+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: 1 Peter 1:3
Theme: New Birth- In Heaven
Dear family, friends, and loved ones of Barry, Michael, Lynette, and especially you, Kath,
Barry is at rest. His soul is in the presence of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is at peace. The authority to say that is based on the promise God made to Barry in his baptism. Baptism, you see, doesn’t require any certain level of cognitive ability. It only requires a beating heart and a living soul upon which the Holy Spirit can work. In baptism, the Holy Spirit promises to create spiritual life, He washes away the guilt of original sin, He makes an individual part of the family of God, and He promises the eternal inheritance of heaven. The fulfillment of those promises is what we recognize and celebrate today.
Baptism, of course, isn’t a magical or independent ritual. The power lies in the redeeming work of Jesus. He alone has the power to forgive sins because of His crucifixion and resurrection. Therefore, He says to all who are reflecting on mortality, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you.”1 He says, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”2 We need not fear even death itself, because Christ has shattered its power.
God gives life. He created it from nothing. He sustains it by His power and presence. Barry wasn’t expected to live. From a human point of view the circumstances were bleak. Arrangements were being made accordingly. It was shocking news for Kath and Keith. Horrifying! The prospect of a life ended before it began was dark and foreboding. Grief had already set in. But God had other plans. Barry had a life to live, a life to share, and a lot to offer. Why God allows disability is a question we cannot answer. We live in a fallen world. Yet, surely, we must be humble enough to accept that what we consider normal physical or mental capacity doesn’t prevent God from blessing those with other abilities or limitations. The stresses and anxieties we bear often do not worry them.
Imagine the effect Barry had on the staff at Minda Homes over those many years. The community there became his family. Imagine the love and joy he shared with the other residents. He couldn’t articulate what he was thinking, but expressions of love don’t require words. Barry treasured aspects of life that most of us take for granted. Barry certainly wasn’t taken granted by his Lord. Barry’s physical birth was difficult but that doesn’t affect the life of the soul. Remember the words of Scripture we heard earlier, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you.”3
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”4 Everything stands or falls with this promise. Grace carries us over the threshold and nothing else. Barry had neither a disadvantage nor a leg up in regard to being received into God’s presence. We are all sinners and only the undeserved mercy of God suffices. All of our material assets and personal accomplishments fade into the background. Only the merit of Christ matters.
Today we give thanks even in the midst of our grief. And we carry no false hopes about God’s intentions. Paul once wrote to the Thessalonians saying, “We do not want you to be uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.”5 Dear friends, to grieve without hope is to feel the bitterness of separation without the expectation of reunion. It is to concede that the coldness of death is the final reality. Left to our own devices it is the conclusion we always reach. Death is a burden that is too heavy for us to bear alone. The Holy Spirit understands that. He reminds us of the empty tomb. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid…I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!”6
Barry liked to go riding in the car. It seems that’s when he was most expressive with his emotions. Barry has now taken his final journey. Escorted by angels his soul has been transported into the presence of the triune God, the fellowship of the saints and the company of angels. He’s been released from every infirmity of body, mind, and spirit. He has no burdens, cares, or frustrations. He awaits the perfecting of his body and that great and glorious day of the resurrection of all flesh when Christ comes again in power.
Kath, it’s never easy when a child dies before a parent. It seems to subvert the expected order of things. But the compassion of God is not restricted by what we deem to be proper chronology. Barry has now received the heavenly inheritance that does not perish, spoil, or fade. He has been freed. He is embraced in the love of Christ and has a joy beyond our knowing. He is home and he has no regrets. Thanks be to God! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Christian Burial of Barry Keith Thiele
28 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 14:1-2
2 John 14:27
3 1 Peter 1:3-4
4 John 11:25-26
5 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
6 Revelation 1:17-18
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Monday, August 28, 2017
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Exodus 2:10
Theme: Moses In The ‘Ark’
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The biblical storyline is too candid to be suspect of fabrication. The frank descriptions of the faults and foibles of people and nations lends great credibility to the Scriptures. Today the saga of the saints continues. The ending won’t be written until Christ returns in glory. Joseph died in Egypt. He was embalmed according to their customs. More than 400 years later his bones were carried to the Promised Land, according to his own prophecy1. What key events occurred before his words were fulfilled?
The providence of God brought the Israelites to Egypt. In the land of Goshen, they prospered. When a new Pharaoh came to power that prosperity was the cause of fear. Had the Hebrews become too powerful? Would they join the enemy in a time of war? Concerns about the sovereignty of the nation were raised. The Pharaoh took action. The first decision was hard labour. It backfired. The second decree was infanticide. All the male newborns of the Hebrews were to be thrown into the Nile. Girls were exempt. The implementation was another matter, however. The Hebrew midwives named, Shiphrah and Puah, were evidently at the head of the obstetrics guild. How did they respond? The Scripture says, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”2
The decree previews that of King Herod’s 1500 years later. The parallels in the storyline of salvation are clear. Pharaoh wanted to weaken the vitality of the Hebrew population. Herod’s goal was more precise. He wanted to destroy the true King of Israel. Neither one was successful. In the first case, the infant Moses was protected and groomed to become the deliverer from Egypt. In the greater case, the baby Jesus would survive to become the victim of the cross. Tyrants of great power could not derail divine plans. Satan has his puppets, but God has His servants.
Things were going well for the Israelites, but times changed. Just as a new king arose in Egypt that did not know Joseph, so a new power is rising in the West that has waning interest in the of the faith of its forbearers. The secularization of society is happening at a rapid pace right before our eyes. How does God want us to respond? Paul gave this advice to Christians living at a very difficult time, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial (Satan)? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the Living God…”3 If we simply capitulate to falsehood and unrighteousness we make a mockery of God’s holiness. Some things cannot be reconciled…. They might find ways to coexist- and often they do- but black is not white and white is not black, wet is not dry and dry is not wet, light is not darkness, and darkness is not light, faith is not unbelief and unbelief is not faith. If they were, truth would have no real meaning.
But that doesn’t mean we separate ourselves from society or shun it. St. Paul also said, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those who are outside.”4 So, we make distinctions. We strive to be in the world, but not of the world.
Christians have historically never been alarmists. There are always fringe exceptions, of course. The world is corrupted by sin. Tangible and substantial consequences result. We expect that self-interest will lead to a desire for power that departs from the law of God. Many expressions of lawlessness and tyranny are inevitable. The Scriptures don’t advise us to panic or bury our heads in the sand. The God who created the universe knows well enough how to manage human schemes that presume autonomy. Pharaoh thought he was a god on earth. He was soon shown the limits of his strength. The power structures of every age are subject to the higher authority of God. Jesus said to Pilate “You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above.”5 That truth still stands. It is why Christians are not pessimistic doomsayers.
Remember, dear friends, what the Lord said today, “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”6 Jesus is not talking about a particular congregation or church body. Christianity has essentially ceased to exist even within whole nations. We have no special status or protection because of our location or the era in which we live. North Africa used to be a stronghold of the Christian faith and now it’s been almost completely wiped out. We dare not think we could be an exception. The sinful human nature is always prone to reassert its idols.
Yet, here is the unbreakable promise about the church from the Lord of the church. The Bride will not be parted from the Bridegroom. Satan will not prevail. The church will be attacked from within and without, it will be vexed and flayed, persecuted and punished, but it will never be completely destroyed. The fortress will not be breached because God is in the midst of it7. Christ has already been raised from death. He will not submit to it again. He has broken its power.
The crucifixion was an assault on all the autonomous power structures of the world. The power of sin was demolished by the sacrifice of the Innocent One. Christ destroyed the eternal punishment of guilt due to you, me, and every sinner. We need never despair. We are His baptized. The day will come when the sun will not set. That is the lens and prism through which we view and assess everything in the world. The cross takes every sinful, selfish, skewed, and imbalanced perspective, filters out every poisonous illusion, and realigns it to the clarity of truth in Christ. The Holy Spirit does that through the word. The crucified and risen Jesus is not frightened by the dark specter of the world. He is your Shepherd; the good One. He is your Saviour; the gracious One. He is your Brother; the gentle One. He is your bridegroom; the faithful One.
God cherishes life. Moses was placed in a small basket and floated onto the Nile. The Hebrew word is the word used for ‘ark’. Do you think that’s a coincidence? Moses had a tiny ark. Noah made a bigger one. The tiny one saved the future deliverer of God’s people in the time of their bondage. The bigger one saved the entire human race. The church is sometimes referred to as an ark also. In it we are saved from drowning in sin and death and transported safely to the port of heaven. We should never underestimate what God can accomplish even in the most unlikely of circumstances. The cross and empty tomb prove that. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
27 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See Exodus 13:19
2 Exodus 1:17
3 2 Corinthians 6:14-16
4 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, 12-13
5 John 19:11
6 Matthew 16:18-19
7 See Psalm 46:5
Text: Exodus 2:10
Theme: Moses In The ‘Ark’
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The biblical storyline is too candid to be suspect of fabrication. The frank descriptions of the faults and foibles of people and nations lends great credibility to the Scriptures. Today the saga of the saints continues. The ending won’t be written until Christ returns in glory. Joseph died in Egypt. He was embalmed according to their customs. More than 400 years later his bones were carried to the Promised Land, according to his own prophecy1. What key events occurred before his words were fulfilled?
The providence of God brought the Israelites to Egypt. In the land of Goshen, they prospered. When a new Pharaoh came to power that prosperity was the cause of fear. Had the Hebrews become too powerful? Would they join the enemy in a time of war? Concerns about the sovereignty of the nation were raised. The Pharaoh took action. The first decision was hard labour. It backfired. The second decree was infanticide. All the male newborns of the Hebrews were to be thrown into the Nile. Girls were exempt. The implementation was another matter, however. The Hebrew midwives named, Shiphrah and Puah, were evidently at the head of the obstetrics guild. How did they respond? The Scripture says, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”2
The decree previews that of King Herod’s 1500 years later. The parallels in the storyline of salvation are clear. Pharaoh wanted to weaken the vitality of the Hebrew population. Herod’s goal was more precise. He wanted to destroy the true King of Israel. Neither one was successful. In the first case, the infant Moses was protected and groomed to become the deliverer from Egypt. In the greater case, the baby Jesus would survive to become the victim of the cross. Tyrants of great power could not derail divine plans. Satan has his puppets, but God has His servants.
Things were going well for the Israelites, but times changed. Just as a new king arose in Egypt that did not know Joseph, so a new power is rising in the West that has waning interest in the of the faith of its forbearers. The secularization of society is happening at a rapid pace right before our eyes. How does God want us to respond? Paul gave this advice to Christians living at a very difficult time, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial (Satan)? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the Living God…”3 If we simply capitulate to falsehood and unrighteousness we make a mockery of God’s holiness. Some things cannot be reconciled…. They might find ways to coexist- and often they do- but black is not white and white is not black, wet is not dry and dry is not wet, light is not darkness, and darkness is not light, faith is not unbelief and unbelief is not faith. If they were, truth would have no real meaning.
But that doesn’t mean we separate ourselves from society or shun it. St. Paul also said, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those who are outside.”4 So, we make distinctions. We strive to be in the world, but not of the world.
Christians have historically never been alarmists. There are always fringe exceptions, of course. The world is corrupted by sin. Tangible and substantial consequences result. We expect that self-interest will lead to a desire for power that departs from the law of God. Many expressions of lawlessness and tyranny are inevitable. The Scriptures don’t advise us to panic or bury our heads in the sand. The God who created the universe knows well enough how to manage human schemes that presume autonomy. Pharaoh thought he was a god on earth. He was soon shown the limits of his strength. The power structures of every age are subject to the higher authority of God. Jesus said to Pilate “You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above.”5 That truth still stands. It is why Christians are not pessimistic doomsayers.
Remember, dear friends, what the Lord said today, “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”6 Jesus is not talking about a particular congregation or church body. Christianity has essentially ceased to exist even within whole nations. We have no special status or protection because of our location or the era in which we live. North Africa used to be a stronghold of the Christian faith and now it’s been almost completely wiped out. We dare not think we could be an exception. The sinful human nature is always prone to reassert its idols.
Yet, here is the unbreakable promise about the church from the Lord of the church. The Bride will not be parted from the Bridegroom. Satan will not prevail. The church will be attacked from within and without, it will be vexed and flayed, persecuted and punished, but it will never be completely destroyed. The fortress will not be breached because God is in the midst of it7. Christ has already been raised from death. He will not submit to it again. He has broken its power.
The crucifixion was an assault on all the autonomous power structures of the world. The power of sin was demolished by the sacrifice of the Innocent One. Christ destroyed the eternal punishment of guilt due to you, me, and every sinner. We need never despair. We are His baptized. The day will come when the sun will not set. That is the lens and prism through which we view and assess everything in the world. The cross takes every sinful, selfish, skewed, and imbalanced perspective, filters out every poisonous illusion, and realigns it to the clarity of truth in Christ. The Holy Spirit does that through the word. The crucified and risen Jesus is not frightened by the dark specter of the world. He is your Shepherd; the good One. He is your Saviour; the gracious One. He is your Brother; the gentle One. He is your bridegroom; the faithful One.
God cherishes life. Moses was placed in a small basket and floated onto the Nile. The Hebrew word is the word used for ‘ark’. Do you think that’s a coincidence? Moses had a tiny ark. Noah made a bigger one. The tiny one saved the future deliverer of God’s people in the time of their bondage. The bigger one saved the entire human race. The church is sometimes referred to as an ark also. In it we are saved from drowning in sin and death and transported safely to the port of heaven. We should never underestimate what God can accomplish even in the most unlikely of circumstances. The cross and empty tomb prove that. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
27 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See Exodus 13:19
2 Exodus 1:17
3 2 Corinthians 6:14-16
4 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, 12-13
5 John 19:11
6 Matthew 16:18-19
7 See Psalm 46:5
Monday, August 21, 2017
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost (A) 2017
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Genesis 45:5
Theme: Reconciled!
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God always sees the whole picture. We might see an angle, a glimpse, or a slice; and often we don’t see it in high definition. Our lack of perspective can lead to doubt, confusion; even resentment and despair. Yet the Scriptures assure us that even the evil perpetrated against us can be used for good purpose. Firstly, our faith can be refined and tempered. Secondly, things can be achieved for God’s kingdom that we could have never foreseen. Still, faith must cling to promises that reason finds offensive. Joseph and his brothers provide a vivid illustration.
The Scriptures provide us with wonderful detail about the life of Joseph. The second youngest of twelve brothers, he was the favourite of his father Jacob. Jacob’s partiality and Joseph’s own sense of importance fostered resentment from the others. When the opportunity arose, they decided to get revenge. They spared his life, but they essentially left him for dead. God, however, had plans to use their malcontent. Taken to Egypt by force Joseph soon found himself in the service of Pharaoh. In that circumstance, he was in the greater service of God.
It’s unlikely we need spend much effort trying to resonate with the desire for revenge. It comes naturally. Joseph could easily have felt entitled to his. Revenge can be a very difficult emotion to repress. When someone is wronged, mistreated, or abused and there is no evidence of repentance, the natural tendency is to want justice to be rendered on our own terms. We want things to be made right. Separation doesn’t solve the problem either. It may mitigate the circumstances, but people can hold grudges for a lifetime. Estrangement doesn’t mean attitudes of vengeance aren’t still festering. Fostering resentment is a common sin and breaches the very First Commandment insofar as it reveals the intent to usurp the justice of God.
Yet, instead of seeking reprisal, Joseph opted for reconciliation. Reaching the limits of his emotions he finally revealed his identity to his bothers. It was a disclosure saturated with conciliation. “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.”1 Joseph believed God used the treachery of his brothers for the greater good. The one who was left for dead was elevated by God to a position of power that nurtured life. In that position, he did not seek revenge, but reconciliation. He did not nurse a grudge but openly forgave those who transgressed against him.
The need for reconciliation assumes brokenness. Malfunction, estrangement and enmity often characterize fractured relationships. We should have no illusions that these realities plague our society. None of us is immune from the brokenness. It betrays the power of sin in our lives and in the world. It’s little wonder that the entire biblical witness narrates God’s work of restoration of fallen humanity. It’s no coincidence the call to repentance is never just a matter of repudiating sin, but of being reconciled to God and one another. Reconciliation is the purpose of Christ’s sacrificial work. The Scripture says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”2
The entire ministry of Christ involved restoring that which was broken. Jesus made contact with lepers, forgave prostitutes, and received tax-collectors. He ministered to the outcasts, the downtrodden, and the rejected of society. He rebuked the self-righteous and the erring, but He never turned away the penitent. Just as the father welcomes home the prodigal son, the heavenly Father welcomes repentant sinners into His kingdom through the blood of His Son. We are saved only by grace. There are no strings attached to the gospel.
The Holy Spirit is the broker of reconciliation. He is the conveyancer. But, He uses means. He uses means for reconciliation between God and the individual. He also uses means for reconciliation between people whose relationships have been broken. We cannot approach God in His unveiled majesty. It’s not only pointless, but even dangerous to speculate about the will of God. All efforts to construct an image of the heart and will of the Almighty based on human intuition will only lead to the propagation of falsehood and eventually despair. But God does leave us groping in the darkness. God comes to us clothed in His word and sacraments. Jesus is the word-become-flesh. He drapes His holiness over our sinful lives. In baptism Christ cleansed you from the guilt of original sin. Formerly only the offspring of Adam and Eve, the baptized become children of the heavenly Father. Previously under the dominion of Satan, they are freed to serve the living God.
Dear friends, we’re not able to return to the cross. Our faith isn’t sustained simply by the remembrance of historical facts. The power of Christ’s death and resurrection comes to us. Christ is here for you in this bread and wine. He is present in His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit brings that power to bear “for the word of God is living and active.”3 The church is not an historical society that hopes to propagate the charitable attitude of Jesus. It is not a society chiefly engaged in memorializing the heroes of the past. The Christian assembly is a hospital. It is analogous to the empty tomb; a place where spiritual resurrections occur. Souls once “dead in [your] transgressions and sins”4 are made friends of Lazarus5. It is the forum where the hurting, the ailing, the depressed, and despairing are treated with the healing medicine of forgiveness, truth, light, and salvation. We don’t gather here under false pretenses. We’re not here to amalgamate our individual lives of holiness into a larger collective entity. We’re a collection of sinners made saints by the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
God comes to us also in the masks of our neighbour. Joseph was as ‘God’ to his brothers. The spouse, the parent, the friend, the professionals who serve us; all are God’s means within their vocations to extend the benefits of God to us. The provision of our most basic needs; food, clothing, shelter, love, belonging and purpose all come to us through the mediation of others. And that means even the smallest act of service can be life-changing and life-affirming for the person in need. Joseph, through God’s wisdom, feed a whole nation during famine. He served in the greatest kingdom of the age. In the process, his own family was rescued. Though less dramatic, our deeds of kindness are no less important. And we never know when we’ll be privileged to make a dramatic change in someone’s life. Only the Holy Spirit can change hearts, but we are all agents of reconciliation.
Sin has fractured the world, but Christ has shattered sin’s power. Let there be no doubts in our hearts, questions in our minds, or burdens in our consciences. Christ has reconciled us to the heavenly Father. We need not fear His judgment. “Perfect love drives our fear.”6 Christ is perfect love. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”7 Christ has been crucified for our sins. He has risen from the dead to give us life. God not only sees the whole picture. He reigns over a kingdom fabulous beyond measure. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
20 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Genesis 45:5-8
2 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
3 Hebrews 4:12
4 Ephesians 2:1
5 See John 11:43-44
6 1 John 4:18
7 Psalm 103:13
8 Hebrews 1:3
9 Colossians 2:9
10 Genesis 32:20
Text: Genesis 45:5
Theme: Reconciled!
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
God always sees the whole picture. We might see an angle, a glimpse, or a slice; and often we don’t see it in high definition. Our lack of perspective can lead to doubt, confusion; even resentment and despair. Yet the Scriptures assure us that even the evil perpetrated against us can be used for good purpose. Firstly, our faith can be refined and tempered. Secondly, things can be achieved for God’s kingdom that we could have never foreseen. Still, faith must cling to promises that reason finds offensive. Joseph and his brothers provide a vivid illustration.
The Scriptures provide us with wonderful detail about the life of Joseph. The second youngest of twelve brothers, he was the favourite of his father Jacob. Jacob’s partiality and Joseph’s own sense of importance fostered resentment from the others. When the opportunity arose, they decided to get revenge. They spared his life, but they essentially left him for dead. God, however, had plans to use their malcontent. Taken to Egypt by force Joseph soon found himself in the service of Pharaoh. In that circumstance, he was in the greater service of God.
It’s unlikely we need spend much effort trying to resonate with the desire for revenge. It comes naturally. Joseph could easily have felt entitled to his. Revenge can be a very difficult emotion to repress. When someone is wronged, mistreated, or abused and there is no evidence of repentance, the natural tendency is to want justice to be rendered on our own terms. We want things to be made right. Separation doesn’t solve the problem either. It may mitigate the circumstances, but people can hold grudges for a lifetime. Estrangement doesn’t mean attitudes of vengeance aren’t still festering. Fostering resentment is a common sin and breaches the very First Commandment insofar as it reveals the intent to usurp the justice of God.
Yet, instead of seeking reprisal, Joseph opted for reconciliation. Reaching the limits of his emotions he finally revealed his identity to his bothers. It was a disclosure saturated with conciliation. “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.”1 Joseph believed God used the treachery of his brothers for the greater good. The one who was left for dead was elevated by God to a position of power that nurtured life. In that position, he did not seek revenge, but reconciliation. He did not nurse a grudge but openly forgave those who transgressed against him.
The need for reconciliation assumes brokenness. Malfunction, estrangement and enmity often characterize fractured relationships. We should have no illusions that these realities plague our society. None of us is immune from the brokenness. It betrays the power of sin in our lives and in the world. It’s little wonder that the entire biblical witness narrates God’s work of restoration of fallen humanity. It’s no coincidence the call to repentance is never just a matter of repudiating sin, but of being reconciled to God and one another. Reconciliation is the purpose of Christ’s sacrificial work. The Scripture says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”2
The entire ministry of Christ involved restoring that which was broken. Jesus made contact with lepers, forgave prostitutes, and received tax-collectors. He ministered to the outcasts, the downtrodden, and the rejected of society. He rebuked the self-righteous and the erring, but He never turned away the penitent. Just as the father welcomes home the prodigal son, the heavenly Father welcomes repentant sinners into His kingdom through the blood of His Son. We are saved only by grace. There are no strings attached to the gospel.
The Holy Spirit is the broker of reconciliation. He is the conveyancer. But, He uses means. He uses means for reconciliation between God and the individual. He also uses means for reconciliation between people whose relationships have been broken. We cannot approach God in His unveiled majesty. It’s not only pointless, but even dangerous to speculate about the will of God. All efforts to construct an image of the heart and will of the Almighty based on human intuition will only lead to the propagation of falsehood and eventually despair. But God does leave us groping in the darkness. God comes to us clothed in His word and sacraments. Jesus is the word-become-flesh. He drapes His holiness over our sinful lives. In baptism Christ cleansed you from the guilt of original sin. Formerly only the offspring of Adam and Eve, the baptized become children of the heavenly Father. Previously under the dominion of Satan, they are freed to serve the living God.
Dear friends, we’re not able to return to the cross. Our faith isn’t sustained simply by the remembrance of historical facts. The power of Christ’s death and resurrection comes to us. Christ is here for you in this bread and wine. He is present in His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit brings that power to bear “for the word of God is living and active.”3 The church is not an historical society that hopes to propagate the charitable attitude of Jesus. It is not a society chiefly engaged in memorializing the heroes of the past. The Christian assembly is a hospital. It is analogous to the empty tomb; a place where spiritual resurrections occur. Souls once “dead in [your] transgressions and sins”4 are made friends of Lazarus5. It is the forum where the hurting, the ailing, the depressed, and despairing are treated with the healing medicine of forgiveness, truth, light, and salvation. We don’t gather here under false pretenses. We’re not here to amalgamate our individual lives of holiness into a larger collective entity. We’re a collection of sinners made saints by the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
God comes to us also in the masks of our neighbour. Joseph was as ‘God’ to his brothers. The spouse, the parent, the friend, the professionals who serve us; all are God’s means within their vocations to extend the benefits of God to us. The provision of our most basic needs; food, clothing, shelter, love, belonging and purpose all come to us through the mediation of others. And that means even the smallest act of service can be life-changing and life-affirming for the person in need. Joseph, through God’s wisdom, feed a whole nation during famine. He served in the greatest kingdom of the age. In the process, his own family was rescued. Though less dramatic, our deeds of kindness are no less important. And we never know when we’ll be privileged to make a dramatic change in someone’s life. Only the Holy Spirit can change hearts, but we are all agents of reconciliation.
Sin has fractured the world, but Christ has shattered sin’s power. Let there be no doubts in our hearts, questions in our minds, or burdens in our consciences. Christ has reconciled us to the heavenly Father. We need not fear His judgment. “Perfect love drives our fear.”6 Christ is perfect love. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”7 Christ has been crucified for our sins. He has risen from the dead to give us life. God not only sees the whole picture. He reigns over a kingdom fabulous beyond measure. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
20 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Genesis 45:5-8
2 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
3 Hebrews 4:12
4 Ephesians 2:1
5 See John 11:43-44
6 1 John 4:18
7 Psalm 103:13
8 Hebrews 1:3
9 Colossians 2:9
10 Genesis 32:20
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost (A) 2017
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Genesis 32:30
Theme: Face To Face With God
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The ways of God are often mysterious to the ways of men. God had plans for Jacob. His way of preparing Jacob for the tasks ahead was extraordinary. Near the ford of the Jabbok he grappled with the Almighty. The encounter is enigmatic, to say the least. It involves a long night of wrestling with God, a dislocated hip, a blessing, and a change of name. The meeting happens at a time of vulnerability and tension. Jacob is about to face his twin brother Esau, whose potential wrath has filled him with great angst.
Jacob spends the night wrestling with God in prayer. We are not privy to the exact nature of the struggle, but it’s clear that it was no nightmare or bad dream. Jacob was a man of faith and was seeking confidence from God in the tasks that were before him. We do well to consider that Jacob was wrestling with the pre-incarnate Christ. Referred to sometimes as the Angel of the Lord and at other times as a man, Jesus was actively involved in the narrative of the Old Testament. Consider St. Paul’s comments on the exodus of God’s people from Egypt, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”1 Nevertheless, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around this event. It will remain to us an encounter shrouded in mystery. The deepest truths of the faith are beyond human comprehension.
We would be on the wrong track if took from this event the idea that we need to wrangle with God to acquire His favour. We don’t need to wrestle with God to receive a blessing. Christ has already done all the work of mediation. He has struggled with the divine plan to the point of death. We have no leverage with which to negotiate with the Father. Jesus has it all. His death and resurrection put an end to the struggle for divine approval. He now makes intercession for us before the throne of grace.
It doesn’t mean our lives are exempt from trouble, however. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Our lives are precious to God now, not just at some point in the future. We are citizens of heaven but we still live in the fallen world. The struggle against temptation is one no one can avoid. Satan doesn’t sleep. He works tirelessly to lure us away from God’s kingdom. He plants seeds of doubt and stirs the pot of discontent. The apostle reminds us, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”2 The Holy Spirit must do all the heavy lifting. But we’re not simply puppets or spectators. The struggle is within us and within our relationships. We are baptized for a purpose. We are living stones in His living temple. He nourishes us with holy food in which He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies3.
We do have a struggle. Not with God, but with the world, the devil, and our own sinful natures. Therefore, the Scripture encourages you to be persistent in your prayers. Be genuine, heartfelt, transparent, even raw and expressive of angst. God doesn’t command us to pray and promise to hear for nothing. It’s not a joke or a hoax. Jacob’s determined wrestling with God should remind us of the parable of the persistent widow who kept pestering the judge for justice. Jesus says, “Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?”4
Be candid with your repentance too. Imagine how many confessions have been made to the Almighty God. Imagine how many cries of repentance and pleas for mercy have reached His ears! And yet His does not make light of a single, whispered petition of the soul in need. He does not neglect the frail or faint of heart who are too weak to shout their appeals in full voice. “A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.”5 Know, too, that there is nothing you can confess to God that will surprise Him. He’s heard every act of violence, hatred, treachery, falsehood; ungodliness and unrighteousness of every sort. He’s heard confessions describing sins of weakness, sins of ignorance, sins of selfishness; sexual sins, cold-hearted sins, mean-spirited sins, all sins of commission and omission.
And still, God authorizes your pastor to publicly declare His divine pardon to you. Think of what promise is made to you in these words! “I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and on behalf of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”6 Think of the authority behind this promise! The God of Jacob stands behind it. The God who parted the Red Sea, dropped mana from heaven, and thundered from Mount Sinai sanctions it. The God “who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all”7 endorses this promise. This pledge is not substantiated by a trail of words but by the shedding of blood in sacrificial love.
Jesus is more than a well-intentioned friend. He is more than a life-coach or support resource. He is even more than the Suffering Servant and Son of the Father. He is God in human flesh. The Scripture says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.”8 And again, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”9 He sends you His Holy Spirit. He demolishes the schemes of Satan. He defies the power of death. In this certainty, we can rejoice even in our sufferings. Paul had had his thorn in the flesh. Jacob had his dislocated hip. Both were scars from God. They were marks of mortality. They were gifts too. They were gifts of the Almighty reminding these saints of the sufficiency of grace. He gifts us with scars too. They identify us as God’s children.
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. It wasn’t merely a nickname or an alternative way to refer to Jacob. It would become the collective name for God’s covenant people. Abraham was at the head of the ancestry, but Jacob was the one who would bear the name of the nation. The place of the encounter received a name too. “Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’”10 God had plans for Jacob. He has plans for you too. In Christ, the Spirit shows you the face of God. In Him you have life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
6 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 10:3-4
2 Ephesians 6:12
3 See Psalm 23:5
4 Luke 18:7
5 Isaiah 42:3
6 LHS p.7
7 Romans 8:32
8 Hebrews 1:3
9 Colossians 2:9
10 Genesis 32:20
Text: Genesis 32:30
Theme: Face To Face With God
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The ways of God are often mysterious to the ways of men. God had plans for Jacob. His way of preparing Jacob for the tasks ahead was extraordinary. Near the ford of the Jabbok he grappled with the Almighty. The encounter is enigmatic, to say the least. It involves a long night of wrestling with God, a dislocated hip, a blessing, and a change of name. The meeting happens at a time of vulnerability and tension. Jacob is about to face his twin brother Esau, whose potential wrath has filled him with great angst.
Jacob spends the night wrestling with God in prayer. We are not privy to the exact nature of the struggle, but it’s clear that it was no nightmare or bad dream. Jacob was a man of faith and was seeking confidence from God in the tasks that were before him. We do well to consider that Jacob was wrestling with the pre-incarnate Christ. Referred to sometimes as the Angel of the Lord and at other times as a man, Jesus was actively involved in the narrative of the Old Testament. Consider St. Paul’s comments on the exodus of God’s people from Egypt, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”1 Nevertheless, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around this event. It will remain to us an encounter shrouded in mystery. The deepest truths of the faith are beyond human comprehension.
We would be on the wrong track if took from this event the idea that we need to wrangle with God to acquire His favour. We don’t need to wrestle with God to receive a blessing. Christ has already done all the work of mediation. He has struggled with the divine plan to the point of death. We have no leverage with which to negotiate with the Father. Jesus has it all. His death and resurrection put an end to the struggle for divine approval. He now makes intercession for us before the throne of grace.
It doesn’t mean our lives are exempt from trouble, however. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Our lives are precious to God now, not just at some point in the future. We are citizens of heaven but we still live in the fallen world. The struggle against temptation is one no one can avoid. Satan doesn’t sleep. He works tirelessly to lure us away from God’s kingdom. He plants seeds of doubt and stirs the pot of discontent. The apostle reminds us, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”2 The Holy Spirit must do all the heavy lifting. But we’re not simply puppets or spectators. The struggle is within us and within our relationships. We are baptized for a purpose. We are living stones in His living temple. He nourishes us with holy food in which He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies3.
We do have a struggle. Not with God, but with the world, the devil, and our own sinful natures. Therefore, the Scripture encourages you to be persistent in your prayers. Be genuine, heartfelt, transparent, even raw and expressive of angst. God doesn’t command us to pray and promise to hear for nothing. It’s not a joke or a hoax. Jacob’s determined wrestling with God should remind us of the parable of the persistent widow who kept pestering the judge for justice. Jesus says, “Will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?”4
Be candid with your repentance too. Imagine how many confessions have been made to the Almighty God. Imagine how many cries of repentance and pleas for mercy have reached His ears! And yet His does not make light of a single, whispered petition of the soul in need. He does not neglect the frail or faint of heart who are too weak to shout their appeals in full voice. “A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.”5 Know, too, that there is nothing you can confess to God that will surprise Him. He’s heard every act of violence, hatred, treachery, falsehood; ungodliness and unrighteousness of every sort. He’s heard confessions describing sins of weakness, sins of ignorance, sins of selfishness; sexual sins, cold-hearted sins, mean-spirited sins, all sins of commission and omission.
And still, God authorizes your pastor to publicly declare His divine pardon to you. Think of what promise is made to you in these words! “I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and on behalf of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”6 Think of the authority behind this promise! The God of Jacob stands behind it. The God who parted the Red Sea, dropped mana from heaven, and thundered from Mount Sinai sanctions it. The God “who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all”7 endorses this promise. This pledge is not substantiated by a trail of words but by the shedding of blood in sacrificial love.
Jesus is more than a well-intentioned friend. He is more than a life-coach or support resource. He is even more than the Suffering Servant and Son of the Father. He is God in human flesh. The Scripture says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.”8 And again, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”9 He sends you His Holy Spirit. He demolishes the schemes of Satan. He defies the power of death. In this certainty, we can rejoice even in our sufferings. Paul had had his thorn in the flesh. Jacob had his dislocated hip. Both were scars from God. They were marks of mortality. They were gifts too. They were gifts of the Almighty reminding these saints of the sufficiency of grace. He gifts us with scars too. They identify us as God’s children.
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. It wasn’t merely a nickname or an alternative way to refer to Jacob. It would become the collective name for God’s covenant people. Abraham was at the head of the ancestry, but Jacob was the one who would bear the name of the nation. The place of the encounter received a name too. “Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’”10 God had plans for Jacob. He has plans for you too. In Christ, the Spirit shows you the face of God. In Him you have life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
6 August 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 10:3-4
2 Ephesians 6:12
3 See Psalm 23:5
4 Luke 18:7
5 Isaiah 42:3
6 LHS p.7
7 Romans 8:32
8 Hebrews 1:3
9 Colossians 2:9
10 Genesis 32:20
Monday, July 31, 2017
Eighth Sunday After Pentecost (A) 2017
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Matthew 13:44-52
Theme: Kingdom Parables
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus said, “This is how it will be at the end of the age.”1 He said it in the context of teaching parables. The reality we now experience will undergo radical transformation at the coming of Christ in glory. But the seeds are already being sown and bearing fruit. The leaven of God’s grace is already working through the dough. The parables are all emphasising the same truths. The kingdom of God cannot be presented in a single analogy. The parables of the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl teach the incomparableness of God's kingdom. His love is so deep and His grace so profound they exceed all earthy points of comparison. God Himself gives up His very own Son so that He may possess us as His treasure. Just as God Himself remains incomprehensible, the scope of His kingdom is beyond our grasp. But the Holy Spirit gives us images, insights, and understandings.
Looking forward to the restoration of all things is part of Christina hope. In heaven, all relationships will be reconciled. All creation will be in complete harmony with God. When we reflect upon the astounding richness of life on our planet, it shouldn't be hard to picture a heavenly paradise that's even more vibrant. The Almighty's creation has been subject to decay since the Fall, and still, it's a magnificent tapestry of colour, coordination, and communication. And as technology, and the means of studying things become more proficient and precise, we're finding the universe (from the very large to the very small) to be more mind-boggling than ever. The conviction that the universe is self-organised, a result of random forces, becomes less convincing with every discovery that is made. The more we learn, the more evidence accumulates that points to a purposeful Creator. This should not be a surprise for Christians. We believe that God is the Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
The God who created us is more than capable of providing for us. That is why Jesus comforts us saying, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”2 Seeking the kingdom always involves seeking truth. Jesus tells us to seek righteousness. Like yeast in bread God transforms us from the inside. Genuine repentance means the heart is mended first and our actions follow.
Good intentions do not necessarily lead to godly outcomes. The old adage is: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." The will of God always takes precedence over the rules of men. Constructing our own truths will not only fail to resolve the issues that trouble us, it will invite the judgment of God.
Seeking the righteousness of God is not a pie-in-the-sky platitude. It involves struggling with the leaven of forgiveness in our relationships. If God has forgiven a sin, who are we to retain it? By what authority can we hold a grudge against a repentant person when God has commanded us to forgive? Do we not at the same time make a plea and a promise when we pray, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us?" Do we sit in the judgment seat of God? The question is rhetorical. Of course, the command to forgive and the transformation of the heart are not one and the same. The wounded heart does not easily warm again to the one who caused injury. Repeated offences leave deeper scars. Our selfish natures want revenge, not pardon. We want our pound of flesh.
Dear friends, people who cannot come to terms with the possibility that the grace of God in Christ can and does extend even to the most degenerate sinner, unwittingly exclude themselves from the purview of God’s forgiveness. We are each accountable to the Almighty and none of us is a position to quantitate the transgressions of others. We cannot restrict the forgiveness of God to those we deem undeserving. Do we falsely think it’s easy to remain spiritually humble? The sins of greed, or lust, or selfishness might seem easy to recognize within ourselves. But do we think we can judge someone’s repentance more accurately than God can? Thanks be to God that He has placed all judgment into the hands of His Son! Only in Him can justice and mercy be kept.
We can be pressed very hard in the struggles of life. The temptation is always there to give up or give in. We may become fatigued with unreconciled relationships or resentful about hardships or missed opportunities. Yet the Christian is never without hope. The parables teach us God is at work. Christ is hardly out of resources, determination, or ability. He is faithful to us because He is true to Himself. His love does not fail. It could hardly be proclaimed any more passionately than Paul does today in his letter to the Christians in Rome, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”3
When Jesus said from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”4 He wasn’t speaking in riddles. He wasn’t illustrating a parable. In the most graphic, forthright, and tangible way possible He was making it clear that His death was a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. The message of the cross does not lend itself to speculation. In the end, it is either ridiculed as foolish idealism or believed as the one necessary and complete act of salvation. Many great plans in the history of the world have ended up being all talk and no action. It’s not the case with our Saviour who walked out of the grave defying death’s power. He has been given all power to intercede for His church and to rule it with love.
Our gathering here is a fellowship in that love. Here we share in the holy blessings of God. We do it in reality and in truth. We are real sinners meeting with the living God. Our sins can only be crucified by Him who was crucified for all. We’re not here to discuss theories about parables. We’re in the kingdom of light and truth and hope. Think of the blessings we receive in this place: the forgiveness of sins, heavenly mana, and the strength to live the baptismal life! The action of receiving holy communion is an act of proclamation of the sacrificial work of Christ. The apostle says, “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”5 This meal is not only a remembrance of an event, it is a participation in the life of God. In Christ shadows become substance and parables become reality. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
23 July 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 13:49
2 Matthew 6:31-33
3 Romans 8:38-39
4 Luke 23:34
5 1 Corinthians 11:27
Text: Matthew 13:44-52
Theme: Kingdom Parables
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Jesus said, “This is how it will be at the end of the age.”1 He said it in the context of teaching parables. The reality we now experience will undergo radical transformation at the coming of Christ in glory. But the seeds are already being sown and bearing fruit. The leaven of God’s grace is already working through the dough. The parables are all emphasising the same truths. The kingdom of God cannot be presented in a single analogy. The parables of the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl teach the incomparableness of God's kingdom. His love is so deep and His grace so profound they exceed all earthy points of comparison. God Himself gives up His very own Son so that He may possess us as His treasure. Just as God Himself remains incomprehensible, the scope of His kingdom is beyond our grasp. But the Holy Spirit gives us images, insights, and understandings.
Looking forward to the restoration of all things is part of Christina hope. In heaven, all relationships will be reconciled. All creation will be in complete harmony with God. When we reflect upon the astounding richness of life on our planet, it shouldn't be hard to picture a heavenly paradise that's even more vibrant. The Almighty's creation has been subject to decay since the Fall, and still, it's a magnificent tapestry of colour, coordination, and communication. And as technology, and the means of studying things become more proficient and precise, we're finding the universe (from the very large to the very small) to be more mind-boggling than ever. The conviction that the universe is self-organised, a result of random forces, becomes less convincing with every discovery that is made. The more we learn, the more evidence accumulates that points to a purposeful Creator. This should not be a surprise for Christians. We believe that God is the Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
The God who created us is more than capable of providing for us. That is why Jesus comforts us saying, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”2 Seeking the kingdom always involves seeking truth. Jesus tells us to seek righteousness. Like yeast in bread God transforms us from the inside. Genuine repentance means the heart is mended first and our actions follow.
Good intentions do not necessarily lead to godly outcomes. The old adage is: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." The will of God always takes precedence over the rules of men. Constructing our own truths will not only fail to resolve the issues that trouble us, it will invite the judgment of God.
Seeking the righteousness of God is not a pie-in-the-sky platitude. It involves struggling with the leaven of forgiveness in our relationships. If God has forgiven a sin, who are we to retain it? By what authority can we hold a grudge against a repentant person when God has commanded us to forgive? Do we not at the same time make a plea and a promise when we pray, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us?" Do we sit in the judgment seat of God? The question is rhetorical. Of course, the command to forgive and the transformation of the heart are not one and the same. The wounded heart does not easily warm again to the one who caused injury. Repeated offences leave deeper scars. Our selfish natures want revenge, not pardon. We want our pound of flesh.
Dear friends, people who cannot come to terms with the possibility that the grace of God in Christ can and does extend even to the most degenerate sinner, unwittingly exclude themselves from the purview of God’s forgiveness. We are each accountable to the Almighty and none of us is a position to quantitate the transgressions of others. We cannot restrict the forgiveness of God to those we deem undeserving. Do we falsely think it’s easy to remain spiritually humble? The sins of greed, or lust, or selfishness might seem easy to recognize within ourselves. But do we think we can judge someone’s repentance more accurately than God can? Thanks be to God that He has placed all judgment into the hands of His Son! Only in Him can justice and mercy be kept.
We can be pressed very hard in the struggles of life. The temptation is always there to give up or give in. We may become fatigued with unreconciled relationships or resentful about hardships or missed opportunities. Yet the Christian is never without hope. The parables teach us God is at work. Christ is hardly out of resources, determination, or ability. He is faithful to us because He is true to Himself. His love does not fail. It could hardly be proclaimed any more passionately than Paul does today in his letter to the Christians in Rome, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”3
When Jesus said from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”4 He wasn’t speaking in riddles. He wasn’t illustrating a parable. In the most graphic, forthright, and tangible way possible He was making it clear that His death was a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. The message of the cross does not lend itself to speculation. In the end, it is either ridiculed as foolish idealism or believed as the one necessary and complete act of salvation. Many great plans in the history of the world have ended up being all talk and no action. It’s not the case with our Saviour who walked out of the grave defying death’s power. He has been given all power to intercede for His church and to rule it with love.
Our gathering here is a fellowship in that love. Here we share in the holy blessings of God. We do it in reality and in truth. We are real sinners meeting with the living God. Our sins can only be crucified by Him who was crucified for all. We’re not here to discuss theories about parables. We’re in the kingdom of light and truth and hope. Think of the blessings we receive in this place: the forgiveness of sins, heavenly mana, and the strength to live the baptismal life! The action of receiving holy communion is an act of proclamation of the sacrificial work of Christ. The apostle says, “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”5 This meal is not only a remembrance of an event, it is a participation in the life of God. In Christ shadows become substance and parables become reality. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
23 July 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Matthew 13:49
2 Matthew 6:31-33
3 Romans 8:38-39
4 Luke 23:34
5 1 Corinthians 11:27
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost (A) 2017
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Genesis 28:12
Theme: Stairway From Heaven
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The patriarch Jacob “had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”1 The event is recorded by the Holy Spirit through Moses in Genesis. The interpretation comes through Jesus when speaking with Nathanael in John chapter one. “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”21
Now, that would seem to be a very strange thing to say out of the blue. But Nathanael knew the context. He had been looking, searching, waiting, expecting. Philip had just approached him saying, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”3 This Messiah now spoke to him. What does a movement of angels commuting on this Divine conduit between heaven and earth mean? How do angels traverse that threshold? They are not omnipotent. They don’t do it under their own power. They do it under the power and prudence of Christ, in whose authority they joyfully serve.
Jacob saw the preview. Nathanael would see the fulfillment. But Jacob was not thereby deprived of any of the blessings. “When Jacob wake up from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’”4 Note that Jacob did not say, “Surely God is in this place.” For Jacob knew that the omnipresent God, the God’s whose existence permeates everything and everyone was undeniably there. But Jacob said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place.” Yahweh was the personal, covenant name God used with His people. Jacob knew that the God of salvation history was speaking to him. God’s presence everywhere prevents the universe from collapsing. Only God’s presence for you in Christ prevents the disaster of eternal separation.
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” How many come to God’s house still today and leave unaware that God is present! How many undervalue, often quite innocently, the purpose of this gathering! How many mistake it for a consultation with the nurse rather than going into theatre with the surgeon? How many believe it’s like a news briefing (say, of political events) rather than a session of Parliament? How many think it’s like going to a library to brush up on historical events, rather than going to the forum where history is being made? How many mistake it for a civic-like gathering, a support club, rather than understanding we are gathered as the family for the dispensation of the eternal inheritance? How many mistake it for viewing a commercial advertising junk food, instead of having a place at the royal banquet? The house of God is the theatre for heart surgery, the forum of Divine council, the marriage feast with heavenly food.
Dear friends, God IS in this place. But He is not here in a generic way. The Bridegroom meets His bride here. The Father embraces His children with His love here. The Holy Spirit clothes us with the armor of God here. Right here, at this altar, Christ hosts us with His body and blood. In the means of grace- the word, baptism, and holy communion- the events of redemption become and remain contemporaneous for us. As to its efficacy, time has no effect on God’s word. When we are blessed with the forgiveness of sins and the peace of God that gives comfort to our souls, it doesn’t matter if the death and resurrection of Christ happened two millennia ago or two days ago. Time is no barrier. The vibrancy and intensity of God’s compassion does not wane. His passion never diminishes.
At Bethel God made this promise to Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”5 Yahweh would see things through to completion. The certainty that God is faithful in His promise to you is your baptism. Now, of course, the power that makes your baptism anything more than a symbolic ritual is the crucified and risen Jesus. When we doubt whether God is serious about His love for us the Holy Spirit reminds us of the full scope of the biblical witness culminating in Jesus’ sacrifice for us and our promised resurrection to life in heaven. Still, the initial point of reference is our baptism. From that point of entry, we are privy to the fulness of God’s grace.
Life wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Jacob after he encountered God at Bethel. In fact, his life was filled with intrigue, treachery, disobedience, and drama. He was still a sinner and lived among sinners. He died in in Egypt, not in the promised land. Yet, he clung to God’s promise. He believed God was at work in the bigger picture. He knew he was only one cog in the wheel which is the communion of saints down through the ages. He prioritized his life accordingly. He still made foolish, selfish, and unwise decisions. He struggled in repentance and faith. God was still his Deliverer. He knew he was part of the inheritance.
Dear friends, nowhere does God promise our lives will go smoothly either. Nowhere are we pledged a prosperous, stress-free existence if only we obey Him. God doesn’t bless us for being obedient any more than He does unbelievers. Those who follow the law will reap the benefits the law offers. If children honour their parents according to the Fourth Commandment, or spouses cherish each other according to the Sixth Commandment, or people speak truthfully to each other according to the Eighth Commandment, they will generally benefit from these actions. Unbelievers can do this too even without recognizing the authority of God. Yet they still benefit and their ultimate motivation is to benefit themselves. God doesn’t bless us with spiritual treasures because we are faithful. He blesses us because Christ is faithful. We cling in faith to that truth, and then even the worst hardships become blessings in Christ’s name.
The Scripture says, “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph.”6 The story of faith is the story of the church. The church is a remarkable, illogical, miraculous tapestry of lives of faith woven together by the Holy Spirit. It transcends time and space. Whose shoulders did Jacob stand on? His father Isaac, His grandfather Abraham, through the generations to Noah and back to Adam. Still to come were Moses, Elijah, David and Isaiah before the Messiah would make His appearance. And now we have 2000 more years and countless Christians whose lives are part of the weave. Does that mean we stand closer to God? Was Jacob grasping at shadows while we are illumed by the full light of Christ’s presence? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. The proximity of His righteousness never vacillates. But we do see more colour in the tapestry which is the church than Jacob did. Those who come after us will observe even more richness of complexity.
Christ is the stairway from heaven. We don’t need to climb up to Him. We can’t. He comes right down to our level. He stepped onto the ground so the avenue to heaven could be re-opened. He even descended to depths from which we could never return. In the incarnation Jesus descends into our humanity. He takes on flesh. The Creator visits His creation. We receive the Child of Mary in blood, bone and flesh; living, breathing, healing, and absolving. God comes down to His people as He always has. You cannot fall so far that you will not land on Christ. He is deeper than your sin. He is brighter than your darkness. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
23 July 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Genesis 28:12
2 John 1:51
3 John 1:45
4 Genesis 28:16-17
5 Genesis 28:15
6 Hebrews 11:20-11
Text: Genesis 28:12
Theme: Stairway From Heaven
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The patriarch Jacob “had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”1 The event is recorded by the Holy Spirit through Moses in Genesis. The interpretation comes through Jesus when speaking with Nathanael in John chapter one. “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”21
Now, that would seem to be a very strange thing to say out of the blue. But Nathanael knew the context. He had been looking, searching, waiting, expecting. Philip had just approached him saying, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”3 This Messiah now spoke to him. What does a movement of angels commuting on this Divine conduit between heaven and earth mean? How do angels traverse that threshold? They are not omnipotent. They don’t do it under their own power. They do it under the power and prudence of Christ, in whose authority they joyfully serve.
Jacob saw the preview. Nathanael would see the fulfillment. But Jacob was not thereby deprived of any of the blessings. “When Jacob wake up from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’”4 Note that Jacob did not say, “Surely God is in this place.” For Jacob knew that the omnipresent God, the God’s whose existence permeates everything and everyone was undeniably there. But Jacob said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place.” Yahweh was the personal, covenant name God used with His people. Jacob knew that the God of salvation history was speaking to him. God’s presence everywhere prevents the universe from collapsing. Only God’s presence for you in Christ prevents the disaster of eternal separation.
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” How many come to God’s house still today and leave unaware that God is present! How many undervalue, often quite innocently, the purpose of this gathering! How many mistake it for a consultation with the nurse rather than going into theatre with the surgeon? How many believe it’s like a news briefing (say, of political events) rather than a session of Parliament? How many think it’s like going to a library to brush up on historical events, rather than going to the forum where history is being made? How many mistake it for a civic-like gathering, a support club, rather than understanding we are gathered as the family for the dispensation of the eternal inheritance? How many mistake it for viewing a commercial advertising junk food, instead of having a place at the royal banquet? The house of God is the theatre for heart surgery, the forum of Divine council, the marriage feast with heavenly food.
Dear friends, God IS in this place. But He is not here in a generic way. The Bridegroom meets His bride here. The Father embraces His children with His love here. The Holy Spirit clothes us with the armor of God here. Right here, at this altar, Christ hosts us with His body and blood. In the means of grace- the word, baptism, and holy communion- the events of redemption become and remain contemporaneous for us. As to its efficacy, time has no effect on God’s word. When we are blessed with the forgiveness of sins and the peace of God that gives comfort to our souls, it doesn’t matter if the death and resurrection of Christ happened two millennia ago or two days ago. Time is no barrier. The vibrancy and intensity of God’s compassion does not wane. His passion never diminishes.
At Bethel God made this promise to Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”5 Yahweh would see things through to completion. The certainty that God is faithful in His promise to you is your baptism. Now, of course, the power that makes your baptism anything more than a symbolic ritual is the crucified and risen Jesus. When we doubt whether God is serious about His love for us the Holy Spirit reminds us of the full scope of the biblical witness culminating in Jesus’ sacrifice for us and our promised resurrection to life in heaven. Still, the initial point of reference is our baptism. From that point of entry, we are privy to the fulness of God’s grace.
Life wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Jacob after he encountered God at Bethel. In fact, his life was filled with intrigue, treachery, disobedience, and drama. He was still a sinner and lived among sinners. He died in in Egypt, not in the promised land. Yet, he clung to God’s promise. He believed God was at work in the bigger picture. He knew he was only one cog in the wheel which is the communion of saints down through the ages. He prioritized his life accordingly. He still made foolish, selfish, and unwise decisions. He struggled in repentance and faith. God was still his Deliverer. He knew he was part of the inheritance.
Dear friends, nowhere does God promise our lives will go smoothly either. Nowhere are we pledged a prosperous, stress-free existence if only we obey Him. God doesn’t bless us for being obedient any more than He does unbelievers. Those who follow the law will reap the benefits the law offers. If children honour their parents according to the Fourth Commandment, or spouses cherish each other according to the Sixth Commandment, or people speak truthfully to each other according to the Eighth Commandment, they will generally benefit from these actions. Unbelievers can do this too even without recognizing the authority of God. Yet they still benefit and their ultimate motivation is to benefit themselves. God doesn’t bless us with spiritual treasures because we are faithful. He blesses us because Christ is faithful. We cling in faith to that truth, and then even the worst hardships become blessings in Christ’s name.
The Scripture says, “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph.”6 The story of faith is the story of the church. The church is a remarkable, illogical, miraculous tapestry of lives of faith woven together by the Holy Spirit. It transcends time and space. Whose shoulders did Jacob stand on? His father Isaac, His grandfather Abraham, through the generations to Noah and back to Adam. Still to come were Moses, Elijah, David and Isaiah before the Messiah would make His appearance. And now we have 2000 more years and countless Christians whose lives are part of the weave. Does that mean we stand closer to God? Was Jacob grasping at shadows while we are illumed by the full light of Christ’s presence? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. The proximity of His righteousness never vacillates. But we do see more colour in the tapestry which is the church than Jacob did. Those who come after us will observe even more richness of complexity.
Christ is the stairway from heaven. We don’t need to climb up to Him. We can’t. He comes right down to our level. He stepped onto the ground so the avenue to heaven could be re-opened. He even descended to depths from which we could never return. In the incarnation Jesus descends into our humanity. He takes on flesh. The Creator visits His creation. We receive the Child of Mary in blood, bone and flesh; living, breathing, healing, and absolving. God comes down to His people as He always has. You cannot fall so far that you will not land on Christ. He is deeper than your sin. He is brighter than your darkness. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
23 July 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Genesis 28:12
2 John 1:51
3 John 1:45
4 Genesis 28:16-17
5 Genesis 28:15
6 Hebrews 11:20-11
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost (A) 2017
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Romans 8:1-11
Theme: Life In The Spirit
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not the static backdrop of Christian consciousness. Christianity is not a drama now played out on the stage of human achievement with images of a martyred hero forming the backdrop for the set. The events of the atonement are not merely historical points of reference which inform a common interest. The crucified and living Jesus is the active power- the existing authority in the present time- that subdues the nefarious evils of sin and death. Dear friends, believers are not simply enthusiasts of the way of Jesus, we are temples of His living presence. God is not out there. He is right here; present among us and in us through His word and sacraments.
His presence means we are not alone, we are not autonomous, and we are not self-determining. It means our greatest foes are outmatched and our greatest fears will never gain the upper hand. The inspired apostle says today, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”1 Jesus says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”2 Yes, believers are freed from the eternal guilt of sin. But that doesn’t mean we’ve been given license in the meantime. We are freed from the dominance of our own selfishness in the here and now.
The mind set on sinfulness cannot coexist with a heart of faith. Our Scripture says, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”3 No amount of coercion can change that reality. Threats do not change the spiritual attitude of the heart. Fear often achieves conformity. Intimidation can be used to restrict any number of behaviours. But coercion never changes desires or motivations. It can only lead to hopelessness or self-righteousness. A study of a large number of heart by-pass patients found that after 2 years, eight out of nine people still hadn’t changed to a healthier life-style. Even the threat of crippling disability or death did not drive them to change. The truth applies spiritually. The law of God will not change our hearts. It will reveal our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our need. But we go our own stubborn way until the gospel makes intervention into our lives.
And, intervene it has! The crisis of sin was resolved by a singular event, at a specific time, in a precise way: Jesus, the Christ, was crucified on the altar of the cross. In that event of redemption and in nothing else- not in the combined efforts of believers across the centuries, not in the good intentions of individual sinners, not in the tolerance of the Father of transgressions against His holiness, not in the deepest yearning of troubled souls- was the forgiveness of sins secured. Only the shedding of His holy blood reopens the gates to Paradise. At the cross Jesus took possession of our sins. They are His. He stands accountable. Christ has made you an heir of His heavenly kingdom. The certainty of this inheritance is given to you every time the promise of forgiveness rings in your ears. A foretaste is given to you every time the body and blood of Christ is taken upon your lips. At your baptism Christ took jurisdiction over the consequences of your sin and He promises to keep you separated from the punishment those sins have merited forever.
Satan pretends he can offer us an inheritance too. He promises us freedom from God’s tyranny and the liberty to do as we please without consequence. He woos us with the temptation that we can have our cake and eat it too. He deceives us with the idea that we have the ability to manage the effects and consequences of sin. Thus, sin appears to be no real threat and is not pondered until mortality is faced. When Satan tries to get into your head, point him right to the cross and say, “I am baptized!”
The sinful nature is a past identity no longer applicable to our new life in Christ. We are clothed now with His royal robes of righteousness. Our filthy rags have been thrown out. Dear friends, God doesn’t transform our sinfulness, our selfishness into something useful or godly (certainly He does bring good out of sinful circumstances). God doesn’t renovate our sinfulness. He crucifies it. He puts to death evil desires, designs and deeds. The Spirit does this individually within the believer. The struggle against temptation continues while we still draw breath, of course. It is real and the Holy Spirit must lead us in this battle. We are not spared this struggle. We are sanctified through it.
The way of godliness is not a future undertaking but a present exercise. The Bible doesn’t present us with a surreal dichotomy between the physical and spiritual worlds. The heavenly state of bliss is not a platonic idealism, that is., it is not a purely spiritual state of existence. It is not a state of mind. St. Paul is not speaking here of some separation between mind and body, as if, the more enlightened Christians become the less important physical reality becomes. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The spiritual resurrection of the believer now means he or she can now understand the material world from a proper perspective. Christian truth is grounded in realism. It is incarnational. Christ was born of Mary. We are reborn of water and the Spirit. Yes, it involves mystery. We cannot comprehend the Holy Trinity. We cannot grasp the meaning of grace with our reason or senses. We cannot program how the Holy Spirit works. Miracles must be left to God. But remember, miracles are only such from human perspective. From God’s viewpoint, all His works are ordinary exertions expressing His purposeful love.
We live with apparent contradictions; paradoxes. We are sinners, but also saints. We are spiritually resurrected, but the decay of death accompanies our every thought and every move. The Scriptures are clear that there can be no final amalgamation between good and evil, between faith and unbelief, between hatred and love. Darkness cannot coexist with light. The final separation of good and evil, life and death, sin and grace in the collective dimension results in heaven and hell. There will be no eternal mingling between the holy and the profane. Heaven is the gift of the Saviour. Hell is the choice of unbelief. Heaven is an always an inheritance. Hell is always earned. Heaven is always gifted. Hell is always merited. No one earns their way to heaven. No one has hell foisted upon them. God might be doubted, reviled, or ignored. But who else would we want to have charge of the universe? He has taken our death that we may share in His life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
16 July 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 8:1-2
2 John 8:36
3 Romans 8:7-8
Text: Romans 8:1-11
Theme: Life In The Spirit
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not the static backdrop of Christian consciousness. Christianity is not a drama now played out on the stage of human achievement with images of a martyred hero forming the backdrop for the set. The events of the atonement are not merely historical points of reference which inform a common interest. The crucified and living Jesus is the active power- the existing authority in the present time- that subdues the nefarious evils of sin and death. Dear friends, believers are not simply enthusiasts of the way of Jesus, we are temples of His living presence. God is not out there. He is right here; present among us and in us through His word and sacraments.
His presence means we are not alone, we are not autonomous, and we are not self-determining. It means our greatest foes are outmatched and our greatest fears will never gain the upper hand. The inspired apostle says today, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”1 Jesus says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”2 Yes, believers are freed from the eternal guilt of sin. But that doesn’t mean we’ve been given license in the meantime. We are freed from the dominance of our own selfishness in the here and now.
The mind set on sinfulness cannot coexist with a heart of faith. Our Scripture says, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”3 No amount of coercion can change that reality. Threats do not change the spiritual attitude of the heart. Fear often achieves conformity. Intimidation can be used to restrict any number of behaviours. But coercion never changes desires or motivations. It can only lead to hopelessness or self-righteousness. A study of a large number of heart by-pass patients found that after 2 years, eight out of nine people still hadn’t changed to a healthier life-style. Even the threat of crippling disability or death did not drive them to change. The truth applies spiritually. The law of God will not change our hearts. It will reveal our sinfulness, our shortcomings, and our need. But we go our own stubborn way until the gospel makes intervention into our lives.
And, intervene it has! The crisis of sin was resolved by a singular event, at a specific time, in a precise way: Jesus, the Christ, was crucified on the altar of the cross. In that event of redemption and in nothing else- not in the combined efforts of believers across the centuries, not in the good intentions of individual sinners, not in the tolerance of the Father of transgressions against His holiness, not in the deepest yearning of troubled souls- was the forgiveness of sins secured. Only the shedding of His holy blood reopens the gates to Paradise. At the cross Jesus took possession of our sins. They are His. He stands accountable. Christ has made you an heir of His heavenly kingdom. The certainty of this inheritance is given to you every time the promise of forgiveness rings in your ears. A foretaste is given to you every time the body and blood of Christ is taken upon your lips. At your baptism Christ took jurisdiction over the consequences of your sin and He promises to keep you separated from the punishment those sins have merited forever.
Satan pretends he can offer us an inheritance too. He promises us freedom from God’s tyranny and the liberty to do as we please without consequence. He woos us with the temptation that we can have our cake and eat it too. He deceives us with the idea that we have the ability to manage the effects and consequences of sin. Thus, sin appears to be no real threat and is not pondered until mortality is faced. When Satan tries to get into your head, point him right to the cross and say, “I am baptized!”
The sinful nature is a past identity no longer applicable to our new life in Christ. We are clothed now with His royal robes of righteousness. Our filthy rags have been thrown out. Dear friends, God doesn’t transform our sinfulness, our selfishness into something useful or godly (certainly He does bring good out of sinful circumstances). God doesn’t renovate our sinfulness. He crucifies it. He puts to death evil desires, designs and deeds. The Spirit does this individually within the believer. The struggle against temptation continues while we still draw breath, of course. It is real and the Holy Spirit must lead us in this battle. We are not spared this struggle. We are sanctified through it.
The way of godliness is not a future undertaking but a present exercise. The Bible doesn’t present us with a surreal dichotomy between the physical and spiritual worlds. The heavenly state of bliss is not a platonic idealism, that is., it is not a purely spiritual state of existence. It is not a state of mind. St. Paul is not speaking here of some separation between mind and body, as if, the more enlightened Christians become the less important physical reality becomes. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The spiritual resurrection of the believer now means he or she can now understand the material world from a proper perspective. Christian truth is grounded in realism. It is incarnational. Christ was born of Mary. We are reborn of water and the Spirit. Yes, it involves mystery. We cannot comprehend the Holy Trinity. We cannot grasp the meaning of grace with our reason or senses. We cannot program how the Holy Spirit works. Miracles must be left to God. But remember, miracles are only such from human perspective. From God’s viewpoint, all His works are ordinary exertions expressing His purposeful love.
We live with apparent contradictions; paradoxes. We are sinners, but also saints. We are spiritually resurrected, but the decay of death accompanies our every thought and every move. The Scriptures are clear that there can be no final amalgamation between good and evil, between faith and unbelief, between hatred and love. Darkness cannot coexist with light. The final separation of good and evil, life and death, sin and grace in the collective dimension results in heaven and hell. There will be no eternal mingling between the holy and the profane. Heaven is the gift of the Saviour. Hell is the choice of unbelief. Heaven is an always an inheritance. Hell is always earned. Heaven is always gifted. Hell is always merited. No one earns their way to heaven. No one has hell foisted upon them. God might be doubted, reviled, or ignored. But who else would we want to have charge of the universe? He has taken our death that we may share in His life. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
16 July 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Romans 8:1-2
2 John 8:36
3 Romans 8:7-8
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