March 24 - something helpful for me

Perhaps it will be helpful for you also.

Do not worry about doing it all at one time. 
Maybe use part of it one day, and another part another day.

https://porterctaylordotcom.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/a-liturgy-during-a-pandemic-pct.pdf

March 23 - John 16:33

O Christ, grant us the peace that the world cannot give.

Peace Lutheran Church Worship Resources - March 22, 2020

Click here for the worship service liturgy.  We use the one for Morning, listed as page 295 in the pdf document.  We also use "Christ the Life of All the Living" and "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" which are towards the end of the pdf document.

Psalm 95 can be found here.

The Scripture readings are Exodus 17:1-7, Ephesians 5:8-14, and John 9:1-41.  I read from the English Standard Version.

The Apostles' Creed can be found here.

God bless your day.

March 21 - Psalm 56:8

I broke down and cried for the first time today.  It felt good to release everything that was pent up inside.  You see, it is not just the stress of being your pastor and having to make decisions right away about how best to care for you.  That would be enough as it is.  But it was also my trip to Charleston, SC and the memories of my dad who has now been dead for almost 8 years.  And it was also grief over the deaths of other men in my life, like Derrick DeWilde, and my childhood best friend's father at the end of February - a man who very much was a bonus dad to me (and happened also to be a Baptist pastor.)  But what opened the floodgates of tears was seeing a post on Facebook by Faith Mueller of her and her husband at his hospice bed. 

You might remember that in 2018, we had Rev. Herbert Mueller, LCMS 1st VP (at the time) as our guest preacher for our church Anniversary Sunday.   He was my first District President. But more than that, he is my friend. Seeing his death approaching was finally too much for me.  I started crying - and it was the ugly crying too.  Loud.  Uncontrollable.  Lots of tears.  Ones that would go away, and then erupt again.



And I remembered John 11, a verse that I have spoken MANY times to your fellow Christians.  And it brought comfort to me.  Because if Jesus, who is the most Man of any of us, was no less of a man, no less faithful to our Father, as He cried... well then, neither am I any sort of a failure as a Christian when I cry out of deep pain and heartache.  And neither are you.

When my friend's father died, he wrote something about how his dad could pass gas and talk at exactly the same time - which made people confused, thinking there was no way it could have been his dad who farted.  But my friend wasn't just trying to make his readers laugh, he was trying to make a point.  You see, my friend had for years bottled up some pain and sorrow that he had gone through in his young adult life.  He was too embarrassed to let other people see him cry, so he just didn't.  Until a few years ago when he bought a farm in Iowa and went way out in the countryside where no one else was anywhere near, and he just let all the tears and screams out.

When he was at his father's bedside, a family friend was visiting, obviously trying hard not to cry.  My friend said to him, "Better out than in."   His dad chuckled that deep bass chuckle of his, with that mischievous twinkle in his eye that I remember so well.  "Just like gas, tears are better out than in."  Any tension in the room was immediately gone as everyone joined in laughter.  My friend goes on to write -

 Apparently I have to wait until the other side of the grave for more chats with Rev. Mueller, as his time on hospice is rapidly coming to a close.  But I know that there will be more.  I have God's word on that.  The Lord does all things well.  Trust Him to be your Resurrection, and your Life.

Keeping our tears and gasses bottled up screws up our insides. I’m not saying we need to release them anywhere and anytime, but the consistent release allows us to move on. The bottling process creates a storage problem. If I don’t gas out those brussel sprouts I had for lunch or cry out that heartbreak from not getting that dream job I was so sure I was gonna get, I have to find a place to store it. Let it out. You may find your forward movement eased by the lightness and space you create from gassing and crying.

This picture was taken at Doxology 2 in January.  (Members of Peace, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making this moment possible as you allowed me time away to "go on retreat with Jesus" and learn how better to be your pastor.)  Apparently Herb and I will have to wait until the other side of the grave for more chats as his time on hospice is coming rapidly to a close.

But there will be more chats. I have God's word on that. The Lord does all things well.

March 20, 2020 - Ephesians 2:10 "Prepared Beforehand"

I've been thinking a lot about how this week compares to 9/11. Both were times of great uncertainty where we just hoped things would get back to normal. Some things never did. My beloved adopted hometown of Windsor remembers well how easy it was to cross the border on September 10, 2001. It never was that easy again.

On that day, I was some 10 hours away in southern Illinois. I still remember thinking, "They (the seminary) never prepared me for this!!!" Not that I was angry at them - no one was expecting that attack. (The fighter jets that were scrambled to intercept any terrorist controlled planes - they had ZERO armaments on their fighters because they didn't have time to wait for the weapons to be loaded because the military did not expect an airstrike to come from inside USA borders. If the pilots had to bring an airliner down, it would have to be kamikaze.)

Thankfully, God granted me comfort for my anxious thoughts. In fact, while He had never used my professors to address the SPECIFICS of the unimaginable event of terror as 9/11, He had prepared me for being pastor on that day - and for this day.

You might be feeling very overwhelmed right now, both over those things you are responsible for and for those things you have no control over. 

God has prepared you for this time. 

He is with you now. 

He will never leave you, nor forsake you.

And never forget this - that how you handle these days will not earn your salvation. Just two verses before Ephesians 2:10, verse 8 promises, 

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—

and this is not from yourselves, 

it is the gift of God."

time to dust this place off

If you are reading this, then welcome, or welcome back.  Glad to have you.  Hopefully you'll find something helpful.  And if so, then God be praised.

September 12 - Philippians 4

My dear friend (and previous chiropractor) Jennifer's husband Derrick was in a terrible accident after the top of a tree fell on him, and is now in critical condition in a hospital in New Mexico.  So the well known and cherished Philippians 4:4-7 really hit home for me today.

This is what I wrote in a comment on the Facebook page - and it applies nicely to the survivors in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, and any personal disaster you (or someone you know) might be facing -

Verse 5 is so key to it all.

The Lord is at hand.

Why can we rejoice in the Lord always (v. 4), even at a dark time like this? How can we not be anxious (v 6)? How can we keep our disappointments from discouraging our praying with thanksgiving concerning our requests? Only because the Lord is present with us, uniting Himself to us with His peace that passes all our understanding. 

He WILL guard our hearts and minds. And in such an uncertain time as this, it's great to have that piece of absolute, rock solid certainty.

Isaiah 55:10-13 - Farewell Sermon At St. Peter's and St. John's

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

It was like unexpectedly seeing an old friend when I discovered this would be our Old Testament text for my last Sunday here.  It is one of my most favorite OT passages of all, and extremely appropriate for today. 

I first remember noticing this passage in the summer of 1996.  As I told you this story a few years ago, I was on the Summer Youth Ministry Team for my college.  Mostly that meant helping out with the VBS for a congregation and working with their youth group.  Our team each chose one of our professors who promised to pray for us throughout the summer.  I will never forget the day when a letter came from my partner, Dr. Brighton.  He specifically quoted this text from Isaiah to encourage me.  But that made me a bit confused.  I remember questioning God, “Why this verse now, Lord?  I mean, I feel like my ministry work is going great.  I am seeing the kids learn as I teach.  Your Word is having success.  I mean, maybe if I was discouraged I could understand why You had Dr. Brighton quote this passage.  But I am actually getting great joy from my work.” 

          In less than half an hour, I had an answer.  During our Team meeting, one of my friends poured out her heart saying she felt like a failure.  She was trying to reach the kids with God’s Word, but they just did not seem to be getting it.  Then I realized how foolish and self-centered I was to think that God had sent His Isaiah 55 promise just for my sake.  No, it was for my friend.  At that moment He had given it to me to give away.  He sent Isaiah 55 out so He could promise His daughter that His Word she was speaking would get done what He wanted it to do.  Even if she could not see it happen.

          The second milepost where I came across this passage was two years later in the Fall of 1998.  I was in my second year of seminary, and as I moved into my new dorm room, I noticed that the previous seminarian in that room had taped this verse to the window.  Whenever I saw rain or snow come down outside that window, those words of God got planted that much deeper into my heart.  The early months of that school year were emotionally tough – so I needed the reminder.  All sorts of questions swirled through my head and threatened to drown me.  Would I be any good as a pastor?  My classmates seemed to know so many more answers than I did, and explain things better.  What if I could not find the right words to convince a member at church of the truth of God’s Scriptures?  What if nobody listened to me?  But then God used this verse to snap me out of those fears and bring me back to reality.  His Word would do the work He sent it to do.  His Word would get ‘r done.  Encouraged by God’s promised I completed my studies, and was ordained here to be your pastor for these 16 years under God’s blessing.

          And now this passage comes along at this third milepost, and it is an encouragement for both you and me.  I would be worried sick about what might happen to your faith without me – except that this passage gives us confidence.  Hear God’s promise remind us that the success and livelihood of this congregation never depended upon me being your pastor.  It was always the Word of God that I spoke – and it will always be into the future.  Whatever successes we had in these last years, it was always because God was sending out His Word from Heaven down to us, to succeed in the purposes for which He sent it.  That same word of God that had the power to create when He said, “Let there be light,” and that same word of God that had the power to give life to dead Lazarus when Christ called him to rise from his grave – that same Word gave power to baptisms, so that I did not pour just plain water, but a life giving water, rich in grace – a washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.  And even when I was having a bad Sunday morning, that could not change what I gave to you at this Altar.  God’s Word told us that it is Christ’s Body and Blood, and whatever might have been going on in my heart at that moment in time could not change it.  Because it all depends upon God’s Word, not upon me as your pastor.  We face the unknown future with confidence in His Word, because this very day God is sending His Word from Heaven to another man unknown to us – and His Word is working to prepare him to be your pastor for years to come and speak that Word of God to you.

          Isaiah delivered this promise of God to Israel at a pretty significant milepost in their lives.  They lived in dark times, about 500 years after King David had made their nation great and King Solomon had built the Temple, and about 500 more years until Jesus was born.  The Babylonians had defeated them at war, destroyed the Temple of the Lord, and brought the survivors back as slaves to Babylon.  God has promised to bring His faithful people back to the Promised Land where they can wait for the coming Savior. 

But… as days turn into weeks, and months into years, the exiles are still in Babylon.  Nothing seems to change, hope is running dry.  The insults and mockery of the Babylonians made a lot of sense.  Israel lost, so that must mean their gods were stronger than the God of Israel.  So all that talk about the exiles returning to the Promised Land was just empty talk. 

However, the Lord does not give up on them as easily as they give up on Him.  He is patient with His impatient people.  He gives them the picture of rain and snow to help them trust in Him.  They knew rain to be a matter of life and death.  They knew just as much as we do how destructive droughts can get.  God’s Word is like the rain and snow.  His Word is not powerless, but comes down from Heaven to give growth, providing everything we need for a lively spirituality.  The God who provided Bread for their bodies is also providing the Bread of His Word to be food for their souls. 

            God’s Word will accomplish the purposes for which He sent it.  In particular the Lord describes in verses 12 and 13 of today’s text that the people shall in fact go out from Babylon in joy and be led to Jerusalem in peace.  Thorns and briers are replaced by the cypress and myrtle.  Trees in the Bible are a sign of Paradise, while thorns are a sign of man’s sin that has messed things up.  Remember how God had revealed to Adam and Eve that the ground was cursed because they had failed in listening to God.  Thorns and thistles painfully get in our way as we work the ground until we return to the ground in death. 

          Martin Luther once wrote, “The sin underneath all our sin is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands.”  We might proudly think that you or I would not have been so dumb as Adam and Even to take that forbidden fruit.  And yet we take matters into our own hands and ignore God’s commands whenever we live according to our own standards of what works for us instead of trusting what God has said.  Here on a Sunday morning, we acknowledge this as the Word of the Lord.  Yet in so many moments in life, the Word of God loses out to our impulses and our devotion to things that do not last forever. 

          In today’s parable of the Sower, Jesus identifies things that get in the way of us taking His Word to heart.  If you do not really listen in the first place, the Devil will come along and snatch that Word from you like the seed that bounced on the hard path.  Or we can be like the rocky ground when trials and persecution dry out our faith.  Jesus also warns us to watch out for the thorns of life that can choke our faith when we get wrapped up in the cares of this world that shut out God’s light and finally teach us to stop believing in Christ.  When we ask ourselves what gets in my way of paying attention to God’s Word, the answers will show us where the weeds and thorns are in our lives. 

          As I said, thorns are a sign in the Bible of our sins.  But do you remember where else thorns appear in the Scriptures?  On the head of our King as the soldiers pressed that awful crown down upon Him.  And the amazing thing is that Jesus chose to wear it.  He had every chance to sin and go against the Word of God.  He could have saved Himself and come down from the Cross.  Instead, Jesus accomplished the purposes of God and succeeded in the reason God sent Him from Heaven – to save us.  And so Christ suffered that crown of sin at His Cross, even as He shouldered the sharp thorns of our guilt and felt the deadly curse of our disobedience.  So that He could take it away from us.

          God’s Word teaches us who we are – human beings created by God, perfect in the beginning in a perfect world now corrupted by sin.  Yet loved by God’s grace and saved by His mercy.  To hearts that are filled with brokenness God sends His Word of good news, that sins are forgiven in Jesus and death is overcome with Christ’s resurrection.  His Word teaches us to look forward to the new Heavens and the new Earth, the home of righteousness, where there will be no more goodbyes, where thorns and thistles are replaced by the beautiful trees of Paradise.  He promises to gather us there in that land as people who will trust God completely with all our heart and will love each other – even as He has already begun that work in us now by the power of His Word.  Amen.

Pentecost Tuesday - Psalm 94 - What Others Said

Luther's Prayer based on Psalm 94, from Reading the Psalms With Luther (CPH) - also extremely appropriate prayer following the OT reading from Numbers about the Balaam saga:

Lord, You are a merciful and a jealous God.  Convert Your enemies, and draw to You those that are going astray; but restrain the malicious persecutors of Your Church and the willful corrupters of Your truth.  Bring their counsels to naught, and show that You are the Lord.  Build Your Church, and make it a city upon a hill for the salvation of many, through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Farewell Letter to St. Peter's and St. John's Lutheran Churches

The Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 14, 2017

To the members of St. John’s and St. Peter’s Lutheran Churches,

It is with both joy and sadness that I announce that the Lord has led me to accept the call to serve as Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Windsor, Ontario.

We have so many wonderful memories from living here.   Our family was just two people when we arrived, with no clue God had His plans to increase us to seven - plus my mother-in-law moved to town to be with us, so eight really.  All our children were born, baptized and taught the Word of the Lord here with you.  I have gone through depression here and I suffered the grief of my father’s death and the death of so many dear members here.  Yet through it all, both the good and the bad, you have put up with my mistakes, forgiven my sins, prayed for me and loved my family.  In many ways I have learned from you not only what it means to be a pastor, but also a man of God, a husband, and a father.  I would not have grown to be the person I have become without  the last 16 years of having you as dear friends, the flock of God He had entrusted to me.  Which also fills me with sadness as I think about how much I will miss you and the love you expressed regularly for my family and me. 

I am able to accept this new call because I believe God will bless my family’s life and work in Canada just as He has blessed us in Randolph County.  They have ministries such as a food pantry and more Bible classes, and other different opportunities for ministry that fit many of my strengths, as well as challenging me to grow in some of my weaker areas.  

Quite honestly, another one of my reasons that led me to accept the call to go to Peace Lutheran is because I trust God has another man chosen to lead you and care for you, and to be cared for by you.  He faithfully promises, “Never will I leave you.  Never will I forsake you.”  He makes that promise just as much to us as we move to a different country as He makes it to you here.  St. Peter’s and St. John’s are two congregations blessed by God.  He is even now at work preparing you to grow spiritually with a new pastor, and preparing that new pastor for you.  The Lord only knows how much longer He will use before that work is ready.  He also knows

·         the unforeseen troubles that approach the individual lives of our members,

·         the challenges in the years ahead that face St. Peter’s and St. John’s locally,

·         as well as the threats against Christian churches in America in the future. 

Our Good Shepherd who has died and risen again to provide us with eternal life shall also provide the new pastor who will help lead these two churches to face those changes, differently than I would – but God grant that it is always according to His Word.  

The leadership of our dual parish is faithful.  Yesterday I spoke with Pastor Mark Nebel, our circuit’s visitor, and he is ready to work with them.  I have every confidence that through this work, a pastor will accept your call, and he will deeply bless you and be blessed by you.

Our plans for the timing of our move are very unclear.  As most of you know, my mother-in-law is currently receiving breast cancer treatments.  Our hope would be that I might continue serving as your pastor until after her surgery, which is looking like it will happen in July.  Because the school year in Windsor starts the first week of September, we would like to move into our new home before then.  We will also need to visit Windsor ahead of time to choose a new home as the congregation does not have a parsonage.  As our plans come into focus, I will keep the congregation informed.

I will be arranging with Chairmen Dennis Phegley and Nathan Koester to schedule a dual parish council meeting so we can discuss these things and agree upon my final Sunday here.  It is also my understanding that the voters’ assembly of each congregation will need to vote on granting me a peaceful release as your pastor. 

I have many more things to say, but this is more than enough for now.  Please keep the congregations of St. Peter’s, St. John’s, and Peace in your prayers. I have included two in this letter that you might wish to add to your own.  The people at Peace Lutheran will have you in their prayers.  Please also ask God to grant safety and strength to my family as we make this transition.  I remain

Yours in Christ,

James A. Leistico

Pastor

Lord God,
           You have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
                                                           by paths as yet untrodden,
                                                                       through perils unknown.
           Give us faith to go out with good courage,
                       not knowing where we go,
                       but only that Your hand is leading us
                                   and Your love supporting us;
 through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

O Gracious Father, You led Your holy apostles to ordain ministers for the proclamation of Your Word and the faithful administration of the Sacraments of Christ.  Grant to our congregations the guidance of the Holy Spirit to choose a suitable pastor according to Your will for the blessing of Your Church in this place, and give us patience to wait for Your time; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

O Foolish Ones - Homily on Luke 24:13-35 for Easter 3 A

(Many of the thoughts and words came from sermons on this text by Rev. Christopher Esget and Rev. William Cwirla.)

            Pastors are not the only ones who experience a let-down in the days following Easter.  After all those special services, the crowds, the food, the excitement both sacred and secular, it is very easy to say, “Now what?”  Is everything back to the way it was before Easter?  Did it change anything?

            In today’s Gospel, Cleopas and his sad friend walking to Emmaus have been changed forever by Good Friday – changed for the better, but they do not yet realize it.  At the start of the text, they are feeling deeply let-down.  The joy from Palm Sunday seven days ago had turned into a nightmare as they went through the painful goodbyes at the death of their Pastor and Teacher.  But more than that, He had been their friend, the One they counted on for everything, the One they had hoped would redeem Israel – but He was executed.

            Before they left Jerusalem for Emmaus, the women who had gone to the tomb were making no sense, ridiculously claiming the grave was empty and they babbled on about seeing angels and Jesus being alive.  Cleopas and his friend must have figured the stress of the last few days finally pushed the women over the edge into hysteria. 

            They probably were even more confused what happened next, as they walked the road and re-told this bit of the story to the stranger who had joined them along the way.  They expected the stranger to laugh at what the women had said.  Instead, The Man smiles slightly and shakes His head.  “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Do you not realize how necessary it was for this past week to go this way?  All over the place the Scriptures tell us the Christ had to suffer these things and then enter His glory!”

            Their heads began to spin over what the Stranger said.  In their childhood, they had had to memorize what Moses and the prophets had written.  And before He died, Jesus had worked to teach them even more about those writings – so what was this Stranger talking about?

            He begins with Genesis and goes all the way through Malachi.  He brought out the promise of salvation from sin to Adam and Eve, that the woman’s child would feel pain as He crushed the devil’s head.  He probably mentioned the Passover Lamb and all the other sacrifices at the Temple.  He highlighted passages like Isaiah 53 and the Servant of the Lord who suffers: 

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵  But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

⁶  All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

            Cleopas and his friend were having one big “A-HA!” moment of discovery after another as the Stranger wove all these passages together into one message.  It all began to make sense as He tied together the loose ends of the Old Testament.  Their hearts were racing with excitement as they began to see it all in such a new and beautiful way.  He pretends like He is going further to a different town, but they strongly urge Him to accept their hospitality.  “Abide with us, fast falls the even-tide!”  Right?  This request is where Henry Lyte got his inspiration for the beloved hymn, “Abide with Me.”

            And then more strangeness from this Stranger.  Instead of behaving as a guest, He behaves as the Master of the house.  He sits at the head of the table, and taking the bread as though He owns the place.  He lifts up His eyes to heaven, gives thanks to the Lord, breaks the bread and hands it to them.

            And just as quickly as they finally recognize this Stranger is the risen Jesus, that He truly is alive after death, He instantly disappears.  As weird as all that was, somehow it does not disturb them in the least because it makes sense that Jesus would be working this way.  It was Jesus on the road, hiddenly teaching the Scriptures.  It was Jesus at the table breaking the bread.  Their hearts could not contain all the joy and excitement!  They had to tell the others!  Despite how late it was in the evening, they run all the seven miles back to Jerusalem to let the other disciples know what they saw and heard.

            “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”  That is the Lord’s judgment of the two Emmaus disciples on the road.  And how often that is the Lord Jesus’ judgment about your conversations and mine with our friends.  Foolish and slow of heart, failing to believe God’s Word.  Yes, we will be happy to tell you the Bible is the God-honest truth.  We love the Scriptures, and God does not lie to us.  But then we go and live like the truth of what the Lord has said and done does not really matter in the ordinary hours of our lives.  We can hear the good news of the resurrection and then go on as though nothing important happened.  Oh, how foolish ones we are, worrying and not believing the Scriptures.

            All of our bad emotions and actions – all the anger, laziness, bitterness that ties up your guts and keeps you thinking in the darkness – it all comes from this unbelief.  Martin Luther’s wife Katie once scolded him, “To look at you, you would never know that Jesus rose from the dead!”  Maybe you have gone through one of those “As if Jesus had not risen from the dead” weeks recently, getting caught on a treadmill of frustrations and failures and putting the general dumbness of existing in a world of sin.  It is so easy to forget that
Alleluia!  Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

            The sad disciples on the road to Emmaus expressing their disappointed hopes and dreams before they recognize Jesus are just one example of this.  We have so many disappointments that we dwell over.  Beauty fades.  Tummies bulge.  People die in the wrong way at the wrong times – although back in the beginning, there was no such thing as a right way or right time for death, because there was no death when there was no sin. 

            Now the shadow of death touches us uninvited.  Its dark cloud follows us and affect us so that we make bad choices.  We walk with grief, in sad and unbelieving ways that are not pleasing to God.

            What are we foolish and slow of heart ones to do?  Trust in the Lord who says, “Repent and believe the good news, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”  God’s repentance turns hearts that are slow to believe into burning hearts.  Notice that what caused the hearts of the Emmaus’ disciples to burn was not when they recognized Jesus – but they tell us it was already long before that, when their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.  They could not see Jesus even when He was talking to them.  Likewise, our eyes are prevented from seeing Jesus.  Yet He is every bit as much here speaking to us His Scriptures as He was there in Emmaus.  The Bible testifies to this fact.  He is with us in most profound and amazing ways, much more amazing than a seven mile road away from Jerusalem.  He is with us by His Word and Spirit, in the preaching of the Scriptures, in the breaking of the bread that is His Body.  He is with us.  These things open the eyes of faith, and there Jesus is recognized to be our Lord and Savior.  There in His Word He walks with us and talks with us, as hearts that are slow to believe have the flame of faith kindled in them again by the fire of the Holy Spirit. 

Every Sunday becomes an Emmaus walk with Jesus not seen but heard.  This is the place to know Him, the place where He gives us Himself, the place where He forgives our slowness to believe Him, the place where He nourishes and supports us for our long journey of walking with Him until we find rest in Heaven and see Him with our own eyes in the Resurrection. 

            When we find ourselves with those two disappointed disciples, confused, hurting, grieving, not sure what to do next, the Church has given us something worthwhile and holy to do – or rather to say.  Somewhere in history, a brother in Christ based a beautiful prayer for us on the two disciples’ invitation to Jesus.  I would like you to pray it with me now – it is in your hymnal on page 257.  “Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with your whole Church. Abide with us at the end of the day, at the end of our life, at the end of the world. Abide with us with your grace and goodness, with your holy Word and Sacrament, with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair, the night when death draws near. Abide with us and with all the faithful, now and forever. Amen.”                                     This prayer helps us put our cares and anxieties to rest in the nail-marked hands of Jesus.  It reminds us that no matter what disturbing things have happened in our day, our week, our life, Jesus Christ is risen, and none of these things will get in the way of Him raising us to life with Him at the end of time. 

            The world wants to persuade us to be just like them in their sad, sometimes angry, but always deadly walk.  They talk like fools, as though Jesus was not with us.  However, here in the Church, we have bread, and we have life, and we invite the world to leave their sad paths and walk with us instead as we witness to them all the way to the glorious appearing of Jesus that -
Alleluia!  Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Amen.

           

Installation of Rev. Aaron Kangas at Trinity Lutheran Church, Iuka, Illinois December 4, 2016

            The winding road that God brings us along can be strange and unexpected.  Last week I found the Christmas card that Aaron and Heidi sent to us last year.  “It was so great to see all of you this summer!  God’s richest blessings to you all in this coming year!”  Little did any of us know that we would see each other again down at their place in Tennessee last June, and now again, here, on this day of great joy for him, and for you – the dear saints of Trinity.

            I do not remember when I met Aaron, maybe he does.  But I know we became friends very quickly as we started at seminary together 19 years ago, with just a few stairs between our rooms.  Great enough friends that within four months, I was getting up early to travel from Ft. Wayne to Wisconsin for his wedding to Heidi.  I vividly remember Josiah’s baptism at the seminary’s chapel during our second year.  And the night in our fourth year when Aaron and Heidi showed great hospitality to my wife and me, inviting us over to their place for supper.  So it was quite an honor when your new pastor asked me to preach this afternoon.

            But then after I got off the phone, reality hit me like a ton of bricks as I realized that writing

this sermon would be hard work!  So many things I could say – too many even!  (And neither you nor I want to be here for a sermon THAT long!)  Recently one of my confirmation kids told that her problem with church is that she has to sit and be so quiet.  She loves to talk, and figured that I loved church services because I get to talk all the time!  Little did she know that when my pastor first asked me to consider being a pastor, I wanted to say, “ARE YOU NUTS?” – except that you don’t ask your pastor if he is nuts!  The idea of it scared me silly since I was terrified of having to say things in front of a crowd of people.

 If it were as simple as just saying whatever I want to say off the top of my head, I would feel a lot less pressure.  However, God did not make me to be a pastor so I could do that.  He gave me the task of just saying whatever He wants, of teaching His ways, of rebuking sin and forgiving it in the name of Jesus Christ.  That same Lord of the Church has created faith in the hearts of people at St. Peter’s and St. John’s in Evansville and Ruma (ironically, the congregation where Pastor Schrader comes from.)  In their faith, these people called me out of the seminary because they want to be taught God’s Word – even as you, dear brothers and sisters, by this church service vow to God that you want my friend to teach the same Word to you and for you.

            I feel the pressure of preaching to you today, preparing you as congregation and pastor to walk together in this new relationship with Christ.  Yet I recognize that just like we had no idea the blessings that God had in store for us behind last year’s Christmas card, likewise we have no ideas the blessings and crosses the Lord has in store for the future of your congregation.

            I was ordained in June of 2001 and within a few months our nation suffered the unimaginable

horror of September 11^th.  Among other thoughts that went through my head that morning was that the seminary never prepared me for a day like that.  Except that they did!  Our professors taught us to preach Christ and Him crucified, in good times and bad - even in the dark valleys of the shadow of death.     

            Did the Disciples feel like Jesus never prepared them for a day like the weekend of Good Friday?  Except that Christ did prepare them, telling them multiple times that He would lay down His life as He was lifted up on the Cross for our salvation, and then rise again on the third day.  As we heard in this afternoon’s Gospel text, He changed their hearts and their futures in an instant by declaring “Peace to you.”  Even though they were still sinners, still weak and afraid, still would make mistakes in the future, God loved them.  Their fears and doubts were not so great as God’s grace, their sin not so deep as His love.  There was no condemnation left against them in Christ Jesus who stood before them alive after death.  Could anything have prepared them for that moment?

            As I finally sat down to write this sermon, I realized that it was not all that different from what we pastors do when we perform weddings, where the Lord joins husband and wife together.  We do our best to prepare the man and the woman for the unknown and unexpected blessings and crosses the Lord will give to the new family, even as I am trying to do this afternoon.

When I meet with a couple where the man or woman has been married previously, I tell them that this new marriage will be different from the previous one.  It seems obvious, but it is important to intentionally keep in mind that the new spouse is not the same person as the former spouse.  They speak differently, think differently, act differently – even if there are some things in common.  Aaron, when you have those conversations you have had 100s of times with members of previous churches, remember that the person you are talking with has not had that conversation yet, and be patient with them.  Members of Trinity likewise, when you discuss things with Pastor Kangas, you may have had those chats with previous pastors, but not with him. 

            I also go over some difficult questions with the pre-marital couple about their prior relationships.  As they look back on their previous marriage, I ask them about the good stuff and the bad stuff, where things went right and wrong.  Specifically I ask where they recognize they were not the husband or wife that God intended them to be – where they were to be a blessing, but behaved with a selfish love for themselves.  Rev. Kangas and members of Trinity, you both have years of experience to look back upon, to see where that relationship between Pastor and Congregation was great, where it went wrong, and where you want to do better.  Be open and honest with one another about this.  Ask one another to pray to God to strengthen the weaknesses so that your relationship will bring Him glory.

            Christ will be the center of your relationship.  I intentionally am avoiding telling you to put

Christ in the center – because you do not put Christ anywhere.  He puts Himself where He belongs.  As we are approaching Christmas, remember what happened when Christ was put inside of Mary – it nearly broke up her relationship to Joseph!  Joseph was no dummy.  He knew the birds and the bees.  So he assumed Mary had not been faithful and decided to divorce her quietly.  Praise God that He sent an angel to tell Joseph that Mary had in fact been most faithful; and it was better than that, for the Holy Spirit had conceived inside of her Joseph’s Savior and our own.

            Like Joseph, my dear friend Aaron, you may jump to some conclusions that are wrong; and dear members of Trinity, you might make bad assumptions too, whether about your pastor, or about each other.  What are you going to do then?  Well, if you want to be Christian about it, then I can tell you what you are going to do – you will ask for forgiveness and you will give forgiveness, just as God in Christ forgives you.    

            Rev. Kangas told me that it will take some getting used to your altar being against the wall because at his previous congregation it was away from the wall, so during the prayers and during the Lord’s Supper liturgy he stood behind the altar, facing the congregation.  My dear friend Aaron, it took me some years to get used to looking away from the congregation also since I serve at an altar against the wall.  However, on Sundays, when you pray and celebrate the Supper, do not think of it as turning your back on the people.  Instead, recognize that you are facing the same direction as your people are facing, turned toward the same Savior Jesus as they are turned toward.  As pastor and people stand together and join in prayer, Jesus is with you; Jesus is hearing you, Jesus is forgiving you – congregation and pastor both. 

            Here at this altar, as you regularly receive forgiveness and peace from Jesus, especially in His Body and Blood – here is where you will find healing and reconciliation.  Rev. Kangas, when you are tired and impatient and frustrated, when you feel the weight of the world on you, or when you are proud and think you have accomplished something, come to this altar and be humbled and comforted as the Lord provides what you need.

            People of Trinity, when you are tired and impatient and frustrated, when you feel the weight of the world on you, or when you are proud and think you have accomplished something, come to this altar and be humbled and comforted as the Lord provides what you need.

            Here at this altar, during the Communion liturgy, your pastor will face you and speak the words which Jesus first spoke to His disciples that Easter evening which has made Christians glad for nearly 2000 years now – “Peace to you.”  Jesus is still speaking those words to you through your Pastor’s voice.  In those words are your forgiveness, your life, and your salvation.  In those words are how you live together as pastor and people.  “Peace to you.”  And did you notice that Jesus says “Peace to you” to the Disciples in the upper room twice?  He gives peace to spare so that you have peace to share!

            As Pastor and people, listen to His Word speak to you together.  Pray to Him at His table here and pray at your table in your homes.  Worship Christ in good times and bad, during church meals and at the hospital bed and at gravesides.  And whatever you are doing, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts and minds. 

            People of Trinity and Pastor Kangas, I speak for my brother pastors here this afternoon saying that we are thrilled to celebrate with you this wonderful day of a new relationship.  We pray for you and bless you.  God grant that your life together be a preview of the relationship of peace that all God’s children will have in His Kingdom which has no end.  Amen.

September 7 - Old Testament 2 King 5

Naaman, the commander of Syria's army, 
grudgingly stripped himself of his uniform, the symbol of his greater glory than everyone else, 
and washed like all the common people 
in a river that was not even close to as nice as the rivers back home 
so that he could be saved from death.

The Son of God, the Lord of Heaven's army, 
freely and willingly stripped Himself of His divine glory, 
and washed with all the common people 
in that same river that was not even close to as nice as the rivers of Heaven 
so that we could be saved from death.

August 18 - OT

O Lord God, who am I that you have brought me thus far?  For I have been unfaithful and lazy.  What more can I say to You, for You know your servant, O Lord God.  Yet because of Your promise to David, and according to Your own heart, You have brought about our salvation by the forgiveness of sin that comes to us by the Son of David, Jesus Christ, and You have made Your servant to know this.  Therefore You are great, O Lord God, for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.


Grant that we might follow in the footsteps of grateful David and bless Your Holy Name.  Give to us courage to pray with confidence, asking for what You have promised to give and trusting You will grant us daily bread, pour out upon us Your Holy Spirit, and at the last deliver us from all evil.


Now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant, and do as You have spoken.  And with Your blessing of the Son of David, your servant shall be blessed forever.

Good Friday 2016 and the Annunciation

How do you consider this day? How do you find the words to describe today? It is March 25. In nine months it will be Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Nine months. The amount of time God ordinarily takes to form a child in the womb.

How many parents were uncertain about their child’s future and questioned, “Do I really want to bring a child into this cruel world, filled with such heartache and suffering?” How many husbands and wives see a world on the brink of collapse and decide not to have kids? Whatever anxiety, uncertainty, and doubt that your parents had before your birth, God overcame them.

It is March 25. Nine months before Christmas. And it is Good Friday. God was not uncertain about what would happen to His Son. The Lord knew exactly the torment His beloved Child would face when He came into the world. He knew the mockery and the rejection. Yet He still sent the Angel Gabriel to announce to the Virgin Mary that the Holy Spirit would conceive in her the child who “will be called holy – the Son of God.”

We do not think much of talking about the nine months before the birth of Jesus in the same breath as we talk about His death. Not often, but it does happen when the Church confesses the Apostles' Creed, which moves us straight from the Lord’s conception, to His birth and then to His suffering and death. He “was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.”

Some people wish the Creed would talk a little about Christ’s life of merciful works and His word of truth. Yet in moving directly from Jesus’ birth to His Crucifixion, the Creed makes an important point – The Son of God became man to die for us.

The eyes of the man without faith see a tragic ending. They see a man born to a poor mother and father hung on a tree of death for no good reason. They see a sorrow-filled conclusion to an otherwise well-lived life. The Suffering Servant Jesus Christ makes no sense for those who think that the goal of life is to pursue happiness and avoid pain.

O believer, that is not the way it is with you. For you know this is at the very heart of how Jesus reconciles the world to God. He comes to save us from our sins – our actual sins of thought, word, and deed that reject God and mock His Holiness; and also our original sin that we inherited from Adam through our parents, for we were all sinful at birth, sinful from the time our mother’s conceived. We are natural born sinners, with hearts that are naturally inclined to doubt God. Yet here is the good news that makes this Friday Good – Jesus Christ saves us from our uncertainty, our doubts, and anxieties that imagine God has forsaken us and removed His protection from us.

The Son of God pays for your life with a pain that is real and raw, a death that is dark and cold. Yes, His soul is troubled, but He refuses to ask His Father to save Him from this hour. It is for this purpose that He has come to this dark hour – so that the Father would save you from eternal darkness. Jesus endures it all for your sake.

His sacrificial death melts our cold hearts as we see that it was no small matter for God in the flesh to come into our world, knowing what agony His suffering and death held for Him. And it is no small matter that that same God in the flesh who went the way of the Cross still comes to you today.

However, saying “Christ died for you” does not magically make all your problems disappear in a puff of smoke. This is not Hocus Pocus – but rather this is the body of Christ given into death for you.  There will be tears of pain for you to shed as you take up your cross and follow Jesus – because we are not yet at the Resurrection. Jesus does not show us how get around suffering in this life or how to avoid it. Rather, He leads us through suffering, cross and death to Resurrection. Jesus says to His followers, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16). Soon every tear from faithful eyes will be dried. Soon you will behold that He who died on Good Friday is now alive forevermore.

But until then, as you see a world torn up by war, our country torn by politics and immorality, and even your own body and the health of loved ones being torn up by sickness and death – nonetheless hold fast to your confession of faith in Christ. With confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4). Walk by faith, not by sight. When unbelievers and your old sinful nature tell you to cry out, “Where in the world is God?”, you can honestly reply that God is hidden. Yes, darkness does veil His lovely face. But even though God is hidden in lowly flesh, His Word lights the way for you to find Him. The Lord is in the womb of the Virgin Mary for nine months, in the manger at Bethlehem, in the darkness of the Cross of Calvary on Good Friday, in the water and the blood that streamed from His pierced side. God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our trespasses against us (2 Corinthians 5).

Today “your life is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” He will overcome all your worries and uncertainties. For Almighty God, our heavenly Father, has had mercy upon us and has given His only Son to die for us and for His sake, forgives us all our sins. Amen.

Keeping and Treasuring The Word: St. Joseph

I'm busy getting ready for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, plus attending a wedding today, so here are some things you can read in the meantime if you aren't quite as busy:

Keeping and Treasuring The Word: St. Joseph
Rev. Stuckwisch on Joseph - the strong, silent type

Wednesday in Lent 2 OT - What others said

My dear friend, Reverend Steve Schave, posted this on Facebook on Wednesday about the Genesis reading:

Knowing what it is to suffer the death of a son... Then to be blessed for the next several years with the births of my three beautiful daughters... Then at the end of childbearing to have our only son, who now lives and is a young man. I know of no more powerful Gospel than that of the Old Testament reading from today's Treasury of Daily Prayer:

Genesis 22:7-8  And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

 Mt Calvary, is the fulfillment of this place where "the Lord provides," because it is here that the Father did not withhold His son, His only son, from me... to save me. I cannot even begin to comprehend this sacrifice of the perfect Lamb, that was made for me, a sinner.

Thursday in Lent 2 - OT and Gospel

Sometimes it feels like God is giving us the silent treatment.  Other times He practically interrupts us in the middle of our prayers by answering them.  "Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24).  These are the experiences of Abraham's servant and of the Canaanite women.  And they are our experiences as well.  But no matter how long He takes, we have this promise - "the LORD hears when I call to Him" (Psalm 4:3, which happened to be brought into my day by the 5th and 6th Grade class' religion workbook.)

For more on today's readings, here is what I wrote about it back on 2010:

In his podcast on depression, Rev. Todd Pepperkorn has an excellent devotion on Mark 7:24-30 (actually Matthew 15's parallel passage) titled, "When God doesn't seem to care"

I'd like to connect this same text to what he posted today ("Abandonment and the Pastor"). Our church's 3 year lectionary last Sunday (Luke 13:34) brought us Jesus weeping over Jerusalem's unbelief. Like the woman in Mark 7:24f, the church weeps as she sees the devil have his way with her children. We pray and pray, and it can feel like we are getting the silent treatment from the Lord. Yet Mark 7:24-30 assures us that the Lord does hear. And so we confidently pray such words as the Prayer on Thursday in theTreasury of Daily Prayer (p. 1308), knowing that the gates of Hell will not overcome the Lord's Church, for the same God who answered Abraham's servant (Genesis 24:12-14) will answer our prayer as well.

Homily - Lent 2c, Luke 13:31-35

            The Pharisees make it sound like they want to help Jesus out.  “Get away from here while you still can.  Herod wants to kill you.”  Of course, the Pharisees had been scheming for a year to do the same thing to Jesus.  They just could not agree on when and how to get it done. 

            Did Herod Antipas really want to kill Jesus?  We do not know for sure, but it would be consistent with the usual ways that family handled things - from his dad who slaughtered the baby boys of Bethlehem when Jesus was born, to Herod Antipas and his adulterous wife Herodias and that nasty beheading of John the Baptist, to his nephew Herod Agrippa who had the Apostle James executed and Peter imprisoned about a decade after Jesus ascended.  But the Pharisees could have just been lying to scare Jesus into leaving town and getting out of their hair.

            However, Jesus did not come to save His own skin.  He came to save yours – and He is determined to do it.  He will not be scared away.  He says, “Go and tell that old fox that I still have work to do… and on the third day I will finish My course.”  On the third day – so much important stuff in the Bible happens on the third day.  Jesus knew what was in store for Him at Jerusalem the next time Passover comes up.  He had already predicted it, that He would suffer, die, and on the third day rise to life again.  Death threats from two-bit kings did not worry Jesus.

            He is the Lord, so He lays down His life on His own terms.  When the crowd in Nazareth wanted to throw Him off the cliff, Jesus slipped through their hands without a scratch.  He goes to Jerusalem, the Lord’s holy city, and He knows His own people will put Him to death there.  They would not have any power over Him if it had not been given to them.  And you know that is the whole reason the Son of God was born to us on earth – so that He could die on earth for us to defeat our death.  He will be slain at the hands of sinners for the forgiveness of sin.  He will be laid in the grave to burst its stone cold grip.  When the going gets tough, or when we know that people will be ungrateful for our help we give to them, we often times have wanted to give up, pack up and go home.  But Jesus is determined to finish what He came to do.  No matter how dangerous it will get.

            Jesus explains that He is our refuge, our protective hiding place.  And not only the Protector for some good people – He is here to be the Protector for all people, even Herod, the Pharisees, Pontius Pilate, and all who had a hand in putting Jesus to death.  You can hear the sorrow and grief in God’s voice as He cries, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

            The picture of Christ as the Good Shepherd is better known, but God’s love is every bit as tender in this picture of a mother hen with her helpless and vulnerable chicks under her wings – while birds of prey soar overhead, hungry beasts prowl around in search of an easy meal, and all sorts of other dangers lurk around every corner.  The only line of defense between the threats and the chicks is mother hen’s wings.  She is willing to give herself for the life of her chicks. 

            Likewise Jesus covers you to protect you from Satan.  In Psalms 17, 36, and 57, the Holy Spirit gives us these words to pray – “Hide me in the shadow of Your wings, O Lord.”  And just like the hen shields her offspring by offering her own back as a target for the predator, so also Jesus “gave His back to those who strike” (Isaiah 50:6) so that you and I would be protected from Death and the Devil devouring our faith.  That is why the prophets like Jeremiah warned the people.  That is why the Apostles took this message of Jesus far and wide – even under death threats from their enemies.  And it is why Jesus Himself spreads His arms wide on the Cross – so that we find refuge and protection under His wings. 

            But then we hear Christ’s heartbreaking words – “And you were not willing.”  And you have that heartbreak too as you think about the people you love who want absolutely nothing to do with Christ and walk away from Him or speak angrily against Him.  Jesus wants only to shelter and love us, to forgive and save us from Hell.  But many want nothing to do with that.  They leave the protection of Christ to indulge in the pleasures of sin without regard to the dangers to themselves, or consequences for those around them.  They expose themselves to the ravenous appetite of Satan and face death all on their own. 

            You can also see this play out in the history of Jerusalem.  The city that rejected Jesus will watch helplessly years later as their city was forsaken.  In 70 AD, the Romans tear Jerusalem’s Temple down.  The mound where that Temple sat is now the location of a mosque.  The land around the city is used for deadly target practice by the enemies of the Jewish people.  And again we hear the sorrow of Jesus, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” 

            That sorrow for those who reject Him in a major way is also warning for us.  Do not presume on the mercies of God.  Do not sin on purpose today and then say to yourself that you will just repent next Sunday.  You do not even have a hold on tomorrow.  Now is all you have.  Now is the time.  Now is the day of your salvation.  Now is the moment of repentance.  Those tears that Jesus shed over Jerusalem He also sheds over the people of His church too, whenever you or I neglect His preaching, whenever we reject God’s eternal Word in favor of our own temporary opinions. 

            The Spirit of Christ seeks to call, gather, enlighten, sanctify, and keep us in true faith.  If you or I are left out of the party, we have no one to blame except ourselves.  Do not blame God.  “And you were not willing.” 

            Left on our own, we are not willing.  Our wills must be broken or we will never want to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus on the way of death to Resurrection.  Lent calls us to return to the Lord our God so that we can discover again that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger against our sin and abounding in forgiveness and love.  Return to the Lord and see the Son of God rise upon you with healing in His wings and salvation from your sin.  Return to the Lord so that God’s will may be done in our lives as we believe His Word by His grace, and live godly lives according to it. 

            God wills to gather you into safety.  God wills to deliver and protect you from all evil.  God wills to keep us firm in this true faith until we die.  God wills to keep your end from being destruction, and so He warns you against finding glory in shameful sin.  And God wills for you and me to wait for the second coming of our “Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:21) – even to subject to Himself His own rejection and death at the hands of men, which the Lord has turned into the power of your Resurrection.  Amen.