time and time again. Pray for them. Pray that they are turned toward Christ Jesus for their comfort and consolation. Pray that the Holy Spirit works in and through us to show them the truth about the Word of God.

Maybe we imagine that all this is useless, that they’ll never want to go with us, or they’ll never want to listen to us. Ask them why. Point them to the gifts Christ has to offer. If they are curious, point them to what the object of our faith and His gifts mean or why we do what we do at church. For example, I asked one of my roommates why she doesn’t go to church. She told me it was because of the offering. She didn’t understand why they passed a bucket around for everyone to drop money in because she didn’t know where it went. I explained to her that the money goes into the church. That is how pastors get paid, how improvements are made, and how the church is able to do things. In this way, little by little, we can hopefully wipe away concerns friends and classmates may have about our confession and church, and eventually they may join us. Something else we can do is play Higher Things hymns and listen to Higher Things podcasts while we get ourselves ready in the morning. They may overhear something they agree with and strike up a conversation with us about it.

The point is, don’t let others put us and our faith in a corner feeling as if it is something to hide or “not bother” about. For example, we don’t listen to the television on low volume so no one can hear. We make sure we can hear it in order to follow along with the plot of the show. In the same way, we do this when we listen to podcasts, hymns, etc. We sing our Lutheran hymns and listen to the Word of God. In this we trust that the Holy Spirit is working in and through us to point our friends and classmates to the source of their life and salvation, Jesus Christ.

Katelyn Hunt studies journalism at Sam Houston State University.

By Kathy Strauch

What do you believe? In the Divine Service we confess what we believe using the words of the Apostle’s creed. We proclaim the truths of Scripture. But, why do you believe?

Jesus loved teaching by asking questions. On one occasion He asked His disciples a simple yet critical question, “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) Peter, per usual, was the first to open his mouth in response. Without beating around the bush, he was unwavering in his confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15) 

Peter was confident of his assertion—at the time. Peter’s courage would fail, not once, not even twice, but three times in a single night. He denied even knowing Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, as he confessed.

The beauty for me in this text is not Peter’s tenacious confession. Jesus’ words in response to His disciple’s proclamation is what gives me comfort. 

“And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17) 

Jesus pronounces a blessing on Peter. However, Jesus does not praise Peter himself for his confession, but His Father in heaven. This confession of faith did not originate with Peter. It was given to him. 

We, like Peter are blessed because of the faith we have been given, and our confession which follows. Since the fall, unbelief is our natural disposition. We cannot create faith within ourselves, that’s the work and gift of the Holy Spirit.

Martin Luther beautifully articulates this in the third article of the Apostle’s creed when he writes, 

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” 

The Spirit creates faith and sustains faith through the Gospel—through the Word and sacraments. In the waters of our Baptism we were given the faith we confess. Through the hearing of the Word and the Lord’s Supper, He feeds and preserves the faith He created.

Through the Divine Service, the Spirit works through these means to sanctify and keep His saints in the true faith. For this reason, the church is perpetually confessing her faith. Hermann Sasse affirms this when he writes,

“Christ’s church is always a confessing church. Not only does each Christian confess his personal faith, but the church, the whole company of believers, gives testimony of the revelation that has happened. Out of such consensus of faith, worked by the Holy Spirit, is a true confession born.”

So, why do you believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit? You believe for the same reason Peter believed and confessed. It was revealed to you and me by our Heavenly Father who loves us, sent His Son for us, and sends His Holy Spirit to us to comfort us with His Gospel gifts.

Kathy Strauch is a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Troy, Michigan and is a graphic designer.

By Kathy Strauch

For three years I walked past the statue. Although my schedule varied from day to day, it was almost impossible to get anywhere on campus without coming into contact with the statue. So, nearly every day, I caught a glimpse at a mystery captured by two bronze figures.

The statue called ‘The Divine Servant’ portrayed a scene from John’s Gospel. The apostle Peter sat astonished as Jesus knelt before him, washing his grimy feet caked with dirt. God, the Word of Life, the One who spoke everything into existence, was kneeling before a sinner washing his dirty feet.

This statue beautifully illustrates what God does for us in the Divine Service. In the Divine Service, God is at work delivering gifts and serving sinners through His Word, through Jesus. Through the Divine Service, God cleans and takes away the filth of sin from the sinner. He washes us and makes us as white as snow.

Pastor Norman Nagel wonderfully describes the Word of God as imparting gifts when he writes, 

“The greatest gifts are all given by the Word of God, The Word of God not only tells what these gifts are but also conveys them. When the word of forgiveness is spoken to you, forgiveness is given to you…It is then as if God takes your hand and presses His gift into it with the assurance, “Now you have really got it. Without a shadow of doubt, it is surely yours.”

God’s Word creates and gives what it declares.

A hymn expresses this creative nature of the Word through the lyrics, “Thy Strong Word bespeaks us righteous, bright with Thine own holiness.” (LSB 578, Thy Strong Word) The Word speaks and we are righteous with the righteousness of our Lord by faith in that Word. We are righteous because He has declared us to be so through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

The Word is always at work in the Divine Service giving life because the Gospel is the power of God for salvation. (Romans 1:16) God is at work creating and sustaining faith where His Word is present. (Romans 10:17)

This strong Word pierces through the darkness of our sin and unbelief in the waters of our Baptism. Here, the Word recreates, resurrects, and places His saving name on the Baptized. The strong Word that Baptized us continually comes to us through His Gospel proclaimed, the absolution declared to us, and through the Lord’s Supper where He continually feeds us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

Apart from the Word, apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. (John 15:5) The Divine Service cannot exist apart from the Word of God. The focus of the Divine Service is the Word of God because the focus of the Divine Service is always Jesus and His gifts.

Kathy Strauch is a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Troy, Michigan and is a graphic designer.

By Kathy Strauch

As the church, we corporately gather each week. We are active in worship. We sit, stand, kneel, confess, pray, and sing. However, it is not our verbs that give life to the Divine Service—the heart of the Divine Service is in God’s verbs, Christ’s work given to us. 

As we enter into the Divine Service, we do so in song. We join our voices to sing and in our singing, confess what God in Christ has done for us. 

Martin Luther describes our inclination to sing in this way, “For God has cheered our hearts and minds through his dear Son, whom he gave for us to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil. He who believes this earnestly cannot be quiet about it.”

As baptized and redeemed children of God, we cannot help but sing. Our mouths overflow with song in thanksgiving of Christ’s work for us. 

Our hymns are an expression of this faith the Holy Spirit has created in us. Faith clings to Christ and trusts in Him alone, therefore, our songs and hymns reflect this confession. 

Author, Chad Bird describes the function of a hymn in this way, “Their aim is to plant the Chosen Seed, Jesus Christ in the ear and in the heart. They bear the resemblance of a sermon, shrunk in length, rhymed, and set to music. Many a hymn preaches more in four stanzas than a pastor struggles to say in six pages of sermon text. And in the preaching of the hymn, the Spirit is at work through the Word to rebuke and console, to pierce and heal through the law and the Gospel.”

In the singing of Christ, the Holy Spirit is at work in us through the Word. The apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Through hymnody, Christ is delivered to us through the mouths of our neighbors. Wherever Christ is proclaimed, there the Holy Spirit is at active in creating, sustaining, and strengthening faith. 

The apostle Paul encourages us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).

Through song, we confess our faith together; We confess our sinful condition, 

“I lay my sins on Jesus, The spotless Lamb of God;
He bears them all and frees us From the accursed load
I bring my guilt to Jesus To wash my crimson stains
Clean in His blood most precious Til not a spot remains”.  (I Lay My Sins on Jesus, LSB 606)

and we sing boldly as we comfort each other with the works and promises of Christ, 

“God’s own child, I gladly say it; 
I am baptized into Christ! 
He because I could not pay it, 
Gave my full redemption price
Do I need earth’s treasures many
I have one worthy more than any 
That brought me salvation free,
lasting to eternity!” (God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It, LSB 594)

We not only confess with our local congregation, but with the whole Christian church. Hymnody gives a voice to the church, a united confession of faith that echoes throughout generations. We sing with the saints and join their voices in proclaiming what our God in Christ has accomplished for us. Sing loudly, sing boldly, confessing who your Savior is and what He has done for you!

Kathy Strauch is a member of Faith Lutheran Church in Troy, Michigan and is a graphic designer.