If Christ Had Not Been Raised...

Christ is risen. Alleluia!

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

Many people in this world doubt the facts of the resurrection. To some, it is an article of blasphemy. To others, it is simply a physical impossibility. Many people consider bodily resurrection a flight of fancy, to be dismissed with witches and leprechauns.

Islam says that Jesus was not crucified. The Quran says that Jesus was only a human prophet, born like anyone else, son of Mary and not God. Allah supposedly promised Jesus that he would not die a shameful death, which certainly means that he did not die on the cross. To Muslims, the idea that Jesus would have risen from the dead is blasphemy, because no one rises from the dead.

"The Lamb the Sheep Has Ransomed"

Christ is risen. Alleluia!

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

“Christians, to the Paschal Victim offer your thankful praises!” On this morning, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead. We give thanks to God our Father, who has brought His Son, our Savior back from death to life. We offer our praises that the sheep who was led to slaughter has become the life of all the living. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has been slain and now is raised.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Mary, has died and now is raised, never to die again. Our great High Priest has offered up the sacrifice for sin once for all, and His flesh has been pierced for us. With His striped we have been healed. By His blood we are forgiven. The water and the blood have flowed from His pierced side and have washed us clean.

The Cross Hurts

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

The crucifixion of Jesus is difficult for us to deal with. It is a bloody event. He was beaten, flogged with cat-o-nine-tails, pierced with the crown of thorns, and nailed to a rough-hewn wooden cross. Many people have trouble watching Mel Gibson's portrayal of the Passion because of the blood and gore and violence. We, two thousand years later, would rather not dwell on what our Lord suffered on that day. Sweating blood, suffocating in His own bodily fluids, crying out in agony – these are things the Lord of Hosts should not endure.

On a deeper level, the crucifixion is discomforting because it is a symbol of shame. Only the worst of the worst were tortured and executed so. The Scriptures call him accursed who hangs on the tree. Only the most grievous sin would bring one to this point.

This Bittersweet Supper

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

We are gathered here to commemorate Our Lord's giving of the Lord's Supper on the night when He was betrayed. Our gathering for this Meal is bittersweet, for this is a matter of great joy, but also great sorrow.

The Supper of our Lord brings to us great and immeasurable joy because here our Lord comes to us and feeds us with the food of life. With this bread and wine, we receive the very, true, physical Body and Blood of our Lord for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. Under this sign, the Church is constituted. From this Chalice flows the life-blood of the Church. With this Body and Blood, we live and move and have our being. This Supper defines the Church, because apart from it, there is no Church.

FUNERAL: + Lorna Mae C. Haeflinger +

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

It can be difficult to adapt to the change when parents move away from the home where we grew up. As a child, a move means leaving a place that holds so many memories and associations, even if you only move across town. I knew someone in college who, as soon as he had moved off to college, his parents sold their house and relocated. Once he left for that first fall semester, he never got to go “home” again.

For all of us, the idea of moving is unpleasant, and all the more so if you do not know where you are going to end up. No matter how well planned, there is always uncertainty about how things will work out, about how you will adapt your life to your new place in the world.

VISITATION: + Lorna Mae C. Haeflinger +

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We live lives characterized by guilt and shame. Media advertising is built upon this premise. After all, how do you get someone to buy something trivial and unnecessary? Convince her that she will be a bad housekeeper without this new mop, or she will be a bad mother without these fruit snacks, or he will be a bad husband without this nifty new phone, or that somehow you will be a poor employee if you take the wrong kind of antacid.

Of course guilt and shame go deeper than that. We all have our own loads of shame on account of our sins. You and I are born with it. Inherited from Adam, sin infects us from the moment of conception. Sin is at the root of all bad and evil things in this world. Because of sin, Lorna died, and likewise you and I shall all die.

But death in the body is not something for us to fear. We shall not be put to shame in our bodies, because Christ lives in us. Each of us, like Lorna, has been buried with Christ, in order that we may live in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. We are not ashamed of the frailties of our mortal bodies because we know that death no longer has dominion over us. Christ died the death to sin once for all, and we have already faced the judgment when we were plunged into the waters of Holy Baptism and pulled up into new life in Christ Jesus.

We do not live in fear or sorrow, as those who have no hope. We do not live in shame, as those who have no redemption. No, we live in peace and joy, because we know that our Redeemer lives. And so we say with St. Paul, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

“Open to Me the Gates of Righteousness”

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

Coco Chanel once said, “Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” Good advice, but yet it seems like so often we do just that.

You and I spend our time beating on the wall because we each want to find our own door. If I just beat hard enough and long enough and in the right spot in the right way, so we think, I will find a me-shaped door that will magically open to let me into the kingdom of God. And until then, we just beat blindly against the stone of our own sin and guilt.

The problem is not that we do not know the extent of the wall. Even in our blind, ignorant, sinful condition, the problem is obvious. Like David, we each say, “I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” The Law of God is written on our hearts, and so we know what we should be doing, and yet we do the opposite. You know that you are not perfect, but you try to act like you are, as if you could just run away from your sin, or cover it up somehow. But none of us can get away from our sin and guilt. It remains before you, as clear as the face in the mirror.

"As Your Own Bride Shall We Be Brought"

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

Will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony as God ordained it? Will you submit to him as the Church submits to Christ? Will you love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, remain united to him alone, so long as you both shall live? (LSB 276)

With minor variations, this is what each married woman here was asked on her wedding day. Will you have this man, now and forever? Just as the rite of matrimony notes, this vow is based on our relationship with our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We hear in the book of Hosea about a very tumultuous relationship between a husband and wife, one marked not by faithfulness, love, and devotion, but by inchastity, harlotry, and longsuffering. And Hosea's marital ills are but a study in miniature of our Lord's relationship to us.

"The Resurrection and the Life"

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

Death is unnatural. Contrary to what you may hear from many popular sources nowadays, death is not a part of life. Rather, death is the exact opposite of life, the enemy of life, even. Death is not a natural process, nor is it something to be embraced, celebrated, or taken lightly. Death is the result of sin, and the fruit of the devil's work upon Adam and Eve so long ago in the garden.

Martin Luther was no stranger to death. He saw the death of many of his friends and colleagues, and ministered to many of the faithful as they lay dying from the Plague. He delivered more than a few funeral sermons in his career. And one thing that is striking about Luther's preaching in those cases is that he encouraged Christians to mourn and grieve. At the death of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, Luther said that those who stifled their grief were uncaring and deceitful. Rather, grief, in moderation, is entirely appropriate for the Christian, because in the process of death, we are bereft of something very precious. Death means a loss. Death causes a hole in our lives and our hearts where that person had been. Death is a reality, and it is difficult. And so we are right to grieve for what we have lost.

"Your Blood My Royal Robe Shall Be"

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

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” Jesus asks us to imagine this situation. A king is preparing to celebrate the marriage feast of his son. He sends out invitations by royal messenger. He orders preparations made, food cooked, the palace made spotless and gleaming, the garments all richly prepared. The best of the best are invited. From far and wide, the richest, most famous, most brilliant, most good-looking people are expected to be in attendance for the royal wedding. One would be a fool to miss such a spectacular affair.

And yet, when the time came, that is exactly what happened. The upper crust decided that they had better things to do. Some merely ignored the messengers and invitations and went about their business. Others laid hands upon the servants of the king and beat, mocked, shamed, and even killed them. The rich and famous had all they needed for themselves; they had no need of the king and his fancy feast and pomp and circumstance. Easier just to buy the commemorative postage stamp than actually get all dressed up and go.

Do You See?

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

Jesus and His disciples encountered a man who was blind from birth. Following the general Jewish mindset about such things, the disciples asked Jesus who had sinned to cause this, the blind man himself, or his parents.

To them, and to the Jews observing them, it seemed like a natural question. We know from the Scriptures that all dysfunction and calamity come about as a result of sin. Furthermore, the Lord says that He will punish the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. So the logical outflow is that if something bad befalls you, someone must have done something to merit it happening. Therefore, who sinned – the blind man or his parents?

This line of thinking is very tempting, not only to first-century Jews, but to everyone. Jesus confronts those who think this way when He addresses the situation of the Jews whose blood Pilate mingled with pagan sacrifices. Did they do something to deserve such a death and desecration? No one could point to special wickedness that caused that.

"O Wondrous Love, What Have You Done!"

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

“Out of the depth I cry to You, O Lord.” This is where the psalmist starts, in the depths of sin and guilt. I know that what the Scripture says is true – in sin did my mother conceive me, and in iniquity was I born. I know that I have not helped matters since then. Instead, I was born into a hole of sin, and have only succeeded in digging it deeper and deeper with the shovel of my own actions and inactions. All the systems and theories and religious ideas of the world have thrown me ropes, but these have only given me length to hang myself.

The further and further down we dig in our own hearts, the more and more we realize that we are blinded by our sinful condition. We turn in circles endlessly in the pit of despair, looking for the way out, only to find that our path has been chasing our own tail. We bumble along, stumbling upon this and that, collecting artifacts from our own broken lives, ignorant both of the problem and the solution. And our pride and stubbornness keeps us from asking for help until we reach the end of the line, until we slam into the brick wall.