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Current Events

Cho Did It? (Genesis 4:1-16)

Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray

Maintenance of the true faith among us is an apostolic mandate. The apostle Paul sharply warned the Corinthians against frittering away the true faith for a false gospel in keeping with the dictates of human reason. We sometimes like to think that our human reason is equivalent to autonomous judgment. But it is not. Our human reason is only captive to this world’s principles (Gal 4:9). Our fallen intellect is a slave to the elements of human reason that reflect only Adam’s perspective. God never gets a thought in edgewise, so to speak, because the human heart, will and mind, are only evil continually (Gn 6:5). Only the miracle of God’s self-revelation in Christ our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit overturns this false thinking. Only outside of us will the truth of the gospel find us. The only alternative to the freedom of the gospel is the enslaving “autonomy” of human reason. Reason boxes us humans into a space in which there can be no God, nor mercy, nor the covering of transgressions.

In the wake of the enormous tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech University this week, the mavens of the media have roundly condemned the “shooter” for his heinous acts. There is a level where such evil must be rejected as inhuman and a violation of the sanctity of human life. This is right. But, let us not fool ourselves into thinking how pure we are by how loudly we accuse the other. Take for instance a small inhumanity on an elementary school playground. When the teacher approaches to find out who threw the stones that caused tears among the denizens of the ball field, often one of the as yet unidentified perpetrators (in Washington-speak: “unindicted co- conspirator”) most vehemently accuses another child who may also be complicit in the crime. He cries, “Johnny did it…Johnny did it!” But as any shrewd student of human behavior will tell you, we tend to accuse most vehemently what we most despise in ourselves. As one of my correspondents reminded me yesterday, all of us are descendants of Cain rather than Abel (Gn 4). The VTU slaughter should lead all of us to deep repentance for neither have we kept the fifth commandment. How deep our woe should be.

But the reaction of the mavens of the media as well as our own is the reaction of old Adam pointing his crooked finger at the other, “Cho did it…Cho did it!” This cannot stand in the face of the true faith that leads us to repentance and sin cleansed for Christ’s sake. The new life of Christ that defeats sin and death gladly admits to sin and death within ourselves, knowing that God in His self-revelation in Christ is turning us inside out. Only the gospel can turn us outside of ourselves, away from slavery to Adam’s human reason, to the Word of the God who dies on the cross taking our blame, that we might be freed from the blame game. The only blame left was heaped upon Jesus as our substitute: “Jesus did it…Jesus did it!” We may not flee to our own “reasonable” assessment of death and violence, whether the death of the cross or the slaughter of VTU. Self vindication through accusation is not faithful.

We find ourselves going back to basic questions these days. Why? Because such clear outbreaks of evil force us to consider all the most fundamental human issues, God, death, life, humanity, faith, forgiveness, judgment, justice. If these things have not been taught from the pulpits of our churches then we have no resources from God to deal with the messiness of human life, with all its wickedness and depravity. If God’s story is not ours then we remain slaves of our “autonomy,” trapped by the human wickedness that is in our own hearts.

Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray is the Senior Pastor at Memorial Lutheran Church and School in Houston, TX.

Categories
Higher Homilies

An Easter Sermon of John Chyrsostom

Bishop John Chrysostom

Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour,let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,as well as to him that toiled from the first. To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.

He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.Let no one go away hungry.
Partake, all, of the cup of faith.Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.

He has destroyed it by enduring it. He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,”You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Given the added name of Chrysostom, which means “golden-mouthed” in Greek, Saint John was a dominant force in the fourth-century Christian church. Born in Antioch around the year 347, John was instructed in the Christian faith by his pious mother, Anthusa. After serving in a number of Christian offices, including acolyte and lector, John was ordained a presbyter and given preaching responsibilities. His simple but direct messages found an audience well beyond his home town. In 398, John Chrysostom was made Patriarch of Constantinople. His determination to reform the church, court, and city there brought him into conflict with established authorities. Eventually, he was exiled from his adopted city. Although removed from his parishes and people, he continued writing and preaching until the time of his death in 407. It is reported that his final words were: “Glory be to God for all things. Amen.”

Categories
Higher Homilies

Sheep May Safely Graze

Rev. Marcus Zill

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine forever.
(LSB #709:1)

Words we love based on the most beloved of all Psalms. Words that may seem a little lacking to some who are despairing after the horrific massacre in Blacksburg, VA this last Monday.

But words that bring comfort even in the midst of despair because Christ is the Good Shepherd.

What is the difference between a hireling and the Good Shepherd? Put simply it is this: For the hireling, the sheep are expendable, while the Good Shepherd makes Himself expendable for the sheep. The hireling has no attachment to the sheep except insofar as they are a source of income. If the sheep have to be sacrificed to save his life, so be it. Not so for the Good Shepherd, for He is willing to do the unthinkable. He lays down His life for the sheep.

When the hireling sees the bare teeth of the wolf and hears its hungry growl, he deserts the flock. Better to run than be mauled or killed by a ravenous wolf. Better to sacrifice a sheep or two – even the whole flock – than to risk life or limb for animals who aren’t worth that much anyway. Sheep are replaceable and human life is not, so goes the pragmatic logic of the hireling. “After all,” he reasons, “the sheep don’t belong to me and my boss would never expect me to die trying to protect them.” So when the wolf encircles the flock, the hireling retreats. The sheep are left without defense and become easy prey for the wolf. Their legs are not fast enough to run away from the predator and their teeth are no match for the strong jaws of the wolf. They cannot save themselves, and so, the wolf enjoys a nice mutton dinner.

But the Good Shepherd is different. He is the Good Shepherd. He is not merely a shepherd who does the good things that shepherds are expected to do like grazing the sheep, making sure that they have fresh water, tending their wounds, and protecting them from rustlers and wild animals. Jesus is our Good Shepherd in the way of Good Friday. He lays down His life for the sheep.

Our Good Shepherd puts Himself in between His sheep and the open jaws of that very hound of hell, Satan himself. Jesus throws Himself into Satan’s teeth. His body is mauled and His flesh is torn by the very predator who seeks to feed on us.

But when Satan sinks his teeth into the Lamb of God, he bites into the One who will break his jaw. He bites into the flesh of the Good Shepherd who came to destroy the work of the devil. By His death our Good Shepherd defeats death and the devil. Jesus is that Good Shepherd. He is God in the flesh, come to seek and to save the lost.

In the Old Testament God so often describes Himself as a shepherd. You heard that description again today in the Old Testament Reading from Ezekiel where God promises that He will depose the false shepherds of Israel who scattered the flock and fed off the sheep. God says: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.”

David, who himself was a shepherd, confesses in that most beloved of Psalms, Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Jesus is that shepherd. He IS the shepherd who comes to be with His sheep even in the midst of the kind of tragedy we have seen this past week. He comes for His Sheep – to feed them, to lead them, to comfort them. Yes, He does all of this. He feeds us with His own body and blood at the table He prepares for us in the presence of all our enemies – sin, death, and the devil himself. He leads us with His words that are spirit and life. He comforts us with His presence as He gives us His name in Holy Baptism. Standing behind everything that our Good Shepherd does for us – the feeding, the leading, and the comforting – is His cross. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

Jesus was no wimpy hireling. He was no whining coward who ran away when that old evil wolf came seeking to condemn and destroy you with your sin. Our Good Shepherd died, as the great Passion hymns, “O Dearest Jesus” puts it, “for sheep who love to wander.” He did not wait for us to find our way out of the wilderness and back to the sheep pen. He came to us in this world of sin and death and He redeemed us by dying on the cross in our place. Such is the love of the Good Shepherd for His sheep. Whatever happened in Blacksburg, VA this past week, or Oklahoma City 12 years ago, or at Columbine High School 8 years ago can’t change that.

We often use the traits or characteristics of animals as metaphors for characteristics of human beings. “He is as strong as a horse. She sings like a canary. He is as wise an owl.” These are said as compliments. Of course, it cuts the other way, too. “Someone is fat as a cow. He is as dumb as an ox.” And what do we say in reference to sheep? He is as smart as a sheep? No, you are more apt to hear something like, “They are as stupid as sheep.

Sheep are notorious for getting themselves into trouble, for straying away, for ending up lost and confused, subjected to danger and unable to take care of themselves.

Jesus pays us no compliment by calling us sheep. But that is, in fact, what we are. By nature we walk away from the Good Shepherd right into the jaws of death. We have, as the Scripture says, like sheep gone astray. It is no temporary disorientation. It is total separation and alienation from the God who alone gives us life. Like dumb sheep, we graze in contentment not realizing that the wolf lurks around ready to attack. Then when he does attack we foolishly run our own way as though we had the ability to escape his grasp. We think that we can find food, only to starve because we refuse the fare that the Good Shepherd has set before us. We are poisoned with the putrid and stagnant water of worldliness with its passing fads that we think will quench our thirst, all the while refusing the streams of living water to which the Good Shepherd beckons us.

But the Good Shepherd still calls and gathers a flock by His Word. He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Today there is a lot of confusion as to just what the church is? But it doesn’t have to be that hard to understand. Martin Luther gave us a beautifully simple definition of the church in the Smalcald Articles at another time of such confusion. He said: “…thank God, a seven-year old child knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Good Shepherd” (Tappert, 315).

That is who we are. The church is where the Good Shepherd is and that is where His sheep may safely graze. Where His voice is sounding in the pure preaching of His Word and in His Baptism and Supper, there you will find the sheep that belong to Jesus.

Look instead at the characteristics of the sheep, and you will be deceived or disappointed. They can be mangy and flea-bitten, not a pretty sight. But our focus is not on the sheep but the Shepherd.

Dear lambs in Christ, in the midst of doubt or despair, keep your ears pealed to the voice of your Good Shepherd, forsake all others, for He alone has the words of eternal life. He has laid down His life for you, and He has taken it back for you. What else is there to fear, for He has shut the jaws of sin, death, and the devil forever. You are indispensible to Him, for Your salvation is His source of joy and His sure promise is this: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

And that my friends. is the difference between a hireling and the Good Shepherd. And this is why seeing Christ as our Good Shepherd is so comforting, because He is just that – Good.

Perhaps the most famous and influential Lutheran musician of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach, wrote a beautiful, tranquil piece entitled “Sheep May Safely Graze.” How true those four simple words are, because though our risen Savior has ascended to the right hand of the throne of God, He still shepherds us. He has not left His sheep to fend for themselves for food and protection, for the pastures where he leads us today are His means of grace. For what more fertile place could there be then the waters of Holy Baptism, and what greater nourishment could He feed us with than with His very own body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Through these things we recognize Him because in them He recognizes us as His very own. In these Holy things Christ knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. And what a privilege to hear our Shepherd’s voice, to hear Him speak to us still, and to know that we can hear it again and again and again.

Yes, it has been a tough week, but the Lord is our Shepherd, my friends, and in Him we lack nothing!

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill,
With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.
And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never.
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever!
(LSB #709:4,6)

…where “sheep may safely graze!”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Zill is the full time campus pastor at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church & Campus Center in Laramie, WY. He also is the Christ on Campus Executive for Higher Things.

Categories
Catechesis

When Evil Suddenly Assails Us

by Vicar Mark Preus

Tune: Wer Weiss Wie Nahe

When evil suddenly assails us,
And makes us question who Thou art,
Thy Word of mercy cannot fail us,
It shows to us a Father’s heart,
Which breaks at every sinner’s fall,
And longs to save and rescue all!

From where is all this sin and evil,
That robs the innocent of blood?
The prince of this world is the devil,
Who fights against our holy God;
Who works in faithless hearts his hate,
And wants us all to share his fate.

If we should judge by eyes and senses,
And so ignore our heart’s true state;
We would not see our own offenses
Have added to the devil’s hate;
Then hypocrites we all would be,
And only sin in others see.

Though Satan’s triumph may seem certain,
As still he prowls his lies to roar,
He soon will meet the condemnation
That for the wicked is in store:
To Hell with all who mock God’s name
By acts of wickedness and shame!

Lord Jesus, who hast suffered for me,
In whose blest flesh my sin was borne;
Thy heart, I know, cannot abhor me,
For Thou my shame and guilt hast worn,
To robe me with Thine innocence
And by Thy blood plead my defense!

Then come, Thou Judge and judge forever
My soul as clean as Thou art pure,
Come mighty God, my only Savior,
Plant in my heart what must endure:
Thy Word which must forever stay,
When this sad earth shall pass away.

Be with the poor and meek and lowly,
Who suffer from the devil’s pow’r;
Turn sinners’ hearts to trust Thee solely,
And wait on Thee in sorrow’s hour;
That all may see through loss and pain,
Thy lovingkindness must remain!

All glory to our Father, Maker
Of all that is and is not seen,
And to the Son, of flesh Partaker
To buy us back from shame and sin;
All glory to the Spirit be –
One God now and eternally.

Vicar Mark Preus is presently serving as a campus ministry vicar at Trinity Lutheran Church in Norman, OK.

Categories
Pop. Culture & the Arts

Higher Movies: Cowabunga My Lutheran Dudes and Dudettes

by Nathan Fischer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  Woohoo!  Yes, I went and I saw the new movie out in theaters.  And I have to say – it was incredibly awesome.  The action should be enough to enrapture any male child, and the jokes were funny enough for any adult.  The CGI Animation was absolutely incredible, too.  Yes, that movie rocked.  It might help that I’ve been a TMNT fan since my early childhood but, regardless, I think most people looking for a good, clean, funny, outlandish, action film will have a good time at this one.

At this point, I have to say, spoilers follow.  But so do some theological insights about the movie!

The basic plot is this: A guy 3,000 years ago managed to gain immortality.  In the process, he unleashed a terrible group of monsters on the earth and he froze his family (brothers and sister) in stone.  He did gain immortality, but it was not what he expected.  He lived the next 3,000 years (to the present day) in regret, lamenting the release of the monsters and the loss of his siblings.  So he sets out to make things right.  In the process, he knows he will lose his immortality – but it is more than worth it to accomplish what needs to be done, and he is ready to give it up.

I found this interesting.  We live in a culture where death is the end of the line, and people do not want to come to that line.  We do whatever it takes to avoid dying.  During the 70’s and 80’s there was even talk of downloading our brains into computers so we could “live forever” that way.  Today, still, people will go to insane measures to put off the inevitable – even if it means living in intense suffering and pain for themselves and those around them.  Anything to push off that final day!  People are willing to take “immortality” at any cost.

Another literary example of this is seen in the ring wraiths of Lord of the Rings.  These men sold their souls to Sauron for eternal life, and the one ring that Sauron forged corrupts even the wisest and best people of the world.  There is no escaping it.  Immortality always comes with a price.

What these people seek is not what they find.  This is an unnatural immortality – an immortality that was never meant to be.  In fact, the sad reality is that all people are already immortal.  C.S. Lewis points this out in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” when he writes, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.”

What so many people seek, they already have.  Unfortunately, many will spend immortality in “immortal horrors” while others will spend it in “everlasting splendours”.  There is no escaping it, though.  We are all immortal.

So what is the point of this?  What of Mr. Winters in TMNT?  What are they really looking for and seeking?

The answer is simple: Christ.  What we mistake for the search for immortality is really the search for the Creator of immortality.  We want Him who created the Heavens and the earth and will forever sustain them, refine them, and refine us as well.  What we seek is there for us in the baptismal Waters of life, there in the Body and Blood of the everlasting Supper, there in the Word of Truth that the pastor speaks forth in Absolution.

What a sad state it is when we seek for ourselves what God has already granted us!  But praise be to Christ for making death not a gate to eternal torment, but a gate to everlasting life!  That which was once the great curse of our fallen state has been flipped around and made into the great door to heaven, for those who have already died with Christ in their baptism cannot truly die.  We are immortal in the very true sense of the word, and our destination is immortal bliss of the new creation, where Christ will be our Light, and there will be no darkness and no end.

Nathan Fischer is a  junior at Concordia University Wisconsin, planning to attend Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN.  He is also a Higher Things Blogger.

Categories
Current Events

Current Events

Categories
Catechesis

Higher Things for unconfirmed? You bet, the first of its kind!

TO: Pastors
FROM: Rev. Brent Kuhlman
REGARDING: HIGHER THINGS Catechetical Camp at Camp Comeca May 29-31, 2007 (south of Cozad, NE; www.campcomeca.com)

COST: $80.00 per person (two overnights and 6 meals) plus $20.00 per group for HIGHER THINGS MATERIALS that will be provided for the campers.

Each year Trinity Lutheran Church (Murdock, NE)  and other area congregations go to Camp Comeca for a catechetical camp. The camp is for 5th-8th graders. This year the catechetical camp will also be done in cooperation with HIGHER THINGS.

This year we will focus on this theme: Aslan’s World: Biblical Images and Themes in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This will include watching the DVD.

Please plan to arrive at Camp Comeca on 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 29 and depart after lunch on Thursday, May 31, 2007.

Camp Comeca has excellent facilities including an indoor pool and gym. It sits next to Midway Lake for canoeing. There are tennis and volleyball courts as well.

Please encourage this among your junior youth.

If you plan to attend, contact Pr. Brent Kuhlman shortly after Easter regarding how many will be in your group. Plan on having adults (male and female) accompany the students. I would suggest that you obtain a deposit from the youth in advance. Final payment can be made when your group
arrives at Camp Comeca.

If you have any other questions, please call (402) 867-2916 or email  bb55841@alltel.net.

Peace be with you.

Pastor Brent W. Kuhlman

Tentative Camp Comeca Schedule:
May 29, 2007
4:30 p.m. Arrive / Unpack
5:30 p.m. Supper
6:45-7:15 p.m. Lesson 1: “The Man behind the Books”
7:15-8:00 ap.m. Lesson 2: “Through the Wardrobe”
8:00-9:45 p.m . Swimming
10:00 p.m. Snack
10:15 p.m. Vespers
11:00 p.m. Lights Out

May 30, 2007
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Matins
9:00 a.m. Cleanup
9:30-10:15 a.m. Lesson 3: “Faith, Doubt, and Logic”
10:30 a.m. Softball Game — Campers vs. Pastors and Adult Sponsors
11:15 a.m. Free Time
Noon: Lunch
12:30 p.m. Free Time
1:00-1:45 p.m. Lesson 4: “Aslan Is On The Move”
2:00-4:00 p.m. Swimming / Gym / Canoeing / Paddle boats
4:00-5:15 p.m. Free Time
5:30 p.m. Supper
7:00-7:45 p.m. Lesson 5: “Promise Breakers and Promise Keepers”
8:30 p.m. Bonfire
10:00 p.m. Snack
10:15 p.m. Vespers
11:00 p.m. Lights Out

May 31, 2007
8:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Matins
9:00 a.m. Cleanup
9:30-10:15 a.m. Lesson 7: “A Deeper Magic Still”
10:30 a.m. Pack up
Noon Lunch
Leave for Home

Here’s a list of items you need for Camp Comeca (May 29-31, 2007).
1. Sleeping bag and pillow
2. Swimsuit
3. 2 Towels
4. Toiletry items
5. Gym shoes and gym clothes
6. NIV Bible
7. Flashlight
8. In case of cold weather a light jacket or sweatshirt and a pair of jeans.
9. Baseball or softball glove
10. Sunscreen and bug spray
11. Some cash for snacks as we travel to and from camp
12. Outdoor shoes
13. Tennis racket / balls

CAMP COMECA PROVIDES ALL FOOD, BEVERAGES, AND SNACKS. THE CAMP IS SMOKE-FREE, ALCOHOL-FREE, DRUG-FREE, AND FIREARMS-FREE.

Campers are not allowed to bring Ipods, portable CD players or boom boxes.

Need to contact campers? Leave a message at 308-784-2271. Messages may be retrieved by the campers at meal times (8:00 a.m., noon, and 5:30 p.m.) except for emergencies. Pastor Kuhlman’s cell phone is (402) 867-4048

—
In Christ,

Landon B. Reed
Higher Things Retreat Executive

Categories
Current Events

When Disaster Strikes

by Rev. David Kind

For several weeks now the images have been ashing across our television sets, have been seen on the front pages of our newspapers, and are now emblazoned on our minds. Devastation. Flood. Fires. Dire need. Looting. Violence. Death. All this in the wake of just one storm, a storm named Katrina.

And what was God’s role in this? That’s something a lot of people wrestle with. Did He send this disaster? If so, then why? Is He punishing the people of New Orleans? Or did He merely allow Katrina to happen? Does He care at all?

Obviously, God does care deeply about all people. He gave His only Son over to death out of love for sinful humanity. There can be no doubt about His commitment to us. But how does that square with tragedy and disaster? God must be doing something through this – something that is for our good. Many people think that God “allows” things to happen, but that He doesn’t send them. Try telling that to Job, or to David. They recognized rightly that God is not that impotent. He doesn’t allow things to happen. He does things. Sure others are involved too sometimes, like the devil, or an army of invaders, or a wicked person. But behind these enemies with their evil motives, is God at work with a righteous purpose. He is not a passive God, but an active One.

OK, then he must have been punishing people. New Orleans is known for its paganism and licentiousness, after all; so God must have sent this hurricane to wipe it clean, so to speak. Try telling that to the hundreds of orthodox and solidly confessional Lutherans who lost their homes, jobs, and even their churches to this hurricane. Was God punishing them too?

The Bible teaches us that natural disasters are harbingers of the destruction that will come upon the world at the last day. God sends hurricanes, oods, disease and even death to teach us that this world is coming to an end and that we all ought to repent of our sinful ways. It is not matter of one group of people being more evil than another group and the more evil ones suffering disaster. Every one is sinful. And everyone needs to repent.

One day Jesus encountered some people who were discussing Herod’s having killed some Galileans. Jesus said to them “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).

And this is the message for us in the face of tragedy. All of these things that cause such suffering are just a sampling of what sin has actually wrought. They are glimpses of the deeper, darker reality of a broken and dying world, a world eagerly awaiting its own destruction so that it may be reborn as a new creation (Romans 8:19-22). They are also little, tiny, tastes of the wrath of God and its power, meant to turn us away from our sins while there is time for repentance, so that we will not have to swallow the fullness of it.

So, while observing the disaster of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, while praying for and helping the victims, be sure also to heed the Lord’s warnings. Turn from the way of sin and nd your life, forgiveness, and salvation in Christ, who has suffered the fullness of God’s wrath for you, so that you won’t have to. Then you will be able to say with David: “You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your Word… Before I was aficted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes” (Psalm 119:65, 67-68).

Categories
Current Events

Looking for Answers?

by Ryan Fouts

You’ve seen the reports on television. At first, reporters believed that New Orleans had escaped what could have been a much more devastating disaster. Then the levees broke. Eighty percent of the thriving city was flooded. Buildings were destroyed. Homes were destroyed. Thousands of people have perished in the disaster, and many more died in the hospitals. Churches were destroyed. Many faithful congregations will evermore be scattered to different parts of the country.

When tragedies such as this occur, we naturally begin asking questions. How could a loving God allow such a thing to happen? Was this God’s judgment on sin? If it was His judgment, how does one explain the prayers of the faithful who suffered equally in the disaster? If it was God’s will that this occur, how can we avoid the pangs of conscience which tempt us to rebel against the Lord’s apparent tyranny? If it wasn’t His will, why couldn’t He stop it from happening? These questions beg for answers. Attempting to discern the reality of God’s place in such tragedies we’re often tempted to answer these questions for ourselves.

Some answer these questions by concluding that this event was the Lord’s vengeful judgment upon a “city of sin.” It’s no secret that New Orleans, particularly in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras, is known for gross sexual immorality. We saw, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, people looting stores, not only for survival items, but for jewelry and electronics! There were reports, following the disaster, of shootings and rapes! It isn’t surprising, then, that some popular evangelical preachers have judged from a distance that New Orleans only got “what was coming” for their corruption.

On one hand, this isn’t entirely off base. It certainly isn’t beyond the realm of God’s justice to enact his judgment and wrath upon sin through worldly punishments. Consider the destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah, two cities utterly destroyed by fire from heaven due to their sexual immorality and complete abandonment of the Lord. Was that, though, just the “Old Testament God?” No! God is the same in both testaments. Consider Ananias and his wife Sapphira in Acts 5. They sell some land and offer their proceeds to the church. They tell Peter that they had given all their profits to the church when, in reality, they had held back a portion for themselves. Suddenly Ananias drops dead! When his wife is questioned she sticks by the lie; then she falls dead too!

The problem with attributing these disasters to God’s judgment isn’t that such judgment is necessarily beyond the realm of God’s dealings with His people. The problem is with the sinner who pronounces such judgment! “Look at how bad they were, they deserve what they got!” To this Jesus responds, “With the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matt. 7:2). Are the sins of the people of New Orleans any worse than your own? During Jesus’ day a tower fell and killed eighteen people. Jesus poses the question, “Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” Do you think that the sinners in New Orleans are worse offenders than sinners anywhere else? Jesus answers His question, and yours: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

One reporter observed that “…what men took years to build, Mother Nature destroyed in a single day.” I don’t know what God’s hand was in this tragedy. I don’t know why it happened. He hasn’t revealed these things to us. His inner motives are none of our business. Regardless of what they are, this is a time to repent. This tragedy shows us our creaturely place. What we spend hundreds of years building for ourselves, can be completely cast aside with an single act of nature. Men, who like to make gods of themselves, are shown feeble amid such tragedy. We aren’t self-sufficient, like we thought. We aren’t all-powerful, like we thought.

Some Christians approach these questions in a different way. They attempt to let God off the hook! Desperate to preserve the nice-guy image of God, some go to great measures to excuse God from any involvement in the tragedy. Perhaps, some might suggest, it was just a random tragedy in a world that naturally produces disaster. Perhaps, some might reason, God only allows such things to happen because, after all, man chose his own sinful path in the Garden. Whatever the explanation, some are desperate to excuse God from any involvement in tragedy. This only leads to more questions. Why doesn’t God intervene? Couldn’t he have at least protected the Christians from the disaster?

But the answer to all our questions isn’t found in an “answer” at all! The only answer to suffering is found in Christ. When a Christian looks at suffering, he finds Christ. Before there was Easter, there was the suffering of Good Friday. Our God knows suffering well – He suffered more than any of us could imagine. But no suffering could do Him in. As surely as He suffered, He also rose victorious. When we suffer, we remember that the Lord has suffered before us. He took suffering upon Himself. Now suffering itself is redeemed in His blood.

Human nature demands answers before it can be satisfied. But what hope is found in having all the answers? The peace of God surpasses all understanding, it reaches into the unanswerable with a promise that is greater than the wisest of human answers. Answers do nothing more than appease curiosity. Christ didn’t die to fulfill your curiosity. Curiosity once led man to eat a fruit forbidden by God – the serpent said it would even make man like God! But though man was once overcome by the Tempter’s tree, by a Tree the Lord also overcame the fallings of our curiosity, the pit of sin, despair, and suffering.

Thank God for suffering. It is through suffering, through the Cross, that we are saved by His grace. Before the pain and suffering of this world can do you in, it has to go through Christ. The world has already done its worst to Christ, and couldn’t keep Him down. He was raised from the dead. Suffering couldn’t do away with Christ. It can’t do away with you either. You’ve been united to Him, baptized into His death and resurrection. He has the victory. You do too.

Ryan Fouts is a fourth year M. Div. student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Check out his blog at http://blog.higherthings.org/ryanfouts. You can email him at RyanLCMS@hotmail.com.

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St. Matthew 18:15-20 – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost 2005

Rev. Dr. Paul Anderson

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

Matthew 18:19-20 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to pray, “Dear Father, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Actually, the prayer He taught US to pray begins this way, “OUR Father, Who art in heaven.” Joy that cannot be contained! Jesus rescues us today from running off by ourselves and doing our own isolated little religion for our own sake – “You and me, Jesus, that’s all we need!” Oh, no! The Lord teaches us in the Gospel today about His Body, His Fullness, His Bride, His people, the ones He came to die for, rise for, ascend for, and come again for. The Lord Jesus today tells us what it means to be His Church.

“If your brother sins, even against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” It all starts privately, one to one. NOT what we see all day, every day in our world: men blabbing about the faults of others. Just whose fault is it that there were bumps in the road in the hurricane relief? This wicked world has no end of finger-pointers; because Satan is the chief pointer-outer of sins to others, and he is the prince of this world. “Deliver us from the evil one.”

The One Named Jesus, Who came to save His people from their sins, rescues us today from total disaster. If your brother sins, don’t be surprised, shocked, offended. Go to him! Pull him aside! Speak to him. Plead with him, in the words and by the authority of the Son of Man Who came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”

The Lord calls each one of us here today to a disaster relief so many men sadly do not know. The worst thing you and I will ever face is not made by man, by wind or wave; not even made by God! Instead, the worst we will ever face is if we must stand before the Uncreated God, Whom we don’t know, Whom we have offended, Whom we have told by our thoughts, words and deeds, that we will do as we please, when we please – and what if we must explain away all the ways we fall short? Our God is a consuming fire. Who can stand in His presence?

You will stand in His presence, One Day soon, my dearly beloved. For you will not stand before God naked, alone, with all your faults for heaven and earth to see. Instead, you will rise from this earth, from your grave, from every evil, and see your Maker face to face, with confidence and boldness, because Jesus calls you His Church; and you are covered by Him.

Jesus builds His Church upon the confession of Saint Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus makes disciples in His Church, through Holy Baptism and by teaching the nations everything He commanded His first disciples. And today we hear what good His Church is in this world. Each one, turning to his brother: “Dear brother, you have sinned, missed the mark; you have been called to be more than what you are doing now. Hear me; let us pray our Savior together to forgive us both. And let me tell you again that Christ lived the life we do not, died the death we are due, and now sits at the right hand of the Father.”

And the Church of Jesus never gives up! If your brother does not hear you, go get two or three more. You are not alone. You belong to His Church! Bring more; to win your brother; to teach him to confess his sins and call on God for mercy, for the sake of Jesus our Savior. And if the two or three others do not work – to win your brother, tell it to the Church.

The Church is that place, and those people, where, as Jesus says, “Two or three come together in My Name. There are two or three of us here today, plus! What are we doing here? Are we here to admire each other, to boast about how wonderful we are, to make a lot of noise to catch God’s attention? The world has enough of that already. No, the Divine Service opens with words for us poor sinners to trust, words that shake the foundation of heaven itself, as the Father in heaven leaps up to hear us: In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Meaning, “God will hear our prayers this day, and be our Father. NOT because of us, but because the Father sent the Son Whom He loves to take our place; the Father and the Son have sent us the Holy Spirit in His Holy Word; and now, we have been baptized into this God, this Name, the Name of Jesus, that He gave us. So the Father in heaven will hear us on earth. We must be Jesus’ Church!”

My dear Christian friends:

The members of Good Shepherd thank God that two, three, more!, Christian brothers and sisters are here with us today. We are sorry for the wind that blew y’all this way. We truly want to help you, to comfort and support you, if you stay in our area long term, or get back home in a short time. Our prayers are with you, in the turmoil of your lives. Our hearts belong to you now. This congregation and our lives are open. Please let us follow Jesus with you, as we love one another.

But let us all, my dear ones, disciples of Baton Rouge and honored guests and friends – let us all learn from our Lord this day what true disaster relief is all about: the forgiveness of our sins; and forgiving the sins of others in turn. Jesus came to grant true pardon to those who are sinners, and who call on Him for mercy. And He teaches us in the Bible that He gives full authority to forgive sins on earth to His Church: “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

When Jesus speaks of binding and loosing, He is not talking about shoes. He is talking about what He is always talking about: our sins; and the way He has come to take them away.

If you are not a sinner, in your own eyes, then you are a disaster no one can remedy. For our only Hope declared, “I have not come to call those who have their act together, who never slip up, those who are so quickly disappointed in others but never in themselves, the righteous. I have come to call sinner, sinners only, to repentance.”

If nothing else, the nasty storm this last week laid bare our sins, didn’t it? The lives of so many were lost; so many turned upside down; so much flooded and so many tears. But I didn’t need all of that to stir up sin in my life! All I needed was for my power to go out! That’s all the jump-start this old engine needed to lose my patience, bark and snap, sigh about this disappointment or that. No A/C – and we may play tyrant? Anyone join me in this last week?

Or is it the traffic that does it for you? Do all those, what we call “idiots on the road” – does that strip off of you that mask of piety we think we’re wearing? Or is it gas lines? Or do you get all worked up, with me, about rumors of upheaval and danger in our midst? Or do you allow yourself to be selfish and nasty and rude to others, because you are going through the worst thing in the world: your cable is out?!

Friends, we have all just gone through tough times. And there is more to come, I fear. But there is no excuse for not glorifying our Maker in our lives. And there is never an excuse to despise the command of Jesus to love one another, especially our enemies. Examine your own life, by way of the Ten Commandments, so that you can confess to God this day that you are indeed a sinner. And if you have offended God, ask Him to forgive you for Jesus’ sake. And if you have sinned against your brother, you go to him and ask his pardon. And if your conscience is full of doubts and fears and guilt over your recent performance, God has given to His Church ministers, to hear your sins, teach you God’s Word, and to pardon you by His command.

And today, we hear, that Jesus has deputized every last one of us, every last disciple, to do what He came to do!

If your brothers sins, even against you, you go show him his fault. To win him over; so that he admits his sin, seeks God’s pardon. So that he can go again, for his good and salvation, to the Sacrament of the Altar. There, penitent, your brother can eat and drink the Body and Blood of the One Who died on the cross in place of sinners. And your brother can rise again with all his sins forgiven. And then, just watch him go out, forgiving others!

Dear Christian friends, let us pitch in in our community, to help men for whom Christ died, with creature comforts and concerns, as God gives us strength. Let us not simply love in word, but also in deed, as the apostle James teaches us.

But the true disaster we all face is our sinful condition, ignorance of God, and the way we so quickly fall from wanting to please God, to defaming His Name. And we, dear disciples, have been given all the authority of heaven, here on earth, to forgive men their sins.

When you run across those burdened by the storm, or by other storms in their lives, don’t just talk to them about God, or about what a nice fellow Jesus is. Do something useful! Forgive! Pardon! Loose on earth and it will be loosed in heaven! We don’t see Jesus walking around pardoning people today. But what do we see? His Church. Not just this individual or that. But the people of God, together, in His Name, asking together that in this world, on earth, would be done the will of God in heaven.

But what if, finally, someone does not want to hear what the whole Church has to say? What then? Then do we finally get to give up and move on? Let’s check with Jesus! “If he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” And how does Jesus teach pagans and tax collectors? Today, Jesus makes us smile.

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, He sent the Eleven out to make disciples of all pagans, by baptism and teaching. That’s how you treat pagans. And the tradition of the Church agrees together that the man who recorded these words for us was named Matthew. And what was his job, at least for a while? See Saint Matthew smiling as he wrote down these words; see Jesus look out the corner of His eye when He taught His first Twelve, “treat him like a tax collector.”

“Oh, I see Jesus. Never give up.”

Our confidence for the days ahead is that God is our Father in heaven now, because of His Son Who walked this earth, lived as we won’t, died what we should get but won’t, and has now ascended from earth to heaven. As we, His Church, await His return, we only have two things really to do. Pray to Him, as we commune together, agree together, receiving the Body and Blood of the One Who died on the cross. And second, we love our neighbor, pardon our brother, never stop the work Jesus has given us, the work He is always doing Himself.

Welcome, new faces, brothers and sisters in Christ. Welcome to our midst; and agree together with us, as we pray together to our Father in heaven. All of us: let us bind together and loose together; let us seek and save the lost; let us pardon, give as we have been given to. And let us do this all, two, three, or even more of us, with real confidence. Let us believe and show love, not in our name, but in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Paul Anderson is pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is a member of the LCMS Board of Mission Services. His email address is revdranderson@cox.net.