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Current Events

Prescription for those Post-Conference Blues!

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

So long to Sola! The Conferences are over. School looms on the horizon. You’re back at home and you miss all the friends you saw and met at the Higher Things Conference this summer. Let’s face it: you’ve probably suffering from the Post-Conference Blues, that sad syndrome that means the Conference is over and you miss all the fun and learning that was going on. But while you had a chance to have the Gospel poured upon you in many ways at the Conference, that same Gospel isn’t just at the Conference! The Lord gives it out to you right where you are in your home church too! So here’s our prescription for those Post-Conference Blues.  

Step One: Be at the Divine Service! Go to church and sing like there are 900 other kids around you! Listen as your pastor reminds your of your Baptism and absolves you of all your sins. Pay close attention as the Word of God is read, declaring to you the Lord’s loving work in and through Jesus Christ. Open your ears and hear Christ crucified preached in the sermon. Kneel at the altar of the Lord and receive the Bread of Life as He comes to you with His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. The Divine Service is where Christ comes to you. The same Jesus that was so wonderful to see and hear in the Conference worship is right there in the worship you have every Sunday! He’s not only at a Higher Things Conference: He’s right there at home, too! 

Step Two: Be in Bible Study! You learned so much from those wild and crazy pastors who taught on so many different topics. Your pastor at home has the same job: opening your eyes and ears to the wonders of God’s holy Word, showing Christ in the pages of the Holy Bible, discussing and answering your tough questions, and helping you apply the forgiveness of sins to your daily life with others. Bible Study is the place to ask questions, dig deep and be refreshed from the “pure stream of Israel,” as you see the riches of God’s Word come alive in pointing to Christ and delivering Him to you through your hearing of God’s Word. 

Step Three: Grab some Youth Group Friends and have some fun! Call them up. Go bowling. Go see a movie. Play some board or card games. Or just hang out over some burgers and sodas! You are a child of God. Your sins are forgiven. In the freedom that comes from being in Christ, go out and just have some plain old fun. Who knows? You might end up in a game of “Red Rover” or even sing some karaoke somewhere. The point is, enjoy the life and gifts with which your heavenly Father has blessed you.  

Sure, the organ might not sound the same. Your pastor may or may not be as wacky as some that taught you at the Conference. And there aren’t 900 kids to hang out with all at once. But whether your church has 100 members or a thousand, whether your youth group is 4 or 40, rejoice in the wonderful opportunities the Lord gives you right in your own home congregation. One Conference attendee said, “I’m going to church but it won’t sound the same.” To which one pastor replied, “But same Jesus!” Same Jesus indeed! After all, Christ and what He has done for us was the great celebration of Sola 2009. And Christ and what He has done for us is the great celebration every week right there in the congregation where you belong! Christ alone! Grace alone! Faith alone! Scripture alone! But never home alone! For that same Jesus is always with you wherever you are, with all of His Word and gifts! And all that while you can also get ready for “Given!” next year! See you then! 

 

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

Revenge of the Fallen

TransformersTwo years ago Transformers came out and swept the box offices raking in millions of dollars and reintroducing a Hasbro toy from the generation before to today’s kids.  The movie was nothing short of fantastic, taking the characters we’d come to love from the toy aisle and memorable cartoon and spicing them up with flashy CGI graphics.  Additionally our hero was your every day run of the mill geek, nothing too spectacular in Sam Witwike and yet everything spectacular.  In the end the Autobots prevailed, Megatron died and then was buried in the depths of the sea.  Supposedly condemned to an icy grave, the credits rolled and we catch a glimpse of Megatron’s second in command, Star Scream zipping off into the sky.

When I saw the first movie I knew there would be more to come by the way it ended.  In the cartoon Megatron and the other Decepticons built a base in the depths of the sea and it was from there that they conducted their campaign against humanity, so this seemed to me the perfect setup for a sequel.

The sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, is undoubtedly good, though perhaps I would say that about any movie which animated my favorite childhood toys.  Yet the movie does deserve some criticism.  Unfortunately the  amount of foul language in this installment is excessive.  When the writing seems to be missing something in terms of substance, they try to make up for it with crass jokes, sexual innuendos or downright tasteless language.  That takes what could be a family friendly movie and instead earns a PG-13 rating.  If you’re a parent or youth group leader thinking about taking your kids to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen be warned, it’s not the cleanest flick at the box office this summer. Now onto the movie itself…

Spoilers to follow…

 

Revenge of the Fallen opens with the Autobots having formed an alliance with the humans and battling a league of Decepticons which continue to ravage the earth in a last ditch effort to claim the fragment of the Allspark and enslave all of humanity.  This alliance is kept under the radar though, with apparent doubt from the current presidential administration at its success when a Decepticon is stopped in Shanghai and the coverup is less than clean.  

Meanwhile our hero, Sam Witwike is getting ready to go off to college and leave his faithful Camaro Bumblebee behind.  His parents are struggling with the departure–maybe it’s just his mother–and his girlfriend is battling the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationship.  Just before Sam leaves he finds a fragment of the Allspark on the t-shirt he wore on that fateful day when he defeated Megatron.  Havoc breaks lose, and the Witwike’s get a wonderful opportunity to remodel their home!

While Sam is at college the Decepticons are out to get him, knowing what Sam does not know, that when the Aallspark was destroyed it imprinted upon his brain special information for the location of some sort of star-eater which is capable of extracting energy to help make new transformers.  The Decepticons bring Megatron back from his watery grave and he goes to battle Optimus Prime in order to seize Sam and claim the star-eater for himself.  A fight ensues and with Optimus Prime out numbered it appears that he does not stand a chance.  Optimus sacrifices himself to overcome the Decepticons and is finally  murdered by Megatron providing opportunity for Sam to narrowly escape.

With Optimus Prime dead, hope seems to be lost, the Autobots are banished to their secret island military base, and Sam goes into hiding.  While in hiding Sam learns about the Allspark’s mark on his brain and begins to put together the puzzle pieces of what is going on around him.
With the final descendant of the Primes dead (that would be Optimus) Megatron’s master leaves Cybertron to take charge of the effort to claim the star-eater machine which has been hidden somewhere on planet Earth.  Sam eventually learns the whole of Megatron’s plans and sets out in search of the key which unlocks the star-eater in order to bring back Optimus Prime from death.
Great tribulation presents itself to Sam who eventually finds the key, only to die himself in a bloody battle between the humans and Autobots on one side and the Decepticons on the other.  The story doesn’t end there though because the key seems to resurrect Sam who then resurrects Optimus Prime and with the added help of an elder Autobot super-powers his transformer self for a final battle against Megatron’s Master.  Optimus Prime slays Megatron’s Master and Megatron disappears into hiding and thus only through Optimus Prime’s death and resurrection is humanity delivered from “the Fallen”.

In the movie “the Fallen” refers to Megatron’s Master an ancient transformer who was part of an elite seven given to govern over the rest of the transformers.  This particular transformer went sour though and decided to use his power for evil instead of good.  The remaining “Primes” end up sacrificing themselves to prevent the Fallen from doing harm, and thus begins a great and long period of silence in the Autobot history.  

The Fallen is Satan, someone close enough to the throne of God at one point to have been numbered as an angel.  Optimus Prime is a picture of Christ, being the hero of the day and ultimately having to die in order to deliver humanity.  As Optimus Prime is slain by Megatron, who is really nothing more than a pawn in the Fallen’s game, the Fallen believes he has achieved victory.  Just like Satan was fooled by our Lord’s crucifixion.  The story doesn’t end there though. Optimus Prime – like Jesus, is raised from the dead and in so doing overcomes sin, death and the devil (the Fallen).  Only by the grace of God and in the resurrected flesh of Christ are the chains of the Fallen’s hold on this world – death – broken free from humanity so that they might live in peace.
Our Lord Jesus Christ took on lowly flesh, our flesh and descended for life apart from His home to dwell amongst us humans.  The Godhead joined flesh in order that He might deliver us from our own iniquity.  Through His death and resurrection He freed us from the snare of the devil and set us free to walk in newness and live in Him.

Only by death could Jesus free us from death.  Jesus likes to turn things upside down and do them better.  He takes things which make no sense to us and uses them to deliver the forgiveness of sins to poor miserable sinners like us.  He takes water and uses it as a medium to deliver righteousness.  He takes every day ordinary bread and wine and makes them vessel of His own life giving body and blood.  He takes human flesh and conceals within it all the power of the Godhead in order to deliver humanity from its own sinfulness.  He takes the sinfulness of death, even death by crucifixion and He flips it around in order to save all of humanity.  He saves by dying.  God the all-knowing all-being ever-present, almighty and immortal dies, so that the fragile mortal bodies of men might be raised up to life on the last day to walk with Him in righteousness. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, like all stories, ultimately shows bits and pieces of the Truest Story, the saving of sinners by the Son of God.

Going Further
Bible Study Discussion Questions

1. In Transformers the battle against humanity is at first a hidden battle. Against whom does St. Paul say that our battle is in Ephesians 6:12.

2. How is Satan’s kingdom brought down in the world today? See Luke 10:1-20. What does the Lord send his disciples to do? 

3. The idea of a person laying down their life to help others is common in many stories. By laying down their life, a person is usually able to save someone else. Read John 10:11-17,27-29. Why does Jesus lay down His life? What does it mean for us that He does so? 

4. The Transformers are a race of beings from long ago and far away. Is Jesus just one more angel who saves us from the evil angels? Read Hebrews 1:1-6 for the answer. 

5. Sometimes it seems as if the powers of good and evil are equal. How do we know that Christ is stronger than the Devil and truly wins the final victory? See Ephesians 1:18-23.  

Categories
Current Events

Crooked Houses – Jon & Kate Plus Eight

If you tuned in last night to TLC on your cable box you were probably looking for the show, “Jon & Kate Plus Eight”. Last night, after months of turmoil and paparazzi the couple announced that they had come to a pivotal crossroads and made a decision which would change their life forever. That decision was to split up and file for divorce.

My wife and I first started watching this show after we got married. That was just three years ago and my wife in particular was fascinated with Kate and her strong personality as she managed a house with eight kids in it. I specifically remember her being impressed and amazed as Kate struggled to cook healthy meals within a reasonable budget. There was something appealing to this Christian couple who had chosen to follow through with a pregnancy of six and then to try and raise them in a wholesome environment all while showing individual and unconditional love.

The first season we watched didn’t always sit well with me. Kate was clearly the dominant personality and to a certain extent she ruled with an iron fist. She wasn’t always nice and at time she was even disrespectful to Jon. Meanwhile, Jon would grumble and make sarcastic remarks about Kate’s behavior and the whole while it became evident that their lifestyle was changing with the success of their show.

I remember the season Kate underwent plastic surgery and the rationale that followed, and then later Jon took her shopping to renovate her wardrobe. Next Jon was getting hair implants and Kate was going on speaking gigs to New York because of her book. It seemed to me that maybe they had shifted from showcasing their multiple blessings to capitalizing on them.

Pause for a moment, because if you didn’t see last night’s episode coming, think about the underlying transformation the Gosselins have endured with their fame. As the seasons have progressed, they’ve become more and more engrossed with themselves. Perhaps the real breaking point was when they decided to abandon their friends and pseudo-family for a new house on lots of property. They weren’t so much interested in the kids’ needs as they were with themselves. If you still don’t think so, flip back to the first and second season and look at the way Jon dressed, walked and even talked.

It’s unfortunate to see a marriage dissolve, and it’s horrible to watch it unfold to the whole world at the expense of eight little children. Yet here the Gosselins aren’t just parting ways and calling it quits, they say they’re doing it for the sake of their children.

If you caught the episode, you also saw that the kids were getting new play houses, called “Crooked Houses”. These little play houses were pretty cool. They were built to look like little kids had made them. Things weren’t quite square or level and each little play house exploded with creativity and color. But the real crooked house wasn’t being built in the backyard, instead it had already been built by Jon and Kate.

Kate kept saying over and over that her and Jon parting ways was best for the kids, and I honestly think she believed that was true. That just shows you the twisted and upside-down ways the world now views marriage! What’s best is no longer what God has erected but what man wants to tear down. What Gods has said will not go asunder man insists must, and all purportedly for the sake of these eight cute and sweet little children. The truth of the matter, and as Kate made evident at the end is that it’s going to be very hard for the Gosselin 8. Because of Jon’s and Kate’s actions, these precious children have been reduced to nothing more then a statistic reflecting America’s continued despising of traditional marriage.

Ultimately that’s what Jon and Kate comes down to, another episode in the unraveling of Holy Matrimony. What makes Jon and Kate different from Will and Grace? In the end marriage between a man and a woman is no longer holy and sanctified, but something that can simply be disregarded by fantastic ratings and an episode of cable television.

This is not what God intended for man and woman. God did not intend for Jon and Eight plus Kate and Eight. He did not want Jon and Kate to separate. What God intended was that those eight precious little children would look to their parents and see His love in the self-sacrificing of Jon for Kate, and the honor and devotion of Kate for Jon. Those eight sets of trusting eyes are supposed to see the love of Christ for His Church as He hung on the Cross for their sins. Instead of the kitchen cabinets with God’s Holy Word taped to the cupboard doors, these kids get the unfamiliar doors of a new home in a new place without the loving presence of both of their parents. And that is truly sad.

God in Christ Jesus forgives all these things. He forgives our infidelities and our unfaithfulness to Him and to each other. Where the house that man built tends to stand a little crooked, the house that God has built stands sure and strong on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Tonight, as the credits rolled for the latest episode of “Jon and Kate Plus Eight” and news of their decisions to break God’s Holy Covenant of Marriage set in, I realized how truly sad this episode was. The only hope after an episode like that is to be found in the spilt blood and crucified body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died on the Cross to deliver us from sin, death and the devil. Let’s pray that Jon and Kate might return to each other and to the Lord, for their sake and for the sake of their children; and that they might remember the love of God in Christ Jesus and the forgiveness He won for them and how that love mends all things, even our crooked houses.

Going further…

Bible Study Discussion Questions

  1. Read Genesis 2:19-25. The Lord gives Adam the gift of a wife, a helper comparable to him. How is the woman made? How is she presented to Adam? Why does Adam rejoice?
  2. What does Jesus have to say about divorce in Mark 10:2-12? What does He say about breaking apart a marriage? What sin often results from divorce? Why do you think Jesus wants marriage to be preserved and honored?
  3. Read Psalm 127. This song speaks about marriage and children. Who is needed to build a good marriage? Why do you think children are called a blessing?
  4. Review the Sixth Commandment and its meaning:

    You shall not commit adultery
    What does this mean?
    We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

    What does it mean for a husband and wife to love and honor each other?

  5. Read Ephesians 5:22-33. How should a wife act with respect to her husband? How should a husband act with respect to his wife? Of what is marriage a picture? What truth is denied by divorce (or same-sex marriage, or living together without being married, etc.)?
  6. Imagine that Jon and Kate are your personal friends. What advice and counsel would you give them at this point in their marriage?
  7. Is divorce the “unforgivable sin?” How does Jesus’ death on the cross point us to the greater marriage of Christ and His church? Read John 19:34. What do blood and water point to? How does this point the union of Christ and His church? (Recall how Eve was made!)
Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

Up: Searching for Adventure

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

Up movie posterThis weekend, my family saw Up, the latest Disney/Pixar film. Once again, the great minds (and computers) at Pixar have proven that they cannot produce a bad or even mediochre film…every Disney/Pixar is a great film!

Up presents Carl Fredricksen, a man who grew up dreaming of adventure with his childhood sweetheart. They did grow up and get married, and had a lovely, normal life, never reaching their South American adventure. We see a montage of scenes from across the years, “filling us in,” until we see him widowed and his quaint Victorian surrounded by construction.

Along the way we meet Russell, a “Wilderness Explorer” — (read “Boy Scout.”) Russell happens to be at the house when Carl unleashes thousands of helium balloons to carry his house far from the depressing overhaul of his neighborhood.

The house floats to Paradise Falls, in South America, where Carl and his beloved Ellie had always dreamed of going. Yet through it all, Carl (who has been a gruff recluse) learns from Russell that sometimes the best and favorite memories are the ordinary ones, not exciting adventures.

Russell could teach people about the Holy Liturgy too. Far too often we have people yearning for something new and exciting. “If we only had this pop song style, or that multi-media equipment, we’d really pack in the young people!” some say.

Hmm….listen to Russell. The best aspect of the Liturgy is that it does not change on you. You can count on it. Yes, hymns, readings, and prayers may change, but certain items are the same week in and week out. That is a GOOD thing. Stability. Reliability. While the world changes around you and things can become chaotic, the Divine Service will be your sure and certain friend through it all.

The best worship experiences are not chasing after moments of excitment, searching desperately for mountain top experiences. The best moments of worship are ordinary. Or rather, the best moments of worship are when we recognize just how amazing and extraordinary it is for our Almighty and Eternal God-in-the-flesh comes to us in His Gifts and forgives us…which He does through ordinary elements of bread, wine, water, and Word!

Up is a touching film, which I highly recommend. It also has some beautiful, if not subtle, applications to our lives.

Categories
Current Events

The “Missing Link”: Still Missing the Gospel

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

Missing LinkScientists this week announced that they’ve found what they call the “missing link.” No, it’s not a problem on our website. It’s a cute little animal fossil named “Ida” that is supposedly 47 million years old and shows very clearly a specific branch in the human evolutionary tree. At some point, little mammaly things split, one branch becoming lemur-like creatures and the other branch becoming monkeys, apes and finally humans. Scientists are really excited because they say this proves beyond doubt that their evolutionary theories are right and unquestionable. Remember, the theory of evolution suggests that all life evolved from some glob of proteins that was floating around billions of years ago. From some one celled organism, more complicated life developed. Fish things became crawly things and those became all kinds of organisms. Eventually, you get to “Ida” the little fossil they found which is part-lemur with some “human” characteristics. The missing link! Evolution is proven! God is dead! Blah, blah, blah!

As always, the Word of God demolishes the wisdom of men. In the book of Genesis, it clearly states that when the Lord spoke His Word to create, He made everything “according to its kind” and everything He made He said would reproduce “according to its kind.” Those words are important! They teach us that apple trees make apple trees, petunias make petunias, cows make cows, and people make people. People don’t come from monkeys and birds don’t come from dinosaurs. Our heavenly Father, in all of His infinite creative genius, made our wonderful world with all its diversity of life by the power of His Word. That includes Man, whom God’s Word clearly says was crafted by the Lord Himself and into which He breathed the Spirit of life to make Man a living being.  

But the evidence! The fossil! It proves evolution! The Christian faith is doomed! The book of Genesis really must be a made up mythic story! Nonsense! Little “Ida” the lemur fossil doesn’t prove anything. Evolutionary scientists have long suspected there was some relation between man and other primates and mammals and now they suppose they have this “missing link,” this missing piece of the puzzle. But that’s no missing link. Show me a fossil that’s part fish and part mammal. Show me the fossil that proves some form of life between a fish and a tree. For being a link in the human chain, Ida sure has a big tail! The fact of the matter is this: evolutionary scientists have a certain understanding of how they think life has evolved and when they find some fossils, they are very good at making the evidence conclude what they already think has happened.  

Don’t be fooled by the propaganda. The demand to be shown a “missing link” is a challenge presented by those who believe what God’s Word says about our origins. For these evolutionary scientists to claim they’ve found the “missing link” is a direct attack upon the Christian faith. It’s as much as to say, “See? Science is right. The Bible is wrong. Christians are stupid. Faith is silly. God doesn’t exist. Evolution is how things really work.” The fact is, those who trust in their theories of evolution rely upon a huge amount of faith and trust in their view of the world. It’s faith at least as much as a Christian has to trust in God’s Word. There isn’t space in a little article like this to refute evolution at every point but believe it when I say there are plenty of intelligent scientists who don’t buy it. In any case, genuine science is in the business of experimenting and collecting data and the fact is, you can’t prove evolution anymore than you can prove creation because nobody can create something from nothing. 

But the Lord can! He can and did create everything out of nothing. The problem with evolution is not simply that is denies the book of Genesis. The problem with evolution is that it assumes humans are no more special than the creatures they supposedly evolved from. It supposes that death is the natural order of things. It denies that there is a personal God who made us and takes care of us in favor of thinking everything happens by random chance. Against all this we have the testimony of Christ Himself who is God in the flesh. What is unique about the faith of the Christian Church is not that we believe there is a Creator, but that the Creator took on flesh, came to His creation, and saved us from the sin and death we brought that ruined this creation. Christians acknowledge that things are not right with the world but the One who made the world has come down to us and put things right by His death on the cross and His resurrection. Evolutionary scientists look at the suffering and problems of this world and say, “Well that’s just the way it is.” There’s no comfort there! No peace. No wonder these crazy theories are believed by so many: they’re a tool of Satan to confuse and cause despair. 

What we need is not a “missing link” in the monkey tree but a link from us to God. Evolution says there is no such thing. The Word of God says that “missing link” is not missing at all. It’s Jesus Christ! He is the link, the connection between us and God because He Himself is true God and Man. It is Jesus who lifts us up out of the pit of sin and death which we caused ourselves to fall into and raises us to the heavenly places at the right hand of the Father. Where evolution assumes things will get better or at least be different for no particular reason, the Christian faith is not afraid to confess that this world is passing away and only getting worse. But the Good News is that in Christ we have not just biological life, but spiritual and eternal life forever with the One who loved us and made us and has remade us in His Son. So they found a “missing link?” Don’t let that bother you! The Word of God will always have the final say. And it doesn’t say you share a common past with some monkey thingy. God’s Word says you have been created uniquely by Him and it promises that you share an eternal future with Him in Jesus Christ.

Categories
Catechesis

In Your Face, Death!

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Hallelujah! Booyah! Jesus died for our sins but then came back to life, rose again on the third day. The Easter season is a celebration of our Lord’s triumph over sin and death. It is a time to hear that we can poke death in the eye! Death can’t hurt us! Oh, it can kill us, but it can’t keep us down. Because it couldn’t keep Jesus down into Whom you have been baptized. His resurrection means your resurrection on the Last Day. Now we laugh at Death and mock it as St. Paul does, “Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?”  

Easter means first of all that Death is defeated forever. Jesus told Martha, “Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, shall live.” We confess this in the Creed: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Job said it, “Even though my skin will be destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.” Easter means that we will rise from the dead. When we die, we aren’t just spirits floating around clouds forever. No, our Lord is going to raise our BODIES from the dead. Eternal life will be a physical life. A glorified body. A resurrection body. But still a body.  

This robs Death of the fear it can bring. What is death? Are you afraid of dying? Now that Jesus has died and risen, Death is just a nap. It’s like a big, giant, snarling, snapping pit bull being suddenly turned into nothing more than a yapping Chihuahua! To die is to do nothing other than fall asleep for while. What happens when you go to sleep? You close your eyes and then open them and suddenly its hours later. Same with death. We close our eyes and open them and it is as if no time has passed and we are with our Lord. This is why over and over in the Scriptures, especially after Easter, death is referred to as “falling asleep.” Death is scary. A nap is not scary. Death is an enemy. A nap is rest. Death has lost its sting and power since Jesus rose from the dead. So put all your fears to rest. Christ is risen and Death ain’t all that anymore! 

But Easter isn’t just for later. It’s not just for the day you die. Christ’s defeat of death for you is not just about the promise of your rising from the dead. No, it’s also a promise for now. For today. For every day of your life. That’s what your Baptism is about. The Bible says that “you have been baptized with Christ have been buried with Him in His death.” His death and victory over sin is now yours in holy baptism. That means that our lives are different now. First of all, as we’ve said, you don’t have to fear death. But you also don’t have to fear its backward working symptoms. It’s what? Let me explain. 

Death affects us our whole life. It’s like it’s working backwards from the day we die, causing us to suffer and be sick and miserable. We fear getting old. We fear dying. We fear getting sick. We suffer those things because of death and sin and the curse. And our sinful flesh then concludes that we need to do whatever it takes to avoid death and suffering. And that usually means putting ourselves first. Stepping on others. Making me number one so that I can enjoy this life before I croak. Anyone and everyone had better do what I want. That’s death thinking. That’s living as if Death matters and can hurt you. Repent of living and acting as if Death somehow matters! 

Rather, the resurrection of Jesus means new life. A life without sin. Not that we don’t sin. But that sin can’t condemn us. That sin doesn’t rule us. The Holy Spirit lives in us. He works in us through our Baptism and Jesus’ Word and body and blood to make us live as if Death is no big deal. Because it isn’t! It’s been defeated! Jesus’ defeat of Death means something for our lives now, namely, that we can live joyfully serving others because we know how things will turn out. It doesn’t matter what we might suffer here. It doesn’t matter that we’ll died someday. That’s all been taken care of by God’s Son who took your place and earned you eternal life. So no fear of death! Only life and living for you, child of God! 

So what about Death? In your face, Death. You ain’t nothin’! Death is defeated. When Death comes knocking, just have Jesus answer the door and Death will go running away. Yeah, you’re going to die someday. But that’s just the same as falling asleep. Only when you wake up on the Last Day, it won’t be to an alarm clock and a first hour exam! It will be to the joys of eternal life with Jesus and His church forever and forever. Happy Easter Season!

Categories
Higher Homilies

Homily for Easter Sunday

by The Rev. George F. Borghardt III

easter iconAlleluia!  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had held them and they said nothing to no one for they were afraid.

That’s just so un-Easter, isn’t it?  We have been waiting for the Lenten season, eagerly waiting, watching Jesus making His way to Calvary.  We’ve fasted.  Some have gone to church more, read their Scriptures and devotions.  We’ve spent the last forty days focusing our eyes on Him.

And … We fasted from that word, that word that begins with an “A”  The A-bomb…  We couldn’t even wait any longer.  We found one of the great symbols of the Easter season, the paschal candle, dusted it off and celebrated yesterday evening Easter Vigil.

Just so we could say that word that you say today…  We’ve waited to say, “Alleluia! Christ is risen from the dead!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!”

Yet, the woman today, they show up to the tomb not with that on their lips.  No, they were going with spices.  Why?  To prepare a dead body.

A dead Jesus.  What else did the world expect?  They expected the dead to stay dead.  And Jesus was so dead, so fast on Good Friday, that they didn’t have time to.. well to prepare His dead body.  

Dying for the sin of the world would kill anyone fast – even God.  So, after the Sabbath, the ladies returned to do what was fitting for their teacher.  

Yet, they were still lost in their sins and fears.  Worried about one thing:  Who will roll away that big stone?

But, that big stone wasn’t a problem.  It was rolled away.  Neither did they need the spices.  There was no dead body in that tomb.  Instead they saw a young man, an angel in white, ..

Don’t be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.  He has risen.  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But, go and tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee.  There you will see Him, just as He told you.

Joyful news!  Easter news!  You don’t find a living savior in a tomb for dead people.  He’s alive.  He’s risen!  He’s risen indeed!  Alleluia.

Don’t fear – not even three times denier Peter.  Tell him too!  No one gets to be left out of the Gospel – not even Peter.  Jesus has risen!  He has risen indeed!  Alleluia!

But, the women didn’t receive that message with joy, did they?  It was as if it had no effect on them.  As if the news of the resurrection was so unbelievable that it didn’t have an impact on their lives at all!

Now, the women didn’t wake up in the morning that first Easter and decide they were going to flee the tomb in fear.  No, they just did.  The life they were used to – the life where the dead stay dead – was easier than the life where the dead rise again.

But, you know the story.  You know have heard the Word of angels.  His message is the foundation of our faith, dear Saints of God. The One born of the Virgin, who lived a perfect life, who suffered the punishment due us from Almighty God.  The One crucified under Pontius Pilate has risen from the dead!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Guards in front of the tomb couldn’t keep Him dead.  The stone in front of the tomb couldn’t hold Him in.  He has routed death.  Whipped the Devil.  

Jesus is alive.  He is not in the tomb.  Not where dead people hang out.  He has risen from the dead, just as He promised.  

And don’t miss that little statement:  “who was crucified.”  Same Jesus who died, rose.  He paid the cost of your salvation and it killed Him.  Saving you killed the Son of God.  He sacrificed Himself for your sins.

This morning, we see that His sacrifice was acceptable of God.  That’s the Easter triumph!  That’s the Easter joy!  His sacrifice has made you acceptable to God.  Even you – with all your sins, fears, and failures.

Today, like the women, you have heard the message that Christ has risen from the dead.   He has burst into your world and engaged you with His Word.  How will you be after His forgiveness?  How will you live?

You can go back home afraid and trembling.  Living for yourself.  Back to the filth on your computers, television, or movie collection.  You can go back to your lying and gossip.  You can go back to cheating to get by and continue living as if there is no God, as if Christ hasn’t risen.  And trembling and afraid, you can live as if this was just another Easter, another Easter Service to cross off before Christmas.

Or you can leave here raised from the dead by the Word.  Alive to God.  Dead to the world that you used to live in.  Dead to your sins, dead to living for yourself, dead to the fear of death, dead to having to push yourself forward in front of the next person.

No more fear.  No more trembling.  No living scared.  No more having to take what isn’t given you because you are afraid that it won’t be given to you.  No more looking over your shoulder afraid of death.

All of that died with Jesus and is in the tomb.  He is not there.  You are not there either.  Don’t live that way any more.  Not after this Easter.

Today, you are different, born from above, born anew in the waters of your baptism.  Yes, you are the same as when you came in the doors.  But, you are different in that now you have heard the word that the Jesus you sought has risen from the dead.  Just as He said!

They went away afraid and told nothing to no one.  You walk away today forgiven, restored, and knowing the end of the story.  

Don’t be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.  He has risen.  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  

Today, everything changes.  Because of that Gospel!  Everything about you.  Everything that you knew before, everything.

Everything.  That’s your whole life.  From the reason to get up in the morning, to how you raise your kids, to how you deal with those around you, how you work, how you spend your money, how you go to church, how you forgive your enemies, how you handle your good days, how you handle your bad days, how you live with those you love, how you treat those you don’t.

Don’t be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.  He has risen.  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  

Stop your fears.  God is not angry with you any more.  He has burst into your world and conquered everything that you could fear.

Your sins?  He died for them.  Your pain?  He endured it.  Your loneliness?  The punishment you deserve from Almighty God?  He suffered it.  And death?  HA!  He’s conquered death.

As certainly as Christ has risen from the dead.  Death has swallowed up in victory!  The Victory of the Son of God who loved us and gave up His life for us.

His victory, is your victory – over sin, death, and the power of the devil.  He is alive.  You are alive too in Him.

And not alive some other time, not raised only raised on the Last Day.  No, you are alive today to live for others.  You have been raised today to tend to those who you are given to love.  Alive to put the needs of others before yourself.

So, do what the ladies were given to do that Easter morning:  Receive Jesus in the Word!  Receive the message of the angels.  Jesus who was crucified has risen from the dead.  He’s alive.  You are alive too.

Leave your sins behind.  Leave the death and fears behind.   Leave them in the tomb.   No more living each day as Jesus didn’t die and rise again for you.  He rose.  He’s alive and you are alive in Him.

Come to His Supper.  Receive the Body and Blood of the crucified and risen Lord.  Depart His Supper enlivened.  Walk away alive – a new creation – living for others.

For…the Fast is over.  The waiting is done.  The Paschal Candle is lit symbolizing a living Savior.   No more holding back.  The celebration has begun.  A celebration that will last far longer than the Easter season.  It will go on through all eternity.

Alleluia!  Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.  He has risen indeed.  Alleluia!  In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Categories
Higher Homilies

Good Friday – John 18:1-19:42

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

April 10, 2009

St. John 18:1—19:42

CrucifixIn the Garden of Eden, mankind fell into sin and death. On the cross of Calvary, mankind was saved from sin and death. In the Garden, disobedience led to a curse, to punishment. Now Adam would have a hard time getting the ground to grow food. Thorns and thistles would come up and be a nuisance, a reminder of a cursed earth. Every prick of the finger on a nasty thorn is a reminder that man brought sin and death into the world, a curse. But now look! The Son of God wears a crown of thorns! The curse is on Him! He bears it, carries it, suffers under it. Sin and death and the curse are for Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! See your Lord, crowned with thorns, carrying the curse for you. St. Paul says that it means He was made sin for us that we might be in Him the righteousness of God. It’s not just that Jesus carries our sin. He IS our sin! On the cross, He is every wicked person, every evil deed, every action and thought and word deserving of God’s death and hell. We brought on the curse in the Garden but it is Jesus who takes the curse on Himself to get rid of it for us.

In the Garden, we became despisers of God’s word. The very first son born into this world is a murderer, Cain who killed His brother Abel. Violence and hatred come with sin and the curse. Sin turns us against each other. It makes us into murderers who only care about ourselves. But now look! A murderer is going free! He gets released from the dungeon and the innocent Son of God takes His place. Who’s it going to be? Jesus or Barabbas? Barabbas, of course! Who’s it going to be to die? You or Jesus? Jesus, of course, who came to take your place. He goes to judgment. You are set free. He goes to suffering. You are let go. He is condemned as guilty. You are declared “not guilty.” You are the free person. Jesus is the murderer now, condemned to die for our sins. We kill our brothers all the time by how we live. But it is Jesus who is murdered for us. Killed in our place. We are let go to life. He is sent to death. And that trading of places means we are free in Jesus Christ, from the curse and judgment.

In the Garden of Eden, man tried to make clothes. Fig leaves. No good. We try to cover our sins and hide them. It doesn’t work. The Lord sees. And so the Lord makes clothes. And now look! At Calvary, the Lord strips His Son and His clothes are given to sinners. Romans soldiers. Who’s more sinful than the Romans? But they get His clothes. One gets his perfect robe, with no seam. That’s why the Lamb dies. To make clothes. Clothes for you. The robe of Christ’s righteousness. The clothing of Jesus that says, “Your sins are covered.” When you are wearing this robe, given to you in Holy Baptism, your sins cannot be seen by God. No fig leaves for you. You wear royal robes now. You are a King because you wear the clothes of a King. You are shining and radiant because your fig leaves have been taken away and replaced by the clothes of Jesus. No worrying about what to wear when you stand before God. The clothes have been supplied. Gleaming, shining, brilliantly white with the perfection and beauty and holiness of God’s own Son. Perfect size. Measured for you. Fit to you by the Lord who provides them. No making clothes for yourself. No work trying to cover your sins. They’ve been covered. You’ve been clothed. Covered with Jesus.

In the Garden of Eden, man began the work of sin. We started it. God was not our enemy until we turned from His Word. He was not terrifying until we realized the nakedness of our sin. He was not frightening until we tried to run and hide from Him. But there, in the Garden, the Lord spoke His promise. The Seed of the Woman would crush the serpent’s head. And now look! Now, from the cross, the words of our Lord: “It is finished!” Everything God has been working toward is done. Accomplished. All that the Father planned for your salvation has been taken care of. It is finished! The work of salvation was begun by Jesus and finished by Him. No more price to pay. Sins are covered. The debt is paid in full. God’s judgment against us is finished. No more nasty looks from the Lord for your sins. He has forgotten them. Our struggling to fix what’s wrong is finished. No more trying to earn a place in God’s kingdom. He’s put us there by His grace. No more trying to convince God that we deserve a place. We are given a place by Jesus. It is finished. All of it. Nothing left. No decision to make. No commitment to honor. No promise to keep. No good works to balance out the sins. It’s done. The Lamb of God has done it. There’s nothing left. No strings attached. No conditions. No qualifications. Just salvation. A done deal. He’s been stricken, smitten and afflicted. Done and finished by the Lamb of God.

In the Garden, Adam had the gift of a wife made out of his own rib. He then let the Devil seduce her into sin and followed right along. Adam’s perfect and holy marriage is now full of the curse and death. But now look! From the cross, a new Bride! A Bride for Jesus! Born from His side! Born in blood and water, the sacraments of the church. Eve was the “Mother of all the Living.” Now the Christian church is. New birth in the water from Jesus’ side which flows into the font. Food and nourishment from the blood that flows into the cup of His holy Supper. It is finished. Yet even after His death, life comes. Jesus’ death means your sins are forgiven. Even now His blood and water are given to save you. The water to mark you as His own. The blood to forgive you and strengthen you in the faith. Blood and water to mark you as “hands off” to the Devil and death which can no longer destroy you. Blood and water to look to your whole life and know that your Savior has overcome your curse, that He has become your sin, and that in Him, you are the righteousness of God.

In the Garden was a Tree of Life. But they never got to eat from it. Instead they ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and brought into the world sin and death. But now look! A new Tree of Life. Upon that Tree was the Son of God. The blood and water that give life are its fruits. In the Garden of Eden life began for us. And then sin and death took it away. But in another Garden, life begins again for us. A garden where there is a tomb. A tomb where Jesus is buried. A tomb that is empty on Easter because our Lord Jesus has risen. Death cannot keep Him down. Now it can’t keep you down either. Death is swallowed up in victory. It has no terror. It has no sting. In a garden sin began. Then the world was cursed. Thorns sprang up. Murderers were born. Clothes were tried. A bride was abandoned to the Devil’s preaching. But on the cross and in the garden and today wherever the blood and water are flowing, Christ is making all things new. The curse is overcome. The devil is defeated. Sin is forgiven. Death is overcome. Life returns. The Lamb who was slain is risen. That is your life today, the day of our Lord’s death, and every day unto life everlasting in Jesus. Amen.

 

Categories
Catechesis

No Complaints from this Lamb!

by Seminarian Jeff Dock

This article takes a look at the words and message of the great Lutheran Hymn, “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth,” LSB #438.

Cranach Crucifixion PaintingPaul Gerhardt, a 17th century German hymnist, wrote ‘A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth’. It’s been a welcome addition to Lutheran hymnals ever since.

Stanza 1 tells us that there is a Lamb of God who bears the sins of mankind.

“A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth,The guilts of sinners bearing.
And, laden with the the sins of earth, None else the burden sharing.”

In the Old Testament, God the Father had appointed that an innocent lamb be the animal marked as the sin bearer. Only an animal such as this was pure enough to have sin placed upon it. These lambs all point to Christ who bears the sin of the world. It doesn’t seem fair. Cute cuddly lambs get sacrificed. The innocent Son of God has the sins of the world placed upon Him. He (without complaint) is beaten, wounded, mocked, and finally crucified. What made such a sacrifice necessary?

Stanza 2 of this hymn answers that question. It was the Father’s will for our salvation It was necessary for us that Jesus do His Father’s will by going to the cross because that alone was the cure for sin. That is how sinful man is saved.

“Go Forth my Son” the Father said “And free my children from their dread of guilt and condemnation.
The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, but by your passion they will share the fruit of your salvation.”

Sin is not something God could just overlook, forget about, or ignore. You don’t just sweep this under the rug. It doesn’t work that way. Heaven is perfect. Sin is the opposite of perfection. We’re sinners and therefore we’re not perfect. We wouldn’t fit. Picture Heaven as a field of pure light, of pure beauty, of pure holiness. A sinner would be a smudge on the horizon, a dark blot, something ugly. Something you couldn’t look away from. Something bad in a place of good. Something imperfect in a place of perfection.

But God wants you in Heaven. He created you to spend eternity with Him. Even though sin was keeping us out of Heaven, God wouldn’t stand for that. Sin isn’t something He could just ignore. It had to go somewhere. It was on us, and so God placed it upon His Son. Only the perfectly innocent Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was able to bear all that sin. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. We’re able to enter Heaven because our sin is removed. It was borne by Christ. He suffered it, shed His blood for it, and died for it. We are forgiven.

Stanza 3 of our hymn starts with Jesus speaking

“Yes Father, yes most willingly I’ll bear what you command me.
My will conforms to your decree, I’ll do what you have asked me.”

None of us could have borne the world’s sin the way Christ did. We can’t even handle our own sin, much less the sin of the entire world. But Jesus does it willingly. He does it because He trusts in the Father’s good and holy will. He knows that the Father’s gracious will is to give mankind forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

Stanza 3 reminds us of the price that needed to be paid for sin.

“The Father offers up His Son, desiring our salvation. O love, how strong you are to save! 
You lay the One into the grave who built the earth’s foundation.”

We can’t fully understand how destructive sin is because we’re so mired in it. It never looks as bad to us as it actually is. We can see just how serious sin is by looking at the price that was required to fix it, by looking at Jesus upon the cross. We see how terrible sin is when we realize that the Creator of the world had to die in order to fix it.

Part of the Christian life is coming to a deeper awareness of how bad our sins really are. We do this not so we can sit around feeling bad about ourselves, but instead so that we can rejoice in Christ. Coming to grips with the fact that we’re (to quote our liturgy) “poor miserable sinners” is good, for Jesus said “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Seeing ourselves as “poor miserable sinners” isn’t as bad as it first sounds. For Christ came into this world to save sinners.

The hymn ends with the following words which stand as our hope always

“And there, in garments richly wrought, as Your own bride shall we be brought to stand in joy beside thee.”


Jeff Dock is a 2nd year student at Concordia Theological Seminary studying to be a Lutheran pastor. While not occupied by video games and his baby daughter, he occasionally studies.  

Categories
Higher Homilies

Judica – The Fifth Sunday in Lent

 

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

St. John 6:42-59

Abraham and Isaac Why did these men want to kill Jesus? What did Jesus ever do to them? Jesus healed the sick. He made the blind to see and the deaf to hear and the lame to walk. He cast out demons and raised dead children to life. So why is it that the clergy are so anxious to grab stones and beat Jesus to death? What did He do? He looks them in the eye and says, “You are of your father the Devil!” What Jesus does is to rob these men of their religion and their piety and holiness. These clergy, who think they’re so holy and keep God’s Law so faithfully and love to be loved by all the common people who think those clergy are so holy and pious, have their false god stripped from them. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day make a great show of being godly. But the ones they really worship are themselves! And when Jesus comes along and tells them their good works are worthless and the religion is a sham and the only hope they have is to repent of their sins and believe in Him, they want none of it! We could say it simply like this: Jesus is in trouble because, of all the things He does for the weak and poor and sick, what He DOESN’T do is flatter the holy rollers. He doesn’t tell them how great they are and what a wonderful job they’re doing. But, brothers and sisters in Christ, there’s our repentance too! Jesus has come to demolish our religion, the religion of “me” which is really just the Devil’s preaching. That’s why mega churches are filled to overflowing with people. Because the Devil’s preachers tell them what they want to hear: how great they are. But we’re not immune from wanting to hear that!

Jesus didn’t come to tell us how great we are. No flattery for you today. Jesus came to rescue us from our thinking that we are so great. Jesus came to be the sacrifice for the notions in our head that confess that we’re pretty good people. Every boast about who we are and what we’ve done is carried by Jesus to the cross to be gotten rid of. Jesus came to be the Lamb that Abraham promised to Isaac. “God will provide Himself with a Lamb, my son.” What most aggravated the Pharisees, I suspect, was that Jesus didn’t tell them they were so great and godly. Instead, He told them they completely misunderstood the Law, that they were sinners, and that He was their only hope. Jesus comes to die for us and shed His blood on the cross precisely because we think our lives are pretty good. He comes to shed His blood because we think we’re worth saving when we’re not. The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world and that sin includes our being pretty sure we deserve a break from God. Jesus lets these evil men drag Him to the cross precisely because He knows they can never save themselves. He is nailed to the cross and bleeds and dies because they do not know what they do. He dies pouring out His blood for a world that loves itself and for people who love themselves. And all of that sin is blotted out. Covered up. Washed away. Scarlett made white as snow. Because Jesus is the Lamb and the only-begotten Son of God who is given up for us all.

You’ve got to watch out for this religion of the Devil! The problem with the Devil’s religion is that it can LOOK and SOUND so like the Christian faith. But it’s not! The commandments teach us to love God by loving our neighbor. The Devil’s religion gets us to try to convince our neighbor of how much we love God. The truth is, our sinful natures are Pharisees from birth. We love to judge others as if we are better than they are. We love to talk about ourselves and make ourselves the center of attention. Maybe it’s how much more WE do around church than other people. Maybe its about how much harder a worker we are than those lazy people out there who don’t do anything. Perhaps it’s how long we’ve been Christians or how much better we’ve raised our kids or how terrible so and so is because of something they’ve done. There is no end to our looking down our noses at other people and ALL THE WHILE showing up in church and being proud that we’re Christians! And then, should we ever be called to repentance, if our sins are ever pointed out, well then there’s a ruckus! “Don’t tell me! Don’t accuse me! Don’t lump me in with the sinners!” Repent! Repent and recognize the Devil’s religion for what it is. Turn from these sins of making yourself a holy person and thinking yourself a holy person. Turn away from thinking that your good works make you more impressive to God than someone else!

But how to get rid of being a Pharisee? How to be rescued from the Devil’s religion? Jesus does that too. Three times He speaks about the Word of God. “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. If anyone keeps my Word, He will never see death. I keep the Father’s Word.” There it is. The rescue from the Devil’s religion is Christ’s Word. What word is that? The Word that delivers the forgiveness of sins. We’re rescued from not keeping the Word by Jesus keeping the Word. Remember, Lent started with that! The Devil, trying to twist God’s Word and Jesus throwing the true Word back in His face. The Word that saves, the Word that rescues is the Word that Jesus preached to the Pharisees but they didn’t want to hear it. It’s the Word that declares He is the Son of God who has come to give His life in the place of sinners. It’s the Word we call the Gospel, the Good News. If anyone asks what the Gospel is, it is this: That because Jesus died and rose, God doesn’t count our sins against us. The Word that saves us is nothing other than that word. Those who have the Devil as their father keep his word. His word tells you to trust in yourself. That you’re better than others. That God loves you because you’re worth loving. The saving Word, the Word of Jesus is that His blood cleanses you from all your sins. That His death counts for your. That He alone is your salvation. That is the Word that saves us.

But that Word that saves us is not just an idea. Not just a concept or a notion. It’s real. Powerful. Active. It’s the same Word that can take ordinary water and make it into a washing of new life in Baptism. Its the same word that forgives sins so that when even a guy like your pastor speaks it it counts in heaven itself! It’s the Word that we hear from the Scriptures and preached in sermons and taught in Bible Study and Sunday School and read in our devotions—the Word that is always putting Jesus in our ears, His death for our sins, His resurrection for our life. It is the Word that adds to ordinary bread and wine the body and blood of Jesus so that we may eat the flesh that was given for the life of the world. So that Jesus lives in us and we in Him and He’ll raise us up on the Last Day. The only hope we have against the religion of the Devil and the Devil’s preaching, is the true and pure Word of God which is delivered to us by the Holy Spirit who turns our hearts away from our sins to believe His Word. That Word, in all the ways it is given, saves you! It promises your forgiveness. It delivers forgiveness. It marks you as God’s child. It absolves and feeds you and keeps you in Christ. Ignore this word, despise this Word, and your souls will quickly latch on to the Devil’s religion. Our sinful nature is born that way and always wants to go back! But you have been rescued from that religion of Satan. You have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus so that by His Word you will have eternal life.

Throughout all of Lent we’ve seen this one thing: Jesus, on His way to the cross is driving out the Devil wherever He goes. But here the Devil has filled the hearts of evil men who will be the Devil’s tools to try and destroy Jesus. What a surprise that to suffer at the hands of evil men is exactly how Jesus destroys the Devil’s power! It is because of our sinfulness that we kill God’s Son! But it is for our sins that Jesus dies and rises again, wiping them out! What the Devil thinks is his victory turns out to be his defeat! What sinners think is the getting rid of their enemy is their being once again God’s children. What the world thinks of as some nobody on a cross God the Father reveals as the Savior of all people. The Devil’s power is great. But it is no match for Jesus. By His suffering and death He casts down the Devil. By His Word He rescues us from the Devil’s power. You are the Lord’s. Nothing is more sure than that because Jesus’ Word says so! Amen.