+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 13:10
Theme: “You Are Clean”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
It’s natural that Jesus chose the celebration of the Passover meal to institute Holy Communion. The annual Passover celebration commemorated God’s deliverance of His people from bondage in Egypt. It is a primary image of redemption in the Old Testament. The blood of lambs on the doorposts of Israelite houses spared them from the punishment against the firstborn rendered on the Egyptians. God is long-suffering, but He doesn’t allow evil to prevail. The lamb’s blood wasn’t magical, of course, it was a sign. Those who dwelled within were God’s people. Their faith resided in Him. The slaughtered lambs pointed to a greater sacrifice to come.
So, it was natural for Jesus to choose the Passover. What’s not natural is the reality He instituted. The Lord’s Supper is supernatural in its very essence. The common elements of bread and wine are present, yet these are just vehicles for Christ’s body and blood. His true body and blood are present in a mystical way and we receive them through sacramental eating. There is nothing ordinary about this meal. It has no peers. There are no direct points of comparison. It involves an internalization of the sacrificial work of Christ. And, as the saying goes, you are what you eat.
It may seem obligatory on Maundy Thursday to say that the Lord’s Supper is the most important meal that anyone can ever receive. But that doesn’t make it any less true. It is the only meal that nourishes the soul as well as the body. It is the only meal that communicates divine forgiveness. These truths must be taken on faith. They can never be proven. When we receive the Lord’s Supper, we are eating the promises of God. We participate together in His holy blessings and are galvanized as His people.
Holy Communion is a concession to the frailty of our faith. We are natural doubters. Like Thomas, we prefer to touch and feel before we believe. In so doing, we are desiring evidence before surrendering trust. In the Sacrament of the Altar the tongue and the teeth come into contact with the surrendered body and poured out blood of the Lord. It is tangible to our senses, but not immediately measurable by our souls. (Who can quantify the increase of his or her faith that is a result of receiving Holy Communion?) But God’s holy gifts do not fail to have their effects. Holy Communion, when received in good faith, always benefits the recipient even when its value isn’t immediately evident.
Conversely, those who partake of the sacrament unworthily incur the judgment of God according to the Scripture, “Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”1 So, how do we prepare properly to receive Holy Communion? What is the benchmark? What is the standard? Intentional efforts to deny or cover up our sins make us unfit to receive this blessing. We can’t pull the wool over God’s eyes. We can’t pick and choose which of our transgressions we think need forgiving. People who are in steadfast denial of sin are not ready to receive forgiveness. They are not seeking it. They are, in fact, saying they don’t need it. The Lord’s Supper then becomes a confirmation of their impenitence.
Christians have adopted many fine customs over the centuries to aide in preparation for proper reception of the sacrament. They include, fasting, self-denial, charitable giving, special meditation, and self-examination involving reviewing one’s status before God. Luther drew up a set of questions, some of which we used earlier in the service, for just this purpose. But the critical issue is expressed by Luther in the Small Catechism when he says, “That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’”2 Take God at His word. Don’t question whether your transgressions are beyond the pale of His forgiveness. He died and rose again for you. He cleanses your soul, just as He said to His disciples in the Passover account tonight.
Holy Communion also has important implications on the horizontal level. It is not a private matter between us and God. It empowers our bearing of one another’s burdens, of loving others as Christ loved us. At the Last Supper Jesus models humility in the washing of the disciples’ feet. It was a menial task. It certainly didn’t fall under the job description of a Rabbi. But Jesus wasn’t just a Rabbi; He is the Son of God. He says, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet.”3 In your acts of service, you’re not only a spouse or parent, a child, a boss, or a worker, you’re a servant of the Servant King. You’re an envoy of the Sovereign of the universe. When we understand that, our whole outlook on how we relate to others is transformed.
Dear friends, it’s no coincidence that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper in the context of His passion. It’s not an ordinary meal where we recline at the table with Jesus as the disciples did many times during their tutelage. The apostle says, “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”4 Our Lord is now only hours from His crucifixion. On the cross forgiveness, life, and salvation were secured. He invites you to receive the blessings He procured there. You are God’s own, His baptized. He welcomes you to His table. There He promises, “You are clean.”5 according to the Scripture that says, “The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”6 In His most holy name, Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Maundy Thursday
18 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Corinthians 11:27-28
2 Luther’s Small Catechism
3 John 13:14
4 1 Corinthians 11:26
5 John 13:10
6 1 John 1:9
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Palm Sunday (C) 2019
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 19:37
Theme: High Hopes
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Emperors and victorious generals rode on stallions. Jesus rode on a donkey. Yet here, in this relatively insignificant corner of the empire “the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords”1 was about to commence the inauguration of His kingdom. From human perspective it seemed a very unlikely undertaking. Was this how the Father’s plan of redeeming humanity would come to fruition? Would God confront evil with such an implausible scheme? Yet, the One riding on a beast of burden “…is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.”2 Veiled in humility the King of majesty rode on. He rode on to sacrifice, to death, to the achievement of our salvation.
Clothed in human flesh, the immortal God was greeted by an eager and desperate group of Messiah-seekers. They were inflated with hope but incumbered with misinterpretation. They waved palm branches. They spread their cloaks on the road to adorn His way. They cried, “Hosanna”, Lord, save, on His descent from the Mount of Olives. By the end of the week most were fully disillusioned. They shouted “Crucify” before His ascent up the hill of Calvary. Some opposed Him from the start. “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you, He replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’”3
Jesus seems to be using a proverbial saying. Even if the people present are prevented from acclaiming Jesus as the Messiah- stones, inanimate objects, will cry out and announce Him. Here Jesus rejoins the rebuke of the Pharisees with one of His own. The term ‘stones’ was often used as a jaundiced reference to the Gentiles. Jesus was warning the Jewish leaders that if they reject His Messiahship, they will soon find that the Gentiles were embracing Him. Exactly that happened in the early church. It happens today when the gospel falls on deaf ears and hardened hearts. Like a passing shower of rain, Luther says, the Spirit moves on.
Dear friends, Palm Sunday meant that the claims, teachings, and mission of Christ were soon to be tested. The time of preparation and prophecy was over. Palm Sunday was mistakenly thought by many to be the beginning of freedom from the Roman occupation of Judea. They welcomed their political and nationalistic Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. They were soon disillusioned and bitterly disappointed. Instead, Palm Sunday was the beginning of the true Messiah’s accomplishment of much more important things. A much more sinister occupation was overthrown; the occupation of this realm by Satan’s supremacy. His supremacy is always accompanied by the prevalence of discord, and finally the triumph of death. As Christ enters Jerusalem the devil knows that his own time is short. He works furiously and viciously to still sidetrack Jesus from the road to Calvary. His efforts were in vain. Jesus would be sacrificed on the altar of the cross and God’s just wrath against sin would be appeased.
It's hard to imagine what was going through the hearts and minds of Jesus’ followers as they rode the emotional rollercoaster that was holy week. Common wisdom says that we should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We don’t like to be disappointed. We fear that may happen if our hopes are set too high. It can be difficult for both optimists and pessimists to be realists. Striking the balance is an art, not a science. Your optimism or pessimism can also be greatly affected by your worldview. One person’s cause for celebration is another person’s reason for disgust. Divisive issues in society currently provide vivid examples. Convictions about homosexuality, gender identity, abortion, and euthanasia are high-profile instances. It takes passion and perseverance to maintain hope when it seems like the reality will never be reached. We pray that the Spirit would give us exactly such perseverance and devotion regarding our faith.
Truly, our hopes in the Messiah cannot be too high. The One riding on a donkey now rules at the right hand of God. What appeared to be abject failure- His execution as a criminal- turns out to be the salvation of the world! No wonder St. Paul ends Ephesians 3 with this doxology, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…”4 Dear friends, we cannot ask too much of Him. We can ask foolishly. We can ask selfishly. We can ask ignorantly. All of which we are prone to do all too frequently. Our best requests are still tainted with sin. “Our righteous acts are like filthy rags,”5 says Isaiah. We pray that the Spirit would give us the repentance, the wisdom, strength, and discipline to avoid such petitioning.
Still, nothing is impossible for Him. You cannot dream bigger than He can deliver. Luke says today, “…the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.”6 Do you think God can perform miracles in your life? He already has. He rescued you from the darkness of unbelief and brought you to faith. Can He do, will He do, has He done other miracles in your life? Dear friends, you cannot even conceive of anything so grand that God could not bring it to pass.
Think only of His ultimate promise. Do you think heaven will be substandard? Do you think being resurrected in a glorified body will be a pedestrian experience? Do you believe that being permanently relieved of all fear, anxiety, worry, and care is only of minor significance? Do you think being freed from all guilt, shame, sin, and condemnation will be an uninspiring situation? Do you think the elimination of all war, bloodshed, hunger, trauma and trial is not something to eagerly look forward too?
Let’s banish the notion that the resolution of our mortality- our transformation into unending vitality- will be in any measure mundane or insipid. The Spirit says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”7 The Scripture says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”8 Baptized into His death and resurrection we are joined to His immortal life. Sin cannot finally prevail over us. When you assemble before His altar to receive His sacrificed body and life-giving blood, let your hearts be filled with hosannas. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”9 He doesn’t just pass through. He’s still here! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Palm Sunday
14 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Timothy 6:15
2 Daniel 6:26
3 Luke 19:39-40
4 Ephesians 3:20
5 Isaiah 64:6
6 Luke 19:37
7 1 Corinthians 2:9
8 1 John 3:1
9 Luke 19:38
Text: Luke 19:37
Theme: High Hopes
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
Emperors and victorious generals rode on stallions. Jesus rode on a donkey. Yet here, in this relatively insignificant corner of the empire “the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords”1 was about to commence the inauguration of His kingdom. From human perspective it seemed a very unlikely undertaking. Was this how the Father’s plan of redeeming humanity would come to fruition? Would God confront evil with such an implausible scheme? Yet, the One riding on a beast of burden “…is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.”2 Veiled in humility the King of majesty rode on. He rode on to sacrifice, to death, to the achievement of our salvation.
Clothed in human flesh, the immortal God was greeted by an eager and desperate group of Messiah-seekers. They were inflated with hope but incumbered with misinterpretation. They waved palm branches. They spread their cloaks on the road to adorn His way. They cried, “Hosanna”, Lord, save, on His descent from the Mount of Olives. By the end of the week most were fully disillusioned. They shouted “Crucify” before His ascent up the hill of Calvary. Some opposed Him from the start. “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you, He replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’”3
Jesus seems to be using a proverbial saying. Even if the people present are prevented from acclaiming Jesus as the Messiah- stones, inanimate objects, will cry out and announce Him. Here Jesus rejoins the rebuke of the Pharisees with one of His own. The term ‘stones’ was often used as a jaundiced reference to the Gentiles. Jesus was warning the Jewish leaders that if they reject His Messiahship, they will soon find that the Gentiles were embracing Him. Exactly that happened in the early church. It happens today when the gospel falls on deaf ears and hardened hearts. Like a passing shower of rain, Luther says, the Spirit moves on.
Dear friends, Palm Sunday meant that the claims, teachings, and mission of Christ were soon to be tested. The time of preparation and prophecy was over. Palm Sunday was mistakenly thought by many to be the beginning of freedom from the Roman occupation of Judea. They welcomed their political and nationalistic Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. They were soon disillusioned and bitterly disappointed. Instead, Palm Sunday was the beginning of the true Messiah’s accomplishment of much more important things. A much more sinister occupation was overthrown; the occupation of this realm by Satan’s supremacy. His supremacy is always accompanied by the prevalence of discord, and finally the triumph of death. As Christ enters Jerusalem the devil knows that his own time is short. He works furiously and viciously to still sidetrack Jesus from the road to Calvary. His efforts were in vain. Jesus would be sacrificed on the altar of the cross and God’s just wrath against sin would be appeased.
It's hard to imagine what was going through the hearts and minds of Jesus’ followers as they rode the emotional rollercoaster that was holy week. Common wisdom says that we should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We don’t like to be disappointed. We fear that may happen if our hopes are set too high. It can be difficult for both optimists and pessimists to be realists. Striking the balance is an art, not a science. Your optimism or pessimism can also be greatly affected by your worldview. One person’s cause for celebration is another person’s reason for disgust. Divisive issues in society currently provide vivid examples. Convictions about homosexuality, gender identity, abortion, and euthanasia are high-profile instances. It takes passion and perseverance to maintain hope when it seems like the reality will never be reached. We pray that the Spirit would give us exactly such perseverance and devotion regarding our faith.
Truly, our hopes in the Messiah cannot be too high. The One riding on a donkey now rules at the right hand of God. What appeared to be abject failure- His execution as a criminal- turns out to be the salvation of the world! No wonder St. Paul ends Ephesians 3 with this doxology, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…”4 Dear friends, we cannot ask too much of Him. We can ask foolishly. We can ask selfishly. We can ask ignorantly. All of which we are prone to do all too frequently. Our best requests are still tainted with sin. “Our righteous acts are like filthy rags,”5 says Isaiah. We pray that the Spirit would give us the repentance, the wisdom, strength, and discipline to avoid such petitioning.
Still, nothing is impossible for Him. You cannot dream bigger than He can deliver. Luke says today, “…the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.”6 Do you think God can perform miracles in your life? He already has. He rescued you from the darkness of unbelief and brought you to faith. Can He do, will He do, has He done other miracles in your life? Dear friends, you cannot even conceive of anything so grand that God could not bring it to pass.
Think only of His ultimate promise. Do you think heaven will be substandard? Do you think being resurrected in a glorified body will be a pedestrian experience? Do you believe that being permanently relieved of all fear, anxiety, worry, and care is only of minor significance? Do you think being freed from all guilt, shame, sin, and condemnation will be an uninspiring situation? Do you think the elimination of all war, bloodshed, hunger, trauma and trial is not something to eagerly look forward too?
Let’s banish the notion that the resolution of our mortality- our transformation into unending vitality- will be in any measure mundane or insipid. The Spirit says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”7 The Scripture says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”8 Baptized into His death and resurrection we are joined to His immortal life. Sin cannot finally prevail over us. When you assemble before His altar to receive His sacrificed body and life-giving blood, let your hearts be filled with hosannas. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”9 He doesn’t just pass through. He’s still here! Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Palm Sunday
14 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 1 Timothy 6:15
2 Daniel 6:26
3 Luke 19:39-40
4 Ephesians 3:20
5 Isaiah 64:6
6 Luke 19:37
7 1 Corinthians 2:9
8 1 John 3:1
9 Luke 19:38
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Midweek Lent (3) 2019
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 23:35
Theme: “Let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God.”
Dear followers to the cross,
The crucifixion obliterates the idea that we can domesticate God. Maybe that truth is not of immediate interest to you? Perhaps some of you are still trying to domesticate your spouse, your children, your grand-children, your in-laws, or your colleagues? Pace yourself. The task requires divine wisdom and intervention. Maybe you’re not aware that the crucifixion was such a radical event? It is antithetical to every human construction of the definition of God. I can almost hear some of you saying, “Okay… should I be interested in or concerned about this?” You see, this fellowship you’re part of, called Christianity, far from being the most normal and expected thing (a reputation gained because of its influence and sheer number of worldwide followers, yet, remember that at His Second Coming Christ will find very few believers left on earth)- this fellowship is actually one of the most unlikely scenarios imaginable. We worship a particular Man, whom we identify as God, who didn’t save Himself from the cross!
The desirability of domestication is easy enough to understand. After all, God commanded Adam and Eve to domesticate the earth. He said, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.”1 Since the fall into sin, the execution of that command has been highly problematic. The humanistic challenge to God’s decree has brought the matter into high relief. A widening ideological divide about the unique place of humanity in the cosmic order is being tested. Trust placed in ecological solutions, is again, as it has in the past, ascending to the status of religious devotion. Many ancient cultures venerated the sun, moon, and stars, and revered the fertility of the earth. Modern cults are reviving these practices and convictions. And, more and more, society’s hope is pinned on saving ‘mother earth’. Christians, of all people, should understand why we would want to properly care for the environment.
Of greatest concern though, is the fact that people are spiritually feral (which is also the source of demonstrable lawlessness) and we can’t turn the equation around in an effort to subdue God. God cannot be broken of habits we’re not fond of. If we’re annoyed by God’s apparent habit of being conspicuously absent when we want Him to be present; or being right there in our faces (think of your conscience) when we’d prefer that He keep His distance, then we’d better stop and assess our expectations and our assumptions. Perhaps we have consistently and cleverly ignored or dismissed those revelations of Scripture that describe His character? Maybe we’re acting in ignorance or defiance?
God is untamed and free. He is sovereign. The cross appeared to conquer Him, but the third day proved who the victor really was. Dear friends, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were not slight-of-hand stunts. They were not well-choreographed magician’s tricks. They were not special, but limited, loans of God’s power- continuations of prophetic ministry. God Himself suffered on the tree. He didn’t cheat death, He didn’t side-step it. He didn’t plea-bargain or negotiate with it. He walked right over death crushing its potency.
The work of atonement is completed on the cross. Jesus didn’t come down. When Jesus breathes His last and gives up His Spirit, the labor of satisfying the divine wrath over sin is finished. Calling it work is a considerable understatement. It was brutal. It was an endeavor of colossal proportions. Everything that really matters was on the line; the integrity of the Father, the faithfulness of the Son, the jurisdiction of Satan, the inevitability of hell, the eternal future of humanity. I suppose one could hyperbolize it to the point of making it appear like propaganda. (Perhaps this is one of the transgressions Christianity is struggling to cope with? Perhaps fanciful depictions of the divine drama have undermined the credibility of the gospel?)
Still, the magnitude of importance for this central mystery of the faith can hardly be given too much attention. Christians believe that in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the hegemony of death- a reality so far-reaching as to be universally feared and acknowledged, a crisis so insurmountable as to defy every human effort to mitigate it- has been broken. Believers have been released from its power. The Scripture says, “He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”2
Now, dear friends, that doesn’t mean even faithful Christians aren’t still afraid of dying. Satan is desperate to keep up his façade of authority. He is wily and our hearts are spectacularly vulnerable to deception. The devil knows just as well how to coddle us with false hope and glory, as he does strike fear and trepidation into us. Regarding our mortality he massages us with false notions that we can comfortably die basking in the accomplishments our legacies. He seeks to convince us that all of our fond memories, and the knowledge of our positive contributions to the world will suffice to mitigate the terror of death. In short, we can die peacefully because we’re basically good people who have lived good lives.
If that statement proves to be unsettling, you can be certain the Holy Spirit is busily at work redirecting your soul to the only true source of peace. If that statement fills you with comfort, be warned that you have dispossessed yourself of the grace of God. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”3 God is untamed and free, but He is absolutely, unequivocally, and unreservedly bound to His promise of immeasurable mercy towards penitent sinners. He will not forsake you. He will not disown you. The crucifixion is the only proof you need. You are baptized into this mystery and nourished by it at His table.
And, you are freed, by this truth, to completely expend your passion, love and energy on others. You are freed to have a completely transformed perspective on the meaning of your life. The hecklers said about the Messiah hanging on the cross, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”4 “Come down from the cross if You are the Son of God.”5Jesus did not come down from the cross. He could not be domesticated. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lent 5
10 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Genesis 1:28
2 Hebrews 2:14-15
3 Luke 5:32
4 Luke 23:35
5 Matthew 27:40
Text: Luke 23:35
Theme: “Let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God.”
Dear followers to the cross,
The crucifixion obliterates the idea that we can domesticate God. Maybe that truth is not of immediate interest to you? Perhaps some of you are still trying to domesticate your spouse, your children, your grand-children, your in-laws, or your colleagues? Pace yourself. The task requires divine wisdom and intervention. Maybe you’re not aware that the crucifixion was such a radical event? It is antithetical to every human construction of the definition of God. I can almost hear some of you saying, “Okay… should I be interested in or concerned about this?” You see, this fellowship you’re part of, called Christianity, far from being the most normal and expected thing (a reputation gained because of its influence and sheer number of worldwide followers, yet, remember that at His Second Coming Christ will find very few believers left on earth)- this fellowship is actually one of the most unlikely scenarios imaginable. We worship a particular Man, whom we identify as God, who didn’t save Himself from the cross!
The desirability of domestication is easy enough to understand. After all, God commanded Adam and Eve to domesticate the earth. He said, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.”1 Since the fall into sin, the execution of that command has been highly problematic. The humanistic challenge to God’s decree has brought the matter into high relief. A widening ideological divide about the unique place of humanity in the cosmic order is being tested. Trust placed in ecological solutions, is again, as it has in the past, ascending to the status of religious devotion. Many ancient cultures venerated the sun, moon, and stars, and revered the fertility of the earth. Modern cults are reviving these practices and convictions. And, more and more, society’s hope is pinned on saving ‘mother earth’. Christians, of all people, should understand why we would want to properly care for the environment.
Of greatest concern though, is the fact that people are spiritually feral (which is also the source of demonstrable lawlessness) and we can’t turn the equation around in an effort to subdue God. God cannot be broken of habits we’re not fond of. If we’re annoyed by God’s apparent habit of being conspicuously absent when we want Him to be present; or being right there in our faces (think of your conscience) when we’d prefer that He keep His distance, then we’d better stop and assess our expectations and our assumptions. Perhaps we have consistently and cleverly ignored or dismissed those revelations of Scripture that describe His character? Maybe we’re acting in ignorance or defiance?
God is untamed and free. He is sovereign. The cross appeared to conquer Him, but the third day proved who the victor really was. Dear friends, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus were not slight-of-hand stunts. They were not well-choreographed magician’s tricks. They were not special, but limited, loans of God’s power- continuations of prophetic ministry. God Himself suffered on the tree. He didn’t cheat death, He didn’t side-step it. He didn’t plea-bargain or negotiate with it. He walked right over death crushing its potency.
The work of atonement is completed on the cross. Jesus didn’t come down. When Jesus breathes His last and gives up His Spirit, the labor of satisfying the divine wrath over sin is finished. Calling it work is a considerable understatement. It was brutal. It was an endeavor of colossal proportions. Everything that really matters was on the line; the integrity of the Father, the faithfulness of the Son, the jurisdiction of Satan, the inevitability of hell, the eternal future of humanity. I suppose one could hyperbolize it to the point of making it appear like propaganda. (Perhaps this is one of the transgressions Christianity is struggling to cope with? Perhaps fanciful depictions of the divine drama have undermined the credibility of the gospel?)
Still, the magnitude of importance for this central mystery of the faith can hardly be given too much attention. Christians believe that in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the hegemony of death- a reality so far-reaching as to be universally feared and acknowledged, a crisis so insurmountable as to defy every human effort to mitigate it- has been broken. Believers have been released from its power. The Scripture says, “He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”2
Now, dear friends, that doesn’t mean even faithful Christians aren’t still afraid of dying. Satan is desperate to keep up his façade of authority. He is wily and our hearts are spectacularly vulnerable to deception. The devil knows just as well how to coddle us with false hope and glory, as he does strike fear and trepidation into us. Regarding our mortality he massages us with false notions that we can comfortably die basking in the accomplishments our legacies. He seeks to convince us that all of our fond memories, and the knowledge of our positive contributions to the world will suffice to mitigate the terror of death. In short, we can die peacefully because we’re basically good people who have lived good lives.
If that statement proves to be unsettling, you can be certain the Holy Spirit is busily at work redirecting your soul to the only true source of peace. If that statement fills you with comfort, be warned that you have dispossessed yourself of the grace of God. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”3 God is untamed and free, but He is absolutely, unequivocally, and unreservedly bound to His promise of immeasurable mercy towards penitent sinners. He will not forsake you. He will not disown you. The crucifixion is the only proof you need. You are baptized into this mystery and nourished by it at His table.
And, you are freed, by this truth, to completely expend your passion, love and energy on others. You are freed to have a completely transformed perspective on the meaning of your life. The hecklers said about the Messiah hanging on the cross, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”4 “Come down from the cross if You are the Son of God.”5Jesus did not come down from the cross. He could not be domesticated. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lent 5
10 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Genesis 1:28
2 Hebrews 2:14-15
3 Luke 5:32
4 Luke 23:35
5 Matthew 27:40
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Fifth Sunday In Lent (C) 2019
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: John 12:7
Theme: “For the Day of My Burial”
Dear followers to the cross,
Jesus had friends other than the Twelve. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were among His closest. They lived at Bethany, only a mile and a half from Jerusalem. It was the last place Jesus visited before His trial and crucifixion in the holy city. They met at the home of a man named Simon the Leper1 where a dinner was being given in Jesus’ honour. The disciples and other followers were also present. During the evening Mary opened a jar of very expensive perfume, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. It was a striking and memorable act of devotion. It was also the cause of contention and a teaching opportunity for Jesus.
One of the protesters of this act was Jesus’ own disciple, Judas. The treachery of Judas was not yet public knowledge at this point. Here we are given insight into his character. Judas’s concern for the poor is only contrived. He is greedy. He had established himself as the treasurer of the group, but he had been embezzling the funds. Jesus does not use this as an opportunity to expose him. Judas will condemn himself in due time. Instead, Jesus brings the focus back to Mary’s act of affection. He connects the expensive perfume she was using with His burial. She was anointing His body now, something the circumstances would not permit at the time of His death. More on that in a moment.
First, consider, dear friends, that as was the case with Judas, the God of forbearance maybe foregoing an opportunity to expose your guilt. Maybe He has already done this many times- and, unbeknownst to you. Do we not take for granted His patience with our sinful attitudes and actions? I am certainly guilty of that. Contemplate your opportunity for repentance. We should never put the Lord to the test. Contrition is never premature. Humbleness is never ill-timed. Modesty is never incongruent with the character the Spirit seeks to foster within us. Cries for mercy never fall on deaf ears. Grace is never withheld. God is bubbling over with compassion.
Jesus makes a point of connecting Mary’s anointing of His feet with His upcoming burial. It would have been remarkable for the others to hear, and undoubtedly made the occasion more poignant. Sometimes the present must be understood in terms of the future. You too, dear friends, have already been anointed for burial. It happened at your baptism. It happened when the life-giving waters of the Spirit washed over your soul. It happened when you were promised an eternal inheritance. It’s not morbid or macabre to think in these terms.
Our temporal lives are lived under the burden of mortality. With fragile frames and finite capacities, we must negotiate the challenges of this existence. We bear the weight of brokenness. We navigate the demands of illness. We manage the threat of uncertainty. We pray that our joys will outnumber our hardships. We have no guarantees. Placed before us and within us are promises and blessings too profound for us to comprehend. We must be gifted with faith to enjoy even a hint of the holy treasures God has prepared for us. We peer with strained eye through the window to these mysteries until the day we “see Him as He is”2 Believers, of course, have already experienced one resurrection. The Holy Spirit resurrects from the sleep of death those who lived in spiritual morbidity. The Spirit does this through the gospel. It is our new birth. Yet, we await the resurrection and that great and glorious day when these physical frames will also be clothed with immortal life.
Mary’s was a unique and unusual act of devotion. It can’t be repeated. Yet, dear friends, there is not a single believer, acting in faith, that God doesn’t use for the benefit of His kingdom. There is no act of charity, no thoughtful gesture, no caring word, no deed of kindness, no expression of love, that is so insignificant that God would deem it unimportant. Never underestimate the impact you may have on others. Perhaps you can’t see the evidence directly, or maybe you’re blind to it. The Spirit facilitates such situations to maintain our humility. He knows the sinful nature is looking for praise. (How many so-called acts of kindness and ‘expressions of love’ are actually done because the one doing them is seeking glory! Thereby, they become detrimental to the faith of the one doing them)
Yet, we can love selflessly, worrying neither about recognition nor exhausting our resources, because Christ meets all of our needs. Our glory is located only in Him and to search for it anywhere else ends only in shame. But the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”3 Our trust is expressed in action- in the mindset we have about life and relating to others. Perhaps during this season of Lent, or Easter, you’ll consider with fresh perspective what a privilege it is to be His child? The apostle Paul gives us inspiration when he says, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”4
The final leg of Jesus’ journey is not far off now. Three years of public ministry are coming to completion. The goal is within reach. It’s been an exhausting time. Fame and notoriety meant that the crowds were always thronged around Him. Solitude had to be strictly guarded. Regular clashes with Jewish religious rulers demanded His time and attention. The Twelve needed constant mentoring and were often dull of heart and weak in faith. Satan was always lurking, looking for his opportunity. He had taught in their synagogues, preached in their villages, healed their sick, raised their dead, forgiven their sins. He left little doubt that in His person the kingdom of God had come near.
Now the final sprint to Calvary is in the immediate foreground. It will be a strenuous stretch of hours ahead. Loyalty will be tested. Trust will be broken. Regret will be exhibited. In the hours ahead Christ will suffer betrayal, slander, mockery, torture, abandonment, and finally, death. Hope will hang by a thread. Truth will be balanced on a knife’s edge. The world will hold its breath. But Life does prevail. Christ triumphs. He does so through sacrifice. In Him we have more than a friend, more than a Brother, we have a Saviour. And just as He visited the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, so He says to all believers, “My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”5 Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday in Lent
7 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See Matthew 26:6
2 John 3:2
3 Romans 10:11
4 Philippians 3:8-9
5 John 14:23
Text: John 12:7
Theme: “For the Day of My Burial”
Dear followers to the cross,
Jesus had friends other than the Twelve. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were among His closest. They lived at Bethany, only a mile and a half from Jerusalem. It was the last place Jesus visited before His trial and crucifixion in the holy city. They met at the home of a man named Simon the Leper1 where a dinner was being given in Jesus’ honour. The disciples and other followers were also present. During the evening Mary opened a jar of very expensive perfume, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. It was a striking and memorable act of devotion. It was also the cause of contention and a teaching opportunity for Jesus.
One of the protesters of this act was Jesus’ own disciple, Judas. The treachery of Judas was not yet public knowledge at this point. Here we are given insight into his character. Judas’s concern for the poor is only contrived. He is greedy. He had established himself as the treasurer of the group, but he had been embezzling the funds. Jesus does not use this as an opportunity to expose him. Judas will condemn himself in due time. Instead, Jesus brings the focus back to Mary’s act of affection. He connects the expensive perfume she was using with His burial. She was anointing His body now, something the circumstances would not permit at the time of His death. More on that in a moment.
First, consider, dear friends, that as was the case with Judas, the God of forbearance maybe foregoing an opportunity to expose your guilt. Maybe He has already done this many times- and, unbeknownst to you. Do we not take for granted His patience with our sinful attitudes and actions? I am certainly guilty of that. Contemplate your opportunity for repentance. We should never put the Lord to the test. Contrition is never premature. Humbleness is never ill-timed. Modesty is never incongruent with the character the Spirit seeks to foster within us. Cries for mercy never fall on deaf ears. Grace is never withheld. God is bubbling over with compassion.
Jesus makes a point of connecting Mary’s anointing of His feet with His upcoming burial. It would have been remarkable for the others to hear, and undoubtedly made the occasion more poignant. Sometimes the present must be understood in terms of the future. You too, dear friends, have already been anointed for burial. It happened at your baptism. It happened when the life-giving waters of the Spirit washed over your soul. It happened when you were promised an eternal inheritance. It’s not morbid or macabre to think in these terms.
Our temporal lives are lived under the burden of mortality. With fragile frames and finite capacities, we must negotiate the challenges of this existence. We bear the weight of brokenness. We navigate the demands of illness. We manage the threat of uncertainty. We pray that our joys will outnumber our hardships. We have no guarantees. Placed before us and within us are promises and blessings too profound for us to comprehend. We must be gifted with faith to enjoy even a hint of the holy treasures God has prepared for us. We peer with strained eye through the window to these mysteries until the day we “see Him as He is”2 Believers, of course, have already experienced one resurrection. The Holy Spirit resurrects from the sleep of death those who lived in spiritual morbidity. The Spirit does this through the gospel. It is our new birth. Yet, we await the resurrection and that great and glorious day when these physical frames will also be clothed with immortal life.
Mary’s was a unique and unusual act of devotion. It can’t be repeated. Yet, dear friends, there is not a single believer, acting in faith, that God doesn’t use for the benefit of His kingdom. There is no act of charity, no thoughtful gesture, no caring word, no deed of kindness, no expression of love, that is so insignificant that God would deem it unimportant. Never underestimate the impact you may have on others. Perhaps you can’t see the evidence directly, or maybe you’re blind to it. The Spirit facilitates such situations to maintain our humility. He knows the sinful nature is looking for praise. (How many so-called acts of kindness and ‘expressions of love’ are actually done because the one doing them is seeking glory! Thereby, they become detrimental to the faith of the one doing them)
Yet, we can love selflessly, worrying neither about recognition nor exhausting our resources, because Christ meets all of our needs. Our glory is located only in Him and to search for it anywhere else ends only in shame. But the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”3 Our trust is expressed in action- in the mindset we have about life and relating to others. Perhaps during this season of Lent, or Easter, you’ll consider with fresh perspective what a privilege it is to be His child? The apostle Paul gives us inspiration when he says, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”4
The final leg of Jesus’ journey is not far off now. Three years of public ministry are coming to completion. The goal is within reach. It’s been an exhausting time. Fame and notoriety meant that the crowds were always thronged around Him. Solitude had to be strictly guarded. Regular clashes with Jewish religious rulers demanded His time and attention. The Twelve needed constant mentoring and were often dull of heart and weak in faith. Satan was always lurking, looking for his opportunity. He had taught in their synagogues, preached in their villages, healed their sick, raised their dead, forgiven their sins. He left little doubt that in His person the kingdom of God had come near.
Now the final sprint to Calvary is in the immediate foreground. It will be a strenuous stretch of hours ahead. Loyalty will be tested. Trust will be broken. Regret will be exhibited. In the hours ahead Christ will suffer betrayal, slander, mockery, torture, abandonment, and finally, death. Hope will hang by a thread. Truth will be balanced on a knife’s edge. The world will hold its breath. But Life does prevail. Christ triumphs. He does so through sacrifice. In Him we have more than a friend, more than a Brother, we have a Saviour. And just as He visited the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, so He says to all believers, “My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”5 Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fifth Sunday in Lent
7 April 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 See Matthew 26:6
2 John 3:2
3 Romans 10:11
4 Philippians 3:8-9
5 John 14:23
Fourth Sunday In Lent (C) 2019
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 15:32
Theme: No Longer Lost
Dear followers to the cross,
Jesus could hold an audience. But He never used fanciful illustrations. He never spun legends or propagated myths. He wasn’t just trying to keep potential followers on a string. He wasn’t trying to ‘big note’ Himself with His skills of oration. All of His parables brought hearers into contact with divine truth. Every analogy He used was purposeful. He spoke with intent- to open the heart, transform the will, and educate the mind. The heart will always have an object of trust. It must have contact with the true God lest it be devoted to idols. The will always seeks to serve or to be served. It must know its true Master. The mind will always be formed by those who teach it. It must know the true Teacher.
There could hardly be a more personally moving image of God than this picture of a father being reconciled with his son. It’s a heart-warming portrayal, one of Jesus’ most vivid and relatable parables. It speaks to the key elements of having sustainable relationships. What person among us has a complete set of fully functioning godly relationships? Don’t be too hasty with your assumptions. Don’t be too proud with your responses. A relationship you might think is going swimmingly actually has someone drowning on the other end of it. An affiliation that’s brought you great blessings may have caused much heartache for someone else.
Dear friends, the closer we are to someone, the deeper the pain of separation. The father had written the younger son off for dead. He was lost forever. The entire emphasis of this chapter is about finding the lost. In this life there are degrees of ‘lostness’. Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappeared on March 8th, 2014. It was lost. On the 17th of December 1967 Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared. He was lost. Amelia Earhart vanished while circumnavigating the globe in 1937. She was lost. All cases have baffled authorities. On the 30th of July 1975, Jimmy Hoffa, president of the international Teamsters Union disappeared from a restaurant parking lot. He was never located, but authorities suspect his planned meeting with other mob bosses probably had something to do with it. Still, he was never found.
We all experience degrees of lostness. When a loved one dies, the loss- in this life anyway- is complete. But many things we think are slipping away and might be lost, God can and will recover. Maybe you, or someone you know, is lost in addiction or cycles of self-destructive behavior? Maybe once healthy relationships are in decline? Maybe community identity or vocational identity has been lost? Maybe the way has been lost spiritually? Maybe sin has completely severed the relationship with God? It’s exactly these realities that Jesus addresses today. The Saviour says, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”1
Lostness in today’s society often comes in the form of confusion or despair about how individuals should relate to others in a meaningful way. The challenge is being expressed in the culture wars that have been gripping our society. From a biblical perspective, we can see that a broad and pervasive ‘identity theft’ is being promoted. We’re being fed the dream of self-referential autonomy. What, or who, do we define ourselves in relation to? The answer that’s being pushed with ideological aggression is simply, ourselves! The individual is the measure of all things! While there might be earthly authorities to keep some semblance of order, the philosophy is that we have the right and the ability to define our own existence- ideologically, vocationally, sexually, even existentially. The madness of it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.
What does this kind of thinking do to the biblical understanding that all humans are created in the image of God? Humans have a unique identity in relation to the Almighty. We have souls. We are endowed with the capacity to contemplate and appreciate the meaning of existence. We’re able to look forward to an afterlife. We’re not simply governed by animalistic instinct and destined to succumb to the dogma of the ’survival of the fittest’. We are created to reflect the glory of God. Self-defined identity is an illusion. Our lives can have no real meaning apart from God.
Often, of course, our lostness is a direct result of our personal, sinful behavior. We chose to go our own way, do our own thing, and ignore the will of God. Defiance of God’s will catches up with everyone sooner or later. Here is where the parable really strikes home. The prodigal son squandered his inheritance, fell on hard times, hit rock bottom, and found himself lost. From those depths, God turned his will in repentance, and he set off for home to be reunited with his family. In so doing, he was fully expecting to have to lower himself in apologetic regret.
Yet, the father was already brimming over with the expectation of reconciliation. He was holding no grudges. The father’s heart was open long before his arms were extended. His soul was rushing to embrace his son before his legs took a single stride. Anticipation kept him focused. Hope pushed him forward.
That’s the image of our heavenly Father. You see, your baptism was an act of reconciliation. Your estrangement from God from the time of your conception due to original sin was ended. You were restored, made part of His family. God’s arms were opened wide to you. You were given a new name and a new identity. This happened by the substitutionary work of Christ as the apostle says today, “God made Him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”2 Our reunion was possible because of Jesus’ own estrangement on the cross. The pain of separation that caused Jesus to utter the words of the Psalm, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”3 is beyond our knowing. Yet it was all for us and for our salvation. All that Christ has, all He has gained through His suffering, death, and resurrection is ours. The Scripture says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ...”4 Christ is the executor of the heavenly estate and He freely dispenses its treasures to us. Whenever you receive Christ’s body and blood you are enjoying His heavenly treasures.
The parable ends by addressing the tension between the father and the older son. Jaded and feeling cheated, the older son cries unfair to his father. He distances himself from his younger brother, wanting his father to chastise him instead of forgiving him. His focus is misplaced. He is not concerned about the restoration of his brother. He wants to protect his own standing within the family and community. He’s not willing to give his younger brother another chance. His hard-heartedness reveals he has also misjudged his own father. He says, “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” But the father said to him, “‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"5
Dear friends, Jesus wasn’t spinning interesting stories. We were the lost. We have been found. We were dead. Yet in Him, and through Him. and to Him we live. And whatever the degree of ‘lostness’ we experience in this life; in the world to come we will never be separated from the comfort and joy of his presence. Thanks be to God!
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday in Lent
31 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 19:10
2 2 Corinthians 5:21
3 Psalm 22:1
4 Romans 8:16-17
5 Luke 15:29-32
Text: Luke 15:32
Theme: No Longer Lost
Dear followers to the cross,
Jesus could hold an audience. But He never used fanciful illustrations. He never spun legends or propagated myths. He wasn’t just trying to keep potential followers on a string. He wasn’t trying to ‘big note’ Himself with His skills of oration. All of His parables brought hearers into contact with divine truth. Every analogy He used was purposeful. He spoke with intent- to open the heart, transform the will, and educate the mind. The heart will always have an object of trust. It must have contact with the true God lest it be devoted to idols. The will always seeks to serve or to be served. It must know its true Master. The mind will always be formed by those who teach it. It must know the true Teacher.
There could hardly be a more personally moving image of God than this picture of a father being reconciled with his son. It’s a heart-warming portrayal, one of Jesus’ most vivid and relatable parables. It speaks to the key elements of having sustainable relationships. What person among us has a complete set of fully functioning godly relationships? Don’t be too hasty with your assumptions. Don’t be too proud with your responses. A relationship you might think is going swimmingly actually has someone drowning on the other end of it. An affiliation that’s brought you great blessings may have caused much heartache for someone else.
Dear friends, the closer we are to someone, the deeper the pain of separation. The father had written the younger son off for dead. He was lost forever. The entire emphasis of this chapter is about finding the lost. In this life there are degrees of ‘lostness’. Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappeared on March 8th, 2014. It was lost. On the 17th of December 1967 Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared. He was lost. Amelia Earhart vanished while circumnavigating the globe in 1937. She was lost. All cases have baffled authorities. On the 30th of July 1975, Jimmy Hoffa, president of the international Teamsters Union disappeared from a restaurant parking lot. He was never located, but authorities suspect his planned meeting with other mob bosses probably had something to do with it. Still, he was never found.
We all experience degrees of lostness. When a loved one dies, the loss- in this life anyway- is complete. But many things we think are slipping away and might be lost, God can and will recover. Maybe you, or someone you know, is lost in addiction or cycles of self-destructive behavior? Maybe once healthy relationships are in decline? Maybe community identity or vocational identity has been lost? Maybe the way has been lost spiritually? Maybe sin has completely severed the relationship with God? It’s exactly these realities that Jesus addresses today. The Saviour says, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”1
Lostness in today’s society often comes in the form of confusion or despair about how individuals should relate to others in a meaningful way. The challenge is being expressed in the culture wars that have been gripping our society. From a biblical perspective, we can see that a broad and pervasive ‘identity theft’ is being promoted. We’re being fed the dream of self-referential autonomy. What, or who, do we define ourselves in relation to? The answer that’s being pushed with ideological aggression is simply, ourselves! The individual is the measure of all things! While there might be earthly authorities to keep some semblance of order, the philosophy is that we have the right and the ability to define our own existence- ideologically, vocationally, sexually, even existentially. The madness of it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.
What does this kind of thinking do to the biblical understanding that all humans are created in the image of God? Humans have a unique identity in relation to the Almighty. We have souls. We are endowed with the capacity to contemplate and appreciate the meaning of existence. We’re able to look forward to an afterlife. We’re not simply governed by animalistic instinct and destined to succumb to the dogma of the ’survival of the fittest’. We are created to reflect the glory of God. Self-defined identity is an illusion. Our lives can have no real meaning apart from God.
Often, of course, our lostness is a direct result of our personal, sinful behavior. We chose to go our own way, do our own thing, and ignore the will of God. Defiance of God’s will catches up with everyone sooner or later. Here is where the parable really strikes home. The prodigal son squandered his inheritance, fell on hard times, hit rock bottom, and found himself lost. From those depths, God turned his will in repentance, and he set off for home to be reunited with his family. In so doing, he was fully expecting to have to lower himself in apologetic regret.
Yet, the father was already brimming over with the expectation of reconciliation. He was holding no grudges. The father’s heart was open long before his arms were extended. His soul was rushing to embrace his son before his legs took a single stride. Anticipation kept him focused. Hope pushed him forward.
That’s the image of our heavenly Father. You see, your baptism was an act of reconciliation. Your estrangement from God from the time of your conception due to original sin was ended. You were restored, made part of His family. God’s arms were opened wide to you. You were given a new name and a new identity. This happened by the substitutionary work of Christ as the apostle says today, “God made Him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”2 Our reunion was possible because of Jesus’ own estrangement on the cross. The pain of separation that caused Jesus to utter the words of the Psalm, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”3 is beyond our knowing. Yet it was all for us and for our salvation. All that Christ has, all He has gained through His suffering, death, and resurrection is ours. The Scripture says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ...”4 Christ is the executor of the heavenly estate and He freely dispenses its treasures to us. Whenever you receive Christ’s body and blood you are enjoying His heavenly treasures.
The parable ends by addressing the tension between the father and the older son. Jaded and feeling cheated, the older son cries unfair to his father. He distances himself from his younger brother, wanting his father to chastise him instead of forgiving him. His focus is misplaced. He is not concerned about the restoration of his brother. He wants to protect his own standing within the family and community. He’s not willing to give his younger brother another chance. His hard-heartedness reveals he has also misjudged his own father. He says, “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” But the father said to him, “‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"5
Dear friends, Jesus wasn’t spinning interesting stories. We were the lost. We have been found. We were dead. Yet in Him, and through Him. and to Him we live. And whatever the degree of ‘lostness’ we experience in this life; in the world to come we will never be separated from the comfort and joy of his presence. Thanks be to God!
+ In nomine Jesu +
Fourth Sunday in Lent
31 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 19:10
2 2 Corinthians 5:21
3 Psalm 22:1
4 Romans 8:16-17
5 Luke 15:29-32
Midweek Lent (2) 2019
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 23:4
Theme: “I Find No Basis For A Charge Against This Man.”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
You may have reflected on different occasions about whether life is fair? It’s unlikely that anyone, being honest with others and completely transparent before God, would claim they have never had doubts about whether something in their life was fair and equitable. Life isn’t fair, by human standards (it never has been), and the sooner we come to terms with that truth, the better. Was life fair for Jesus? Well, it’s pretty indisputable that in regard judicial matters Jesus didn’t get a ‘fair go’. Regarding a fair trial, the law of Moses says this, "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.”1 Not one credible witness could be found to bring a charge against a Jesus. And yet, Pilate condemned Him, a travesty of justice in the highest human court. The Innocent One is sentenced on behalf of the guilty. That’s the story of lent. That’s the story of how our salvation was accomplished.
Jesus utters not a single word in the interest of clearing His name. To the women who followed the gruesome procession up the Hill of the Skull He said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”2 From the cross He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."3 Till His last breath He thought not of Himself, but of others. From noon until 3.00pm darkness descended “while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”4 Yet, our Saviour did not waver. He did not give up. He did not throw in the towel. He resisted the temptations of Satan. He bore the slander of His accusers.
Should witnesses come forward to testify about your sins, how would you fair? Would you be confident to answer the charges? Would there be accusations of unfaithfulness or inappropriateness about your sexual conduct? Would claims of dishonesty or deceit be laid against you? Would allegations of gossip or slander be raised? Would you be charged with incompetence or negligence in your professional or personal life? Maybe you believe you’ve kept your sins well-hidden? But what would be revealed if even your motivations were transparent to the world? Would you need a lawyer? Or two? Would you be too ashamed to even face the jury?
Pontius Pilate washed His hands. It was a symbolic gesture to try and excuse himself from any liability. It may have gained him some political capital but did nothing for his spiritual ledger. It was a move to eliminate some stress from his life. We shouldn’t be too hasty in imitating Pilate. We might hold up clean hands to the world, but God knows the score. He sees the stains. He reads the heart. His Spirit calls us to contrition and faith.
Our Lord was put on trial by both religious and secular authorities, but He didn’t receive justice. He knew He wouldn’t. Perhaps at some point in your life you felt like you didn’t receive justice. It’s a huge issue in our culture today. The demand for certain kinds of justice is a raging maelstrom that has pulled in nearly every institution in society. Some matters have involved long overdue adjudication, others have been opportunistic ventures to advance politically correct ideologies.
Maybe the justices you haven’t received or aren’t receiving are relatively minor; recognition for efforts made, appreciation from family members, or correction of misunderstood intentions? Or maybe they’re a lot more serious? Perhaps you have been or still are the victim of painful and deeply damaging actions? Maybe you feel vulnerable and even defenseless? Maybe you’re not defenseless, you just feel trapped? And maybe you fear any hope of justice will be ignored or forgotten? Remember, the Scripture says, God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”5 God doesn’t not leave things unresolved. That’s why Christ came.
It would be foolish to try and simplify or categorize the difficulty of rendering proper justice. The issues can be as tangled, complex, and delicate as the people involved. The Bible calls us to be advocates for others while also enduring injustice ourselves. It says, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”6 And again, “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”7 How can we do that? Christians believe at the deepest level and in the profoundest possible way that justice was accomplished at the cross. Understanding this really encompasses the breadth and depth of the Christian faith.
There’s a world at our doorstep for whom the crucifixion is nothing more than a footnote in history. It may evoke some curiosity or even a little sympathy for the Man. But it remains nothing but information, and for many it’s suspect information at that. Yet, without the Spirit, no one can know anything of the crucifixion’s power or benefit from it. The Holy Spirit uses information to effect transformation. The baptized are given lenses of faith that unbelievers do not yet have.
Fear that valid grievances will be forgotten is a major source of bitterness and hopelessness in peoples’ lives; ie., no one has the capacity address them, the will power, or the integrity. They would rather just forget. Jesus hasn’t forgotten. He will never forget. Soldiers who experience the trauma of war do not forget. Their faculties may fail, their memories may succumb to mortality, divine compassion may shield them from reliving the horror, but they do not forget. To forget Calvary would be to forget the reason for His incarnation and the purpose of His humiliation. It would be to forget the objects of His love. This He could never do. The Good Shepherd never abandons the sheep and runs away. The Scripture says, “I formed you; you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me”8 "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”9
Dear friends, Jesus now towers over death like a fully equipped soldier standing over a naked infant. Death’s power is dwarfed in His presence. Its threat is brushed away like the swatting of a fly. Its terror is like the buzzing of a gnat. It has no potency. Its threat is all bark and no bite. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”10 Life may not be fair, but the Lord of Life has rendered justice and we will not fail to benefit from it, now, and in eternity. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lent 3
27 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Deuteronomy 19:15
2 Luke 23:28
3 Luke 23:34
4 Luke 23:45 5 Ecclesiastes 12:14
6 Matthew 5:39 7 1 Peter 4:19
8Isaiah 44:21 9 Isaiah 43:25
10 John 1:5
Text: Luke 23:4
Theme: “I Find No Basis For A Charge Against This Man.”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
You may have reflected on different occasions about whether life is fair? It’s unlikely that anyone, being honest with others and completely transparent before God, would claim they have never had doubts about whether something in their life was fair and equitable. Life isn’t fair, by human standards (it never has been), and the sooner we come to terms with that truth, the better. Was life fair for Jesus? Well, it’s pretty indisputable that in regard judicial matters Jesus didn’t get a ‘fair go’. Regarding a fair trial, the law of Moses says this, "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.”1 Not one credible witness could be found to bring a charge against a Jesus. And yet, Pilate condemned Him, a travesty of justice in the highest human court. The Innocent One is sentenced on behalf of the guilty. That’s the story of lent. That’s the story of how our salvation was accomplished.
Jesus utters not a single word in the interest of clearing His name. To the women who followed the gruesome procession up the Hill of the Skull He said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”2 From the cross He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."3 Till His last breath He thought not of Himself, but of others. From noon until 3.00pm darkness descended “while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”4 Yet, our Saviour did not waver. He did not give up. He did not throw in the towel. He resisted the temptations of Satan. He bore the slander of His accusers.
Should witnesses come forward to testify about your sins, how would you fair? Would you be confident to answer the charges? Would there be accusations of unfaithfulness or inappropriateness about your sexual conduct? Would claims of dishonesty or deceit be laid against you? Would allegations of gossip or slander be raised? Would you be charged with incompetence or negligence in your professional or personal life? Maybe you believe you’ve kept your sins well-hidden? But what would be revealed if even your motivations were transparent to the world? Would you need a lawyer? Or two? Would you be too ashamed to even face the jury?
Pontius Pilate washed His hands. It was a symbolic gesture to try and excuse himself from any liability. It may have gained him some political capital but did nothing for his spiritual ledger. It was a move to eliminate some stress from his life. We shouldn’t be too hasty in imitating Pilate. We might hold up clean hands to the world, but God knows the score. He sees the stains. He reads the heart. His Spirit calls us to contrition and faith.
Our Lord was put on trial by both religious and secular authorities, but He didn’t receive justice. He knew He wouldn’t. Perhaps at some point in your life you felt like you didn’t receive justice. It’s a huge issue in our culture today. The demand for certain kinds of justice is a raging maelstrom that has pulled in nearly every institution in society. Some matters have involved long overdue adjudication, others have been opportunistic ventures to advance politically correct ideologies.
Maybe the justices you haven’t received or aren’t receiving are relatively minor; recognition for efforts made, appreciation from family members, or correction of misunderstood intentions? Or maybe they’re a lot more serious? Perhaps you have been or still are the victim of painful and deeply damaging actions? Maybe you feel vulnerable and even defenseless? Maybe you’re not defenseless, you just feel trapped? And maybe you fear any hope of justice will be ignored or forgotten? Remember, the Scripture says, God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”5 God doesn’t not leave things unresolved. That’s why Christ came.
It would be foolish to try and simplify or categorize the difficulty of rendering proper justice. The issues can be as tangled, complex, and delicate as the people involved. The Bible calls us to be advocates for others while also enduring injustice ourselves. It says, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”6 And again, “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”7 How can we do that? Christians believe at the deepest level and in the profoundest possible way that justice was accomplished at the cross. Understanding this really encompasses the breadth and depth of the Christian faith.
There’s a world at our doorstep for whom the crucifixion is nothing more than a footnote in history. It may evoke some curiosity or even a little sympathy for the Man. But it remains nothing but information, and for many it’s suspect information at that. Yet, without the Spirit, no one can know anything of the crucifixion’s power or benefit from it. The Holy Spirit uses information to effect transformation. The baptized are given lenses of faith that unbelievers do not yet have.
Fear that valid grievances will be forgotten is a major source of bitterness and hopelessness in peoples’ lives; ie., no one has the capacity address them, the will power, or the integrity. They would rather just forget. Jesus hasn’t forgotten. He will never forget. Soldiers who experience the trauma of war do not forget. Their faculties may fail, their memories may succumb to mortality, divine compassion may shield them from reliving the horror, but they do not forget. To forget Calvary would be to forget the reason for His incarnation and the purpose of His humiliation. It would be to forget the objects of His love. This He could never do. The Good Shepherd never abandons the sheep and runs away. The Scripture says, “I formed you; you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me”8 "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”9
Dear friends, Jesus now towers over death like a fully equipped soldier standing over a naked infant. Death’s power is dwarfed in His presence. Its threat is brushed away like the swatting of a fly. Its terror is like the buzzing of a gnat. It has no potency. Its threat is all bark and no bite. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”10 Life may not be fair, but the Lord of Life has rendered justice and we will not fail to benefit from it, now, and in eternity. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Midweek Lent 3
27 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Deuteronomy 19:15
2 Luke 23:28
3 Luke 23:34
4 Luke 23:45 5 Ecclesiastes 12:14
6 Matthew 5:39 7 1 Peter 4:19
8Isaiah 44:21 9 Isaiah 43:25
10 John 1:5
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Third Sunday In Lent (B) 2019
+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.
Text: Luke 13:5
Theme: ‘Repent, or…”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The call to repentance can’t be reinterpreted to mean something else. Jesus commands those trying to sus out the reason why terrible misfortune had happened to others to worry about themselves and repent. Anyone could face mortality at any time. Jesus would have known, of course, that their queries were particularly tendentious. That is, they were intending to promote their particular point of view. They were loaded questions. In this instance, they were casting the Galileans and the victims of the Siloam tower fall in a negative light. Frequently, efforts at casting others in a bad light are intended to lessen the shadow cast over one’s self. Few indeed, are those of us who have not been both perpetrators and victims of this activity!
Our Lord could hardly speak more forthrightly on this subject than He does today. “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans…I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”1 Do people today need to be called to repentance? Without question? So many live with a false sense of security, not believing sin separates us from God. When sin is acknowledged, often it’s in comparison with the transgressions of others. But Jesus wasn’t drawn into the temptation of quantifying guilt today. God does not show favoritism. We are all in the same boat. Do tragedies like the one that recently happened in New Zealand mean that God has gone to sleep or become apathetic? Do they mean our conception of God is all wrong? Or might they mean that our understanding of the fallenness of humanity is entirely inadequate?
In the Scriptures God speaks two very different kinds of messages to us. Still, they have the same purpose: To secure our holiness. When God makes commands, issues warnings, or threatens punishment God is speaking the law to us. The law is summarized and codified in the Ten Commandments. People can understand the function of God’s law intuitively. It is ‘natural’ to us. Yes, we need to be instructed as to its detail- what is and what isn’t in accordance with God’s will. But we can comprehend without the aid of the Holy Spirit the purpose of the law. The functioning conscience is evidence of innate understanding of the law.
Comprehension of the law’s function, however, does not mean people value what it seeks to achieve. The problems people have in interacting with God’s law basically fall into three categories. Firstly; ignorance. If people don’t know what God’s will, is they won’t know whether or not they are following it. Secondly; defiance. People, to varying degrees, don’t care what God’s law says and don’t believe they are subject to it. They do not believe they will fall under the law’s penalty here in time, or at the final judgment. Thirdly; arrogance. People think they are sufficiently pious, sufficiently adept at keeping the law, and therefore do not need to fear condemnation.
Of course, all of these situations involve a sinful attitude towards God’s will which He will not leave unresolved. In spite of God’s threat, repentance isn’t taken very seriously in society today. But the solution to the decline in Christianity is not to simply preach more law and less gospel. Christians too struggle with God’s law and we often vacillate between apathy, denial, and arrogance depending on the circumstances. The law does express God’s will. It is His holy word and truth. The law demands that we be holy.
The gospel is a different matter entirely. When God speaks graciously to us, promises that He Himself will make atonement for our sins, and loves us with a passion beyond anything we can fathom, He is speaking the gospel to us. The function of the gospel is not only counterintuitive, it is unintelligible to human logic. From human perspective it seems too good to be true. Intuitively, we think there are finally no free lunches. In the human realm this is the fact, even when we’re not privity to all the factors in play. Somebody pays.
It’s different with the gospel. Yes, the narrative of the gospel can be easily understood, that is, the events of Jesus’ life, His incarnation, passion, death, resurrection, ascension and the meaning attributed to them- these can be grasped by logic. A Bible verse such as “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”2 can also be cognitively understood. Jesus pays the bill. But true appreciation of the gospel requires the Holy Spirit. It requires faith, something only the Holy Spirit can give. The gospel makes no demands and places no burdens on us. It only frees us. It fills us with joy.
The gospel is not ‘neutral’ information. The gospel is the incomparably good news that God is for us in Christ. He will bear the burden of atoning for sin. Separation from God’s presence is averted for believers because Christ hung upon the cross and cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”3 The gospel is never something we have to do or ever could do. We only receive, we are beneficiaries of all of the Father’s blessings through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are passive receivers, becoming so in baptism. It’s always been that way with God’s people, as the apostle says today about the Israelites’ rescue from slavery, “They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 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.”4
Remember what Isaiah says today, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”5 God speaks paradoxically to highlight His point. He invites us to buy without money and without cost. He intends to give us His blessings for free. The prophet’s words are a pure expression of the gospel. When we receive Christ’s body and blood, we are having our spiritual hunger and thirst quenched at no cost to us.
The proper proclamation of Christian truth always involves a balanced preaching of law and gospel. The law without the gospel leads to legalism, resulting finally in self-righteousness or despair. The gospel without the law leads to license, resulting finally in a state of lawlessness. If people don’t want to live in this good news and share it, then we might validly question whether they truly believe it. That’s the case today as Christianity in the West becomes more and more anemic. But Christ is the head of His church and the Spirit is not on holidays.
In this season of Lent, our focus is drawn back to the central mystery of the faith. God’s word of law and gospel, His threats and His promises find their culmination in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross stands there as the monolithic scandal unassailable by all human fury. The scandal it represents cannot be domesticated. The horror it displays cannot be mitigated. It simultaneously crushes your self-righteousness, obliterating even the faintest hope of claiming merit before the Almighty, while also quenching the divine wrath against your sinfulness. The Christ who lives in glory is the one who died in sacrifice. Repentance is a gift of the Spirit and we pray we are gifted with it with gentleness and integrity. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday In Lent
24 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 13:2-3
2 Romans 4:25
3 Matthew 27:46
4 1 Corinthians 10:2-4
5 Isaiah 55:1
Text: Luke 13:5
Theme: ‘Repent, or…”
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
The call to repentance can’t be reinterpreted to mean something else. Jesus commands those trying to sus out the reason why terrible misfortune had happened to others to worry about themselves and repent. Anyone could face mortality at any time. Jesus would have known, of course, that their queries were particularly tendentious. That is, they were intending to promote their particular point of view. They were loaded questions. In this instance, they were casting the Galileans and the victims of the Siloam tower fall in a negative light. Frequently, efforts at casting others in a bad light are intended to lessen the shadow cast over one’s self. Few indeed, are those of us who have not been both perpetrators and victims of this activity!
Our Lord could hardly speak more forthrightly on this subject than He does today. “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans…I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”1 Do people today need to be called to repentance? Without question? So many live with a false sense of security, not believing sin separates us from God. When sin is acknowledged, often it’s in comparison with the transgressions of others. But Jesus wasn’t drawn into the temptation of quantifying guilt today. God does not show favoritism. We are all in the same boat. Do tragedies like the one that recently happened in New Zealand mean that God has gone to sleep or become apathetic? Do they mean our conception of God is all wrong? Or might they mean that our understanding of the fallenness of humanity is entirely inadequate?
In the Scriptures God speaks two very different kinds of messages to us. Still, they have the same purpose: To secure our holiness. When God makes commands, issues warnings, or threatens punishment God is speaking the law to us. The law is summarized and codified in the Ten Commandments. People can understand the function of God’s law intuitively. It is ‘natural’ to us. Yes, we need to be instructed as to its detail- what is and what isn’t in accordance with God’s will. But we can comprehend without the aid of the Holy Spirit the purpose of the law. The functioning conscience is evidence of innate understanding of the law.
Comprehension of the law’s function, however, does not mean people value what it seeks to achieve. The problems people have in interacting with God’s law basically fall into three categories. Firstly; ignorance. If people don’t know what God’s will, is they won’t know whether or not they are following it. Secondly; defiance. People, to varying degrees, don’t care what God’s law says and don’t believe they are subject to it. They do not believe they will fall under the law’s penalty here in time, or at the final judgment. Thirdly; arrogance. People think they are sufficiently pious, sufficiently adept at keeping the law, and therefore do not need to fear condemnation.
Of course, all of these situations involve a sinful attitude towards God’s will which He will not leave unresolved. In spite of God’s threat, repentance isn’t taken very seriously in society today. But the solution to the decline in Christianity is not to simply preach more law and less gospel. Christians too struggle with God’s law and we often vacillate between apathy, denial, and arrogance depending on the circumstances. The law does express God’s will. It is His holy word and truth. The law demands that we be holy.
The gospel is a different matter entirely. When God speaks graciously to us, promises that He Himself will make atonement for our sins, and loves us with a passion beyond anything we can fathom, He is speaking the gospel to us. The function of the gospel is not only counterintuitive, it is unintelligible to human logic. From human perspective it seems too good to be true. Intuitively, we think there are finally no free lunches. In the human realm this is the fact, even when we’re not privity to all the factors in play. Somebody pays.
It’s different with the gospel. Yes, the narrative of the gospel can be easily understood, that is, the events of Jesus’ life, His incarnation, passion, death, resurrection, ascension and the meaning attributed to them- these can be grasped by logic. A Bible verse such as “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”2 can also be cognitively understood. Jesus pays the bill. But true appreciation of the gospel requires the Holy Spirit. It requires faith, something only the Holy Spirit can give. The gospel makes no demands and places no burdens on us. It only frees us. It fills us with joy.
The gospel is not ‘neutral’ information. The gospel is the incomparably good news that God is for us in Christ. He will bear the burden of atoning for sin. Separation from God’s presence is averted for believers because Christ hung upon the cross and cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”3 The gospel is never something we have to do or ever could do. We only receive, we are beneficiaries of all of the Father’s blessings through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are passive receivers, becoming so in baptism. It’s always been that way with God’s people, as the apostle says today about the Israelites’ rescue from slavery, “They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 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.”4
Remember what Isaiah says today, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”5 God speaks paradoxically to highlight His point. He invites us to buy without money and without cost. He intends to give us His blessings for free. The prophet’s words are a pure expression of the gospel. When we receive Christ’s body and blood, we are having our spiritual hunger and thirst quenched at no cost to us.
The proper proclamation of Christian truth always involves a balanced preaching of law and gospel. The law without the gospel leads to legalism, resulting finally in self-righteousness or despair. The gospel without the law leads to license, resulting finally in a state of lawlessness. If people don’t want to live in this good news and share it, then we might validly question whether they truly believe it. That’s the case today as Christianity in the West becomes more and more anemic. But Christ is the head of His church and the Spirit is not on holidays.
In this season of Lent, our focus is drawn back to the central mystery of the faith. God’s word of law and gospel, His threats and His promises find their culmination in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross stands there as the monolithic scandal unassailable by all human fury. The scandal it represents cannot be domesticated. The horror it displays cannot be mitigated. It simultaneously crushes your self-righteousness, obliterating even the faintest hope of claiming merit before the Almighty, while also quenching the divine wrath against your sinfulness. The Christ who lives in glory is the one who died in sacrifice. Repentance is a gift of the Spirit and we pray we are gifted with it with gentleness and integrity. Amen.
+ In nomine Jesu +
Third Sunday In Lent
24 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 13:2-3
2 Romans 4:25
3 Matthew 27:46
4 1 Corinthians 10:2-4
5 Isaiah 55:1
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