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Catechesis

Stir up Your Power

Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent is the last time the Church will gather together before the Nativity of our Lord. We pray these words in the Collect of the Day as our final plea and petition to Jesus who is coming. The Lord’s Coming is what advent is all about. The Lord comes to us in by means of Word and Sacrament, and He comes to Bethlehem in the form of a lowly child.

There doesn’t seem like a lot of might in a manger, does there? Yet we pray that the Lord would come and help us by His might. There’s an awful lot of humility for the power of God to be consumed by mere flesh and blood in a stable with the donkeys and other barn yard animals. Here though, in Bethlehem, in the manger, is the might of God, the power which He is stirring up to win salvation for you on the Cross.

The power of the Lord is often hidden from the sight of man. We just can’t handle God’s power. God’s power throws lowly men to their knees begging and crying for mercy. So God, for the sake of sinners, has to not be so mighty in human terms. Instead He comes to us in the might of grace and forgiveness. He comes to us in ways in which we can comprehend, in forms of water and the word and bread and wine. The power and might of God is there in His Amen For You at the font and at the altar.

Our sins weigh us down. They present a burden which we often cannot carry in life. We stumble and fall and drown ourselves in even more sin. The burden is heavy and there are times it seems like we just won’t make it. Then we look back to our baptisms, and despite how good of a swimmer our Old Adam seems to be, we dunk that stinker one more time and splash around in the Lord’s forgiveness.

There at the forgiveness point is where our sins are lifted from us just as we pray in this coming week’s collect. Our sins are lifted from us high above the world so that they might hang on the Cross. Our sins are nailed to the cross, and water and blood flow from the side of our sins. There at Golgotha our sins are consumed in the lowly flesh and person of Jesus Christ. There at the place of the skull our sins are lifted from us not by our work or righteousness but by the grace and mercy of God. And it all begins here in Advent!

Advent is about our Lord’s coming. It’s about getting ready and preparing for Jesus to take on flesh and blood. But even more it’s about preparing for this little baby, the Christ child to suffer and die on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins. It’s about preparing for Good Friday. The lifting of our sins we pray for today is the lifting of Good Friday and the grace and mercy we pray for today is the grace and mercy of Easter.

Come soon, Lord Jesus. Amen.

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. (Introit for Rorate Coeli, the Fourth Sunday in Advent)

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” Review

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

Warning: This review contains movie plot spoilers!

movie posterThen God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)

“If the earth dies, humans die. If humans die, the earth will live.” –Klaatu, from “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

It’s pretty irritating to go to a movie that you think is going to be a good sci-fi flick with lots of action, only to be hounded with a message of morality, especially one about something as ridiculous as global warming and the environment. I’ll admit, I had a hint of that before I saw “The Day the Earth Stood Still (TDTESS)” but I went anyway because we live in a small town and movies are pretty inexpensive here.

If you ever saw the original “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” you know that the human race was going to be destroyed unless they stopped developing atomic weapons. Since the original was released in 1951, you can definitely see the “Cold War” concerns of people at the time. Well, it’s 2008 so now “TDTESS” does the same thing, except instead of nuclear weapons the big concern is the environment.

Now, here is one way to review this movie. Aliens come to earth to punish us for destroying the earth. In the end, however, mankind promises to change and do better and the alien, Klaatu, is persuaded to call off the destruction of the earth. Of course, the consequence is a big change to our technological way of life. The problem with this way of thinking is that the creation becomes our god and instead of answering to our Creator, we must answer to some outside alien for what we’ve done. In this way of looking at it, “TDTESS” is really a bad movie theologically, because it confuses the Creator with the creation and makes “global warming” something more dire than it is at all.

That’s one way to look at the movie. But there’s a better way. How about this? An alien takes a human form, comes to earth to warn us and then judge us and in the end sacrifices himself to save us! Sounds a little bit like the Gospel, doesn’t it? Of course, Jesus is God in the flesh, not an alien. And our real problem is not “the environment” but sin. Still, it just goes to show that even in a movie that is probably thought of as completely “secular” can’t get away from a storyline that mimics the Gospel story of the Son of God coming in the flesh to save us from the very judgment He Himself brings!

So I left “TDTESS” a little bit annoyed that a sci-fi movie had to be “ruined” by a moralistic message about how we hurt our planet. But as I thought about it, I had to smile that even a movie like that can’t get away from teaching or picturing the Greatest Story—our salvation—even if it’s just in some similar ideas. Humanity’s ability to change and do better seems to overcome our destruction in the movie. But in the end, even a silly plot line like that is overcome and overshadowed by the Gospel of our salvation in Jesus. And the giant robot in the movie does some cool stuff, too!

The Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. He is also the Internet Services Executive, which means he gets to tell Stan what to do!

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Catechesis

“Comfort, Comfort My People” – A Homily for Advent

by The Rev. William Weedon

Isaiah 40:1-5 / Luke 1:5-25

zechariahandangelGod commands a word of comfort to His people: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” A word of comfort, pardon, grace, and huge gift. And yet this word from God is often met with skepticism. Can He mean me? Surely not. Not after all I’ve done. Such a word of comfort and grace cannot be meant for the likes of one whose sin is like mine.

And there are none who so feel their sin as those who live closest to His holiness – those whom He regards as righteous by their faith and trust in Him. They see their sin and feel its weight in a way that the world never can understand. It takes the nearness of God to bring the weight of sin to bear on the conscience and the heart.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were such. The evangelist tells us that they were “both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord.” If you asked them, they’d have told you a different description. They’d have said: No, we are poor sinners, who plead the mercy of God and wait for His redemption. But such people who live by faith and who are righteous because they see their own sin and utterly despair of themselves and put all their hope on the mercy of God – they are the ones who above all struggle to believe that God could be gracious and kind to the likes of them.

And so the old man stood there attending to his duty, offering the sacred incense and as the smoke began to swirl toward the heavens and the sweet smell filled the darkened room, he became aware of a presence. There at the right side of that altar where he had so lately thrown on the coals the offering of incense, the sign of prayer, stood an angel.

What is the response of a man who knows his sin when he sees such a thing? Does he rejoice and thank God that he is counted worthy of such a vision? No. Zechariah shows his righteousness by his humility. He is troubled and fear falls on him. But the angel was not sent to scare him, but to comfort him. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Gabriel was sent to announce the dawn of the redemption for which Zechariah had longed, and in which he would play a key role.

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.”

“My prayer?” thought Zechariah. “But that was years ago. I’ve long since stopped hoping or even dreaming of such a thing. Why, it’s just not possible.” So his thoughts must have run as the angel went on, heedless of the perplexity on Zechariah’s face. “You shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn the hearts of the children of Israel to the Lord and will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
Zechariah is blown away that God could be so good, so gracious, so kind to Him. He can’t get his mind around it. And his unbelief and fear conquer him. “How shall I know this?” he asks. “I am old; my wife beyond the years of bearing a child. How can this be?”

If it is terror to see an angel to those who know their sin, even more terrifying is seeing an angel riled. Gabriel speaks a word of judgment that turns out also to be a word of promise. Not a word can pass from Zechariah’s lips until they open in praise of what God has done, for the words He gave to the angel will come to pass, fulfilled in their time. God’s words cannot and do not fail.

And then the angel was gone. And Zechariah was struck dumb before the goodness and the mercy of the Lord – goodness and mercy unlooked for. That he and his wife would have a child. That that child would be the long awaited prophet to go before the Lord Himself, preparing his way. That their child would be the appointed ambassador of the King of kings to announce the ultimate comfort. That God has come into the flesh to triumph over the enemies of the human race – to make common cause with the flesh He now shares and to raise the fallen sons of Adam to their high destiny as children of God.

And like Zechariah, we stagger at the promise. Me? Can He possibly mean this comfort for me? That I who fail Him so often every day will be forgiven, made welcome in the home of the Eternal Son, made to sit with Him at His table and to reign with Him over all things? Me? How can it be?

Advent invites us to enter the silence of Zechariah and to wait and see the Words of God come to their fulfillment at the proper time. As he left the temple and couldn’t even given the final blessing because of his sealed lips, his heart was burning with the hope that words of God had given him. And he began to see their fruition not many days later. Elizabeth laughed and thought “Why, it’s Abraham and Sarah all over again.” The prayers that they long since had given up on were answered by God in His goodness in a way beyond their imagining.

People loved by God, your God commands comfort to be spoken to you too. His love for you will indeed astound and silence you, as you behold Him taking flesh from the pure Virgin and coming among you as your own brother to lift you to His glory. The comfort of this message is for you – you who think yourself hopelessly sinful and a failure. He says to you: For you I have come. For you I have sent my messenger to prepare my way. Do not fear. I am your Emmanuel. Watch in silence and see my salvation unfold! Amen.

The Rev. William Weedon is pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hamel, IL. Pastor Weedon is a plenary speaker at next summers Higher Things Sola Conferences. This homily originally appeard on his blog.

Categories
Catechesis

All That Daily Bread!

Our Lord works through His Word and means. By means of flesh, the Son of God was able to bleed and die for our sins. By means of water, God puts His name on us. By means of a pastor’s voice, Christ absolves us of our sins. By means of bread and wine, Jesus gives us His body and blood. Of all the means by which the Lord does things, those are the most important! Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, is truly our daily bread!

But have you ever stopped to consider how the Lord uses means to give us the rest of our daily bread? Let’s take an example. When I sit in my recliner and watch TV, there is a little boy and girl in the congregation I serve who can eat. How is my watching TV connected to their eating? Well, their mom works for the cable company. So when I pay for my cable TV each month, she earns money from her job at the cable company. So, by means of my watching TV, and her earning a paycheck, these children are fed and clothed.

But it goes way beyond that. Think about all the connections that are made when that transaction takes place. When the money comes out of my account, a computer programmer at the bank earns money to buy his children what they need. When that mom I mentioned goes and buys those groceries, let’s say a loaf of bread, all kinds of gifts from our heavenly Father are coming together. First of all there is His gift of sun and rain to water the fields where the grain grows. The Lord provides for the farmer who harvests and ships the grain. Men and women at a flour mill grind that grain into flour. Someone drives it on a truck, using fuel to drive that truck that was pumped out of the ground. People who make the boxes and bags in which the bread is shipped, the people who work at the warehouse and the grocery store, from the boy who puts it on the shelf to the nice young lady who rings it up at the register. At every step of the way, in every aspect of our lives, we see the gracious hand of our heavenly Father at work to provide for us.

Notice that a loaf of bread doesn’t fall out of the sky whenever you get hungry. You buy it from people who produce and deliver and sell it. Do you see then how the Lord works through means, not just for our salvation but for every aspect of our lives? And why? Because we deserve it? Nope. After all, even people who aren’t Christians have jobs and can buy bread. No, our Lord gives us these gifts, as the Catechism teaches, “only out of Fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all which it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.” So, take a moment at Thanksgiving to do that!

But how do you thank God properly? How do you say “thanks” or “give back” to the Guy who has everything? You do what the Psalmist says: You “take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 116:13). In other words, the best way to thank the Lord for all His benefits? Live in them! Enjoy them! Receive them as His gifts! Don’t try to pay Him back—you never could! Rather live each day expecting that your Father in heaven will provide for you! Use what He gives you for your good and the good of your neighbor, those around you. Enjoy whatever the Lord gives you as a gift.

As you enjoy the good things the Lord gives you to support your body and life, enjoy most of all the gifts that never perish or run out. As you eat your daily bread, feast also on the Bread of Life, the flesh of Jesus given for the life of the world. As you chug down your favorite drink, drink also the cup of Christ, filled with His blood, the drink of salvation. As you put on your sweater and pants, rejoice in the clothing of Jesus’ righteousness given to you in Holy Baptism. As you receive and give thanks this week for the wonderful and varied gifts the Lord gives for your body and this life, give thanks by receiving and living in the truly eternal gifts that are all wrapped up and bestowed on you in Jesus. Happy Thanksgiving in Christ!

Categories
Higher Homilies

The Last Sunday in the Church Year

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

St. Matthew 25:1 -13

Ten Virgins went to meet the Bridegroom. Five were wise and five were foolish. The Greek word for “foolish” is “moron.” The Bible says, “The FOOL says in his heart there is no God.” The foolish virgins were foolish because to them the things of God were not worth worrying about. Perhaps they never thought the Bridegroom would come. Perhaps they live as if there might be a God or maybe not. Maybe they don’t care whether or when Jesus is coming back. The gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation are not things they care about our delight in. Perhaps they have some sin that they want to hold on to. Whatever the case, they are foolish because they leave behind the gifts of faith and when the Bridegroom comes they are not ready. On the other hand, the Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of WISDOM and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” The wise virgins fear the Lord. They know they cannot survive on their own. They know they owe their existence to the Bridegroom. Their whole life is one lived waiting for Him. They live by His mercy and grace. They live in the forgiveness of sins. The oil of that forgiveness is what keeps their lamps lit and they know they will need it on the Last Day. They are ready to meet the Bridegroom because they live in that forgiveness.

Where does the oil come from? Lamps in Bible times were fueled by simple wicks in olive oil. Olive oil comes from olives. And the oil is gotten out of the olives by taking them from the olive tree and crushing and squeezing them. The oil in the lamp of a Christian, the oil in YOUR lamp is from the tree of the cross. On that tree, the Son of God in the flesh is squeezed and pressed and crushed for your sins. And as He is crushed and killed by the weight of your sins, blood and water flow out of Him. Olive oil is squeezed into a jar to be carried with your lamp. Christ’s blood and water flow into the vessels prepared for them: the water into the holy font and the blood into the holy cup. The oil that the virgins carry is not some oil they made themselves or came up with. The oil that fuels are lamp is not our good works or good intentions or even our own faithfulness and believing. The oil that fuels our lamps, that gives us light, is the oil of Christ Himself pressed out of Him on the cross as He gave Himself for the Bride to make her spotless and holy and perfect for Himself. The oil you have, brothers and sisters, is from Christ Himself. Only what is from Christ Himself burns purely and supplies you light at the nighttime of your death and at the midnight hour when our Lord comes again.

Take a minute to make sure you’ve got that oil! That oil is poured into your vessel at the font when it is poured on you with water and the word. The gifts of Holy Baptism—God’s name, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the peace of the Spirit and the adoption as a child of God—these gifts are poured into you in Holy Baptism. More gifts poured into you. The words of Jesus which are written to tell you what He has done. The words of Jesus spoken that declare your sins are forgiven. More oil poured into your vessel for the Last Day. And also the body and blood poured into you. Given to you to eat and drink, this food of Jesus Himself promises and delivers the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Why life and salvation? Because when the Bridegroom comes again you will be ready with a lamp that is burning brightly, filled from these heavenly gifts. Do you get it? When Jesus comes again on the Last Day and wakes us from the sleep of death, we trim our lamps and they burn brightly because of Him and what He has given us. It is Jesus we are waiting for and it is Jesus Himself who gives us the oil of Himself so that we might be prepared to enter into the wedding feast when He comes again.

But which of us is not foolish? Which of does not despise their Baptism and Christ’s gifts? Which of us does not think we can coast through life, slipping through church, pretending we’re Christians, while all the while paying no attention to how much oil we’ll have on the Last Day? You and I do this all the time: we figure we can show up in church, do the “church thing” and then go right on living the way WE want to back in our daily lives. You know, still hating the same people, still giving in to the same sins, still pretending we’re religious to a world that knows we aren’t really. Still finding other things to love and attract us more than the Lord Himself. Still finding other ways to please and worship ourselves instead of serving and caring for others. To live like that is to despise our Baptism. It is to hang on to our lamps but have no oil. It is to fall into the Devil’s trap of thinking, “Live how you want, you can always go and buy your oil, get your religion, have some Jesus at the last minute!” But there won’t be any oil to be found on the Last Day. And while the world wails at the coming of Jesus, those who pretended like they were Christians but had no oil will be shut out of Christ’s presence. How terrifying a thing that is!

That is why Jesus speaks these words. Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord tells us about the wise and the foolish virgins, and we hear about them every year to warn us! To call us to repentance. To wake us up from our laziness and remind us that we need oil! And that we have been given oil! And that the oil is plentiful for us on the Last Day. Your Lord doesn’t want you to be without oil on the Last Day. He also doesn’t want you to try and come up with the oil on your own or go buy it somewhere. He has provided the oil from His own body given into death for our sins. He has delivered that oil and filled up our vessels through His holy gifts of word, water and body and blood. There is not a one of us who has not lived foolishly, more happy in our sins than with the Lord. There is not a one of us who has not in some way despised the gifts Jesus gives. But that is why His Words save us. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins wakes us up from the sleep of sin so that when we fall asleep in death we will not wake unprepared but ready to go in with our Bridegroom to His feast. Wake up, sleepers! Throw off your sin! Cling to Christ. You are filled with His oil. His salvation. His forgiveness. He’s coming soon and you will be ready. That’s His promise to you in His church where His holy gifts are given.

Our oil and fuel prices were really high recently. Now they have dropped dramatically. They said gas and oil for heating our homes this winter would be very expensive but now they’re not so sure. I have no idea what those crazy prices will do. But I do know this: the oil that matters, the oil which fuels the lamp of your life as a Christian never goes up in cost—because it’s free! The oil that Christ Himself gives you from Himself is the oil that will burn brightly on the Last Day. As we prepare in this life to fall asleep in death, we do so knowing that when our Lord comes again, our vessels will be filled with oil. When the Lord wakes you up on the Last Day, get ready to trim your lamps and follow Jesus, being filled with Jesus Himself. You see, that is our life as Christians, to wait for the coming of the One who has already come and given Himself for us and to us. Our life is to eagerly await the coming of Jesus, who Himself has made us ready to receive Him. Wake up! He’s almost here. The feast is going to start. Light your lamps and live in Christ. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen.

 

Rev. Mark Buetow is Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. Pr. Buetow is the editor of the Higher Things Reflections and Internet Services Executive. He has also been a guest on Higher Things Radio.

Categories
Catechesis

Advent is Coming

by The Rev. Jonathan Naumann

Yes, that annual season we call Advent is on the way this month beginning on St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th) this year.

But by saying “Advent is Coming” I am not referring to the calendar as much as the meaning of the term. “Advent” (from the Latin) means “coming”. But beyond its dictionary definition, Advent is a description of what the biblical God Himself actually does for us in the person of Jesus Christ. “…Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven”.

In those words, quoted from the Nicene Creed, we have an extraordinary departure from the safe comfort zone of the gods of all other religions.

Other religions are about what comes down out of people’s minds whereas here we are faced with One Who comes down from heaven. And, whereas other religions are about what we humans do, the Christian Gospel is about what God actually did and does.

Humans religions continue to disgrace themselves with evil actions, such as taking land or goods in the name of religion or even taking people’s lives in the name of religion.

A few Saturdays ago, in India, anti-Christian riots took place, killing nearly 50 people and destroying thousands of Christian homes and churches all because a Hindu leader (a terrorist against Christians) was killed by Maoist rebels who claimed responsibility for his assassination.

Even without going into what takes place between Arabs and Jews, suffice it to say that, much to their shame, religions down through the centuries have use weapons and words, sayings and scriptures to assert their demands and abuse their positions in the name of God. What a despicable combination of invalid actions combined with unwarranted words!

Not so with the biblical God Christians worship. With His Advent we have, not the arrival of mere words, but of the coming of the Word made flesh. As Philip Doddridge, in his hymn “Hark! the Glad Sound!”, put it 250 years ago:

He comes the prisoners to release,
In Satan’s bondage held.
The gates of brass before Him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He comes from thickest films of vice
To clear the mental ray
And on the eyeballs of the blind
To pour celestial day.

He comes the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of His grace
To enrich the humble poor.

He comes because this sinful world needs Him to. He comes because He is a God of love and a God who took the loving action necessary to redeem His fallen creation and make it possible for those who trust in Him to be forgiven and saved.

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel — which means, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:22-23)

Come down here and actually do something? He certainly did, and we are living proof of it. God’s Son, Jesus Christ is God with us even now as He comes to us by His word and sacraments – just as He promised He would. And, in response, we love another in His name.

The Reverend Dr. Jonathan Naumann is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church & School in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. He previously served as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in England… and he is Stan’s Pastor!

Categories
Life Issues

“Is This Guy Good?”

by The Rev. George F. Borghardt III

I got an email from somebody today, I wanted to respond, but the email bounced…

The question concerned whether or not a pastor was a faithful pastor.  When considering whether a pastor is faithful or not, don’t go by his name.  Don’t go by what other people say about him. 

“He’s one of our guys… He’s a liberal… He’s conservative.. He’s faithful…”   We then we judge and dismiss based upon the man, rather than his confession.  Good name, good guy, therefore our guy.  Bad name, their guy, therefore bad guy.  Being from the district office doesn’t make a guy good or bad.  It doesn’t make him trustworthy or not trustworthy.  That’s the way of power (Rome) and the way the world does things…  Jesus never did, nor should we.

Jesus knew what was in men – nothing good. Not in the good ones, not in the bad ones.  Not in Nichodemus, not in woman caught the act.

So, listen to the guy’s preaching.  Does he deliver Christ and Him crucified?  Does He know the Gospel?  I’m not talking about being super liturgical or from a certain teacher.  You’ll learn about him from his preaching.  How’s his doctrine?  Does it mesh with his practice?  Do they go together? 

Then, if you get the chance, is he actual willing to suffer for the Truth?  Our clergy are basically either cowards are wanna-be martyrs.  We bend to the person who screams the most at us.  Or we cover our own failures by blaming others.  So, we snap and are proud and then say that we suffered on behalf of Jesus.  Both of these type of clergy love the glory of men rather than glory of God.   it’s what we sinners do and we’ve all done it.

A faithful pastor, will confess Jesus crucified for your sins and be willing to suffer for that confession.  His hands may shake.  His voice may crack.  His language may be rough.  His tongue may be course.  But, he confesses, he does not deny His Lord – even if it does him in.  And if he doesn’t confess Jesus clearly, it horrifies him and he will confess his sin and then confess Jesus.

A faithful pastor is concerned with shut-ins, widows, hospital calls, and young people.  He tries to actually study.  How will he know what to teach?  He calls or visits vistors.  He might try to send some back to their pastors rather than just adding them to his parish.  And no one recieves glory from what he does or doesn’t do – but Jesus alone.

All pastors have their pets – from abortion to youth to whatever they seem to be most concerned about.  These are fine as long as they don’t get in the way of the preaching and teaching of Christ crucified.  The pet may be good and godly, but when it takes over, then we are right back to the doing something for someone other than Christ.

In the end, we aren’t saved by being good pastors or laity, but by Christ alone.  If we are saved by how faithful we are, we’d be utterly lost.  We’d never live up.  Christ alone is our righteousness and hope.  His Cross for us.  His death in our place.  His resurrection is our justification.

And when you go looking for a preacher to put that Gospel into your ears:  Trust not in names or princes.  Same with names. Go with what they confess and do.

In Christ,

Pastor Borghardt

 

Pastor Borghardt is Assistant/Youth Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX. He also serves as Conferences Executive for Higher Things. You can listen to Pr. Borghardt every week on Higher Things Radio.

Categories
Higher Homilies

The Second-Last Sunday in the Church Year (Trinity 26)

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

St. Matthew 25:31-46

Judgment Day! The prophet Daniel tells us about the throne with fire coming out of it. The court is seated and the books are opened! The apostle Peter describes how the earth and the heavens will be consumed by fire on that day and this heaven and this earth will pass away. These are scary images. They are the sorts of pictures that, if we stop and consider them, should frighten and terrify sinners. They should cause us to fall down and cry out in repentance for our sins! Then comes our Lord Jesus’ words. He describes that Judgment Day and speaks of the separation of the sheep and the goats. And our sinful flesh, which only ever thinks of itself, grabs onto the idea that what is going on is that Jesus is judging people based on how they lived. Those who served their neighbor get to go to heaven. Those who didn’t do good works for others go to hell. If you do good works, you get rewarded. If you don’t do good works, you get punished. Brothers and sisters in Christ, if that’s what you get out of this Gospel reading, then repent! Do you think that Jesus preaches His works and His grace and then the apostles preach that we are saved by grace through Christ’s work and your pastors preach that you are saved by what Jesus has done and then, on the Last Day, it’s suddenly going to change so that no you are actually saved by how you lived your life? The Lord doesn’t change. His grace doesn’t disappear. His work of saving you from your sins doesn’t end on that Last Day! Let’s listen carefully to what Jesus is actually saying as He teaches of the sheep and the goats and we’ll be comforted against our sins and rescued from false fear of that Last Day.

First of all, let’s look at Jesus’ work on earth. The prophet Daniel says that the Son of Man received a kingdom from the Ancient of Days. That is, Jesus receives a kingdom from His Father. How does Jesus receive this kingdom? Does He come to earth and teach people how to live a good life so they can be a part of His kingdom? No! He comes to live a good life in our place. He comes to keep the commandments that we break. He comes to fulfill the Law that we cannot. Yet Jesus comes to do more than just live. He comes to die. To die for sinners. To die in the place of sinners. To die covered with the sins of sinners. To give His life as a ransom for sinners. Everything Jesus is about in His earthly life is accomplishing, achieving, winning FOR US, the forgiveness of sins. Just think about when He hung on the cross as a King, crowned with thorns. There is a a thief who despises and mocks Him. A goat, we should say, who has no share in Christ’s kingdom because He despises Christ. On the other side, though is a sheep, a sinner who has nothing to trust in or cling to than Jesus’ mercy. And that day he was in paradise with Jesus. So let’s be clear. Everything that Jesus comes to do and accomplish is HIS OWN work done on our behalf, for us, and in our place. That doesn’t change on the Last Day. So knowing what our Lord has done for us in His flesh, let’s listen carefully to the words He speaks about the sheep and the goats and we’ll be rescued once again from despair or false hope.

Jesus says that He will separate the sheep from the goats on the Last Day. It doesn’t say He will decide who’s a sheep or a goat based on what they’ve done. When all people stand before the Lord on the Last Day, they will already be sheep and goats! Jesus says elsewhere, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” He knows the sheep before that Last Day. What is it that makes you a sheep? Your Baptism into Christ. Jesus dies on the cross for the sins of the whole world. That salvation is given to you, bestowed upon you, becomes yours at the holy font. At the moment you are washed with water and the Word, you are born again from above. You are made a part of Christ’s kingdom. At the moment of your Baptism, you are made a child of God. One of Jesus’ little lambs. I want you to realize, dear Christians, that when you stand before the Lord on the Last Day, it will be as His holy and beloved sheep. If you ever doubt that, then remember you Baptism. If you ever are uncertain, if you ever worry that perhaps on that day you will be in the goat line, then hear it again: you are a sheep of Christ because you are baptized into Him! Don’t ever doubt that!

Now listen carefully to Jesus’ next words to His sheep. “Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Think about that for a second. From the foundation of the world. Before we were created or born, our heavenly Father had a kingdom prepared for us. Now, how can we inherit a kingdom by our good works if that kingdom was planned to be given to us before we were even alive to do any good works!? Think about that. Our heavenly Father has already made ready our eternal kingdom before we were ever born or did anything. Which means that when Jesus is speaking to His sheep on the Last Day, He’s not telling them about some reward they’ve earned. He’s giving them a gift that has always been a gift. It has always been something from God’s mercy, not what we have earned or deserved! This is important! These words of Jesus, that the kingdom has already been made ready for the sheep demolish ANY notion that somehow the sheep are getting something they’ve earned or worked for. The key to understanding all this is Jesus, of course. The Bible says that Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That the Father has always intended to send His Son to save us from our sins. The kingdom is prepared before the world was made because it was decided that Jesus would save the world before it was even made! Again, how can you be certain that this kingdom is prepared? That it’s ready for you? That’s what your Baptism says. When you are absolved of your sins, you are being reminded that nothing will keep you from the gift of a kingdom that your Father has prepared. When you eat and drink Jesus’ body and blood, you are united to your Savior in such a way that when He receives His kingdom, it’s YOUR kingdom too. In Christ, all that He has is now yours. And that’s exactly what He’ll say to us on the Last Day. “It’s all yours! Come and enjoy it forever and ever!”

Now we come to the good works part. Again, by listening carefully to what Jesus actually says, we’ll be prevented from reading His words wrongly, misunderstanding them and falling into false fear and despair. Jesus tells the sheep all that good things they have done and then says, “Then the sheep will say, ‘When did we see you all these ways and do all these things?'” When they did it for the least Christian brother, they did it for Jesus. Notice that Jesus tells us that the sheep don’t even know they did these things! They weren’t aware they were serving Christ as they helped their neighbor. In other words, the sheep were NOT doing good works because they were keeping track and trying to get into heaven by doing enough good works! They lived their lives as Christians and what they did, the Lord counts as good works in Christ. Dear Christians, what good works have you done? What will be said of you on the Last Day? The answer is: you have no idea the things you have done for the Lord! You don’t even know how many works you have done! There is so much you have done and accomplished for others and thus for Christ that you don’t even know! But you will on the Last Day. For all the world to see, your good works will be commended by your Lord. They are not commended now. What you do you don’t always know and if you did, you might get smug and proud and self-righteous. But on THAT Day, everyone will know what you have done: not your sins. Those are forgotten in Christ. They will know what good you have done in Christ. Not of yourself. It is the Holy Spirit working through you by faith. As for those who have done no good works? Apart from Christ, their works are nothing. They have despised Christ and their neighbor and they will be sent away to torment! But you, dear Christian, never worry about how you’re doing. Because you are in Christ, your good works are piling up and you don’t even know it!

So beware, dear Christians, of despairing of salvation when you hear the story of the sheep and the goats. Beware of thinking that somehow its all going to come down to what YOU’VE done. If it did, we are all indeed doomed! But on that Last Day, it all comes down to Christ. As it always has. It is His life, death and resurrection that have won salvation for us. It is His Baptizing us that makes us His sheep before that Day. It is His gaining us a kingdom that means it has been prepared before we were even made. It is His living in us through His Word and means of grace that means all our works done in Him are good works. Don’t fear but rejoice in that Last Day. Look forward to it! Because on that Day all that Christ has done for you by His life and all that He has given to you in your life will be fulfilled in the gift of an everlasting kingdom for you to enjoy! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Mark Buetow is Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. Pr. Buetow is the editor of the Higher Things Reflections and Internet Services Executive. He has also been a guest on Higher Things Radio.

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Higher Homilies

Third-Last Sunday in the Church Year

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

St. Matthew 24:15-28

So the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. Their enemies lay dead on the seashore. They journeyed through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai. Moses went up on the mountain to speak with the Lord. And the Israelites waited. And they waited. And they waited some more. Finally they got tired of waiting. So they told Aaron, “We’re tired of waiting. We don’t know what happened to Moses. So never mind the mountain stuff. Make us gods to lead the way!” So Aaron collected their gold and made a golden calf. But here’s the kicker: what was the calf called? It was called “The Lord.” The Israelites didn’t just make a false god. They attached the True God’s name to it! God’s people are always in danger of this, dear Christians. Since His Ascension, the Lord’s church has been waiting for His return. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Still waiting. And instead of holding on tightly to Christ’s Word and promises, people begin to think, “We don’t know what happened to Christ. Let’s make our own Christ because we don’t know what happened to Jesus.” And so turning away from the true Christ, people make their own Jesus. False Christs and false prophets. But we knew it would happen. Jesus said so. Christ is turned from being the Savior who dies and rises for our sins into some other kind of Christ. A help-with-all-your-problems Jesus. A personal life coach. A philosophy teacher. An angry and mean Judge. A good pal. A Jesus who says that anything goes. The true Jesus is tossed aside and a false Christ arises. Some might even do miracles. The terrible thing is that people put their trust in these false Christs and thereby deny and turn from the real Jesus, the only one who can and does actually save us!

The Lord was ready to wipe those Israelites off the face of the earth. And they deserved it! How could they be rescued by the Lord and then turn around and make Him into a cow? That’s what sinners do. But Moses reminds the Lord of His promises. God had promised to make a great nation from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So for the sake of His Word, because of His promise, the Lord does not destroy them. Oh, they’ve got it coming! But what turns the hand of the Lord’s wrath and anger? His Word. His promise. You and I, who love to trust in something other than the Lord, who, given the opportunity, would nail Him to a cross, are saved by the same thing: The Lord’s promises. Because Jesus dies for the sins of the world, and because He has baptized you into His Son, He will not punish you for your sins. Oh you deserve it, and you’ve got it coming. But it falls on Jesus. The smoke and lightning and thunder of Mt. Sinai are transferred to Mt. Calvary and come pouring down on the Son of God instead of us. Not because we deserved to be saved. But because the Lord promised He would do it. It’s a promise that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. And the Lord doesn’t break His promises. We make our confirmation vow to keep the faith even until we die and we turn away the first chance we get. But our Lord does not turn from us because His vow to save sinners cannot be broken. It’s why Jesus came and did what He did. The same grace of God that spared the children of Israel after the Golden Calf is the same grace which spares us from the punishment of our sins in Jesus Christ.

Notice that the children of Israel didn’t suddenly remember God’s mercy and grace and stop what they were doing though! No, Moses interceded for them. When the Lord was ready to march down the mountain and blast the Israelites into smithereens, it is Moses who reminds the Lord of His promises. In fact, in one of the boldest prayers recorded in Holy Scripture, Moses tells the Lord to repent! And the Lord does! Because Moses prays for those evil people, because Moses throws God’s word and promises back in His own ears, the Lord spares them. Same for us. We don’t suddenly wake up one day and decide we’d better stop sinning and get right with the Lord. We would keep dancing around our idols until our golden cows come home. Instead, Jesus intercedes. He comes to us. He takes on flesh. He stands between the wrath of God and us sinners. He puts Himself between the Father’s judgment of sin and us sinners who have that judgment coming. Christ stands high above us, nailed to the tree of the cross to be a lightning rod to take God’s punishment of sin so that it doesn’t fall on us. And whenever we would sin now, He pleads to the Father for us. As long as Jesus stands before His Father, the Father will never remember our sins or punish us for them. Understand, dear Christians, that what rescues us from our idols is Christ who came and took our place. Now He has taken His place with the Father, praying for us, interceding for us, reminding the Father continually that He has taken our sins away and we are to be spared from everlasting death!

Moses did punish the Israelites for their idolatry. He ground up the golden calf, sprinkled it on the water and made them drink it! Sounds gross! If you want this false god so much, why don’t you eat it! And they did! But in the mystery of God’s grace, since the coming of Christ, we are not made to eat our idols. Rather we are given to eat the Lord Himself in His body and blood. Where the children of Israel were joined with their false god in a way that pointed out their sin and probably made them sick, we are joined to the One who takes away our sin. In that meal of His body and blood, our Lord reminds us that He has taken away our sins. When we eat and drink His body and blood, we do it for His remembrance, that is, He remembers what He has done for us and holds no sins against us. Not our idolatry or any other sin. The true miracle is not some trick that the devil plays with his false Christs showing off. The true miracle, the true sign and wonder is that the Son of God takes the place of sinners to free us sinners from our sin and death.

And that leads us to Jesus’ warning in today’s Gospel about false Christs and false prophets. False Christs and false prophets don’t preach the forgiveness of sins. They may do miracles. They may do signs and wonders. People might look like they’ve been healed. People might have some sort of spirituality or connection to the supernatural. But all of it is the Devil’s tricks if Christ isn’t preached. The Devil wants us to look to other things than Christ but to call them “Christ.” Our repentance is that of the children of Israel: to turn away from anything that is not Christ but is called Christ. Brothers and sisters in Christ, that means turn away from any church, any Jesus, any preaching, which isn’t about the forgiveness of sins always. It means run from any teaching that doesn’t point you to your Baptism, where you are certain that you are the Lord’s. Flee from anyone that won’t absolve you for Christ’s sake and comfort you by forgiving your sins. Run from any preaching or teaching that says the Lord doesn’t give His body and blood for you to eat and drink. Run and flee from anything and everything that seeks to have you put your trust in something other than Christ crucified and risen for you, delivered in the means of grace in the church. Oh, other churches or religions may look holy and pious and religious and like they’re having a good time, but they will simply be the objects of God’s wrath on the Last Day. Hear Jesus warning. But hear it and be comforted. Your Lord has told you what to watch out for. And He promises to keep you in His faith and to intercede for you, so that your sins will never stand against you before the Father.

Our countdown to the end of the Church Year has begun today. Time to start paying attention and looking for Jesus to come back! Jesus warns about something called the “abomination of desolation.” We see that all around us as the world makes up and invents false Christs. When people put their trust in these fake Jesuses, that is the abomination. Anything that robs a person of true faith and trust only in the true Jesus, that is the abomination. Should we be worried? No. Because our Lord has warned us. He has given us His Word and that Word cannot be broken. When you are troubled as you look around in these last days, then do as Moses did. Pray with God’s Word. Call upon the Lord in repentance and faith. Cling to Jesus in His holy gifts at the font and altar. Then you will be ready with St. Paul and all the saints for the glorious coming of Christ. And so we wait. And wait. But that day will soon come. And on that day, the trumpet blast won’t be the one of Mt. Sinai, to frighten and terrify. It will be the trumpet blast of our Savior coming to raise us from the dead and bring us to Himself forever. Amen.

Rev. Mark Buetow is Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. Pr. Buetow is the editor of the Higher Things Reflections and Internet Services Executive. He has also been a guest on Higher Things Radio.

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Current Events

A Loaf of Good Government

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

Some of you may be voting for the first time this year. But even if you cannot vote in this year’s election, you should still take some time to think about our heavenly Father’s gift of government. The Small Catechism reminds us of these particular bits of “daily bread” that we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer: “devout and faithful rulers, and good government.” It might seem strange to say that “government” is part of our daily bread. But the people who are in positions of authority around us–mayors, governors, presidents, congressmen, judges, etc.–are given to us by our heavenly Father for the support of our body and life.

But how does the government support us? St. Paul tells us that the government is given by God for our good and the punishment of evil. The government’s job is to protect us from evil and to punish those who do evil (Romans 13:4). Of course, in the United States, our local, state and federal governments do all sorts of things to make our lives better: build roads, provide driver licenses, maintain our military, catch and punish criminals, print money, regulate business, provide air traffic control and provide all kinds of other services and necessities. As Christians we confess that our true citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Yet we are also citizens of earthly nations and so we are to use our freedom in Christ to make good choices about whom we elect to serve us in positions of leadership.

Jesus teaches us to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” (Luke 20:25) That means there are two kingdoms in this world: The kingdom where God runs the world through the government. That’s the kingdom of this world. Then there’s the kingdom where the Lord saves people through the preaching of the Gospel. That’s the kingdom of His church. And the two kingdoms are not equal! This world won’t last forever. The church will be with Christ for all eternity. The government’s job is to protect our life and property. In the church, we are given eternal life. These two kingdoms are not the same. This world is passing away. The Word of God will never pass away.

In fact, as Christians, we believe that because God gives government, that government is a gift which is given for the sake of Christ’s church. No, it’s not the government’s job to forgive our sins. No, we don’t go to the county office to get Holy Communion. When someone is baptized, they don’t apply for a permit downtown. The government’s job isn’t to give money to churches or decide who your pastor is. But the freedoms that our government guarantees and protects give us the opportunity to hear and learn God’s Word without fear of being attacked. In America, at least, we are free to hear the Good News that Christ has died for our sins. In that way, our Lord uses the government for the sake of His church.

But what about when governments do what is against the Bible? What about when the government actually attacks people who are Christians? How can St. Paul honor the government when it was the same government who ended up beheading him for being a Christian? Well, even when the government attacks Christ’s church, that is an opportunity for God’s people to remember that they are still citizens of heaven no matter what happens on earth. Such persecution teaches Christians to trust in Christ alone while at the same time praying for a good and wise government.

In God’s kingdom, it’s all about Jesus, the cross, Baptism, Body and Blood, the Word, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. In the kingdom of the world, it’s all about the Lord working to preserve order and peace for the sake of His holy church. Even if you can’t vote in the election, remember to still take time to pray and give thanks for that loaf of daily bread, your government. And if you do have the blessed privilege to vote in the election, exercise that responsibility smartly, that is, voting for men and women who will take seriously the government’s purpose of being a blessing to people and supporting (indirectly) Christ’s holy church. Above all else, remember that you are a citizen of heaven by Jesus’ blood and that is something sure and solid and unchanging, no matter which candidate ends up in office.
 

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. He and his wife Susan have three daughters. Pastor Buetow serves as the Internet Services Executive for Higher Things. Which means on top of keeping an eye on his own daughters, he has to keep Stan in-line as well.