Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
The Sixth Sunday After Trinity
Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
July 19, 2009
6th Sunday After Trinity
You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:21-24
Pollution and ‘carbon footprints’ are all the rage, but there’s a more dangerous contamination we should be concerned about, namely, the tainting of our souls, and of the Lord’s Altar, with anger aimed at our brother.
We think a lot about the pollution we can see, but not so much the invisible contagion of anger. And so today’s Gospel lesson reminds us not to corrupt the Altar, but rather be reconciled to our brother and our God through Christ.
Jesus lays the burden of brotherly reconciliation on us.
He doesn’t say: “if you have a case against your brother,” but “if you remember that your brother has a case against you go and be reconciled.”
Why does the Lord speak this way? Because we expend our anger at others, and speak to our loved ones as if they’re the greatest fools earth has ever born, but in our sinful pride we don’t think we’ve done anything wrong. We have no case against our brother, why should we? We’ve spoken our mind and exhausted our wrath, but may not stop to think about the damage we’ve left in our wake, or what case our brother might legitimately have against us.
This is why we should never come to Holy Communion without first examining ourselves according to the ten commandments with their Christian explanation. Without first confessing our wrongs, receiving absolution from the pastor, “as if from God Himself” and being reconciled to our brother through Christ. This is why Individual Confession is preferable to General Confession. In it we have the chance to properly consider our sins; and most especially the opportunity to hear the Word of the Gospel spoken to us personally, to learn once again that Jesus became liable to our judgment, was thrown into the prison of death for us, and paid the last penny of our debt.
There are other ways of polluting the Rail as well. If we don’t comprehend with our whole mind, and believe with our whole heart that we are justified before God by faith alone, then we must not come to the Altar. The Sacrament can do no good for those who think they obtain righteousness before God by any means other than faith in the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord. Only those who believe, and are baptized into this Christian faith may come, and by God grace we are among those people.
For God’s Redeemed the Altar has always been the place where heaven and earth intersect. The place where Jesus breaks into our earthly reality in order to feed us with His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins, for our Life and Salvation. That’s what happens, and what we receive in Holy Communion.
We taint the Altar, too, if we open it up to those who Confess a different faith. Holy Communion isn’t only Communion with Jesus, but also the highest expression of Unity in Faith with all the others who come to the Lord’s Altar. When a person presents himself at a church’s Altar he claims by that act that he is in full agreement and fellowship with that church, it’s people, its doctrine, its mission and its practice. People sometimes wonder if they can receive communion when visiting the church of another Denomination, as long as they hold the correct faith regarding the Suppers? The answer is: no, for the reasons just stated.
It’s not the answer we want to hear, but it’s the answer that Jesus gives. The Church didn’t invent Closed Communion, it’s something we learned from Jesus. At The First Communion the Lord communed only His Disciples. The Blessed Virgin, the other Mary’s, Sts. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithea all had greater love and allegiance than the Disciples, but only they were invited because only they had been fully taught. Later these First Communicants would give this Sacrament to all who would learn the Apostle’s Doctrine, (Acts 2:42) believe it, Confess it, and be baptized into it. And because of God’s great love, we are among those people.
In the Eucharist, Jesus is Present with His church to forgive her, lead her, guide her and impart to her all that she needs so that even the very gates of hell cannot prevail against her.
The Altar is where the Promises of Matthew 18:20 (where two or three are gathered…I am with them), and Matthew 28:20 (I am with you always) are fulfilled. In the Sacrament Jesus puts our sins into remission, quells God’s wrath and averts the judgment our sins of anger have merited for us.
And so Jesus tells us in this lesson: don’t pollute the Lord’s Altar with anger or disbelief, instead come to it in order to be reconciled to your God and your brother through Him.
By the Spirit-born faith we received in baptism we are reconciled to God in Christ. At the Font we were Sacramentally crucified, buried and raised again with Him, as we heard in today’s epistle lesson. Baptism isn’t the parlor game that many theologies claim it to be, but rather a true restoration to God in Christ which never diminishes or finishes. No matter how great our loss to the forces of sin and death, in Holy Baptism our fortunes have been reversed, and like Naomi, our bitterness is turned to gladness. What begins at the Font continues at the Altar, and will be fulfilled in the Holiest Communion of all at the Messiah’s never-ending banquet. This is the glorious future which we have obtained from God, in Christ.
Since we have been so reconciled to God, let us be re-united with our brothers at the Altar as well, putting aside all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander and malice, and forgiving one another even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us. (Ephesians 4:31ff)
Let the world fret over greenhouse gasses if it likes, but let God’s people in Christ rejoice because we have been cleansed from sin’s pollution, and we live in the Green Pastures of His love. Amen.
Cleveland, Ohio
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
July 19, 2009
6th Sunday After Trinity
You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:21-24
Pollution and ‘carbon footprints’ are all the rage, but there’s a more dangerous contamination we should be concerned about, namely, the tainting of our souls, and of the Lord’s Altar, with anger aimed at our brother.
We think a lot about the pollution we can see, but not so much the invisible contagion of anger. And so today’s Gospel lesson reminds us not to corrupt the Altar, but rather be reconciled to our brother and our God through Christ.
Jesus lays the burden of brotherly reconciliation on us.
He doesn’t say: “if you have a case against your brother,” but “if you remember that your brother has a case against you go and be reconciled.”
Why does the Lord speak this way? Because we expend our anger at others, and speak to our loved ones as if they’re the greatest fools earth has ever born, but in our sinful pride we don’t think we’ve done anything wrong. We have no case against our brother, why should we? We’ve spoken our mind and exhausted our wrath, but may not stop to think about the damage we’ve left in our wake, or what case our brother might legitimately have against us.
This is why we should never come to Holy Communion without first examining ourselves according to the ten commandments with their Christian explanation. Without first confessing our wrongs, receiving absolution from the pastor, “as if from God Himself” and being reconciled to our brother through Christ. This is why Individual Confession is preferable to General Confession. In it we have the chance to properly consider our sins; and most especially the opportunity to hear the Word of the Gospel spoken to us personally, to learn once again that Jesus became liable to our judgment, was thrown into the prison of death for us, and paid the last penny of our debt.
There are other ways of polluting the Rail as well. If we don’t comprehend with our whole mind, and believe with our whole heart that we are justified before God by faith alone, then we must not come to the Altar. The Sacrament can do no good for those who think they obtain righteousness before God by any means other than faith in the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord. Only those who believe, and are baptized into this Christian faith may come, and by God grace we are among those people.
For God’s Redeemed the Altar has always been the place where heaven and earth intersect. The place where Jesus breaks into our earthly reality in order to feed us with His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins, for our Life and Salvation. That’s what happens, and what we receive in Holy Communion.
We taint the Altar, too, if we open it up to those who Confess a different faith. Holy Communion isn’t only Communion with Jesus, but also the highest expression of Unity in Faith with all the others who come to the Lord’s Altar. When a person presents himself at a church’s Altar he claims by that act that he is in full agreement and fellowship with that church, it’s people, its doctrine, its mission and its practice. People sometimes wonder if they can receive communion when visiting the church of another Denomination, as long as they hold the correct faith regarding the Suppers? The answer is: no, for the reasons just stated.
It’s not the answer we want to hear, but it’s the answer that Jesus gives. The Church didn’t invent Closed Communion, it’s something we learned from Jesus. At The First Communion the Lord communed only His Disciples. The Blessed Virgin, the other Mary’s, Sts. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithea all had greater love and allegiance than the Disciples, but only they were invited because only they had been fully taught. Later these First Communicants would give this Sacrament to all who would learn the Apostle’s Doctrine, (Acts 2:42) believe it, Confess it, and be baptized into it. And because of God’s great love, we are among those people.
In the Eucharist, Jesus is Present with His church to forgive her, lead her, guide her and impart to her all that she needs so that even the very gates of hell cannot prevail against her.
The Altar is where the Promises of Matthew 18:20 (where two or three are gathered…I am with them), and Matthew 28:20 (I am with you always) are fulfilled. In the Sacrament Jesus puts our sins into remission, quells God’s wrath and averts the judgment our sins of anger have merited for us.
And so Jesus tells us in this lesson: don’t pollute the Lord’s Altar with anger or disbelief, instead come to it in order to be reconciled to your God and your brother through Him.
By the Spirit-born faith we received in baptism we are reconciled to God in Christ. At the Font we were Sacramentally crucified, buried and raised again with Him, as we heard in today’s epistle lesson. Baptism isn’t the parlor game that many theologies claim it to be, but rather a true restoration to God in Christ which never diminishes or finishes. No matter how great our loss to the forces of sin and death, in Holy Baptism our fortunes have been reversed, and like Naomi, our bitterness is turned to gladness. What begins at the Font continues at the Altar, and will be fulfilled in the Holiest Communion of all at the Messiah’s never-ending banquet. This is the glorious future which we have obtained from God, in Christ.
Since we have been so reconciled to God, let us be re-united with our brothers at the Altar as well, putting aside all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander and malice, and forgiving one another even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven us. (Ephesians 4:31ff)
Let the world fret over greenhouse gasses if it likes, but let God’s people in Christ rejoice because we have been cleansed from sin’s pollution, and we live in the Green Pastures of His love. Amen.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Fifth Sunday After Trinity
Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
July 12, 2009
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
5th Sunday After Trinity
Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
When Peter witnessed the miracle we hear about in today’s gospel lesson, he had a double barrel reaction: first amazement, then fear. Both were the right reactions. But when he begged the Holy and Righteous One of God to get away from him, and to leave him in his sin, shame and darkness, there Peter had made a terrible mistake.
Like Manoah the father of Samson who had also seen God in person, Peter was afraid for his life. But he was badly mistaken in his estimation of the Lord because Jesus didn’t come to destroy sinners, or to abandon them, but to save them.
Peter qualified. He was a flesh and blood violator of all that is good, right and holy even as we are. But it wasn’t only the surface sins that made Peter feel so unworthy before God, but the pure midnight of his soul, now made evident against the back-drop of Jesus who is the Light of the world. This is what brought the salty old sea-dog to his knees. What he experienced that day was not only the power of God but also the person of God.
According to Luke, this wasn’t the first miracle Peter had witnessed. Prior to this point he had seen Jesus heal countless diseases with a touch, and expel vicious demons, which held iron grips over people’s lives, with a word. Peter had seen all this. But no where do we read that these wonders brought the stiff-necked, hard-headed Fisherman down to his knees in fear before Jesus.
Up to this point, Peter didn’t get it!
Even in the presence of all this power he still thought that he was a good man! He worked hard, played hard and did his part in the economy. He was, no doubt, proud of his accomplishments and his rugged individualism. Like all of us, Peter thought that he was a good person. But when he finally learned to know Jesus as Jesus wants to be known – as God-come-to-earth, then Peter realized that he was no longer such a big fish. His whole house of cards suddenly and irreversibly collapsed. He fell down on his knees and cried out in sheer terror “depart from me LORD, for I am a man who is filled with sin.”
With a simple command “let down your nets for a catch” the Lord of creation turned an otherwise bad fishing day into the greatest catch man had ever taken, so great that the nets began to tear and the boats began to sink with the weight! Now the Fisherman understood! Before this miracle he called Jesus “teacher.” But now, as divine revelation flooded his senses, he woke up from his sleep, arose from spiritual death and addressed Jesus, not as Teacher, but as Lord, as God, as Maker and Monarch and Ruler of all! (TLH 128).
Suddenly, witnessing the raw power of God, Peter recognized a vast deficiency in himself. It wasn’t a deficiency of money, wisdom or the ability to get the job done. It was a moral deficiency. A power shortage. An insufficiency of what Peter was and what Peter was not, namely, holy.
Jesus and Peter weren’t just two people with differing philosophies or opinions, they were people from two different realities! Peter was a sin-filled slave of the devil, shot through with self-esteem, self-love, self-righteousness and the ever-consuming lusts of the flesh. He was bursting with contempt for God, at war with his Creator, and we are no different.
We may not feel it.
We may not recognize it!
We may have embraced the philosophies of the surrounding culture, or been swept up in the prevailing winds of the LCMS, which were designed to keep our eye off the Ball of God’s Word.
We see the results of sin on the News and in the mirror, but we’re too blind to comprehend what the problem is.
It wasn’t just a matter of the things Peter did, it’s a matter of what he was, what he thought, what he loved and what he didn’t love. Nothing good, divine, God-pleasing or worthy of blessing existed in Peter because Peter had heart trouble! He was conceived and born in sin and apart from Christ could do nothing, and neither can we. (John 15:5)
In our Lutheran Confessions (Augsburg Confession, Article II), the church’s Reformers wrote this: “It is also taught among us that since the fall of Adam all men who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin. That is, all men are full of evil lust and inclinations from their mothers’ wombs and are unable by nature to have true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover, this inborn sickness and hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through Baptism and the Holy Spirit…”
Peter didn’t need to “get into a program.” He needed to fall on his knees before Jesus, acknowledge his sin, believe the Gospel, and live a New Life in Christ. By God’s grace, and the working of the Holy Spirit, this is what he did. It’s what we did too! Or rather what was mercifully done to us, in us and for us when we were baptized into the name of the Triune God. Our “lusts and evil inclinations” were forgiven. Our “inborn sickness and hereditary sin,” which is “truly sin and condemns to eternal wrath of God” was cured. Like Peter we are Real Sinners, but Jesus is a real Savior.
If there’s any problem in our thinking today, it’s that we don’t take our need for the Savior seriously like Peter did. He recognized in this Son of God One who had power over nature, and over the ravages of humanity’s evil. That day he learned that Jesus could catch men as easily as He could bring fish out of Lake Genessaret. That day he left all he had ever known, and followed Jesus, and may we do the same.
The Good News for us this morning is found in two little words Jesus spoke to Peter. Fear not! Wonderful words when spoken by God to sin-filled man. But words which brought enormous fear to the One who spoke them. This benediction which our Lord so freely bestows upon us, caused the Son of God to sweat blood; to pray to His dear Heavenly Father who always heard Him, that if there were any other way…that this cup might pass from Him. But there was none. Jesus drank it, died and by His death, trampled death. But because He is holy, God raised Him from the dead, and now we drink of Him. We eat His flesh and drink His blood and have a share in the Life of Jesus which quells our every fear, and fills us with inexpressible joy.
Fear not! Those two words, spoken by Jesus remove our sins, and give us Life, Strength, Courage and Peace as we do battle with sin and death each day.
Don’t be afraid Dear Christians. Don’t be afraid of judgment, of the devil, of the world, or of the crosses we must bear today or tomorrow. Jesus will never leave us. We cannot drive Him away. No sin will make him leave us. No sadness will make Him abandon us. No circumstance will make Him forsake us. And no sorrow will make Him depart from us. He didn’t leave Peter and He won’t leave us. We have been caught in the net of His love and gathered into the Nave of His church, which will bring us safely to Canaan’s Shores. Amen
Cleveland, Ohio
July 12, 2009
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
5th Sunday After Trinity
Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
When Peter witnessed the miracle we hear about in today’s gospel lesson, he had a double barrel reaction: first amazement, then fear. Both were the right reactions. But when he begged the Holy and Righteous One of God to get away from him, and to leave him in his sin, shame and darkness, there Peter had made a terrible mistake.
Like Manoah the father of Samson who had also seen God in person, Peter was afraid for his life. But he was badly mistaken in his estimation of the Lord because Jesus didn’t come to destroy sinners, or to abandon them, but to save them.
Peter qualified. He was a flesh and blood violator of all that is good, right and holy even as we are. But it wasn’t only the surface sins that made Peter feel so unworthy before God, but the pure midnight of his soul, now made evident against the back-drop of Jesus who is the Light of the world. This is what brought the salty old sea-dog to his knees. What he experienced that day was not only the power of God but also the person of God.
According to Luke, this wasn’t the first miracle Peter had witnessed. Prior to this point he had seen Jesus heal countless diseases with a touch, and expel vicious demons, which held iron grips over people’s lives, with a word. Peter had seen all this. But no where do we read that these wonders brought the stiff-necked, hard-headed Fisherman down to his knees in fear before Jesus.
Up to this point, Peter didn’t get it!
Even in the presence of all this power he still thought that he was a good man! He worked hard, played hard and did his part in the economy. He was, no doubt, proud of his accomplishments and his rugged individualism. Like all of us, Peter thought that he was a good person. But when he finally learned to know Jesus as Jesus wants to be known – as God-come-to-earth, then Peter realized that he was no longer such a big fish. His whole house of cards suddenly and irreversibly collapsed. He fell down on his knees and cried out in sheer terror “depart from me LORD, for I am a man who is filled with sin.”
With a simple command “let down your nets for a catch” the Lord of creation turned an otherwise bad fishing day into the greatest catch man had ever taken, so great that the nets began to tear and the boats began to sink with the weight! Now the Fisherman understood! Before this miracle he called Jesus “teacher.” But now, as divine revelation flooded his senses, he woke up from his sleep, arose from spiritual death and addressed Jesus, not as Teacher, but as Lord, as God, as Maker and Monarch and Ruler of all! (TLH 128).
Suddenly, witnessing the raw power of God, Peter recognized a vast deficiency in himself. It wasn’t a deficiency of money, wisdom or the ability to get the job done. It was a moral deficiency. A power shortage. An insufficiency of what Peter was and what Peter was not, namely, holy.
Jesus and Peter weren’t just two people with differing philosophies or opinions, they were people from two different realities! Peter was a sin-filled slave of the devil, shot through with self-esteem, self-love, self-righteousness and the ever-consuming lusts of the flesh. He was bursting with contempt for God, at war with his Creator, and we are no different.
We may not feel it.
We may not recognize it!
We may have embraced the philosophies of the surrounding culture, or been swept up in the prevailing winds of the LCMS, which were designed to keep our eye off the Ball of God’s Word.
We see the results of sin on the News and in the mirror, but we’re too blind to comprehend what the problem is.
It wasn’t just a matter of the things Peter did, it’s a matter of what he was, what he thought, what he loved and what he didn’t love. Nothing good, divine, God-pleasing or worthy of blessing existed in Peter because Peter had heart trouble! He was conceived and born in sin and apart from Christ could do nothing, and neither can we. (John 15:5)
In our Lutheran Confessions (Augsburg Confession, Article II), the church’s Reformers wrote this: “It is also taught among us that since the fall of Adam all men who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin. That is, all men are full of evil lust and inclinations from their mothers’ wombs and are unable by nature to have true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover, this inborn sickness and hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through Baptism and the Holy Spirit…”
Peter didn’t need to “get into a program.” He needed to fall on his knees before Jesus, acknowledge his sin, believe the Gospel, and live a New Life in Christ. By God’s grace, and the working of the Holy Spirit, this is what he did. It’s what we did too! Or rather what was mercifully done to us, in us and for us when we were baptized into the name of the Triune God. Our “lusts and evil inclinations” were forgiven. Our “inborn sickness and hereditary sin,” which is “truly sin and condemns to eternal wrath of God” was cured. Like Peter we are Real Sinners, but Jesus is a real Savior.
If there’s any problem in our thinking today, it’s that we don’t take our need for the Savior seriously like Peter did. He recognized in this Son of God One who had power over nature, and over the ravages of humanity’s evil. That day he learned that Jesus could catch men as easily as He could bring fish out of Lake Genessaret. That day he left all he had ever known, and followed Jesus, and may we do the same.
The Good News for us this morning is found in two little words Jesus spoke to Peter. Fear not! Wonderful words when spoken by God to sin-filled man. But words which brought enormous fear to the One who spoke them. This benediction which our Lord so freely bestows upon us, caused the Son of God to sweat blood; to pray to His dear Heavenly Father who always heard Him, that if there were any other way…that this cup might pass from Him. But there was none. Jesus drank it, died and by His death, trampled death. But because He is holy, God raised Him from the dead, and now we drink of Him. We eat His flesh and drink His blood and have a share in the Life of Jesus which quells our every fear, and fills us with inexpressible joy.
Fear not! Those two words, spoken by Jesus remove our sins, and give us Life, Strength, Courage and Peace as we do battle with sin and death each day.
Don’t be afraid Dear Christians. Don’t be afraid of judgment, of the devil, of the world, or of the crosses we must bear today or tomorrow. Jesus will never leave us. We cannot drive Him away. No sin will make him leave us. No sadness will make Him abandon us. No circumstance will make Him forsake us. And no sorrow will make Him depart from us. He didn’t leave Peter and He won’t leave us. We have been caught in the net of His love and gathered into the Nave of His church, which will bring us safely to Canaan’s Shores. Amen
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The Fourth Sunday After Trinity
Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
July 5, 2009
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
4th Sunday After Trinity
Be merciful even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
Mercy isn’t a spectator sport. The entire culture thinks that it is, and we’re tempted to believe it, and so we need to hear what Jesus says in today’s gospel lesson.
If the example of the world is to be believed all we need to do in order to be compassionate, is talk about the world’s “injustices” with the right amount of moral outrage in our voices.
Complicating the problem is the example set by our elected officials. They love to be merciful with other people’s money. They compel us to be sympathetic to those they call “less fortunate” through taxation, but forced pity is no substitute for Christian mercy. There’s little we can do about that problem, nor should we waste our energy fretting about it. The kings of the earth will have their day of reckoning with the King of kings, and so will we all if we judge others from a vantage point of moral superiority.
It’s true that there’s little we can do about the problem, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. Our call as Christians isn’t to topple governments or even to fix them, but to be merciful toward others, even as our Father in heaven is merciful to us.
Mercy isn’t merely a theory for Christians, but something that expresses itself in the definitive forms Jesus talks about in today’s gospel lesson.
But before we speak about them, we should first remember the Gospel, which is our salvation, and the basis for the kindness we show to others.
The Father’s love is legendary! When He first reveals His attributes to Moses in Exodus (34:6-7) mercy is at the head of the list. It’s at the head because it’s the most important one, and all the others – gracious, slow to anger, forgiving iniquity and so on...all these get their definition from it.
The word ‘mercy’ in Scripture is derived from: the love that a mother has for the child in her womb. That love is real, constant and undeniable. And this is why, no matter how hard society tries to justify it, women who abort their babies suffer endless guilt. Guilt that can’t be healed by all the anti-depressants in the world, but only by Confession and God’s certain mercy given in Holy Absolution.
How did God show His mercy for us? Not by throwing money at the problem! But by giving His Son to suffer and die on our behalf. To let all the judgment and condemnation of our transgressions fall on Him. He received no mercy as He was judged before Pilate, fastened to the whipping post, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross. He received no answer when he asked: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) No answer that is, until the third day when God raised Him from the dead, even as He will do for us. And so rest assured Beloved in Christ, be happy and joyful, because we are the recipients of the Father’s abundant mercy in Christ.
And this is the basis of the love we show to others. Be merciful, not by government decree, not to merit God’s favor, not to receive something in return or to assuage liberal guilt. But be merciful because the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has been gracious and merciful to us.
Mercy isn’t a spectator sport. Once we firmly believe that we are the recipients of God’ Love, then we learn from Jesus how to express it to others.
First, it’s demonstrated when we refrain from judging others. This is a much misunderstood term today. When Jesus admonishes us not to judge others it doesn’t mean that should ignore the distinctions between right and wrong or truth and falsehood. It doesn’t mean that we should approve of people’s sins. Nor should we accept it when people use the Lord’s words as a “gag order” to silence preaching of the Law. When Jesus cautions us not to judge or condemn others, He means that we should not consider ourselves morally superior to them. It’s a harsh warning because the pull of this sin is so strong on this matter, and we all do, in fact, consider ourselves more righteous than others. We deem ourselves and our opinions the Standard that everyone else should live up to. But mercy isn’t a spectator sport. Be merciful, as your Father in heaven has been merciful to you, and don’t judge others.
Secondly, we show mercy when we give generously to others. This verse isn’t meant to promote socialism, enabling, or the redistribution of wealth. In Jesus’ day there were no safety nets. There were no food stamps, Section 8 housing, Catholic Charities or United Way. The poor were condemned to a life of squalor and could only rise above it if people were generous with them. There are cases of true need today that demand our time, our trouble and our money, and usually they’re very close to home. Mercy isn’t a spectator sport, and so take note of these situations and be merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful.
Thirdly, we show mercy to others when we throw off ignorance and eagerly learn the Christian faith. We should all be well versed in the Bible, the Catechism, the Creeds and in the various disciplines of classical education. When we know these things we’re qualified to give people who inquire an eternal perspective. Especially that the sufferings of this present age, aren’t worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. Most of us are not pastors, but within the sphere of our daily vocations there is always a need to dispel error, speak eternal truths, and give true consolation in Christ to those who suffer. Mercy isn’t a spectator sport, and so cast off your blindness, so that you can show people the to glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.
Fourth, we show mercy when we take the log out of our own eye, rather than obsessing over the speck in our brother’s eye. The former will take a lifetime, and that leaves little time for the latter. One of the Great Sins of our age, one that’s been institutionalized by the puritanical culture we live in, is the sin of being a busy-body. The sin of interfering in everyone else’s life, when our own life is a disaster. Jesus counsels, first take the log out of your own eye, then you’ll be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Here is a true act of mercy.
Mercy isn’t a spectator sport. First, we receive God’s loving-kindness by faith, and then we express it to others in the ways Jesus outlines for us today. Not in a flamboyant manner, but quietly, steadily and humbly, never growing weary in well-doing. (2 Thessalonians 3:13 & Galatians 6:9)
We sin against mercy often, and so we come to God’s House just as often to confess our sins, receive the absolution, and be strengthened by His Word and Sacrament. May God’s mercy continue in and among us each day. Amen.
Cleveland, Ohio
July 5, 2009
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
4th Sunday After Trinity
Be merciful even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
Mercy isn’t a spectator sport. The entire culture thinks that it is, and we’re tempted to believe it, and so we need to hear what Jesus says in today’s gospel lesson.
If the example of the world is to be believed all we need to do in order to be compassionate, is talk about the world’s “injustices” with the right amount of moral outrage in our voices.
Complicating the problem is the example set by our elected officials. They love to be merciful with other people’s money. They compel us to be sympathetic to those they call “less fortunate” through taxation, but forced pity is no substitute for Christian mercy. There’s little we can do about that problem, nor should we waste our energy fretting about it. The kings of the earth will have their day of reckoning with the King of kings, and so will we all if we judge others from a vantage point of moral superiority.
It’s true that there’s little we can do about the problem, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. Our call as Christians isn’t to topple governments or even to fix them, but to be merciful toward others, even as our Father in heaven is merciful to us.
Mercy isn’t merely a theory for Christians, but something that expresses itself in the definitive forms Jesus talks about in today’s gospel lesson.
But before we speak about them, we should first remember the Gospel, which is our salvation, and the basis for the kindness we show to others.
The Father’s love is legendary! When He first reveals His attributes to Moses in Exodus (34:6-7) mercy is at the head of the list. It’s at the head because it’s the most important one, and all the others – gracious, slow to anger, forgiving iniquity and so on...all these get their definition from it.
The word ‘mercy’ in Scripture is derived from: the love that a mother has for the child in her womb. That love is real, constant and undeniable. And this is why, no matter how hard society tries to justify it, women who abort their babies suffer endless guilt. Guilt that can’t be healed by all the anti-depressants in the world, but only by Confession and God’s certain mercy given in Holy Absolution.
How did God show His mercy for us? Not by throwing money at the problem! But by giving His Son to suffer and die on our behalf. To let all the judgment and condemnation of our transgressions fall on Him. He received no mercy as He was judged before Pilate, fastened to the whipping post, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the cross. He received no answer when he asked: My God, my God why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) No answer that is, until the third day when God raised Him from the dead, even as He will do for us. And so rest assured Beloved in Christ, be happy and joyful, because we are the recipients of the Father’s abundant mercy in Christ.
And this is the basis of the love we show to others. Be merciful, not by government decree, not to merit God’s favor, not to receive something in return or to assuage liberal guilt. But be merciful because the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has been gracious and merciful to us.
Mercy isn’t a spectator sport. Once we firmly believe that we are the recipients of God’ Love, then we learn from Jesus how to express it to others.
First, it’s demonstrated when we refrain from judging others. This is a much misunderstood term today. When Jesus admonishes us not to judge others it doesn’t mean that should ignore the distinctions between right and wrong or truth and falsehood. It doesn’t mean that we should approve of people’s sins. Nor should we accept it when people use the Lord’s words as a “gag order” to silence preaching of the Law. When Jesus cautions us not to judge or condemn others, He means that we should not consider ourselves morally superior to them. It’s a harsh warning because the pull of this sin is so strong on this matter, and we all do, in fact, consider ourselves more righteous than others. We deem ourselves and our opinions the Standard that everyone else should live up to. But mercy isn’t a spectator sport. Be merciful, as your Father in heaven has been merciful to you, and don’t judge others.
Secondly, we show mercy when we give generously to others. This verse isn’t meant to promote socialism, enabling, or the redistribution of wealth. In Jesus’ day there were no safety nets. There were no food stamps, Section 8 housing, Catholic Charities or United Way. The poor were condemned to a life of squalor and could only rise above it if people were generous with them. There are cases of true need today that demand our time, our trouble and our money, and usually they’re very close to home. Mercy isn’t a spectator sport, and so take note of these situations and be merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful.
Thirdly, we show mercy to others when we throw off ignorance and eagerly learn the Christian faith. We should all be well versed in the Bible, the Catechism, the Creeds and in the various disciplines of classical education. When we know these things we’re qualified to give people who inquire an eternal perspective. Especially that the sufferings of this present age, aren’t worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. Most of us are not pastors, but within the sphere of our daily vocations there is always a need to dispel error, speak eternal truths, and give true consolation in Christ to those who suffer. Mercy isn’t a spectator sport, and so cast off your blindness, so that you can show people the to glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.
Fourth, we show mercy when we take the log out of our own eye, rather than obsessing over the speck in our brother’s eye. The former will take a lifetime, and that leaves little time for the latter. One of the Great Sins of our age, one that’s been institutionalized by the puritanical culture we live in, is the sin of being a busy-body. The sin of interfering in everyone else’s life, when our own life is a disaster. Jesus counsels, first take the log out of your own eye, then you’ll be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Here is a true act of mercy.
Mercy isn’t a spectator sport. First, we receive God’s loving-kindness by faith, and then we express it to others in the ways Jesus outlines for us today. Not in a flamboyant manner, but quietly, steadily and humbly, never growing weary in well-doing. (2 Thessalonians 3:13 & Galatians 6:9)
We sin against mercy often, and so we come to God’s House just as often to confess our sins, receive the absolution, and be strengthened by His Word and Sacrament. May God’s mercy continue in and among us each day. Amen.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Third Sunday After Trinity
Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
June 28, 2009
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
3rd Sunday After Trinity
All the tax-collectors and the sinners would gather near to Him to hear Him, but the Pharisees and the Scribes complained bitterly saying, “This man receives sinners, and He eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2
When we read this text we might think that the tax-collectors are the heroes and the Pharisees the villains, but the fact is we’re all villains before God, and in need of repentance.
The tax-collectors weren’t the kewpie dolls liberal theologians make them out to be, nor did Jesus give them moral sanction for their sin as many do today. Tax-collectors were especially crude sinners. They were considered by the people to be traitors to their nation, whose chosen profession it was to collect taxes from hard-working Jews and give the money to pagan Rome. Much like today’s state liquor franchises, they paid for the privilege and then worked it for all it was worth. They were hard, unscrupulous men who grew rich at the expense of others and had the coercive powers of the Roman Militia behind them. People had to tread lightly when dealing with tax-collectors, like they do today when dealing with the DMV or the Water Department. A person dare not be too impatient, or take the wrong tone, lest they wrap him in red tape and drop him into bureaucratic hell.
The tax-collectors were vulgar in the eyes of the average Jew, but to the Pharisees they were Sinners with a capital S. But the Pharisees weren’t that stellar either. Tax collectors were greedy for money but so were Pharisees. They were un-happy to hear the Lord’s admonition that you can’t serve God and money (Luke 16:14) because that’s exactly what they were trying to do.
Blatant sin is ugly. Ten days ago a 38 year old employee at a coin laundry on West 25th Street was murdered in cold blood. When the robber reached for her necklace she pulled away from him and he summarily shot her in the head. Later at Cleveland’s Central Prison Unit he repeatedly gloated about: how he had showed her.
But self-righteousness is just as repellent. The Pharisees were the Puritans of their day. They gave their full time and attention to regulating everything around them, everything that is except the lusts of their own hearts. They were hypocrites to the core, who wrapped themselves in a flag of holiness. Like white-washed graves they looked good on the outside but were shot full of death on the inside.
But Jesus loved, and still loves, all kinds of sinners and it’s a good thing because we are the Pharisees and tax-collectors in today’s gospel lesson. We’re greedy, meddlesome, self-righteous and in constant need of repentance, but Jesus is the Hero. Why?
First because He is truly Righteous. There was nothing contrived about Him, there didn’t have to be, He was God in human flesh (Colossians 2:9). When people met Him, when they heard His parables, and saw His miracles they knew that they had encountered God, who fulfilled all righteousness in His baptism – the one in the Jordan and the one on the Cross. (Luke 12:50)
Jesus isn’t only the hero of the parable because He’s righteous, but also because He received and ate with sinners. St. Luke reports that the tax-collectors couldn’t get enough of Jesus. They wanted to spend their time with Him. They wanted to hear everything He had to say. When others condemned them they wouldn’t listen but when Jesus did so, with the Law in one hand and with an abundant portion of Divine Love in the other, they accepted what He had said, and repented and lived new lives in Christ.
We know of two by name. Zacchaeus, who will always be famous among Christ’s people for the great lengths he went to get a look at Jesus as He entered Jericho; for his confession of sins and Confession of faith; for the benediction he received: this day salvation has come to your house (Luke 19:7); and for the good works his faith produced: Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
And there was St. Matthew as well, who left his corrupt ways to became both a Disciple and Evangelist. We have a statue of him in our church because while St. John most beautifully expresses the Lord’s divine nature to us in his gospel, Matthew most superbly articulates the Lord’s human lineage. Together they show us the Divine and Human Savior we need, who was able to keep the Law for us perfectly because He was God, and who was able to die in our place, and wipe us clean from every stain of sin, because He also True Man.
The refrain of modern day Pharisees is that we need to: accept Jesus into our hearts. But here St. Luke teaches us that things work the other way, sinners don’t accept Jesus, but as we sing in our hymn, “Jesus sinners doth receive, O may all this saying ponder.”
And He still calls sinners to life and salvation today. Most of us were called at the baptismal font. In its life-giving water our sins were forgiven, and our destiny set. God became our Father, and Jesus our Righteousness. He made good and lasting promises to us even though most of us were too young to know it, He’s never broken them and never will. He has been, is and will continue to be our God, our guide, our stay and our shield for time and eternity. We’ve never been a single day without His care, nor will we ever be.
He doesn’t just “receive sinners” but also eats with them. In His earthly ministry Jesus was never too busy or too haughty to associate with the dregs of society. Not just in passing either, but He accepted invitations to their homes and ate at their tables, and why shouldn’t He? He is the Bread of Life and Well of Salvation (Isaiah 12) who quenched thirsty sinners with His liberating Word, and once they drank of it they couldn’t get enough.
The same is true of us today. Jesus still dines with sinners. He says to the Pharisee and the tax-collector within: Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20) This promise is fulfilled when repentant sinners confess their wrongs, receive absolution, and answer the Altar Call of the Eucharist where Jesus still receives and eats with sinners.
The rail isn’t for self-righteous people but for repentant sinners. It’s not for the Ninety-Nine who need no repentance, but for the one who does.
The ninety nine who don’t need repentance, and the nine coins that weren’t lost are only hypothetical. Spiritually speaking all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, need the same thing. To know their sins, be sorry for their sins, regret their sins, confess their sins, turn from them and believe that they were forgiven when Jesus breathed His last. Such faith saves us. Such a faith begins a new and holy life within us.
So let us all do as St. Peter instructs us in today’s epistle lesson and humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, knowing that He will exalt us in due time. And after we have suffered a little while, He Himself will restore us, and make us strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. (1 Peter 5:6ff). Amen.
Cleveland, Ohio
June 28, 2009
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
3rd Sunday After Trinity
All the tax-collectors and the sinners would gather near to Him to hear Him, but the Pharisees and the Scribes complained bitterly saying, “This man receives sinners, and He eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2
When we read this text we might think that the tax-collectors are the heroes and the Pharisees the villains, but the fact is we’re all villains before God, and in need of repentance.
The tax-collectors weren’t the kewpie dolls liberal theologians make them out to be, nor did Jesus give them moral sanction for their sin as many do today. Tax-collectors were especially crude sinners. They were considered by the people to be traitors to their nation, whose chosen profession it was to collect taxes from hard-working Jews and give the money to pagan Rome. Much like today’s state liquor franchises, they paid for the privilege and then worked it for all it was worth. They were hard, unscrupulous men who grew rich at the expense of others and had the coercive powers of the Roman Militia behind them. People had to tread lightly when dealing with tax-collectors, like they do today when dealing with the DMV or the Water Department. A person dare not be too impatient, or take the wrong tone, lest they wrap him in red tape and drop him into bureaucratic hell.
The tax-collectors were vulgar in the eyes of the average Jew, but to the Pharisees they were Sinners with a capital S. But the Pharisees weren’t that stellar either. Tax collectors were greedy for money but so were Pharisees. They were un-happy to hear the Lord’s admonition that you can’t serve God and money (Luke 16:14) because that’s exactly what they were trying to do.
Blatant sin is ugly. Ten days ago a 38 year old employee at a coin laundry on West 25th Street was murdered in cold blood. When the robber reached for her necklace she pulled away from him and he summarily shot her in the head. Later at Cleveland’s Central Prison Unit he repeatedly gloated about: how he had showed her.
But self-righteousness is just as repellent. The Pharisees were the Puritans of their day. They gave their full time and attention to regulating everything around them, everything that is except the lusts of their own hearts. They were hypocrites to the core, who wrapped themselves in a flag of holiness. Like white-washed graves they looked good on the outside but were shot full of death on the inside.
But Jesus loved, and still loves, all kinds of sinners and it’s a good thing because we are the Pharisees and tax-collectors in today’s gospel lesson. We’re greedy, meddlesome, self-righteous and in constant need of repentance, but Jesus is the Hero. Why?
First because He is truly Righteous. There was nothing contrived about Him, there didn’t have to be, He was God in human flesh (Colossians 2:9). When people met Him, when they heard His parables, and saw His miracles they knew that they had encountered God, who fulfilled all righteousness in His baptism – the one in the Jordan and the one on the Cross. (Luke 12:50)
Jesus isn’t only the hero of the parable because He’s righteous, but also because He received and ate with sinners. St. Luke reports that the tax-collectors couldn’t get enough of Jesus. They wanted to spend their time with Him. They wanted to hear everything He had to say. When others condemned them they wouldn’t listen but when Jesus did so, with the Law in one hand and with an abundant portion of Divine Love in the other, they accepted what He had said, and repented and lived new lives in Christ.
We know of two by name. Zacchaeus, who will always be famous among Christ’s people for the great lengths he went to get a look at Jesus as He entered Jericho; for his confession of sins and Confession of faith; for the benediction he received: this day salvation has come to your house (Luke 19:7); and for the good works his faith produced: Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
And there was St. Matthew as well, who left his corrupt ways to became both a Disciple and Evangelist. We have a statue of him in our church because while St. John most beautifully expresses the Lord’s divine nature to us in his gospel, Matthew most superbly articulates the Lord’s human lineage. Together they show us the Divine and Human Savior we need, who was able to keep the Law for us perfectly because He was God, and who was able to die in our place, and wipe us clean from every stain of sin, because He also True Man.
The refrain of modern day Pharisees is that we need to: accept Jesus into our hearts. But here St. Luke teaches us that things work the other way, sinners don’t accept Jesus, but as we sing in our hymn, “Jesus sinners doth receive, O may all this saying ponder.”
And He still calls sinners to life and salvation today. Most of us were called at the baptismal font. In its life-giving water our sins were forgiven, and our destiny set. God became our Father, and Jesus our Righteousness. He made good and lasting promises to us even though most of us were too young to know it, He’s never broken them and never will. He has been, is and will continue to be our God, our guide, our stay and our shield for time and eternity. We’ve never been a single day without His care, nor will we ever be.
He doesn’t just “receive sinners” but also eats with them. In His earthly ministry Jesus was never too busy or too haughty to associate with the dregs of society. Not just in passing either, but He accepted invitations to their homes and ate at their tables, and why shouldn’t He? He is the Bread of Life and Well of Salvation (Isaiah 12) who quenched thirsty sinners with His liberating Word, and once they drank of it they couldn’t get enough.
The same is true of us today. Jesus still dines with sinners. He says to the Pharisee and the tax-collector within: Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20) This promise is fulfilled when repentant sinners confess their wrongs, receive absolution, and answer the Altar Call of the Eucharist where Jesus still receives and eats with sinners.
The rail isn’t for self-righteous people but for repentant sinners. It’s not for the Ninety-Nine who need no repentance, but for the one who does.
The ninety nine who don’t need repentance, and the nine coins that weren’t lost are only hypothetical. Spiritually speaking all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, need the same thing. To know their sins, be sorry for their sins, regret their sins, confess their sins, turn from them and believe that they were forgiven when Jesus breathed His last. Such faith saves us. Such a faith begins a new and holy life within us.
So let us all do as St. Peter instructs us in today’s epistle lesson and humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, knowing that He will exalt us in due time. And after we have suffered a little while, He Himself will restore us, and make us strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. (1 Peter 5:6ff). Amen.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Second Sunday After Trinity
Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
June 21, 2009
by: Rev. Lloyd Gross
No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. Romans 4:20
How threadbare is the fabric of human hope! As long as we pin
our confidence on the capabilities and intentions of mankind, we will
always be disappointed. The Psalmist warns us against trusting in
princes -- except of course the One Prince. We can understand that.
But is democracy any better? Democracy means rule by the majority.
Since only a minority of people are good, brave, and wise, democracy
means being ruled by the evil, the cowardly, and the stupid. On the
other hand, God's Word is forever true, forever good, forever
powerful. The promises God made to us are absolutely trustworthy.
As St. Paul calls us to faith in God's Word, he uses the example
of the patriarch, Abraham. God tried and tested him in more and
greater ways than such soft saints as we could ever tolerate. In the
midst of all that, however, God definitely promised Abraham that a
Redeemer would one day come from his family. To human reason that was
an unbelievable promise. Abraham was 100 years old; his wife was 90.
But isn't that characteristic of God? That is so much in keeping with
what we know about the first Easter. We know our God as the God who
raises the dead, as St. Paul calls him here. Now in Abraham's day that
hadn't happened yet. All our father had were the words he heard.
Still, he did not stagger at the promise. He believed the Word of God,
and Isaac was born from God's promise.
Don't say that you can't understand God's promises. Ask yourself
whether you want to understand them, because they make us accountable
to Him. People don't want to believe in God at all. Even though our
bodies are so marvelously designed that every cell contributes its
irreplaceable donation for the common good, even though we are aware
of organisms so small they have to be magnified 1200 times to be
visible at all, still we have a problem saying in our hearts that with
God nothing is impossible. When the creation was still new, the
horrible plague of sin infected our world. God then designed a great
salvation. In His wisdom He chose Abraham to play a key role in it.
That role required him to beget a child long after he was past the age
for men to do that. So the nation God was producing would result from
a miracle. The people of Israel, from whom the Redeemer would come,
began with a miracle even as the Redeemer Himself was miraculously
conceived. God intervened constantly along the way, chastising,
delivering, preparing for His greatest intervention when His Son would
become incarnate.
The fathers we think about today who protected us, provided for
us, and eventually helped us find our independence should remind us of
a far better Father who is in heaven. Perhaps in your earthly
experience you did not have a father who was there for you, still your
heavenly Father has provided for you in other ways. One task all
fathers have to do is correct their children. This may not be
pleasant, but it is necessary. He was always correcting Abraham,
always correcting His people, and He is so concerned that you inherit
eternal life that He will do what He must to correct you. Sometimes it
will be difficult.
When we lose our jobs, when we get sued, when we find our
children doing shocking things, when friends don't keep their
promises, when heart and flesh grow tired and weak, when loved ones
pass away, do they drive us to despair? Where is the God who raises
the dead? Do we so fear the future that we contemplate killing
ourselves? Do we raise a clenched fist to the heavens to express our
defiance? Or do we seek to escape? Do we lavish ourselves with
luxuries, or bend our minds with drugs, or indulge the pleasures of
the flesh? Or do we try to impose our own will on our circumstances by
practicing witchery? How blessed are they who wait for Him. We can
count on the God who raises the dead. Though His mercy may tarry, it
shall surely come!
Will it come quickly enough? For Abraham the supreme test was
the sacrifice of Isaac, the son born of the promise. There was no
question in Abraham's mind that God had requested this. Of course he
was upset by it, but he did what he believed he had to do. God was
looking on in tender mercy. He knew how the story was going to end,
just as we hear it year after year on the first Sunday in Lent. But
Abraham only knew the heart-wrenching melancholy of his task. In the
end it would not be Abraham's son who would be sacrificed, but God's.
Isaac's name means "laughter." But the Lamb Himself, whose name means
"He will deliver" is the One in whom God lifts up His countenance upon
the whole world. The death of Isaac would not have taken away sins;
the death of Jesus did. The Lamb was the Substitute for Isaac and for
us. The God who raises the dead gave Isaac back to Abraham, and also
raised the Righteous One. That event is the center of all history.
Everything up to it was preparing for it. Everything since has been to
spread the grace that flows from it. So in Jesus not only is God our
Father, but so is Abraham, because he was the prime example of faith.
Yes, we believe in God who raises the dead. We believe in God
who elects and corrects. We wait for Him to act, with prayer, with
steadfastness, with patience. We don't tell Him how to serve us,
either by His Providence or by His grace. We are thankful that His
Word has come to us, launching its all-out attack on our sin. We are
thankful that we have heard the Law, condemning us, pointing out our
bondage, raising the alarm that all is not well, making us hunger and
thirst for righteousness. And we thank Him for the Gospel where we see
our Savior die and overcome death, to redeem us and make us as
righteous as He. AMEN
Cleveland, Ohio
June 21, 2009
by: Rev. Lloyd Gross
No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. Romans 4:20
How threadbare is the fabric of human hope! As long as we pin
our confidence on the capabilities and intentions of mankind, we will
always be disappointed. The Psalmist warns us against trusting in
princes -- except of course the One Prince. We can understand that.
But is democracy any better? Democracy means rule by the majority.
Since only a minority of people are good, brave, and wise, democracy
means being ruled by the evil, the cowardly, and the stupid. On the
other hand, God's Word is forever true, forever good, forever
powerful. The promises God made to us are absolutely trustworthy.
As St. Paul calls us to faith in God's Word, he uses the example
of the patriarch, Abraham. God tried and tested him in more and
greater ways than such soft saints as we could ever tolerate. In the
midst of all that, however, God definitely promised Abraham that a
Redeemer would one day come from his family. To human reason that was
an unbelievable promise. Abraham was 100 years old; his wife was 90.
But isn't that characteristic of God? That is so much in keeping with
what we know about the first Easter. We know our God as the God who
raises the dead, as St. Paul calls him here. Now in Abraham's day that
hadn't happened yet. All our father had were the words he heard.
Still, he did not stagger at the promise. He believed the Word of God,
and Isaac was born from God's promise.
Don't say that you can't understand God's promises. Ask yourself
whether you want to understand them, because they make us accountable
to Him. People don't want to believe in God at all. Even though our
bodies are so marvelously designed that every cell contributes its
irreplaceable donation for the common good, even though we are aware
of organisms so small they have to be magnified 1200 times to be
visible at all, still we have a problem saying in our hearts that with
God nothing is impossible. When the creation was still new, the
horrible plague of sin infected our world. God then designed a great
salvation. In His wisdom He chose Abraham to play a key role in it.
That role required him to beget a child long after he was past the age
for men to do that. So the nation God was producing would result from
a miracle. The people of Israel, from whom the Redeemer would come,
began with a miracle even as the Redeemer Himself was miraculously
conceived. God intervened constantly along the way, chastising,
delivering, preparing for His greatest intervention when His Son would
become incarnate.
The fathers we think about today who protected us, provided for
us, and eventually helped us find our independence should remind us of
a far better Father who is in heaven. Perhaps in your earthly
experience you did not have a father who was there for you, still your
heavenly Father has provided for you in other ways. One task all
fathers have to do is correct their children. This may not be
pleasant, but it is necessary. He was always correcting Abraham,
always correcting His people, and He is so concerned that you inherit
eternal life that He will do what He must to correct you. Sometimes it
will be difficult.
When we lose our jobs, when we get sued, when we find our
children doing shocking things, when friends don't keep their
promises, when heart and flesh grow tired and weak, when loved ones
pass away, do they drive us to despair? Where is the God who raises
the dead? Do we so fear the future that we contemplate killing
ourselves? Do we raise a clenched fist to the heavens to express our
defiance? Or do we seek to escape? Do we lavish ourselves with
luxuries, or bend our minds with drugs, or indulge the pleasures of
the flesh? Or do we try to impose our own will on our circumstances by
practicing witchery? How blessed are they who wait for Him. We can
count on the God who raises the dead. Though His mercy may tarry, it
shall surely come!
Will it come quickly enough? For Abraham the supreme test was
the sacrifice of Isaac, the son born of the promise. There was no
question in Abraham's mind that God had requested this. Of course he
was upset by it, but he did what he believed he had to do. God was
looking on in tender mercy. He knew how the story was going to end,
just as we hear it year after year on the first Sunday in Lent. But
Abraham only knew the heart-wrenching melancholy of his task. In the
end it would not be Abraham's son who would be sacrificed, but God's.
Isaac's name means "laughter." But the Lamb Himself, whose name means
"He will deliver" is the One in whom God lifts up His countenance upon
the whole world. The death of Isaac would not have taken away sins;
the death of Jesus did. The Lamb was the Substitute for Isaac and for
us. The God who raises the dead gave Isaac back to Abraham, and also
raised the Righteous One. That event is the center of all history.
Everything up to it was preparing for it. Everything since has been to
spread the grace that flows from it. So in Jesus not only is God our
Father, but so is Abraham, because he was the prime example of faith.
Yes, we believe in God who raises the dead. We believe in God
who elects and corrects. We wait for Him to act, with prayer, with
steadfastness, with patience. We don't tell Him how to serve us,
either by His Providence or by His grace. We are thankful that His
Word has come to us, launching its all-out attack on our sin. We are
thankful that we have heard the Law, condemning us, pointing out our
bondage, raising the alarm that all is not well, making us hunger and
thirst for righteousness. And we thank Him for the Gospel where we see
our Savior die and overcome death, to redeem us and make us as
righteous as He. AMEN
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Louisiana Jokes - Another One
Boudreaux was driving along the highway behind a truck hauling pigs. One of
the pigs fell out of the truck, so Boudreaux stopped his car, backed up,
finally caught the pig and put it in his car. Once in the car Boudreaux
drove at a high rate of speed to try to catch up to the truck. A Louisiana
State Trooper saw Boudreaux driving at a high rate of speed and pulled him over.
The State Trooper recognized Boudreaux and asked him: "Why are you driving so fast and what are you doing with that pig in your car?" Boudreaux said,"I was following a truck full of pigs and this one fell out. I caught him and I'm trying to catch up to the truck to give him back." The State Trooper said, "Boudreaux, you're not going to catch up with that truck. He's long gone by now. Just take the pig to the zoo." Boudreaux liked that idea and said, "yeah, I never thought about that."
Two days later the State Trooper was on patrol and saw Boudreaux driving
down the highway with a pig in his car. The State Trooper pulled him over
and asked, "Boudreaux, what are you doing with that pig still in your car? I
thought I told you to take him to the zoo!" Boudreaux said, "I did and we
had such a good time, today we thought we'd go to the park."
the pigs fell out of the truck, so Boudreaux stopped his car, backed up,
finally caught the pig and put it in his car. Once in the car Boudreaux
drove at a high rate of speed to try to catch up to the truck. A Louisiana
State Trooper saw Boudreaux driving at a high rate of speed and pulled him over.
The State Trooper recognized Boudreaux and asked him: "Why are you driving so fast and what are you doing with that pig in your car?" Boudreaux said,"I was following a truck full of pigs and this one fell out. I caught him and I'm trying to catch up to the truck to give him back." The State Trooper said, "Boudreaux, you're not going to catch up with that truck. He's long gone by now. Just take the pig to the zoo." Boudreaux liked that idea and said, "yeah, I never thought about that."
Two days later the State Trooper was on patrol and saw Boudreaux driving
down the highway with a pig in his car. The State Trooper pulled him over
and asked, "Boudreaux, what are you doing with that pig still in your car? I
thought I told you to take him to the zoo!" Boudreaux said, "I did and we
had such a good time, today we thought we'd go to the park."
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