+ Donald A. Flugge +

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

Donald Flugge was not what you might call an “easy to get along with” person. He liked to argue, about pretty much anything. He had his ideas and his opinions, and he enjoyed verbal sparring with anyone who would come out and sit and talk with him. I once spent three hours in his living room, arguing with him, and and the end of it, we got up, laughed about the whole thing, and I went home. Once Don's mind was made up about something, come hell or high water, you were not going to change it.

In many ways that tenacious quality of Don's personality may have been a source of annoyance or frustration to his family and friends. But there is one place in which that tenacity served Don well, and which would serve us well in his memory. Don was stalwart in his profession of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Through the ups and downs, through the good days and the bad days, Don knew that his Redeemer lives and that the Lord's promises to him held true, no matter what. It is this that brought today's Scripture readings to my mind.

My Sheep Know Me

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

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

Jesus was walking in Solomon's Portico in the Temple, and the Jews came to Him and asked Him to declare plainly to them whether He was the Christ. Their souls were in suspense. They were waiting with baited breath – among other things. Would Jesus just please come out with it – Are you the Christ, or not?

And what would have been the benefit if Jesus had declared Himself openly, as they sought? The Jews were anxious, nearly beside themselves with anticipation of Him doing anything, saying anything at all that might make Him liable for judgment, so that they could get Him out of their way, by hook or by crook. They knew who and what Jesus was, for they had been following Him throughout His ministry. They had heard the reports and the testimonies of the crowds. They had seen the signs He had performed.

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.

This Little Babe

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

This little babe so few days old,
is come to rifle Satan's fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake,
though he himself for cold do shake;
For in this weak unarmed wise

the gates of hell he will surprise.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The very Word of God, the Light of the World, the Creator of the Universe, on this day, has become flesh and took up residence among us men. The God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, took on human flesh and blood and was born a baby in a stable in Bethlehem.

Think of a newborn baby. So soft, so warm, so innocent, so vulnerable. So cute and huggable and nice. A newborn baby is worlds away from what God should be, according to the minds of this world. What god would appear as a baby, so easily hurt, so easily killed? What god would expose himself to that sort of weakness and vulnerability?

Ordination Sermon: To Be and to Have a Pastor

Grace, Mercy and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Being a pastor in Christ’s Church is not child’s play. It is a serious task; one with eternal implications both for the man in the office and for the people under his care. For the job of a pastor is to be the caretaker and physician of people’s souls. And the pastor is held accountable by God for those souls under his care, as to whether or not he did what he was sent to do for them.

We see just such an accounting today in the Word of the Lord given to Ezekiel to speak against the priests of the Old Testament Church. The prophet writes: “And the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.’” The priests had failed to do what God had sent them to do. Instead of feeding the flock of Israel, God’s chosen people; they fed themselves, not with the things God had given them, but with that which they demanded and took from the people. Instead of using their position to serve God and be a blessing to His people, they took advantage of it, seeking only to serve themselves.