"Since God So Wills It"

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

In peace and joy I now depart

Since God so wills it.

Serene and confident my heart;

Stillness fills it.

For the Lord has promised me

That death is but a slumber (LSB 938.1).

So goes the first stanza of Luther's hymnic paraphrase of the Nunc Dimittis – the Song of Simeon which you heard read in today's Gospel lesson. What an amazing song of faith Simeon sings! His song, so simple in its words, gives voice to a faith that is unshakeable in its trust in God to do what He says.

Throughout the Advent and Christmas season, you have heard a great deal about death. Jesus came to die. He came to die the death due for your sins. This is the reason for His incarnation, the reason we celebrate and highly exalt the mystery of His birth in the flesh. But what connection does Jesus' birth have to the death of a Christian?

"We Beheld His Glory"

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

“Oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things!” Rejoice and sing this bright Christmas morning, because the Eternal Light has dawned upon this benighted sphere. The Light of the World has come upon the world, and we behold His glory. The everlasting Son of the eternal Father has been born this day into your flesh.

The virgin has conceived and has borne a son. Why do you marvel at this? The eternal Father, existing before all worlds, begot a Son from all eternity without a mother. When did this happen? That is beyond knowing; that is the wrong question. But the Blessed Virgin bore a son without a father. When did this happen? That is a good question. For the birth of the Son of God happened not in eternity, not in abstraction, but in the flesh, of the flesh and blood of Mary in the stable in Bethlehem. Marvel not that God has a Son, but that the Son of God is born of a woman.

Glory and Peace - Now!

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

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” So called out the multitude of the heavenly host who appeared in the Bethlehem sky on the occasion of our Lord's birth. The glory of the Lord has broken out upon the earth. No longer is God merely an unseen force above the highest heavens.

What an odd juxtaposition we have on this night! In the same sitting, you sing “Away in a Manger” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. You are called upon to contemplate the baby born in a stable, and the words of the army of heaven who lit up the dark Judean wilderness. Fear not, proclaims the angel. Your savior is born this night in the City of David. And what a savior He is, indeed! Your savior is a baby. A child born of the flesh of a woman, born of natural means following the natural course of man. And yet that baby, so frail and feeble and dependent, is at once the Lord of Hosts, the King of the Universe, the Creator of all that is and all that ever shall have been. Consider this: the angels light up the sky and their song resounds through the cosmos to worship one who suckles at the breast of a virgin mother.

Fighting with Food

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

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, you are the tiniest of the towns in all of Judah. You are nobody. You are of no account. Why should anyone even know where you are? After all, nothing of any account can come of such a small and insignificant place.

But you, O Church of God, you are the weakest of all the institutions of mankind. You are nobody. You are of no account. Why should anyone even listen to you? After all, nothing but nagging and hate-mongering and oppression can come of such small and limited minds.

But you, O people of God, you are the most pitiful of all the myriads of people who wander this terrestrial sphere. You are nobodies. You are of no account. Why should anyone take heed of you or care about you? After all, you are meek and sad and poor and helpless. Nothing of any great value can come from you.

"We Give Thanks to Thee for Thy Great Glory!"

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

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-3)

Giving thanks is something you hear spoken of quite a bit around this time of year. Every year, people come up with new gimmicks for spending the month of November being thankful. One of the primary social skills we teach children is to say “please” and “thank you” whenever appropriate. And all of that certainly is good. But often what we hear, especially in the mainstream media, fails to answer two fundamental questions about giving thanks.

First, to what or to whom should you be giving thanks? Proper thanksgiving only occurs if and when you are thankful to some source. It is not enough simply to meditate on “Gee, it sure is nice that I have this neat thing.” That is not thanksgiving. Gratitude has an object, a reference point, a focus. The Psalmist demonstrates this in the opening verses of Psalm 136. To whom must you give thanks? To the Lord, the God of Gods, the Lord of Lords. He is the object of your gratitude, the focus of your thanksgiving. Direct your thanks to Him.

Reasonableness and Rejoicing

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

Reasonableness and rejoicing are two concepts that seem to go hand in hand according to St. Paul. You have among you the mind of Christ, which fosters reasonableness, which therefore leads to rejoicing. And, having this mind about you, think about what is noble and good.

Reasonableness and rejoicing are not two concepts that one might use to describe our world these days, however. It seems that wherever you look, whatever you hear, people are talking about two crises, real or imagined. The end of the Mayan calendar and the “fiscal cliff”.

St. Paul says that “The Lord is at hand.” The Mayan calendar may come to an end this coming Friday. It is possible – as likely as not – that the world as we know it will come to an end. It is even possible that Christ will come again in glory this weekend. So what? The Lord is already at hand. If the Lord comes again next weekend, all your pain and suffering, all your unpaid bills and unwanted expenses will pass away. The Lord will come to call you home to Himself in heaven, where there is only rejoicing at the marriage feast of the Lamb.

"We Worship Thee"

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

“The woman said to [Jesus], 'Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.'” The Samaritan woman at the well was astute enough to realize that Jesus was a prophet. What this meant to her is another story, but she could not but confess that the man talking to her was the messenger of the Lord sent to her. Being that Jesus had already spoken to her of her thirst and the gift of living waters, it was no surprise that she took Him to be a prophet. But her question is meant to uncover more than a mere prophet.

Something about her acknowledgment of Jesus is a little off, at least to certain ears. We cannot know her true intent, but it almost seems as though she is out to test Jesus with a “tough question”. It is like when you meet someone, and he finds out you are a Christian, so he asks you the most ridiculous, most potentially offensive question he can come up with. “Why do you hate gay people?” or “Why do you believe in a Bible so full of contradictions?” This woman's question is akin to asking, “Why should I go to your church every week?”

Who Warned You?

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

“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Thus John greets the crowds of Jews who have come to the Jordan to be baptized by him. Who was it that told you that there is great wrath coming, and that you must come here to be saved from it? Who told you that you must be baptized into the forgiveness of sins? Did you simply come to stare and gawk at the circus freak ranting in the desert?

Of course, John is more than simply a lunatic screaming into the wind. He is the child of whom his father Zechariah prophesied, “You, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way.” He is the one upon whom the word of God came, that he might preach a baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins. He is the one of whom Isaiah spoke in days of old when he foretold of “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord!'”

John is precisely the one who called the people to come to the waters of the Jordan, to repent of their sins, and to be baptized into the forgiveness of sins. And he could only do so because the Word of God had come upon him. He preached what was put into his mouth. He proclaimed the message prepared for him from the foundation of the world. He was the one given to be the faceless voice in the wilderness, the voice of the herald who called out before the coming King. He was the prophet calling the people of God to repent and return to the Lord their God. But John did not come to make nice to the establishment.

In the same way, God has sent His men to call people to repentance in this and every age. He has sent His men to be the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. For the same Word of God that came upon John in the Judean wilderness is the same Word of God that sounds forth from the mouths of the preachers in every Church of God in every land. John called the people of Israel to a baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins in preparation to receive the One who comes in the Name of the Lord. The called and ordained minister of God calls you to a baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins, that the One who sanctified all waters to be a life-giving flood might enter into your heart and cleanse you from your sin. The one who preaches Christ crucified into the ears and hearts of men prepares the way of the Lord, that faith come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

But why are you here? What brought you to this riverside, to hear the voice crying in the wind? Perhaps it was tradition. After all, when John commanded the Jews to repent and be baptized, they replied, “We have Abraham as our father.” As though that made things all better. Simply being of the house and line of Abraham is a “get out of jail free” card. Just maintain the proper bloodlines, make sure your genealogy is in order, and you are golden. How can anyone proclaim to you that you are a sinner in need of repentance and forgiveness?

After all, you are a good Lutheran. You have the blessed Reformer as your spiritual father. Your grandfathers built this church, and your fathers sustained it, and now here you are, in the same place they once sat, possibly for the same reasons they did. Tradition is a powerful motivator. The force of doing what you have always done is tough to resist. Change is hard, sometimes painful. And certainly the Church is no big proponent of change – we still worship the same God with the same words and songs our forefathers did millennia ago, and which our great-grandchildren will continue to use until our Lord Christ comes again in glory.

But “the way we always did it” is not the way of salvation. Martin Luther is not the savior, no more than Abraham or Jacob or David, or any of the saints of old. If you are here because of tradition, then you are in the wrong place.

Some of the people came and asked John, “What then shall we do?” How should we live now? What is the prescription of the Law? And John told them what the Law says – do unto others as you would have them do to you. They knew this law, and so do you. If you are coming to church to be told how to live, then you are in the wrong place. John was no life coach. He yelled and screamed at people. He cut them down with sharp words and a message of wrath and condemnation.

Likewise, the pastor sent by God to you is not your guide or coach. He is not here to preach nice things to soothe your tired ears. He is not here to lay out formulae to lead you in the way of happiness or success or purpose-driven living. When the pastor speaks to you, he speaks the Word of God, just as John did. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

You do not need a life coach or a twelve-step guide to living the Christian life. You already know what good works are. You are a Christian, and therefore you are doing good works, because Christ lives in you. But you are also a sinner, who does not want God's Name hallowed or His kingdom to come. So you resist doing the good works you ought to do for your neighbor. If you need to be told to do good works, it is because your pride wants a pat on the back, positive reinforcement that you are doing a good job in life. Repent.

Perhaps you are here to fulfill a social need. This is not uncommon, although socialization is waning in importance as our world is filled more and more with TV, phones, and the Internet everywhere you go. But church is a significant social outlet for many people.

Humans need socialization. People need to be around other people who share a common bond, a shared interest, a mutual cause. You need positive reinforcement that you are living the right way. You need to see your friends and neighbors. You need to be in the company of others who seem to care about you.

But St. John says that “even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.” Social time is nice and serves its own purpose, but that is not the primary purpose of Church. Hanging out with friends will not cause you to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Sitting across from people you would not otherwise speak to on the street does not somehow make you holier than those who are at home snug in their beds right now. Repent.

However, if you are here because you are broken, if you are here because you are struggling, if you are here because you cannot fix your life or live the good life – if you are here because the Word of God has been laid upon you and convicted you of your sin – then you are in the right place. Welcome to the temple of the Lord.

This is the place for sinners. This is the place where the repentance into the forgiveness of sins is preached, and the baptism is given which delivers that forgiveness. This is the place where broken people are made whole. This is the place where the path of the Lord becomes easy, where the valleys are filled and the mountains are lowered, where the rough places are made plain. This is the place where “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

For the axe is even now laid at the root of the trees, and your tree is barren. You must be cut off from your roots. You must die.

On the mountain, however, stands the Tree of Life. Upon Mount Zion is the one tree which bears fruit eternally growing and blossoming and giving life. And into this tree you are grafted. You who are cut off from your former ways are grafted into the life of Christ.

Upon this mountain, the one mountain which shall stand above all others, the tree of your salvation stands. The cross, which blossoms forth into bloody fruit, stands for all to see and to partake. Upon this cross, the instrument of death became the tree of Life. What was once forbidden is now commanded. You may – no, you must be grafted into this tree. You must eat of this fruit. This is offered to you, for the forgiveness of your sins. As by a tree in the garden did the devil once overcome, so now by a tree in this garden is the devil himself overcome by our Lord Jesus Christ. Come, see, and eat. Be grafted in, and have His life coursing through you.

The Lord comes to visit His people and redeem them. He comes to give life and health and healing. He comes to wash away sin and give the forgiveness of sins. And He comes to bring light to those who sit in darkness, even to you.

“'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming,' says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1) The Lord sends His messengers in every time and place to prepare the way of the Lord. He sent John to prepare the road to Calvary, and the Lord suddenly occupied His temple.

The Lord sends His messengers of the covenant to prepare the way of the Lord, who will suddenly come to His temple. Delight in the messenger of the covenant, for he proclaims to you peace, the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. He sends His messenger to you to cause His Word to resound in your ears and lodge in your heart. He sends His messenger to you who gives you Jesus, because He comes to this temple, to this altar, to forgive your sins.

Thus says the Lord, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Mal. 3:6) Wrath is gone. You are at peace. Your sins are no more.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

"We Praise Thee; We Bless Thee!"

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

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. (Luke 1:68)

Thus begin each of our lessons this evening, with ascriptions of blessing and praise to the Lord God. But what does it mean to bless, and how and why do we bless God?

First, consider who is blessed. The Holy Scriptures declare that God alone is truly blessed, just as He alone is truly good, truly holy, and truly righteous. He alone is blessed, and He remains so without respect to you or to anything in all creation. Just as God's Name is certainly holy in itself, so also is He blessed in Himself. He does not rely on your favor or your blessing to be so, for this is who God is.

The Lord God alone, being the eternally Blessed One, is the one and only source of all blessing. For He is the Lord of Hosts, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. He is the king of the universe. Without Him was nothing made, and in Him all things live and move and have their being. To Him do you cry out, and He alone answers.

FAQs about Weekly Communion

Frequently Asked Questions about Weekly Communion

These FAQs are offered for consideration in our ongoing discussion regarding this matter. They are by no means exhaustive. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Pr. McDermott or one of the elders.

Q: Why would the church desire to have celebrate the Lord's Supper in the Divine
Service each Sunday?

A: Since in the Lord's Supper we receive our Lord Jesus' very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins it is a great gift to us and is central to the Divine Service. The holy Christian church throughout the ages has identified the Lord's Day (Sunday) with the Lord's Supper. As such the Lord's Supper was never viewed as an occasional extra or as somehow not as important as the other means of grace (Word, Absolution, Holy Baptism). In the Supper the Church, the Bride of Christ, sees herself clearly as the Body of Christ, being "one flesh" with Christ Jesus -- a great mystery indeed (Ephesians 5). The Supper is our Lord's last will and testament where we receive Him in all His life-giving mercy.

Also, since each day and each week we are in need of the Lord's forgiveness and strength, we are therefore in need of the Lord's Supper much in every way. Today, our increasingly less and less Christianly influenced culture threatens our faith daily, along with the help of Satan and our own sinful desires (old Adam). In the Christian Questions and Answers in the Small Catechism Luther writes the following, admonishing us to frequently receive the gift of Communion:

"What should admonish and incite a Christian to receive the sacrament frequently? In respect to God, both the command and the promise of Christ the Lord should move him, and in respect to himself, the trouble that lies heavy on him, on account of which such command, encouragement, and promise are given."

His Way

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

“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.” Thus David prays in the appointed Psalm for this, the first Sunday of a new church year. How fitting it is that we beseech the Lord to direct and guide all our ways and deeds in this new year, and throughout each year.

In this world, there are many ways. Just think of the sayings we have in the English language to talk about this. “All roads lead to Rome.” “There's more than one way to skin a cat.” “Life is a maze.” “Life is a riddle.” And we could go on and on. It is a popular notion that life is what you make of it, and your task in life is simply to do the best you can with what you have.

But how do you know the way? If life is a maze, then how do you find the solution? Of course, some would say that there is no one definite solution. You must bumble along in the dark, groping blindly, until you come finally to the end, and hopefully you will reach the light at the end of the tunnel. If you are virtuous and good, you will enjoy the journey, however hard it may be, and you will lead others along with you in a way that seems nice to you.

Insomnia

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

“Watch, lie awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is.” Such is the command of our Lord Jesus Christ for us who live in the end times. Be watchful and keep constant guard, lest the master of the house return and find you asleep in the middle of the night.

Insomnia is a problem that plagues scores of people in this day. Untold numbers lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, watching the numbers on the clock, basking in the blueish light of the electronic devices. Worry keeps men and women up all night, concerned about the future, about what the morning will bring. Will they meet the next mortgage payment? Will they still have an income next month? Will their children grow up healthy and happy? The slow economy and the wars and rumors of wars swirling the globe certain help nothing.

But all that is but a distraction from what the Lord says to be about. Watch, stay awake, pay attention. The master of the house is away for a time, but He may return at any moment, and will He find you asleep?

What Manner of Stones

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

“And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 'Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!'” What beautiful architecture the city of Jerusalem presented to the eye of the beholder. What splendor the kingdoms of this world lay before the one who looks at them. What riches the people of this earth display in bright array.

And what does Jesus say in reply? “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” Not one stone left standing upon another. No beautiful buildings standing proudly. No hallowed monuments to progress or prosperity left erect. No halls of riches and royalty left in their grand splendor.

With Foreign Blood

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

In the religion of the Old Testament, the high priest entered the holy places every year in order to make sacrifices for his sin and the sins of the people. The sacrifices needed to be repeated each and every year. For they themselves did not purify the people of their sins, but acted as a sign of the covenant, in which the people had faith that One would come who would eventually save His people from their sins and restore their righteousness and their relationship with the Lord God in heaven.

Even as the sacrifices were being offered, the people of Israel were in need of new sacrifices. There are not enough bulls and goats and lambs in the world to atone for the sins of mankind. Sin is persistent. The old Adam – that bottomless sinful nature – is an excellent swimmer, and is not easily drowned, even in blood.

Seeing the Vision

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

What Our Lord describes on the Mountain, St. John sees in his vision. He sees a great multitude of the poor in spirit made rich in the grace of Jesus Christ. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. He sees those who were persecuted like the prophets. They have come to their reward. They have left behind all mourning, meekness, hunger, and thirst. Day and night they serve the Lord in His Temple. They are satisfied. St. John sees the saints of God purified and gathered about the Lamb who has freed them by the outpouring of His Blood.

And notice this: he sees no stars, no celebrities. He does not name the apostles, martyrs, or prophets. He does not name kings or reformers or saints commemorated by the Church. They are there, to be sure. But he does not see them or notice them. All he sees are saints. They are all loved and honored by God. It is not so much that they are nondescript. He does notice that they are from every tribe and nation. But his attention is firmly fixed not upon them but upon the Lamb. In this he is like them. For he sees that all the saints and all the holy angels and the four living creature are adoring the Lamb.

"By Grace I'm Saved!"

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

By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Has Scripture ever falsehood taught?
No! Then this word must true remain:
By grace you too will life obtain (LSB 566.1).

By grace you have been saved, freely and boundlessly. It is by grace alone that you are a child of God, an heir of the kingdom of heaven. “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Believe this, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are saved, apart from any boasting or merit of your own.

Believe this, because it is the central truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You have been justified – declared not guilty – by grace through faith for Christ's sake alone. This is the Gospel message. You are no longer under condemnation, no longer under the sentence of death, no longer in slavery to sin and the devil. All this has come about not by your own reason or strength, but because God loved you in this manner, that He sent His Son to bear your sins and be your savior.

"Then Who Can Be Saved?"

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

Last week, you heard about the rich young man who came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus commanded him to obey the Law, and to give all he had to serve the poor. Mark records that the man went away sorrowful, because he had many possessions.

On the heels of that account, Jesus says, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of heaven!” Indeed, how difficult it is to enter God's kingdom. The way is long, the road is tough, and distractions and detours threaten on every side.

There is no short-cut to heaven. You only get there by traveling the road set before you through this world and life. And that road is very difficult, very narrow, and often fearsome. It truly is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a man to enter heaven. To enter heaven, you must pass through the valley of the shadow of death. You must pass by the riches and glitz and glamor that this world lays out before you. You must forsake home and work, family and friends, and all that you have. The devil and his forces will try very hard to distract you from the truth, to detour you from the road laid ahead.

"What Must I Do?"

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

As Jesus was going along the way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to Him, fell on his knees before the Lord, and asked Him, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus tells him to keep the Law, then give everything he has to the poor. And the man went away crestfallen, because he had many possessions.

From our perspective, taking this account in the context which Mark records it, the man's question is a bit ironic. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus has just told His disciples twice, and is about to tell them a third time, that the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem, be handed over into death at the hands of the Jews, and on the third day rise again. Then this man comes up and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. It is easy to dismiss him as wrong-headed.

"Salted for Service"

“Salted for Service”¹

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

Jesus says, “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Salt is necessary to every living thing on this planet, and it serves very specific functions. But if it loses its character, it is of no value. But how can salt lose its saltiness?

You are Christians. You have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection, and He has marked you as a redeemed child of God. In this way, you could say that Jesus has salted you. And what happens when salt is present? It flavors everything around it. Just a little bit in a recipe changes the whole composition of the dish. It only takes a little handful of salt to melt a whole sidewalk full of ice. And there is no way salt can be anything but salty. When Jesus asks how you can make salt salty again, He is indicating that salt cannot lose its flavor. Salt is by nature salty, and nothing can change that. Likewise, you are a child of God, and nothing can change that fact. You cannot become un-baptized. God will never un-love you.

"He Has A Short Time"

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

What are angels? Just the mention conjures up myriad images in the minds of Christians and unbelievers alike. A great deal of the time, angels are portrayed as some variation on the image of Shirley Temple with wings. Naked, winged babies are another popular image. In general, popular imagination sees angels as something cute, something beautiful, something peaceful and calm. But what are angels, really?

To begin with, angels are not Shirley Temple with wings. Angels have no gender – no male or female – and who knows if they have hair. Angels are spiritual beings, and the Scriptures make no representation that they look anything at all like human beings. Cupid is a fictional character, a product of the Roman mythological world, and he bears no connection to real angels. Angels have much better things to do than wander around and zap humans with love-arrows.

Life Together

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

The World War II-era German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book, Life Together,

Without Christ we should not know God, we could not call upon Him, nor come to Him. But without Christ we also would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our own ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother. Now Christians can live with one another in peace; they can love and serve one another; they can become one. But they can continue to do so only by way of Jesus Christ. Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through Him are we bound together. To eternity He remains the one Mediator.¹

In this way, Bonhoeffer summarizes the two basic dimensions of Jesus' work for you. He died and rose to reconcile you to God in heaven. And He also died and rose to reconcile you to your brother here on earth. Jesus is, and ever shall remain, the one Mediator between God and man, and between man and his brother.

"Lord, I Believe; Help My Unbelief!"

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

What makes one worthy to be healed by Christ? Is this child, brought by his father before the disciples, who failed to heal him, truly worthy to have his evil spirit removed? Are you worthy to come before Christ our Lord and beg Him to remove the evil spirits which plague you daily and much? Only those who are truly worthy and well-prepared may approach God and hope to receive His blessings and favor.

However, we believe, teach, and confess that “worthiness does not depend upon great or small weakness or strength of faith, but upon the merit of Christ, which the distressed father of little faith enjoyed as well as Abraham, Paul, and others who have a joyful and strong faith.” (FC SD VII 71 Triglot). For, you see, the merits of Christ, His glorious omnipotence, and His all-availing sacrifice on the cross are sufficient to make worthy by faith to receive the mercy and the gifts of God.

The thing is, the healing which Jesus brings to body and soul is only for those who have put to death any hope of finding help elsewhere. And this is precisely the problem.

"To Whom Shall We Go?"

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

“Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” With these words, Jesus summarizes His preaching in this discourse.

His preaching here has a rather simple dichotomy: eat earthly bread and die, or eat spiritual bread and live. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they still died, but you can eat the bread of life and live forever. All you must do is come to Him who calls you, and eat His flesh and drink His blood as He gives them to you.

However, “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?'” Admittedly, this is a confusing discourse which St. John records for us. Jesus says some strange things. Things which are difficult to understand, and even more difficult to actually put into practice, at least if you take Him at face value.

"This Bread Is My Flesh"

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

Elijah faced a great deal of hardship in his life. Of course, it did not help his safety that he regularly challenged the pagan religious establishment backed by King Ahab and his queen, Jezebel. Elijah even had the gall to upstage the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel, and then slaughter the host of them. Because of this outrage, Elijah had to flee for his life, because Jezebel had sworn to put the prophet to death.

So Elijah fled to Beersheba, which is on the southern border of Judah, and there he left his servant, but the prophet himself continued on a day's journey into the wilderness. Then he lay down under a broom tree and prayed to God for death. He fled death at the hands of the pagan queen, but sought death at the hands of the Holy Lord God. He was completely spent from his battles with the forces of evil and his flight from destruction.

Eating the Bread of Life

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

A few weeks ago, you heard how Jesus fed the multitudes on the hillside near the Sea of Galilee. With such a great crowd about, even pushing the disciples off into the boat and into the water could not keep people from connecting the dots and realizing that Jesus was the one who had provided them with bread and fish to their fill. And so they came and sought Him, and would have made Jesus be their king, because He had filled their bellies.

However, Jesus can see right through their superficial interests. “Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.'” The throngs pressing in on Jesus were not there to be cleansed by the Lamb of God, or even to be healed by the Great Physician. They were there to be fed by the bread-king, with whom they wanted to replace their current, inept temporal rulers.

But this is not an isolated incident. After all, the people of this world seek after foolish things. How much time and energy are spent scrambling after things which are temporary and do not satisfy.

“But Deliver Us from Evil”

[Pr. McDermott preached this sermon while on vacation at

Highland Park Lutheran Church, Los Angeles, CA]

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

After Jesus fed the five thousand on the hillside near Capernaum, immediately He knew that He must leave, or else risk being mobbed as the crowds figured out what He had done. So He directed the Twelve to get into the boat and shove off across the lake, while our Lord retreated to an isolated place to pray. When He came back down to the sea-shore, Jesus saw that “they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.”

While possibly not the same acute peril they faced in other storms, this was nevertheless a hard force against which the disciples rowed and fought. The wind was beating against them, buffeting them about and pushing them off course. The waves were stirred up, making it rough going and hard to steer. After hours of this, anyone would be fatigued, frustrated, and fed-up.

Now, one thing that bears considering is why they were out on the lake in the first place.

Food That Satisfies

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

“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” What a description of the general state of mankind! “Like sheep without a shepherd.” Everyone running his own way, scurrying to and fro, in a mad dash to dash madly until the end comes and everything stops dead.

In today's Gospel lesson, you heard how the people of the Galilean towns and villages were scurrying about in such a manner to get a glimpse of Jesus, to hear Him preach, and maybe even to have their ailments healed by His sacred touch. In such holy fervor, they were missing the point of actually listening to what Jesus was saying to them, much less doing what He commanded of them.

In this way, they were not so much different than you today. Possibly, you may not spend your life rushing about in holy fervor, but how much time do you spend distractedly busy with the this, that, and the other of this body and life?

Predestined for Adoption

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

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” With these words, St. Paul begins his letter to the saints at Ephesus, giving thanks to God that He had called the Ephesian Christians to faith, as He had planned to do from before all ages.

Like the Ephesians, you too have been chosen before the foundation of the world. What a wonderful comfort this message gives! God has chosen you! Of all the people who have ever lived, God has foreknown your life and being, and He has chosen that you should be saved from sin, death, and hell.

God has chosen you, that He might bless you “with every spiritual blessing” through Jesus Christ. He has predestined you to be created, redeemed, and sanctified by His holy Word and Spirit. He has predestined you “for adoption as sons”, that you might be His own dear children, just as He is your own dear Father. He has elected you for salvation, that you might “be holy and blameless before Him” by the forgiveness of your sins in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful, comforting, hope-giving message St. Paul preaches.

“They Will Know That a Prophet Has Been Among Them”

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

How do you know that God is here? Many people wonder about the presence of God in our midst, and how you can actually know that God is here. Furthermore, even if you know that God is in your midst, for what reason is He here? Does God come to bless and to give love and life, or does He come to judge and condemn and kill? How can you know? By His Word, in which the Lord reveals Himself and His will for you and for all mankind.

Ezekiel reports in today's Old Testament lesson that “The Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet.” He was called by God directly and immediately to preach the Word to the people of Israel. In Ezekiel's time, the people of God were in exile in Babylon, and many had given up the faith of their fathers – however weak that had been – and settled into a sort of sad agnosticism, some paying lip service to the gods of their pagan captors.

Laying Hold of Jesus

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

One of the things common to man is the tendency to doubt the things of God. In fact, during the Age of Enlightenment, it became something of a fad to doubt the existence of God, or anything that could not be empirically measured and analyzed. The French philosopher Rene Descartes asserted that, “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.” It took awhile, but eventually this tendency toward doubt even has spilled over into the Church.

From an human perspective, doubting is much easier than believing. After all, creation is inexplicable. For how many centuries has man been attempting to unravel the mystery of the beginning of the universe? Some propose the Big Bang Theory. Others say it always has been. Who knows? How can we ever really figure out our own origins?

An (In)Convenient Truth

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

A number of years ago, Al Gore released his book, An Inconvenient Truth, a supposed bombshell about climate change and the need for reform in our energy consumption. Regardless of what you think of the book, Al Gore, or climate change, he did hit upon a curious, but helpful way of speaking about the truth.

Often, the truth of a matter is inconvenient. It is unhandy to confront reality in many circumstances. To confront the facts means that you must do something about them. You must change. You must account for your own behavior with regard to them. It is especially inconvenient when the facts of the matter are something you do not want to hear, when they force changes you do not want to make.

Such is the person and work of St. John the Baptist. Even from his very beginning, John was inconvenient to those around him. His conception was announced by the angel Gabriel in such a manner that his father Zechariah doubted the angel's word, and for such was rendered mute for the next nine months. Rather than following social norms, the foretold child received the name John, as was instructed by the angel.

"He Knows Not How"

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

Chances are, you like to feel needed, in some way or another. It feels good to be needed, to feel as though others value your existence, your contributions, your input into the general system of life. You probably do a lot of things because you are needed to do them.

Oftentimes, this is a display of the human desire for appreciation. You want to feel as though your life has meaning, so you look to the work of your hands to gain that appreciation for you. When others see the work you do, they appreciate how hard you work, how skilled you are, how dedicated to your craft. Whether in measure large or small, you want to be appreciated, to be needed, to be wanted.

This is a common motivation for those in various fields of service, as opposed to those who make concrete “things”. Those who serve others generally do so out of a desire to make a difference in the world around them. What that means varies from person to person, as you might see in the wide range of services in which people engage. The common thread is this desire to somehow change the world around you for the better, to leave your mark.

Fear and Hope

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

The fear of God is an awful thing. Stop and think about it for a moment. God has the power to end your existence, simply by willing it. He can crush you like you swat a fly. His judgment is so terrible and so beyond comprehension that it makes the earth itself quake and the seas foam. He makes the foundations of His temple shake, and the angels, His holy servants, hide their faces from Him.

Fear can paralyze and destroy. Luther was deathly frightened of any contact with God before he discovered the Gospel. He thought that God was only a God of wrath and judgment, waiting in heaven to strike down man to hell for failing to keep even the most minute part of the Law. Luther perceived only the sword of the Spirit cutting him apart.

But, as terrible as the fear of the Lord can be, having no fear of God is even worse. Having no fear of judgment leads to lawlessness. What do you do when you think nobody is looking? At the very least, having no fear of punishment leads to laziness, because there is no consequence to not getting anything done.

The Spirit Blows Where He Wills

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

The Spirit blows where He wills. This is a great truth of the Christian faith. It is also a great mystery to Christians. The Spirit blows where He wills: is this Law or Gospel? Is it good news or bad?

In a very real, forthright sense, it is Law. The Spirit blows where He wills. You cannot control Him. He starts where you cannot see Him, and He comes and goes as He pleases. He is here when He presents Himself. He promises to be where the Gospel is preached, but He does not guarantee to remain where He is not received. He blows upon whomever He chooses, and He calls to faith those whom He wants.

You are not the standard of the Spirit's work. He does not visit those you wish He would, simply because you think He should. He does not flow here or there, doing what you would like. As little as you can direct the wind, even less can you direct the Spirit's coming and going. He may convert those filthy heathens that make you recoil in horror, because He loves them too. He may not convert your loved ones who shut their ears and their hearts.

Memorial Day 2012

This was delivered at Howard Cemetery in Elma on Monday, 28 May 2012 as part of the town's Memorial Day observance.

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

Psalm 124

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
let Israel now say—
if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth!
We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped!
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

On this day, we gather in this place to honor the blessed memory of those who have died in service to our great nation and to the ideals for which we stand. We stand in this place of rest, reminded of the fragility of life, of the end of us all. The graves of those who have gone before us remind us that we too shall some day join them in the earth, where we shall rest until our Lord returns on the Last Day to call His own to Himself in heaven.

On this day, we gather in this place to remember the sacrifices made by all those men and women who fought and died to save us from the terror that flies by night and the foe that crouches by day. We remember with thanksgiving those who have shown the ultimate love of their fellow man by laying down their lives for their friends and loved ones, even for their enemies.

On this day, we gather in this place to teach future generations about the sacrifices that our soldiers have made to preserve our way of life and our freedoms. We impart to our future the lessons of our past, that we may go forward into a more bright future.

Let us pray:

Lord God, O Lord of Hosts, You have sustained our nation in the past, and continue to bless us. We recall how so many have given their lives for the cause of freedom. Men and women continue to sacrifice and serve in the Armed Forces.

We remember with thanksgiving the millions of Americans who have given, and still give so generously of their life and labor in times of conflict. We ask you to bless those left behind, those bereft by death, those family and loved ones separated by time and space from our soldiers and servicemen.

Gracious Lord, we give thanks for all whom You have called to be chaplains for our Armed Services. Give them strength, patience, and wisdom to deal graciously with those in the midst of war, to give those in such danger and need the blessings of Your Word and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.

O Lord of Hosts, commander of all the forces of heaven and earth, we ask that you would bless and defend all our military personnel and all who stand in harm's way for us. Bless, direct, and defend them from all harm and danger of body or soul. Bring us swiftly to the day when all warfare and violence shall cease and Your people shall live together with You forever; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven

hallowed be Thy Name;

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done on earth

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory

forever and ever. Amen.

May your help ever be in the Name of the Lord, who governs heaven and earth.

May you ever be strengthened in the hope of the resurrection to come.

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face to shine upon you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you

and give you  peace. Amen.

The Breath of the Church

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

Today we are gathered to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, one of the oldest feasts in the calendar of the Church, even older than Christmas or Easter, in fact. The festival which we here commemorate goes back all the way to the time of Moses and the giving of the Law. And yet it has remained, handed down through successive generations even to our own time, and for untold ages yet to come.

The Feast of Pentecost was originally enacted to celebrate the harvest of the winter wheat. The word “pentecost” is Greek for “fifty”, referring to the fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, after which the Pentecost was celebrated. Traditionally, this festival also had the added significance of commemorating the Lord's giving the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus from Egypt.

The World Hates You

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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

No one likes to be hated. Sure, it may seem as though some enjoy perturbing others to such an extent that they desire to be disliked and disdained. There have always been, and always will be, shock jocks and public displays of vulgarity. But everyone wants and needs to be liked, to be loved by someone. But that is not what you can expect from the world around you, according to today's Gospel lesson.

Today, you have heard Jesus say, “I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them.” The first half of that sentence is great, wonderful news. You have indeed received the Word of the Lord which Jesus Himself came down from heaven to give to you. And you have not received it once, or briefly, but over and over, in many ways and various forms.

"What I Command"

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” This is the command Jesus gives to His disciples. The second greatest command of the Law is to love your neighbor as yourself. So here, Jesus ups the ante, saying that you are to love one another not just as you love yourself, but as He has loved you.

On its face, this seems like a simple, rather straightforward command. You know how Jesus demonstrated His love. He died for you, to take away your sins and make you holy before God. He says in today's lesson that “greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” So the way to love one another like Jesus does is to be willing to die for your friends. This is the true test of friendship, of love.

Misfits and the True Vine

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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

In the children's movie “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, as Rudolf wanders across the frozen wasteland of the North Pole trying to find his niche in life, he stumbles onto the Island of Misfit Toys. There, he encounters such characters as Charlie-in-the-box, the Spotted Elephant, a bird-fish, a train with square wheels, and a toy gun that shoots grape jelly. All these toys have been gathered up by King Moonracer because they have been cast off as misfits, as those who do not fit in or have a place among the ranks of normal toys. Until Rudolf shows up on their island, these toys are condemned to spend their days in the sad company of one another, unloved and unwanted by the boys and girls of the world.

Much like those odd and sad toys, you are misfits. Sure, you may look and feel normal on the outside, but inside, you are strange, weird, unacceptable. You do not fit in with the “normal” people, whoever they are. Like shoving a square peg in a round hole, you may struggle and struggle to fit in, but you will always be a misfit. And so you will be stuck on your own misfit island, until someone comes to rescue you.

The Wolf and the Sheep

This parable was originally told by Pr. William Weedon. Reprinted from

http://weedon.blogspot.com/2008/03/jump-on-miscericordias-domini-good.html .

Much thanks to Pr. Weedon.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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

Once upon a time (a real time, mind you, not an imagined one), there was a wolf. He was a fat old thing. You see, he had it pretty easy. Whenever he wanted to eat, he only had to walk his door of his cave and look at the sheep that fed right outside. He’d eye this one or that one. And then he’d go after it and with a pretty minimal struggle, he’d bring the sheep down and eat away. And the more that he ate, the bigger he got, and the bigger he grew, the hungrier he got. He was a wicked old thing; sometimes he’d just poke his head out the door and howl. All the sheep began to shiver at the very sound of him. He’d chuckle to himself. “Yes, you better be afraid, you stupid sheep because one of these days I am going to eat you, and it won’t be pleasant, oh no it won’t. Ha! Ha!” This big, bad wolf, you see, had a name. A name of fear. The sheep had only to think of his name and they’d get wobbly on their knees and some would faint outright. His name, you see, was Death.