Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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Miracles are the demonstration of the power of God before our eyes. Water turned to wine, a stormy sea instantly calmed, a catch of fish that is way beyond luck, the blind receive their sight, the leprous are cleansed, and the dead child and the dead man are raised from the dead.

Those are miracles. Demonstrations of the power of God before your eyes – so that you may believe. Believe what? That Jesus Christ is who He says He is – the Son of God in the flesh dwelling among us, full of power to do what He has come into this world to do, which is, to make everything right.

Parables on the other hand are just stories. They are stories about the Kingdom of God. “A sower went out to sow.” “A shepherd goes after one of his sheep.” “A woman lost one of her coins.” “A son disowns his father and is later sorry that he did and comes home and the father welcomes him.”

Nothing miraculous in that. Pretty common, everyday stuff really. But hidden within the story is a revelation of how things work in the Kingdom of God. Hidden within every one of those stories is a window into the heart of man and the heart of God.

Why? So that you may believe? Believe what? That Jesus Christ is who He says He is – the Son of God in the flesh dwelling among us, full of power to do everything that He has come into this world to do, which is, to make everything right.

The gospel text that is appointed for this morning is the PARABLE of the SOWER. But I tell you that it is really a MIRACLE. Continue reading →

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I get it. I really do. I’ve been baptized, and I am a child of God. I’ve been instructed in the faith. I believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible TRUTH. I know the difference between right and wrong. I know what I should do and shouldn’t do and I want to do what is right before God.

But I don’t get it. I really don’t. Why am I such a failure? It’s pathetic.
 When I know I should keep quite I open my big mouth and when I know I should speak up I don’t say a thing.
 I know what I should do but it’s like an all out war with myself to actually do it. And I know what I shouldn’t do, but its like, ‘yea, why not?’
 I know that I should read my bible to get to know God’s Word and I should pray, but man, I’m busy, gotta run. But it amazes me how easily I make time for lots of other things not nearly so important.
 I know I should tithe on my income and believe me, I want to, but when the time comes I just can’t let go of it. But when I see something I want, I can’t believe how easily I fork it out.

It’s ridiculous. It’s disgusting really. What’s wrong with me? Continue reading →

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“When all the world was cursed by Moses’ condemnation,
Saint John the Baptist came with words of consolation.
With true forerunner’s zeal, the greater One he named.
And Him, as yet unknown, as Savior he proclaimed.” (LSB #346:1)

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, and in doing so, we do what the Christian Church has been doing ever since the 4th century AD when it put this day onto the Church Calendar as a day for the Church to remember and celebrate.

Technically speaking, the OFFICIAL day for this Feast is this coming Tuesday, June 24th. So, why did the church pick June 24th to celebrate the birth of John the Baptist? Well, because of Jesus. It’s always, all about Jesus.

If you’ll recall from St. Luke’s gospel, when Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary, the angel Gabriel told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth was already six months pregnant. So, John is 6 months older than his cousin. Jesus’ birth was fixed on December 25th and six months before that is June 24th. Like I said, it’s always, all about Jesus.

To put the birth of John the Baptist into perspective, his is the only birth recorded in the New Testament other than that of Jesus. There are lots of ‘saints days’ on the church’s calendar for us to observe, but all of the other ‘saints’ are remembered for the DEATH. John is the only one besides our Lord who is honored for his BIRTH.

The circumstances of John’s BIRTH are remarkable in themselves. He is conceived under a CLOUD OF DOUBT. When the angel Gabriel informed his father Zechariah, that he would have a son, Zechariah replied saying, “How shall I know this?” Jesus is conceived CLOUD OF FAITH. When the same angel Gabriel informed Mary that she would have a son, she replied saying, “let it be to me according to Thy word.” So, even in his conception, John points to Jesus who is GREATER THAN HE IS.

John was a “miracle baby.” Luke informs us that his mother Elizabeth was ‘barren.’ She was incapable of having children, and both mother and father were “advanced in years.” His was an impossible birth. So, even by his birth, John points to another ‘miracle baby’ whose mother was very young and a virgin.

Upon hearing the news of the angel and being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, Mary travels to visit her cousin Elizabeth. “And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.” So, even while he is still a fetus in the womb of Elizabeth, John points to Jesus, even while Jesus is still a fetus in the womb of Mary. Continue reading →

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I. Who God Is
“Whoever will be saved shall, above all else, hold the catholic faith. Which faith, except everyone keeps whole and undefiled, without doubt he will perish eternally.” This is how the Athanasian Creed begins.

The “catholic faith” is then spelled out in great detail. “And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God, in three persons and the three persons in one God, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance…” etc. etc. etc.

And then the Athanasian Creed concludes with these words. “This is the catholic faith which, except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.” (Athanasian Creed). In other words, its do or die.

If the Athanasian Creed sounds strange to our ears, it may be because we’re not used to talking about WHO GOD IS. We’re a lot more accustomed to talking about WHAT GOD DOES.

He creates, He redeems, He sanctifies. He comforts, He guides, He hears my prayers, He answers my prayers. “He works all things for good to those who love Him….”

We like talking about God in terms of WHAT HE DOES – especially WHAT HE DOES FOR ME. And I’m not suggesting for one minute that we should not think and talk about God in that way.

But the three, ecumenical Creeds, the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian creeds, talk a lot about WHO GOD IS. Especially the Athanasian Creed, which goes so far as to talk about WHO GOD IS NOT.

I think too, that there’s another reason why the Athanasian Creed sounds strange to our ears. It’s those sentences that bracket the whole thing. “Whoever will be saved shall, above all else, hold the catholic faith. Which faith, except everyone keeps whole and undefiled, without doubt he will perish eternally.” And, “This is the catholic faith which, except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.”

In a culture that demands INCLUSIVITY and ACCEPTANCE of every belief and way of life, the EXCUSIVITY so clearly enunciated here makes this Creed a tough pill to swallow, irregardless of what it actually says about God. We’ve become very familiar with a different sounding creed that goes something like this:

“Whoever will be saved shall, above all else, hold the human faith. Which faith, except everyone keeps whole and undefiled, without doubt, he will never reach his full potential. And the human faith is this, that we worship one god, in many persons, and each person is his own god; neither confusing the one god with the many beliefs, nor dividing the many beliefs into true or false, nor right or wrong. For there is only one god and every religion is the same, and every religion leads to the same god. This is the human faith which, except a woman/man believe faithfully and firmly, she/he cannot be taken seriously and must surely be rejected and silenced.” Continue reading →

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I. When the day of Pentecost arrived.
In the book of Leviticus, the 23rd chapter, Moses is told to establish a national holiday to celebrate the gathering of the harvest into the barn. It was something like our Thanksgiving, only it lasted a week and there was no college football or black Friday.

“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the [first-fruits]. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath.” (Lev. 23:15-16).

At first it was called ‘THE FEAST OF WEEKS,’ based on the fact that it was always scheduled for “seven full weeks” after the Firstfruits of the harvest were cut.

Later it became known as ‘THE FEAST OF PENTECOST,’ based on the “fifty days to the day” after the Firstfruits. The word ‘PENTECOST’ literally means, ‘Fiftieth.’

On the 50th day after the first-fruits were harvested, Israel would waive sheaves of wheat and barley before the Lord as a thank-offering for His love and care for His people.

The Feast of Pentecost, like all of the Old Testament Feasts, like the whole Old Testament for that matter, was a sign pointing to something greater than itself. The Pentecost of the Old Testament consisted of the celebration of the harvest of wheat and barley. The seed that had been planted had produced its crop and the people of God give thanks to God for it.

But God had a much different crop than wheat and barley in mind when He planted the holy seed of the woman in the ground. The Pentecost of the New Testament, that we celebrate today, is the celebration of the harvest of men and women, boys and girls who have been and continue to be created in the likeness of Jesus Christ and who grow in faith. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24) Continue reading →

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On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus was standing and cried out saying: “If anyone thirsts let him come to me and let he who is believing in me drink; just as the Scripture said, out of His belly will flow rivers of living water.” And this He said concerning the Spirit, who those believing in Him were about to receive; for not yet was the Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (Jn 7:37-39)

This sermon was preached by seminarian Greg Bauch during a visit to the congregation on 6/1/14.

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A commercial on TV shows a man opening a note that reads, ‘tomorrow you’re going to have a heart-attack.’ The point is, not everything comes with advanced notice. But if you just took a baby-aspirin, you could change tomorrow.

Chapter 14 of John’s gospel takes place in the Upper Room where Jesus has gathered His disciples for what will be the Last Supper. He doesn’t need a little note to tell Him what will happen to Him tomorrow. He is God. He knows everything. He knows that tomorrow, He will be crucified.

TALK ABOUT ‘ADVANCED NOTICE.’ From the beginning it was one note after another.
 The first one read: “He shall bruise your heel.” (Gen.3:15).
 Another one read: “False witnesses rise up against You and breathe out violence against You.” (Ps.27:12)
 Another one read: “Even your close friend in whom you trusted, who ate your bread, will lift his heel against you.” (Psalm 41:9).
 Another one read: “You give your back to those who strike, and your cheeks to those who pull out the beard.” (Is.50:6)
 Another one read: “You will be pierced… crushed… chastised… oppressed… afflicted… led to the slaughter… And they will make Your grave with the wicked…” (Isaiah 53:5-9).
 And another: “A company of evildoers will surround you and they will pierce your hands and feet… They will divide your garments among them and for your clothing they will cast lots.” (Ps.22:16-18).
 And there were many more.

NOT EVERYTHING COMES WITH ADVANCED NOTICE. BUT THIS SURE DID.

SO WHAT DOES HE DO?
 “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mat.26:39). And it was not the Father’s will to “let this cup pass.” Nor was it His really.
 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:27-28)

SO WHAT DOES HE DO? He prepares His disciples for tomorrow.
 He knows that tomorrow, they will be deeply troubled with grief and despair and guilt and doubt.
 He knows that tomorrow, they will think that the foundation of their life has crumbled beneath them and they will be terribly afraid.
 Tomorrow, they will wonder why they left their fathers and fishing boats, and their tax collection booth and homes to follow Him.

Because He knows what will happen to Him tomorrow, He knows what will happen to them tomorrow. And so today He prepares them for tomorrow saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”
 “I know what you will see, I know what you will hear, and I know what you will think. Despite all of that, trust me.”
 “I know what fear you will experience, I know what guilt you will feel, and I know the doubts you will have. Despite all of that, trust Me.”

What Jesus is saying here to His disciples goes deeper than we may at first understand. When our hearts are troubled over the loss of someone or something precious to us, a loved one, or a marriage, or our health, we need to put our trust in God, trusting that He will take care of us and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Continue reading →

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This past week we have once again been reminded how important it is to hold tightly onto the Word and Promise of God that does not fail us and that alone sustains us in the dark day.

We have been reminded once again that the great blessings of science and medicine have their limits, and that we dare not make idols out of them.

We have been reminded once again that death has no prejudice and cares nothing about age or innocence and that it will break the heart of everyone who loves – the more the love the deeper the break and the more death delight’s in the pain it inflicts.

Nor does death seem to care that this is the season of Easter, when our hearts are supposed to be filled with brightness and warmth and our mouths are to be bubbling over with shouts of victory and joy.

Once again we are reminded that we, who have been touched by death, dare not forget that we have also been touched by Easter. Our Lord has overcome death by giving Himself over to it on our behalf. He was SWALLOWED UP by death. But on the 3rd day He death was SWALLOWED UP in victory. And he forced it to cough up its victims so that “the mortal may be SWALLOWED UP by life.” (2 Cor. 5:4)

So here we are together, and we cannot say that our Easter joy is PURE JOY or that we are UNAFFECTED BY DEATH, or that we are ‘happy, happy, happy all the time because we have Jesus in our hearts.’

As long as we live on this side of heaven our life is always going to be a mixture of joy and sorrow, of peace and shattered peace, of confidence and doubt, of life and of death.

If we will be honest with ourselves, and if we will let the Scriptures be truthful with us, we must confess that as long as we live on this side of heaven, our life is always going to be MORE sorrow than joy, MORE turmoil than peace, and MORE doubt than confidence and MORE death than life.

This is to say, we live under the shadow of the cross and walk through the valley of the shadow of death, because the in-breaking of the NEW CREATION has not yet come. Continue reading →